177 Eds Madness (1/2)
”You sure are ungrateful for being adopted.” Ed mockingly chuckled as he activated his chimera form.
”That's rich coming from a man that killed his own father.” Bai responded.
Ed frowned. 'Looks like Nexus told him a lot about me.' He leaned forward as he prepared himself for combat.
Suddenly, the fake Yuki stood up from her throne and walked behind Bai. Her eyes were red, and she wielded a small dagger. She lunged towards Bai's back, digging the dagger into his flesh with all her strength.
Shocked, Bai turned around. The dagger had barely managed to scratch him, and it was only capable of doing that much since he had yet to cover himself in his blood armor. Still, he was surprised by the sudden betrayal. He hadn't expected an ordinary human to ever have the courage to attempt killing him. But what he didn't know was that the woman would never have had the courage to do this on her own, and it had only happened because Ed had sprung the trap earlier in the day.
Ed grinned as he spotted his opportunity. This was the main reason he was willing to come back to fight Bai despite having been outclassed several times before. He didn't need to be stronger than his opponent. He didn't need a unique devastating weapon. All he needed was a single opening and a bit of luck. He didn't hesitate as he rushed forward, his clawed hand reaching for Bai's now exposed back. Purple shadows covered his hand, causing the surround air to sizzle.
Bai suddenly realized what was about to happen. He hurried to cover himself in his full blood knight armor, but it was too late. Ed's clawed hand dug deep into his back and gripped his heart. Bai's eyes widened in shock and his face turned pale as he felt his heart being crushed and corroded.
Ed hurriedly yanked his hand back and retreated several meters. In his hand was a crushed heart that was still corroding away due to his purple shadow. ”I win.” He grinned.
Blood dripped down Bai's lips as he stared silently at the man holding his crushed heart. Then, he shook his head while laughing. ”Did you really think it would be that easy?” His blood knight armor finished covering his body, protecting him completely. He swung his blood sword in a wide motion, beheading the woman that had stabbed him in the back. ”I'll admit, you took me by surprise. But you missed your best opportunity.” He pointed the sword forward. ”Let's finish this.”
Ed's face grew dark as he realized what had happened. 'He's using his law to keep his blood flowing even without his heart. Sick bastard!' Of course, this was the pot calling the kettle black, as he himself had three hearts, which was just as perverted a combat strategy.
[Fool.] Blue Ed shook his head. [It was obvious he'd use his law to maintain his blood flow.]
'Shut up!' Reddish-black Ed shouted back. 'If you knew, then why didn't you say anything?!'
[I did.] He replied. [You didn't listen. You've actively been ignoring us.]
'Tch.' Reddish-black Ed scoffed in displeasure.
[You should let me take over now.] Silvery-red Ed interrupted. [I have the strongest attacks and am the most suited to combat out of all of us. We'll lose if you don't hand over the body.'
'Hell no.' Reddish-black Ed replied and went back to ignoring his counterparts. He focused on the battle ahead, confident he could pull something out of his hat to win. He absolutely refused to hand over control of the body unless he had no other choice.
Ed leaped forward, shooting several purple shadows towards Bai.
Bai completely ignored the attacks, allowing them to land on his armor. Blood mist sizzled away, but no real damage was done. He created a corrosive quagmire that covered the entire throne room, once again giving himself an advantageous terrain. He rode a wave forward and chopped his sword down towards Ed.
'Damn!' Ed struggled to barely dodge out of the way. Once again, he was trapped in an irritating bog, and his powers barely helped at all against it. He had been overconfident in his earlier plan succeeding, and this was the result. He eyed his opponent warily. 'Three explosions left... I need to make them count.' He glanced at his arm, prepared to do whatever he could to kill Bai Fang.
”You're probably planning on blowing yourself up to kill me, right?” Bai laughed from a good distance away. ”I know everything about you. Your past. Your fighting style. Your suicidal tendencies that have constantly won your battles for you.” He lifted his sword, transforming it into a long spear. ”Even if your explosions can't breach my armor, I won't bother giving you the opportunity to try.” He kept his distance as he sprung the spear forward, causing it to quickly grow in length.
Ed pushed against the corrosive bog to avoid the attack. At this distance, it was much easier to dodge Bai's weapon, but he also had few options for counterattacking. His shadows had already proved useless, and Bai already knew his backup plans.
[Let me take over!] Silvery-red Ed tried convincing him again.
”SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” Ed angrily roared aloud while gripping his own head. He was sick of the voices. He was sick of his other selves. He didn't need them. He didn't need help. He had won plenty of stacked fights before, and he believed this time would be no different. He forcefully congealed his purple shadow into a sphere to surround his body. He spun the sphere as fast as he could, creating waves in the bog. This pushed back the muddy water and allowed him to move a bit faster, but he was still at a huge disadvantage.
With the murky water now pushed back, Ed activated the mana-batteries in his legs to fly into the air. He even flapped his bat wings, hoping they would help him fly even a bit faster. He had never attempted using the wings to fly before, but he was feeling more and more that he should learn to use them properly for future battles.
”Oh!” Bai smiled. ”You escaped without blowing something up this time. Impressive!” He thrust his blood spear into the ground and sarcastically clapped his hands.
Ed's eyes narrowed. 'Cocky bastard!' He propelled himself downwards, shooting himself towards Bai like a meteor.
Bai calmly picked up his spear and transformed it into a large kite shield. He had complete confidence in winning this pathetic excuse for a battle. Additionally, he was already in the process of healing his own heart. The path of white water was quickly reconstructing his crushed heart and the surrounding damage, and soon he would be back to full fighting capacity.
Ed somersaulted on the way down and slammed his scaly foot into the shield. Knowing that the shield was Bai's greatest defense, he didn't bother exploding his mana-batteries. Instead, he somersaulted again in an attempt to land behind Bai and attack where the armor was likely weaker. He grinned as he saw he was successful. There was no way Bai would be able to turn around in time. Ed threw his arm forward and activated the explosion, not even bothering to protect his own arm this time.