15 - The Aberrant

The demon ran towards me at full speed, readying his fist to punch me. I hopped out of the way, but he quickly shifted his trajectory to where I had leaped to. Celeste was right, his movement was unpredictable.

"You're finished now," he said, taking a swing at my head. I ducked, watching his fist fly over me at a high velocity. It was like slow motion...his hand was practically as big as my head! I'd surely be obliterated if I were hit by it. I took my sword and swung at the demon's legs, but the blade wasn't strong enough to cut through them.

*Slice, ding!*

"What? Why didn't the blade go through? This is my dad's fabled sword, surely the blade isn't dull right?" I asked myself.

"Hachiro, oftentimes the sword is not at fault but rather the wielder. You must put more energy behind your swings, or else you'll never cut through this demon," said Celeste.

"I'll try to help out by offering some of my energy, but you'll need to use yours too."

"What was that? Am I hearing something, or is someone else here?" asked the demon. Perhaps he had heard Celeste speaking to me through my sword.

The demon looked at me and kicked me, sending my body flying across the ground. My body came to rest a few dozen feet away from him, and I was dazed. He laughed, wiping his leg. Turns out I had nicked it enough for it to bleed a little bit.

"What a weak sword you have. That barely felt like a paper cut. You'll have no chance of winning with a weapon like that. Get up, I'm not finished with you."

I came to my feet but was quite in a bit of pain. This demon was powerful, his kicks were enough to knock the wind out of me. I couldn't let myself succumb to them though. I needed to find a way to defend myself.

"Hachiro, when he punches or kicks you, try to counter-attack with your sword, the momentum from his body will provide the extra energy required for you to slice through him."

Celeste was right, when two moving forces collide in opposite directions, the energy output is much higher than if a moving force collides with a force at rest. I would wait for the aberrant to swing at me, and then strike his hand with my sword.

"I'll show you just how strong my sword really is, I'll slice your head clean off with it!" I yelled. The demon raised his eyebrows before chuckling further.

"We'll see about that. You'll have to find my core anyways in order to kill me, and I can tell you right now that it's not in my neck, so there's no chance in hell of decapitation working on me."

I grimaced. I had forgotten that you actually needed to break an unusual's core in order to defeat them. I was too focused on trying to attack his body as a whole that I failed to realize I should instead be focusing my attacks on one location.

However, despite me knowing what it was that I had to do, there was still no way for me to accurately locate the core. I wasn't able to see it through his skin at all. My sword glowed and Celeste interjected~

"Hachiro, he's lying. I can sense a dense spherical object lying behind the windpipe of this demon. If you can decapitate him, you will certainly defeat this monster."

That was exactly the hint I needed. I was now aware of where the core was. But I still faced another problem. This unusual stood nearly eight feet tall, there was no way for me to reach his neck.

"Celeste, this demon is massive, there's no way for me to reach the core, what should I do?" I asked.

"You'll need to find a way to get him on the ground, or you'll have to jump up to him. It will be a matter of how agile you are. For now, I would focus on bringing him down to your level. But watch out for his kicks!"

The demon looked at me in utter confusion before conversing with me once more~

"Who are you talking to? Ugh, no matter, your time on this planet will soon come to an end," he said, approaching me once more. My sword began to glow as celeste infused it with some of her energy.

"When he swings at you, slice his fist!" she said.

The demon ran towards me, and I prepared myself to strike it. However, he changed his movement rapidly, going from running straight towards me to looping around behind me. I turned around in a desperate attempt to track him, but it was useless. He was closing in on me.

"Standing still is the worst thing you could be doing right now Hachiro, start running around, confuse him and make him lose his path!" yelled Celeste.

"Right!" I said, snapping back into reality. I had a job to do!

I started running erratically myself, weaving in and out of trees, the demon caught on to what I was doing, and began to slow down. I could feel the wind blowing through my hair as I ran. It was an exhilarating feeling.

I sped up until I was on pace with the demon. The two of us were dancing with each other, threading each other's needle-like paths of motion, attempting to swing at each other with every crossing moment. The demon took notice of my speed.

"Ah, he's too quick, I can't see where he's going!" he yelled, attempting to lock into my path of motion. I grabbed my sword and started making a beeline for a tree in the distance where I could hide.

"Now's your chance Hachiro, try to loop around behind him, and jump for his neck!" yelled Celeste.

I ran behind a tree and hid for a couple of seconds. I could hear the demon approaching me from behind, and when he had gotten close enough, I sprinted out from behind the tree and looped around to the back of him.

My body was still overcome with this incredibly strong feeling, and I was beginning to realize how it was working.

He swiftly turned around and took a powerful swing at me. However, I was ready for it this time. As his fist approached my head, I lifted my sword into the air with both hands, and swung downwards, slicing his wrist, causing his hand to fly off of his body.

*SLICE !*

"WHA..." yelled the demon.

His hand landed a few feet away from him, and he stood there, shocked at what had just happened. He didn't believe that my sword was powerful enough to cut through him, but indeed it was...

However, unbeknownst to me, simply slicing off the demon's hand wasn't anywhere near enough to cause significant damage to him, or kill him. As soon as his hand was sliced off, I immediately noticed his skin beginning to reform.

"Heheheh, I'll admit, that was a clean strike, but unfortunately for you, demons can regenerate their body parts, so long as their cores remain intact. Nice try, but your efforts are futile..." said the demon, as his hand began to reform. It would take some time before it was fully regenerated.

"You're wrong. My efforts are not in vain, I'll show you the true power of an extraordinary individual!" I replied.

Instead of standing around waiting for the demon to finish his spiel, I took advantage of his idling and immediately closed in around him, preparing myself to take another swing at him. I caught him off guard, and sliced at his shoulder, cutting his right arm off.

*SLICE !*

"..."

The demon was speechless, his eyes wide as he realized how strong I really was. His arm landed behind him.

"I see...you seem to be someone worth putting effort into. But why are you so insistent on slicing my limbs off when you know that I'll regenerate?" he asked.

"It's not that I'm trying to kill you by slicing your limbs off, it's that I know it will take a while for you to regenerate, so if I can put you at a disadvantage, then I will!" I yelled, preparing to slice the other arm of the demon.

"I see...very intuitive of you. Well then, I'll need to put more effort into this one. I'll try my absolute hardest to annihilate you now."

I took a third swing, aiming for the other arm, but the demon dodged it, jumping backward before sprinting directly toward me. In a matter of seconds, he was on the offensive, running toward me with yet another erratic set of motions.

"Hachiro, I'm sensing a sudden spike in this demon's power, be careful!" yelled Celeste. I looked at the demon, and he seemed to be changing. His eyes started to glow a vibrant red, and a small aura began to appear around him.

"No more taking it easy, this is what a demon truly looks like..." he said.

He began running in diagonal lines like a zig-zag. I raised my sword to strike him, but my reaction time was much too slow. Before I even had a chance to tighten my grip around the handle of my sword, the demon appeared before me and punched me in the gut.

*PUNCH*

"ACK-!"

My body was sent flying across the field once more as I began to cough up a bit of blood. This demon seemed to have transformed into its true form now. Despite having only one arm, its punches were many more times powerful.

I got back up, but I was now severely in pain. The demon was still running straight toward me in an attempt to strike me again. I knew that another massive punch from him would surely end in my demise.

"Hachiro, I'm sending you as much energy as I can. What I want you to do is close your eyes and breathe. Breathe slowly, and use your intuition to detect the demon when he approaches. Then, dodge him and counterattack with the strongest strike you have, right to his neck!"

Celeste was attempting to counsel me, and it was working. I followed her instructions and closed my eyes. This feeling that I had inside of me was incredibly strong, and I think I finally figured out how I was supposed to use it.

When I closed my eyes, I felt an incredibly strong sensation of pressure towards the direction of the demon, getting stronger as he approached. When he was within inches of me, my whole body tingled. I would wait until I felt this to dodge and counter-attack...

"Here I come... you're finished this time..." said the demon. I closed my eyes and began to breathe slowly in and out through my nose and mouth. I gripped my sword with both hands, ready for what was to come.

I heard his footsteps begin, growing faster and louder as he bolted in my direction. I could only assume he was running sporadically, but it didn't matter at this point. I was relying entirely on sensation...

Closer...to my right…now my left…

Closer...behind me…now in front of me…now to my side…

Closer.....HE WAS HERE! Right at the most precise moment, I dodged out of the way. Using my sensations alone, I dodged the demon's powerful punch.

*SWING...THUD*

"WHAT? YOU DODGED IT!?" I heard coming from around me.

The demon's fist flew into the tree behind me, where it got stuck. The demon was now kneeling on the ground, unable to free his fist from the thick wood. This was my chance to end this fight, once and for all...

"NOW, HACHIRO, HIS NECK!" yelled Celeste. I knew what had to be done... I lifted my sword into the air with both hands.

"I'm sorry about this, but I have a job to do..." I said. The demon scoffed at me, turning his head in the other direction.

"...bullshit..." that's all the demon had to say before I took my swing.

*SLICE !*

*SMASH !*

I swung downwards, landing a direct hit on the demon's neck. My sword sliced cleanly through, decapitating the demon. I noticed his core had been completely destroyed as well, my sword making a clean cut through it, and breaking it into a million pieces.

The demon's head fell to the ground, and his body began to slowly turn to stone, leaving behind the shell of its former vessel. The demon was looking me right in the eyes as its head turned to stone, sealing their fate.

"May you rest in peace..." I said. Bowing to the broken statue that once used to be a demon. I had officially done it. I had defeated my first unusual...