Chapter 43: Charred Battles (3)

Meanwhile, somewhere above the Soot volcano.

"Sounds like you made a mistake with your contractor. Didn't that idiot in your head tell you about it?" Asked Luther, who seemed strangely amused by the situation.

"Hey! Versys! You there?!" Rein thought to himself loudly.

"Yeah, I'm here! Why haven't you used me yet? Don't tell me you think you're gonna win with stats alone? He's more than double your level!" Versys informed.

"Now you tell me… Anyways, do you know about this contractor thing he's talking about?"

"Now I do… I'll tell you about it more in detail later, but here's the gist. Remember when you were outside Daster talking to Core about the dream you had? You tried mentioning your System. Remember when you felt that light-headed sensation? At that time he actually felt it too. That was when you linked with him," Versys explained.

"That's not good… Is there any way to un-link it? Core can't kill anything, so he's useless…" Asked Rein while paying attention to Luther, who was whistling, throwing his spear around for fun.

"No… Once you have a contractor set, you can't unlink them unless they die… Which means you're stuck with him forever," Versys informed, which made Rein's disappointment grow greater. He readied his swords again and glared at Luther.

"Here are the stats of his System. I'll put up an image in your mind," Versys obtained the information from the times the two made contact.

Steal System:

Level: 211

Health: 5130/5130

Energy: 2565/2565

Speed: 607.9

Strength: 802.3

Defense: 722.0

Intellect: 402.8

[Skills]

UNKNOWN

"Hey, you done talking to your System yet?" As Luther said that, he appeared directly in front of Rein's face with supersonic speed.

Rein reacted by taking a step back, then began retaliating, swinging at him vigorously, which he dodged effortlessly.

"Man, I don't have time for this. Let me show you something cool," Luther said, Rein giving a confused reaction.

Luther's eyes turned red, but not like usual. Usually, the red glow would only appear for a brief moment, but this time, it persisted. His hair began glowing a bright golden color, with a smile appearing on his face.

"This is a skill called 'System Take-over', STO for short. You manifest 100% of your system. Also changes the color of your hair, which is kinda cliché, but looks cool. During this state, all of your stats gain a buff, and you're able to use multiple powers at once."

Rein couldn't take his eyes off of him. He stared in amazement, feeling the soul-crushing power that emanated from his enemy. He was speechless, unable to utter a word.

"I know I said I wouldn't use my rings, but I change my mind," as those words left Luther's mouth, he flew to the air, creating a sonic boom at his departure.

Rein blocked the impact with his swords, his eyes darting around, trying to spot Luther. Suddenly, he felt something grab his foot. He looked down, seeing a hand with red rings on it gripping his boot, not letting go. Panicking, he carved out the earth under him, leaving a crater where he stood. There was nothing in it, and the arm no longer held his foot. He looked up, seeing Luther holding his hand out. Suddenly, Rein felt himself being pulled in, raising him up from the ground towards Luther's direction. When he reached him, Luther grabbed him by the collar and laughed innocently, yet devilishly at the same time.

"There's no earth up here, how're you gonna block the sound this time?" His outstretched hand, instead of producing a gravitational pull, began producing the same deadly sound that Rein's ears were familiar with.

Rein's eyes turned red, surrounding the two with a tornado that gusted around them, releasing Rein from Luther's grasp and incasing himself in a gale of wind, blocking out most of the noise.

"What the? Did you switch Springs?" Luther was caught off guard, confused as to how Rein was able to use the wind Spring.

Rein used his memory flip skill, allowing him to manifest a Spring from his history for 1 minute every 24 hours.

Rein floated in the air, breathing heavily. He felt his energy diminishing.

Health: 867/1500

Energy: 239/750 (CRITICAL CONDITION)

"Well, impressive kid. Didn't expect that from you," he said, impressed.

Rein used the air to jump above him, leaving one of his swords floating where he took off. He continued floating above him, suddenly dropping on him, clashing his sword with Luther's glaive. Shortly after, to Luther's surprise, he felt a sharp edge pierce his cheek, scratching him, but not drawing blood. Rein had re-activated his earth Spring, extending the steel of the floating sword he left into Luther's cheek, who was very softly grazed. Luther thrust Rein away, sending him plummeting to the ground. Rein waved his free hand, making a path of earth rise to catch Rein mid-fall, using it to maneuver around his enemy.

He flew through the air, catching his falling sword, then continued circling around Luther as he floated there with his eyes closed. He created paths of earth that floated in the air, using them to swiftly encircle Luther, who returned his glaive to his weapon ring, then opened his eyes. Rein blinked and Luther was gone. He felt his hold over the earth under him weakening, then eventually fade away, once again sending him flying into the ground. He was able to soften his landing but not with nearly as much effectiveness as before. He reacted with extreme confusion, sure he still had energy left over.

Energy: 102/750 (CRITICAL CONDITION)

Once again, he felt himself being pulled in, but this time, it was into the ground under him. He once again blew out the earth he stood on, removing the barrier between Luther and him, who was somehow in an intangible state, standing inside of the floor. As the ground dissipated from under him, he flew towards his enemy, suctioning him to Luther's location much faster. Luther caught him by the face, Rein struggling to remove his arm. He tried attacking him with the earth that surrounded them, but like before, his hold over his Springs felt incredibly weak.

"There's no defending yourself this time. Let's see, you have 751 health? I'll do just under that then."

He emitted sound from his hand again, but this time, it was much stronger than before. It was as if he could control the level of the Springs he used. Rein's health began dropping at an alarming rate, spewing blood from his mouth and ears. He felt as if his head was being ripped off, then re-attached, then ripped off again, over and over again until he lost his mind.

Health: 767/1500

Health: 538/1500

Health: 234/1500

Health: 1/1500

When Luther released his grip on his face, Rein's eyes were as white as snow, with no pupils in sight. Luther cast his half-dead body aside, wiping off Rein's blood from his hand.

"Sheesh, learn some manners kid," he sighed then looked away, beginning to fly away slowly. "The kid has moderate regeneration, so he should be able to recover. There's no doubt I did some permanent internal damage though. My guess is that he won't recover past 200 health," he said to himself, his hair turning grey again as he de-activated STO.

Suddenly, Luther noticed the blood that was smeared on his hand began disintegrating, shortly before the area around Rein and Luther became encased in a gargantuan earth dome, cutting off Luther's escape route.

"The fuck?" He turned back around at Rein, who still lay on the floor, lifeless. Luther had an air of confusion as he couldn't see Rein well due to the darkness, at least until he took a closer look. Rein's hair had turned pitch black, and he could see his fingers twitching while he was on the ground.

"Did he..? No way!" Panicked, he flew back in Rein's direction at full speed. When he arrived, Rein was no longer on the ground. He was standing, glaring at Luther menacingly with his night-black hair and crimson red eyes. Luther began laughing hysterically, putting his hand up to his face out of laughter.

"You continue to surprise me, Rein Alister!"