Chapter 19 : Dark Division

Sho started crawling on the ground slowly, holding his ribs at the same time.

'I can hear the footsteps of the deer..his movements aren't in repeated patterns, but focused. His ears flicker every few seconds, and his tail moves every few seconds as well. He's moved away from me, meaning I can take a few inches forward and locate these so-called elixirs. But how will I find them? Secondly, I need to patch up these wounds. Hopefully, I can find someone who has herbal pills. And if I can't find anyone, I use something out here to wrap my wounds myself. This place is like the woods, and I can hear the river streams.

Sho crawled some more, and he started to slowly move down a small hill, which at the bottom of it, was water.

As soon as he reached the bottom, he heard screaming from a distance, screaming, "NO! NO! PLEASE! NOO!"

Sounds of slamming and rustling sounded off, and the large sound of crunching went off as well.

Sho looked over the hill, seeing a Fighter running for his life, but his arm was gone, and what replaced his arm was pounds of blood falling out.

"Someone help! Someone help me please! I don't wanna-!"

The deer dashed up to the Fighter and crunched on him, eating him whole, with blood spilling the ground.

Sho put his head down fast, thinking m, 'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'

The deer finished eating the Fighter, and started jogging away.

Sho thinks again, 'This is no joke. Being powerless in a place like this is the fucking worst. Also..I'm guessing no one has gotten to the reward room yet in the other rooms of the temple. If they did, would this game of hide and seek be over? Or would we just be stuck here?'

Sho sat up slowly, and he started to kneel, keeping his head down, walking slowly through the river stream.

Sho began to think about all the times he was beaten in the Tower, thinking about how he had to be saved more than once, and how many times he's been knocked down near death's door.

'This would be easier if I wasn't wounded..everytime I get into a fight, I end up something like this. It's annoying. Right now..I'm considered weak to a lot of people, and yeah..I am weak for right now. Fuck them. I can't let this keep happening. I'll get stronger.'

Sho kept going, until he slipped on a wet leaf, and he fell on his stomach. He grunted in pain, saying, "Fuck..agh…aghhh…" Gritting his teeth at the same time.

Sho heard rustling, and he panicked, looking to the left.

The deer came running to Sho's position, its feet pedaling through the ground, knocking dirt everywhere. His nose had steam coming out, breathing heavily, sniffing around.

Sho was hiding under water, but the blood from his wounds and the dirt from his skin were slowly rising to the surface of the water.

Sho thought, 'No..no..don't notice me..don't notice me..hurry up and leave..'

From underwater, Sho could see the deer in a blurry way, because of the water of course.

The deer stepped all the way in the water, with his head turning left to right.

Sho found it hard to hold his breath, since he had pains in his body area. Sho slowly covered his mouth again, feeling the sting in his body once more.

'Move..go away you stupid deer..fuck off…'

Sho started to doze off, he was feeling uneasy, his heart was beating loudly as the deer continued to stand over him looking left to right.

But suddenly, the deer looked downward, right at Sho. The blood from Sho's wound rose to the surface of the water completely, covering Sho's face. And dirt from Sho's skin started to make some parts of the water dirty and foggy.

Sho's eyes got big, and he didn't move a muscle. He panicked softly, his heart was beating faster, he could feel the vibrations from the water, making the water move in motion due to his panicking heart.

'This bastard..he's looking at me…looking straight at me…can he see me through the blood and dirt on the surface of the water? Since..his strongest senses are sight and hearing.'

The deer puffed smoke out of his nose, and he looked away, and started walking off.

The deer got away from the river, and moved to another location.

Sho slowly rose out of the water, still covering his mouth as he let water drain from his nose and mouth.

He was trying to breathe, not trying to be loud about it.

'If it wasn't for the blood covering me under the water, and the dirt fogging the water up, I would've been done for. If that deer could see through shit, that would be totally unfair.'

Sho slowly got out of the water, and started moving ahead again. But then he hatched an idea. He looked down into the water, thinking, 'There's rocks and pebbles under here..if it's possible, if the deer comes towards me again, I can toss the rocks elsewhere at a tree, and he might change directions, heading towards the new noise. Or..if I see him anywhere near my area, I can throw it too. I need to pick up the pace though. I just need to reach the end of the forest, I'll just keep going north.'

Sho began to pick up the pace as he said, moving through the grass, looking around him. He looked to the left, and he could see other Fighters sneaking around.

Sho noticed they were holding these red bottles, and the bottles had red and white liquid in them.

Sho thought, 'Those must be the elixir's..they're not too small, but it can be missed if not careful. That being said, I need to keep my distance from other Fighters, they might fuck everything up.'

Sho walked away from them, holding his body at the same time, grunting due to the pain.

He was eventually away from the river, and he was in an area where there was nothing but rocks and bushes and trees around him.

In the distance, he could hear screaming, and loud thuds, and the sound of blood spilling.

Sho thought, 'More Fighters being killed out there. This deer has claimed the lives of a bunch of Fighters so far, it has me wondering if those bastards Kell and Kaiju are dead. Or that woman Stacen that helped me out. I'd be pissed if Kaiju was killed by the deer, he has things to tell me about my supposed grandmother. I remember that bald ass agent back on earth, saying something about my grandmother being related to the Tower of Valhalla in some ways. What does any of that shit have to do with me though? It is kind of weird, that I felt something familiar when the Tower sped through the earth like a drill.'

Sho was walking on the rocks, with blood from his body, smacking on the rocks, making soft taps.

Sho was then walking past dead Fighter bodies. He ignored them, continuing to take further steps into another area with nothing but trees and high grass.

Sho saw a large rock in the high trees, so he moved towards it.

He kept his head down in the grass, and when he reached the rock to take cover behind, there was a wounded Fighter leaning against the rock, and there was a dead girl Fighters body laying in front of him.

The wounded Fighter was crying, whispering, "I'm sorry..I'm so sorry..I couldn't stop that animal..I couldn't stop it.."

Sho kneeled down lower, looking at the Fighter, whispering, "Oi.."

"What do you..want? Sho?"

"You know my name.."

"A lot of people…do..you killed Acna..the class A Fighter..when you were a class Z, and you ranked up to class C…faster than anyone.."

Sho looked down at the Fighter's hand, and he saw he was grasping an elixir.

Sho said, "Give me that."

"What..?"

"Hurry up and give it to me so I can get the hell out of here. It doesn't look like you'll be needing it."

"It's no use..that deer..he'll kill everyone. Like he did my girlfriend…"

"Fuck her..and fuck you. Stop being delusional and realize this isn't a game. Your life's on the line, our lives are on the line. You decided to come here, you have to deal with it. You're ready to give up, over a girl? I bet you just met her in the tower..you can't let this get you killed. You want her to think you're a little pussy? Do you?"

"You know nothing…you don't know anything..this is all pointless. I should've never even let the tower accept me. All I wanted was to reach the top, getting whatever rewards they wanted from me. Come on..this Tower of Valhalla has one trillion floors. It's impossible. And who knows what this Tower of Valhalla really is anyway? Where did it come from? Who made it?"

"We don't have time to talk about this. Get your ass up and get a move on."

"Screw it all. Screw it all.."

"Oi..wait.."

The Fighter began to scream loudly, but then Sho grabbed the Fighter's head, and bashed it into the rock behind him, knocking him out.

Sho could hear loud running footsteps, so he grabbed the rocks he was holding, and threw them far away against a tree.

The deer stopped running, and he turned his attention to the tree, running towards it.

Sho picked up the knocked out Fighter, lifting him over his shoulders, walking away while still in pain.

'What am I doing? This is suicide, this is stupid. I said I'd focus on myself…why couldn't I leave this dumbass right where he was? What have I gotten myself into? I'm no savior, I don't save people. I don't like saving people. I hate it.'

Sho kept walking forward, taking the elixir in his hand.

'That's one elixir. Now, if anything, I should just move to the end of the forest.'

Sho kept going, walking slower and slower. Sho saw another large rock, and he walked over to it, sitting the Fighter down on the ground slowly, and Sho sat down slowly so he could rest his body a little bit.

Sho breathed softly, holding his body again.

'This is putting a strain on me. I shouldn't even be doing this.'

He could hear the deer eating someone not too far away, and that gave Sho the signal to keep moving since the deer was distracted.

The screaming in the distance went, "ACK! NO! GET OFF ME! GET THE HELL OFF ME! NOOOO - UGHH ACK"

Sho picked up the Fighter again, put him around his shoulders, and kept going.

'Keep moving. Keep moving. Almost there.'

As he was walking through some more trees, he saw other Fighters walking along with him.

Sho looked at them, 'I gotta get away from these fools.'

There were at least 20 Fighters around him, walking slowly.

Sho was about to get away from them, until one Fighter stepped on a fallen tree branch, making a large crack sound.

Everyone gasped, looking at him, whispering:

"Shit.."

"Not good.."

"Hide..!"

Sho took his last rock, and he threw it elsewhere, but this time, before it could hit the ground, the deer already spotted Sho and all the other Fighters.

Sho said, "Shit!"

The deer boomed in, smashing trees over, and smashing dirt all over the place. Fighters we're getting picked apart left and right, getting ripped apart and thrown all over the place.

Some of the Fighters were holding Elixirs, and Sho noticed them dropping it.

'Elixirs! I can't leave them behind, they're the keys out of here! But how should I do this? My body hurts, and I'm carrying an idiot.'

Sho and the other Fighters kept running forward as the deer was right behind them. Some of the Fighters tried to fight the deer with sticks and stones, but they got annihilated immediately.

As the deer was fighting, Kell dropped from a tree along with May, and they began to collect the elixirs that the other Fighters had dropped.

Sho thought, 'Kell..and May? Just in time. But the thing is..once the deer is finished killing these fools around me, I'll be next!'

Sho was running towards a tree, and the deer was headed straight for him at fast speeds.

The deer chomped at Sho, but Sho ducked just in time, and the deer chomped on the tree, and ended up chomping on the Fighter Sho was holding.

Sho rolled out the way, hitting the floor with blood drenching from his cheek.

Sho thinks, 'Dammit! He'll be done eating that guy in no time! And I look weak as fuck right now, laying on the ground as everyone else looking heroic and stoic. I gotta get up..that's if my body will let me.'

Sho stood up, and he picked up a rock from the ground, and he threw it above the deer's head, hitting a tree.

The tree turned to it, and Sho started to run, picking up rocks on his way out.

Sho kept throwing rocks away from him, making the deer keep his eyes away from him.

'I have to be precise with this..if I mess up once, it's over!'

Sho was about to throw another rock, but Sho stepped on a branch, and the deer turned to Sho and blazed towards him. The deer chomped at Sho, but Sho ran behind a tree.

The deer bit the entire tree, and started darting through the woods with it. Sho was still attached to the tree, getting smashed through other trees as dirt and grass was flying all over the place.

Sho grunted in pain, and then the deer slung the tree to the right, making it roll over and over with Sho rolling over and over as well.

The tree finally came to a stop, and Sho was laying halfway under it.

The deer looked left and right, thinking he had killed Sho.

Sho laid beside the tree, holding his breath.

The deer got down low, putting his ear to the ground, trying to hear something.

Sho wanted to move because of the pain inside of him, but he kept still. A single move could be fatal.

'The deer put its ear to the ground..this thing is dangerous.'

The deer instantly sat up, turning his head around, and running away. Sho started to breathe again, but he immediately struggled to sit up in pain, and he moved away from there, still holding his elixir.

'I lucked out again, maybe-.'

The deer was right above Sho, falling on him with his mouth wide open. Sho turned around and saw it, saying, "Ah shit!"

Coming from the side were Kaiju and Stacen.

Kaiju and Stacen came in from the right, and they both punched the deer together, making it slide back some.

Kaiju said, "Do not falter, Sho Takahashi!"

Stacen added, "You have an elixir, go to the end of the forest, others are waiting. We shall hold this beast off."

Sho wasted no time running off, and the deer darted forward at Kaiju and Stacen.

Kaiju and Stacen ducked down, and grabbed the antlers of the deer, and used all of their strength to pull it down together.

Kaiju exclaimed, "Phew! This deer is stronger than us!"

Stacen replied, "Thou art beast is unique in its ways. You are correct, elf."

Sho was jogging ahead, and he could see Kell, Bebop, May, Gideon, Raiden, and 30 other Fighters standing near a large grey platform together.

Kell said, "There's Sho, that hobo had the last elixir it seems."

May added, "He made it.."

Bebop cried with blood and dirt on her face, "Big brother! I was so scared! I cried over and over!"

She walked onto the platform, and Kell exclaimed, "Took you long enough!"

Sho answered, "Kell…Shut up and build this fucking gate so we can get out of here! Are you stupid?!"

"Ah?! You call me King when talking to me! You get it, foolish bum?!"

Gideon says, "Guysssss, this is no time to argue!"

Other Fighters said:

"Stacen and that try-hard Kaiju are trying to hold off that deer with everything they have."

"How long will they be able to hold him?"

"They said at least a couple of seconds, but that should give us enough time to build the gate."

Sho responded, "Then build the gate! Don't stand there looking at each other!"

Raiden grinned, "Sho has spoken, I shall follow."

Kell and May had handed the elixirs they collected to the other Fighters.

On everyone's watches, a notification said: *All elixirs have been found. To create the exit gate, pour the contents of the elixir in a circle, using every last drop. Then, everyone leaving stands in the middle of it, and shouts, "Gate!" Now that the elixirs have been found, you have approximately 20 seconds to create the gate.*

All of the Fighters with elixirs wasted no time creating a large circle within the platform, using every last drop.

Sho started pouring his elixir out, thinking, 'So there were 15 elixirs altogether. And I'm the only one wounded over here.'

Sho turned to look at Kaiju and Stacen, seeing them being slung around by the deer, unable to hold him down.

Sho said. "Oi! Someone help them! We're on the clock!"

The Fighters responded:

"Are you nuts?! We can't take on that deer! We'd get demolished if Kaiju is struggling against that beast!"

Kell said, "Sho is a fool, but he's right. You scum don't have to touch the deer, but-."

Sho interrupted, "Distract it! I figured out that whenever the deer is attacking someone else, if you cause a loud noise elsewhere, it'll run towards that area."

"I performed that tactic too."

Some of the Fighters who were watching started to clench their fists, and they started to run away from the platform.

The Fighters began to spread out, and they started clapping.

"Mister deer!"

"Over here!"

"This way!"

"This way come on!"

Kaiju and Stacen were slung on the ground, but they were still alive.

The deer's head and body kept running back and forth, heading to each loud noise it heard.

Sho thought, 'It's working! Fuck yeah!'

May thought, 'That's what the hell I'm talking about. 10 seconds left.'

The other Fighters finished creating the circle, and they stood in it.

Sho exclaimed, "Let's go!"

Bebop added, "Come on Stacen! Kaiju guy!"

Stacen and Kaiju stood up, and started running to the platform. The deer was trying to run to them, but the other Fighters were making noise elsewhere, confusing the deer.

Stacen and Kaiju made it to the platform.

The other Fighters started to run to the platform, and the deer was running at them.

Everyone got on the platform, but the deer was right there.

Sho exclaimed, "Everyone yell gate!"

Everyone yelled "Gate!", and then Sho jumped out of the platform and grabbed onto the horn of the deer, and they began running everywhere.

Bebop screamed, "Big brother!!!@

Gideon yelled, "Sho!"

Kaiju yells, "Future rival! Sho Takahashi!"

May reached her hand out, "Idiot!"

Stacen and Raiden said at the same time, "Sho!"

Kell said nothing, but looked, thinking, 'Fool.

They all vanished, heading to the reward room, except for Sho, who was still hanging into the deer.

The deer smashed Sho all over the place, trying to get Sho off of his antlers.

The deer was jumping all over the place, while Sho still held onto him. Sho was getting smashed on the ground, and through trees.

Sho thought, 'If I hadn't done this..we would've been caught…it's not like I was saving them or anything..'

Sho was slammed into a large rock, but on impact, Sho flipped upside down on the deer's antlers, and pulled as hard as he could while putting his knee in the middle of the antlers.

Sho broke a piece of the deer's antlers off, climbed up on the deer's head, and started stabbing the deer in the neck and head with the antler piece.

As he kept doing it, the deer was still going crazy, smashing Sho against rocks and trees, but Sho didn't give up, still stabbing away.

'I'm not losing..I'm not losing..I may not be strong right now..but I won't fucking lose. I'm going to climb to the top of the tower..for my mother..I'll live for her…!'

Sho raised his arm up high, and stabbed the antler down through the deer's head, making it come out through its mouth.

The deer came to a stop, and he fell to the ground, dead. Sho sat up, and kept stabbing away, with the deer's blood flying all over him.

"Die! Die! Die! Die you prick! Asshole! Fucker!"

Sho stopped, and he took a breather, sitting on the ground beside the deer.

Sho got a notification from his watch, saying: *You have slain an event beast. 5,000 Fighter points awarded.*

Sho thought, '9,000 points for killing the class A Fighter, and 5,000 Fighter points for killing this deranged deer. 14k Fighter points altogether in this event. Amazing..amazing..'

Suddenly, a large door gate opened up on the platform, opening up wide for Sho.

Sho looked at it, holding his hip.

'Finally…'

Outside of the temple, Vooben, Rego, and Kharma were on a hill, watching Fighters come out of the temple; some limping, and some covered in blood. And among them, was Totell. Totell was walking out of the temple like nothing was wrong.

Kell, Stacen, May, Bebop, Gideon, Raiden, and Kaiju walked out as well, and Bebop was crying as Gideon held her.

Bebop cried, "Sho jumped back in..why would he do that…? That deer..was mean..and scary.."

Gideon replied, "He'll come backkkk! I promiseeee!"

"D-Don't lie to me..Gideon…please.."

Kell said, "That fool. Trying to be a hero but ended up getting himself killed. If only he were stronger. Like us."

Bebop got angry, and she made her familiar Dero come out of her back, dashing towards Kell.

Dero threw a punch at Kell, but Kell raised a katana and blocked the punch holding it there.

Kell said, "You dare attack me?! Brat?!"

"Keep Sho's name out of your fucking mouth," Bebop said in a creepy but dark tone.

"You don't tell me what to do! You're like five!"

"12.."

Kaiju stepped in between them, putting their sword and fist down, saying, "Enough. Not here. Not now. Kell..how does it feel to buck up toward a little girl? That's not honorable."

Kell shoved Kaiju, "I do not care about what you're saying, elf scum. You all are beneath me."

"More like, you're beneath me. I'm undefeated! The greatest warrior from my world! Seems like you've been defeated, from something else. That may have happened to you! Oh the tragedy."

"Shut up. Like I said before, you don't know me. Fake warrior."

Totell was walking up a hill, and went to meet with Vooben, Rego, and Kharma.

Vooben asked, "Update me, Totell. Who had the strongest will?"

Totell silently said with a scratchy voice, "Sho..Takahashi..the boy..with the tattoo on his face…"

Rego implied, "That brat?"

Totell continued, "He..risked his life..to keep the deer away from us..to let us escape."

Vooben sighed, "Unexpected. A low class delinquent such as Sho doing such drastic things, taking measures that stretch from the east to west. Kharma.."

Kharma answered, "Yes, Vooben."

"Perform the ritual. And Rego, Totell, when Sho comes out of the Temple, if he does, bring him here. We shall put all of our demonic curses inside of him."

Rego asked, "Is it even possible for all of our curses to sit inside of one human?"

Kharma responds, "It is. My family was into witchcraft and necromancy, that's p-probably why m-my powers relate to that kind of stuff. I-I know a lot about what's going on."

Seconds later, they were at the top of a hill, and there were four states in a circle, with a purple pentagram below and above them.

Kharma was floating above it, with her glowing purple grimoire open, saying something.

Down below at the temple, there were 95 Fighters who made it out altogether, and most of them were talking to each other.

"I gained 1,000 Fighter points from killing a few vultures.."

"Same.."

"This wasn't the kind of obstacle course I had in mind.."

"But the points you get if you do well are incredible!"

"People died though.."

Bebop was standing in front of the temple, waiting for Sho to come out.

May walked beside Bebop, kneeling down beside her.

Bebop said, "It's not fair..why do I always lose people that I care..for..?"

"Hate to be the one to tell ya this shit, but Sho has most likely been devoured by that ugly ass deer. To keep it one hundred with you."

"May.."

"I suck at support. I don't even like doing it. But I have baby fever like 80% of most females, so this pulled me over here. You feel me, dude?"

"Do you actually…think Sho is dead?"

"He's a class C Fighter, going up against a beast, when he has no powers to rely on. I'd say he's pretty much deer food. But..if he's alive, if he walks out of that temple right now, I'll kiss him and ask him to date me."

"I knew you liked him, haha."

"Ugh! I don't! I don't! I don't!"

"You do! You do! You do!"

"I DO NOT!"

In the sky, inside of a black helicopter, were three Fighters, male Fighters.

Darthen - (Wearing all thin golden armor, a golden helmet covering his entire face, red wings on his back, and a white scarf around his neck and waist. Class S Fighter, power level: 1,000,001.)

Rudy - (Wavy white hair, large painted red stars on his face, yellow eyes, wears headphones and a blue hoodie all the time, shorts, and sports shoes with fingerless gloves. Class S Fighter, power level: 1,000,005.)

The third man..was Carter. From earth, the agent who went to visit the Zaiyens and Kosyin. His power level and class are yet to be revealed.

Rudy says, "Listen, check me out, I have another one, ready?"

Darthen gave a thumbs up, and started to write white letters in the air with his finger that read, "You have yet to make us laugh."

"I promise my jokes aren't stale! I'm just a little rusty, that's all. Hello, is my mic working or not? You catch my drift? Anyway, listen here buddies, what do you call a hawk that plays badminton? A birdie! Haha! Get it?"

Darthen and Carter stared at Rudy, and Rudy explained while sweating, "You see, to actually understand the joke, I mean, a birdie is what they hit with the…rackets…in badminton. Ah screw you all! You don't know good jokes at all! Empty souls!"

Darthen wrote in the air: "They're just not funny."

"Oh that's classic! Can YOU do any better? I'm the funniest man in this tower!"

Carter interrupted, "Maybe you can use those jokes on the people we're targeting."

"Oh yeah, that group running around killing people to find so-called worthy people. What a weird cult. Do they eat people? Oh, I just thought of another joke in my head."

"Like I mentioned earlier, these guys are high class Fighters. Intel told us about their true goals, following them. My only reason for getting inside of the Tower of Valhalla is to find out about this tower. Its origins, who created the tower, what this system is made from, I mean, ANYTHING about the tower, is what I wanna know. What really is the Tower of Valhalla? So when I hear about a group with demonic curses inside of them, going around looking for Fighters who have strong will to plant their curses unto, that's super sketchy. I'm on it. I'm on it all."

"And thennn you hire class S Fighters like us to help you."

"Not just class S Fighters like you, plus there's not a lot of S class Fighters around. You guys are rare. I find Fighters who are strong and curious about the mystery of this tower as well."

"Anddd you pay us in magic crystals and magic rubies to get jobs done for you."

"Correct. As promised, like always."

(Magic rubies are kind of like magic crystals, but different in their own way. Magic rubies can be found in exotic locations in the tower, and they range from different colors, in which those colors are coded based on the best and mediocre perks, and if those magic rubies are planted and harvested in the ground like flowers, when they grow, they can give Fighters perks. Example: one perk from a harvest rubie can give a Fighter 10% added damage for a limited amount of time. Or, it could make a fighter's attacks stun an enemy for a limited amount of time. And it could make the Fighter lose 10% less damage when taking a hit from a stronger Fighter in a limited amount of time. And there are hundreds of different perks similar to those that have been stated.)

The helicopter floated above Vooben and Kharma, while Totell and Rego were down where the other Fighters were at, they were waiting for Sho.

Kharma looked up, saying, "Shit. It's the Division guild..we've heard about them!"

Vooben looked up as well, replying, "That helicopter with the D symbol on the side of it in grey and black letters..that's them!"

"W-What do I do?!"

"Don't fucking stop! If you move from that spot, the ritual will stop and you'll have to start over! You spent all day trying to perfect it, but now you've got it, don't ruin it! You're the bridge that stands between us and freedom from the demonic curses!"

"Y-Yokai..Vooben!"

Vooben yelled, "Totell! Rego! To me!"

Totell and Rego wasted no time running up to Vooben and Kharma, jumping into the air along with Vooben, heading towards the helicopter.

With a smirk and a thumbs up, Rudy and Darthen jumped out the back of the helicopter, soaring down towards Vooben's group.

Rudy smiled, "I got some pretty good jokes for you all today! I mean, my two supposed acquaintances didn't laugh, meaning they have no soul. How rude of them, right? Pretty shitty sense of humor they have."

Looking down at them all from the helicopter, was Carter, and he was lighting a cigarette, and smoking it.