68 Control (1/2)

Hawk had no words for Skeith, and Riyku did not seem to care about the weapons. He pushed through with force alone and brought another swing around, then another and another and another.

Swing. Swing. Swing. Swing.

Block. Block. Block. Block.

Each swing was blocked, but it wasn't in vain. Hawk was being pushed back. While he may not have shown it or even expressed it, the fight revealed it. Hawk was on the losing end. Riyku would continue endlessly with his swings. Until he found a moment to use what else he had. When Hawk's guard had opened just enough to fit a fist, Riyku would take this moment to wide it just a bit more by offsetting Hawk with a feint. He brought The Sword of Annihilation overhead but dropped it when Hawk had set both of his arms above his head to block the blade. Riyku would bring his right arm upward as if coming for an upper-cut, but his attempt was to claw at Hawk. Hawk would pivot backward to avoid the attack as best as possible. His clothing getting torn and scraped from a few of Riyku's claws that cut through the flesh. It was nothing too terrible; however, this wasn't all. ”Rupture!” Riyku shouted as the shadows shot outward at Hawk like a vicious set of spikes. It was the same move he used against the Dire Wolf during his hunting mission. Only the scale of power had increased, the thorns were more extensive, and there were several sets. They came at Hawk in waves. Hawk had managed to evade the first three but found his back against the wall. Hawk would leap into the air to avoid the final wave which crashed into the wall; however, he was shot down by a large blast of Pure Diabolical Energy, which sent him into the wall behind him.

”Prepare to die!” Riyku exclaimed as he swung the blade for Hawk while dashing in his direction; however, his body froze completely. Up next came a pair of black and white chains from behind which latched upon Riyku. ”Wow... you sure got beat up, Hawk.”A cute innocent, and somewhat playful voice echoed throughout the still air. The person who spoke those words seemed to come forth. It was the same small stature girl from earlier who stopped Hawk. ”Indeed, and you have yet to even leave a scratch on your opponent.” An annoyed youthful male voice came next. Following alongside the shorter youth, who giggled lightly. A pair of black and white chains were coming from the cuff of the youthful male's sleeve. Both of them were still wearing black robes. ”Anyways... who is this guy?”

The cheery girl had inquired while circling around the frozen Riyku. ”Riyku DarkFang. An occupant of Oblivion. Age: 18. Male, and holder of a Contracted Entity.” The annoyed youthful male spoke up, his eyes looking at the other three cowering in their thrones... actually, they were all passed out. Even the Elder, he took a glance at, had fainted. The youth narrowed his eyes on Riyku. ”Even if he has a Contracted Entity.... five Overlords should not have a problem with one person. In fact... Hawk should have been able to burn his lungs the moment he tried to attack... Something is not right...” The youth was going into deep thought. Neither he nor the girl knew that there were two entities within him. One which was Skeith, and the other which was supposed; The Shadow King. When he felt the chains rattle ever so slightly, his eyes widened. ”Nina, getaway, now!” The youthful male called out, which drew in the attention of the young girl. Nina tilted her head to the side before her eyes widened. She noticed cracks starting to form in the atmosphere around Riyku.

The sound of glass shattering came, and Riyku moved forward even with Nina in his way. He did not care. He would cut them both down if need be, and just as he finished the swing, a pillar rose around Riyku and trapped him inside. The blade bounced off the pillar, and Riyku's hands flew into the air.

”Overlord Skill: Time Lock!”

”Overlord Skill: Restraint!”

”Overlord Skill: Power Siphon...”

Three voices echoed, but only two were in sync. Nina had shouted 'Time Lock' while aiming her small hands at Riyku, which froze him again. Meanwhile, the youthful male had called 'Restraint' while reapplying the chains thrice over. The final voice came from a monotone female who had her hood up. Her hand lowered after she muttered 'Power Siphon,' and the pillar-like barrier that trapped Riyku inside had come through.

”Racheal!” Nina shouted happily.

”Racheal...” The youthful male muttered with annoyance.

The woman with her hood up, Racheal, had looked around the room from the shadow of her hood. ”I was wondering why the other eight candidates were stuck outside the room, and no one was allowed to enter. I suppose this makes sense. That is one of the candidates, yes?” Racheal inquired. Nina would skip towards the much taller woman and hug her around her waist since she only came up that high. ”Racheal!” Nina would nuzzle her face into Racheal's stomach happily. The youthful male would sigh with evident annoyance. ”Obviously. Thanks for your assistance, but I had it.” The young male clearly had some kind of beef with Racheal with the way he looked at her and spoke towards her. It was quite condescending.

”Sure you did, Enny.” Nina would tease the youthful male known as 'Enny,' which caused the youth to correct her. ”Again... my name is Enrique. Not Enny. Get it right, Nina!” Enny or Enrique had exclaimed with annoyance, followed by a giggle from Nina and a heavy sigh from Enrique. Racheal would finish patting Nina's head and point at Hawk, who seemed to finally remove himself from the wall. ”Hawk is injured.” Racheal would remark, which caused Nina to chuckle lightly. ”True, but the battle is over. As long as we continue to restrain Riyku, Hawk can deal with him. After all... Anyone who tries to harm Hawk will be killed.” Nina's cherry demeanor shifted to something grime as she eyed Hawk, building up Diabolical Energy into the gauntlets.

”Is this it...?” Riyku would question in thought-form since he could not move. He was unable to do anything.

”I could not avenge them. I could not save them. I am such a failure... again, I will lose everything...” Riyku continued after a brief moment of internal thought.

”Do you hate it?” A vivid masculine voice called out, much like Riyku's own voice, although a bit disorientated.

”I do.” Riyku would respond.

”Do you hate it so much that you want to fight back?” The voice inquired again. It wasn't like Skeith's or the feminine voice. This one was different.

”I do.” Riyku would respond again. There was no delay in his reply.

”Then why are you giving up?” The voice inquired, confused by Riyku's actions.