Chapter 276 - Unaccounted For

One of the rotating formations of ice took on the shape of a butterfly, flapping its azure wings before the frosted dust from its wings rained down upon the bound apparition. As each of these icy particles descended on its sable form, they expanded and etched themselves into its rubbery hide.

It may not be today, nor will it be tomorrow--but I will return home. It's not just me; we all will see the future we desire, the dreams we yearn for--that's why we fight in this cruel world, he thought. 

Another one of these frosted formations, bearing the shape of feathery avian, covered in icicles, blew a pale fit of translucent snow onto GIMP, further cementing its frosted aspect as its laugh continued--growing colder and more rugged. 

I'll be able to save you, Celeste. I don't care if you've already moved on from me, or if you hate me by now--but I will save you. Even if it's not tomorrow or the year after--I will return. If it means having to fight in these endless battles, I will do it all to obtain that cure--just hold up your end of the bargain, Beatrice, Donatien thought. 

Witnessing this spell continue to twine itself around GIMP, Strife kept an arrow ready by his string in the event of the worst-case scenario--though, he found himself enamored by the beauty of the ice magic on display. 

I've never seen him use that one...did he just recently develop it? It's...pretty, Charlotte remarked to herself. 

"Paltry." 

Before the magecraft could reach its conclusion, GIMP spoke a single, clear word as the stretching ice seemed to halt itself. 

In a violent burst of speed, the figure broke free from its half-formed bindings--disappearing from sight with such agility as it rammed against Donatien with a harsh force. 

"Donatien…!"

Witnessing this, Charlotte screamed out as she watched the man be flung into the air with a trail of blood following. 

It happened too fast for the other two to so much as move in response as it still hadn't processed in their minds; following up the shoulder bash, GIMP brought himself into the air after Donatien, grabbing hold of the man's face before plummeting back down to the ground in a brutal slam. 

"Ge-ge-ge-ge-ge!"

Overwhelmed with excitement from delivering such brutality, GIMP laughed hysterically as he continued to slam Donatien into the ground while gripping tightly onto his face--each slam further caving in the nearby ground as a tremor resounded. 

"Stop it…"

Charlotte could only let out such weak pleas as she watched the horrifying scene, gripping tightly onto her gown as tears strolled down her cheeks. 

"Let him go!"

Regaining his lost focus, Strife yelled out as he sent an arrow coated in heavy amounts of sapphire mana toward GIMP--only for the projectile to bounce right off the fiend's shoulder as it continued its hysterical rampage. 

Each slam resulted in a splash of sticky, crimson liquid being released from the compromised man. 

What am I doing…? Why is my body so cold and rigid?...Is this fear? Nonsense! Strife thought. 

As Strife began to manifest a unique arrow into the palm of his hand, forming it from an array of verdant, cobalt, and vermillion mana--something else was felt. 

"Aughhhh--!"

With a scream accompanied by a gurgle of blood and muffled by a foreign force--it was so unnatural that the other two recognized only a moment after it began that it resounded from Donatien. 

It wasn't a wail of pain and agony, but one of pure, unfiltered force--a scream solely meant to give strength to his limbs. 

Losing to the fiend in pure physicality, Donatien pushed against the overwhelming grip around his head by manifesting ice from beneath his back--pushing upwards as he let out his bloodied roar. 

"Ge--?"

Unprepared for this counter, GIMP fell static for a moment before the bloodied man swiped his hand towards the fiend; a wave of malicious ice instantly manifested itself, charging towards the depraved entity with its spiky essence. 

As the monstrous, abhorrent spirit jumped back to avoid the prickly frost, Donatien slowly stood himself up like a reanimated corpse; in head-to-toe, his own blood lathered his form. The makeshift glasses he had formed were shattered, seemingly having stabbed into his own skin as he huffed out a frosted breath with hair unnaturally unkempt for him. 

However--his eyes had changed. 

"Laplace's Demon...but how?"

Charlotte asked herself as she saw those unmistakable eyes; as cold as ice and as celestial as the Sage's own. Noticing the abundance of dark crimson that seeped from his eyes, forming beneath his eyelids like the bags of sleep depravity, she gasped. 

No...he kept his eyes open during that entire attack so he could activate it?! She thought. 

"...Stay out of my way. I've got it from here." 

Donatien's words didn't fall to any one specific ear, but to any who looked from the outside into this battle; now it was simply the facing off between two. 

"In the shape you're in...I can't--"

"Strife, no…"

Stopping the elven archer from interfering, Charlotte's words halted the silver-haired man in his step. With no knowledge of the ability at the navy-haired man's disposal, Strife saw only a half-dead man standing there in futility. 

Just what are you planning, Donatien…? What kind of man are you to be able to stand against odds like this? Strife thought. 

The patience of GIMP came to an end as it threw a swipe of its bulbous arm towards the man, who casually ducked beneath the swing before standing back up. 

"...You were simply too fast for me to witness your movements. So--I had to get creative." 

Looking at the fiend with eyes dyed in his own crimson essence, Donatien spoke calmly despite the bubbling rage building within the spirit as it missed its attack. 

I don't know how much longer I can stay conscious at this point, Donatien thought. 

As a flurry of blows came from the bulbous fists of GIMP, shattering the winds around as they tunneled towards Donatien, the man kept his peculiar, diamond-shaped eyes on the fiend while avoiding the strikes with perfect precision. 

My body is on complete fire; I can only move right now because I'm pumping abhorrent amounts of mana throughout my entire body just to keep myself going, he thought. 

Each movement he made caused more blood to spill from his body and onto the hollow ground, feeling his cut-open lip and busted chin seep out this warm, crimson liquid in surplus. Unable to hit the battered foe before it, GIMP let out anger-fueled squeals as its rubbery, inflated form further bulked up--throwing its body rapidly into unnatural attacks. 

It doesn't matter what you do--I can see it all. Call it a fair trade; you were able to inflict such devastating damage onto me, but I was able to activate my trump card. I still need to find a way to actually put you down, Donatien thought. 

"You two--get back!"

Suddenly yelling with such vigor to make sure his voice reached the ears of both Charlotte and Strife, Donatien's command made little sense to them as they watched him continue to fight on the defensive against the raging spirit. 

The look Donatien gave to Charlotte was enough to help her reach a conclusion on what the man planned to do--bringing herself over to Strife to pull the man away into a temporary retreat. 

"We can't leave him alone here--"

"We'll only get in his way for this...trust me, Strife."

Hearing his name spoken by such a gentle voice he respected above all else, the elven archer nodded as his silver hair cascaded down his shoulders, following the girl into the depths of the hollow, gloomy forest. 

"Good job, Charlotte. You will make a fine mage." 

Smiling softly to himself as blood coated his soft, pink lips, Donatien's demeanor brought a halt to the bulky, sable-rubber apparition. 

"That monster of an Argonaut didn't give me the opportunity to use my trump card; I guess you'll do."

Speaking with a calmness unfitting of his bloodied, battered state--standing there without so much as a shirt clinging to his bruised, crimson-stained chest chiseled in years of training, Donatien's words seemed to draw forth a caution from the rampant manifestation. 

"Geh...How?"

It seemed just the act of forming together human speech was a herculean task for the fiend as it stayed on its feet, watching the man as a coalescence of frosted air gathered around Donatien. 

I only finally perfected this one recently. Days, months, years--it's taken a long time to get this one down, but it's truly powerful. The absolute form of magic, the pinnacle of magecraft--it's close now. Rapid-Incantation great magic, He thought. 

"Skadi: Rebirth of Jotunn." 

Filling the stagnant, deathly biome of the inverse world's essence, Donatien's great magic birthed into the dreary territory a storm of pale white snow, quickly settling into a rage with little acceleration--going into full-drive from the get-go. 

In essence, it's similar to a combination of Territory of Frost and Ice Age--a union of both spells into a heightened output of magecraft, he thought. 

"Cold, cold, cold! Ge-ge-ge!"

With a shiverful laugh, GIMP swung his rubbery limbs about as if dancing in the forming, awakening domain of frost. 

At times like this, I have to thank my past self for the egregious training regime. Without a reservoir of mana like this, this spell alone would take me out of the fight, he thought. 

"So, you can experience temperature with that odd body of yours?" 

However, before the climactic round of the devilish bout could reach its conclusion; something caught the eye of Donatien. 

The stygian veil that presented a curtain around the valley began to dissolve before a far-stretching glow spread its reach across the very same region. Encompassing Donatien himself, the glow seemed to ignore GIMP. 

What the? Is this the work of that pesky sage? He thought. 

It wasn't any different for Charlotte, who spread the embrace of this glow to Strife by coincidence as she held onto his arm.