![Dying Throes [Izou's B-rank exam] Empty](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
With the warning of a huge storm blowing from the sea, the residents of Cedar had already withdrawn to the safety of their homes. Doors were locked shut and windows reinforced as families and individuals were prepared to wait the storm out throughout the night. As a port town, the residents of Cedar knew how to prepare for such storms, as it wasn’t such a rare occurrence. The Knights of the church were rushing around town, taking their responsibility as the protectors of the town very seriously, making sure there no one was left out. When all was said and done, even the knights retreated back to their church, seeking shelter as the first signs of the storm arrived.
Billowing storm clouds began to approach the city, and within seconds, wherever the clouds moved over were entirely drenched in a torrential downpour. Lightning bolts raced across the skies, always just missing the roof of some building and hitting the ground instead, smashing into a cluster of sparks before dying away while thunder just continued to beat its resounding drum-like booms. And as the dark skies brightened up every so often with the flash of lightning, a dark figure could be seen crouching at the top of the church’s highest spire. A large sword hung from his hand, water dripping down the tip of the sword and joining the rest of the raindrops to the ground.
A single strand of long and wide fabric whipping around in the wind indicated where his head was, and the glowing red line across the head allowed the man below to see where his eyes were. Below the church, with his hand holding up a cigarette that was remarkably staying lit amidst the heavy rain to his lips and taking a long puff before moving his hand away, was a man dressed in a simple white hoodie with red accents, a pair of blue jeans and sneakers. And he was completely drenched. His eyes were looking straight up at the figure on top of the church, and he was smirking.
His free hand rose up into the air, and Izou extended his middle finger. It had been a very tedious cat-and-mouse chase across a few towns, and finally they were nearing the end. With a roar that was distorted by the helmet, the warrior in completely black armour leapt off the roof and angled himself downwards, feet first as he held his sword above his head with two hands.
Izou scoffed and with a deft flick of his right hand, tossed the cigarette away to the ground. The moment the cigarette left his hand, a suit of red armour rushed into existence to garb Izou and with the hand that once held the cigarette, a long red cross spear was now in its grip. When the vertical swing came, further amplified with all the momentum of the drop, Izou moved his left hand upwards in the direction of the dark knight and expelled a burst of magic energy. The sudden expulsion of magic power seemed to stop the dark knight in space for a split second as he tried his best to complete his sword swing, but in the end, the knight-errant in red armour lucked out. The burst of energy threw the dark knight back into the air.
Before he could flip over, Izou swung his cross spear and grabbed the front portion of the spear shaft before thrusting it upwards, stabbing into the dark knight’s armour and then swinging him down into the ground with a smash. By then, Izou’s lower arms were already engulfed with a red magical circle that seemed to be pulsating with flames and at the top of the spear shaft just before the neck of the spear was a purple magical circle. The dark knight laid on the ground a second too long, having been caught off guard and having failed to tech his way out of the drop. With a step forward, Izou completed a series of three strikes.
The red magical circles around his arm had boosted his physical strength allowing him to sweep upwards with his spear, launching the dark knight into the air with ease. He swiftly followed up with a thrust forward and gave chase to end it with a downwards sweep to slam the airborne knight into the ground again. A muffled groan of pain came from the dark knight, but this time he had managed to roll the moment he hit the ground and jumped back on his feet. He never stopped to catch his breath, choosing to rush forward instead with his sword swinging.
Every attack seemed to be wildly launched, but the skill behind those strikes were obvious. Despite fighting an already weakened opponent, Izou still had to forcefully defend against the incoming strikes. Any wrong move and he would find himself fatally wounded by the berserker-like dark knight. With both hands holding the spear in front of him, Izou had to continuously move around and hold out his spear to defend against the blows. The two warriors moved around in a circle amidst the downpour, their feet kicking up water at every move. The dark knight’s movements were much slower than his previous form, but skill made up for speed.
The last horizontal swing from him, no doubt defended against by Izou, still carried enough power to send the knight-errant sliding backwards. Izou’s left arm was numb from absorbing so many hits and quickly released the spear, while his right arm swung the spear to the side to disperse the momentum of the attack. The dark knight tried to take a few steps but staggered instead. He was almost out of energy. He knew this as well. And he was putting everything into his last attack. Energy the color of blood flowed towards his greatsword and just as Izou lunged forward to stop him from pulling it off, the dark knight swung his cleaver-like greatsword and released a blood red arc of energy towards Izou.
With his spear to his side, Izou held out his left hand in front of him and once again expelled a burst of magical energy, using to blast and scatter the energy arc slicing towards him. As his right foot stepped down and put the dark knight within striking range, Izou grabbed Evil Annihilation with both hands and spun in a full circle on where he stood with spear extended, slashing across the dark knight with the full momentum of the spin and throwing him to the ground. And he never stood back up.
As quickly as he had Requipped his armour, Izou shelved it and was back in his normal clothes. A cigarette was already at his mouth, lit. With his left hand in his pocket, Izou walked casually up to the dark knight’s unmoving body. He could still hear faint breathing from the full-face helmet. The Dies Irae were known to be slightly more forceful in their approach on evil-doers, but they were never killers. Kneeling down to grab the dark knight’s heavy sword, Izou stored it into his Requip dimension with a slight of hand before getting back up. Next, he pulled the dark knight to the doors of Cedar’s great church and with an exertion of strength, threw the dark knight against the wooden doors with a loud crash. That ought to get their attention.
When he finally returned to the Dies Irae headquarters, the first place he went was the trophy room. With a flick of his hand, the dark knight’s greatsword appeared in his right hand, tip down. He finally had a trophy good enough to join the achievements of the other Dies Irae members before him.
[1290 words]
Billowing storm clouds began to approach the city, and within seconds, wherever the clouds moved over were entirely drenched in a torrential downpour. Lightning bolts raced across the skies, always just missing the roof of some building and hitting the ground instead, smashing into a cluster of sparks before dying away while thunder just continued to beat its resounding drum-like booms. And as the dark skies brightened up every so often with the flash of lightning, a dark figure could be seen crouching at the top of the church’s highest spire. A large sword hung from his hand, water dripping down the tip of the sword and joining the rest of the raindrops to the ground.
A single strand of long and wide fabric whipping around in the wind indicated where his head was, and the glowing red line across the head allowed the man below to see where his eyes were. Below the church, with his hand holding up a cigarette that was remarkably staying lit amidst the heavy rain to his lips and taking a long puff before moving his hand away, was a man dressed in a simple white hoodie with red accents, a pair of blue jeans and sneakers. And he was completely drenched. His eyes were looking straight up at the figure on top of the church, and he was smirking.
His free hand rose up into the air, and Izou extended his middle finger. It had been a very tedious cat-and-mouse chase across a few towns, and finally they were nearing the end. With a roar that was distorted by the helmet, the warrior in completely black armour leapt off the roof and angled himself downwards, feet first as he held his sword above his head with two hands.
Izou scoffed and with a deft flick of his right hand, tossed the cigarette away to the ground. The moment the cigarette left his hand, a suit of red armour rushed into existence to garb Izou and with the hand that once held the cigarette, a long red cross spear was now in its grip. When the vertical swing came, further amplified with all the momentum of the drop, Izou moved his left hand upwards in the direction of the dark knight and expelled a burst of magic energy. The sudden expulsion of magic power seemed to stop the dark knight in space for a split second as he tried his best to complete his sword swing, but in the end, the knight-errant in red armour lucked out. The burst of energy threw the dark knight back into the air.
Before he could flip over, Izou swung his cross spear and grabbed the front portion of the spear shaft before thrusting it upwards, stabbing into the dark knight’s armour and then swinging him down into the ground with a smash. By then, Izou’s lower arms were already engulfed with a red magical circle that seemed to be pulsating with flames and at the top of the spear shaft just before the neck of the spear was a purple magical circle. The dark knight laid on the ground a second too long, having been caught off guard and having failed to tech his way out of the drop. With a step forward, Izou completed a series of three strikes.
The red magical circles around his arm had boosted his physical strength allowing him to sweep upwards with his spear, launching the dark knight into the air with ease. He swiftly followed up with a thrust forward and gave chase to end it with a downwards sweep to slam the airborne knight into the ground again. A muffled groan of pain came from the dark knight, but this time he had managed to roll the moment he hit the ground and jumped back on his feet. He never stopped to catch his breath, choosing to rush forward instead with his sword swinging.
Every attack seemed to be wildly launched, but the skill behind those strikes were obvious. Despite fighting an already weakened opponent, Izou still had to forcefully defend against the incoming strikes. Any wrong move and he would find himself fatally wounded by the berserker-like dark knight. With both hands holding the spear in front of him, Izou had to continuously move around and hold out his spear to defend against the blows. The two warriors moved around in a circle amidst the downpour, their feet kicking up water at every move. The dark knight’s movements were much slower than his previous form, but skill made up for speed.
The last horizontal swing from him, no doubt defended against by Izou, still carried enough power to send the knight-errant sliding backwards. Izou’s left arm was numb from absorbing so many hits and quickly released the spear, while his right arm swung the spear to the side to disperse the momentum of the attack. The dark knight tried to take a few steps but staggered instead. He was almost out of energy. He knew this as well. And he was putting everything into his last attack. Energy the color of blood flowed towards his greatsword and just as Izou lunged forward to stop him from pulling it off, the dark knight swung his cleaver-like greatsword and released a blood red arc of energy towards Izou.
With his spear to his side, Izou held out his left hand in front of him and once again expelled a burst of magical energy, using to blast and scatter the energy arc slicing towards him. As his right foot stepped down and put the dark knight within striking range, Izou grabbed Evil Annihilation with both hands and spun in a full circle on where he stood with spear extended, slashing across the dark knight with the full momentum of the spin and throwing him to the ground. And he never stood back up.
As quickly as he had Requipped his armour, Izou shelved it and was back in his normal clothes. A cigarette was already at his mouth, lit. With his left hand in his pocket, Izou walked casually up to the dark knight’s unmoving body. He could still hear faint breathing from the full-face helmet. The Dies Irae were known to be slightly more forceful in their approach on evil-doers, but they were never killers. Kneeling down to grab the dark knight’s heavy sword, Izou stored it into his Requip dimension with a slight of hand before getting back up. Next, he pulled the dark knight to the doors of Cedar’s great church and with an exertion of strength, threw the dark knight against the wooden doors with a loud crash. That ought to get their attention.
When he finally returned to the Dies Irae headquarters, the first place he went was the trophy room. With a flick of his hand, the dark knight’s greatsword appeared in his right hand, tip down. He finally had a trophy good enough to join the achievements of the other Dies Irae members before him.
[1290 words]
