27 A Scary Parallel

With Violet and the rest taking off, we still stand a chance to be the first guild to the rendezvous point. Aegis is still nowhere to be found and it's a 2v1. It's going to be very hard to win this from here on out.

Gash got within range of my attack and I made a swing powerful enough to take his head off. He defended by using his two swords to block it. As our blades clashed once more, he tip of his sword began to glow as he fell back and dashed to attack me from another angle.

"VITAL PUNCTURE!"

He was going to use vital puncture with his right sword. If this hits, the fight is as good as lost. I retaliated by dodging and using my axe to make a wide swing across his chest, but he anticipated that and dodged the swing itself.

"Lesser Buffing!" Polk sent out a skill to buff Gash and as soon as he received it, he became considerably faster.

Any regular attack I tried doing had no chance of hitting him at this point. He simply dodged and attacked, or attacked at any opening he saw. He already brought my HP to 60%. At this rate, I'm going to slowly die here.

Things are starting to get exciting!

"I guess I have no choice. It's been a while, but I've ran out of options!" I readied my axe for throw directly at Gash. Gash began to laugh at the beginnings of my plan.

"Well when you make it that obvious, I know you're going to throw the axe at me. Please tell me you have more planned, Matthew-"

Before he could finish his sentence, I hurled my axe it him at immense speeds. While it was travelling to him, I used Deathly Lunge to begin closing in the distance. I have to just match the speed of General Slayer, whilst staying behind it. Otherwise, my plan won't work.

Gash used both of his swords to do an upwards swing and redirect the axe's path. That's it! That's what I was looking for! The small window of opportunity where he is still reacting to the axe throw-where his body is exposed- is the moment I was looking for for my attack!

I gave the hardest swing to Gash's stomach and he recoiled in pain.

"GAH!"

However, I wasn't done there. I gave Gash a punch to his face and he staggered backwards.

As he staggered, I tackled him onto the sand. As I tackled him, the sand below him gave way and an avalanche happened around the three of us.

We plummeted until we all hit the floor and we all entered FYL. I briefly darted my eyes around to get an idea of my surroundings. I looked around and it seemed like we were in a large hole that had a spotlight we were in, but darkness all around us. In that darkness, were countless red eyes that surrounded us.

"HAAAAAAAAAA!" Gash ignored the monsters and came charging at me.

"GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Four monsters shaped like small rabbits jumped out of the shadows and intercepted him. As he fought them off, I retreated into the darkness. I need to get health back if I want to stand a chance, and the best way to do that is to deal as much damage as possible. This deposit was a blessing in disguise.

As I ran through, dispatching of the rabbit monsters in the darkness, I looked to see a green light near the opening.

"HA!" Gash came for my neck with one of his swords, but I just barely dodged it. His powerful swing then attributed to taking out two rabbits. For a long time, our little game was one of cat and mouse. He would chase me throughout the darkness, and I would dodge any attack he would send.

While we tried to get the upper hand on each other, we eliminated the rabbits along the way. This went on until all of the rabbits were defeated, and the green light I saw earlier turned red. Gash sighed in disappointment as I still kept my distance.

"This isn't how I expected our grand battle to go, Matthew."

I stayed silent and kept my distance. As I did so, I unequipped and reequipped General Slayer. As I did so, Gash smiled.

"I HAVE AN IDEA! I'LL GIVE YOU THREE FREE HITS! You're full health now too, so you'll have the upper advantage after the hits. I feel like the fight should be even anyway because frankly, this is getting boring."

I tried reading his expression to see if he was lying. As far as I could tell, he wasn't joking. He seriously wanted me to hit him. I looked over to Polk to see if his reaction will give away any devious actions Gash had planned. However, Polk was just as confused as I was. He looked over at Gash with a puzzled expression, but Gash just waited for my response.

"Don't blame me if you end up dying." I started off by using deathly lunge.

As I closed the distance, I kicked Gash to the floor and used the momentum to to surf on his body until we met the opposing force of a wall. As the impact made blood splash on the wall, I raised my labrys and said "That's one."

The next hit wasn't as charitable as the last one. I brought General Slayer down at his neck and sent him flying into another wall.

"That's two." I said as I walked over to him.

He began to recover and as he did, his smile grew wider and wider. He really is like me.

And that scares me...

My third strike came down at his head like a hammer and caused his upper body to jerk downwards. Regardless, he stood at his two feet.

He began to laugh. His laughter echoed throughout the chasm and for a brief moment, the eeriness of the situation made me feel I felt a sense of fear. He truly felt a sense of ecstasy in this situation.

"THAT'S WHAT A LIKE TO SEE, MATTHEW! AHHHHHH MAN! You knocked me right into FYL! You can hit like a truck when you want to. So let me return the favor..." Gash then made direct eye contact with me.

His eyes were piercing red, but as hollow as the Deposit we were in. Not only that, but everything about the aura he was giving off made me want to immediately disengage with him. I was right in thinking so.

"Greater Buffing!" Polk buffed Gash and the Bloodfallen didn't waste a moment.

"Reverse Sweep." He muttered something under his breath and as a reaction, my eyes widened and I dashed backwards. However, I was too late.

Gash came at my abdomen with speeds faster than anything I have done or witnessed. There was no time to get out of the way. His attack made two horizontal cuts that cut deeply through my armor and into my flesh.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, the pain of Gash's attack settled. The wound he inflicted upon me opened up completely and blood began to pour out. I dropped to my knees as I began to cough up blood and try to get ahold of myself. What the hell just happened? I know that Polk casted greater buffing, but it shouldn't have been enough to do so much to me. I was full health before that attack!

That's when Gash began slowly walking to me. He looked nothing look the man maniacally laughing at his low health a moment ago. He was completely healed.

"Reverse Sweep! You told me to think more when fighting and I'm taking your advice! When this skill is activated, the lower my HP, the more damage I do. That along with Polk's buff skill is a deadly combo. If I cut you any deeper you might've died, hehe."

Damn it! I want to move, but I'm losing blood really fast. I'm certain I'll die if I bank everything on a swing and miss.

"Awwww man! Eating that food with you, doing that deposit with you, even this fight! Every moment spent with you reminds me on why you're my hero! Even though we don't see eye to eye, you were so fun to be around. I'll always keep you in my memories, Matthew. Bye-bye!"

As Gash made his final swing towards me, I could feel it. This feels like the end. Damn it! I wanted to get more things done. I wanted to help society as much as I could. I wanted to be by her side. She was one of the first people to offer her hand in my world of darkness.

A tear streamed down my face as I thought to myself:

I'm sorry, Lucia...

CLANG

Gash's attack was going to make contact, but it was as if an invisible wall stopped his attack and made it ricochet away from me.

Immediately after, a rush of sands and winds separated the two attacks from me for a brief moment. When everything settled and I looked in front of me, I saw a pearl white steed with an armored man on top of it. As he demounted, the horse moved away from all of us. That is when I got a better look at my savior. He wore slightly heavy armor that was a clean metallic silver, had shaggy brown hair, and wore a confident, soft smile.

"No one man is an island. Every man is a piece of the continent. HOWEVER! I'm certain the world would be better if poorly kept land like yourselves washed away at sea for good!"

Wait a minute! That's...

AEGIS!