Thunder

Isiah drew strange symbols on the holy grail with his own blood. His hands trembled, either from fear of the two demons or the act he had just done. Once he finished the figure, nothing would stop it.

He steeled his resolve as he remembered the tortures that he had to face because of the demons. His knees started to buckle as though he remembered his feet getting butchered.

He slapped himself in the face and continued to draw with his blood.

Bang saw the strange actions that Isiah was doing. He did not witness the fight between the demons and Isiah because the domain was pitch black.

He looked at Raguel and Azrael only to see them injured to a great extent. Isiah, in comparison, was in tip-top shape. There were no apparent injuries on his body, which made him the clear winner of the battle.

Then why did it seem like Isiah lost?

He seemed to be afraid of the two demons, fearful of their very existence.

Bang saw Isiah bite his finger and scribble weird designs and diagrams on the holy grail. A flash of warning came to his head.

'WARNING!!! I URGE THE OWNER TO STOP ISIAH."

Bang was surprised that the system heeded him a warning with such intensity and rush. His head rang like a bell, activating his fight or flight instincts. If the system was acting like this, then it could only mean big trouble.

He gathered the strength in his legs and ran towards Isiah, but he was only able to advance a step forward until he saw the holy grail in Isiah's hands start to crumble and vanish in the wind.

His heart stopped, just like everybody in the Dreaded Valley. Time seemed to stop as an ominous stormy cloud filled the sky. Black fog filled the area, giving an already dreadful feeling more atrocious.

*rumble*

The cracking of thunder filled the stormy clouds, tickling the necks of everybody present. Everybody held their breaths, waiting for something to happen.

Isiah looked up in the sky, and a tinge of regret filled his mind. He did not know if what he did was the right thing to do. Was it worth it summoning a godlike being here?

*CRASH*

Thunder struck down from the heavens and landed in front of Isiah, followed by the blinding light of lightning. The force brought down was strong enough to push everybody back several meters away from where the thunder landed.

The soil was displaced in the air, creating a smoke obscuring the figure that came down with the thunder.

A knife could cut the tension in the air, and nobody dared to move.

Bang felt restricted like his body was telling him not to move. It was his instincts that prevented him from dishonoring the mighty figure in front of him. He did not know what the person was, but he knew deep in his heart and in his DNA, that the person was not to be trifled with.

'WARNING!!! I URGE OWNER TO GET OUT. NOW.'

The system warned him again of the threat this person could inflict upon him. This was the first time that the system sounded anxious and worried for his safety.

In all the times that he had the system, it would always be confident in getting him out of trouble. It always seemed that the system planned everything to make sure that he would be safe and would gain the most out of a situation.

Sweat poured down his back as the system did not seem to guarantee his safety.

Isiah crawled on the ground and bowed towards the figure obscured by the smoke. He was begging for mercy and forgiveness due to the sudden summoning.

"Who hath challenged me?"

A thundering voice filled the hearts of everyone listening. Their backs were forced straight after tingles of electricity traveled in their bodies.

Isiah forced himself even deeper in his bow.

The figure waved his hand in a lighthearted manner, and the smoke cleared, revealing his mighty figure.

The man wore a brown cowboy hat with gold ornaments to the sides. His hat obscured his eyes, but his sharp glare was evident for all to see. His nose was sharp, and his mouth held a brand new cigar that was just recently lit.

He had a stubble beard, giving him a more masculine look. Most people would call him ruggedly handsome because of his sharp jaw. He wore long denim sleeves with a patterned yoke on the front and the back.

The fringes in his shirt danced in the air, even though nobody could feel the wind coming through this suffocating environment.

He wore a brown jacket over his white long-sleeved shirt and a loosely worn belt pouch on his waist. His pants were tight in the waist area but started to loosen in the foot area, with fringes on the ends.

His shoes were made from some kind of animal hide colored red and went up to his shin. It was more of a boot rather than a shoe.

Bang recognized this distinct kind of clothes in his previous life. He had watched enough western movies to know that this guy wore a typical cowboy outfit.

Bang observed the cowboy in the front, fascinated and alarmed at the man. His gaze was far too long as the cowboy turned his hidden eyes towards Bang.

Bang's heart stopped as he retracted his gaze and flinched his head. The stare seemed to intensify as he heard the clacking of boots coming towards him.

*clomp* *clomp*

Every footstep the cowboy took was like a drum pounding on Bang's heart. It beat in a rhythm and was progressively getting harder as he almost felt his heart explode.

Fear filled his head. The cowboy looked precisely like the ones he had seen on Earth. Was it possible that this guy was the same as him? Was this cowboy a transmigrator that could sense that Bang was the same as him?

All thoughts raced to his head while the system stayed silent. Just when he needed the system the most, it turned silent.

The footsteps stopped, and Bang felt that the cowboy was only a few steps away from him. His anxiety did not allow him to breathe, hoping that the cowboy would not notice him if he did not move his body an inch.

That was a pipe dream as Bang heard the booming voice directed towards him.

"Hoh...What do we have here?"

The cowboy seemed to take an interest in him. Bang's theory that the cowboy was a transmigrator seemed to become more viable as time went on.

Bang did not answer the cowboy, not because of disrespect, but because of fear that paralyzed his vocal cords.

"A budding Kapitan."

The cowboy bent down and squatted on his knees. He took a closer look at Bang, scrutinizing every part and every thought as though he could see through everything.

"Too weak. He can't even protect himself."

The cowboy seemed to be disappointed with Bang, but he continued to observe him.

"You have talent, but you still have a long way to go."

The cowboy then stretched his legs back up and turned to go. Before he did, he suddenly stopped and turned to face Bang again.

"Strange. I see no power in you, but I can sense the power from you."

The cowboy seemed to know things about the powers in the world, but there was a veil of mystery surrounding Bang.

He turned away from Bang and searched his surroundings. He pinpointed his head to a different person, and he started walking towards him.

After Bang found that the suffocating pressure lessened, he gathered the courage to look up and see where the cowboy went. He saw the path that the cowboy took and saw that it was towards Ligi.

Ligi was unconscious on the ground. The demon that occupied his body, Azrael, was nowhere to be found. Bang did not know when or how Ligi was able to conquer his demon again.

"How about you?"

The same thing happened as the cowboy squatted in place to observe Ligi. Bang could see half of the cowboy's face, and he saw that his eyebrows lifted just a tiny bit.

"Hmm...not bad. Useful. He'll grow to be a good Bise Kapitan."

The cowboy nodded his head and stood up. He turned his head again towards Resi, who was in his normal form. Raguel was gone like he never existed in the first place.

The cowboy walked towards Resi and observed him. He squatted down, took a big breath on his cigar, and blew it on the sky. The smoke rose in the air and became part of the clouds as it started to rumble, signaling a thunderstorm.

Embers from his cigar fell on the ground as he squatted to observe Resi. Bang watched him and saw that the cowboy tilted his head just a little bit.

"Strange. Like your Kapitan, I see no power in you, yet I can sense some power from you."