Kazami lay motionless, his breathing shallow, his battered form a stark contrast to the unwavering figure looming over him. His left shoulder was a grotesque sight—nearly blown away, with only a fragile sliver of bone and tattered flesh, keeping it connected to his body.
Blood seeped steadily from the wound, staining the ground beneath him in the dark, spreading pools as they slowly evaporated into tiny diamond shards. The jagged edges of torn muscle quivered faintly with each laboured breath, a painful reminder of himself.
"I'm… sorry… Hoyeon…" He mumbled to himself as the light in his eyes began to fade.
Esmeray advanced with deliberate steps, savouring the moment like a connoisseur relishing the final notes of a well-aged wine. "Such a pitiful dish with so much potential."
He sneered, his voice dripping with mockery.
"A bland imitation of strength, with no seasoning of originality. Did you really think your ever-changing toy of a Leere could match my refined palette of power?" He chuckled, low and cruel, as Kazami lay unresponsive, the insult seeping into the air like a bitter aroma.
Standing over the prone body, he tilted his head slightly, mockery gleaming in his expression. Before he could strike, the air around Esmeray shifted.
His confident smirk faltered as he began to feel the air around him turning oppressive, pulling at him with unseen hands. His body sagged, and his knees buckled, forcing him to drop to the ground.
"What in the hell?" he growled, the weight crushing down on him.
The huntsman scanned the environment, his keen eyes darting around until they locked onto a figure half-hidden behind a jagged rock. There, stepping into the open, was the girl with one eye glowing red. She held the giant shear out, its sharp edges catching the dim light like a predator's glint.
"My, my," he purred, licking his lips with a twisted grin.
"It seems another delectable course has arrived. I've been wondering when his friends would come out to play." His voice carried an unnerving mixture of menace and playful allure, every word dripping with condescension.
"Tell me, darling, do you always keep your guests waiting, or is this little act of yours part of the foreplay?"
Tang-Ji's expression remained impassive, her Leere shimmering faintly as the gravity around Esmeray slowly drove his legs into the ground.
"Your feast is over," she said coldly. "The only thing left for you to taste is the bitter flavour of defeat."
Esmeray let out a light laugh, the sound brittle but defiant. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm afraid you've underestimated me." He flicked his wrist downward, and with a sickening ripple, the ground beneath him softened and swirled.
The once-solid rock turned dough-like, malleable and yielding, nullifying the oppressive gravity as he regained his balance.
"Now this," Esmeray mused, brushing imaginary dust off his sleeve, "is more my speed. You see, I prefer to tailor the surroundings to my liking. And you? You're just another ingredient in my recipe for conquest." His gaze sharpened, locking onto Tang-Ji with the predatory hunger of someone who found delight in destruction.
Tang-Ji tightened her grip on her Leere, the air humming with potential energy. "If you're so confident," she said, her voice steady and sharp, "then let's see how you handle a fight that doesn't cater to your tastes."
Esmeray's grin widened, his eyes glinting with malevolence. "Oh, darling, I am the only one that should be deciding what meals cater to my taste—"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was cut off by a flash of blue energy that crashed into his chest.
"Die!" shouted Decker, his voice dripping with arrogance. The raw, inhuman power behind the clothesline strike sent Esmeray flying backwards, tumbling over the surface of the water before coming to a halt, face-down in the shimmering waves.
Esmeray rose slowly, his fingers flicking upward like a maestri conducting chaos. A massive wave of water obeyed his gesture, slicing upward in a shining arc. It swallowed the cave in shimmering droplets, masking him in a liquid curtain.
"Decker! Don't be reckless!" Ji-Soon's voice echoed from the shore. He had one hand pressed to his temple. "Dammit, did that idiot even hear a single word we just said?"
"Oh, shut it," Decker shot back as he leapt towards the towering wave, leaving a faint trail of electric sapphire light behind him. "I've got this under control. Unlike you, who likes to twiddle your thumbs and sit in the back, I'm the type of guy who gets things done."
Ji-Soon groaned. "Fuck! Looks like we're going to have to follow up with that idiot." He whispered to his side as multiple shadows leapt out behind, dispersing in different directions.
Unrelenting, Decker charged at the hunter again, landing a clean hit against his jaw with a brutal crack. "How's that?" he taunted, smirking as Esmeray staggered.
"Cocky little pest," Esmeray growled, recovering faster than Decker expected. Just as Decker was prepared to throw a vicious uppercut, a greyish hand clasped around his arm like an iron vice.
"Still mouthing off?" The hunter hissed, glaring furiously into Decker's eyes. Before Decker could retort, he felt a hand around his metal throat as he was knocked backwards and slammed onto the water's surface.
To his horror, he didn't sink but instead rested just above it, as if caught in some invisible snare. Esmeray leant over him, tightening his grip around the mechanical giant with one hand while he opened the other expectedly.
As if on command, a long, curved object materialised above his free hand. "Let's see how much fight you have without your flashy moves."
"Let… go… of me!" Decker snarled, thrashing against the predator's grip. His defiance faltered as he felt the overwhelming strength pin him down.
"You're all bark, no bite," Esmeray said coldly, raising what seemed to be a massive floating axe with a blade that glistened like glazed sugar.
Its surface was rough and crumbly, resembling freshly baked cookie dough, with jagged chocolate chip clusters forming its serrated edges. Despite its absurd composition, it radiated an unnerving, ominous energy, as though the sweetness masked something far more sinister.
"You're... one to talk. What,... are you? Some kind of Disney villain... whipping up weapons from a lunchbox nightmare!" Decker spat as Esmeray's boot pressed harder against his chestplate. "Ape! Anytime now!"
A voice cackled from somewhere unseen. "Nice to hear you finally squealing for help."
"Don't push it, jackass," Decker snapped. "Just keep hiding and leave the fighting to the big boys."
"That's rich, coming from the guy who's flat on his back," Kompto quipped. His invisible movements were punctuated by the sound of metallic clicks and splashes as tiny metallic beads began to surface around Esmeray.
"Enough!" He roared, releasing Decker before commanding the axe to swing around the area horizontally.
But before it could hit its target, the naval mines detonated, sending water and shrapnel in every direction. Esmeray shielded himself with his axe, gritting his teeth as the explosions rocked the waters surface.
Decker coughed, now free from the hunter's grip, and used the chaos to dive down into the water. "Not bad for a monkey,'" he muttered, bubbles escaping the gaps in his helmet.
"I must have misheard that, or something—did you just compliment me?" Kompto's mocking voice pierced through the space, oozing incredulity. "I think I might faint."
Esmeray's crimson eyes narrowed, his expression a mask of fury. He could hear a voice, but the voice had no source, no anchor, floating in the chaos like a taunt from a ghost.
'Invisibility. The wretch hides like a coward in shadows, yet dares mock me?' His jaw clenched as he opened his palm, and suddenly the axe became fluid as if it were made out of clay.
Like an artist's poise before a masterpiece, Esmeray clicked his fingers as the large object split into multiple long rods before it was aimed downward towards the body of water. His irritation seethed beneath his elegant composure, the slightest twitch betraying his growing impatience.
'Those mines from earlier weren't used for dealing damage.' He looked down at his palm as his vision slowly became blurry. 'The shrapnel must have contained some sort of effect to dull my senses.'
A jet of water exploded from the rough waves. "Don't get used to it, monkey," Decker spat before landing on one of Emiko's floating paper talismans, which had been expanded to serve as a platform.
Esmeray's sharp gaze followed, his lips pressing into a line as the talisman rippled under Decker's weight.
He tilted his head, a faint sense of unease creeping into his mind.
'What sorcery is this? These papers... they're everywhere. They must be trying to restrict my movements.' He thought to himself before bouncing off the water's surface to the side in an effort to prevent himself from getting completely surrounded.
However, there already were thousands of them. Floating like autumn leaves scattered by a cruel wind. He shifted his stance, which caught the eye of a shadow hiding behind a rock not too far away from the water.
From the shore, Emiko threw another talisman towards Decker. "Stop bickering and focus, both of you," she called out.
Decker scoffed, catching the talisman mid-air. "Guess the slut is giving orders now. Thought you'd just flutter those lashes and let someone else do the work."
Emiko's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, keep talking, dickhead. Maybe I'll accidentally blow your brains out," she mumbled.
"Oh, please. Like you could ever lay a scratch on me." The mechanical figure caught Emiko's voice, his metal frame rattling with a distant clank as smoke hissed from his spine.
"Guys!" Ji-Soon shouted, stepping in. "This isn't the time for petty insults. He's not going to wait for us to sort out our issues."
"Shuuuut uuup," Decker groaned, the blue lights on his mask flickered. "You've already proven you're useless in a fight."
"And you've proven you're a self-centred jerk," Ji-Soon fired back. "How about you try and stop being a pain in everyone's ass for once?"
Esmeray's laughter cut through their argument. "Such delightful chaos," he sneered. "Infighting already? You're making this too easy for me."
"We'll see about that," Decker growled, launching himself at Esmeray again. The two clashed in a dazzling display of speed and power, sapphire light colliding with Esmeray, who conjured mutliple green lines beneath his feet to deflect Decker's strike.
"What the fuck?!! Are these veggies? You really are a Disney villain," he jeered.
"Still running that mouth of yours?" Esmeray delivered a blow with his knee, aimed at Decker's abdomen, fracturing his armour.
Decker dashed back quickly, leaving a short trail of mechanical parts spewing from his broken armour.
Meanwhile, Kompto worked in the shadows, planting explosives with surgical precision. "Oi, keep him busy," Kompto muttered, his voice barely audible over the din. "I'll give you an opening."
"Just don't screw it up," Decker called back, dodging the multiple brown rods that were coming from above. "And if you blow me up, I'll kill you!"
"No, you wouldn't. Cause you would be dead, idiot," Kompto said with a smirk, unseen but obvious from his tone of voice.
Esmeray raised his arm high, the motion fluid and unhurried, like a dancer preparing for the final move in a flawless routine. "Do you truly believe such cheap theatrics will cage me?"
With a flick of his wrist, dozens of brown rods descended—not towards his enemies but towards the water itself. The spear-like object carved through the surface like silk, sending out a ripple that grew into a towering vortex.
The water surged upward, a pillar of liquid elegance, carrying the paper talismans high into the air. They fluttered helplessly, caught in the dance of the vortex.
He smirked, his head tilting slightly as he surveyed the ocean of flittering white. "A delicate display," he murmured, his tone almost admiring. "But ephemeral, like all things born of desperation. You won't trick me; as long as I keep my distance, my rods from above can neutralise your explosives."
Yet, even as he spoke, his sharp eyes caught movement—Kompto's invisibility flickered for just a moment, a faint distortion in the air.
Without hesitation, Esmeray twisted his body, launching one of the rods in his grasp like a whirlwind of silver. The spear's edge sliced through the air where Kompto had been, missing by a hair's breadth as the invisible one darted away.
Without warning Esmeray stuttered, as he noticed his right shoulder beginning to twitch violently. Decker noticed the strange lines crawling up the hunter's arm, spreading like tree roots. "Looks like it worked," he muttered, smirking. "Our nerd got you good."
Esmeray's eyes darted towards the source of his aching: a small, mechanical fly buzzing near the back of his shoulder. With a quick clap, he crushed it. His gaze quickly found its target, a shadow of a figure not too far away, hinding behind a rock formation, his smile turning feral.
"I've got just the dish for cowardly brats like you," he said, flicking his other fingers towards the rock formation around the shore.
"Junyo, move!" Ji-Soon shouted, desperation in his voice. But before the rods could strike, Emiko's talismans flew like missiles, wrapping around Esmeray and binding him in place.
"You've been walking into my trap since this fight began," Emiko continued. "Each step you've taken, each move you've made—every one of them helped me set this stage. You're not fighting me. Just like all men, you're fighting your own arrogance."
Esmeray's eyes widened as even more papers flipped around to reveal themselves.
"Did you really think I would reveal all of them for your eyes to see?" Emiko's voice cut through the chaos, calm and unhurried, with a biting edge that made everyone pause.
She stepped forward, her shadow long against the rippling water, her gaze steady and unyielding. "You saw these papers and assumed it was just to slow you down. How unoriginal."
Esmeray snarled, his frustration growing. "You think this can hold me?"
Emiko tilted her head slightly, the corner of her lips curving into a faint smirk. "No," she said coldly with an undeniable authority. "Not hold you. Strangle you."
At her final word, the talismans flared brilliantly, their faint glow intensifying into sharp, searing light. The air itself seemed to tighten as the enchanted paper began constricting, sinking into Esmeray's skin like invisible chains tightening around his soul.
Junyo activated his shield generator, bracing against the next wave of explosions.
"Cover your eyes and ears," he barked. Decker activated the turbo thruster on his mechanical legs as he propelled himself out of the water. Kompto also dove into the water before his body was enveloped by a blue screen of energy.
For a moment, it looked as though Esmeray might break free, but Emiko raised her hand in a graceful gesture, her fingers poised like a conductor leading a symphony. "And now," she said, her voice soft yet commanding, "you'll learn what it feels like to be devoured by your prey."
An explosion rang out as everything went purple.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ukiyo pressed her hands against the curved wall of the bubble, her breath fogging its surface like a futile attempt to draw warmth. Below her, the lake no longer resembled water but a massive, grotesque cauldron—a simmering pot of horrors.
The once-clear surface had turned thick and opaque, roiling with the viscous texture of boiling broth. Purple haze bubbled to the surface in furious bursts, rising like steam from an overworked kitchen. Shadows swirled within the depths, ingredients of torment and despair stirred by an unseen hand.
As she stared into the lake, the haze began to clear in fractured glimpses, revealing shapes trapped within the water. There were shards of a broken dining table, stained with phantom smears of red, bobbing like discarded vegetables in a sinister stew.
Chairs, one with its legs askew as if it could still groan beneath a child's weight, spun lazily in the current. Ukiyo's gaze caught fleeting images—two identical figures sitting together, their reflections distorted, one clutching his stomach, the other looking on with empty eyes.
Bits of fabric floated up, torn and frayed, like overcooked meat clinging stubbornly to bone. They were clothes too small for a growing body, threadbare and pale; their colours leached as if washed repeatedly in hopeless tears.
A knife glinted briefly beneath the surface, its edge catching the moonlight before vanishing again, swallowed whole by the broth of memories. The bubbles hissed as they rose, bursting with phantom whispers—a father's angry shouts, a mother's anguished cries, and the gut-wrenching sound of children's muffled sobs.
Even the moon above had become a prisoner to this grotesque concoction, its violet hue bleeding into the haze, casting a sickly light upon the boiling pot below. The lake seemed alive, its contents twisting and turning, a reflection of a soul that had been tossed into this cursed brew long ago.
It was as if the lake itself was Esmeray's masterpiece manifest, a terrible recipe born of starvation, blood, and survival.
Ukiyo shuddered as she muttered to herself, her voice barely audible above the gurgling water.
"How... how could anyone defeat this... this desire to destroy... this hatred..." Her heart lurched sickeningly as she gazed into the depths where shadows began to coalesce into a singular, monstrous form, a harbinger rising from the depths of his own nightmares.
A sudden splash shattered the suffocating stillness. From the lake's surface, a figure vaulted into the air, droplets scattering like shards of glass in the moonlight.
It was the shadow of a classy man, his drenched figure landing on the shore. "That ability of yours really saved my ass back there, Ji-Soon." His breathing was ragged, his wide eyes scanning for the others.
"Damn, man. I swear you people survive anything. Must be in your DNA or something." Decker's voice pierced the quiet.
Kompto froze for a fraction of a second, his jaw tightening. But he said nothing, exhaling sharply. He turned away, his gaze sweeping over the others.
Decker leant against a jagged rock, his smirk barely concealing his unease. The others were scattered like broken dolls. Tang-Ji stood over Junyo, her sapphire eyes dimmed, taking on an almost hollow red. She whispered something, her voice barely audible, as Junyo knelt beside Kazami's crumpled form.
"Kazami…"
His body was a canvas of devastation. One shoulder dangled by threads of sinew, the other punctured with a gaping wound. His skin was a grotesque mosaic of charred flesh, cracked and flaking like the bark of a tree caught in an eternal blaze. He seemed less human, more an effigy of suffering.
Junyo's hands hovered over Kazami's wounds, trembling. He didn't answer Tang-Ji's question. He couldn't. Not yet.
"Junyo." Tang-Ji's voice cut through the tension. Her usual softness was gone, replaced by an unsettling edge.
He flinched but didn't look up. Her voice rose, slow and deliberate.
"Can you save him?"
Her blank expression betrayed nothing, but her eyes told a different story. The blue in them seemed to wane with each word she spoke, as if the light within her was being drained.
"I—" Junyo started but stopped, almost like the words were caught in his throat.
"Answer me!" Her voice erupted, startling everyone. Junyo recoiled, his knees almost buckling as he finally looked up. The raw intensity in her gaze left him momentarily speechless.
Ji-Soon stepped forward, his usually composed demeanour shattered. His hands grabbed fistfuls of Junyo's hoodie, dragging him closer. "Can you fix him? Tell me he'll be okay!"
Junyo's breath hitched. "I can… I can heal his body. His health points will recover. But the pain..." He hesitated, his voice faltering as he saw the desperation in their eyes.
"The Pain Tolerance System—it's too high. His real-world nerves—I think they've been damaged. Even if his body's restored in-game, he might not wake up. And…" He paused, swallowing hard.
"If his arms had been completely severed... it would've been impossible to restore them."
Tang-Ji's lips trembled, but she said nothing. Her sapphire eyes continued to dim, their colour fading to a pale, ghostly grey. Ji-Soon's grip on Junyo tightened.
"You're telling me you can't save him? You're supposed to be the healer, aren't you? Fix him!"
As Junyo stammered, Decker's voice cut through again, sharper this time. "Back off, cunt. We don't owe your friend anything. He's done all he can. If that's not enough, it's not our problem."
Ji-Soon's head snapped towards Decker, his fists curling at his sides. "Say that again, and I'll—"
"Stop it!" Kompto interjected, stepping between them. His arms spread wide, his drenched figure still dripping onto the scorched ground. He pointed behind them, his expression grim.
All heads turned. The purple haze was thinning, revealing a figure suspended above the lake.
"No…" Emiko's voice wavered, her fingers gripping against the rigid surface that she was leaning against. "No fucking way."
The figure hovered, wreathed in violet light. The moon's glow seemed to bow to him, casting long shadows that rippled across the water.
It was the hunter. His presence was suffocating, a cold, oppressive weight that pressed down on them all. His eyes burned with an unholy light, and the air around him shimmered with latent power.
For a moment, no one spoke. Even the wind seemed to cease as if the world itself held its breath.
Without hesitation the wounded beast flash its fangs.