Nel leaped from her spot as she avoided the wires that came towards her. As she landed on the upper balcony, another set of wires came at her. She somersaulted out of the way as a section of the balcony was cut away.

Weedree was positioned on the top of the chandelier. After losing his right arm, he was finding it difficult to attack since he only had four wires remaining. He couldn't even hang in the air without his other arm, so he had to position himself on the chandelier. Being on the ground left him exposed to Nel, along with the overall chaos that was taking place.

"Weedree... Must kill you!"

Nel leaned back as another wire came from overhead. His movements were becoming more and more predictable thanks to the missing arm. She then used quickstep to move across the dome. She then leaped to the side as another wire came vertically at her, scaring the balcony she was on.

"Stop moving..." Weedree growled. "You coward! Too scared to face Weedree!"

Nel smiled in response. "Checkmate," She then disappeared from her spot using quickstep.

"Where is she?" Weedree lost all traces of her.

His sensing ability was severely reduced by the loss of his right arm. He then realised that Nel was using that to her advantage.

"Oh no you don't," he positioned his wires close to the chandelier as he could and had his thread wrapped close by so he could sense where she would strike him.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't Nel's target. By the time he sensed Nel above him, she had just cut the link on the chandelier, causing it to drop. Weedree leaped from the Chandelier and tried to ravel some of his wires to catch himself. While doing that, Nel sprang from the ceiling towards Weedree, and before he noticed, Nel drop kicked him in the chest. The unmistakable sound of bones cracking could be heard as Weedree was launched into the balcony, impacting hard enough to crack the wall. His ribs were shattered by Nel's kick, and the impact practically broke every fragile bone in his body.

Nel set herself on the chandelier and used it to Quickstep close to Weedree's mangled body, deactivating her Piercer Eyes. "It's over." She said to him, not sure if he could even hear him. "You lost the minute I cut your arm off. I admit you got the best of me last time cause of your unpredictable way of fighting. This time you had fewer wires, and you had to stay in one place in order to attack."

There was no response from Weedree, not even any movement.

"Looks like I killed him just from that kick. Well, his body didn't seem particularly strong to begin with." She then turned her back on him to look over the balcony.

Life of Darkness

His life was full of darkness.

He was blind from birth, unable to see the world as it was.

Being robbed of a sense, the body instinctively enhances the others to make up for the lost. However, the boy's body was fragile, making it difficult to move.

However, the man tried to live his life. Despite having no sight, he found soles in sewing. He was very good at it. Day in and day out, he simply sewed, making himself a world of his own.

The world around him, however, was not a good one. His communication skills were terrible since he isolated himself day in and day out. His father, a drunkard, fought with his mother constantly, making horrible references to their 'useless son.'

One day, he got so drunk that he assaulted his mother with a knife. The boy could only hear the horrible schemes from downstairs. Eventually, he heard silence, followed by footsteps walking up the stairs. The father came after him, holding a bloodied knife, wanting to purge his life of the wastes of skin around him.

The man could only hear his father enter the room, walking up to him and prepared to stab him to death. The boy, out of instinct, stabbed his sewing needle in the father's eye. As the father cried in agony, the boy got up and tried to run. Making it as far as the door, something stabbed him in the back, piercing his heart. Everything was simply black, just like normal. He died like he lived, in total darkness.

****

Weedree's here again. Is this the end?

"You're giving up so soon?"

What?

"You'll just surrender your life here and now. Fine by me, that means this body is mine."

Who are you?

"Your source of power, and very soon, your very being. Very soon your pathetic human soul will be swallowed up, and I, will finally take over this imitation body of yours. But first, let's have some fun,"

****

Nel froze in place as she felt a cold shiver rush down her. What?! What is this mana?!

"Marionette!"

Nel turned quickly as she saw Weedree free himself from the rubble, a green mist seeping from him.

Miasma!

Suddenly, something flew past Nel. It was Weedree's right arm. It attached itself to Weedree's stub; the wire penetrated the skin, sewing the arm back.

Nel lowered her center of gravity on instinct, adopting a defensive stance. Something's wrong. He seems... Different... His mana's increased dramatically. It also feels different the before.

Weedree stretched his newly attached arm, using his wire's to move the fingers, making them twitch in an unnatural way. "Must... kill...." Weedree's voice sounded strange. It was a duel voice, one with his normal voice, and the other sounding like a small boy. "Must... Kill..."

Nel activated her piercer eyes, breaking out into a nervous sweat. "This doesn't look good."

Cliff vs. Edasa

Cliff and Edasa's fists collided, sending a shockwave of air outwards from the impact. They then withdrew and stuck again, resulting in the same force. They then withdrew and leaped back in unison.

"Not bad..." Edasa said, "quite impressive for a human to match my strength."

Cliff's gaze drifted towards the rear of the ballroom, glancing at the girl in the tube. That must be the girl bunny ears was talking about. "Why are you going through so much trouble to revive this dead girl?" He asked.

"Because she's important to mother," Edasa said scowling. "It's only natural to want to help your family."

"Really, you guy's are a family?" Cliff's voice had a hint of anger behind it.

"True, we're not related by blood, but family ties can run deep wherever they run." Edasa's fist then trembled. "That's what the others were to me. Thatch, Frosh and Sharly. They were my family. And they died at your hands!" Edasa charged Cliff and punched down on him with his massive fist.

Cliff raised both his arms and blocked the blow, skidding along the ground due to the force. "Don't get me wrong, I know that kind of bond." Cliff lowered his arms, thinking about the other Hunters. "But that still doesn't excuse you guys of what you've done." He then put his arms out in a boxing stance. "That's why we have to stop you!"

****

Gamba lunged himself at Yuki, bringing his arm blade overhead. Yuki glanced the blow off with his sword and struck upwards, catching Gamba in the shoulder. Gamba responded by swinging his blade along the ground up towards Yuki, who leaped back, landing his back on a column nearby. Gamba lunged himself forwards once more at Yuki. Yuki ducked out of the way as the blow sliced through the column like it was nothing. Yuki staggered slightly before striking his blade into the ground to support himself and swung round to face Gamba.

Shit! This guy's more aggressive than before!

Gamba leaped in the air, bringing his blade downwards towards Yuki.

But he seems slower,

Yuki sidesteps to avoid the blow and stuck his blade into one of the gaps in the blade, pinning it down. He then lifted himself up off the ground with his sword and kicked Gamba in the face. When he was staggered, Yuki freed his blade, pivoted and swiped up at Gamba, who recovered enough to leap out of the way. However, Yuki's blade still impacted, lightly grazing his chest.

As Gamba regained his footing, he started laughing hysterically. "This pain..." he wheezed, "this ecstasy..." he then extended his arms outwards as though he was yelling to heaven. "I haven't had this much fun in my life!!"

Yuki clutched his chest hard. The pain was starting to intensify, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep fighting. Is he trying to drag this out?

"Come on!" Gamba snarled, "Let's carry on!!" he then lunged towards Yuki. "The fun's only just begun!!"

****

Cliff charged Edasa again, leaping to the side to avoid a blow from him and punched him in the flank, sending him skidding back several meters. Edasa recovered quickly and struck down on Cliff who stepped out of the way just in the nick of time and punched up into his gut. Edasa grunted as Cliff pulled back.

He's quite strong. He must be enhancing his strength. Edasa thought as Cliff readopted his stance.

Cliff slowly circled around, keeping his guard up, waiting for Edasa to make the first move.

Realizing this, Edasa responded by punching the ground, causing a slight tremor which made Cliff stagger slightly. Edasa then took a step forwards, swinging out a giant fist at Cliff. Unable to dodge, Cliff put his arms up and blocked the blow, but was knocked back from the force.

"Uhh!" Cliff rolled along the ground before getting back to his feet.

A shadow then covered him. Looking up he saw Edasa coming towards him. Cliff leaped out of the way as Edasa smashed into the ground with his giant foot, sending bits of the floor flying in all directions.

Cliff shielded himself from the individual fragments of rock that came flying at him. He then ducked as Edasa swung a chop at him. Cliff charged forwards and stuck up into Edasa's gut again, with more force than the last time. Edasa gasped as he took several steps back, clutching his gut. Cliff then charged forwards and landed two hits on his face, before upper-cutting him hard enough to force him to stand back up dazed.

Ok, Looks like I can do this! Cliff charged in again swinging in a fist to Edasa's gut while the muscles were loose.

However, he didn't realize that Edasa was smiling, and as his fist closed in, Edasa muttered softly, "Fortress."

Cliff's fist impacted on his gut in a blow that could potentially shatter a brick wall. However, Edasa didn't even flinch. He lowered his head back down on the bewildered Cliff with a large grin on his face.

"Wha- What the?" Cliff instantly pulled back shaking his hand.

"You're quite an impressive opponent," Edasa said to him. "You're the first to make me use my ability, not something that can be ignored."

Ability?! Cliff bit down and punched Edasa again. Just like before, it felt like he was hitting solid metal. It's like he solidified his body.

"My turn." Edasa then punched Cliff as hard as he could. Sending Cliff flying back towards where Max and Melvin were, smashing through a column and impacting on the wall, before sprawling on the ground coughing up blood.

"Cliff!"

"You ok, big guy?!"

Cliff struggled back to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth. "I'm fine, just stay put,"

Edasa grinned. "Still alive, you really are quite resilient."

Cliff waddled back out, putting his fists up.

"Try all you want, you won't hurt me anymore. My 'Fortress' Ability makes my body as hard as steel. You don't have the strength to penetrate my armor."

"Well see about that," Cliff then charged Edasa once again. There must be some weak point. He sidestepped to avoid a blow from Edasa. And with his body lowered, Cliff punched up into Edasa's face, catching him on the chin. However, it did nothing. Edasa simply pushed his head towards Cliff, making his arm buckle. No way?! Even his head's solid!

"I told you, IT'S USELESS!!!" Edasa then brought his fist up from the ground and smacked Cliff's entitle body with his giant palm, launching him through the air, smashing a hole into a separate part of the wall. "Looks like that's the end of-"

Before he could finish, Max charged up towards him and dropped kicked him in the back, emitting as much flames as he could. As the flames resided, Max fell back grabbing his leg. "Ow... That hurt..." He muttered. He was too weak at the moment.

Melvin was right, the fight with Thatch had taken more out of him than he thought. As a result, he struggled to even hurt Edasa when they fought up top. And after the beating he took, he was in no shape to fight.

"In a hurry to die?" Edasa said as he turned to face Max who was sprawled on the ground. "You couldn't do anything before, what makes you think you could do any better now." he then raised a chop in the air and brought it down on him. His fist then impacted on a barrier that formed around Max, strong enough to block the strike. Edasa tilted his head to see Melvin holding up his wand. "You too?"

Melvin then dropped down to the ground, huffing and puffing. That's all I can do. I'm too low on Mana to summon Cerberus.

Edasa then strides towards the exhausted Melvin, intending to finish him off first, but was then stopped by Max grabbing his ankle.

"Where are you going..." He wheezed, trying to get back to his feet, using Edasa's body as support. Edasa moved out of the way, letting Max drop to the ground.

"Fine, since you're in a hurry, I'll finish you off first."

"Hold it!"

Edasa looked up and saw Cliff emerging from the hole. "Still alive huh?"

Cliff walked forwards and spat out blood before wiping his mouth. "We're still fighting."

"You can't do anything either. At this point, this is a one-sided massacre."

Cliff smiled as stopped short of Max and Edasa. "I told you I'll take care of this." He said to Max. "I'm not out of options yet."

Seeing the resolve in his eyes, Max nodded and crawled past Edasa towards the collapsed Melvin.

"Really?" Edasa said. "You can't penetrate my fortress with your strength."

"Hm, that's where you're wrong." Cliff then parted his legs and clenched his muscles. "Been a while, but looks like I'll have to level up."

"Level up?"

Cliff then started to growl, which quickly turned into a yell. A warm air started to heat up as a distortion began to form around Cliff. He slowly lifted his arms up, crossing them across his body as his skin started to glow red. "LEVEL UP!!!" He then quickly parted his arms as a wave of steam emitted from him.

"What!" Edasa was shocked by Cliff's appearance. His skin was emitting steam, and his skin was glowing a slight pink color. "What is this?"

Cliff smiled as he stood at ease. He then rushed forwards, covering the distance in less than a second, punching deep into Edasa's gut. A large amount of blood came from Edasa's mouth as his eye's bulged.

"Wha!?" He then took a few steps back before falling to his knee's clutching his gut. I-Impossible, He just punched through my fortress! As he looked up, Cliff was already close by, striking him in the cheek, sending him tumbling through the air.

"Looks like I'm starting to overpower you." Cliff mocked.

Max and Melvin looked dumbfounded at the incredible strength Cliff just demonstrated.

Edasa was even more shocked, crawling back to his feet as he continually vomited blood. "What... is this..." he choked, "What have you done?"

"A special mana focusing technique passed down through my cell of Hunters. The level up." Cliff answered. "The human brain naturally holds the body back from using its full strength in order to prevent it from tearing itself apart, making the body about 10x weaker than it really is." He then raised two fingers. "Level up taps into that strength in two ways, removing the mental restrictions on the body, and finally, accelerates my blood."

Edasa looked shocked by the last point. "Accelerates... Your blood!"

Cliff nodded. "The steam you see emanating from my body is evaporated sweat, a result of an increase in my body temperature. As I am now, all my physical attributes have doubled."

Edasa finally got back to his feet. "That's.... Impossible!" Edasa swung out a punch at Cliff, who responded my punching back into his fist, causing another shockwave of air. However, blood shot from Edasa's wrist as his bones buckled, staggering him.

"This is the End!" Cliff then pressed the advantage by pushing his arm up then releasing a flurry of punches at Edasa, punching him so fast that to Max and Melvin it looked like he had extra fists popping out of his body.

Edasa took blows on his chest and face, breaking most of his bones before the strikes reseeded. As he fell forwards, Cliff pulled back a fist and uppercut Edasa In the face, putting in enough force to send him flying upwards, shooting him right through the ceiling of the dome.

"Whoa..." Melvin breathed.

"That was awesome!" Max said, sounding like a toddler.

The steam on Cliff's body started to reside as his skin returned to its normal color. "You guy's ok." He said to the two.

"Yeah," Melvin nodded. "Running on fumes though."

"Yeah, I'm ok." Max nodded, rubbing his leg. "My leg's killing me though."

"Not surprising, I nearly broke my hand the first time," Cliff replied to Max.

Suddenly, a loud crash came behind them, coming from a collection of dust a few feet away. The three turned in response, slightly worried who it was. Tristan and Bill stood by watching what was at a safe distance.

Yuki was involved in the crash, but as the dust settled what could be seen was Gamba, forced into through the wall, with horrible gashes across his body, and Yuki, panting as he stood by the hole created.

Life of Slaughter

How, how is this happening?

Gamba forced himself up from the rubble. He had several gashes across his body.

He's overpowering me?

Yuki stood close by, gripping his chest in an attempt to keep the pain at bay. Their fight had been fought tooth and nail, with Yuki on the defensive mostly while Gamba attacked wildly, swinging his blade strong enough to rip through the very ground. However, he attacked with such barbaric ferocity this time round that Yuki was able to find and exploit openings created, either kicking or using his sword to score a hit.

There was also something else Yuki had noticed, Gamba was slowing down, and it wasn't just because he was trying to drag the battle out for as long as he could. What had happened recently was Gamba backing Yuki to the wall before swiping across the wall. Yuki had ducked to avoid his head being taken off and kicked Gamba into the weakened wall into the next room.

How, how is this possible? Gamba got back up, fixing Yuki with a menacing glare. He's half dead already, how is he able to cut me?

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to kill this human?"

Shut up!

Gamba gripped his head as though he was having a headache, giggling even more. "Just you watch," He said to the voice in his head. "I'll kill him, kill him, kill him..." Gamba's giggle started to turn into a psychotic laughter. "I'll kill you, kill, kill, kill, kill,"

Yuki gritted his teeth to bear the pain as he held out his sword at Gamba as he continued his psychotic rant.

"Kill, kill, kill, kill, I love to kill, I love blood, gore, guts, IT'S SO MUCH FUN!!!"

Gamba then launched himself at Yuki.

"I FEEL SO ALIVE!!!!" Yuki sidestepped out of the way as Gamba landed, splitting the ground with his blade, and then ran past him into the hole he created, right into the empty room.

Crap, this guy's really losing it.

Gamba launched from his spot into the room. He then charged at Yuki, grinding his blade across the ground as he ran. Yuki turned quickly and lifted his blade up to block the incoming blow from the deranged Gamba. This time though, he hit with enough force to send Yuki skidding back, almost making him lose his balance. Gamba then followed up with a flurry of flimsy strikes.

Yuki stood by and parried each one, trying to keep the pain in his chest at bay. Eventually, he backed right into a wall where he dodged immediately to the side to avoid being decapitated by Gamba's blade, which tore right through the wall as easily as everything else.

"Stop moving!"

Gamba lifted his blade up and brought it down on Yuki. on his knees and unable to dodge this time, Yuki raised his sword and blocked the blow. Gamba continued to push down on Yuki.

Crap! This is bad!

Yuki could feel the pressure on his torso. The bandages were now completely stained red.

"Too late for you..." Gamba jeered, saliva dripping down a side of his mouth. "The voice in my head is telling me to kill you... It's never wrong you see...."

He forced more pressure on his arm, pushing down harder on Yuki.

"It's human nature anyway... All humans kill... that's how it's always been... And I love killing... I love seeing the real essence of humans..." Gamba lowered his head closer to the struggling Yuki. "And I will see the true you! I will break you like an egg! I will see the real you!"

Yuki looked up and grinned at Gamba. "Sorry, but what you see is the real me," He then started pushing up, getting back to his feet.

"What?" Gamba's expression changed as he realized he was being overpowered.

"And I told you, that I won't be killed by a thug like you,"

Yuki forced Gamba's blade close to his chest, forcing Gamba to use his free hand to push on his blade in an attempt to regain the momentum he had, but to no avail. "Wha-What are you? How can you have this kind of strength?"

"Cause there's someone out there I have to find.... someone I need to kill.... until then,"

Yuki forced Gamba back with a final push, causing his blade to fly upwards from the force.

"I refuse to lose to scum like you!" Yuki gripped his sword and rushed forwards, slicing through Gamba's chest.

"I-Im...possi..."

His vision fell fast as Gamba fell forwards onto the ground.

****

His upbringing was a good one. He grew into a wealthy family, got all he ever wanted. His life was perfect, that was until, and everything was taken away from him in a blink of an eye.

A relative, jealous of his father, arranged to have his mansion burned to the ground, and only he survived. However, a part of him died that day.

He spends the rest of his childhood in an orphanage, burned with horrible scars and a raging anger. One night, when he was walking back alone; a mugger jumped him, demanding everything he didn't have. When he resisted, the man drew a knife and tried to kill him. Though the resulting struggle, the boy managed to get ahold of the knife and plunged it into the man's neck. Most would be horrified by what they had just done, but not the boy, in fact, as he watched the life drain from the man, he relished, he was smiling. Not only that, he felt such pleasure just by taking that man's life.

It wasn't just the one time. Out of curiosity, the man killed again, and again, and again. His fascination quickly became an obsession, and very soon, a serial killer was born. He killed at random, fascinated at the point when someone dies, all the emotion they keep below the skin comes up.

Eventually, he found the man who ruined his life, the man who burnt his home to the ground, the man who took everything from him. He will kill him. The man salivated at the very thought of skinning the man, seeing how he felt below that corrupted skin of his. He followed him into a wrestling; meeting up with a woman and two colleagues. He then ambushed them in their box and assaulted them with an axe. He didn't even try to be subtle with his attack. Screams of agony could be heard from around the ring, as the windows of the box were stained red with blood. Security forced themselves in and to their horror discovered the man in the center of the room, holding an axe, and covered head to toe in blood. Body parts were scattered throughout the room. At his feet was the relative, his ribs exposed and cracked open. He was half alive, crying from the excruciating pain he was in. Tilted his head towards the newcomers and smiled.

"Look uncle, we have an audience."

With a deranged smile, the man charged the men who opened fire on him. Soaking up the bullets like a sponge, he laid into the security team of ten, killing all but one before he finally succumbed to his wounds. He fell to his knees, threw away the axe and raised his arms upwards, relishing in everything he had done, leaving behind no regrets as a bullet pierced his skull.

****

Yuki collapsed to his knees and clutched his gut. His hand was instantly soaked with his blood.

"Damn..... think I pushed a bit too hard there," Yuki chuckles, "Big guy and Nel's gonna chew me out for this, maybe even that scruffy-looking guy who healed me." He then struggled back to his feet. "Oh well, not like I care." He then waddled over to the hole in the wall. "Better see if the others are ok."

"Finally, took long enough,"

Yuki froze as he heard a voice behind him. It sounded like Gamba, but it was different like two people were talking.

"Who'd have thought that this psychotic human would stay in control for that long."

Yuki slowly turned his head, eyes wide with disbelief. "No way..."

Gamba was getting back up, with a violet-colored Miasma rising from him. "He really raged this body. Oh well. It's an imitation anyway."

Yuki brought his sword up and lowered his center of gravity. He could tell there was something wrong with his opponent.

"I have to thank you, Human." Gamba slowly turned around, lifting up his arm blade. His wounds were starting to close at an unnatural speed. "If it weren't for you pushing this imitation to its limit, I probably wouldn't have been able to take over his body."

"What?!"

Gamba smiled and pointed his blade at Yuki. "In return, I'll ensure your death is as painless as possible."

Allisa vs. Rubrik

Rubrik kept his distance from Allisa, examining the blade Allisa had. When he touched it, it felt incredibly hot, like he was touching a hot iron. In fact, it was hot enough to burn through his 'vibrate' ability to cut him.

Allisa kept her blade out in front of her. She remembered well his abilities. So far, she's lost to him twice, the first time she barely put up a fight, and the second time from a struggle where she couldn't even scratch him.

This time would be different since she awakened a power in her sword that is capable of cutting him. Then again, Allisa knew full well that Rubrik wasn't using his full power before, and this time, he was going to come at her with everything he had.

Rubrik then lowered his body and crossed his arms, keeping his hands flat. "Vibrate! Maxim!"

The air around Rubrik's arms then started to move, forming what looked like a chainsaw extending from his wrists. He then teleported close to Allisa and brought down one of his invisible blades at Allisa, who then blocked it in response. The two blades collided with a massive clash, creating a powerful gust from the impact. Rubrik then withdrew and attacked Allisa with his second blade, which Allisa parried. The three blades clashed together again and again in a flurry of swings from both Allisa and Rubrik.

At one point, Allisa almost lost her footing and Rubrik swiped horizontally. Allisa managed to duck quickly as the blade sent a wave of compressed air overhead, slicing through the pillar and scaring the wall. While on the ground, Allisa brought her pommel into Rubrik's flank, pushing him back. She then scattered to her feet and tried to swing at Rubrik, who teleported into the air. The two blades of air had dissipated as Rubrik put both of his palms forwards.

"Pulse! Maxim!"

As the shockwave burst from his palms, Allisa swung her blade up, sending flames emanating from the blade up at the shockwave. The two forces clashed and caused a mini-explosion, creating a powerful gust that blew Rubrik back, crashing him into the balcony, collapsing an entire segment. Allisa charged forwards at the dust where Rubrik was hidden from view. As she reached it, Rubrik's palm stuck out of the dust, close to Allisa's face, causing her to skid to a stop.

"Pulse!"

A mini shockwave emitted from Rubrik's palm, forcing Allisa off her feet, and she even lost the grip on her sword. Rubrik burst from the dust with his hand held back in a blade shape.

"Vibrate!"

Allisa teleported out, just before Rubrik's hand touched her. She repaired a few feet back, landing on the ground before righting herself. She took the moment to catch her breath as she regained her composure. This guy... really is tough.

Rubrik stood his ground as he looked over himself. The blast, which sent him flying back just, caught him, but not too badly. The more serious damage was from the impact, but just as small cuts along his body. That weapon of hers, she was able to counter my 'pulse' by using flames from the blade. His eye is focused on Allisa's sword. I just can't work this girl out. How did she get that kind of power in such a short period of time?

Allisa then summoned as much flames as she could muster, swung out her sword horizontally sending a wave of flames in the shape of a crescent. Rurbik stood at the ready, hooked the fingers in his left palm, and stick it forwards towards the coming flames.

"Pulse!"

The shockwave emanating from his hand shielded him from the flames by breaking the crescent at the center as the arcs flew past him.

"That's the best you can do?" Rubrik jeered as the flames in front of him dissipated, an expression that was short-lived. "What?!"

Allisa was seen, just a few feet from Rubrik, swinging her blade downwards. She'd used the flames to cover her charge and was now in a position to take a swing at Rubrik. Before he could even speak or teleport out of the way, Allisa's blade struck him in the chest, slicing a large gash.

"Y-you..."

In response, Rubrik brought his palm up to Allisa's gut, who quickly sidestepped out of the way.

"I'm not falling for that again!" She said as she swung her blade downwards, falling to notice that Rubrik's hand was shaped like a gun, with his finger pointing at Allisa's flank.

"White noise! Bullet!"

A distortion shot out of his finger and passed through Allisa at incredible speeds. Though it left no physical damage, Allisa felt a jolt of pain reminiscent to what she felt at the end of their last encounter, though just briefly. As Allisa staggered, Rubrik pivoted and roundabout kicked Allisa sending her rolling on the ground.

He raised one of his palms above his head and chopped down yelling "Vibrate! Left arm!"

Allisa rolled out of the way as a shockwave split the ground due to Rubrik's invisible blade. As she got up to her knees, Rubrik had both his palms out, putting them together while cooking his fingers.

"PULSE! CANNON!" summoning all the power he had, a concentrated blast shot out of his hands towards Allisa with the strength of an artillery gun.

Allisa jumped out of the way, just barely avoiding it, scraping her left side, ripping a part of her top and some of her skin as it passed by, Impacting on the wall with enough force to break through it.

Rubrik fired another shot at Allisa, who this time teleported out of the way. "Damn you!!" he yelled as he looked around to see where Allisa went. The skin on his hands had been ripped off due to the sheer force of the shot. "Where are you?!" He yelled.

"Up here!"

Rubrik turned his head and saw Allisa in the air, and behind here was a massive amount of flames behind her, emanating from her sword.

"What!?"

"Vermillion Strike!!"

Allisa swung down with all her might, sending the flames directly at Rubrik, impacting on the ground in a large explosion. Rubrik appeared a few feet away, only narrowly avoiding the explosion.

"That was too close." He said. Suddenly a blade stuck out over his shoulder, close to his head, a sword with a blade that was completely black. Behind him was Allisa holding her blade at Rubrik. "What are you waiting for?" Rubrik asked Allisa. "Why are you hesitating? Don't you want to kill me?"

"No," Allisa replied.

"No? Aren't I your enemy?"

"Yeah, you are. But I don't have any reason to keep fighting you." She looked down at the pool of blood that gathered around Rubrik's feet. The wound she gave him on his chest was bleeding profusely, aggravated by not stopping to rest. And there were also his destroyed hands from his 'pulse cannon.' "If we keep fighting, you'll die from your injuries."

Rubrik couldn't help but chuckle. "Showing mercy to an enemy, or is it pity?"

Allisa lowered her sword from Rubrik's shoulder. "I only came to stop you and the Alchemist and put a stop to the killings. I'm not here to kill you or anything, I'm just here to end this."

"Do you really think you've ended things?" Rubrik said. "Mother won't give up her goal. The only way you can stop her is by killing her." Rubrik then turned sharply. "And I won't let you do that."

Allisa was about to reply when a crashing sound came behind her. Suddenly someone was sent flying across the room, landing close by Allisa and Rubrik. As the dust settled, a pit formed in Allisa's stomach.

In the crater was a practically half dead Yuki.

"That was disappointing." A strange voice came from behind Allisa, sounding as though two people were speaking. Allisa and Rubrik turned to the source of the voice. What they were was Gamba, with a violet miasma seeping from him. His blade shone with an incredible intensity, emitting violet sparks of lightning from the blade. "I was hoping the human would put up more of a fight than that. But, in the end, I guess he's still a human."

Allisa stood frozen in place as she felt a horrible feeling of malice emanating from Gamba. It reminded her strongly of the boy Yun, that oppressing feeling of pure evil.

Rubrik stood just as shocked. "G-Gamba?" He breathed.

"Huh?" Gamba replied. "Oh, you mean that psychotic human whose body I took."

"What?" Rubrik raised his arms as he realized something was wrong with Gamba. "You, you're not Gamba!"

The person who looked like Gamba smiled. "Nope. Names Rogner, and I'm a demon."