The Fighting Begins

"Eh?" Velios eyes widened out of shock. He could barely feel anything and he didn't even know if he was hurt or not. He couldn't even turn his neck to look at what happened. His senses were diminishing at an alarming rate and everything happened quickly after one another. Velios didn't feel any fear because of the massive beam of fire or even the mysterious creature that had attacked him, but instead he felt hopeless, as if all the hellish hard training was for nothing. This behavior was not normal from Velios, he was always cool and collected and logical in fights and other tough situations, so what was going on? Yotsuya had no idea of what could have happened or what could have caused it but he clearly saw the after effects. The smoke from the fire still filled big parts of the cavern and it was only mere seconds after what had happened that Yotsuya was too stunned to speak about what he had seen once it was clearly visible. Yotsuya reached his arms forward as a reflex, as if his body unconsciously tried to move to save Velios or warn him in any way but no word was spoken.

Velios' sense of touch had also almost disappeared so it was even more confusing for Velios. Velios was breathing heavily and he still had no idea what happened. He couldn't look to see what it was, couldn't feel or hear anything from around them. It was like Velios had disconnected from the world, as if he wasn't in the current situation but Velios at least knew that what he was experiencing was real. Velios had a feeling of where it had happened but he couldn't even manage to tell what had happened or how severe it was. He could only think to himself. What's happening to me? Come on Velios, focus on what's happening. Remain calm and figure out what happened, figure out what happen- 

Velios mind completely stopped working, every single thought of his had stopped. He had moved his left arm to where his right arm would be, trying to hold it to figure out if his right arm was injured but when all he could touch was the air and the droplets of blood dripping down from the part that still remained. In that moment, he had realized the severity of what had happened. He lost the strength in his limbs and slowly fell back into the wall. "Velios!" Yotsuya's scream was heard loud and clear and it somehow made Velios conscious again. Yotsuya started running towards Velios but was abruptly stopped by Velios who had quickly appeared in front of him. Yotsuya looked at the arm that was gone and back at Velios' face. Velios was clearly upset with himself but Yotsuya didn't know why. "Retreat." The words shocked Yotsuya. "Go back, save yourself." Yotsuya tried to argue back at him how he still wasn't injured and that he was still able to fight, but Velios would not change his decision.

Yotsuya was obviously upset but most of all, mad at himself. It didn't matter how much he had trained while Velios was away. The gap was far too big between them. Yotsuya kept on thinking about how he was just a distraction, how Velios would not get injured at all if he was not there. Yotsuya started running back the way they came, back into the tunnel and he would most likely be safe, but it did not take long for the monster to strike again. Yotsuya saw some kind of creature in the corner of his eyes. The monster came with such speed that it was hard to tell what it was and Yotsuya would have no way of escaping let alone dodging the incoming attack. Yotsuya tried to at least look at what it was, scared because he knew that he was done for. As the monster got closer and closer, Yotsuya felt the time almost slow down for him. Yotsuya was experiencing Tachypsychia. It wasn't a considerable difference but he could make out what the monster was.

Now only a couple of meters in front of him was what looked like a giant, oversized earthworm. It appeared to have no facial features except for its giant mouth with rows of sharp teeth going around its mouth in a circle. From the looks of it, the giant monster's only plan was to eat and swallow Yotsuya whole. As the gap between the two became thinner, Yotsuya couldn't help but look out in front of him in despair, scared, knowing exactly what it was going to do. Yotsuya's perception of time made it feel like it was an eternity and right when the giant monster was in front of him with its mouth wide open, not longer than two meters away. Yotsuya could feel his life flash before his eyes as memories flooded his brain. The only thing that he wanted to think about was Velios, the sacrifices he made saving Yotsuya all the time, from the day they first met until this very moment, that is all that Yotsuya wanted to think about. It was now only a meter between the two of them. Yotsuya looked forward in his final moments, staring directly into the large mouth of the creature which must have been at least four meters wide, Yotsuya knew that this was it. That his life was over.

Yotsuya had his eyes shut and tried to reach his arms out as a reflex to try and brace the impact, but nothing happened? He opened his eyes to find Velios in the air a couple of meters in the air, slowly falling down. Seconds later, a loud sound was heard throughout the cavern. The sound of something colliding with the wall and the sound of rock crumbling and falling down. Velios had kicked the giant monster, managing to leave a dent on the side of the monsters body. "Run while you have the chance." Velios words were reverberating inside Yotsuya's body. Yotsuya could feel the words and with context, they were just sad. As Yotsuya could only continue to run, he looked back at Velios, slowly walking towards the monster with burns all over his body, a completely severed arm and something else wrong with him that Yotsuya couldn't wrap his head around. All of those injuries and Velios told Yotsuya, a still unharmed and capable person to instead save himself. Velios was truly selfish.