Chapter 99: Death Minute (Part 1)

A punch from the right that is easily dodged ends up being just a follow-up for a kick from the left and that, when barely dodged, makes dodging the ankle kick from the right near impossible. However, doing the near-impossible somehow only leaves him wide-open for any attacks from both sides.

And, this time, he is unable to dodge or defend at all.

Dyne: "AAAGGH!!!"

A pained cry comes out of him, and he himself is surprised by it as he is thrown on the ground by a punch to the gut in the very similar fashion of what he had done before.

Unlike before though, he gets no chance to get away and catch his breath as the anomaly of a supernatural keeps pummeling his face on the ground, all so that the Hellfire has enough time to charge up for a massive attack, which, when he is finally ready, the other supernatural gets out of his way and leaves Dyne vulnerable to it all.

With not enough time to even react, much less dodge, he ends up taking three miniature suns to his body, which burn his body like he is in the pits of hell.

And while this might be enough of a revenge for making a mockery out of his miniature sun earlier, the attack by the Hellfire and his ally is still not over. As proof of that, the ground beneath his back cracks.

It takes him a second to turn and see Abgere looking at him with a condescending glare to finally realize that this happened because of his own earlier attacks weakening the ground and Abgere noticing that without letting him know.

In that second though, the Hellfire puts his hands to the ground and uses Geokinesis with as much power as he can to use this crack and form spikes out of the rocks that penetrate his back like a medieval age treasure trap.

Dyne: "S-SSHHHIIITT!!! GAH!"

It works too.

Dyne is helpless as his massless body is penetrated by the spikes, causing them to strike directly into his core.

And as he struggles to do anything because of the searing pain, Abgere uses all of his power to push him down on those spikes, causing his suffering to worsen.

All around the three, the many Spectres are constantly tempted to help their leader. But, the order that their leader gave them holds too much power for them to disobey it. So, all they can do is stand and watch Dyne get tortured.

If they were humans, they might have been capable of disobeying the orders anyway and help but, for these artificial beings made completely out of the same energy that was used to programme the many principles in their mind, it would be literally detrimental to their health to try and go against their orders.

So,

Dyne: "G-gh … good job!"

Their leader, for their ability to control themselves and not interfere in the battle, compliments them.

And, with just that, every single person who could hear him becomes silent, completely silent, so that one man can speak his mind.

Dyne: "As for you two,"

With his voice quite coarse and pained,

Dyne: "you both did a good job too."

He says so casually as tightens his fists.

Both Gabriel and Abgere jump away from him, probably as a natural reaction to someone who absolutely destroyed them before. Unfortunately for them, this wasn't a smart decision.

If Dyne could still talk, that meant that their attack wasn't as successful as it needed to be. So, they needed to continue attacking. Jumping away and giving their opponent more room to recover was a foolish move.

And now, it is time to pay the price for that foolishness.

Dyne: "Death Minute!"

Dyne yells as he gets back on his feet with his clothes still covered with holes.

As a response to what he yells, a mass of energy forms over his head in a systematic manner to form a clock with only the second hand.

Abgere: "What the hell is that!?"

Abgere can sense dread emanating from the clock but he doesn't exactly know why. Gabriel, on the other hand, has a vague idea.

Gabriel: "He said 'Death Minute', didn't he?"

He looks in pure terror as he questions that.

Dyne: "Allow me to explain."

Saying so, Dyne casually walks towards them with light steps as the holes in his suit somehow heal.

Dyne: "When I was created, I was created with the purpose of leading the Spectres. I was born that way."

Unlike in every other army where one has to work their way up, gaining skills and experience along the way, he was created as the strongest, most skilled and best Spectre of all time. That, obviously, meant that he needed to be given a lot of power.

Dyne: "But apparently, creating someone that powerful was too big of a task. They couldn't handle it the same way they handled every other Spectre."

And so,

Dyne: "They had to condition a special 'feature' in me. They sealed a lot of power inside me, far away from my grasp. This way, my power was significantly reduced and I could function as a Spectre. However, if this power could never be accessed by me, then it serves no purpose, correct?"

Hence,

Gabriel: "Death Minute."

Dyne nods.

Dyne: "A way for me to access the full extent of my power for just one minute. The catch - is that if I don't win the battle within this minute, I am programmed to die."

Abgere and Gabriel are left at a loss for what to say. And seeing that, Dyne looks back on the clock hanging in the air that counts down to the end of the minute.

Somewhere along the line, probably around the time that the holes on his body and suit started to heal, Death Minute had already been activated. Hence, the countdown began. And, because of the time he spent explaining Death Minute to them,

Dyne: "It seems not much time is left until my death. So, let's begin, shall we?"

He has merely 20 seconds left to win the battle.