Engulfing his sword with draconic flames, he attempted to take the initiative with a burst forward before any of his comrades joined him, gunning straight for the imposing banshee. He moved swiftly like a bullet, hopping around to avoid the whips of razor sharp, flashing hair while also cleaving through the same attacks that came at him from other angles.
'I can make it–!' He thought.
Just as he came within striking distance of the banshee, who remained hovering in the same spot, he began swinging his flaming sword towards her neck before–
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!!"
The ungodly scream caused space in front of him to ripple and contort from the violent shock of the banshee's voice, shattering his draconic armor and blasting him back with ferocious speed.
"Ghh–!" He winced.
"Emilio!" Joel and Asher shouted.
It was akin to being smacked by a point-blank natural disaster, unable to regain control of his own body before he slammed into a hill of dirt towards the back of the quarry.
"Nnngh…"
As he laid there, he could feel the aftershock of the scream throughout his body; it tore through his muscles and bludgeoned his internal organs. Blood seeped from his nose and ears as all he could hear was a distinct ringing.
He immediately focused healing magecraft through his body as Asher and Joel rushed over to his side while Vandread kept the swarm of hair at bay.
"Holy shit! You got blasted!" Joel said in a panic.
"Thanks for the input…" Emilio groaned out.
Asher looked at him, "You got close, but that scream seems to be her trump card."
"Yup. I figured that out the hard way," Emilio responded.
The two men helped him back to his feet after he healed his torn muscles and bruised organs, though he still didn't exactly feel pleasant as the aching didn't decrease.
This time, he regrew his scale armor, though it took to a darker shade resembling an onyx gem rather than blue scales; it was more refined with a helm of a faceless dragon.
"Can you use the fifth stage?" Asher asked, standing beside him.
"...I'm not there yet. I was able to use it consciously once, I think but…I can manage this much," Emilio said.
[Current Stage: 4/10 | Dragon Elite]
Asher looked at him as his devilish armor clad itself around his own body, allowing his deathly cape to descend from his shoulders, "It'll do. If I'm being honest anyway, you've surpassed me already–your magic is an edge that can't be undervalued."
"You're making me blush," Emilio said sarcastically.
"I'm serious. You've done well for yourself, Emilio," Asher said, "I'm saying this because I'm entrusting you to protect Arcadius once you're out of here–that's my only request."
"Of course. That goes without saying," Emilio said.
Joel stood with them, holding his sword up, "I feel left out."
"Reincarnator business," Emilio and Asher said in unison before dashing back into battle.
Fighting side-by-side with Asher, it felt as though they naturally read each other without needing to speak a word, dodging the same attacks in unison and both swinging their swords to repel a wall of hair at the same time; a synchronization of azure flames and devilish, decaying energy that propelled forth.
In such foreign land, the two reincarnators who shared in their origins as otherworlders, though they may share different blood, they may as well be brothers, reunited by circumstance in death.
"Asher!"
"Yeah!" Asher responded to the Dragonheart's call.
Stomping down with strength that rippled through the soil of the quarry, Asher summoned a massive coalescence of darkness that took the shape of a devil's face–[Hell Cleave].
Unleashing it forward, it cut through the massive barrier of hair before them, allowing Emilio to sprint in as he bolstered himself with [Draconic Might], running with enhanced swiftness as more of the deathly-white hair chased him.
It nipped at his heels, though that was a gentle way of putting it; it was more akin to a woodchipper chasing him from behind with blades that could mince a human into a fine, red mist.
'--Ruthless! If I slip up for a second, these hairs will dice me up!' He thought.
The moment he drew within a few meters of the wicked banshee, he stomped his foot down with tremendous force, conjuring a multi-layered wall of rock in front of himself just as the banshee unleashed one of her monstrous screams:
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!!"
Even from behind the protective barrier, Emilio could feel the powerful winds conjured through the force of the scream, witnessing the wall managing to take the brunt of the scream but still crumbling away all the same.
"Go!" Vandread shouted.
The silver-eyed man along with Joel and Asher were keeping the forest of eviscerating hairs at bay, like fighting sentient, razor-sharp threads.
There was no space for hesitation as he launched forward with another usage of [Draconic Might], closing in as he reared his sword before, squeezing the handle with both hands as he enveloped the blade in azure flames before swinging it forth.
A [Dragon Strike] was also infused in it, resulting in a slash powerful enough that the wind howled like the screaming of a banshee as he unleashed his attack, launching it straight against the abdominal region of the ghastly woman.
"He landed it!" Joel witnessed.
The result of the ultimate slash was a force of sheer wind pressure and wild flames that cut through a majority of the quarry, cutting through the boulders of stone like scissors to paper. A howl of chaotic blaze, leaving a cloud of black smoke in front of the Dragonheart as he huffed.
'Did that do it?' He questioned.
"Emilio!"
–It was Joel that shouted out; in that moment, it seemed the others were able to see through an angle of the smoke that he couldn't. Just as he looked up, he could see the silhouette of the haunting banshee behind the veil of the billowing smoke.
"--!"
A sudden, unified effort of his own sword and Asher's claymore as the Devilheart jumped to his side, stopped an onslaught of the eviscerating locks as they swept forward.
"She survived that?!" Emilio questioned.
"Look!" Asher said.
After jumping back, Emilio brought his gaze forward to see the powerful banshee reveal herself from the smoke: cut hairs fell from her body, seeming to have acted like an armor around her physical form.
"She used her hair as armor? You've got to be kidding me…" Emilio remarked.
"Nasty bitch!" Joel shouted.
Though the insult thrown by the silver-haired man required Vandread to yank Joel to the side by his arm as the banshee responded with a spear of hair that nearly skewered him.
"...Thanks," Joel said, nearly having been turned into a kebab.
"Focus," Vandread told him.
Regrouping for the moment, they found the threat of the banshee to be quite the troublesome one; an opponent with an incredibly solid defense and offense that made making progress difficult.
"If she can protect against an attack like Emilio just used with her hair, what the hell can we even do to hurt her…?" Joel wondered.
"That's a good question," Vandread said, "It'll be hard to find an opening to finish her from. She may look like a mindless monster, but she's cunning and experienced, it seems. She's been able to perfectly keep us separated and overwhelmed by her attacks."
Standing there for a moment, Emilio realized something as he watched the banshee, who simply hovered there, not moving from the spot she held in the quarry.
"She's not coming after us," he noted.
"Yeah? I noticed that as well, actually," Joel responded.
Asher squinted, "Emilio, are you thinking…"
"Yeah," Emilio nodded, "If she's guarding this one path, it must mean it's the right way to go. It's where we'll find the destination we're after. But that also means we need to get past her. Which…I have an idea for that."
All eyes were on him as he proposed the very concept of having an idea, which seemed to bring its own preconceived notions.
"If it's using that eye of yours, that shouldn't be an option," Vandread said.
"Agreed," Joel nodded.
Emilio sighed, "That wasn't my idea."
"It's not?" Joel looked at him.
The young Dragonheart looked over at Asher, making eye contact with him as if trying to have him understand his plan without saying it, "I think I can tap into "that", Asher. That…form I underwent when we fought Dread."
Asher looked shocked, "You can? Even if you can, that form is dangerous, Emilio. I'm doubtful that I'd be able to stop it again."
"Don't worry. I'll try to reel it in the best I can so you won't have to worry about me going berserk–probably," Emilio said.
"Hmm…it could work. That form does have the firepower we need," Asher held his own chin.
Joel looked confused, "Form? What form?"
Not answering quite yet, Emilio stepped forward, rolling his shoulders and taking in a long, deep breath into his lungs as he focused up. It wasn't some new development he had undergone; no, not quite.
It was something that had been there since he first manifested it; the "glitch in the system" as he likened it to.
'Ever since I accidentally underwent that transformation, it's like it's always there when I tap into the Dragonheart System–whispering into my ear, trying to stir me up and unleash "that"--up until now, I've only seen it as a curse, but…it might just work,' he thought.
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