CHAPTER 61: THE FEELING OF DEATH

Of course I didn’t want to use too much power originally but there doesn’t seem to be a chance to win without it. So I’d rather see how far I can push it at the very least.

All of a sudden it sounds as if multiple people are running towards me, coming into light is a bunch of full body shadows. Some slightly resembling Art while others are just a pure black body.

Swoosh! Whiff!!! Whiff!! I start dodging as they throw punches towards me, managing to avoid each one so far. Counting a total of five of them plus Art, wherever he is.

This is definitely getting a bit tiresome to dodge so many attacks at once but they aren’t very fast. I’m going to assume that it is a diversion so he can pull of some sort of sneak attack.

It’d probably be smart of me to destroy these shadow body things before he gets an opportunity to utilize them.

Behind you. Step left quickly.

I take Rika’s words seriously and take a step to my left as a sword goes past me. POW!! I feel one of the cold hands of the shadow doubles punch across my face.

It catches me off guard but it doesn’t take me long to reorient myself.

Handle the doubles before it screws us over.

I’m about to handle them now... I just needed a second to think. Plus I would’ve handled them if that bastard didn’t suddenly appear from behind me.

He’s definitely quite the challenge but it’s not something that I can’t handle somehow. I’ll just need to work my ass off to beat him here so that we can continue.

I reel my arm back and then punch towards the shadow doubles as a red wave of energy bursts out from my hand. BURST!!!! It goes flying through the doubles and appears to completely wipe them out.

Now with them wiped out I can focus on the real enemy at hand here.

Clang!!! Instinctively I lifted my hand just in time to block against Art’s sword but the scales were definitely not holding up well right now. Blood begins dripping down my hand once again before hitting the ground.

"How many times can block my blade before it becomes an issue? Truly I’m baffled by your strength so far." Art speaks with a bit of a surprised tone.

I push back against his blade a bit as he moves with it. "Guess there’s only one way to find out." I respond with a calm, yet serious tone.

Pierce! Splat. A sudden sharp pain pierces my back from behind as blood smacks the ground. I look down to see that a sword was coming out from my chest all of a sudden.

"The shadows serve their purposes quite well, sometimes it just takes a bit for them to get a good read on the attacker." Art says with a sinister smile across his face.

I couldn’t prepare for that attack... My instincts were good the entire fight up until that point. Why is it that I managed to get stabbed all of a sudden?!

It also managed to stand right through my heart so this is probably going to be the end of my life after all. How unlucky.

I feel the blade slowly pull out from my back before falling onto the ground. Thud!

"Don’t worry, I’ll make your friends death quick too." Art says as he begins to walk away.

I can feel everything slowing down around me with each moment that passes by, the pain radiating throughout my body. Blood dripping down the side of my mouth as I lay here.

Why is it that I could survive multiple slashes from a giant sword of a demon but this is what gets me? I guess he never directly went for my heart in that fight so this is a lot different.

Still to lose this badly out of nowhere after doing so well is sad.

Maybe this means I’ll finally get to see Minami after enduring so much since the world went to shit. I do miss her quite a bit... It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to get a chance to see her again.

At least I tried my hardest to do everything the right way.

I close my eyes as I embrace death for the first time, the first real time. It felt cold as everything around me went dark.

The feeling of floating was once again something I couldn’t mistake for anything else. I wasn’t up in some heavenly place... No, I was back in the damn abyss once again.

A place that I can’t seem to avoid no matter what but how could I be here if the floor was also the abyss? Maybe it’s some sort of strange coincidence or something.

Every thought I had gets interrupted by a warm embrace, one that I could remember from the last time I was here. "I’m sorry for not realizing that one was behind us." Rika says with a bit of sadness in her voice.

I’d never really heard her sad before so this was new to me but it wasn’t really her fault at the end of the day. I also should’ve expected an attack from behind by another double.

"It wasn’t your fault. I should’ve expected it." I reply.

The floating feeling disappears as she helps ground me. "We both made a mistake but it’s not over." Rika says while pushing past the sadness in her voice.

I look at Rika as she hugs me, noticing all the scars on her back. I wonder how many battles she’s been in her time before this.

"I’m dead, aren’t I?" I question with a bit of confusion.

She lets go of me and stares directly at me. "Did you forget how powerful you are? You have the power of a dragon dwelling within you, this won’t kill you permanently." Rika responds with a small smile forming.

I knew exactly what that means, it’s time for me stand back up. I’ll need to say goodbye to this abyss once again so that I can fight against a man well versed in the abyss of the tower floor.