Scream!

{Open}

Ashur looked around the starry void in confusion. A second ago he was getting beaten by Seph, but the next second he was suddenly pulled into his inner world.

But more importantly, there seem to be a faint voice that was echoing from somewhere in the vast void.

{Open}

The voice echoed out again, and Ashur turned towards the direction where he thought it was coming from and started flying in that direction.

He didn't know why he was suddenly pulled into his inner world, but he reckoned it should have something to do with that voice coming from somewhere.

After traveling a great distance in the void, Ashur Soon found the origin of the voice.

It was a small pitch-black box that shone the darkest of black. It had no distinct markings and was only around a cubic foot in size. It would almost be unrecognizable to the naked eye in the black void of his inner world.

As he approached the box, Ashur soon discovered it wasn't just one voice, but countless.

Thousands of indistinct voices that sounded like whispers chattering from inside, and the voice he was hearing was just one of the many voices coming from it.

Ashur grabbed out of the void and held the black box in his hands. Intending to take a closer look. But as soon as he touched it, the thousands of chattering voices suddenly stopped and turned into pin-drop silence.

But as Ashur waited in the pin-drop silence then the first voice suddenly echoed out again, this time those whispering voices suddenly turned into deafening screams.

{Open it!}

{Open it and let us out!}

{Let us out!}

{We can give you power!}

{Power!}

{The power to dominate!}

{The power to win!}

{Just... LET US OUT!}

Ashur ignored the voices and stared at the box suspiciously.

There was no way in hell he was going open it.

If this wasn't a flag, he didn't know what was.

A suspicious box suddenly calling out to him from inside his inner world, and uttering such Cliche's.

Whatever was in the box, was there for a reason, and that's where it shall stay.

There was defiantly no way he was going to open it, especially such an obvious flag.

Ashur brought the box up for closer inspection, and upon inspection of the box, it looked to be easily openable as there didn't seem to be even a latch, much less a lock.

"Hm?"

As he inspected it, he suddenly noticed something that he could have sworn wasn't there before.

On the very front of the lid of the box, there was a thick patch of dust with what looked to be faint lettering underneath.

As Ashur wiped away the dust and revealed the lettering, he couldn't help but be confused.

'Sucker?'

Before Ashur could make sense of what it meant, he was suddenly kicked in the back and was violently knocked forward. Causing his hand that was on the lid of the box, to suddenly jerk forward and involuntarily thrust open the lid on the box.

Childish laughter could be heard echoing out from behind, as a black smoke erupted from the box and engulfed him.

-----------------

"Hehehehahahhahaahahaha"

A sudden black and red aura suddenly erupted from Ashur's body as his long Ash grey hair was suddenly dyed pitch black. His twisted arm suddenly started twisting back in place and mended at a visible rate as

"Seph! Quickly get away from there!"

Carlem shouted as he noticed something was wrong.

But Carlem's warning fell into deaf ears as Seph chuckled and nonchalantly replied "What? you think that kid is still a threat?"

Seph thought of it as nothing but a joke.

He was unconscious and barely breathing, and with his current injuries, he was lucky to just be alive. He was confident there was no way he would be getting up anytime soon. And even if he did, how could he possibly pose a threat?

Although he acknowledged Ashur did have a bit of skill, considering was able to last Atures's onslaught. But ultimately, thought of Atures's defeat as nothing more than a fluke.

But only after a few seconds after Carlem's warning, Seph was overcome with a feeling of sudden dread, and suddenly stopped in place.

He felt that if he moved even an inch more, he would die.

It was like he was being stared at by a superior existence.

A primordial fear that came from the very depths of his soul.

He felt as if he was in the palm of its hand, and it could end his life any second.

Before he noticed it, all the sounds around him gradually turn into silence.

The only thing he could hear in this silence was his own beating heart.

Thump

Thump

Thump

Each beat sounded like the beat to a giant drum, each getting progressively louder and louder with each beat.

Thump

Thump

Thump

Thump

Thump

As Seph's heart started to race, the beats started to turn deafening, and Seph felt as if his heart was going to burst out of his chest.

But as Seph stood there, he suddenly heard Carlem shout "Seph! Dodge!" and without thinking, Seph quickly dodged to the side. Narrowly dodging a sword strike to his heart. Before quickly stabbing his spear into the ground and using it vault into the air before twisting his body and quickly repositioning himself as he landed.

Standing opposite to each other, Seph gasped for air and tensely stared at a smiling Ashur. His eyes never leaving him for a second.

His usual arrogant attitude was nowhere to be seen, as he screamed in his head 'What the hell was that!?'

He had never experienced something like that before. All he could feel was a paralyzing fear from the deepest depths of his soul.

Ashur just stood there with an unsettling smile, and looked at him with his now glowing red eyes, before uttering "Interesting" which sounded like thousands of voices overlapping at once, Before his figure suddenly blurred.

The next second, Seph was suddenly grabbed from behind, and violently slammed face-first into the ground as Ashur smilingly laughed from above.

Seph immediately tried to struggle free, and throw Ashur off.

But the next second, he suddenly cried out in pain as Ashur took his sword and stabbed it right through Seph's arm. Pinning him to the ground.

The black-haired Ashur then lowered his head next to Seph's ear before he quietly whispered "Now scream" as arcs of crimson lightning danced on his fingers

"AHHHHHHH" Seph then suddenly let out a heartwrenching scream as crimson lightning enveloped his body.

"Scream!"

"Scream!!"

"SCREAM!!!"

The black-haired Ashur shouted in enjoyment as he watched Seph squirm around as he held him down.

Larfal couldn't help but have a chill go down their spine as he saw this. Although he had seen similar instances like this countless times in the past.

But he also couldn't help but feel something strangely familiar about this scene.

While Ene couldn't help but worriedly look towards Ashur as she mumbled "Master..."

Carlem couldn't let this go on any longer and turned to the others and shouted "Aliceia, Ventus Carmen! Castien flank!" before pulling out his sword and rushing towards Ashur.

"Roger!" shouted Aliceia as she began her chanting "Great song of the forest, the song of nature, the everlasting song of the wind. I beseech thee, answer thy call, and bring a great wind. One of which that will-"

Meanwhile, Carlem also began chanting as he and Castien simultaneously rushed forward together with their blades drawn "Tranquil water, the river of life, the spirit of water, I ask you..."

"Respond to my plea and transform yourself and bring everlasting life and healing-"

Carlem and Castien simultaneously flanked Ashur from two sides. Carlem took his left, while Castien took his right.

But in a mere instant, as they closed in around a meter from him, Ashur suddenly raised his hand, and the next second, Castien was quickly sent flying backward crashing against the wall of the arena.

Ashur then quickly drew his sword out of Seph's arm the next instant and used it to quickly deflect Carlem's attack to the side. Ashur then twisted his body before his blade suddenly blurred, and before Carlem could react, he found himself suddenly impaled straight through the chest.

Wide-eyed, Carlem looked down at the sword sticking out of his chest, as he suddenly coughed out a mouthful of blood.

But to Ashur's surprise, Carlem never stopped chanting. Even after getting impaled straight through the chest.

"-to those that seek you - Aqualis Sanitatem!"

Just as he finished chanting, Carlem mustered all his remaining strength to kick off Ashur's body and Dislodge Ashur's sword from his chest, before quickly rolling to the side.

"-Turn into blades of wind that will slice down my enemy - Ventus Carmen!"

At that same time, Aliceia also finished her chanting, and tens of blades made of wind materialized into the air before viciously rushing towards Ashur.