Cursed to Forever Fear

*CLANG CLANK CRASH!*

With the sound of metal clashing against another's weapon. With the redirected attacks laying waste to the ground, the air can be seen being split apart at a mere slash.

*CLICKCLICK CLACK!*

'Dammit! Even if I can beat this damned knight, what about those undead ghost things?!'

*CLANK*

Jumping around within a circle of grass, surrounded by trees and stalking eyes, the brawny man who wielded a one-handed sword and small shield fought for his life against the knight who seemed to have lived through death.

The knight's axe swung with clear mastery of the weapon. A long handle that towered up to his head, it could hit anyone within range of it's long reach.

*SHKK*

'Dammit!'

With the fight having been drawn out for a few minutes now, Pierce's defense began to grow sloppy, yet the knight only seemed to be getting warmed up. The knight slashed right between the small gap of his sword and shield, shredding his clothes, leaving a slight gush of blood shoot out from his shoulder.

'Barely missed, I have to create an opening!'

Finally shifting his feet on the ground, he decided to go on the offense, furiously slashing at the knight with hits that appeared to slide off his axe. It seemed ineffective, but with his feet nearing the line of trees behind him, he had no other choice.

The Colosseum's walls show no mercy, they only take prisoners.

Ending his barrage, Pierce swiftly changed his feet to a more neutral stance, as if he had just finished showing off. Panting lightly, as if to hide how tired he was, with an arm shaking from the previous injury.

'Good, that should have put some distance in for me, now I can catch my breathe in defense agai-'

*CLICKCLICKCLICK CLACK*

The distance he thought he had gained however, the moment of relief growing within him as he saw a glimpse of hope, quickly dissipated into more dread. The distance between him and the tree-line had not grown as he expected, it had actually shrunk.

'Haha... my axe wasn't just randomly sliding off... he directed me on an angle to make me think I'd gained distance... but I was actually losing it instead...'

Gripping his sword, and attempting to shake the pain off his shoulder, the man grit his teeth as he grew a small grin.

"Hehe.... If I'm going down, I'll at least create a story the boys back at home can create an urban legend about!!!"

Jumping towards the knight, the mysterious creatures can be seen following him, surrounding him, closing him and the knight in a small dome, devoid of any air or light aside from the mysterious purple flame...

---

--

~~

Ability: ~The Nightmare Flame~ has been rewarded due to growing levels of nearby fears.

~~

'Eh? Libbo you're still alive- WAIT NEW ABILITY?!'

While stalking a man who desperately called out to a girl from his horse, Camellia suddenly received an interesting notification.

'Libbo! Tell me more! Without processing anything, tell me what's up.'

~New temporary passive ability has been added to your list of usable abilities named the 'Nightmare Flame' Due to an astounding growth of fear directed towards your flame from nearby.~

'Whooaa~ Wait, so does this mean my flame can evolve based on what I lead my enemy to believe it can do?'

~~

Processing...

~~

'I said no processing!'

~Understood~

'Hmmmm... Libbo, is it temporary because it'll run out once the fear, or the belief in my flame runs out?'

~~ Processing...

~ Correct, Passive ability 'Nightmare Flame' is temporarily active for an undetermined amount of time due to the current level of belief.~

'Level of belief... So if he dies, I'll lose the ability, and if he lives to tell the tale, it might grow in strength is what you're saying...'

~Correct. The ability's strength may grow in accordance to level's of belief.~

'SICK!'

~Current assimilation % is too low for this however.~

'FUCK!'

Stomping her foot on the ground cutely, she began to read the effects of her new passive ability. Her eyes light up and sparkled behind her mask as she began to grow an ugly grin of greed, yet again.

<I will genuinely curse you if you don't stop being ugly dear~>

'Damn, I gotta go stop Zeph from killing him then. Then again... letting him live and return to the enemies could be dangerous... He didn't snap like his friend did, so they might actually believe his words if he went back...'

Quickly dashing away towards Zeph, she manages to witness Pierce's back towards the trees, with an injured shoulder, panting heavily as he grips his sword, and readies his shield.

'Hmm, so Zeph can actually kill him. I didn't doubt him, but I'm glad to see how easy it seemed to have been. Hmm... Is he a low rank then? or is Zeph just that OP?'

"Hehe.... If I'm going down..."

Pierce then yells something stupid out loud, yet a part of what he said caught Camellia's attention

"I'll at least create a story the boys back at home can create an urban legend about!!!"

As he jumps with all his might towards the knight, Camellia quickly put her arm out and commanded all the flame puppets to follow him and surround Zeph, blocking any and all attacks from the human, and stunning Zeph enough to stop all attacks.

"Wh- haha! twenty versus one?! JUST MY KIND OF FIGHT!!"

'Yea... calm down there wanna be main character-kun'

Walking out from the tree line as she dragged her hands along the wood, stripping the bark as she went, she raised both arms in front of her, pulling out long strings from the claws on her hand like a spider's string.

"Wh-?!"

Quickly looking behind him, he sees the young girl burning bright with pitch black flames, different from the purple that shrouded the knight, darker than the puppets. A flame that seemed to dry out your eyes and make your eyelashes curl just from looking at it. It completely covered the hair of the girl, as her dress seemed to glow purple with the sun's heat.

Even Zeph could be seen recoil a little at the sight of her figure. She stomped on the ground, and raising herself with a tornado of flames, causing the man to wake up from his daze, blinking for the first time since he'd laid eyes on her, just to open them to the tree's behind her seemingly burning to the ground.

"Ha- ha..."

Falling to his butt, the brawny man could be seen creating a puddle underneath him as tears welled up in his eyes.

'Good.'

Dropping from the pedestal of earth she had created to make herself look like she was standing on flames, she calmly approached the man as she surrounded him with heat that felt as though it could boil him from the inside any second she so pleased. She stopped at his feet.

"W- p- please... let me live..."

...

Leaving but a moment of silence, she stood in front of him with a glare of superiority which she had learnt from the Gods. Only to slowly lift her clawed hand, and point her finger out towards his forehead, drawing blood as she poked through the first layer of skin.

"Alright, on one condition."

Igniting a small flame at the tip of her finger, it glowed purple like a lilac, it was calming.. lulling in a sense...

"Be a good boy and become a Curse for me."

Suddenly shrouding his entire body, it felt as though his nerves were being melted cell by cell, destroying all thoughts, all but fear.

The flame seemed to dull in strength as he looks down to see his arm start to turn into ribbons, the vision in his right eye quickly turning red, then black, then lilac purple as he see's it fall like string with his other eye, only to pass out.

Zeph watches in horror as she tortured the man with ease, replacing his eye with an ever burning flame, using his fear as fuel to quench the hunger. His arm, turned into string on the floor, as his elbow burns dimly just as his eye.

"Cami."

"Mm, I know... This needed to happen to make me strong enough. I'll free him of his curse once he's been of use."

Calming all flames around her but the ones plaguing the fallen soldier, she walks towards a few elves who stood silent just beyond the trees. The ones who had been controlling the puppets, who watched the battle unfold right before their eyes.

She then grabbed a few fruit from the cart they stood guarding, and threw in the man's sword and shield.

"This metal will be useful. The animals shouldn't bug him much because of the flames. Just leaving him should be fine. He won't die."

She says her final words before signaling to Zeph he should follow the direction the flames on his armor were pointing him to for the next part of her plan, as she goes back to luring the man on the horse, her next victim.