Chapter 4 - The Battle Ends (1/2)
Reina, who was hidden in the corner, started to slowly stand up but before she could reveal herself an arrow zoomed towards the thread boy. The boy crooked his middle finger and the invisible wall of thread suddenly became visible, blocking the ice arrow. He released his finger and the ice arrow dissolved as his threads unwound revealing his smiling face,
”You should be better than the other girl, right?” Without another moment he threw his circular blades towards her, cutting through the air their speed almost invisible to the naked eye. There were three people in the way of the blade but it didn't matter. The blades curved towards each person slicing their heads in half diagonally. Too immersed in their own battles they didn't react fast enough and had half of their faces split. The first was a boy holding a pair of daggers, his head split from his eyes revealing the lower part of his brain as the severed part slid off. The blade continued, dividing the remaining two girl's faces in half like jelly.
The bow girl took her shield position just as the circle blades hit the barrier. The ice barrier shook but it held.
”Tsk, stubborn.” The boy pulled his pointer finger and the blades returned to him as fast as they had been thrown. After catching them he threw them out to the sides to curve and hit the girl from her sides. With her bow already drawn the girl released a rapid fire of arrows as she dashed to the left. Bringing his hand to his face in the shape of a claw his threads appeared, defending him from the arrows. Unlike the girl's ice barrier which was see through, when his thread formed a barrier it also blocked his vision.
Dodging the blades the girl leaped into the air and released another barrage of arrows. Keeping his barrier up the boy used his other hand and pulled the blades to curve back to him. The girl, sensing the incoming blades, released a powerful arrow at the ground to push her towards the ceiling, barely dodging the blades.
Kicking off from the ceiling she dashed backwards keeping up her barrage. Landing softly she took a defensive position, bringing her barrier up again. The threads loosened revealing the boy. His hands empty, he shrugged.
The girl's eyes widened, for a moment a flash of light appeared to the left of her, as she was about to jump she saw the second blade coming from the right, it was at a height where if she had jumped she wouldn't be able to avoid it. Her two choices were either take the lower left blade or the higher right blade. Her thoughts a jumble her body moved by itself.
Bending backwards her back flat to the floor and her knees pointing towards the boy, the blades flashing past her face. She felt a slight breeze from the left blade as it flew past her nose, barely touching it with a distance of 10cm between them. The right blade flew past overhead. Flipping back onto her feet she readied an arrow but the boy had vanished. Quickly she dashed to the side against the wall and set up her barrier waiting for the boy to make a move.
Silence filled the room. It was unusual to not hear movement after the intense sounds from the previous fights. Reina looked up and saw who was still remaining. The girl with her silver-aqua ice bow, the boy with his threads was nowhere to be seen but, Reina knew that he was still alive, she could feel it, and two more. One was a girl with a war hammer, exhausted and breathing heavily, wounds covered her arms and legs. Her hands shaking slightly from the weight of the war hammer.
Her eyes like a wild beast, hatred and fear mixed in, glared at the other person. The other was a girl covered in blood, from head to toe she dripped blood. Unlike the girl with the war hammer she was calm, her breathing steady, and she stood straight, ready to attack or defend. The blood dripping off her didn't seem like her own as no wounds were visible. She stood in a corner like Reina except she was surrounded with bodies. Severed limbs littered the floor. Blood dripped from the walls, leaving thin red trails.
The girl exuded death. The other girl charged forward with her weapon raised above her head. As she stepped forward her foot landed on a hand and it slipped on the blood on the floor. Caught off balance the girl with the war hammer couldn't do anything except watch as a thin light flashed before her eyes. Her detached arms adding to the mess on the floor.
Flailing her arm nubs around, blood splattered on the other girl. Calmly watching the bloodied girl didn't even dodge the blood flying towards her. Falling to her knees the armless girl's head flew off as her body fell to the floor, her head following shortly after. The bloodied girl looked up at the ceiling, making the blood on her face roll downwards, she reached up to her face and began rubbing the fresh blood over it, smearing it.
”Warriors, let your blood flow into me and become my strength, you who I have slain. I have paid my respects by letting your head be the last to fall from your body giving you a quick rest.” As she leaned against the wall her weapon finally came into view.
It was a katana. A dark blade which seemed to emit an evil smoke leaned against the girl, seeming to soak up the blood from her clothes and the floor. The hilt was a beautifully woven design of red and white silk, with the guard which looked like black steel carved into a blooming lotus. At the end cap a small golden bell hung, swaying slightly.
Her blade almost reached her armpits with the hilt reaching her nose. Her katana was almost the size of her. The sheath nowhere to be seen. As Reina observed the girl with the katana, trying to find a sheath on her somewhere the girl suddenly raised her katana, stretching it out in front of her with one hand.
She grasped the hilt with both hands and swung the katana at nothing, her bell not making a sound.
A moment later, layers and layers of threads ripped apart, revealing a classroom within a classroom.
What had looked like the bow girl, still crouched against the wall, was no longer there. As the threads unwound and loosened they fell to the floor revealing the illusion. Behind the wall of thread was what had actually happened in the fight between the bow girl and the thread boy.
*rewind to the bow girl*
As the bow girl's instincts took over she bent backward to avoid the left blade but, as the left blade passed her threads poured off of it, grabbing onto the bow girl. Panicked she tried to knock them off with her bow but she only got tangled more. Finally, unable to move, the bow girl accepted her fate.
”What? Struggle some more, let me hear your scream, beg for your life like a dog.” The threads parted and revealed the thread boy. He had a dissatisfied scowl on his face. ”That was too easy. Make it, I don't know, 'better'.” He emphasized the word better. The bow girl spit in his face.
”Kill me.” She had a satisfied look on her face, like she wasn't the one who could be killed with a twitch of a finger, literally, but the one who had gotten victory. Wiping the spit from his face,
”Y-you!” As he was about to clench his fists to kill her he stopped. ”Why do you have that look on your face? Tell me!” The bow girl didn't answer him. All she did was stare at him in silence. ”Let's see how long that dignified pride of yours lasts.” With those words he curled one of his pinkies and the strings around her bow hand tightened. The thread around each finger cut into her flesh reaching her bone. When he felt that it had reached her bones he stopped.
”Well? Anything you want to say, I'm all ears…” He waited, the bow girl didn't respond. ”Fine, have it your way.” He flexed his fingers and gently the thread around his hands became loose. Freeing his hands from control he grabbed one and began to pluck at it. The thread in the bow girl's hands began to vibrate. It sliced into the flesh surrounding her bones and cut out internal chunks, it was like flossing but on her bones. She winced but she showed no other signs of a response.
Sweat was forming on her forehead but she still had her triumphant look. Frustrated the thread boy grabbed another thread and began plucking it was well. It was the thread around the bow girl's other hand. The same thing proceeded to happen to her other hand. This time she didn't wince but her brows furrowed together, tightly knit, and the sweat continued to build. She clenched her teeth. Blood was streaming from her disfigured hands. Her breathing became heavy and ragged but she still didn't say anything.
”What is up with you? Is this pain not enough? Well then, let's take it up a notch.” The edges of the thread boy's mouth twitched upward. He didn't seem to notice but as he began reaching out and pulling different strings and plucking at them, he looked like he was playing the harp except no sound came from the strings, just soft thwangs.
He continued to pluck at the threads rhythmically, humming along himself. The bow girl faced the all-out assault. Threads would tighten in the right places to take out chunks, sear off flesh thin layer by thin layer, while others would just wedge themselves into her flesh and vibrate and tear at her from the inside. After a few minuets of this there wasn't any place on her body that still had normal skin. It was a surprise that she was still alive after all of that. Blood poured from her like a waterfall becoming a pool beneath her.
”Wow. What, is, up, with you?” The thread boy asked as he stopped his silent symphony. He walked around and around the bow girl admiring his work. ”Now this, this is a masterpiece.” He began laughing to himself. ”Ha, ha, ha! Not so strong now are you, whine or beg I don't care what you do, just beg me to kill you already. That would make this perfect.” He had a victorious face as he turned to look at the girl's face. Her head hung low, no skin left on her cheeks, making her look like a bloodied zombie. She raised her head slightly, as if wanting to say something. The boy brought his ear closer,
”…s-sce…reeww…y-you…” Her head flopped down again when she finished, waiting to be killed.
”No, no no no no. What you're supposed to say is 'please spare me!', 'help me', 'I'm sorry', or 'please kill me' but instead you choose 'screw you'?!” *deep inhale* ”I'll give you one final chance, say your sor-”
The thread boy's illusion was broken at this moment. Whipping his head around he stared at the katana girl.
”Hey, wait your turn. I'm in the middle of something. If yo-” Before he could finish she threw her sword forward so fast it looked like lightening. Expecting to be struck the thread boy pulled his fingers together to form a barrier made up of more than a hundred layers of thread but nothing hit it. Out of the corner of his eye to his left he saw the bow girl get impaled by the black katana.
Time slowed down as she was ripped from his threads, her arms and legs slicing off in mid air. She turned to look at the thread boy, a smug smile formed, the victory in her face was full of confidence. That one moment seemed to last an eternity to the thread boy. Her smug smile branded to his eyes.
Time started to flow again as her body flew past him and landed impaled to the whiteboard. The threads had cut off her lower arms and legs, leaving half arm and leg nubs. When she landed the impact caused her blood to gush out and coat the whiteboard with a new layer of blood. Her bloodied body finally knowing peace.
Anger welled up in the thread boy.
”HEY! She was mine to kill! You b***h!” the thread boy dropped his barrier and flung out his circle blades. The katana girl ducked and dodged them, looking at her katana imbedded into the wall.
”All I did was give her a merciful death. Playing with your food is bad manners.” The katana girl sprinted for her sword.
”What the hell? Manners? If we're talking about manners stealing someone else's prey is also in bad, taste!” He gripped the air and spun around, his blades swinging along with him. The katana girl jumped dodging the first blade.
'Gotcha!' was the thread boy's first thought until he saw that the katana girl bent and twisted her body inhumanly mid-air to maneuver away from the second blade. As she neared the ceiling she pushed off from it towards her katana.
Clenching his fists he pulled all the threads he had set up and blocked her path. The katana girl tried to maneuver away from the wall of threads but she was too close to it and ended up colliding with it.
In the instant that she touched it the thread boy loosened it to wrap around the katana girl and in the next moment he tightened it again. Caught in his threads the katana girl didn't struggle, feeling them cut into her skin slowly.
”Ha ha ha ha! I've caught you now! Now I'll make you pay!” The thread boy laughed. The katana girl was silent, soft mumbling noises could be heard as her mouth moved to speak incomprehensible words.