Suffocating Pressure
A Standoff Between Bokun and His Pursuers.
The towering figure of Bokun had planted his feet firmly into the ground, widening his stance. Despite his outward calm, he knew he must remain focused to survive this encounter. Having witnessed Guhin's strength firsthand, he understood that these adversaries were formidable. Yet, Bokun never shied away from a challenge; on the contrary, it fueled his excitement.
"Let's see here, one, two, nine... Sixteen... Thirty-two... Fifty-three hmm, A direct approach is out of the question. I'll be surrounded in no time, but their left flank is wide open."
He murmured to himself before engaging. The fact that they were conjurers didn't faze him in the slightest. Conjured weapons were far weaker than those crafted by a blacksmith. Bokun's greatsword was no exception. Forged in the scorching flames of his homeland, his blade was second to none in terms of durability.
Meanwhile, Etro had found a small hill from which to watch his master prepare for battle. Standing on his hind legs, he let out a cheering neigh, a rallying cry for the life-or-death clash that was to come. Hearing Etro's war cry boosted Bokun's morale. Bending his knees, he charged their weakened left flank, the ground splintering beneath his feet.
"Here we go."
Three hunters readied themselves to engage Bokun. Bringing their hands together, they managed to materialize blades out of thin air and met him in the center of the battlefield.
Before they collided, Bokun spun his body, using the momentum to prepare a wild horizontal slash, ready to cleave the hunters into pieces with one fell sweep of his blade.
And so he did. The hunters attempted to block his incoming steel blade of death, but they were completely overpowered. The attack easily cut through them, the force behind it shredding their cleaved bodies into pieces.
A curtain of gore fell to the ground as Bokun continued his assault with a second dash, toward their front line. His sudden change of maneuver caught at least five of them off guard. Some were already repositioning themselves to reinforce the flank, the very one the smiling giant had set his sights on.
In the act of conjuring their weapons, he appeared before them with his greatsword high above his head. Unleashing his blade with all his might, he cut their legs from under them, followed by a wild swing that took their heads clean off.
Drenched in the blood of the hunters, nothing seemed to withstand his brutal onslaught. He prepared himself to add further pressure to their left flank, but before he committed to it, his gut feeling withheld him. The group he was about to charge had gathered around a hunter who was much slimmer than the rest of them. A broader design on the hunter's chest plate and a thinner waistline indicated that she was...
BOKUN: A woman? I've clearly overestimated you maggots, bringing a woman to fight your battle... Have you no shame.
Although Bokun mocked the idea that bringing a woman into battle was shameful, he quickly glanced around to make sure no woman from his homeland had overheard him. Even if it was impossible for any of them to be here, the women from his homeland were all fierce warriors. If they had overheard him, he would surely have been in trouble.
After his panicking glance, he set his sight back on the group before him. The female hunter stood in their midst, while her comrades held their hands above her mask. Waves of white pulsating energy emanated from their palms. Bokun could sense the gathering of magic around them; they must have been bestowing her with something. Hesitant to attack a woman, his warrior pride took over, and he charged them nonetheless.
BOKUN: Fine, If you want to do this, lady, I'll bring it to you! I'll show you... I'll show all of you how to fight with honor.
Closing in on them with incredible speed, a cold shiver crawled down his spine. In less than a second, he changed the position of his greatsword from offense to defense, only to be blown away by an incredible force. The clattering sound of steel against steel sent Bokun flying, landing in front of Guhin.
From amidst the group of hunters, a balled fist lingered in the air. It was the female hunter who attacked him. As she walked toward Bokun, the ink marking on her mask moved, twisting until it completely engulfed its entirety in a shade of black. Seeing her mask reform worried Guhin.
In addition to their ability to conjure weapons, they could transfer their power to one another. Usually, it took a considerable amount of time, making it difficult to use in battle. But with their numbers equal to a small army, they must have been planning this from the start. Struggling to keep himself together, Guhin kept his gaze fixed on the enhanced hunter approaching them.
In a swift motion, the hunter ripped the tarnished robes from her body, revealing her full suit of black-plated armor underneath. Not only had she gained a surge of power, but she had also undergone a change in appearance. Her mask had transformed into a helmet, dark horns curling upward from the helmet's visor, and a row of teeth engraved on the helmet's bevor.
BOKUN: "Man, She sure has a bite on her. I even blocked it."
Even though he used his greatsword to stop the impact, the force behind it got through. Bokun's greatsword trembled in his hands. Every cell within him was trying to get up, but despite his desire to continue fighting, his body was shutting down. The impact must have caused internal bleeding. Whenever he tried to speak or move, a nagging cough filled his mouth with blood.
GUHIN: No, I have to move. Why won't my body move?
The hunter stopped within a few feet of Bokun, extending her open hand toward him. Particles of dark matter swirled around her arm before materializing into a long blade of black steel. The magical scent of lemons she had turned into an odor of rotten fruit as she rested the blade's sharpened edge on Bokun's neck, shifting her gaze toward Guhin.
Instead of fearing death, Bokun embraced it. This was the second time he had met his match, and on the same day at that. Something he wasn't able to find back in his homeland. Being a warrior since birth, Bokun's dream was to die in battle. There was no reason to be sad at a moment like this, not when you were about to meet your ancestors in the afterlife. As he watched the blade lift from his neck, his broad smile returned.
BOKUN: Finish it... You freak.
GUHIN: I can't let that idiot die because of me.
Guhin couldn't bear it anymore. If anyone was going to die, it should be him, not that laughing savage. Up until now, Guhin had been resisting the urge to kill, the feeling of hate, bloodlust, and sorrow filling his very being. But now, he let them take over. As if a dark veil fell over his vision, the last thing Guhin heard was a desperate neigh from Etro as he slipped into the darkness.
GUHIN: "HUGOKE, Move now!"
The hunter's blade came down, cutting through the air. Bokun accepted his looming death with open arms. This was it, his final moment. Savoring the sweet gift of dying in battle, when suddenly, an immeasurable force blitzed past him. Too fast for the naked eye to see, the small glimpse Bokun caught of the object resembled a phantom cloaked in shadows.
The sheer velocity at which it traveled sent ripples throughout the air, bending reality in its path. Bokun watched as the enhanced hunter obliterated into pieces. Sound itself ceased to exist, up until the point of the aftermath.
The impact was devastating. Fierce winds pushed Bokun from behind, followed by an exploding shock from the front, blowing his cheeks wide open as he shielded himself from the incoming debris.
BOKUN: What the hell's going on?
The adrenaline coursing through him made him forget about his internal bleeding. When the howling winds died down, Bokun spat out a mouthful of blood as he tried to make sense of what just happened. The amount of devastation before him was unfathomable. Not only had the enhanced hunter been evaporated, but the entire land, once filled with trees and boulders, and every other "masked freak", had turned to dust in a trail of destruction. Running for hundreds of feet, the trail resembled a serpent of debris that slithered across the land. And within its wake, stood...
BOKUN: "Guhin?"
Bokun's eyes sprang wide open when he felt Guhin's presence. He had never felt such a vast amount of energy emitting from someone's aura. Not a trace of magic, only the dominant pressure of pure, unfiltered power.
BOKUN: "You alright there? Did you do all this?"
He attempted to talk to Guhin, but to no avail. Guhin was mindless. When Guhin hunched over and put his hands on the ground, his behavior reminded Bokun of a dire wolf, prowling toward its prey. He was nothing short of a frenzied animal.
BOKUN: "What the hell's wrong with him?"
Questioning if Guhin was the one that caused all of this, a sudden gasp for air refrained him from thinking further. He couldn't breathe!
Panic washed over him as he slowly suffocated under the overwhelming pressure of Guhin. His presence alone was tampering with the nature of the atmosphere itself, even increasing the gravity around them.
As the earth's surface cracked beneath Guhin's pressure, in between the shattering sound of splitting stone, the beating wings of a bird resonated through the sky. It was Fukujin. Descending from the ashen clouds, he landed at Guhin's side and opened his wings with a hefty thud. The moment he did, the enormous pressure that was still increasing in gravity faded away until it was no more. Guhin's knees buckled, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell unconscious to the ground, allowing Bokun to breathe again.
A feeling of relief washed over Bokun. If that had gone on any longer, his body would have been crushed under the smothering pressure that kept increasing. Gathering his breath, Etro rushed to the scene. Neighing at the sight of his master, he pressed his nostrils into Bokun's ear as the smiling giant reached into one of the satchels bound on Etro's saddle. It was some sort of potion, a glass bottle coated in brown leather and sealed with candle wax. Carefully twisting the cork, Bokun took a tiny sip.
BOKUN: "Uhm. That was close."
Wobbly at first, Bokun seemed rejuvenated. Clearing his throat of any remaining blood, he turned toward Guhin's prone body.
BOKUN: "Guhin? Are you alright?"