Jihyo looks at yet another strong opponent in front of her.
Shintel, a subordinate of the Koul'in General Khera.
She looked calm and relaxed, even in the face of two Manifest wielders. From that look, Jihyo knew Shintel had experience in the ways of combat, and she isn't going to let them go anytime soon.
Next to her was Benedict, a Manifest wielder from New Zealand. Just like Zeke, he was stranded in this hellhole for months now, with only his Manifest and his smarts as his survival tools. He had so much anger in his eyes---determined to destroy whatever was in front of him. He knew that if they fall, then he would never see his wife Callie again. His son wouldn't meet her mother.
He wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.
"Get ready, wielders! Here I go!" Shintel says as she charges towards the two.
"Phantasm... lend me your strength..." Benedict muttered as the switchblade glows in power.
"No breaks for me, I guess..." Jihyo takes a deep breath as her cane sparkles into a katana.
Jihyo and Benedict charged at Shintel, but she was faster than them as she thrusted both her rapier and her claw at unimaginable speed towards the two.
"Artic Blades: Lacerate!"
The two wielders were caught off guard and tried to block the attack, but the Koul'in was lot quicker than they are. She vanishes for a while and reappears behind them as she slashes them with fierce might.
Benedict sustains a deep claw mark on his right arm as he falls with a thud. Jihyo takes a deep cut to the shoulder from Shintel's rapier as she kneels in pain.
"She's too fast..! I... I didn't even see her attack..!" Jihyo said to herself.
Benedict struggles to stand as thoughts flooded his mind.
Having a Manifest sure was a huge help for him over the years that he was taking care of his son in Callie's absence. He had it since he quit his job as a barber in New Zealand. He thought he would need a souvenir---something so that he can remember the work he's done--- so he took one of the barber's scissors and left. Little did he know, it contained power beyond compare.
The night he first activated it, he was at a fruit stand with his son, buying him strawberries.
As he and his son was walking in a darker part of the city, they were ambushed by thieves, who had an intent to kill. He was beaten senseless while his son watched.
He never wavered, however, and his desire of protecting Glendale grew stronger. Soon, the Manifest heeded his passionate goal, and the scissor activated, burning a thief's head with such intense flames.
He never asked why, or how it has all these powers. The only thing that came into his mind was how he can use it to protect his son.
Benedict stood up, bloodied and beaten, looking back at Glendale as he gave a reassuring smile.
"I'll be your hero!"
Those were the words he said to Glendale before fighting with the thieves.
He won single handedly, and from then on, his son calls him a "superhero".
The sudden improvements in his strength and stamina were noticed by his family members. But only Glendale knew about his Manifest and it's unique abilities. His family members speculated that he was exercising alot, and that there was "someone guiding him and lending him strength, like an ancestral phantom or ghost." Thus, he named his fiery Manifest "Phantasm", and has since used it to protect his family---especially his son.
And even in a face of an otherworldly being, he knew he had to uphold that promise.
A shout snapped him from his thoughts and as he looks, he sees that Jihyo was now charging toward the enemy.
"Crystalline Blanket!" Jihyo unleashes a blanket of slashes towards Shintel, to which she blocks with her claw and rapier with alot of effort. Despite Jihyo's exhaustion from her previous battle, she still manages to wound Shintel with a few cuts to the face, a sign of Jihyo's steadily growing strength.
"What an astounding speed..." Shintel thought. "Finally, after weeks of killing weak humans, I'm now fighting experienced warriors... my work... is going to be fun!"
Shintel breaks Jihyo's attack soon enough, and her rapier glows in icy might.
"Frost Teardrop!"
She unleashes a barrage of fast, piercing thrusts toward Jihyo. The shockwave that the attack generates sends Jihyo flying to a car nearby.
Jihyo groans as Benedict rushes to her.
"Cool, right?" Shintel said. "But I'm not yet done!" She said as she once more dashes at full speed towards the two.
"This is going to leave a scratch... Tipping Glacier!"
Her claw glows in icy power as she spins, swinging her claw full force towards Benedict.
Benedict quickly reacts to her incoming attack as his switchblade glows.
"Ravenous Kea!"
Benedict thrusts the Phantasm forward as it unleashes a clock of fire that looked like a bird, eminating from the blade's tip. It strikes Shintel's claw, but she manages to swat it off and retaliates with her own piercing attacks. Benedict retreated a few feet as he painfully exhaled.
"Too slow, wielder." Shintel lunges at him again.
"She's too quick... I'll have to delay her before we get more injuries!" Benedict said as he readies to swing his Manifest.
"Wild Fire Wall!"
The Phantasm glows as Benedict swings sideways, creating a huge circular wall of fire that shrouds Shintel effectively. She stops at the sight of the fiery wall blocking her path.
"Trying to trap and fry me?" Shintel said from the inside.
"Yeah. I can't let you get our Manifests." Benedict replied.
"Well, this isn't an effective way to do it." Shintel scoffs.
Benedict suddenly feels Shintel appear behind him and as she looks, she immediately lands claws his back.
"Guh!" Benedict falls as he grunts in pain.
"Daddy!!" Glendale screams as he rushes down the stairs.
"Glendale! You can't...tsk! Hey!" Zeke immediately follows the kid.
Jihyo attacks with her Manifest, but Shintel slightly overwhelms her with her own slashes, and kicks her to the side.
Benedict finally stands up and rushes towards the icy enemy. His Manifest glows as he was ready to slash her down.
Jihyo was dragged a few feet by the force of Shintel's kick, but she remained headstrong as she rushed again, preparing to strike her with a fierceful slash.
Shintel sees the two advance from opposite sides, and throws her rapier high in the air. As soon as Benedict and Jihyo swing both of their Manifests, she disappears from sight, effectively dodging the two wielder's attacks.
"Wha--" Jihyo gasped.
"How..?" Benedict was frozen in surprise.
"Up here, wielders!" Shintel said. They look up, and see Shintel's rapier glistening in pure, icy energy as she dives headfirst toward the ground, about to pierce the ground with her icy weapon.
"Mr. Benedict, look ou--" Jihyo readies her crystalline shield.
"Shit...! Ember Shroud!" Benedict swings the Phantasm and cloaks himself in fire; in an attempt to shield himself from the impending attack.
"Artic Blade: Concave!" Shintel dives full-force into the ground, leaving a massive crater that sends Jihyo and Benedict flying through the air. Thankfully, their barriers shielded them from the full force of the attack, but they still got injured nontheless.
Jihyo realizes that not only Shintel was not only extremely quick, but she also possesses a unique ability as well: she can teleport through her rapier in an instant. She looks at Benedict, seemingly also figured out her other ability.
"This rapier really works wonders, does it?" Shintel said. "Free teleportation in a short distance. Perfect for ambushes, covert operations, stealth missions. I wonder... why do we even need Manifests if we already have strong weapons like these...?"
Jihyo and Benedict slowly stands, wielding their Manifests once more as they walked slowly around the Koul'in enemy.
"Manifests are generally weak weapons, you know. Their nature of "growing with the wielder" seems disadvantageous, in my opinion. In times of crisis, I believe one should have a readily available strong weapons at their disposal, and are easy to wield even if youre inexperienced in combat." Shintel said.
"Then why are you on a mission of taking Manifests if you don't even like them?" Benedict exclaimed. "You're a walking irony."
"I'm just doing my job. Killing you guys and taking your Manifests will help me get promoted to an actual general! Unlike Vesper, who was just plain delusional and assumed he was one. Tsk." Shintel replied. "This one is the real deal, and its an opportunity I can't miss."
"Do you really think we'll give this up these up so easily?" Benedict scoffed.
"I know you won't. That's why you should put up a good fight. Make my job interesting, wielders." Shintel said as she takes a fighting stance. Her claw and rapier glows in icy might.
She teleports, attacking with both her claw and rapier.
Shintel was periodically teleporting all over the place, striking Jihyo and Benedict at random directions as the two desperately defended and countered her relentless attacks. Sparks of fire, ice, and crystal shards fly all over as the battle raged on.
Jihyo was struggling to keep up. Not only was Shintel fast, but she was at a disadvantage because she couldn't focus on healing her injuries. Thankfully, some of her injuries have already crystallized, giving her extra protection.
But it wasn't enough.
"Damnit..." Jihyo muttered. "Seriously, cant I get a break here...?"
Glendale was now on the ground floor of the building, hiding behind some debris and watching as the battle continued. He never saw his father fight fiercely like this before. He was in awe of his sheer strength.
Zeke was sharing the same thought.
"That skill with the Manifest... It might've taken him years of practice..."
Zeke catches up to Glendale and pants in exhaustion.
"Glendale... Whew, jeez, don't run off like that okay...?" Zeke said.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Zeke. I'm just worried about my daddy. We've never encountered such powerful enemy before... I want to help him but.... I'm not as strong as him..."
"Glendale..." Zeke said as he patted his head. "You don't need to help him directly. He's strong, as I can see. Believe in your dad, okay?"
Glendale looks at Zeke.
"Right...! Right! I'll support him here! I remember, daddy can sense if I'm happy or sad... If I just... believe in him more... I might be able to help!" Glendale speaks as he closes his eyes, and then opens it again, looking at his father.
Zeke looks at Glendale for a while, then looks at Benedict. He looks for a brief moment at the two, and gives a soft smile as he exerted even more effort to fight the Koul'in subordinate.
"So he really knows..." Zeke thought to himself.
Jihyo and Benedict couldn't land a single hit due to Shintel's constant teleportation. They have to find a way to break through, otherwise, they'll lose all the strength they have.
"We have to break free from her consistent attacks...!"Jihyo said.
"We don't even know where she will land...!" Benedict said. "Do you have any ideas?"
Jihyo thought about it for a while as she kept defending from her attacks.
"Come to think of it, I've never used this other move I made yet because it was really hard to execute... This might be the right time to use it, but it's really REALLY going to sting alot..."
"Mr. Benedict, I'm going to kindly ask you to duck on three..." Jihyo said.
Benedict, realizing she will unleash a powerful attack, nods and proceeds to defend her from Shintel's teleporting attacks.
"One..."
"Two..."
"Three!"
Benedict ducks as low as possible as Jihyo immediately readies all her strength. She brings back her Seraphim as it glistens in power.
"Push out the clouds and come out... shine on me..." Jihyo mutters.
"...Sunset Lumina!"
Jihyo swings her Manifest in a diagonal matter. As she does, a huge, crystal slash--- shaped like a crescent sunset--- bursts from her blade, hitting everything around her in a 360 degree radius.
Shintel was surprised to see Benedict duck so suddenly, as she wasn't even swinging her rapier just yet. Just then, a crescent slash appears and hits her with forceful might, damaging her armor.
"Ggh! what the hell---"
"Follow through!" Benedict then rushes at her almost immediately, and attacks her with all his power. Jihyo exhales, then follows suit.
Shintel was forced on guard, unable to concentrate on teleport as she is constantly getting hit by Jihyo and Benedict's slashes.
"Heaven's Descent!"
"Ravenous Kea!"
Jihyo's downward strike breaks Shintel's guard as her arms get injured. Benedict followed up with his thrusting attack that sends Shintel crashing through multiple cars on the road far from them.
"Did we... make.. it...?" Jihyo sits on the ground, giving a pained sigh.
"I guess so..." Benedict said as he also kneels on one knee, blood now dripping from his wounds. This fight was too tiring for him. He never exerted this much effort before, and he hopes that all of this is truly over.
As he painfully exhales, he notices the air grow cold around him. His eyes widen as he sees a bloodied Shintel sprinting towards all of them.
"That is all you've got, wielders?!" Shintel screams, as she runs toward the two, both her rapier and icy claws glowing in power. She then teleports in front of Benedict and Jihyo, unleashing her fearsome attack.
"Glacial Intersection!"
Huge, icy shockwaves of both slashing and piercing attacks flood the whole area, making the ground quake a bit due to the strength of her attack.
Zeke hugs Glendale tightly so as to shield him from the bladed onslaught.
The quaking soon stops, and Glendale looks at the battle. Their eyes both widen as they see a horrific sight.
Shintel's claw dug really deep into Benedict's waist as blood trickled down from his side. He coughs up blood as he slowly wobbles.
His Manifest, the Phantasm, falls to the ground. The fiery, silver weapon slowly returns to its scissor form.
Jihyo looks. She got injured as well, but she quickly realizes that Benedict took the attack head on so none of them got seriously hurt.
"Unbelievable. You're still alive after that, and you managed to block my attacks as well? I have to commend you for this..." Shintel said as she lets go of her grip on Benedict, and he falls on the ground unconscious.
"DADDY! NO!" Glendale breaks free from Zeke's grasp and runs toward his father. He hold his head and shakes him. He was still breathing, although faintly.
"N..no... did we... fail...?" Jihyo exhaled as she falls into the snowy ground with a soft thud, the exhaustion finally taking a toll on her body. She drops the Seraphim as it turns into a cane once more. She couldn't do anything but watch as Shintel slowly walked towards the two.
Glendale tried to drag his father away from her.
"G...get away..!" Glendale said as his tears fall out. "GET AWAY, YOU MONSTER!"
"I'm sorry, little one." Shintel pouted. "You'll have to get out of my way... or else you'll join your father..."
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Glendale said as he cries hysterically. "MY DADDY DID NOTHING TO YOU!"
"Your "daddy" had something we need. And to do that, I have to kill him, little one. Even if it means killing you first." Shintel said as she raises her rapier.
"N...no!!!" Glendale holds Benedict tight. "Please...!"
Zeke immediately rushes in front of Glendale and Benedict. He takes the Manifest off Benedict's hands, wields his pipe wrench, and takes a defensive stance infront of the two.
"Oh? A human? Standing against me?" Shintel said.
Zeke's body started to quake. He gritted his teeth and held both the Manifest and his pipe wrench tightly.
For someone to utter such violent words... and declares an intent to kill infront of a defenseless, crying child... It was sickening to hear. There was no remorse in her voice. No mercy. It was totally unforgivable... and Zeke was not having any of it. He was mad.
Zeke felt nothing but anger.
Rage.
"....What can you even do, human?" Shintel continued. "You're normal. You're nothing. With a flick of my icy claws, you're dead. With just one stab of my rapier, you're done for. Don't even try, and just let me kill them and take their Manifests. You're going to lose your life." Shintel said.
"Try me." Zeke said, his anger now visibly showing on his face.
"Heh... Are you sure? I can give you a chance to run. I don't usually do this but you all fought well so--"
"Shut up." Zeke said as he gritted his teeth. "Monsters like you have no right to talk, tangina ka."
Shintel was taken aback by his reply. How could one human be so brave? But it didnt matter to her. All that she came for was the Manifests. None more.
"Hmm....from the looks of it, you aren't going to listen. Eh. Suit yourself." Shintel readies her rapier and it glows.
"Artic Blade: Strikethrough."
Within a split second, she thrusts it towards Zeke, the force of the attack creating an icy mist around it.
"Zeke...!" Jihyo screamed.
"Hmph. An brave sacrifice but a futile on--- huh?" Shintel froze as the mist faded.
She sees Zeke still standing, completely blocking the rapier with his pipe wrench.
"What...?! How?!" Shintel said as she immediately backs a few feet.
Glendale and Jihyo looked at Zeke as he began steaming. The snow around him started melting and he's starting to radiate in fiery light.
Glendale's eyes soon widen as he sees the scissor that Zeke was holding unleashes a seal that suddenly unlocks. The scissor then suddenly transforms into a switchblade once more, but this time, it was now black in color, with it's blade glowing red hot as it radiates in power.
Zeke looks behind him, seeing the fiery Manifest on his hand. His eyes widen as well.
"This human... became a wielder...?!" Shintel said to herself.
Zeke slowly turns to Shintel as he takes a refined fighting stance, as the Manifest started erupting a fire that looks like it came out of a rocket thruster.
Glendale just watches in awe.
"Glendale... don't you worry.....
... I'll be.... your hero!"