Fight for Survival

Underneath a beautiful starry sky, there were two humans and a terrifying creature. Jaden, Kenzo, and a HOUM.

The expressions on the two CREDHOS were as dark as they could be. They both wondered when the reinforcements would arrive. It still didn't make sense that no one had shown up after all this time.

'We can only rely on ourselves. Maybe that was our mistake, fighting while expecting help.' Jaden thought.

When he had died, no one had come to his aid. Why did he think it would be different this time? Where had this hope come from?

Furthermore, if he had become a CREDHOS, it was not to wait for help from anyone but to be able to defend himself.

So if in his very first battle, he already had to depend on others, why not just give up on the idea of becoming a CREDHOS?

'What if I died from exhaustion while fighting a HOUM? Would it count as being killed by it?' Jaden couldn't die in the literal sense, so if he overheated or something similar, he wouldn't be in any danger because he would just come back to life.

The real issue was whether it would be considered a natural death or a death by a HOUM. If it was the former, then he could go as far as he wanted. However, Jaden could never test this theory.

On the other hand, while Jaden was lost in thought, Kenzo had the same train of thought.

'Since when is the hero the one who waits for help? I'm supposed to come to people's aid, not wait for their help.'

A hero had to overcome all trials without expecting anything from anyone. Kenzo questioned himself because he was going against his own nature—the nature of a hero. He decided to focus only on the present moment.

"Hey, genius! How about we fight as if we were the reinforcements?" Kenzo said with a determined and serious tone.

"If the hero is already here, who else can come to our aid?" Jaden replied reassuringly. This time, his body was surrounded by the lightning-shaped purple aura.

At the beginning of the battle, he could only momentarily let out this aura on his body, and it would react to the HOUM on its own as long as the HOUM could touch it.

Now that the aura covered his entire body, every blow delivered and received would be a problem for the HOUM.

Jaden had been trying to achieve this result ever since his uncle had talked to him about the energy present in Lavenders, each with their own colors and abilities.

His uncle had mentioned that Louf's energy was blue, thinking that this pointer would help him visualize this mysterious energy better.

'My ancestors must have really lacked inspiration when they named it the 'anti-HOUM energy.' They could have come up with something catchier.' Jaden complained about the long name of the mysterious aura he was emitting.

Jaden's body was surrounded by a kind of violet lightning that appeared and disappeared rapidly. Just as he was contemplating his ancestors' lack of creativity, he heard Kenzo's voice resonating.

"Let's go, Jaden!" Kenzo had seemingly vanished, leaving behind sparks. Jaden immediately followed suit.

Kenzo attacked the HOUM from behind, throwing a punch that the creature evaded by tilting its head backward.

"Bad choice," Kenzo murmured as he observed the HOUM's movement, then added right after, "Shadow Impact."

On instinct, the HOUM raised both hands to its face to block the blow. There was a heavy "thud" sound, and the HOUM was propelled in Jaden's direction, who attempted to touch the monster as it flew.

However, the HOUM changed direction in mid-air, and Jaden could only touch its wrist. Once it landed, the HOUM regained its balance and disappeared. This time, though, its face and hands remained visible.

"Haha, I think you nullified that annoying ability, my acolyte!" Kenzo exclaimed when he saw the HOUM attempting to surprise them with its stealth.

The HOUM seemed shocked by the new turn of events but acted immediately, appearing in front of Kenzo with a nearly charged fireball.

The fireball was large and approaching rapidly. 'Damn, I think I'm done for.' Kenzo thought, as he tried to figure out a way to dodge this potentially lethal attack.

However, he heard a voice using a word that caught his attention.

"Small!"

The voice was hurried, but the technique worked effectively.

Everything around the HOUM turned black, making it unable to see anything. Jaden had created a kind of small world by removing all the light surrounding the HOUM, rendering it blind because there was no target without light.

Taking advantage of this action, Kenzo shouted as urgently as Jaden.

"Cage!" Creating a cage of air and light around the HOUM, which couldn't contain its flames. The flame collided with the cage, causing an explosion that almost burned Kenzo.

The force sent him flying to the other side, and he was in a very bad state. If his clothes were ordinary, he would probably be without them at that moment.

There was blood running down his face, his hair was disheveled, his arms were bleeding, but he was smiling.

'What a maniac this guy is.' Jaden thought, smiling at the sight of his teammate getting back up after that shock and seemingly enjoying himself despite his disastrous condition.

The explosion's impact had also affected Jaden, but he only had a few minor scratches to show for it.

The HOUM, on the other hand, didn't look as impressive as before. Although its regeneration seemed slower, it was still regenerating.

Seeing the HOUM, both CREDHOS knew that there wouldn't be a better opportunity to finish it off.

Jaden sprinted forward even before the dust from the explosion had cleared. Once in front of the HOUM, he compressed the air in his palm before creating an explosion.

This explosion used Jaden's violet aura as debris, and its purpose was not to blow up the HOUM but to create an opportunity for his aura to forcefully touch his opponent. The result was not bad, as it caused aging effects on the HOUM's entire body.

Some of the shards from the explosion fell onto the wounds on the HOUM, which were just beginning to regenerate, causing the regeneration to stop.

Jaden followed up with punches and kicks that the HOUM evaded thanks to its superior speed. While the two were playing cat and mouse, Kenzo advanced and kicked the HOUM, forcing it to take the hit, or else it would have received a blow from Jaden.

"Shadow Impact." This time, the sound was even heavier than before, starting with the pressure of the blow and followed by the impact created by the technique. Both CREDHOS immediately went on the hunt for their opponents.

The HOUM got up and attacked Kenzo first.

'The problem with this guy is that his punches are too powerful; each one sends us flying.' Jaden pondered.

Their best strategy was to use the HOUM's caution toward Jaden and let Kenzo attack, but in a single blow, he could separate them.

Jaden struck with all his might with a punch while Kenzo was making his return. To their surprise, the HOUM did not evade Jaden's punch; instead, it grabbed it. Jaden's fist was in the palm of the HOUM's hand.

There was disbelief and panic on Jaden's face; his brain seemed to freeze as he couldn't believe what was happening.

'What just happened? Has the HOUM developed an immunity?' Jaden turned his eyes to the hand, which was visibly aging.

But before he had time to think of anything else, he took a punch right in the stomach that sent him flying, along with a part of the HOUM's hand that had grabbed his.

The turn the battle had taken left Kenzo troubled; he stopped his run to try to assist Jaden.

That was his mistake, and he found himself with his back against the ground, the HOUM's hand on his face, apparently scraping his body against the floor.

Kenzo enveloped his body in flames, forcing the HOUM to let go, but not before its hand was completely burnt. Kenzo's face was burnt as well.

He struggled to get up, taking advantage of the fact that the HOUM no longer had a hand and thus limited mobility.

"Cage!" Kenzo shouted, joining his hands together, with the fingers of his right hand outside the thumb, placed between the thumb and index finger of his left hand, with both thumbs next to each other.

"Infernal Impact!" Kenzo shouted with all his might.

At that moment, blue flames tinged with black appeared inside the ice cage, and the resulting explosion was a mix of white, blue, and black.

Jaden was barely getting up from the HOUM's punch and was in shock. This technique was simply magnificent, from the formation of the cage to the explosion. Who would have thought that such beauty could be created amidst the brutality?

'Do heroes all need such flashy moves?' thought Jaden with a smile.

It was undoubtedly Kenzo's last card.

Right after the explosion ended, Kenzo fell on his back, completely drained of strength. The fight was over for him, regardless of whether the HOUM was dead or not.

'I've reached my limit.' Kenzo thought, a little disappointed that he couldn't do any better.

Jaden ran over to him and positioned himself as if protecting him, waiting to see the outcome.

The fog gradually dissipated, and Jaden prayed that his eyes would reveal a monster lying in agony or nothing at all, which could be explained by being disintegrated.

An outline appeared, changing Jaden's expression. Once everything had cleared, the HOUM was still there, but it no longer had hands at shoulder height, and there was a massive burn on its face, regenerating very slowly. The HOUM was not a pretty sight, but it was still alive.

'I think we're one of those CREDHOS who die on their first missions.' Kenzo said to himself, exasperated at the sight of the HOUM.

"It would be better if you left, Jaden." Kenzo said in a low voice.

Jaden responded simply with a chuckle, then assumed a combat stance. Kenzo knew from this that no argument would convince this guy to flee.

"ROAR!"

The HOUM roared so loudly that people kilometers away probably heard it. For those nearby who weren't CREDHOS, they would likely have fainted.

After that, Jaden felt a flash, and the HOUM's hand was already on his neck.

'Impossible!' Jaden cried in his mind. He still had the anti-HOUM energy, but it was acting slower and slower.

However, what shocked Jaden the most was the fact that the HOUM's hand had completely regenerated. He could see how quickly the HOUM's second hand was growing back.

It was growing back; regeneration couldn't be used in this context according to Jaden. In an instant, the HOUM was good as new. It struck Jaden against the ground, once, and then again.

Then it cut off its hand, which regrew once more, and grabbed Jaden by the neck. He was very close to death. A few more blows, and he would truly die.

However, Jaden didn't let despair take over. He gathered all his strength, thinking about what might happen if he died, if this HOUM took his life.

At that moment, violet flames enveloped his body. This was due to the rapid aging of the HOUM's hand, which turned to dust in the blink of an eye.

Jaden was literally on fire, and the HOUM retreated a few meters. However, two words escaped from Jaden's mouth.

"Slash."

Despite his condition, his voice was calm.

The result of that voice was the appearance of a sharp flame that cut off both of the HOUM's feet at what should have been its ankles. Some of these flames remained on the HOUM's feet, drastically slowing down its regeneration abilities.

And it was right after that Jaden added another word.

"Punishment."

This time, the voice was not just gentle; there was a kind of command in it, it was undeniable, like the word of a dictator.

The violet flames had hints of red in them, and they didn't come from Jaden but from the ground beneath the HOUM, burning it slowly. The HOUM was defenseless; it couldn't move, it could only watch its body turn to ashes.

If this flame reached its head, it would be truly dead, but it couldn't move, the flame had reached its abdomen and showed no signs of stopping.

The end of the HOUM was near, everyone could see it, just a few moments, and the battle that seemed to have taken an eternity was coming to an end.

However... the flame extinguished itself abruptly. Jaden, who was a few meters from the HOUM, also fell to the ground, right next to his teammate.

Kenzo, seeing the result, smiled at his friend and said.

"That move was enormous." His voice was very weak, but he spoke with pride.

"Not as beautiful as yours." Jaden replied. Kenzo could barely understand what he was saying, but he still understood.

The two looked at the others and smiled. They knew they could no longer do anything, that it was all over for them, as the HOUM was still regenerating, much slower than before, but visibly regenerating.

It seemed like they had given up, but in their minds, they were shouting at their bodies, wanting them to give them one last chance to act.

But they had reached their limits. Jaden was the one suffering the most from this situation because he was about to lose someone.

As their minds pressured their bodies, a familiar female voice, well-known to the two almost-dead CREDHOS, echoed.

"Not bad, kiddos. Hahaha, not bad at all."