RE:Birth - The Encounter

"You're strong, I'll give you that!"

Lightning shot through the air like chirping birds in the afternoon sky through the scarlet eyes of Man Yeong as his boots skid on the bloodstained earth, now a dying grey like a wilting flower. His eyes shot around the field before settling on the sight of what caused all of this, an inhuman being that left a group of forty rendered to three without even a scratch on it.

"Yeong, I don't know what the hell kind of Anima that guy has, but none of these attacks are landing!"

Yeong focused his gaze on what tore through so many of them, from its ash skin to its silver eyes. The being that stood before them was something more unnatural than natural. The creature looked at the remaining students, letting foreign air leave its jaws like black smoke.

"Just...need to stay calm—

Yeong kicked off the earth away from the creature's attack, its hands shifting from human to blade in a matter of seconds. Their eyes locked, and the dance began as the creature continued to slash at Yeong. With each strike the boy threw towards the creature, a memory burned through its head, guiding its movements. A fist met an elbow, a kick replied with a knee.

Yeong grit his teeth, resisting the urge to use that in battle before it was time. He pushed away from the creature as the mental clock in his mind rang out.

"Nero!"

The atmosphere shifted.

A student with eyes that shone an oceanic blue sighed as the reiju in the air swirled around him like the breeze that comes with the tides. His gaze rested on the sky above the creature and Yeong.

A single breath.

He opened his eyes to the world of grey, his eyes shifting from oceanic blue to deep violet. His hand rose to the heavens like a guide for rain, water gathered above the beast and Nero focused on it with a dead gaze.

"Fall, Poseidon."

Water as expansive as the sky above fell onto the creature like an uncontrollable wave. A smirk fell upon Nero's face at the thought, power thought to be held by gods at his fingertips. The waves swirled around the creature, rushing through its body like it was a hollow shell to be filled.

"You're still too soft, Nero!"

A voice boomed from the sky above as a young man with bright orange hair rode atop white lightning. White sparks cracked from his fingertips to his eyes that drifted away from their violet hue to reveal their bright orange. The creature watched the sight with blank eyes from its watery grave. An arrow of pure lightning.

The young man jumped from the arrow, shouting out an incantation.

Curse Series

Superbia

Manipulation: Jupiter Arrow

A bolt of lightning sliced through the oppressive grey overhead as it struck the water. The creature let out a beastly roar as lightning surged through it. The pain was so familiar, yet it couldn't verbalize it. Memories flooded its mind with more sensations.

The burns.

The scars.

A blade of lightning piercing its chest.

Lightning filling its system.

Its brain trembled as the two continued to drench the beast before shocking it with more lightning. Over and over like torture without end. The voices continued to grow; a unified pain that couldn't be described until a foreign voice hit its ears.

"All I need is a single opening, from Nero and Roman."

The burning pain of lightning ceased. The creature's body twitched as it continued to feel the pain of the lightning surging through it. Nero and Roman exchanged a look with each other and then Yeong.

With a synchronized breath, water and lightning swirled through the air around Nero and Roman. Their eyes reflecting the oceanic blue of Nero and the bright orange of Roman. The elements mirrored them, linking to their bodies like armor.

"We've been working on this one since last year Nero, I wonder what we should call this?" Roman asked in a cheeky tone, contrasted by Nero's calm voice, as the two took a step forward.

"We already had one, perfect for dealing with beasts below us like this."

Once more, the atmosphere shifted.

The two let forth a Shockwave that rocked the earth as both called out in unison.

Anima Series

Pantheon!

DIVINE ARMAMENT!

With that, all went on the attack, each blurring past the creature, landing blows; blows one would think could kill. The creature let out more blood-curdling screeches as the crimson ground below slowly lost its color. More and more memories flashed through the creature's mind.

"Don't leave me behind just because you both have flashy Anima!"

Yeong shot towards the beast, keeping his eyes moving like a predator on the hunt. With the flash of its silver eyes, the creature watched as Yeong descended upon it. The smell of burning skin filled the air as symbols appeared over Yeong's body, his eyes glowing a deep scarlet.

Five minutes... That's all they needed.

Yeong slammed his fist into the creature's iron skin while dodging its strikes. The creature replied with an attack of its own. They continued with their strikes, move, and countermove. The beast's head burned with more memories, like the skin on Yeong's arms from the art he spent so much time learning.

The pain.

The emotion.

"All I need to do is hold out..."

The thought flickered through his mind as the wind built outside of the two's tunnel vision. Blood covered Yeong's face as he saw his power had barely scratched the creature. It was fruitless. Useless. Pointless to fight something like this.

Yet…

..........

"Anima Series! Ragnarök!"

Yeong watched as Nero and Roman blast past him, their palms making contact with the creature. Reiju swirled around the two like twin vortices, drilling at its body in opposing directions. Something humans would think was impossible. Yeong watched as lightning and water became one, blasting the beast far from where it had been. Like a thundering shot of a rifle, it echoed through the world of Limbo.

With a swollen eye and arms that felt like they could barely move, Yeong knew this would be the last chance to strike. He turned heel, letting his eyes take on the cursed crimson hue once more. Reiju built within his legs. With a single step, he cracked the crimson rock of Limbo and shot towards the creature.

The thought echoed through his mind.

One chance...

One chance…

One…...Chance!

Reiju shimmered in the air around Yeong. Pride, the ability to manipulate nature itself to your whims. A power Yeong sought after for so long, despite barely mastering the power he was born with. Rocks spawned from within the reiju, swirling within Yeong's palm like a bullet waiting to be released.

The voices of Roman and Nero echoed in his mind.

"Use your Anima and capitalize on the enemy's blind spot."

The creature slowly got up from the ground, its skin dripping off like black miasma, yet keeping its eye on Yeong. An image flickered through his mind of something outside of the memories it had experienced ten times over.

The atmosphere shifted.

Yeong's crimson eyes turned deep blue like the mirrors of a clock as it flickered towards rock swirling in his hand and the creature itself. The hands of the clock within Yeong's eyes began to spin.

"There's no way in hell that I'm letting you stop me from succeeding!"

With a triumphant shout, Yeong slung the rock towards the creature as if he was simply a boy facing a giant with the backing of a god. The rock whizzed through the air towards the creature, shifting into a sharpened nail.

The creature took a step to the size, and despite its speed and power, the attack...missed. His feet touched the ground as he kept running forward with a large symbol enveloping his body.

The light from Yeong's eyes grew brighter, as if everything happened in a blur. Yeong's body changed positions with the stone nail.

"So just die!"

Anima Series

Tiānyǎn

HEAVEN'S GATE.

With a single incantation. Yeong, the prized son of his house…

The creature held out a hand to catch the boy's fist and right before its eyes, it watched as Yeong's arm turned to ash.

"NO."

Was all that arrived out of the creature's mouth as a memory all its own came to the front of its mind. A boy hanging from wires in a room of darkness.

Something unnatural

Impossible.

The beast's eyes glowed bright silver as Yeong's skin extended from its body. All in this world know such powers have limits. Even powers from the Deadly Sin of Greed cannot alter life, yet Yeong watched the silver eyes of the beast angle at his neck as he watched his own skin…. Pierce his throat.