THE TAINTED MASK OF TRUTH III

The lives of the two girls flashed before their eyes. All they could do was pray the suffering wouldn't be unbearable and that they'd die quickly. The indigo ball of dense smoke and embers crept closer, scorching the green grass under it and leaving a trail of hot ash that the blast's impact swept away.

In a split second, the blast imploded, closing in on itself and distorting the air around it. Due to the axenic adrenaline, Alicia tried to rise, but she managed to crane her neck and stretch it in twitches like a clock handle. Her dry mouth screamed as she saw the figure beside them.

"Hey, hurry! Get out of here!"

muttered the brute. Several voices overlapped as it talked. Surprisingly, Alicia was able to recognize one of the voices in the cacophony of hoarse sounds. The vurhan's assault had been successfully thwarted.

The figure seemed to be a swarm of gnats drifting about in a cluster, attempting to take on the form of a person. As they parted, a face emerged at the top of the swarm.

"Slejj?" .

Alicia was elated.

"Don't worry; just get Daito out of here!"

"Hello, ugliness! Why don't you pick anyone who is your size?"

Slejj spat at him, his tongue erupting with a cacophony of voices. The vurhan screamed back at him in retaliation.

Slejj didn't wait for the vurhan to calm down and conjure up another of its indigo balls of doom; instead, he went on the attack. As it left behind the cloud of specks, he swayed his left side, poking it into view, they flew back to cover it. A warping sound was heard from the vurhan's general direction and the space distortion from before appeared above the vurhan.

The specks spread out and encircled the vurhan's left arm. The vurhan became aware of the pit and attempted to restrain it. It blew smoke out of its mouth, igniting them and burning them off its side.

The blast left an indelible trace, and the dry and fragile scales that were burned up by the blast began to fall off its limbs one by one. The vurhan charged for another blast with a barbequed hand. Slejj leapt in front of the girls and Daito, throwing his hands in the air, conjuring up yet another distortion in their path. It spewed specks into the air, forming a massive barrier.

Daito had a hard time opening his eyes. Blood clots beneath his eyelids made it painful, and his eyelids rolled up, snapping and dropping the dried blood to the ground. Uncontrollable dizziness resulted from the pulsing pain coursing through his brain.

When he glanced up, he saw the two young ladies. A stream of blood poured into his mouth as he turned his head, covering the tip of his tongue. He was enraged; he had killed the most powerful vurhans on the world, and all it took was a lump of dirt to put him to sleep. He licked the blood off his lower lip and rose to his feet, his eyes bright with determination.

"You're awake!"

Alicia expressed her thoughts. Her words carried a palpable sense of relaxation. Alicia wanted to scream at the top of her lungs that their savior had awoken.

Daito looked down at his hands, his right hand had a huge swollen bump encircling his wrist.

"That damn rock broke my wrist!"

Any normal human being would have been crying and howling at the sight of that wrist, but Daito acted as if it was nothing more than a paper cut.

"Hey, old man! How long can you hold up that barrier?"

He asked Slejj. Even at a time like that, when death was staring them down, his voice remained as calm and lazy as ever.

"Oh, I Don't know? Did you want to set up a picnic behind there? I can't hold this up for long, if I had to approximate, the barrier could hold up for at least thirty more seconds, forty at most!"

"Just enough."

Daito walked over to Alicia. His fiery eyes locked with hers, burning the words off her tongue.

"Your sword... Give it to me,"

He said softly, making it sound like it was nothing close to demand, though it seemed to be. As if her body was acting on its own, Alicia reached for her robe and tore off a piece off the edge.

"Wait!"

She called to him. She gently reached for his injured arm and started twining the clothing around it. Daito slightly winced. She finished off with a tight knot then proceeded to hand over the sword.

"Could you guys hurry up with whatever you are planning, I can't hold this up for long!"

Slejj cried.

Daito took the sword then turned back to Slejj.

"Okay old man, my arm is broken so I can't fire off one of those blasts, but I found another way of attacking. I want you to make an opening in the middle of the barrier!"

"WHAT!? Are you crazy, did that rock knock off a piece of your brain kid! The vurhan is firing straight at us, if I open up a hole in the shield the blast will be let through!"

Slejj exclaimed.

"Trust me!"

Daito reassured him.

Slejj shot a look back at him. After a slight argument with himself, he reluctantly folded his arm into a fist and a gaping hole ripped the barrier at the center. At that exact moment the rip appeared, the surge of black and indigo smoke penetrated the shield.

Daito leaned back, cocking his arm that was holding Alicia's sword. A bright network of illuminating embers danced through the blade of the sword like a crack of lightning.

Alicia was taken aback. Daito launched the sword through the opening with immense force, like a javelin. The sword zipped through the hole with an unimaginable speed.

The vurhan squeezed out one last shriek before falling to the ground lifeless. Slejj draped his arms in exhaustion, dissolving the shield, revealing the vurhan before them with half of its head missing.

The sword managed to saver half its head off with sheer force. It pierced through several trees that were unfortunate enough to be standing behind the vurhan. The faint glow of the sword could be seen into the darkness, stuck halfway into a tree.

AT THE SAME TIME IN AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

"j... Jericho is dead!"

Dakario whispered faintly as he lay sprawled on the ground. The figure in front of him looked back, surprised.

"Impossible... Jericho is one of the strongest vurhans in the circle!"

The figure playing with his dagger gave off yet another mocking laugh.

"Masters... I suggest we go and handle the situation ourselves. I shall require someone else to accompany me, the witnesses must be eliminated before word reaches the capital!"

The two figures on the tall thrones sat quietly for a while before they gave their answer,

"Very well. You may send one of the attack mages to help you!"

"Thank you, masters. I propose that Anato Strider accompany me to take care of the matter."

"No chance in hell no you scrawny sap-head! I've got better things to do than be your luggage boy."

The figure beside the pillar playing with his dagger answered back.

"Young Strider! You shall obey the commands of the administrator!"

The two masters chastened him.

"Like I'm a pawn for you to control?! I didn't sign up for this costume party to be an errand boy! I have my own reasons for being here, and I'm no attack mage! You got beefy over there take him instead!!!"

He said, pointing at the large framed figure on the throne.

" Kanchi Asobi is a Holy Shoutorin artist. He doesn't fight anymore!!!"

The figure snapped back at him.

The figure walked over to the candelabra and dripped his blood over it once more.

"Anato, might I remind you that any of us are replaceable. I do admit it will be difficult replacing you. Despite all your arrogance the master heads have still decided to lend you their power, so either you accompany me or I will personally see to it that they strip you of your power!"

"We both know who's the strongest among this group of cos-players... in fact, I don't need their powers. Maybe it's time I reminded you of what I can do! Let's go pig face and I can show you I don't need their powers..."

"Very well then,"

The figure finished up soaking the flames with his blood. He walked over to the front of the building. He then waved his hand in the air and a gateway appeared showing the image of the forest where the intense fight took place.