Chapter 404 - To The Limit

Lifting his sword in a peculiar fashion with the flat side facing up, he called out, "Alright! It's now or never, Aiko!"

The desperation of the prowling, spiked hounds forced her to make a quick decision as she stood still for a moment; allowing a calming breath into her lungs, she jumped into the air before nimbly landing atop the flat steel of the young man's blade. 

With the girl standing atop the sword, he was surprised how light it felt, even with how small and lithe she was. 

Holding a smile that bordered between excitement and pure desperation, he roared out, "Let's do this!"

Swinging as hard as he could, he flung the young woman into the air as she managed to just briefly summit the tree line while the nightly winds brushed against her white, flexible robes. 

"Khh…!" She gasped a bit, shielding herself from the cold winds. 

Though she quickly forced herself back into focus, aiming her gaze down below at the hounds on the ground. 

As expected, the unorthodox launching pulled the attention of the murderous hounds for a moment as they lifted their heads. 

Unleashing a battle cry of his own, he swept forward with a spinning strike of his blade against the momentarily distracted beasts. 

Cutting down the few in front of him, he managed to back the cautious, spiked hounds into a cluster as they snarled at him while drooling against the forest ground. 

Right where I want them, he thought. 

"I'm about to introduce you mutts to "Operation A.I.K.O"! A.K.A: Operation Airborne Infallible Killing Offense!" He proclaimed with a smile.

Somehow, his loud words and boisterous posture seemed to fortunately keep the hounds on the defensive as they kept together, moving back as he took a step forward. 

"Yeah, that's right! Scared is right! In ten years time, they'll be singing songs about the military genius of Ren Nakamura! My name will be right there with Sun Tzu and Miyamato Musashi!" He continued, pointing to himself with his thumb. 

Just like that! He thought. 

Falling through the air, Aiko held her gauntlets together as her soft, light locks fluttered in the wind. 

Valerie was right before: I was weak. But, not anymore! All it takes is something--anything, to cling to. A person, goal, or promise--it doesn't matter! I found my drive again, for my brother, my family...and for Macheo, I'll be the best me I can be! Aiko thought. 

A glimpse of it caught the top of his eyesight; the bolstered, diving light he had planned for. 

"Go!" He signaled just in time, though it was mainly for show. 

In that moment, like a falling star, a flash of light crashed down atop the group of hounds--completely smashing them as a crater was left in the forest soil. 

"Nice one, Aiko!" 

His compliment was bolstered by a thumbs-up as he watched the girl catch her breath for a moment before giving him a thumbs-up in return. 

She was surrounded by the mangled bodies of the black-hided hounds, though she was mostly exempt from the spilling of blood due to the armor of light she reinforced herself with during the crash. 

"...That actually worked," she sighed in surprise. 

"You should learn not to doubt my strategic mind," he smirked. 

Aiko gave a small laugh in response to his playful quip, though the girl was suddenly pushed aside by him as he stepped in her place, raising his sword. 

"...What was that for--?" She asked, having fallen onto her rear. 

Though she witnessed what it was as she looked up: he stood there with his sword raised, intercepting a lunge from an unseen hound. 

Even though he managed to halt its slobbering jaws, its claws dug into his shoulder as he winced. Each of its unclean claws were like vicious daggers, sinking past his leather armor protecting his shoulder, piercing both skin and flesh as he felt a gnawing pressure pushing down on his bone. 

With a bolstering yell, he repelled the large hound while digging the toes of his boots into the damp soil below. 

"Are you okay?!" She rushed to his side. 

He held his left shoulder, sweating profusely as he nodded, "A-OK. Though...that one looks a lot meaner than the others." 

Now looking at it, they both stared at the massive, bulky hound that looked to be twice the size of the already large species of hellish canine. 

"It must be their pack leader…" Aiko gulped. 

"Guess that's our field boss then. Let's take him out and go home!" He proclaimed, letting go of his bleeding shoulder as he raised his sword. 

"Alright!" She nodded. 

My body is starting to feel hot. My limbs feel heavy...like lead. Am I running a fever? I wonder if it's from the cut it just gave me, he thought. 

As he pondered while they squared off against the large alpha of the pack, his thoughts were silenced as an odd development occurred. 

The crimson-eyed beast began to vibrate intensely, convulsing without losing its posture as a malicious aura emanated from its form. 

"I don't think that's normal," he commented. 

Aiko was left silent by the jarring sight, holding her gauntlets up as the two stuck close to one another. 

A ground-trembling howl unleashed from the alpha's maw as the fallen corpses of the other hounds began to convulse in the same, intense way before suddenly levitating in the air with their bodies being brought to the alpha's position. 

Sprouting from the silver accents in the beast's fur, mouths opened around its body, showcasing vile, sharp teeth as a tongue writhed from within. 

In a repulsive fashion, the bodies began to merge with the large pack leader's own as the lesser hounds' corpses were condensed and mangled further, their bones crunching as they were forced into spherical shapes before being assimilated into the alpha's grotesque, extra mouths. 

...That's Purgatory for you, was the only thought in his head. 

As much as he hated the idea of watching as it evolved, there was nothing else he could do--running in could potentially result in haphazardly getting killed. 

Assimilating the entirety of the fallen pack into itself, a scarlet wind emitted from the alpha as it snarled, cracking the soil beneath its paws as it rapidly grew in size while the spikes on its back bolstered in the same way. 

Hold on, it's not just growing in size...it's a complete metamorphosis, he realized. 

In place of its light coat of black fur that coated its dark hide, the alpha's flesh protruding, letting a thick coat of lengthy, spiky fur grow in. The thin, stygian tail that lengthened from its backside completely shifted, bulkening as an exoskeleton of reinforced bone pushed past its flesh, wrapping around its tail like armor to create a powerful whip. 

"Ren, should we…" Aiko stopped herself, swallowing her words. 

No...I can't run away. I won't run, she thought. 

"As scary as that oversized mutt may look, if we run now...we might wreck our own group. They aren't ready for battle right now, but we are, Aiko," he assured her, "in order to protect everyone, we have to fight." 

Aiko nodded her head, "Right...thank you." 

That conviction was tested as the metamorphosis that sprouted from the garngatnaun hound coalesced into something monstrous; verdant flames softly exuded in place of its breaths as its crimson eyes shifted to a matching emerald. 

By this point, the weakness inflicting his body made the thought of using magic sickening--stirring his gut with an unwanted, fluttering sensation. Every heavy breath he exuded from his heated lungs felt as if he was exiling his own strength from his body as his head felt as heavy as a boulder. 

Looking at the girl, he could tell she was feeling the same affliction; her breaths came out like pants through her parted lips as her complexion grew more pale than usual, patching together that she received it from the cut to her shoulder. 

Amidst the isolated clearing, spectated by softly glowing, white-leaved cedar, the two sat in a suddenly much more precarious situation than the previous minute--holding their ground with heavy breaths and weakened bodies. 

"Looks like the injuries inflicted by those pups cause some sort of sickness. I don't know about you, but this feels like just about the worst fever I've ever felt, " he mentioned.

"Yeah," she replied with a heavy breath. 

"It feels like it's draining me more than ever now that the big guy is here. I'm betting taking that big guy down will get rid of it," he surmised, "if I had to guess further...using a bit of Occam's Razor here, those things weaken their pretty before feeding."

"Yeah," she responded in another exhausted breath. 

Magic is probably out of the question for the both of us. She already has mana sickness naturally...guess this is going down the old-fashioned way, he thought, might as well make it fun. 

"Say, Aiko," He spoke with a smile infused with confidence he mustered from his bowels, "how about a bit of friendly competition?" 

Aiko lifted her amethyst gaze to match his, watching as his snowy tufts were made unkempt by the wind generated by the morphing hound. 

It was clear just by a single glance at him that he was under the weather; his skin was clad in sweat as the wounds on his cheek and shoulder had drenched him in his own crimson. 

"Yeah?" She matched his smile, finding whatever courage was stranded within her, though it was difficult to smile when seeing him in such a state. 

He rested the dull side of Belus against his unafflicted shoulder as a light breath came out foggy. 

"The first one to resort to magic loses: reinforcement only," he smiled. 

She returned his smile, raising her hands in front of her chin, "You're on."