originally posted in:The New Dojo
[i]"You're weird, I don't get why Damien thinks your cool! You're just a weirdo!"[/i]
[b]Despite her age, Lana still had the mindset of a young girl... Perhaps it was the Mourne Orphanage... Either way, she was altered and off... Despite her joy.[/b]
[b]With another giggle, she pokes Lance's nose and plops down next to him, her knees folding under her.[/b]
[i]"I'll tell you a secret though. I'm weird too...!"[/i]
English
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[i] The wind clashed with the flames, at such high speeds it swept the arrow into oblivion and swirled it against the force of the winds until it dissolved into nothingness. Meanwhile.. Lance was nowhere to be found. [/i]
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[b]Seth stood on a branch, folding he fans away as he slid them back into his neck, an amused smirk on his face.[/b] [i]"Where did my shadow go...?"[/i] [b]Without thinking, Seth pulled yet another kunai, this one finely wrapped in an over abundance of explosive paper... This would most likely topple the entire giant tree.[/b] [i]"Alright, Cold-Eyes... Lemme show you what it means-"[/i] [i]"Enough! Seth I command you to stop!"[/i] [b]Lana's voice suddenly called out from across Seth, standing on her tip toes on an awfully unstable branch. She looked very unhappy.[/b] [i]"Heh... Not this time."[/i] [b]And with that, Seth launched the kunai forward at Lana, the paper sizzling as it tore through the air and began to explode, a bright flash separating the two as a dent formed in the side of the tree.[/b]
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[i] Lana felt arms wrap around her waist, before feeling a pulling sensation and she is suddenly a safe distance away from the explosion on another tree. All she saw was a formless shadow before it disappears again. Lance flits through branches and trees, slowly closing in on Seth. He had The Demon Heart in his mask's jaws, Savior in his right hand, and The Dragon Blade in his left. [/i] "Now you're gonna figure out why they call me the Demon of the Darkness." [i] He said, before appearing in front of Seth and began to let loose a hail of sword slashes and stabs. The speed was unbelievable, the blades early invisible as they swung through the air at impossible speeds. [/i]
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[b]Ever slice and every stab connected, Seth surprised by the output of speed... But they seemed to strike him and only cause his skin to crack or crumble. He seemed universally unaffected...[/b] [i]"Trust me, Cold-Eyes... If I could be beat... I would be fighting a lot more."[/i] [b]Seth grinned and drew another kunai among the flurry, still not willing to draw his larger weapon.[/b] [b]Then with a launch, the kunai flutters forward and explodes into a massive swirl of wind, Lance feeling the air pulled around him as he is sucked into the center of a small cyclone.[/b]
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[i] Lance chuckled as he feels himself whipped into the center of the swirl .[/i] "You're gonna need a lot more than those toothpicks to beat me." [i] The boots of his armor explode into a blue blast, jet propulsion on his boots blasting him forward out of the winds, and directly towards Seth. [/i] "Three-thousand worlds!" [i] Lance yells, bringing his two swords downward in a double vertical attack with vicious strength, while the blade in his mouth swings sideways in a flash of steel. [/i]
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[b]Seth raised an eyebrow before his eyes began to turn solid black, a light purple dot forming in the center as the air around them went completely still... In fact... The leaves, the tree, even Lance just stopped in place. Seth didn't move either, as if caught in his own spell...[/b] [i]"Do you feel that...? Can you sense it...? Something is here... Something heavy watching us."[/i] [b]Seth's voice seemed to swirl around them, as if he were speaking through the nonexistent wind.[/b] [i]"Tell me Cold-Eyes... Do you know what it's like to feel fear? Primal fear...? To be chased and hunted like an animal, helpless to fight back? Well... Let me show you..."[/i] [b]Everything began to move again, slow at first, but eventually picking up speed as Lance felt the momentum around him move faster again, Seth's eyes now a purple... A deep hostile purple... But this purple had deep lines of black running through it... And then in a brutal snarl the eyes pulsed and Lance felt fatigue and rage overcome him... Seemingly from nowhere. Seth was trying to prove his mind, attack him from the inside... Or at least... Make him feel like he was.[/b] [spoiler]https://i.imgur.com/B7Iu1El[/spoiler]
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"I know the exact feeling. And I swore I'd never feel that way again." [i] Lance snarled, fighting off the fatigue as he flew through the air at Seth and viciously slashed downwards with his two blades, and swung across with the one in his mask's jaws. [/i]
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[b]The blades connected as another pulse jolted from Seth's eyes...[/b] [b]With a crash, Seth fell backwards and landed with a sickening thud at the bottom of the tree, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, a twisted grin across his lips.[/b] [i]"Then... You haven't.... Seen... What I... Fear..."[/i] [b]He sputtered, coughing slightly as his eyes pulsed once more, the air running thick with moisture as clouds gathered above and a slight rain began to pour... Then... The chill... A draining chill that sapped Lance's energy and made his body ache... Then, the world around him began to spin as a pounding sensation overtook his mind...[/b] [i]"Cry out... Or flee... It won't matter. I am the snake of man that eats loaves of plagued children, festering upon lies... Pestilence return, blasphemy reborn, Anthony our king, you are torn..."[/i] [b]A voice, a cold and empty voice seemed to surround Lance as the chill was replaced by dense fog, visibility reaching near zero. Lance could barely see anything in front of him... All but two silhouettes that stood next to the fallen Seth.[/b]
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[i] Lance hopped back a few feet, hands tightened on his blades. Shadows began to pour from The Demon's Heart in his mouth, the voice of its inhabitant probing Lance's fatigued and weary mind.[/i] [quote]Whatever that is, it's above your pay grade Lance. You're gonna need me if you even wanna entertain the thought of facing it down. [/quote] [i] Lance shivered as Shadow's words crossed his mind. He only spoke to him rarely, and in cases of extreme danger or emergency. He didn't like the way that sounded.. because he meant it. Shadow was genuinely looking out for him. The blade of the Demon's Heart pulsed in an agitated sense, but Lance willed it down..for now.[/i]
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[b]Suddenly, a figure blurred, Lance feeling a massive strike land on his backside. The other figure crushing Seth in two it too, also blurred.[/b] [b]Then, another strike, but this one not physical... It was certainly not natural, but it hurt Lance's body all the same, as if his blood had suddenly reversed direction.[/b] [i]"He'll run soon..."[/i] [i]"He's already running..."[/i] [i]"He just doesn't know it yet..."[/i] [b]Voices, each unique and different, but separate as well... As if a choir were speaking, but all part of an even larger group...[/b]
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[i] Lance stumbled forward from the strike to his back, and gasped as the seemingly internal strike hit him. It wasn't a physical wound, but it felt like someone had constricted his veins. The voices jumbled together on the edge of his hearing, while cracks in The Demon's Heart began to spindle their way up and down the blade. Whatever was in it..it wanted out.[/i] "Come on, you can't hit any harder?" [i] Lance said to practically no one, but the asshole in him took over before he could rethink the decision. [/i]
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[b]Another strike, one just outside his peripherals, as if these beings knew just how to keep out of sight.[/b] [i]"A little... Push..."[/i] [b]Then, the branch beneath Lance's feet cracked and split in two, taken out from under him as he felt the draining sense shackling him and wrapping to his body like a coiling snake... This wasn't a physical fight... This was spiritual warfare.[/b] [i]"Break him..."[/i] [b]Then the assault, strike after strike as the beings moved around him, invisible in the fog, but there altogether... There would be a flash, then a hit to the arm... A whir and then a blunt attack to the back of a leg... On top of it all, it felt like he had been falling for hours... Endlessly into the fog, the grass below never quite forming.[/b]
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[i] Lance grunted and gasped, thrashing around as he was assaulted. He didn't know how to defend against something he couldn't see, but he saw light gleaming between the cracks on The Demon's Heart. Shadow wanted out, and he wanted out now.[/i] "Dammit!" [i] Lance screamed, throwing random slashes and stabs through the air, attempting to hit something. [/i]
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[b]The slashes cut against the fog as if it were a thick substance, able to be cut. But every slash seemed to miss the two attackers both beginning a chorus of insane laughter, thousands of voices chiming in...[/b] [i]"He is going to tire out... We should fix that..."[/i] [i]"This one is frantic... Paranoia perhaps?"[/i]
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"Frantic my ass." [i] Lance whispered, shadows swarming over him from The Demon's Heart's edge, encasing him in inky blackness and solidifying, covering him in a hard shell of shadow. [/i]
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[b]Silence. Nothingness. The assault quickly stopped as the voices and blurs vanished.[/b] [i]"Be still... You are in Seth's mind, Mister... It's dangerous here."[/i] [b]Lana's voice eventually spoke up from behind Lance, her footsteps silent as he had seemingly landed on solid ground.[/b] [i]"It's full of bad thoughts... It's diseased."[/i]
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[i] The shadows dissipated from around Lance, leaving him standing on the foggy ground, bent double with his hands on his knees. He'd almost let Shadow have control of his body. He'd been that desperate. [/i] "Why..how?" [i] He questioned, looking over his shoulder to Lana. [/i]
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[b]Lana was still in her usual attire, but she seemed almost fake... Distant.[/b] [i]"I don't know... But it would explain his temper. I've felt this presence before... I know these thoughts... But we can't stay here... We need to go, Mister."[/i] [b]Lance felt her reach out and grab his arm, tugging quietly as the figures formed in the fog once more, visible now. They were tall, wrapped in dark grey cloaks that shimmered slightly, wearing mask like structures on their faces, red symbols sprawled across, one with an X shape, another with two squares connected to the edges by lines.[/b] [spoiler]https://i.imgur.com/cS8lrEH[/spoiler] [i]"So... He hasn't run..."[/i] [i]"Then we kill him..."[/i] [i]"The girl is watching..."[/i] [i]"It matters not..."[/i] [b]Lana's pulling became more forceful, her eyes clouding with concern.[/b] [i]"Let's go, Mister!"[/i] [b]Long sleeves hid all kinds of features except for thin gloved hands, the tips barely visible. Their faces... If they even had faces... Were invisible, but Lance could almost sense that the two were grinning.[/b]
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[i] Lance didn't budge, hands gripping on his swords. He wouldn't run. These guys had just kicked his ass, and he wasn't gonna let them have the last laugh.[/i] "You can go Lana. I'm staying." [i] He said quietly, a familiar voice prodding his thoughts.[/i] [quote]That's my boy. Let's make them wish they'd never been created.[/quote] "What are you freaks?" [i] Lance calls out, shadows dripping from the blade in his mouth, his other two swords becoming a blur as he swung them around in a fanciful fashion. [/i]
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[i]"I am the World-Eater..."[/i] [i]"I have no name but the one the child gives me..."[/i] [b]The two seem to talk as if they were the same person, the flurry of sword slashes cutting through the fog, but every time they seemed to make contact, it seemed the duo had moved farther back without taking a single step.[/b]
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[quote]Way, way above your pay grade Ninja boy.[/quote] "So you're another one of Lana's constructs?" [i] Lance questions, stilling his swords and resting them on his shoulders as he stands still, mask's optics finding it difficult to look through the fog at the pair of figures. [/i]
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[i]"Constructs? No... Incursions of the new age..."[/i] [b]Then with a rush, the two sprinted forwards, arms trailing behind as they sprinted, blurring until they were gone, a strike crashing into Lance's chest as another slammed into his back.[/b] [b]Then before another could arrive, Lana's arm reached out and swatted a leg away, sending one of the figures stumbling away.[/b] [i]"I'll take care of one... The other is yours... If a third arrives... Run..."[/i]
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[i] If a third shows up, I'm letting Shadow loose, Lance thought to himself.[/i] [quote]That's my boy.[/quote] [i] Lance crouched low in an unorthodox fighting stance, both swords stretched to the left and in line with each other, the third in his jaws protruding the opposite direction. The air around Lance seemed to twist and bend, like it was trying to escape the edge's of his blades. [/i]
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[b]The one left to Lance was the one with squares along his mask, his long sleeves letting strange black liquid onto the white ground.[/b] [i]"Is that all...? No challenge from you...? So trifling...."[/i] [b]The figure rushed forward, blurring again as a blunt attack collided with Lance's head. But this one was stronger, meant to be lethal. His armored stopped the majority of the force... But this thing wasn't playing games anymore.[/b]
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[i] Lance turned with the blow, softening the impact that normally would've had him seeing stars. He brought his blades up in a vicious upstroke, aiming to relieve the figure of his arm. [/i]