YURI
You only live to die, as the famous saying goes. Everything you do and everything you will, ahead of time, only leads to the most feared occurrence in your life, and that is death. I'm not trying to be cynical here, but it's the sad reality, is it not?
But, apart from this, instead of just enveloping your life with negativity, shouldn't you be enjoying it rather while you still have time? Yes, there may be challenges that await for you ahead, but you must find your way through each of them. Because the moment you give up, you already lost.
"Yuri! Yuri!" sigaw ng isang boses. I can barely hear everything for my mind is numb and my ears are ringing. Parang may tumamang malaking object sa ulo ko moments ago.
I stared at the figure in front of me with squinted eyes. "huh?"
I felt a hand tightly gripping my wrist, trying to help me stand upright. " Anong 'huh', tumayo ka na, the right flank has dispersed and desperately fighting for their lives," sigaw ng figure na nasa harapan ko, "and they need a leader to fight at their side!"
I still feel dizzy, parang umiikot lahat ng nasa paligid ko, "What captain?" I faintly said in reply.
Then a slap suddenly hit my face, like I was hit by a 2-pound sack of rice. I shook my head off and tried to focus my attention towards the figure. "Ano, okay na?" Tanong ng pamilyar na babaeng nakaluhod sa gilid ko. After a moment of grasping reality and who she is, I have finally recognized her.
"Mina?" Unti-unti kong hinintay bago luminaw ang paningin ko.
"Yes, your friend Hermina," The girl donned in a peculiar-looking school uniform said. She was wearing a navy blue blazer paired with black skirt, with a white blouse overlapped by a grey vest. I can see from her face that she's irritated. "Now, if you still can't remember the person whom you are currently talking to, I can make you snap back to your consciousness with just my right hand." Saad niya, while sinisterly raising her right hand until it leveled with her sinister wide grin.
I tried to regain my posture and brandished my clothes. "What's going on?" I asked, the knife on her left hand caught my attention. "And what's with the knife?"
The knife she was holding mysteriously hovered inches from her palm as she held it upright by some unknown force. "It's my skill, awesome isn't it?" saad niya habang pinalutang ang blade paikot sa kanya.
We suddenly heard growls from behind us and shifted our gazes to where the groans and growls came from. There, meters away from us, are sprinting corpse-like creatures slovenly clothed in coarse cloth and rags, para silang zombies kung titignan, for their flesh had been dismounted from their skeletal framework. Gross.
They wildly charged at us, but before they came close, Mina raised both of her arms and spun as gracefully as the wind and several knives surrounded her, and as soon as she projected her arms towards the hordes of the undead, disclosing the blades, they all poised forward, like a volley of arrows reaping through the integrity of an army. The blades buried themselves into the rotten bodies of the undead, ripping them apart, dismounting bones from the joints at muli na namang inilahad ni Mina ang kaniyang left arm and gently moves backwards, as if she was commanding the blades to return to her.
Just like strictly trained birds, the blades Mina threw made their way back to their caster and levitated around her in an organized pattern. I was amazed and spellbound. Para kaming nasa gitna ng isang fantasy world.
Then Mina turned to me, "Tumigil ka na sa kaka-daydream mo, help the right flank with your pyro powers," She said, throwing another knife at an undead who's about to pounce at our direction. "I'll rejoin you later, kailangan mong magpaulan ng blasts from above, so you can have a better view which your targets are."
I spread my arms at waist level, and summoned purple-colored flames from my palm. Para talaga kaming nasa isang MMORPG game, just like the game I am fond of playing, Genshin Impact. Mina motioned her hand upwards, the blades then placed themselves in midair, forming meters-high stairs in which I may have to step to get a better view of the battlefield.
"Step on the blades hanggang sa marating mo ang pinaka-tuktok," Saad ni Mina, while motioning her hands na parang inaayos ang mga blades. "After mo marating ang tuktok, paulanan mo ng blasts ang horde sa right flank."
I nodded in reply, but before I step on the first blade, tinanong ko muna siya. "Will you be able to hold up for that long?"
She looked at me with a confused face, kaunti na lang, magsasalubong na ang kilay niya. "Anong hold for that long? Tatalon ka tapos sasabayan mo ng blast ang impact mo, parang isang meteor ba."
Teka, nagbibiro ba siya? "You're kidding ri-"
"Of course I'm kidding," she said as she let out a chuckle, "Angelo, one of our formidable allies will throw a massive boulder of rock at you in midair-"
"Wait what?!" I can't believe she's entertaining such ridiculous ideas. I will surely get squashed in midair kapag tinapunan ako ng malaking bato. Only an insane person would do that!
"Patapusin mo muna kasi ako," Mina irately said in reply. "Then of course, a protection spell will be casted on you by our witty support, Nise, while on midair para 'di ka mapisa, then babalutan mo ng violet flame ang malaking bato and boom!" Sam playfully spread her arms imitating how big the explosion she had in mind. "Now go, kailangan ko na mga blades ko."
I swiftly clambered up on the knives neatly arranged hovering above, para akong umaakyat sa actual na hagdan, the knives aren't that wobbly as I expected them to be, I didn't have a hard time repositioning myself in high altitude, when I reached the highest point of the climb, inilibot ko ang aking mga mata. Nasa isang city kami, kung saan wala kang ibang makikita kundi kaguluhan, chaos is everywhere, wasak-wasak na rin ang mga buildings, in every direction I face, I see nothing but desolation, vehicles were destroyed, highways and railways were destroyed. This is pure chaos.
Nang nagawi ang tingin ko sa isang field masapit sa exit ng city, I concentrated my energy onto my hands and threw a barrage of fireballs to where the fast-moving undead stood their ground. The fireballs went straight ahead like small meteors at lumiyab ang mga natamaan nito. Lumiwanag lahat ng nadaan nila at dalawang pamilyar na tao ang lumingon kung saan nanggaling ang attack.
"Now, jump and shove flames on their asses!" Rinig kong sigaw ni Mina.
Our two allies, Nise and Angelo shifted their attention towards me and looked above to where I am positioned. They nodded to me as a sign of assurance, habang ang mga kasama naman nila'y sinusubukang pigilan ang mga kalaban sa harap.
Nise raised her right hand and pinched in air while her left hand placed just two feet below her right, also made a pinching gesture. A straight, thin, green light was drawn, connecting both of her hands at mula dito'y nabuo ang isang flat magical plate full of intersecting lines and symmetrically placed circles and she sent it flying towards me, nang matamaan ako nito, nabalot ang aking katawan ng mga linya at mga symbols, parang may barrier na bumalot sa katawan ko.
Sunod namang kinapa ni Angelo ang lupa kung saan siya nakatayo, then he stood upright, after a short moment, he stomped his feet on the ground at isang malaking tipak ng bato ang umangat ditto at sinipa papunta sa direksyon ko. Kasing laki ata nito ang isang helipad.
I took a deep breath before amplifying the flame contained in my palms, mas lalo itong nagliwanag at bumuo ako ng fireball, I tried focusing my energy on the fireball until lumaki ito, I jumped from the foothold provided by the blade at sinalubong ang malaking tipak ng bato. I threw the massive orb of flame towards the flying piece of Earth and as it came in contact with the boulder, nabalot ang bato ng apoy, I then stiffened my right foot to receive the boulder and send it back to the direction of the enemies.
