Chapter 29 - For You, Requiem

Before Hodwin could step towards the blood-crazed man, he was stopped by Norbert who grabbed his arm. He turned to see the old butler breathing heavily in his injured state before speaking to him.

"Careful...his ability causes blades to sprout everywhere. I think he was just toying with me the entire time, so there is probably even more to it," Norbert warned him, wincing as he grabbed his aching chest.

"You needn't tell me to be cautious, I know. Recover your stamina, I may be needing your assistance soon enough," Hodwin ushered the butler to rest against the wall, who obliged without resistance.

Just as Hodwin turned back to face his enemy, he narrowly avoided an airborne blade, aimed directly for his head. It lodged itself into the wall behind him like a javelin.

"Excuse my rudeness, I just lose my patience watching you two lumber about," Rouge laughed.

"If you're so eager to meet your grave, I'll gladly guide you to it," Hodwin held his hand out as his mana surged through his body.

"Show me the magecraft your race gloats so much about, show me!" Rouge held his arms out as he waited for Hodwin.

"Gaia Held: Ent--!" Hodwin waved his hand as he unleashed a spell effortlessly.

Roots began to sprout from the marble floor, growing in number and size. The roots of nature formed into the shape of humanoids composed entirely of thick branches. The magically formed golems stood over three meters tall, starting to slowly lumber towards Rouge with giant claws formed of sharpened branches.

"Oh? Ent golems? Such a spell casted, weaved so naturally, you truly do live up to your blood as an elf," Rouge clapped his hands together as he looked on with childlike excitement.

"Save the flattery," Hodwin pushed his hands forward, commanding the golems to attack.

The tree-like entities given birth by magic charged towards the Argonaut, each step of their feet formed of roots caused the ground below to rumble under their weight. Rouge simply snapped his fingers, causing a plethora of blades to pierce through the golems, stopping them in their tracks.

However, to Rouge's surprise, dozens of roots extended from the skewered golems of nature, proceeding to coil around the freshly conjured steel. As the roots completely wrapped around the blades, they soon seemed to break down, being absorbed into the golem's roots.

"Steel is originally a resource born of this world, which means my golems can use it as sustenance. Did you think I would just charge in blindly without a plan?" Hodwin adjusted his glasses.

"It seems I am at a disadvantage here," Rouge smiled.

Simultaneously--all of the blades formed of the Argonaut's ability crumbled into dust, scattering into the wind.

"What--? Did you do that? Why?" Hodwin looked around in shock at the sudden disappearance of the blades.

"It's as you said, it seems your golems will consume my blades--why should I let them grow stronger? Besides...I'm out of time. No more playtime," Rouge's gaze sharpened.

At that moment, exchanging eye contact with his enemy--Hodwin felt a sense of dread consume his entire body, a dreadful cold embracing his body in totality.

"I will show you the true nature of my ability, "skewer"," Rouge's voice left all of its carefree attitude behind, leaving only a coldness behind.

Hodwin froze in place as he felt a deathly aura resonate from the man ahead of him. A red mist smelling of copper emanated from him as the elf desperately tried to figure out what his next move was.

"Hod...win…" Norbert spoke in a pained cough.

Turning around, the elf saw the condition the butler had sunken to as his injuries continued to worsen. Blood seemed to seep out of every pore of the man's body as his eyes began to glaze over as the price of life began to take its toll.

"What is it, Nor? Don't speak--retain your strength!" Hodwin knelt down, frequently glancing back to check on what Rouge was doing.

"Run," Norbert hacked up blood as he gripped onto Hodwin's arm, "everything...I've looked death in the face many times...and never have I dreaded it as much as standing before that monster."

Before Hodwin could understand the meaning of his old friend's words, he felt an immense spike in Rouge's mana as the man began to speak once more--

"This is my requiem--for you,"

A blade sprouted from within Hodwin's hand, piercing through his flesh. In a moment's passing, before he could register the pain, a dozen more weapons of steel extended from his body, tearing through his flesh. Before he could speak, scream or yell--a thousand tiny blades skewered his tongue. As he looked to the ceiling, to the heavens for guidance--two blades pierced his crimson eyes. His crimson essence streamed out, coating the blades as he stood there, covered in countless blades. It felt as if his bones themselves had formed into blades, cutting away at every inch of his body.

As he listened to the sound of his own blood leak onto the ground below, even that sense was snatched away as more blades conjured, ripping apart his eardrums within an instant. All he could do was think in this eternal darkness he was left with--and all he thought was how much he wished for his own death, so desperately to escape this agony. Any control of his own limbs was long gone, his own lungs filling with his arterial fluid. The countless blades, large and small, mutilated his nerves, he wanted nothing more than to scream his pain away.

"This is my ability--my authority, I control the concept of "skewer"," Rouge spoke in melancholy.

The elf that once stood before him was now unrecognizable, more so skin strewed about on a sea of blades. It was a sight that nobody should see nor become, a fate that should be left for the deepest pits of hell. Sounds of the elven man gurgling on his own blood are all that filled the room riddled with rubble and blood.

"You scoundrel...you'll pay, you won't get away with this--!" Norbert threatened, spitting up blood as he forced himself to yell.

"That's enough out of you," Rouge snapped his fingers.

Just as he did to Hodwin, a plethora of blades filled the butler's body, cutting apart flesh and bone like a hot knife to butter. There wasn't an inch of skin left intact, dyed by blood, and torn to shreds.

"And so the victory stands," Rouge proclaimed his own win over the two.

The man turned away to continue on his hunt for the otherworlder before feeling his skin crawl with sudden goosebumps, feeling the presence of someone directly behind him.

"Don't...get...cocky," Norbert stood behind him.

He looked like a reanimated corpse, stuck full of blades yet somehow standing before the man. With his suit left in tatters, his bare torso revealed a plethora of scars and tattoos from his time in the war. Even in his old age, he still held the physique of a monster, birthed in the flames of violence that was war.

"How--" Rouge turned his head in complete shock.

The old man's fist came an inch away from the man's face, a hit that would've likely resulted in the complete and utter destruction of his skull. Luckily for the sinister sleuth, he managed to pierce the butler's head with a large spike at the last moment.

"You truly were a man of conviction, Norbert, I will give you that…" Rouge still looked upon the corpse of the man in horror.

Even in death, the man was larger than life. That was the very essence of the man known as the "Devil of War", one who seemed unkillable in warfare, never stopping until the other side was left demolished. It seemed even in his days of peace, that spirit never faded.