2nd Floor ;
Evankhellʼs Hell ;
"Heʼs later than I expected," Khun unconsciously mumbled out loud, a scowl almost permanently plastered upon his features as he stared at the distant sky detestably. Yes, it was that bullshit guardianʼs fault that the most important things he prepared all this time became all for naught.
Yet why was he the one who was wallowing over his own despair like he was the one who messed up?
Exasperatedly, he sighed. The familiarity of this scenery was more overwhelming than he thought, and it doesnʼt help one bit that everywhere he set his sights on, reminded him of their first meeting. Tall patches of sunlit switchgrass, the strong stench of blood, eminent screams signifying their failures, and a prematurely structured young teenager standing in the middle of the busy battlefield- a faint stance and a weak grip, much so like a frail rabbit and eyes staring straight ahead, determined to cut down whoever stood in his way despite his trembling. Though it was clear that at that state Bam wouldnʼt have the heart to land such a lethal blow, Khun admits that it was pretty-
"Cute," the bluenet chuckled at the memory and was left once more to lose himself in his own thoughts. Although it would not be long because his body would move by itself to dodge the gigantic spear hurled towards him.
"Dude!" He unconsciously froze a portion of the grassland which countered the weapon as he glared at the brazen crocodillian mutant marching towards his location, acting as haughty as he was in his first life. "What. The. Hell."
"I want you to fight me, bitch-" the former stopped and blatantly sniffed the air around him, and as if struck with disbelief, he glared at Khun with twice the hostility. "Youʼre strong, but not strong enough to be worthy of me, the almighty, Rak Wraithraiser!"
His voice boomed as if it could be heard all throughout Evankhellʼs floor and the ground beneath them shook as he stomped. Rak was more flamboyant than he remembered after they continued travelling through higher levels. Still, Khun hid his snicker (and inner delight) and directed a sharp glare, because he was still annoyed with the creatureʼs grand entrance that almost cost him his head. Seriously, how in the world did the three of them form such a profound relationship again?
"Why are you masking yourself with that powerful scent when it does not belong to you?!" Rakʼs mouth formed an obvious frown, clearly upset that the objective he had pursued hadnʼt been met. He picked up his fallen spear and struck it upright, the bottom boring through the soil. "Bring me the owner at once, you impostor!"
Has he finally gone senile? 'No,' the bluenet thought. The crocodileʼs instincts have always been spot on. Even in the beginning he had the sense to locate the Thirteen Month Series, and had the knack for ancient weapons. Does this mean that he had picked up on whatever the guardian bestowed upon him? Or, perhaps was it Bamʼs innate aura that he catches on?
What?
"How can you hunt something that isnʼt even here?" he asked, the vivid disappointment rather directed at himself as he clutched the mabarondennaʼs handle tightly, the weight becoming more apparent than it was before he thought about it.
If the worst comes and he couldnʼt meet Bam in the same field as before, he could always just threaten a facilitator into deep-searching the entire floor for him, but he thought that itʼs not really a suitable choice considering he was currently responsible for a few lives he had tucked inside the bag.
"So you do know him! Give me my prey now, Blue Turtle!"
As Rak started to throw another childish tantrum, slashing his humongous weapon towards the latterʼs afterimages, Khun decided to locate the rest of the people he tolerated enough to allow them to call him their teammate. There was no use trying to rack his brain in determining loopholes of the said destiny, when they had every power to take Bam away from him again. He needs to think. Rationally.
His lips quirked up as soon as he saw a man in a purple tracksuit sandwiched in an intense fight between a swordsman and a lizard wielding a green hook. Seriously though, this guy always had the tendency to meddle in things he had completely no control over, but, Khun guessed that it was one of the reasons why Bam and Shibisu got along so well.
"Get out of the way if you donʼt want to end up in pieces, punk!"
Khun mused at the commotion the three- well, two of them- are creating, a cloud of dust following their swift movements.
"Stop running away and fight me like you mean it, lizard!"
Rak, who was rampant on following after the bluenet, had his bead-like eyes almost pop out of its sockets after witnessing his prospect disappear in his initial position and emerged in the middle of the two opposing parties in a whirl of mist and smoke. The smacking of leather against a human body could be sonorously heard from afar. Before the clashing sides collided with each other, the radius around where Khun stood ignited an arctic glow. Soon enough, as the people involved finally found the strength to blink, Hatz and Anaak found themselves suspended in mid-air.
"You have to do better than those immature styles if you want to survive the higher floors, amateurs." Their heads turned vigilantly towards the bluenet, who was dusting his button-up leisurely amidst the mist, on his face was an automatically plastered confident smirk- one that Khun uses to show someone whoʼs above them.
"Stop your pointless movements if you donʼt want your life squeezed out of you, swordsman. This guyʼs dangerous, and so is this technique," Anaak warned as the ravenet tried to struggle out of the byproduct that was petrifying them. She had tried everything she could think of to break out of the ice, but it only produced a stronger reaction. She couldnʼt exactly call out the Green April because unfortunately, the hook would not even ignite for her.
Khun sent a mocking apologetic expression, wiping the dirt off the mabarondenna that had landed beside Shibisu, whom he rendered clutching the right side of his face. "My bad. The shinsuʼs rather restless these days, probably due to the high heat. I hope you understand."
"Why did you meddle? You could have just stayed at your zone and play by the rules until the test is over," Hatz mumbled, still dispirited at the pride of his craft being crushed by an outsider.
"Because playtimeʼs over, kids." The former pointed at the observer hovering above the battlegrounds and true enough, a new timer had emerged and announcements of a team building test started. If they had still fought, they would have immediately been taken out by default. "Besides, I donʼt abide by the same rules as you do. I make my own rules. Thatʼs the mindset of a ruler." Bam is his rule, and he will find every possible way to create a path for them to meet.
"So, what do you suggest for us to do to get out of this damn thing?" Anaak raised her brow in impatience.
The regressor held a hand out to Shibisu, who was still groaning in pain at the impact his body had received, and without any consideration, threw him towards the large ice. "Make a team with this guy, while I try to put a leash on that crocodile bastard."
"I am not your pet! I am Rak Wraithraiser, and I deserve my prey! Tell me where the hell have you been hiding this strong presence, or Iʼll hunt him myself!"
With only two and a half minutes remaining, Khun dispersed the ice around the two and let Shibisu work his way with them while he readied his stance, pulling out the knife from the bagʼs opening. "This is your last chance, Wraithraiser. You sure donʼt want to team up with me?"
Rak roared and charged forward in agitation. "I am a hunter! I will not be bound by some puny turtle like you!"
"Very well," the bluenet scoffed before his demeanor completely changed- his eyes turning sharp and calculative as he blocked the spearʼs thrust, effectively pushing back the creature quadruple his own size. "I guess Iʼll just have to kill you and find another teammate in one minute."
To Rakʼs surprise, the formerʼs knife was able to withstand his attacks, making the urge to erase that smug expression on Khunʼs face even stronger. Unfortunately, Khun knew how to push the right buttons, and Rakʼs one-track mind was more than susceptible to have him go along the bluenetʼs manipulation.
"DIE!"
The crocodile slashed his weapon, and the other instinctively blocked it. As an eerie silence overtook the tension, cracks slowly formed at the spearʼs half where the knifeʼs tip was concentrated. If this was the past, Bam would have already latched onto the aforementioned with all his might, and gained unexpected companions, but he was Khun Aguero Agnis. He doesnʼt want to get too involved, and yet, he also doesnʼt have much of a choice.
Shaking all his thoughts away, he focused on the countdown and his opponent, or else he wouldnʼt be able to trust Bam. After all, the brunet did say heʼll always return to him. Even if it killed him.
00:59
The timerʼs ticking rang louder in their ears, adrenaline rushing through the regressorʼs system. Damn, he had gone too easy on Rak and ran out of time. Now, heʼll be left with no choice but to team up with him. However, before one or both of them could land a decisive blow, they felt a small but impactful force coming from above, as if the heavens just sent down a prophetic message in a form of a projectile that reeked of raw and powerful shinsu.
"Bam!"
Khun focused his eyes, barely catching a glimpse of sun-kissed chestnut brown hair that he had always loved, and the same set of blood soaked clothes that he had worn during their escapade. He ran towards the open meadow, the fight left long forgotten, and all he could think about was how to save the sky-diving brunet.
00:28
"My prey!" Rak exclaimed as he trailed after the former, filled with ever more bloodthirst than before as soon as he spotted the unconscious figure. Khunʼs gaze turned blank as he kicked the taller creatureʼs face, the sharper edges of his knife aimed at the latterʼs neck menacingly.
And so, like an answered prayer, Bam fell atop Rak, toppling him down due to the momentum. Khun managed to let Bamʼs body glide through the ice and towards him.
00:10
The bluenet checked Bam for any injuries from the fall before embracing the latter close to him, glaring deviously at the on-lookers as he cupped the brunetʼs face to lean his head to his shoulder.
"Donʼt you dare touch him, Wraithraiser, or I might just have to kill you."
'Itʼs alright. Itʼs all good, Bam,' he internally muttered, finally confirming the latterʼs even breathing and leveled heartbeat. 'Iʼm here with you now.'
00:01
Khun ran a hand smoothly at Bamʼs unevenly cut hair until he calmed himself down. In contrast to his gentle actions, his deathly stare at the 12-foot crocodile didnʼt falter even after the countdown had come to an end.
'With this, we will never have to part again.'