23

Rin could no longer feel his left arm.

A shaky breath escaped his thin lips as he glared at the ophidian kemono, his hand on his left arm which had gone numb.

That snake was not to be taken as a joke. It could spit out poison at an alarming speed and a mere single hit by it had burnt Rin clothes, penetrating those barriers to reach his skin which had turned a dark shade of brown.

One could see the poison spreading up to his shoulder, necrosing the skin and the tissues underneath it.

But Rin could not feel any pain.

He cursed watching the snake wrap its body around his panther. It raised its head high above the trapped animal and long fangs grew out of the soft flesh of its gums, glistening under the sun.

Its head sprang forward and it delivered its attack.

The panther snarled, writhing in pain as the poison penetrated its skin. Rin snapped his fingers, releasing his kemono and Genki faded away as it returned to Rin's inner space.

The snake rolled up on the ground, its gold eyes locked at the boy who had stolen its prey from it.

Just then a loud blast sounded behind Rin but he couldn't take the risk of taking his eyes off the snake and turn his head instead he just hoped for Thor to be fine.

There was one significant conclusion that Rin could draw from fighting the snake for the last ten minutes.

Those scales couldn't regenerate immediately. The serpent needed at least 15 seconds to regrow them.

Rin must attack during that short period of time.

But there was one problem the boy was facing and it was the snake's poison. It could spit it about a meter away from it and Rin knew better to be hit by it again.

With one hand, he raised his sword.

FOURTH STANCE BLAZING BLADE.

He ran forward and the snake instantly caught his movement.

It raised its head up and its fangs springing out once again before it spit poison. Rin ducked, avoiding getting it by it. Reaching as close to the watchful serpent as he possibly could, he jumped up and swung his blazing sword with one hand.

Brilliant blue flames split open the serpent's tough black skin. The creature hissed in pain, before spitting again.

Rin jumped back, raising his sword in front of him to deflect he poison. That transparent viscous fluid trickled down the blade and fell down on the ground beside Rin's feet.

He had 15 seconds to deliver a blow.

He dashed forward once again and jumping up, he swung his right arm to make another cut but the snake sprang forward and Rin did a backflip, landing a meter away from that monster.

Just then he felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

His instincts were telling him to turn his head and he did so. Never had Rin regretted doing anything more than doing that for what he saw made his breath hitch in his throat and his heart sink in his chest.

There on the other side of the split and about twenty yards away from Rin laid Thor in a pool of his own blood, an image that had been engraved in his memories for the rest of his life.

Rin shook his head repeatedly, not believing what his eyes were showing him. Tears stung his eyes as he turned around forgetting about the snake but it hadn't forgotten its prey and it sprang forward, ready to sink its poison dipped fangs in the boy's skin.

It went up in flames.

FIRST STANCE: IMPERMEABILITY.

Without turning his head, Rin had casted that spell and there had appeared a deep crack in the earth, separating the snake from the boy.

The flames died out and that black serpent advanced once again and unsurprisingly, the moment it crossed that line, scorching flames engulfed its entire body. Its loud shrieks peirced the sky as it felt the heat penetrate its tough scales.

Rin ran forward and tripped over his own feet, falling face first on the hard ground. He lost grip of his sword and it fell away from him.

Above him, he could see that the once bright sky had turned dark now. Heavy, storm clouds hid both the sun and its burning rays.

All that was a proof, an undeniable proof that Thor had really given his all. It reflected how bravely his friend had fought.

He must have fought till the very end. Rin had no doubt about that.

He clenched his trembling fist, a lump forming at the back of his throat as a stray tear rolled down his eyelashes and on to his dirt covered cheek.

A loud thunder peirced the sky and Rin got up on his shaking legs, blood oozing from his scraped knees and the skin of his left arm slowly beginning to crack.

He heard a low hissing sound behind him. That snake had raised its head high in the sky, casting a shadow on the human boy in front of it, Rin's back reflecting in its gold eyes.

SECOND STANCE: INFERNO

Two magic circle opened up on either side of the snake, slowly rotating clockwise.

Blue flames were shot from them and they roasted up that reptile.

Rin hadn't turned around, his blue eyes searching the valley for that man. Then he found him and he felt intense bloodlust pumping through his veins.

That man was approaching the orb that held his Alicia.

Behind him, his flames had gradually subsided, revealing a burnt up but still alive snake. It hissed weakly only to be engulfed by those flames again.

It happened again and then again until there was nothing left of that kemono. Those tough scale it took pride in could no longer regrow themselves and the snake began to fade away like the flames that surrounded it.

A deadly silence surrounded the human boy who stood at the edge of the cliff.

He was quiet but his silence was only hiding the storm raging inside him.

He was quiet when he bent over to pick up his sword from beside his feet. He was quiet when he lifted his head, his hostile blue eyes glowing from in between his parted black locks. He was still quiet when he flexed his knees, his muscles tensing and cracking the earth beneath his feet before he jumped right across the wide groove that separated the two cliffs.

He landed on his feet with a force that left the ground shaking, the tip of his sword grazing the ground.

He raised his head and a magic circle opened up over his head but unlike its usual soft blue fluorescence, it was glowing with a dark red radiance.

CURSED ART: SLAYER.

The circle began to rotate counter clockwise and a bright red light emerged from it, bathing the boy standing underneath it. The sky had turned darker than it already was and it felt as if the air itself had stopped flowing.

The man stopped in his tracks, feeling the hair on his back stand erect. He looked over at the boy who was radiating pure cursed energy and for the first time, a slight frown appeared on his face.

He watched the boy as dust began to rise around him. Rin lifted his head, his still eyes meeting the man's gray ones.

Then the boy disappeared.

He was there one moment and gone the very next.

The man sucked in a breath and slowly turned his head to find the boy hovering beside him, his glowing eyes looking forward at the fairy floating inside the crystal orb.

Rin turned his head and before giving the man any time to react, he had materialized a black ball of impure energy on his palm. The man was hit in his abdomen, blasting him away.

He went flying hundreds of meters away before crashing into a giant boulder, smashing it to pieces.

His blue eyes were still, his expression hard and his aura suffocating. He looked over his shoulder at his friend laying lifeless on the ground and flew over to him.

He stepped down from air, kneeling beside Thor. He bent over, placing a hand under his head, his blood stained hair brushing against his skin.

Gently, he raised Thor's head, resting it against his chest. The boy whimpered in his hold, wrinkles appearing on his closed eyelids and Rin felt immense guilt pierce his already heavy heart.

He was regretting not being there to protect Thor.

Thor's body began to glow, hundreds of black sparks surrounding him and Rin placed an arm under his knees before getting up on his feet, carrying Thor in his arms.

That man kicked away the rocks piled up around him, getting up on his feet and for once he wasn't completely unharmed, there was blood staining the corner of his lips.

Wiping it away with the back of his hand, he scowled at the boy who looked more of a monster than a human.

No, he wasn't referring to his appearance, it was still the same but it was his very presence that was intimidating.

A calm but deadly presence it was and those eyes, those glowing blue eyes, they were no longer clear instead they were hazy and reflected nothing but pure bloodlust.

The man put together his hands and a large gray magic circle opened up in front of him. Knives emerged out of it, hovering in air.

With the swing of his index finger, they dashed towards the boy who had his back to the man.