Amunet struggled to get up in the distance, her blood coming out in false and true spurts like a leaking faucet.
She stumbled, falling back to the ground. It should have been soft grass, but the destruction from Grey’s battle made it feel like overturned earth and jagged gravel.
Or maybe that was just her broken bones pointing back at her.
Her body was launched into the air when the Dormaji landed. All the air was knocked out of her as she slammed back to the ground, her gaze flickering toward death. The world around her became a tunnel of light, and when she tried to look up, she could barely see the blurry image of Grey standing beneath the enormous form.
’Another one...?’
She chuckled darkly.
This wasn’t fair at all, was it? So many people had already died after the appearance of the first. Grey had given everything he had, and yet another had appeared so suddenly.
...
Grey held onto the Syrn’s scythe in one hand, the other end of it still impaling the latter’s body. He looked up to meet the Dormaji’s intelligent eyes.
However, after asking its question, the Dormaji seemed to finally realize that it was actually a Syrn beneath Grey’s blade.
"Hm?" The Dormaji’s head tilted to one side. And then its eyes narrowed as it seemed to realize something. "You are Joaquin?"
That seemed to make sense. Any outer-race that would have come here would have definitely done so for the same purpose.
Grey was wearing a mask right now, and while his hair color had changed, that was quite low on the list of rare changes the Genesis Games could trigger. Color changes were quite common.
Grey also wasn’t using a spear like he had in the advertisements, but it didn’t matter when it was clear that that weapon was the Syrn’s.
For a small while, Grey seemed far too tired to even respond. But then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled.
When his gaze opened again, the Dormaji was looking at him quite closely, but Grey hardly flinched as a digital grin spread across his face.
He bet that there was no way his grandfather wouldn’t get a recap about this. He’d like to see them try to bury this lead.
"Do you think you can come around here and start asking questions? Who the fuck do you think you are, exactly?"
The Dormaji didn’t reply immediately. Whatever apprehension it had toward Grey’s strength had no choice but to be stamped out. However, it could still tell that Grey was at the very end of his rope. There was no way that he could fight another battle on this scale.
And yet it was Grey who attacked first.
Chi.
Grey ripped the scythe out from the Syrn’s body and roared, slashing out the scythe with all the might he could muster.
The Dormaji blinked as sparks flew. Its tough, stone-like skin ate the blow and nearly shattered Grey’s wrist.
It looked down at itself, a bit confused.
"You are weak. Why is that?"
"You can ask your ancestors in hell, too." Grey replied coldly.
The Dormaji wasn’t nearly as fast as the Syrn. The moment Grey got to moving, he practically slashed at will. And yet...
Chi. Chi. Chi.
The sparks continued to fly, the rough sturdiness of the Syrn’s scythe about the only reason the weapon hadn’t yet shattered Grey’s wrist.
Without missing a beat, Grey threw the scythe away. If it couldn’t gut this giant, then he’d take another approach. He shot forward and the Turning Shield became a round shield attached to his wrist.
He roared, punching out with all his might. His Dark Solveign Frame activated and his speed blitzed him.
BOOM.
The Dormaji blinked, taking a step forward as a slight pain radiated from its back.
Grey jumped up. The Turning Shield changed fast, first vanishing into a bracelet, and then connecting itself to his ankle. Just as Grey’s kick was about to land, it morphed into a tower shield, slashing down like an axe right at the Dormaji’s head.
Finally, the Dormaji seemed fast enough to react.
It raised a hand, blocking the side of its head and catching the Turning Shield.
All of Grey’s momentum stopped in an instant.
"How did the Syrn lose to you? I do not understand." It asked another question, seeming genuinely curious. "Even the weakest of Syrns have defenses that rival my own. It cannot be a matter of that. Could it be that it was injured before it arrived?"
The Turning Shield shrank again, the mechanisms pushing the Dormaji’s fingers apart.
"Hm? This shield..."
A flicker of interest appeared in the Dormaji’s eyes as Grey landed on the ground.
Grey was huffing for breath. He couldn’t even scratch the Dormaji’s body, and if he couldn’t do that, then there was no way for him to get any of its blood. And if there was no way to get any of its blood, he had no way of understanding its power, taking any of its abilities, and there certainly wasn’t any chance of replenishing his stamina which was already long in the red.
’Fuck.’
He took more heavy breaths and the Dormaji turned toward him almost lumberingly slow.
"This is foolish." The Dormaji said. "An unnecessary waste of energy. Stand still and I can end this for you quickly. If you make me increase my speed, your ending will be a lot more painful."
’Increase his speed?’ Grey frowned. What did that mean?
"Eat shit."
"Very well." The Dormaji said.
Grey raised his blade, his Last Paladin Frame sparking with what little energy he had left.
’Come on. Give me a... a little bit more.’
His senses grabbed onto the Helm of Grace and his body blitzed forward by three seconds as his stamina fell to zero.
The Last.
Since the Dormaji hadn’t been moving, Grey carried forward with building up his momentum as much as he could, hearing the rhythm of the blaring horns until they reached a cacophony.
Then he struck with everything he had.
The world was split in two for but a brief moment before Grey felt his entire arm shatter, taking half his torso with it.
The Dormaji didn’t even have to attack. He killed himself.
—
[You have died. Better luck next time. Oh wait, there won’t be a next time. Toodle-oo.]
—