If one asked Talon, what was perhaps the most painful moment in his life? He would've answered with no hesitation that it was his mother's death. Even though she had died weeks ago, the pain was still as vivid as the first moment he got to know about it.
That pain changed him from the ground up. It brought him a harsh realization that life wouldn't always go his way even if he worked his hardest. Some things simply aren't meant to happen and one of them was him saving his mother from death in time. That fact birthed something in him that he wasn't aware of.
It birthed in him a small ember of darkness, something he would've been repulsed by before. That ember of darkness affected his mind down to how he even fights. His swift, elegant and effective fighting style had been mixed with a strong hint of brutality.
If before Talon would just aim for a clean kill. Now, he sought more blood and death. He didn't care if he ended up completely covered in the blood of his enemies, he simply relished in that feeling without knowing it.
That feeling only grew within him with time.
***
The Sand Eaters encircled Talon as they attacked him all at the same time. The latter leaped high in the air as he clenched his fist. The fire burning around his hand flared up as he targeted one of the worms.
"AGH!!!" With clenched teeth, he launched a strong punch aimed at the monster's body.
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
The moment his fist connected, a loud explosion erupted on top of the monster's giant body as it was blasted back with smoke rising from its body. Talon landed on the ground, only to move instantly in order to dodge a set of spikes that flew toward him. A rain of projectiles chased him wherever he went.
Meanwhile, the rest of the worms dove down under him as the sand started shifting quickly. Talon almost lost his balance for a moment.
But, he quickly adjusted his body and dashed away before one of the worms could swallow him from beneath. With his extremely athletic body, instantaneous movements like this even when he wasn't balanced became very easy.
He could perform feats that a normal body would never dream of. Yet, even with that, the sheer number of monsters was slowly overwhelming him.
As he jumped in the air again to aim for another target. Talon's senses suddenly went off as he looked to the side. One of the other Sand Eaters was already a few inches away from him.
'Shit!' Cursing inwardly, Talon immediately deactivated the Azure Flames in his left hand and activated Tear of Reality. Then, he swung his arm down.
*BOOOM*
The monster was blasted back as blood gushed out of the injury. It wiggled on the ground for a moment before it stopped moving and died. The attack had hit a very sensitive area of its body from very up close. That made the number of worms 8 after two were killed.
However, with no time to even breathe, Talon was assaulted by another set of Spikes. He tried to dodge them all using Future Sight. But, the moment he activated it, he was suddenly assaulted with a sharp pain in his eyes as his vision turned very hazy. Swaying to the side, the spikes hit his body from the back.
"Agh!!" The young man stumbled forward before he quickly stretched his body, pushing the spikes out and started running as his aura exploded. Coating his burnt hands with Azure Flames again, he maniacally jumped in the air and punched the worm that attacked him from behind. The monster was thrown back to the ground with a loud thud.
"Hah!! Hah!! Hah!!!" Breathing heavily, Talon looked down at his abdomen and left arm. Big gaping holes could be seen riddling his body and gushing dangerous amounts of blood.
'Dammit, why are these spikes so sharp? My skin doesn't even stand a chance against them.'
"Talon!" Acrypha watched the fight with a pale expression. This was one of the worst fights she had seen him go through so far. Not only because he was at a complete disadvantage but also because he had to keep in mind that Arryn was still there, as open as ever to attacks.
'He can't keep on going for long... And there are three left...' She frowned even harder when she realized the current condition her humans was in.
He was still standing, but she didn't even understand how he was able to keep standing. He looked like a piece of swiss cheese with how many injuries he had on him. Yet, he still didn't seem to even care at all.
The Azure Flames were still burning in his hands and he was still channeling every ounce of Aetheris he had. Even when it constantly regenerates, he would continue to use it all instantly.
'Three more...' Wiping the red and blue blood off his face, he finally took a fighting stance again.
"Talon! Behind you!" Acrypha yelled.
It took him a few seconds for his brain to snap out of the daze.
Then, as he was about to rush them, he suddenly noticed something. One of the worms that was aiming for him had suddenly turned around and dove underground.
'What?!'
Looking at the direction it was going for, his heart went completely cold. Arryn was sitting there.
'Oh no!!!' Realizing his blunder, Talon instantly dashed toward the boy using every point of speed he had. He crossed 30 meters almost instantly. But, he realized that the worm was way too close for him to get in time.
"Arryn!!" Yelling loudly, everything suddenly turned slower. 'I won't make it!!' Clenching his teeth, he was about to activate something he had left in the back of his arsenal. For a desperate situation, desperate measures were required and this was as desperate as it could get.
'I'm such an idiot!!'
But, a split second before the worm could reach Arryn, out of nowhere, something fell from the sky and exploded on the monster's head. Then, a series of explosions erupted after that one that blasted the monster's body to pieces.
At the same time, the two worms behind him were assaulted by the same explosives as they fell to the ground dead almost instantly.
"What?" Talon frowned as he looked up. Multiple figures flashed across his eyes as they flew in the air. 'They killed those worms instantly? Who are they?'
"Target down, Emino!" One voice said loudly with an excited laugh.
"The two over here are down too!" The other said.
"There are two more unknown individuals down there! I can see them!" A third one added.
"Let's go down first. Be careful." The man assumed to be Emino declared loudly.
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