Chapter 13: Imma Beat this Fucker

That was close…

His scythe almost cut me. I need to make some distance so that-

"Thinking about something~?"

Esther turned around to see Four ready to swing his scythe again. 

She barely dodged.

The ground beneath getting sliced like butter.

I can't keep going on like this… How do I beat him?

"Teleport."

Esther was warped around fifty feet away from Four.

For now I'll stall and try keeping him back. I'm not experienced enough either to keep fighting in the air. So I'll go back to the ground, I can't bet on something that I'm new to.

"Calming."

"Tempest. Explosion. Magic Missile."

The circles formed above her head, she manipulated the [Tempest] to make a cannon-like shape. She then activated the [Explosion] spell inside of it making it go flying at a high speed into the air. Once it started slowing down she shot a magic missile which split it up into hundreds of pieces that rained down onto the field. Mini explosions going off everywhere she could see.

"That should hold him for a bit."

"I'm running out of spells to use though… I knew I should have studied more."

She pouted a little-

Crack

Esther's eyes went wide… that noise. A branch snapping.

From behind her-

"Gotcha~"

She tried turning around as the scythe's blade swung down…

It felt like time was stopping, as the long sharp blade swung toward her neck.

CLANG

"What-"

"Huh- you… deflected my scythe?"

In front of Esther. Was a man with black and white hair… he had bandages covering his eyes, and he wore this white cloak… He had black clothing and what appeared to be a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. His blade was a long slim red katana with a black and gold hilt.

"Picking on ladies isn't really a fair thing to do now is it mister?"

Four looked a little shocked.

"Fine~ I'll just kill you then her. It doesn't make much of a difference to me."

He lifted the scythe again and went to swing down. As he did, the katana rushed past and cut Four's hands off.

"..."

"Your blade… It's off." Four glared at the man.

"I think you have better things to worry about than that mister."

The katana swung up toward Four's head. He swiftly moved to the side and grabbed the blade with his now restored hand.

"You're not very good at this are you~ To think I even got slightly worried."

Four laughed a little when the blade's tip warped and looped back, piercing his body. 

His eyes went wide as he looked down.

"How-?"

"Four. You made a severe mistake."

He looked back up. The face of the man with the katana had a twisted smile.

The bandages started to unwrap and fall, revealing a glowing yellow '01' in the man's left eye.

"Oooh~. So that's how you played…"

"One!"

My form immediately shifted back into my regular one. My black trench coat with lime green outlines. My pure red eyes. My brown hair with the red streak. My dark blue jeans.

"That explains the shitty blade… quite well~"

"You're going back now Four."

Esther watched as the situation unfolded.

"Cyn…?!"

I turned to my left to see Esther looking toward me.

"Yo! I'll be over in a second. Let me just wrap this up~"

||ABSORB||

The red slime-like tentacles shot out my body and tried to consume Four. Who stood there with a dark expression. He smiled.

"That won't work. D-U-M-B-A-S-S~"

My katana was ripped out of my hands and instantly absorbed, it got recreated by Four and in a matter of seconds my [Absorption] skill was cut down.

I jumped back and slid against the grass as he looked at me.

"Well… shit."

That didn't work? Seriously?

How can I beat him… no. Wait.

What if I use my entire body to absorb him? That would require me absorbing myself as well though right? Well it shouldn't be that bad. I can always get out after the fact once I lock him in there.

I started running full sprint toward Four. He started running toward me as well, he swung the sword around sideways, cutting my body in half.

I pulled myself back together almost instantly and used [Absorption] again.

||ABSORB||

The skill grabbed Four again.

"I told you that won't-"

This time I forced my entire being into absorbing Four. Which would also take me with him.

||WARNING: 'RUPTURE' STARTING!||

||WARNING: 'RUPTURE' STARTING!||

||WARNING: 'RUPTURE' STARTING!||

Red lightning sparks started intertwining around us as we began getting consumed.

⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱

CRACK

"Huh…?"

Six looked up toward the blackened sky, to see a crack of light. He turned toward the screen to see what was happening.

"Oh you've got to be kidding."

He put his manga down and rubbed his hands against his face.

The white rings surrounding the area started rotating faster until they came to a sudden halt. A white orb shot out and expanded into this white slime-like entity. It fell down toward Six before it warped and took on a human-like appearance as it landed on the platform. He had brown hair, with a streak of white. He was covered with silk fabric and ornate trimming from head to toe, a tail coat fitted to perfection, a leather cape draped over his shoulders and to top it all off, he had glasses on. His eyes were a pure white that shrunk down into off-white irises, and he had a yellow-gold '444' in his left eye.

"Six, we have a major problem."

He swiftly walked over and tapped his foot twice on the ground. A large holographic screen appeared in the air and an entire control room type setup rose from the ground.

"He's causing a 'Rupture'. We have to stop him or else the others are going to escape."

"How bad is it so far Ode…?"

He turned toward Six.

"You aren't going to use my number?"

"Too long. Bad on my mouth."

"..."

Ode swiped his hand in the air pulling up a new screen.

"Well it looks to be around 34% so far."

"Already? He just started."

"Ruptures occur quickly which is why you. Need to get to work."

Ode and Six started rapidly trying to fix the 'Rupture' as the percent rose higher. Ode was swapping between a bunch of different screens while Six was typing up a list of commands.

CRACK

"It's getting worse Ode."

⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱

"What the fuck are you doing One?!"

"Taking you down."

<One, stop.>

Huh-?

"Six?"

<You need to stop what you're doing now.>

"What? Are you insane?! I'm not stopping."

<Listen One you have to.>

"What- who is that?"

<You'll know later. For now stop trying to absorb yourself and Four.>

"Look they're telling you to stop One~"

"I said no, and I'm sticking with that answer."

I made the absorption stronger, a bit of mana pouring into it now.

⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱

"Shit. Ode the percent jumped to 82%. The 'Rupture' is going to happen-"

"Keep trying. We can't let them escape. This is the only time we align our goals with the system."

Ode grew an entire second set of arms and started working even quicker. The screen panels sliding up as the ceiling continued to crack. The percentage rose to 89% within a few seconds.

CRACK

||WARNING: 10% UNTIL 'RUPTURE'||

||WARNING: 10% UNTIL 'RUPTURE'||

||WARNING: 10% UNTIL 'RUPTURE'||

The white rings started spinning rapidly. Colors making sparks around them as they got faster. The ceiling cracking even further to the point of it almost exploding. 

"Shit! Six prepare for impact! We can't stop it-"

CRACK

||WARNING: 1% UNTIL 'RUPTURE'||

||WARNING: 'RUPTURE' OCCURRING…||

The ceiling shattered, a giant vacuum-like suction starting pulling everything toward it. Six and Ode held onto the console nearly being pulled away. The rings started vibrating before hundreds of colored orbs with numbers on them broke free, getting rapidly pulled into the vortex at alarmingly fast rates.

⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱⊰───────•✦•───────⊱

"Just give it up One~!"

"I said I'm not. You're going with me Four."

A giant pillar of red energy shot up into the sky using Four and I as its center. The absorption hastened taking our bodies apart. After a few seconds hundreds of colored orbs went flying up and out of the pillar shooting all across the world. They slammed into forests… towns… continents… and everything in between. 

"Well… I gotta admit~ you have determination. I'll give you that One- no… Cyn. I'll give you my respect for this~"

Four was fully absorbed while smiling as it started wrapping further around me as well.

The energy pillar disappeared after the last of the orbs flew out, the sky sparkled with colored gleams as I turned toward Esther.

"Cyn?"

"Hey, I'll be back soon alright? It shouldn't be too long."

She looked at me and smiled.

"Come back safe… alright?"

"Yeah, of course." 

I smiled at Esther before the absorption skill fully wrapped around me, shrinking my body down into a blob of slime. It had a small red orb as its core with a yellow-gold '01' carved into it…