User blog:Baluar/Arc 4 Chapter 3

As I said, I have posted a huge plot twist. Hope you enjoy!

I go out into the night. A pitch black sky, without Moon nor stars, greets me. I feel refreshed, but the heat is still unnaturally higher than it should be. The darkness is absolute, and that's a great downside in the battle against a jet black being, but hey, who doesn't love a good challenge every now and then?

Most of the God Eaters remained behind at my command: they are to defend the base should the first line of defense (Nia and me) fall.

So, out in the night, I wait for the Hannibal to appear. When it does, however, its whole body shows orange veins of lava slowly moving just below its skin, which is nigh invisible in the general darkness.

-It wasn't like that in your description... - Nia comments.

-It wasn't like that when I first saw it... - I answer. - Still, we need to know what is this. It doesn't look natural...

When I finish those words, the beast moves at an incredibly quick speed and almost cuts me in half, but I jump to avoid the strike and do a sword drop that seems to break one of the monster's veins. It begins to drop lava, but the creature doesn't seem very bothered by the attack and turns around to hit me with its arm. I jump again and fall over it, then plug Katy inside its face with all the strength I can muster, pulling off a strike that would kill even a well-rested Ouroboros. Against my predictions, however, the thing grabs me with its right arm and tries to crush me against the ground. However, while tring to crush me, Nia shoots off the same bullet I had fired yesterday, emiting a huge amount of fog and giving me enough time to get away from the monstrosity I face.

The darkness before was nothing compared to that of right now. I literally can't see anything beyond my elbow, and so I am forced to rely on my hearing. I hear a huge amount of air moving behind me, and I throw myself forward to avoid being crushed under the beast's mighty strike. In that moment, the monster decides Nia makes for a better target and tries to do the fire lance attack, but I hear her avoiding and counteracting at what seems to be not over 10 meters at my left. I move in, and when I see a glowing orange vein, slash Katy through, again breaking the vein. However, the monster reacts at an outright unnatural speed and turns around instantly, punching me a good 30 meters back. I crash against a column of an old building, crushing it and ending below a pile of rubble. I throw the rubble aside and grab my head:

-Uhhhhh... So dizzy...

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">I hear Nia attacking the monster at my right. The fog is gone, and so I can see her blocking the monster's strike but still flying back due to the sheer force of the impact. She still managed to land on her feet gracefully.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-Got a flair for style, eh? - I shout.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-It's never bad to look good. - She answers, as she jumps to attack the creature. However, again, the monster shows unholy reflexes, grabbing her in mid-air and throwing her at me. I can't react quickly enough and I find myself in the receiving end of the crash, ending in the rubble pile again.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-Useless! - I hear a low-pitched voice saying. - If this is all the strength you can muster, then this is useless. - I then realize it is actually the beast who spoke.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-Hey, who the hell do you think you are to talk to us like that? It's not like we're finished yet.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-Oh, yes, you are. - The monster dashes at us and passes only milimeters away from where we are. If we hadn't avoided it, we'd be dead meat by now.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-Don't you have an overly high opinon of yourself, anyway? - Nia comments.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-Silence! - The thing shouts. Suddenly, it explodes into fire, forcing us to deploy our shields to survive the extreme heat. When I feel the heat is gone, I return to sword mode...

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">... only to see the last thing I expected to see.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-Who the hell are you!? - I ask to the (very) tall man in front of me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-You know who I am. - He answers, his vermilion red eyes practically gleaming evil.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: ES-AR">-Answer the question, dammit! Who are you? - Nia shouts, exasperated. The man passes his hand through his black (slightly grizzled) spiky hair, then moving down to his beard, also grizzled black.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "TimesNewRoman";mso-fareast-language:ES-AR">-Isn't it obvious?