BTE (73) — Die For Me VI (Patreon)

To Gusilho's surprise, a miniature vortex appeared. A vortex Leandro controlled. 

The fatigued Earthling slowly lowered his blade towards them.

In a loud whistle of rushing wind and a crackle of lighting, the vortex of light calmed down and quickly morphed into dozens of elongated blades of pure light.

The light swords tipped down, as if gravity were drawing them to the ground, as if commanded by the main sword in Leandro’s hand. 

A heavy sensation settled on the shoulders of anyone close enough to beheld what could only be considered a miracle—as if anything else prior to that moment could be easily explained. 

Gusilho frowned as he took a step back, his jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed. ‘This could be dangerous.’ He frowned. ‘This Earthling is unusually strong.’ 

Strong enough to rival the strength of a Warrior Commander and still have enough left to tackle head-on their most cherished beast. 

Even the shrunk down Purrfracture held an uncharacteristic somber air as it gazed up. 

Leandro wore a little infuriating smirk. "Ohh, what am I seeing? Worry and fear, I'd say?" He released an incredulous huff. "Your strongest 'engineered beast' can only react like that because of me?" Leandro laughed, though it sounded a tad pained. He smiled wryly. "Nari would’ve loved to see the look on your face. Hari? No, probably not, since she's too pure for this kind of bullshit. But I'd have liked the others to see the humiliation in your face right now. In fact, why don’t you turn around? Let them see you squirm like worms in my presence.”

“Impressive, Earthling.” Gusilho composed himself. “But this isn’t enough to save yourself and the inhabitants of this miserable planet. You're barely keeping yourself afloat and you expect to end things? Do you know who I am? I'm the—"

Leandro's sword energy scattered and turned into rays of light that swooped down at high speeds. Gusilho dodged in a swift jump, launching himself backward and out of harm's way. He set foot on another building afar with an uncanny agility that suggested he was far less fatigued than the battle-worn Leandro. 

The beams of light followed him, attempting to crush the lizard’s fleeing silhouette. 

He evaded them, swinging his spear, causing them to swirl around him and pierce through buildings instead. Two of them, however, missed entirely and flew harmlessly towards the sky, burning brighter and brighter. 

Gusilho roared. His spear gathered a substantial amount of crimson particles, before it released an exploding beam of light that cut apart Leandro's remaining lunar energy into scattering drops of light.

Purrfracture's maw opened to release a torrential flood of flames before taking off to the sky.

The lunar blades pierced through the purplish torrent, but fizzled out right before they could reach the creature. Leandro frowned as the energy expenditure was more than he could sustain right now. At this rate, neither of them would perish. 

He had to focus on only one target. 

With Purrfracture maneuvering through the skies while belching out gouts of flames, Leandro shifted his sights on Gusilho, that bastard. He was all alone now. 

He'd go for him instead.

Gusilho stumbled as a hail of lunar swords whizzed past him, shooting up towards the clouds. From below, it looked like Purrfracture was being chased by a volley of white needles. The bursts of fire managed to whittle down the numbers, but it looked dangerous regardless—and until Purrfracture broke free from it, the fight would be a more even one. 

Leandro’s feet landed in front of Gusilho, whose eyes narrowed. 

Neither of them spoke as action was a more preferable method of communication. 

Gusilho’s spear tore through the air. Leandro parried it with the flat of the blade, and deflected it towards the ground, where a mound of dirt was uprooted from the residual force. 

It had been a while since he felt this tired—physically and mentally—but, ultimately, that didn’t matter.

He pushed his exhaustion away with a quick inhalation before lunging forward in a violent outburst. Moonlit Edge grew longer, his movements quicker. The gleam of his weapon danced dangerously fast in his hands.

"Nowhere left to run." 

A blade of light flew right past Gusilho. His face stiffened, beads of sweat accumulating on his scaly forehead. The man in front of him disappeared. Gusilho felt the ground rumble, the faint pressure of an oncoming attack from behind, and immediately threw himself to the side. 

A flash of silver whistled past him, grazing his calf slightly.

Blood spilled out.

Gusilho fell right after.

Leandro followed up by delivering a vicious, rising cut that the lizardman barely managed to block, and was subsequently thrown off-balance. It wasn't a proper parry or a proper defense, and it only made him more vulnerable.

Damn. The Earthling was exhausted, wasn’t he?! 

So why the hell were his movements so sharp? So precise? As if Leandro knew exactly where each strike would begin and end. Gusilho might have had more physical strength, but when it came to pure skill, Leandro far surpassed him. 

But it wasn’t to the point where Gusilho felt fear and helplessness. He knew the limits of the Earthling—he was tapping on his lifeforce at an accelerated rate.

That would do him in at the end, eventually. All he had to do was endure. Survive, while ensuring Leandro couldn’t get too close to him. Damn him and that sword of him. Damn the system that gave such a primitive species chances of survival. 

Leandro lunged at him. A high sweep, then a feinting stab. An uppercut and an upward thrust. 

They traded blows. The more their strikes connected, the more fatigue weighed on Leandro's movements. However, even though his speed was decreasing, Gusilho's injuries started mounting.

Cuts ran across his cheeks, legs, abdomen and arms. Though none fatal.

Leandro pulled Moonlit Edge back, letting the moonlight bleed on its edge. "You really want to draw this out for nothing?"

Gusilho sneered. "For nothing?" He repeated with a growl, almost as a hiss. "Earthling, your delusions will be your undoing. If not by me, then by someone greater. My duty, given to me by our Emperor, is to fulfill His wish of eradicating life on this pitiful rock called Earth. That’s why, it doesn’t matter. Whether it's here, right now, tomorrow or a month later—I will complete my task. There’s no reason for me to feel rushed."

"......" Leandro eyed Gusilho. "I don't like people who waste their breath with worthless declarations and pointless gestures." He raised his Moonlit Edge, trying to mask the slight trembling of his wrist. 

'I won't last long if we keep on with this dance.'

His vision spun in and out of focus, like two opaque images trying to re-align into clarity.

The tip aimed at his foe.

Moonblade Style — Horizon.

As soon as he swung his blade horizontally, a crushing force struck him from the side.

Leandro slammed on the floor repeatedly, bouncing around until he was sent careening over the side of the roof, crashing into a wall, shattering through wood and stone.

He saw nothing for a second.

When his eyes re-focused, he found himself lying amid the ruins of the small building he'd accidentally flown into. Debris covered him. Dust and glass shards clung onto his skin, clothing, and hair.

“Leandro!”

Someone yelled.

His eyes struggled to crack open.

‘This is… humiliating.’

He felt so empty. 

So tired.

His head was throbbing, his limbs felt numb and his whole body was wracked with intense pain and weakness. He tried moving but found he didn't have the strength anymore.

His Aura was drained.

No matter how hard he tried, it refused to ignite. He was utterly spent.

Leandro lay there, struggling just to breathe.

A thumping sound reached his ears.

Purrfracture came sauntering out of the dust cloud caused by his landing. It stopped at a few feet from him. Gusilho’s voice rose up from behind the beast, triumphant but somewhat pained. "Is this what you call victory?"

Leandro blinked. No, that didn't sound pleasant.

He didn't respond verbally nor did he attempt to get up—he merely glanced at them.

Purrfracture was covered in wounds and holes. At least he put the bastard through the wringer a little bit, even if it wasn't enough.

Gusilho's entire right leg was painted in blood. That fucker could barely stand as well. They'd all been reduced to sorry states. If this kept on going, well... it’d depend entirely on whoever got the lucky hit first, and Leandro doubted his chances now, all things considered.

Gusilho grinned wickedly.

His victory assured, his breathing relaxed, shoulders slouched in relief.

"Look at you, now." Gusilho walked forward. "We've finally reached the conclusion to this fruitless battle of ours." He paused briefly. "I will admit that you impressed me at times. Not bad for a member of such a primitive species. Perhaps even worthy of recognition by us Galvathians—" Gusilho licked the dry blood on his lips—"but it's over nonetheless."

Leandro took slow, deep breaths as he waited. "So what happens now?"

"What do you think happens next, Earthling?"

"You surrender?" Leandro tried to tease, smiling lopsidedly, albeit weakly. There was some nervousness there; his own eyes betrayed some desperation, he knew. "Because I'd love to hear that, yeah." He said quietly.

"Hmph. Delusional until the last moment?" Gusilho chuckled darkly, his beady eyes boring into the fallen man. "You think too highly of yourself."

"Yeah." Leandro chuckled. "I do." He sighed softly. His eyes closed briefly before opening again to see Purrfracture prowling closer toward him, looking menacing as ever. Even without that bulky size, the creature still oozed strength and terror.

"Not long ago I would have never imagined having to use everything within me to beat someone of your caliber. You certainly deserve praise for pushing me to use whatever strength remains inside this damaged body of mine to defeat you."

"That means a lot coming from a talking gecko." Leandro spat back weakly, grunting from exertion afterwards. This was taking its toll on him, he noticed ruefully.

"It's kind of funny that it worked."

Gusilho frowned. "What?"

Leandro remained silent for a moment, until finally…

A huge gust of wind rushed in as two beams of sword light came crashing down from the sky in a downward arc. They were so bright that they might as well have been falling stars. 

Gusilho’s eyes widened as Purrfracture keenly rushed to intercept them. 

A head went flying in a mist of gore. That very same mist evaporated during the passing of the second sword light that pierced right through the tumbling creature—and went straight for Gusilho for a beautiful collateral. 

Leandro cracked a smile when blood splattered on his face.

If he still had enough force left in him, he’d have cackled maniacally.

Gusilho’s claw pressed tightly over the new hole in his body. Blood oozed out from the wound like a tiny waterfall. "W-What..."

However, when Gusilho moved its claw away, Leandro's smile faded.

Ah, the wound wasn't fatal.

The sword light must've lost its remaining stacked up Aura to kill Purrfracture.

"You..." Gusilho looked at the listless Purrfracture, then back at Leandro. His voice cracked slightly in shock and disbelief. "Impossible!" His claw curled into a fist, shaking in pure hatred and rage. "How!?"

"How?" Leandro looked up at the sky as he lay there. "I told you, you stupid oversized chameleon." A sigh. "Even if this mountain crumbles, I'm still a mountain. And you're still a grain of sand that can never measure up."

The strength suddenly drained from Leandro's limbs. Moonlit Edge rolled off the fingers that could no longer hold its grip. Leandro's eyelids drooped heavily, feeling an immense exhaustion creeping into every fiber of his being.

"Damn it..."

"You...!" Gusilho growled as he glared at the earthling laying weakly on the ground, barely hanging on by the frayed edges of consciousness. "You'll pay for this!" He grabbed his spear, nearly losing his grip once or twice due to blood loss, but managed to tighten his grasp around it nevertheless.

Leandro's lips twitched slightly into what resembled an apologetic smile. "Sorry..." His eyes slid shut slowly but surely. "I think I'm done."

Gusilho swung the spear down. A half-assed effort considering how the Warrior Commander was also drained. Leandro wouldn't have been fazed had he been in optimal condition, but now he'd—

"LEANDRO!"

The familiar voice had his eyes snapped open despite the exhaustion.

A curtain of black-purplish hair waved in front of Leandro.

Blood soared as a cry of pain rang out. 

A cry that he was sure didn’t come from him. 

Thud.

He turned his head. 

Someone was now lying next to him, her head on top of his arm. 

Had this been a different scene, one might have thought they were sleeping in each other’s arms. 

This, however, wasn’t something peaceful or calm, or anywhere close to intimate.

It was tragic.

And terrifying.

"Yuhee... Noona?"

Her face lay so close to his, and he couldn't tell whether she was breathing or not, but her eyes were so wide open and unresponsive…

Ah...

"No..."

This couldn't be happening.