My lungs burned with every breath it felt like pulling air through cracked glass. My body had long since abandoned protest, instead just trembling stiff and slow as I forced myself back onto my feet
Rakta still remained unmoving and observing me with that eyeless gaze of his His serpentine arms swayed in an invisible wind. The three beads floated behind him, calm and still, a cruel reminder of my imminent defeat
I knew I couldn't truly fight him, yet I kept trying even when each step made my bones scream even when every blow shattered more of my being, Even when I am completely broken, I needed to fight.
It seemed meaningless to others, perhaps, but not to me this battle held meaning beyond my life it was proof of my humanity, the one thing I had clung to all my existence without it, I would have lost myself the moment I learned the truth about what I really was....
"What were my beliefs again?" I whispered to myself, a bitter smile forming
" My beliefs the only proof of my existence which every creature that lives, feeds, or devours is meant to have convictions of their own and as for this husk's beliefs? They were the simplest to understand a chain of nature, A living being must rise above all others, A feeder must feed on everyone, A devourer must devour everything in its path and A life must be lived sovereign, That is the eternal belief of me a husks.."
With these thoughts in mind, I ran toward one of the beads that was speeding toward me, intent on piercing my body. My lips curled upward, and laughter burst from my throat. "Ha...ha...ha !"
"Always the running one," I muttered to myself
In this battle, I was outclassed in every aspect strength, agility, senses, battle instinct, technique. I hadn't even seen Rakta's full potential yet only his three floating beads were forcing me to exhaust everything I had, and still I couldn't touch them my wings were useless from the start If I tried to flee with them, the beads would surely shatter them, so I kept them hidden
Chasing the beads was my only option When one came close, I moved left just a second before it could strike me. Instead of hitting me, it punctured the tree behind me, boring a perfect hole through its trunk
"Wow ! "
In that moment, I formed the square beneath my feet, calculating the distance approximately 8.5 meters between me and that bead and considering how the bead had slowed slightly after striking the tree. The next second, I was the one holding the bead
Rakta appeared stunned, expressionless as he always was, and suddenly the beads began moving closer to him I couldn't release the bead I had caught after such struggle, and found myself being dragged toward the monster with that bead
As I approached, one of his arms transformed into something sharp and deadly stick
I tried to let go but i couldn't, We were three or four hundred meters from the rakta initially, but I was being pulled toward him with alarming speed, The closer I got, the more I struggled to release the bead, but to no avail had me glancing at Rakta's face, I could tell that if he had a visible expression, he would be smiling at my futile struggle...
In mere seconds I would be impaled by his sharpened limb time seemed to slow as I closed my eyes, expecting the end...
But the next moment, I was at his back, about to touch his body, I had enough time to form my square halfway the square that always connected to my body, moving with me wherever I went. From the beginning, I hadn't been aiming for the beads at all touching Rakta himself was my true goal
One thing seemed unusual he hadn't noticed me or so I thought, until I suddenly realized the two beads I'd been tracking had disappeared looking around, I saw they were about to strike me.
" Crap ! "
I couldn't run now all of Rakta's hands had cornered me, and one of my hand was still gripped to that one bead I was holding against my will.
Standing on someone's head makes you feel like the mightiest being in the world, if only for an instant that's what I felt perched atop Rakta's head.
But there was another sensation too pain One of his arms had pierced my right arm, leaving a hole. I couldn't feel my limb anymore or maybe I could, and the sensation was just so warped and distant it no longer registered as pain. A ringing pulsed in my ears, but it wasn't from damage it was the silence, the eerie void that followed Rakta's floating advance
I reached out and placed my hand on his head
The instant my fingers made contact, a surge of alien memory poured into my mind like water flooding a broken dam.
"A monster was standing admits of a battlefield surrounded by countless crops humans , monster were on ground and the land was coloured in red and looking at the monster he was staring at the sky smiling like a maniac
And suddenly the memories shifted
A knight with a crimson helm impaled Rakta with a divine spear but suddenly rakta muttered something and then the hole vanished from rakta's body appring on the knights body again rakta muttered something but this time he didn't muttered to himself it was loud and clear
"Mirror Pulse,"
It was the first time I heard a voice like this a strange note that sounded like " krrr "
suddenly i staggered back, my vision was swimming standing on rakta's head, suddenly i felt a burning sensation on my brain it must be the after effects of using my key ability
I was stiil to far from being strong and i knew I couldn't replicate Rakta's technique perfectly not at his level but I could mimic it perfectly
"Mirror Pulse," I whispered, still standing atop him