The Second Skirmish

"Well… are we saved? Are we good?"

Albert asked as both of them watched the dolphin pull out his ax from his victim's chest. The seven pillars of light that pierced the skies had begun to fade leaving their surroundings to yet again be embraced by the dark.

"Yeah, probably… but if he's here, our situation had probably turned for worse," Tanaka said as he curved down his lips and sighed. He coiled his body with a layer of strings to get himself back in his feet. He stretched his arms and shoulders before he turned his head to his side to see the beast that bathed in blood beneath the moonlight. "So, Mister… where are you going next?"

The Dolphin shook his head and pointed them at a school grounds to his left. He then dropped his arm and with his weapon on hand, he walked towards the edge of the rooftop and jumped without a shred of caution, ushering a moment of silence for Tanaka's crew.

"What the hell just happened?" Albert grunted as he stood up and walked to the place where the Dolphin took flight. He clicked his tongue and looked below to see a monstrosity emerging from a cloud of dust with a trail of red blood that presumably came from his feet.

"We need to go. Now." Tanaka whispered with a sense of urgency.

"What?... What do you mean?"

"Grab Rei and throw him off the ledge. We're gonna jump down and we're gonna go with that monster."

"Wait… I don't understand aren't we sa-"

"If that guy is here, then no. If the special squad of MC herself is here. I'd rather drag myself to tail that monster instead of remaining here in hopes of rescue."

"What?"

"Oh just shut up. Now throw him off the ledge."

"What?!"

"Albert. Shut the hell up and jump down with me."

***

Four hours had passed and the reapers had reached the end of their battle. The 153 soldiers that made it in the central grounds of this hospital complex faced the group of apparitions who remained for their last stand and as of the moment, only thirty reapers remained.

The side of the spirits stood strong with its last man that left a path of bodies and destruction in his wake. They called him General, a gargantuan man that held the bodies of their comrades in his hand like a soggy carrot waiting to be crushed.

His ragged clothes revealed his body that looked like as if it was sculpted from boulders themselves. They gave their all but it wasn't enough to make him fall, their efforts felt like as if they were trying to move a mountain. Their blades was just enough to give his skin a scratch, their abilities and fists couldn't do more to nudge him and push him back. Everyone that had approached him had died by his hands the ones that survived so far was those who were blessed with luck and cowardice.

The battle was about to reach its conclusion but then, one reaper cut through the final curtains that were about to befall on the reapers. It was an entity that had a head of a dolphin a body of pure masculinity drenched by the white luminescent blood of his victims. The only thing that they could hear was the howling winds that occupied the dreaded space between them and the screams of his ax as he dragged it across the floor.

"Another one… I have said this a couple of time but please. Leave, don't come back and I'll end this fight right now." The General dropped his victim and gave the dolphin a menacing gaze. "This should be obvious but I won't hesitate to put you down.

"Meee… MeEh−Ee−Ee−Ee… Mreeeeg-"

The Dolphin titled his head and let out a cry but the General tore the space between them with a single breath before he delivered a powerful kick the shook the ground beneath their feet. The reapers heard a painful crack but sadly, it didn't' come from their enemy.

Their ally flew into the distance, rolling on a few patches of dirt and grass until he lost the force that pushed him back. The Dolphin remained on the ground lifeless with his limbs gone where it shouldn't have been. The silence resumed which gave weight on the beating heart of their spectators, they all understood that they are next and this is what's going to happen to them.

But then, the General and the other reapers saw the Dolphin move.

The General's expression froze as they heard the sound of his bones snapping with his flesh contracting to bind back his body once again. It wasn't long before the Dolphin got back on his feet with his blood running all over his body and just like before, he gave him a gaze as if he was smiling.

The General took a deep breath and clenched his fist. He kept the pressure on his hand until it turned, he gave him a punch that toppled him like an empty plastic bottle, twisting his neck farther than what it supposed to be. The same thing happened and the Dolphin got back on its feet with the same smug aura that threw him off.

"Bastard. Are you mocking me?"

He rushed in front of him and delivered a blow that crushed his ribs but that didn't end there. He let out a right hook the broke his neck, a chop that broke his shoulder and just when he's about to fall like a building that lost its pillars, he grabbed his left leg and slammed his body on the ground as if he was dusting off a rug.

He repeated it countless times until the ground itself took shape according to the dimension of the Dolphin's face and the only thing that made him stop was when his leg was turned to mush.

Time appeared ever so slowly to the spectators witnessing the one-sided beatdown of their savior and enemy. All of them had the desire to help but they all felt like that this fight belonged to the beings living on a whole different league.

It happened again. They all watched as the dolphin gets down on one hit only to stand up once again as if nothing happened. They couldn't stand to witness their fight but none of them dared to avert their eyes.

They've caught sight of it. They thought that he was done when the dolphin's left leg was torn off, but he grabbed the other one and flung him onto the wall across the school grounds with an impact so loud and strong. It's as if he threw a bomb instead of a body.

But even so, the Dolphin emerged from the haze of broken concrete just to deliver that smile. His cloak was torn apart but other than that, he's unharmed.

"You… You're a tough nut to crack, aren't you? Very well." His deep ominous voice rang on their ears like the final note of a dark theatrical piece. He lowered his stance and gritted his teeth. He placed his fist behind his back in order to cram as much energy and pressure as he could.

He took a sharp breath, he kicked the ground and propelled himself to bash in the face of his enemy but the Dolphin dodged and threw a punch right at his stomach. It wasn't as strong as the one he had received so far, but his blow pushed the General back and made him flinch.

It didn't look like he would let it end there. The Dolphin grabbed the General's arm and he threw him towards the wall of the building right above him. He made a huge crack before he bounced right off and the Dolphin used that time to smash his head with the back of his ax as he fell down.

The general rolled on the ground to distance himself from his enemy but the Dolphin crossed that space and brought him back to the dirt once more. He threw another punch in hopes of pushing him back but he dodged that again and used its momentum to turn his body and deliver a full swing that severed his jaws from the rest of his face.

The General shouted in pain but that didn't stop him. The Dolphin raised his ax above his head and brought it down through his left eye before it drew a deep wound on his torso. The general then let out a painful shriek before he fell down on the ground without a shred of energy left to raise his fingers.

***

"What the hell… that ma-err… thing… is broken," Rick said as he clasped his hand and smiled towards his boss who was currently drowning herself with coffee.

"Of course he is. That's the very reason why he's with me, " MC replied as she threw her cup at the pile of trash right at her back like the others.

"I mean… you had people who could turn things to mush and control electricity but this…"

"Well, the rules are simple. All of those who took their lives would get an ability based on the direct object or the reason behind their deaths and that beast's reason and desire far surpasses those of any man."

"What are you on a-"

"Let's just say… he's a beast that could never be killed once freed but if caged, you would only give him the strength that he needs to break free from the things you bound him with." MC brushed her hair as her lips contorted into a wicked smile.

"Ma'am a few spirits broke through our security wall and they're heading towards the center!" One of her clerks shouted. Everybody turned to her, expecting that she would lash out but her face showed the look of a mastermind who had just caught a few bugs on her web.

"Ah… Perfect." MC stretched her arms and turned to Rick as she stood from her desk. "Rick, get me my coffee and notify the others. It's time."