One Boy, One Fist - Gilgamesh

Before Samael could cut into Crimson's body again, the Wyrm Lord leapt into the air with powerful flames to propel him. He flew into the air with Gilgamesh in hand, and did not stop until they were both over the clearing.

Once he was there, he tossed Gilgamesh down to the ground with all the force he could muster, causing his body to vanish in a streak of light.

"Shit!"

"Take cover!"

The Wyrm Lords down below all dove away from the center of the clearing, where Gilgamesh smashed into the earth. With a deafening bang, a cloud of dust was spewed from the earth as it gave way.

The hundreds of soldiers and their Lords looked on in shock, then up into the sky at Crimson's distant figure.

The Golden Wyrm Lord raised an armored fist into the air, "Crimson, you son of a-"

"Careful, Gold," The Wyrm Lord dressed in black called over to him, her words giving him pause.

The Silver and Verdant Wyrm Lords also looked on as Crimson descended, but wariness touched each of their spirits, and was reflected in their eyes. Whether or not they wanted to show it, their innate fear toward this man was revealing itself.

Strangely enough, though, there was a touch of excitement in Verdant's eyes.

"I do apologize," Crimson said, obviously unapologetic.

"Tch!" Gold turned away and walked over to the edge of the crater, peering into it.

"So what unlucky bastard dared to provoke you?"

Crimson frowned and stared at his hand-- the very hand that Gilgamesh had used Samael to cut into. Before he could answer Black's question, a youthful and prideful voice answered them, coming from within the crater.

"That would be me."

Gilgamesh leapt from the crater in a single bound, and landed with Samael in hand. Despite what had just happened to him, his body showed no signs of any damage. The only difference now were the purple sparks present in his eyes, bursting with vitality and power.

"A child?" Gold scoffed and stifled a laugh.

Black and Silver exchanged glances, and Verdant's eyes narrowed.

"Crimson."

Looking over at the Verdant Wyrm Lord, Crimson responded, "What is it?"

"You let yourself get cut by the sword, didn't you?"

Both Gilgamesh and Crimson were surprised to hear this, and Verdant merely nodded once Crimson fell into silence. "Of course you did."

Gilgamesh looked down at Samael, then at Verdant. He wondered if it was possible that Verdant had figured something out about Samael from just glancing at it.

"Do you recognize that Blade, Verdant?"

"I do not, but I can feel its inherent nature. It reminds me of the Emperor's nature, and I know what he is capable of doing."

Crimson fiery eyes widened as the conflagration within them grew. A vicious heatwave emanated from Crimson's inner self, burning away the thin layer of human skin covering him.

Gilgamesh readied Samael, while also glancing at the other Wyrm Lords.

"No. I suppose what I should have said was..." Verdant continued, his tone becoming icy.

"I know what the Emperor's nature allowed him to do to you."

Crimson barely twitched, yet his figure was swept up in flames that exploded. The entirety of that force propelled him toward Verdant, and one he arrived he grabbed the young man by his neck with a flaming hand.

"Then that knowledge will die with you!"

The flame of his hand spread out and covered Verdant's entire body, devouring it in a instant. However, Crimson's spirit called out to him, and he gasped once he sensed the truth.

Each of the Wyrm Lords looked on in shock as they saw Verdant appear behind Crimson, completely unscathed.

"You always did allow yourself to be blinded by rage."

Verdant said those words and vanished, leaving nothing behind.

Gilgamesh was taken aback by what had transpired, but eventually gave a laugh and took a more relaxed stance.

"What are you laughing at, brat," Gold called out to Gilgamesh, already walking over to him. Gilgamesh took one look at Gold's hulking figure and sighed.

Crimson was still staring off into space, likely searching for Verdant with his spiritual eyes. The other were unsure of what they should even be doing, so they chose to return to their soldiers.

"You should give that sword to me. A little snot like you can't dream of bringing out its full potential." Gold was already reaching for the sword when he said this, annoying Gilgamesh with his character.

"You can have it, then."

Gilgamesh twisted Samael and then slashed upward. Gold reacted quickly, and brought the gauntlets to his chest to defend against it.

"Tch!" Crimson watched as Gold fell victim to Samael's strange nature, and had a large portion of his spirit reaped by the time the sword exited his chest.

All were speechless at this. The sword was clearly physical, yet it had passed through Gold's arms and chest as though it were a ghostly, ethereal object.

Gold's face paled and he doubled over, falling on his face. He was still very much alive, but barely.

Not only had Samael cut much deeper into him, but his spirit was also of a lower potency that Crimson's. Samael had only cut into Crimson's hand, yet the potency of his spirit was too much for it to drain.

Gilgamesh only then realized that Crimson was an entirely different kind of monster. The other Wyrm Lords likely could not compare to him, which begged the question:

Why was there even any competition between them? Wouldn't Crimson just tear them apart effortlessly?

"Gold!"

Surprisingly, it was Silver who rushed out from within the ranks of her soldiers and arrived at Gold's side. The Black Wyrm Lord did not seem to care all that much.

"What manner of underhanded skill was that!? Have you no honor!?"

Crimson groaned, "It's the sword's nature, Silver. There's nothing underhanded about it. Gold was just foolish. Leave him there, I will heal him when this is over."

"No! Leave him to me." Silver left Gold's side and drew her sword, her eyes already reddened.

"Don't be foolish, Silver. None of you are a match for him as long as he wields that blade."

Gilgamesh thought about Verdant's words, and wondered just what kind of nature the Emperor possessed. Crimson was clearly familiar with that nature, albeit a tad bit weary of it.

Crimson seemingly teleported to Silver's side, a weak flame lingering on his body before dying out.

"None of you have the energy to survive a blow from that sword. Stay with Gold, and let me handle this." This time, Crimson was giving her a direct order.

Sensing that, Silver silenced herself and sheathed her sword.

"You act like you care about them," Gilgamesh said. "So tell me. Are the Seven Wyrm Lords actually seven siblings? Is the Scaled Emperor your father?"

Crimson shook his head. "If you've already figured it out, do you need to ask?"

"Heh! Good answer, boy!"

Black, Silver and Crimson all blinked.

Did this child just call the Crimson Wyrm Lord 'boy?' Was he alright in the head?

"If it's the sword in your hand that's giving you all this confidence, child, then I have bad news for you..." Crimson took a deep breath and the heatwave around him intensified further. He walked closer to Gilgamesh and put some distance between himself and Silver.

"It won't be enough to stop me."

Gilgamesh tilted his head in confusion, then looked down at Samael.

"You think this sword gives me confidence?"

Crimson grinned, because in his mind he knew that he was right. The sword was the only thing assuring that brat that he would not be killed instantly.

"I do."

Gilgamesh chuckled, "Then I have some news for you, young one."

With a thought, Samael returned to Gilgamesh inventory. He put a hand behind his back, and left one raised in front of him. With it, he gestured for Crimson to come at him.

"All I need is one hand to discipline a hotheaded child like you."

Crimson's eye twitched when he heard that; Silver and Black were even unsure that they had heard correctly.

Crimson smiled, but the rest of his face betrayed the anger and annoyance he felt at being insulted. "I must thank you, then, for making this easy for me."

Gilgamesh straightened up. "Are you going to keep talking, or are we going to fight?"

Before his very eyes, Crimson's figure vanished, and a trail of fiery residue was left behind as he dashed over to Gilgamesh.

Without a sound, a red-hot fist of fury was bearing down on Gilgamesh with intent to kill, but there was very little else behind it but brute force and rage. Gilgamesh reacted expertly, and swatted that fist away as if it were just the assault of a puny insect.

Crimson's fist was redirected, and his body followed along with it. Once the punch struck nothing but air, a propulsion of hellfire was breathed from it, breathing to life an inferno that consumed everything it touched. The land was scorched, and the distant trees were burnt to a crisp.

Gilgamesh stepped the side, practically giving Crimson room to maneuver and ready another attack.

"I thought I'd made it easy for you. Come! Show me!"

Crimson roared, and an almost liquid fire was spewed from his throat. It splashed onto the floor, creating a sizzling cacophony.

Once again, he charged at Gilgamesh, trying to grab him by the scruff. The sparks in Gilgamesh's eyes were exploding to life with even more power, seemingly on the cusp of bursting out of his eyes and becoming wrathful fire.

His spiritual energy empowered him without end, and he twisted his body to avoid being grabbed. At that exact moment, his single hand formed a fist, and he sucked in a breath, then exhaled as he struck.

His fist moved through space in a perfect, crushing arc, and landed firmly on the tough scales of Crimson's back.

Crimson's entire body jerked, and he was pounded into the ground by that single, tiny fist. Black and Silver were left stunned, unable to believe that a small child like Gilgamesh was able to move like he did, and generate as much force.

Gilgamesh shook his hand a bit, then opened and closed it a few times.

Crimson picked himself up off the ground, but was still trying to stand when Gilgamesh's kingly fist struck him in the stomach. He fell over, this time on his back, and struggled to inhale a single breath of air.

Still, Gilgamesh did not let up. He sent punch after punch into Crimson's gut, continuing long after he saw blood in the Wyrm Lord's mouth.

After thirty consecutive punched, Gilgamesh finally felt winded, and straightened himself up to stand. He found Silver and Black staring at him as though he were some kind of demonic beast, and gave them a smirk in return.

Crimson coughed a few times, each one bringing up more blood than the last. The fires in his eyes were no longer burning as bright; it was clear that the damage Gilgamesh had dealt to him was not just physical, but spiritual as well.

Noticing that Gilgamesh had been staring at Silver and Gold for longer than he had stared at her, Black rushed over to aid them. She doubted that she could put up a fight against Gilgamesh after what she saw, but she could at least help her brother and sister escape him.

"Agh!"

Gilgamesh looked down at his victim, while also listening to a voice in his mind. It was Samael's spirit.

'Incredible! I could feel the spiritual energy moving through your body as your pummeled him, but I just assumed it was your own. I didn't think that you'd acquired the ability to reap spiritual energy the same way I do. How is that even possible!?'

Crimson's eyes slowly regained some of their lost fire, and he looked up at Gilgamesh with dampened hatred.

"How did you.... do it?"

Gilgamesh then noticed a notification from the system, and then immediately started to put the pieces together.

'Spirit Potency increased by 5%! Spirit Potency has now reached 6% of User's Total Estimate! Skill points added!'

While he continued speaking, Crimson fought to move his body. As he struggled, the fires in his eyes once again returned, surging with even more power than before.

"How did you acquire the power... of the Obscure Spark itself!?"

...

As these things were transpiring, Ishtar, Marshall and Sylvia were getting their bearings, and trying to make their way down to Gilgamesh. They were unharmed, but Crimson's energy explosion had shaken their spirits, and they needed time to regain their focus.

As they slowly made their way down to the clearing, a viridescent flame blazed to life, out of which stepped a young man dressed in green robes.