Chapter 208 - Unseen Foe Within The Mist

At moments like this, he remembered just how dexterous the brute of a man was, flipping as he spun his gargantuan blade as if it were a dagger. The flames that he manifested didn't push off a heat that turned the blades of grass below into ash, but instead boiled his blood with a vigor surpassing his limits; each swing of his sword rattling the forest as it wailed out under his strength. Hulking strength wasn't the only thing Sora relied on; moving his body fluidly and masterfully, landing on one hand and spinning as if shifting into a breakdance routine. Using the momentum of his own legs as the spun above him, he brought himself back to his feet, catching his greatsword that he had flung into the air. 

The frail husks that poured out in droves stood no chance against this strength, never coming close as the battle-loving, vermilion man laughed out. 

"Weak! Weak! Weak!"

Sirius couldn't help but smile wryly at the sight familiar to him, the scattered, rotten innards of the decimated husks being vaporized by the lightning aura that passively stuck around the lightning mage. 

There he goes. This is why I wanted to do it this way; once he's in the zone, he's in there good. He's an absolute, unstoppable tank once he uses his Prometheus magic, he thought. 

After another minute of the husks throwing themselves into nothing more than a quick return to whatever hell they crawled out from, all that remained of them was pieces of their tainted bodies strewn across the once pristine green of the field. 

"There's a whole damn lot of these things, but they're not exactly all that strong."

Sora commented as he finished off one that managed to survive a slash, bringing down the hunk of his blade atop its exposed skull. 

"I wouldn't get too cocky...We still have no clue what this fog is."

"Right, it's still bothering me. Husks don't just...bring it with them, right?"

"Don't think so."

As Sirius responded calmly, he walked over to Sora as he scrunched his nose being in the center of the bloodied field, the sour, sickeningly sweet smell hitting his nostrils like a freight train. 

Before a moment of reprieve could be found with the end of the husk attack, a low, raspy growl that sounded like the humming of an engine emanated from the depths of the fog. Without a single word being exchanged, the two men were already back to back, watching the mystifying fog as they awaited for the source of the noise to unveil itself. 

Like a wind being swept by the will of the world, the fog began to flow, spiraling around the perimeter of the field as the two men watched anxiously. 

"So...tiring…"

The voice was unlike anything they had ever heard; the moment it met with their ears, it left a sickening tickle, dropping their stomachs while a cold, chilling sweat formed.

That isn't human, Sirius thought. 

What the fuck is that thing? Sora pondered. 

It sounded distorted, speaking as if not used to the concept of its own vocal cords as if mimicking the speech of humans. The cedar creaked beneath the movements of the entity obscured by the heavy, erratic fog. 

"I want...to sleep...but, I have...a job...to do."

Trying to pinpoint the source of the voice, it was a futile effort--it resounded from all sides of the fog, Sirius realized this as he set his sights on defense instead. 

"Are you gonna use it? Your ability?"

Feeling the intensifying aura radiate from the man behind him, Sora asked as his voice finally seemed to grasp the significance of their situation. 

"...No."

I wouldn't hesitate to use it in a situation like this, but the problem lies in my damn ability altogether. I just...can't control it well, he thought. 

"Gotcha."

Opting for a weapon better suited for the affair, the vermilion-haired man allowed his blade to dissolve into magical particles before replacing it with a more standard longsword. Two chains ran down from each side of the sword, meeting at the bottom of the stygian hilt to wrap around a featureless gem devoid of color extending from the pommel. 

Empyrean Armory: Mode Silver.

Continuing the alteration of equipment, he shifted his heavy armor into a more sleek, tight-fitting, dark-steel that covered the entirety of his form. 

"Got my back?"

Asking in a calm whisper, Sora's voice was now that of a reliable comrade rather than a ball of goofiness and frivolity. 

This guy...He's shooting straight for the enemy despite not knowing a damn thing about it. I can't say I'm very different, crazy bastard, Sirius smiled. 

"Yeah!"

As soon as Sirius affirmed his assistance, the body-armored man set off like a bullet, cracking the sound barrier as the evergreen parted under his agility. 

Before Sora had completely disappeared within the innards of the fog, Sirius attached to him a thin, but resilient strand of lightning. 

I don't know if he knew I was going to do this before running off. It'll be easy to track him if he really does get lost now, Sirius thought. 

It didn't take more than the blink of an eye for his companion to sink into the enigmatic veil of the fog, the sounds of his footsteps being drowned out by its mysticism. 

"Prometheus: Link Two!"

Emanating from the innards of his smooth, thin armor that covered his body like a latex suit, Sora manifested a heat that extended from head to toe, increasing in speed as each step propelled him forward vastly. 

It has to be close, the fog is much thicker than before! Sora thought. 

As he sprinted over the grass that could only be recognized by feel and not sight, something trickled up his spine. His instincts yelled out at him in that moment, pivoting off of his right foot as he leapt to the side for no particular reason. 

The very moment his body left the ground, a force burrowed through the space which he once stood. Landing back down, he narrowed his vision to see that not only the grass had been vaporized, but the soil below had been swallowed up by that very force. 

"...The hell."

Remarking to himself in a whisper, the air that met his ear felt slightly off. It was that same, dreadful tingle that crawled over his senses, forcing him to swerve his body as another blast passed by him, missing by only an inch. 

That almost got me! It's here--it's close! He thought. 

Raising his guard, stayed on the tip of his toes, scanning his surroundings to no avail as the fog never lifted its obscuring nature. The limbs of the army of trees waved, the verdant feathers whistling as a sharp wind inhaled and exhaled. 

Another!

Feeling this one coming earlier than before, Sora evaded it and quickly propelled his body towards the source of the blast. As he drew deeper into the forest, another terrorizing assault of wind pressure launched at him, eating away at the tree trunk shielding him from its wrath as he evaded it once more. Using the body of the cedar behind him as footing, he kicked off of it, unrooting and tumbling the high-reaching tree as he held his sword tightly. 

He could feel it now; the despair-inducing, evil mana signature deriving from the entity within the fog. Continuing his sprint forward, he could hear it; the deep, sharp breaths that sounded as if they were whistling through teeth. 

I've got you! He yelled in his mind. 

"How...troublesome…"

The voice was now much clearer as he drew near its form, hearing the bellowing, unstable voice find his ears before a chill ran over his body. Before anything could be seen, it felt as if the space around him simply caved in; an immense pressure hit him from all directions, feeling the air be trapped inside of his lungs before he was backwards violently. 

"...Uagh...Shit…"

Landing roughly against the body of a tree, leaves cascaded down onto him in a verdant shower before he slowly brought himself back to his feet. 

Was that the same attack as before?...All four directions this time. Well, I don't think anything is broken, but damn is my head going to hurt tomorrow, Sora chuckled. 

Smacking his head a few times to fix his fuzzy vision, he could sense a disturbance in the air again, raising his guard as he prepared to counter any blast of the invisible force. 

"Bring it on! I'm getting used to this one!"

Taunting whatever entity was responsible for this, his banter was quickly forced back behind his teeth as this time he saw for just a moment that the force was instead something tangible. 

Stepping inside, the impact of the unknown projectile met the trunk of the cedar with a stomach-turning squelch. A rain of black blood splashed across the blades of grass as he slowly turned his eyes to the tree. 

Seeing it temporarily halted his next breath; the gray-skinned body of a husk stuck to the tree as its head had been squashed into paste upon meeting the harsh bark of the oak. The stickiness of its own rotten material kept its body hanging from the side of the tree. 

It…threw a husk at me?…No, that doesn't make any sense, he thought. 

The sheer absurdity of that concept didn't seem possible even though he witnessed it before his eyes.