Fighting The Majin (3)

As though sensing my uncertainty, the Majin carelessly presses on with his attacks, immediately putting me on the defensive. I dodge the attacks, trying to figure out a way to hurt the Majin and leave the person he is possessing unhurt. I manage to come up with nothing. However, through all of this, the person keeps resisting, providing me a way out anytime it seems the Majin's attacks might kill me, but something seems wrong. It feels like the Majin is holding back for some reason.

With each passing moment, a sense of unease fills me. The Majin is plotting something. I can feel it. Just as I am about to express my thoughts to the deer, the Majin vanishes. My instincts from the time I had trained with Drew kick in and I summon Hilla's Barrier at my back. 'Leap' had been used on me so many times that I had long since come up with a counter for it. But this time, Hilla's Barrier is not enough. The Majin punch breaks through the barrier like it is nothing and then lands squarely.

A flash of white. Then pain fills me as one thought runs rampant in my head: 'My spine is broken.' I stumble forward as the Majin reappears in front of me and attempts to uppercut me. Just before the hit lands, he freezes, giving me the moment needed to weakly raise a hand and fire off a burst of Uua that pushes me away from him.

I stumble in pain and barely manage to regain my footing when the Majin appears in front of me once more. I raise my hands to- the Majin utters a word and my muscles freeze just as he shoots three extremely thin arcs of Uua at me. I am unable to do anything about it.

The next second I feel a burning searing pain in my shoulders, one after another, and then… Nothing. I turn, just in time to see my arm fall to the ground. My thoughts turn to white noise as my brain fails to comprehend what has just happened. I have just lost both my arms. I turn back to see the last arc heading toward my neck.

Time slows down as a deep sadness fills me. I am going to die, it isn't hard to tell. Even if the deer takes over now, he'll still need a bit of time to react, time I currently do not have, with the arc almost at my neck. I have failed. Failed to save Emily, failed to delay the Majin long enough for someone to come, and even failed to save myself. This is the end of the line for me. I accept my fate. My journey in this life has come to an end today.

But. Something in me refuses. A part of me doesn't want to die. Refuses to die. And that part produces a spark. I feel it, somewhere within my core, as that spark comes to life, and searches for something to set ablaze. Something it does not find. The spark begins to die out, struggling as it does so. Then a foreign power floods me, mixing with my Uua, elevating it, and then… the spark sets it on fire. Energy explodes outward from within my core.

The world around me changes as I feel a strange connection to everything around me, especially the Eani. If feels as though, should I wish it, I can bend it to my will anyhow I want. Then a thought pops into my head. In the Lands, I had learned that the best way to fight someone Focusing was to Focus. This is because of one's Uua's destructive nature outside the body. Should it come into contact with foreign Uua, it will immediately attempt to destroy it.

Right now the Uua I have Focused around me is not enough to stop the last arc, but with my newfound connection to the Eani it would be so easy to just reach out, turn everything around me into Uua and Focus it. And so, I do just that.

There is a blinding flash of light as everything around me is suddenly turned into Uua and then pulled towards my body, forming a hard layer that will be difficult to break through. But then, just as it is about to hit me, the last arc disperses, as though it were nothing more than passing wind, leaving none of its former destructive power behind.

Unable to settle down and question what just happened, I try to look for the Majin, only to spot him right in front of me, hand pulled back as he prepares his final blow. The little hope that had just been born in my heart dies. So what if I had just unlocked some hidden potential, so what if the last arc of Uua hadn't managed to chop off my neck, in the end, it's just me and the Majin in here. A powerful immortal spirit versus a boy who just began learning magic a few months ago. The winner is clear. Besides, with how close he is to me, and adding in the fact that I just lost my arms, there is no chance of me winning. Not even the deer could save me now.

I accept my impending death, hoping it will be quick and painless.

My eyes focus on the incoming fist, enlarging it until it is all I can see as it moves towards my face, bringing with itself the promise of death. The deer's voice sounds somewhere deep in me, as the energy within dies out, "I'm sorry, Ian. I thought it would work."

Something flashes across the Majin, moving so fast that I am unable to make out what it is. It is hard to miss its effect, however, as the next moment the Majin freezes. Then a familiar figure appears in front of me, kicking the Majin with enough force to send him flying several meters backward. Immediately, whatever the Majin had done to my body is released and I find myself able to move again. But, before I can make any moves of my own, I am hit by a wave of dizziness, and the next thing I know, I am falling to the ground.

I hit the ground - which feels surprisingly wet - and a familiar coppery odor assaults my nose. Blood. My own blood poured out of the stumps where my arms used to be.

"Daniel!" I hear Drew shout as I struggle to stay conscious.

"I'm on it." Daniel appears in front of me as my eyes begin to close, worry evident on his face. "Relax, Ian. You're fine now." Listening to his reassuring voice, I give him a weak nod and let my consciousness be dragged under.

What seems like an eternity passes when my tiredness fades and I finally open my eyes. I see the sky above me and become confused - I had expected to wake up in a hospital or something. Turning my head, I notice Daniel by my side, eyes narrowed with concentration as he focuses on my arm which has been rejoined to my shoulder. A feeling of relief washes through me. I won't become a cripple after all.

The deer's voice suddenly speaks in my head, "Hold your horses, Ian. We aren't out of the woods yet. The fight is still ongoing, and our help will undoubtedly be needed."

My mouth opens, and then a voice that is mine and yet not mine sounds out, "Thank you, healer, but I will take over from here."