21 All In (2in1)

"Hahh… Hahh…"

Gin panted heavily as he observed the man's blood-soaked back, the crimson stains obscuring nearly every discernible detail.

Still, he was surprised as the very last thing he could expect that a person would come here wouldn't be this guy.

"What? Got something to say?"

Trex glanced behind with a frown as he blinked.

"You are in a worse condition than I am. You aren't dead yet?"

Extending his hand in a gesture of assistance, he helped Gin to his feet. A brief chuckle passed between them as they both turned their attention to Lupire.

"So, where are Emma and others?" Trex asked while wiping his bleeding head, "We were pulling others who were unconscious and I tried to divert their attention somehow, and someway, I'm still alive. Heh, awesome right?"

Gin froze right at that spot, unable to tell anything.

"Did they escape already? Hmm, it must be. They might've seen that flare from a while ago so they probably went there."

Gin's fists tightened, his nails digging into his palms before he managed to regain composure a few seconds later. He reached out, placing a hand on Trex's shoulder, and spoke.

"They must've survived. For now, let's focus our gears towards that Horror."

"Ugh…"

A short distance from the trio, Lupire groaned in pain after Trex delivered a powerful kick, causing him to bleed faintly.

The tip of his lip released a line of blood which he merely wiped using the back of his hand.

'Another annoying guy came? Wait, that misdirection guy who kept distracting my familiars! He's still alive?'

Step—!

Abruptly, Lupire detected a sudden pause in the footsteps, the sound of someone sprinting towards the scene.

'Are you serious now?'

Oliver swiftly caught up from behind, scanning the area for the group. Unlike Ariana and Gin, he lacked any specialized techniques.

There's one thing he could feel the disgusting aura around Lupire who is in the middle of the four people.

"Commander! We're four here! Trex is with me!" 

Gin briefed Oliver, aware that his abilities lacked the heightened perception of Ariana and himself. However, a glimpse into the near future revealed Lupire's continued focus on the direction where their commander stood, solidifying Gin's certainty.

'He can feel the aura on this Horror… It seemed to be effective in close combat though… I can still use it,'

This short but meaningful break gave ample time for these fighters to prepare for the upcoming fight. Whether it would be the last one or another passing fight, it didn't matter to them.

Everyone just had to bring their best game every time.

Rustle—!

"Pheww…"

Short ragged breathing came from the four people as a long heave was let out from Lupire, feeling everything in his veins pumping.

'How exhilarating…'

Everyone remained still, waiting for their opponent to move first. 

Blood slid through Gin's cheeks as it started falling. Once it made contact with the ground, Gin saw a second to the future relating to Lupire as he shouted.

"Escaping!"

A second later, Lupire started his movement with a strategic retreat, using his swift legs to sprint away from the four.

Gin, who saw his movement beforehand, rushed to where Lupire was running while Ariana, with her technique sixth sense, followed suit. 

Trex, who was merely relying on the voices and steps since their vision was clearly hindered, used Gin as his guide and followed him.

Yet the one Lupire met first was Oliver.

Intercepting his pathway thanks to Gin's first-hand warning, Oliver dashed forward while Lupire was ready to fight back, realizing he couldn't escape the person in front.

Swoosh—!

Oliver engaged in a close fight with only a hand. His dagger parried the claws of Lupire that came to attack.

Slash—!

However, when the absence of his other arm became a pressing issue, Oliver harnessed the force to envelop himself, creating an invisible wall as a protective barrier.

Thud—!

At his limit, he couldn't even sway his hand once more, feeling his insides heating up, his soul on the verge of breaking.

If that happened, he might not be able to use any of his powers anymore and would completely be rendered useless on the front lines.

'Not now!'

Oliver can't give up right now.

If he had to give up his other arm, he had to kill the bastard in his front.

Dash—!

Gin and Ariana came right behind the Horror and followed up Oliver's attacks, synchronizing themselves with his movement.

It felt natural as if they were fighting for a long time.

Oliver would lead an opening, leading the two to attack which was now started to result in Lupire's acquiring injuries. 

Sometimes, it was Gin who was giving them an opening while Ariana at some times, led the other two to fight back without delay.

Thud—!

A cut from his chest, a slice from his ankles, skin, and back, a bullet on his thigh.

Bang—!

Lupire accumulated a lot of injuries in these few minutes of this battle alone. With how coordinated their movement turns out, a Horror in his league couldn't even fight back.

He even tried to escape from their grasp and tried to use opportunities on his side but Trex would enter their circle and use his misdirection skill to divert his attention, and then the three would continue inflicting damage.

They pressed on, Lupire hoping that these adversaries might succumb to exhaustion, given they seemed to have pushed themselves beyond their limits moments ago. However, the group showed no signs of stopping.

Fight, and fight.

Slice—!

Grazing his skull helmet Ariana, using her cutlass weapon, broke the helmet down, and what revealed was… only eyes that sprung from a single bone.

There are no facial features, no head, and even no brain. The eyes were even black and reddish veins appeared bloodshot, showing how worried Lupire was in this situation.

'If only I could teleport!'

Lupire could have easily escaped if he had a sufficient number of familiars at his disposal. Unfortunately, his familiars with markings of his power had all been destroyed before the emergence of the black mist, leaving him to rely on fleeing on foot.

Thud—!

Being hit by all of his sides, as escaping nor fighting back in these four who were in a zone was almost done for, if not for his last trump card.

'I will lose all of my familiars at this rate, but I don't want to die by these human hands either!'

His claws were all broken from all the attempts to escape and target at least someone. The very last one which had been broken just now, solidified his decision to do it.

Once he saw a chance to do it, Lupire spun around which left everyone to step back before he jumped upwards.

"Grooooar!"

Roaring mid-air, the people at the bottom prepared each of their finishing blows, seeing Lupire had no way of landing safely.

Oliver immediately put his dagger back in his pocket and readied to sway his hand. 

Ariana was in a stance to release her ultimate skill as even though it rendered her vision and her power, the Horror was currently suspended in mid-air, good timing was enough.

Trex who was outside of their circle readied himself to assist the others if somehow Lupire was able to get out once he landed.

And Gin, who was also doing the same, kept watching the scenes in the future pertaining Lupire.

Rumble—!

He kept watching.

Amidst the pervasive quaking from all directions, they disregarded the disturbance and concentrated on seizing the opportunity that presented itself in front of them.

'He's falling too slow!'

Trex's eyes gleamed as any second now, two of their power hitters would attack the Horror as it was unable to move mid-air.

And only for a moment, those eyes turned to devastation.

Rumble—!

Gin opened his eyes wide, immediately grabbing Ariana and Oliver away from their initial position as a Horror suddenly lunged forward.

Crash—!

This Horror had fallen down aimlessly but it didn't end just yet.

Rumble—!

The very remaining familiars of Lupire charged inside the black mist, even if he was aware that his horrors would die since this was his very soul and he could only inflict this kind of damage to Horrors, not on humans nor higher beings.

'This…!'

As if enlightenment started to strike Lupire, his accumulated experience from this alone, everything he had to sacrifice, the thrill, and the event that transpired was making him transform into something new.

'Ahhhh…!'

He felt his soul expanding and was ready for expansion.

'I'm ready to take the next step!'

The majority of his familiars perished, and Lupire's soul grew increasingly despondent, as if his accumulated injuries were nothing more than a mockery.

Thud—!

As the Horrors careened aimlessly within the mist, blinded and willingly surrendering themselves to their owner, only chaos brewed within.

Charging without stop.

The corpses kept stacking up as Lupire continued to hop amongst these corpses to escape from his own familiars.

Since they couldn't see and the familiars he picked were agile and heavy, avoiding would be natural. Even if he shared his vision, their sight would also be obscured.

'I'll focus on my black mist next time once I'm done here,'

Thud—!

Watching his familiars perish within a mere minute, their lifeless forms filling the black mist with a macabre display, Lupire sensed a presence utilizing the corpses to converge upon him.

"This guy!"

Displaying the remnants of his determination, Gin charged forward only to stop mid-way in just a second, leaving Lupire quite confused.

"Wha—"

Bang—!

In just an instant, the corpses of the Horrors were thrown to the side or crushed right on their places, affecting Lupire as he felt an invisible force throw him sideways.

"Bluergh—!"

Oliver coughed out a mouthful of blood as he bent his knees, unable to feel anything aside from the pain happening inside his body.

And his soul was breaking down.

That was the last thing he could do.

"Go…!"

Slumping on the ground, Oliver was left staggering.

Gin gritted his teeth as he saw Oliver had fallen down before directly pushing forward.

'Less than a minute… after that, I can't move.'

Utilizing every ounce of his remaining strength, Gin pushed himself to the limit, losing the ability to discern between reality and illusion, driven solely by the relentless pursuit of ending Lupire's existence.

Then, a few seconds passed, and saw something changed. 

Since he was far away and the landing point where Lupire had settled was there, Gin saw Lupire fighting someone.

Once close enough, he brought out his dagger and jumped at the mountain of corpses. 

Bang—!

Joining the fray, Gin slashed his dagger sideway which Lupire smugly evaded as Trex followed up an attack vertically using the dagger he stole from Oliver which also missed.

Swoosh—!

A series of attacks and blows transpired in just a few seconds but no matter what they did, only minor injuries were inflicted at Lupire.

Lupire struggled to retaliate, finding himself unable to inflict any damage on his adversaries. Gin remained an exception, utilizing his predictive abilities to counter Lupire's movements, but Trex was taken aback by the unexpected challenge.

'Not yet!'

The moment he attacks him, Trex will just use his ability to overlook, and his attention will get diverted even in a split second.

'Now!'

At that moment, Gin and Trex managed to use their daggers to inflict damage on Lupire's sides and took a major blow to him.

"Bluergh!"

No matter how high his endurance was, everything that transpired for three days took a toll on him, especially how he managed to use his familiars that were enough to take over one area or island.

And this non-stop battle was making his movement a bit sluggish.

"More!"

With only a few seconds remaining before exhaustion took its toll on Gin, the dire situation became apparent. If Trex was left alone, the imminent threat of his demise could cascade into their own deaths.

But they have a plan.

Before they could engulf themselves in the horde of monsters that entered the black mist, someone told them to keep distracting Lupire and pushed him out of the mist.

No, only Gin knew who made the call and was ready to put his trust in her again.

Trex, merely following Gin's lead, would be left adrift and uncertain, unaware of the impending danger should Gin succumb to the situation.

"Ahhhh!"

Following the intense yet fleeting encounters with Lupire, Gin succeeded in compelling the Horror to exit the confines of the black mist, placing it just beyond its boundaries.

Trex followed up, unsure what was happening as it didn't change anything but he followed Gin without question.

Gin plunged his dagger at Lupire's chest before holding his one arm.

Gritting his teeth and wiping away his smug smile, Lupire was determined to remove the dagger from his chest and retaliate against Gin. However, his plans were interrupted as Trex defiantly grasped his other arm.

Tak—!

'What is these guys doing—'

Suddenly, a bad premonition surfaced in his head as he looked up and saw the dark skies very clearly, dawning upon him.

Tak—!

A hastened footsteps ran outside the black mist, assumed her usual stance as her eyes were bloodshot, looking at Lupire.

Her figure was beyond her usual self, while her bloodshot eyes were screaming for this battle to end.

"Metam!"

Lupire struggled to move, but both Gin and Trex tenaciously held him in place.

'Ah...'

His eyes widened in shock as a massive rift opened, and an enormous specter emerged, casting a scrutinizing gaze down at him with its menacing scythe.

It swung its weapon upwards.

Before it swerve below, hitting him right in the chest.

'I was so close. So close—'

The specter dragged him back to its own dimension before peace resonated in the area.

Thud—!

"Hahh... Hahh..."

Trex was the first one to give up on his knees, right next was Ariana who was in tears as she started losing unconsciousness.

[Fortune Star-Crossed]

Gin felt the unsettling effects of this mysterious skill, a gnawing sensation in his mind. Before he could comprehend its meaning, he came to realize that Lupire is gone, leaving behind a lingering sense of uncertainty.

As the black mist gradually dissipated, Gin remained motionless, refusing to let his guard down even though he found himself unable to move an inch of his body.

"Hahh… Hahh…"

[Fortune Star-Crossed]

Suddenly, a group of onlookers arrived, their collective gasps filling the air as they beheld the sight of hundreds of monsters slumped on the ground, motionless and defeated.

[Fortune Star-Crossed]

'Why does this thing keep disturbing me in my head…!'

Rustle—!

"Hey, child."

Gin's eyes narrowed towards the person, recognizing him who he was.

Dune, an officer and the one who announced distributing people from each of their squads came with his clothes bloodied.

"Where is Oliver."

[Fortune Star-Crossed]

Relief washed over Gin and the exhaustion he accumulated took over him and he slumped down on the ground.

…

"Kekekeke."

Oliver with his one eye slightly opened, looked at the grimoire that magically appeared on his front.

"Kekekeke."

Slowly reaching out from it, Oliver ignored its naughty laughs and put it back in his subspace. 

"This is surpassing, kekekeke."

Once he returned the grimoire to his subspace, Oliver closed his eyes and succumbed to sleep.