Are We Enemies? (1)

A crash reverberated into the night. The rumble of stone, the bent of metal, and the shatter of glass announced themselves in the area. And as if to be entertained by such noise, the sky had peeled more of its layers to give its constellations a glimpse below at the scene.

For the first few moments, Hope was able to read the Awakened's actions. It was easy to predict how he would react placed in the situation Hope was in; He'd ducked aside from the first blow, a side-step from a shoulder grab, and parried the third.

And that was where his luck ended. If he had much anyway…

Because that parry cost him more strength than he'd expected. 

The Awakened hit him like an explosion and Hope, braced with his shield in time, was thrown sideways into a building's window. The shattering multiplied in his ears, the glints of its fragments flying around as he too flew further into the darkness of the room. Pain spiked in his body as he hit and rolled, knocking over metal carts and whatever items piled on top before he came to a stop, the smell of dry dirt filling his nose.

Hope groaned, reaching his arms out to find any support.

Ah. A counter.

Though his body ached, he forced himself to stand and move, holding his abdomen.

'That's…certainly an Awakened's power…' Hope grunted as he made the steps forward.

But at the bottom of his vision, he caught a glimpse of what he landed on. Which was a broken pile of…pots…? Huh. Some sort of garden room. Although, not at all like Mave's lair where magic grew and blossomed in petals or lit pollen. All the potted plants were dead, withered to dried leaves or limp stems.

Hope observed it all in an instant as he turned and ran again just before the Awakened speedily landed where he once stood, causing an impact by his feet alone. Hope had thought he'd heard the building creak.

'Fast fast fast-'

Hope quickly ran to a side door, seeing a corridor leading up.

The ache pulsed in his limbs as he surged forward, skipping steps to save what time he could spare between them.

'Back…' An instinctive voice whispered.

And just as Hope reached the next level, suddenly, with lightning movement, the Awakened burst behind him.

Kwaaaang!

Hope braced his shield up once more, the impact pushing him back into a wall. The bones in his arms screamed and his back stung as he, surprisingly, held against the weight of the Awakened's sword this time.

But of course, their strength was far from matched.

The number of soul shards this Awakened had collected was obviously higher than his, but his rank alone was a leap of overwhelming power. Even if Hope could block like just now, it was a crushing weight that made his arms tremble.

'Dammit…'

Hope gritted his teeth as he stared at the Awakened's ridiculous white mask and black hood, the pain and pressure building as his muscles strained. But Hope did not submit. If he had to, then that would have to come down to his own bones breaking or whatever course of action he could plan next.

But what was going on in this guy's head? The hell was he so bent on chasing Hope for?

'Was he actually smart enough to connect me to the dead body…?'

Hope had a feeling it was.

'Seriously…?'

How unfortunate. A stubborn and smart Awakened. Even if Hope was forgotten by everyone, a detective could spot out the guilty culprit with the right pieces in mind: dead body, everyone congregated in the great hall, one person escaping, running from the sight of an Awakened.

"Huh…It's that obvious then…" Hope said aloud, grunting against the weight, not caring if the Awakened understood him or not. But it seemed like he did when he pressed harder into the shield, the blade's edge moving close enough to touch Hope's cheek.

And with that previous tangent thought, one of Hope's Attributes summoned, tauntingly appearing before his eyes as if facing the Awakened wasn't enough of an inconvenience.

[Black Sheep] Attribute Description: "You are an outsider born into a disarray world. Forced upon a hero's fate, always against the odds, you wish to be seen."

"..."

Nevermind the 'always against the odds part...' 

He got the damn idea from the Spell.

But 'wish to be seen…'

'What the fuck does that mean?!'

Hope narrowed his eyes as he hurriedly dismissed the runes from his sight. 

To be seen by this Awakened was the last thing he would've damn wanted.

Or did the Spell have some poetic tier meaning backed behind those words?

Tsk. Even now, it hasn't failed in riling him up during a battle. The Spell was something he could fight later on in the future.

Right now, he had to fight off this Awakened. And the best knowledge, and a classic one at that, was to use his opponent's strength against him. The key was to execute properly on how to. It would only work once; Hope would have to parry for a while first, before understanding what attack pattern this guy had for him to dodge with more ease afterwards.

'Come on. Think. Think. Think. Think-'

An idea crossed Hope's mind at that moment.

As Hope was pinned against the wall with the Awakened's sword pressing down on his shield, Hope baited the idea of leaning harder into the attack, pushing with all the might he could. And whether the Awakened was impressed or not by his attempt, he responded with force as well.

With the sword bearing more on him, Hope at the last second let himself go limp.

Before the weight could completely crush him, Hope immediately twisted his body to the side and ducked under the sword, causing the blade to strike the wall, leaving only a light scratch on Hope's cheek.

Krrch!

"...!"

Giving him a brief window of opportunity, Hope nimbly leaped off to the side, putting distance between him and the Awakened.

His shadow faithfully followed him as the night's blue light poured into the windows, the area reading more clearly of taller metal aisles with ceramic potted plants and jars cracked onto the stained floor. But then there were the vines that hung across like webs, almost tendril-like, ready to ensnare them in its entanglement—a dark undercurrent pulsing in the shadows-

Krkrkr.

Broken clay cluttered at Hope's feet as he ran backward, quickly glancing out the window for a chance of possible freedom.

Should he try…jumping out?

Shiing!

A blade flashed and the vines reared back from a direct slice as Hope reflexively swung his shield up.

Kakakak!

Metal rang into the air, sparks flying from their brandished weapons.

And Hope's muscles burned. 

Sore after impact. After impact. After impact…

With each hammering blow, as if he were fighting a hulk-sized soldier, he barely parried each time.

Tails of broken vines flicked with each slice in the space, recoiling from one blade sweeping across.

And one shield straggling to follow.