I stared at Isabella in silence. We both were staring at each other. Doubt, suspicion and a deep desire to kill buried inside our gazes. All rational thought had somehow left my mind— due my curse [Frenzied Madman] I was even more vulnerable to mental attacks. This one being especially potent. I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else but shredding the body of Isabella to pieces.
'I have to kill her. Yes, i must kill her for trying to betray me....no, for betraying me! She has to pay for what she did during the bear attack...'
The next moment, I had rushed forward and closed the distance between us.
Isabella seemed to have anticipated this. However, instead of becoming one with the wind and running away like before, she summoned her duplicate and created a wind sword by manipulating the air around her, rushing forward.
I was unarmed and lacked experience, but I was filled with fury and wrath. She might hesitant, but I won't. I never will. I have resolved to win this battle royal, after all. And to do that, I needed to get rid of her sooner or later. This was the perfect opportunity to do so.
"Ahh!!"
I lunged forward and attempted to grab Isabella, but she nimbly dodged and swung her wind sword, narrowly beheading me, only leaving behind a shallow cut on my cheek.
"Tch."
She moved to the side, making way for the duplicate who was rushing forward carrying a large boulder in her arms, to ram with it mercilessly. My eyes widened, but I was too late to react.
'Did I need to, though?'
Instead of running away, or trying to dodge. I just rushed forward towards the rushing duplicate. My body colliding with the boulder it was carrying, cracking it to pieces. Then, once the body of the duplicate was revealed, I swung my fist towards it.
But it disappeared before I could.
A moment later, Isabella had appeared from behind me and stabbed me ruthlessly with her wind blade, through my stomach. A pained groan escaped my lips.
'The duplicate was a decoy....'
I was too late to realize it due to my state of fury. She twisted her blade inside my body, wet sounds echoed from inside, the pain was unbearable. But my fury was stronger. Without hesitation, I pushed myself off the wind blade, jumped up and twisted my body in an impossible manner for a mundane human, then kicked her in the face before she could disappear into the wind.
"Arghh!"
She stumbled back, the kick was crushing, she was bleeding from her forehead, blood dripping down to the ground, as she stared at me with hatred.
The next second she was manipulating the air in a strange manner, gathering it around her and wrapping them around her body. The moment she did, she suddenly became even more agile. Comparable to me, could be stronger, but not by much.
For some reason, she didn't summon her duplicate. I came to the conclusion that it was likely because she didn't have innate spirit to maintain it any longer and is now resorting to brute force. Which, well, worked fine for me. Too fine, even!
"Hmph!"
We both became locked in an intense duel of hand-to-hand combat. Of course, it can hardly be called one. It was more feral and animalistic, driven mostly by our emotions, since we had lost most of our rationally due to the mental attack. Isabella would occasionally sharpen the wind around me, making my skin bleed, but not enough to leave behind a serious wound.
I would sometimes punch her, kick her in the face, but the damage was minimal due to the strange defense being augmented by wind gave her. Most of the times, I would just miss and hit air, then be forced to look around like a fool, before she appears behind me and deals a devastating attack.
Breathing heavily, we finally moved away from each other, jumping back and circling around, reevaluating each other. Isabella gave a crooked smile.
"Not bad for a retard."
My breathing grew heavier, my eyes burning with anger at her insult.
"Not bad for a slut, either."
That seemed to have gotten on her nerves, her eyes narrowing for a moment. But then, I saw something else. Was it hesitation? Confusion? A hint of realization? But as quickly as it came, it had gone away, washed away by something strange. What was that?
I didn't get time to ponder it though. Isabella was already upon me once again. This time, it became how obvious her exhusation was. She wasn't using her wind blades, she couldn't maintain her sword. At most, all she could do was become one with the wind and move around from one point to another.
Meanwhile, I had alot of innate spirit to spare, but my body was covered in a significant amount of wounds compared to her. If this goes on any longer, I'll end up succumbing to my wounds and dying. Is that her plan? If it is, I won't let her have her way!
"Raahhh!!"
'I want to release it all...'
I felt a strange sensation deep within me. A deep foreboding sense of hatred and anger towards the world. The sensation was satisfying and terrifying at the same time. I wanted to release it to the world. Release it on her. To make her feel the amount of anger I had stored.
Dodging another strike from her sword, I silently concentrated on the sensation. My rationally may be mostly gone, but this was an instinctive reaction. I haven't done as much mind training as Isabella did, but I haven't been slacking off either. Im capable of controlling my innate spirit, albeit just barely enough when in [The Zone]. This much alone was enough for me to use my first blessing ability.
[Fury Counter.]
'Where do I power? My legs, my arms.....my fist? Yeah. Fist works.'
As I moved back, avoiding another blow from Isabella, just barely. It managed to leave behind a deep wound on my shoulder. I won't be able to last too long. I need to try this. Right now. Now or never. My fist began overflowing with power, it was almost painful, but so, so satisfying. I just wanted to release it. To make her feel my fury.
"Rahhhhh!!!"
Crying out, I threw the punch towards her.
I missed.
Of course, she knew what was gonna happen. It was Isabella, after all. She knew something was abnormal with my fist due to her experience and avoided it by becoming one with the wind. So, I simply struck air. But that didn't stop the fury from being unleashed.
**Bang!!**
The strength of the punch was so violent, anyone could have mistook it for a grenade. The trees facing the direction where the punch was launched broke apart, falling to the ground with a thud. Birds fleed in fear. The ground shook for a few seconds. Then, everything was silent.
I fell to my knees, breathing heavily. Then, I looked over my shoulder towards Isabella. My eyes widened in despair.
'No, no....'
Isabella was approaching me with a dark smile, her steps slow and purposeful, her hand gripping the swirling wind blade tighter. Realization dawned on me. Once again, im reminded of how devious Isabella was.
'Was she faking it? Being out of innate spirit? To get me to use this powerful attack, be consumed by my own fury and Madness, until I ran out of innate spirit?'
Right now. I cant do anything but watch her. My legs wouldn't move. That attack alone took a huge toll on my body. I should of realized sooner. What a huge fool am I.
'I'm gonna die like this?'
I glanced down at my lap in confusion, trying to move my legs. Desperately trying to crawl away, but it was futile. She was towering over me, her blade ready to come down and severe my neck in one clean strike. I couldn't see well in the darkness, half her beautiful bloodied face illuminated by the silvery shine of the moonlight.
But then something moved in the darkness behind me. A soft rustle was heard. Then, a roar as something lunged forward to devour me whole. I looked back in shock.
It was the tiger.
It was rushing at me with it's mouth open to eat me.
It's body was terrifying mangled and injured, just like Isabella had said. Was it waiting for this opportunity? That we both are weakened by fighting each other? How cunning....
"How reckless. You really are just a mere beast, after all."
Isabella's tone was suddenly so even, as she glanced at the rushing tiger with indifference. Then, with a swift movement, she effortlessly beheaded the tiger, its corpse falling to the floor. Isabella stood above it, her tunic fluttering in the wind, almost like she was one with it.
I was shocked, amazed, terrified and confused at the same time.
Isabella finally stared back at me, a forceful smile on her lips, almost like she was resisting something.
"We need to kill the last two. Wake up, Morgan....we can't escape this loop unless we do, or this mental attack."
'Mental attack?'
I held my head in confusion, realization slowly dawning on me. That fight....it was orchestrated by the enemy. I felt like a fool once again, saved my by Isabella. If it wasn't for her, I would of been eaten by the tiger. She seemed strangely lucid during all this. While also pretending to be affected by it and fighting me to bait the tiger. Isabella truly is devious.
"What....what are you talking about?"
I had to resist the urge to lunge forward and attack her. The whispering in my ear to kill her growing louder, but I kept my composure. Only because the death of the tiger was proof
what's happening here, to me, to us.
"Both of them definitely struggles with direct combat. That's why they aren't showing themselves. We need to find them....quickly, Morgan. Before the mental attack grows stronger."
This was all too much for me, but in the end I nodded. I decided to follow her lead. At the same time, I felt.....useless. The confidence I gained from defeating the bear and snake in a 2v1 has vanished, completely. This was a whole new level of a threat. It reminded me of how dangerous the creatures in The Mulligan can be. If the creatures are this deadly, then what about the humans? How will I fare against a genuine human?
That thought made me shudder.
"I don't think....I can control my urges."
I murmed. Unlike her, I was very vulnerable to mental attacks due to my curse [Frenzied Madman] So, being this lucid for even a few seconds was a luxury for me. Soon enough, once my innate spirit replenishes somewhat, I will be attacking her again without restraint.
Isabella seemed to have realized that and nodded.
"Don't worry. We will split up. After the display you put up, im sure you are more than enough to handle one these cowardly animals."
I stared at her for a moment and nodded. Standing up on unsteady legs, I looked forward.
"I'll start searching this way."
Isabella gave a brief nod, her eyes fixed behind me.
"I'll go this way, then."
With that, we both split up and went our own ways. The battle with her had taken a toll on my body, but the wounds weren't too serious. The bleeding wasn't bad. The only problem was, I only had one arm at the moment. When in [The Zone] my mind barely registered this thought and instinctively used my remaining arm to the best of it's capability.
I'll have to adapt to it and deal with it. From what Isabella said, these animals shouldn't be too terrifying. Or atleast, I hope that is the case.
I continued briskly jogging down the path. Of course, it was endless and I already had a pretty good idea of when the loop started. So, before I reached that point, I halted. As expected, a figure walked out from the darkness.
It was me.
"How pathetic of you. You are still willing to trust her? Even after she betrayed you once? What exactly do you see in her? If I were you, I wouldn't hesitate to cut her down...."
I took a deep breath, looking at my duplicate with a restrained expression. It was hard holding back and trying not to listen to it, but I managed.
"You are just a hallucination. Come out and face me, you coward."
My words were met with silence. Before I finally saw it. Flying above and leisurely settling down on a branch of a tree. It was a parrot. A red parrot.
'Haven't I seen it before?'
As that thought appeared, the parrot spoke in perfect English, spooking me.
"Yes, you have. You have also met my companion, but you wouldn't remember her. Here I am, now. That's what matters. Aren't you gonna kill me? Aren't you gonna make sure my mental attack doesn't devour you whole? Come get me, then."
It's provocative words was annoying and got my nerves, but I controlled myself from succumbing to anger again. This time, just barely. The red parrot flew up into the sky, I followed directly behind it, rushing from one place to another.
"Dammit, stop running you stupid bird!"
________________________________________
On the other side....
I was running as fast as my legs could carry me. I was dehydrated, barely holding on only because of adrenaline. Luckily, I managed to kill the tiger by baiting it. But that didn't matter much. The tiger was just the one dealing the finishing blow. The other two, however, were the most deadly. I needed to find them and I hope Morgan was alright. No, he will be. That fight with him was....exhilarating.
'He is talented....I could definitely nurture him into a powerful ally in the future.'
As that thought appeared in my mind, I suddenly stopped. Something I didn't expect to happen, happend. Without me having to search for it, or yell out. The animal decided to show itself.
It was green, small and hopped with each step. I looked down in astonishment.
"A frog?"
I muttered, surprised. The frog looked up at me and opended it's "mouth" speaking in perfect English. If I hasn't heard the tiger speak before, this would of made my mouth open in shock.
"Haven't you been wanting to meet me? Here I am. Come kill me, if you dare."
Then, it began hopping away pitifully. I watched in amusement and rushed forward to capture it, but I hit an invisible wall the moment I tried to. Stumbling back, I fell on my ass and stared at it in confusion.
"Ah, I forgot to mention. Unless the loop is active, you can't hurt me."
My eyes widened, prompting the frog to continue.
"Someone from outside has to break the loop, if they wish to kill me."
'Wha–what....?'
'How am I supposed to kill this thing!'
I felt my heart grow heavy with despair.