"What the hell?" Alder stood next to Ash with his jaw agape. Ash could not blame him for being surprised in the middle of the fight as the two before them were moving at inhuman speeds. Nothing they did felt possible by normal human standards.
Metal against magical claws, sparks flew as faint cracking echoed in the wind. With each blow, Ash felt his hands sting. The unknown man turned to the side with a sinister grin as he effortlessly dodged an attack from Cherry. As she stumbled forward, she tried to plant her feet to stop herself. However, the man was one step ahead. He lounged at the opening that she had given. Cherry blocked the attack. However, that did not stop him. He continued with a rapid onslaught of attacks that slowly pushed Cherry into the flames. Each blow was faster and faster, causing Cherry to be pushed completely on the defensive.
Ash gritted his teeth as he endured the pain from the one-sided battle. Ash was once impressed with Cherry's abilities, but now it seems that she was not all that strong. He hoped she was only holding back because of the strange collar around their necks, but seeing her pissed-off look showed him that she was trying her hardest to withstand his attacks.
With her fangs bared, Cherry found an opening and rolled to the side. She quickly got up, dashed around the man, and slashed at him with claws. The man turned and blocked the attack. His dagger shattered upon contact, and he crouched down and threw dirt and ashes into Cherry's eyes.
Ash felt a chill run down his spine as the man turned his attention towards him and dashed forward. There was no time to react. Ash felt his back bend forward by an external force. He felt his dinner from the night before shooting out of his mouth. There was no pain, just the uncomfortable taste of his stomach acid and a lack of air in his lungs.
"AGHHHH!!!!" Cherry's cry filled the air as Ash fell to the ground with the man's fist still in his stomach.
"The look on your face spoke a thousand words, boy." He pulled out another dagger to replace the one he lost. "She relies on petty tricks to best her enemies in combat. That girl was not holding back just because of some artifact that bound both your souls. She's a vixen that feeds on the emotions of poor men like you and I." The man thrust both daggers into Ash. It felt strange as the daggers seemed to faze through his body.
Cherry's cries grew louder as she launched herself in a blind rage towards the man with her claws barred towards his neck. With an unamused look, the man watched as Cherry threw caution into the wind and stepped aside. Cherry's claws slashed through Ash's body, and she fell onto the ground, holding her chest in pain. The man flipped his dagger into the air, caught it by the blade, and rammed the end into Ash's neck.
Cherry's crimson hair, ears, claws, and tail faded away as she fell face-first into the ground.
Ash could not help but be amazed by the skills the man displayed. But at the same time, he felt afraid as now that Cherry was out cold, nothing was stopping him from attacking the two of them. Alder was standing in the back watching; he made no move to assist as he probably thought it was helpless to try anything against the man. Ash cursed his coward of a leader in the back of his mind as the man locked eyes with his. A devilish grin traced his lips as he flipped the dagger in this hand once more.
"Just who are you?" Alder asked as she approached the strange man. For someone who stood back, he walked confidently between the two. The man looked at him and smiled. He put both his daggers away and held out a hand, keeping the other behind his back.
"The name is Harold. To whom it may concern, I am a former Hunter from the City of Pandora. I say former because, well, judging by that look in the kid's eyes, I might have an unpleasant appearance, similar to that of a corpse." He then put his hand down to the side, seeing that Alder had no intention of shaking it.
"So the walking skeleton has a name, so what?" He said before tilting his head. "Wait, why does that sound familiar?"
While he was studying the man's appearance, his doubts slowly started to make sense to Ash. The first skeleton that spoke to them seemed like a regular human skeleton, but Alder seemed to recognize who it was.
Seeing Ash lost in his thoughts, Harold looked at him. "Boy, what do I look like to you?"
The man looked like a disfigured person whose face was heavily clawed at. This was odd because Cherry had not landed a single hit on him during that fight. Besides his face, his lower body was even harder to look at as his internal organs were spilling out of his body, and what should have been blood was replaced by a strange ebon ooze.
"Like a walking zombie with his organs visible." Ash summarized what he thought and gave his answer. Satisfied with his answer, Harold nodded. Alder turned away with a confused look as Harold dashed forward. "ALDER-!"
Ash's warning came too late as Harold held Alder hostage with his knife. "Really now? How stupid can you get?" Harold spoke with a somewhat surprised tone.
Alder let out a gulp before a cocky grin formed on his lips. He raised both his hands into the air and looked at Harold with the corner of his eyes. "With how strong you are, you could have killed us at a moment's notice. But seeing that both he and I are standing here means that you need us for something."
"Oh?" Harold's eyes widened as he lowered his knife. "To think that the town leader had a pair."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Paying him no attention, Harold walked towards Cherry and planted his foot on her back. Ash could feel his bones creak from within his own chest. Harold studied the reactions that Ash displayed and let out a hefty sigh.
"You really are an anomaly to the rules that the City and its residents abide by."
"What do you mean by that?" Ash spoke with a weak breath as he watched Harold lift his foot off Cherry.
"A Gifted should not that the ability to make a wish with 'her.' Yet here you are, a Gifted boy bounded to an Omen by an OA. Oh, that means Orignal Artifact, by the way."
Seeing the slightly lost look in both their eyes, Harold shrugged his shoulders before attempting to explain everything in an easy-to-digest way. He briefly explained the concept of OAs and AAs and how everything that was taking place in the town right now was caused by a Cursed Hunter from the City who was consumed by his OA and brought back the dead.
OA Deadman's Wish was the name of the artifact that reenacted horror books that Ash once read. The skeletons brought back seemed to only act out their final dying wishes, which all seemed to target those who killed them. However, four skeletons were brought back that had the willpower to override the artifact's control. He battled one before heading towards the town in search of Cherry, whom he called Rose.
"Wait, so you said that one skeleton was a vixen like Cherry and the other two were a couple, one with their head removed?" Alder spoke as Harold nodded. There was worry in his eyes as he turned towards the tavern that was blocked off by the wall of flames that ate away at the town. "So that's how you effortlessly fended off the girl. Was she that much weaker?"
Ash turned with an awkward sigh. Even if he had once thought the same thing as he did, if Cherry found out, she would probably attack him on sight.
"Yes, to all of that." Harold stretched out his arms as he turned towards Cherry. "Truth be told, I just wanted to kill her since she pulled the wool over my eyes. But deep down, I really don't want to. She lived a hard life, a puppet for another person above her, yet she's still an Omen, a being who should not even exist in this world to begin with."
Ash could tell that he was holding back some information. He bit his tongue and turned away from Cherry as he was about to spill more information. He faced Ash and smiled.
"Look, lad. You can't expect to win a girl over if you let others give you the hints." Harold gave him a pretty disturbing wink.
"Wait, she's an Omen? I thought she was a Gifted." Alder's question made Harold roll his eyes. Ash could not help but smile slightly as he knew what Alder was up to. He had a habit of playing the fool to get answers. Usually, it works.
"That girl is an Omen. Normal people like yourself cannot see her special features or weapons." He turned towards Ash. "People like him and I and see them like night and day. So do be careful should you encounter the undead Omen roaming around."
"You said another Cursed was in the forest fighting, right? So it should not be an issue."
"The other Cursed was the Silver Mantra." That name made both Alder and Ash look at Harold in surprise. The idol from last night was a Cursed from the City. That was something Ash had not expected. Ash turned towards Alder, who turned pale as he bit his lips. "She's strong, don't get me wrong. But without the Silver Detective, she's a simple girl who has some serious baggage that weighs her down in a fight. She won't last more than twenty minutes in a fight with an opponent of that caliber."
So, in other words, the other Omen that were brought back could be targeting Cherry at a moment's notice once they kill the idol. The thought was terrifying, but it would have to be accepted. Ash wanted to believe that the Silver Mantra would survive, but she did not seem much of a fighter.
"You're kidding…right?" Alder, who was looking paler than before, spoke with a shaky voice.
"Judging by those looks, you've heard the rumors. If you find her, you better make damn sure she lives. But that's beside the point here. The goal is to survive. Boy, humor me and head in that direction."
Ash looked at him skeptically, the doubt evident in his eyes. He complied, knowing that resisting the undead freak would land him with a way ticket to heaven. As he advanced forward, he felt a sudden pull at his neck. He turned back to find Alder with Cherry on his back, heading in the opposite direction. A subtle glimmer of silver traveled from Ash to Cherry.
"That's a dilemma," Harold said while looking at the collar around Ash's neck. "That would explain why she seemed like she could only be in one area. Not only do both of you swap damage received, but you can also move about 35 feet from one another."
He moved towards the center of the two and reached out his hand. At first, he was wildly reaching out, hoping to grab something. As the irritation of his failing repeatedly was shown on his face, a sudden smile took over as he managed to grab something invisible. He twisted his hand as if to wrap something around it. There was faint smoke coming off his hand as ebon veins stretched out from where it was burning. He then gave the air a forceful tug that dragged Alder forward, trying to keep Cherry on his back, and Ash on the ground.
Spitting out the dirt and ash, Ash looked up at Harold, who gave him a pitiful look. "You've got a strength and one hell of a weakness." He said, releasing the object. "An OA that can swap and damage but has a physical body…" Harold started rambling. "It's not a weapon, so it's most likely a physical armor type. Though I am not too sure that armor types even exist…but there have been records. AA are easier to classify…" Harold scratched his head, the ebon veins growing thicker than before.
Alder and Ash exchanged looks of concern. Harold studied their looks and looked down at his body. "I'm running out of time. Oi, idiots!" He shouted towards Ash and Alder. "You've got two options: either turn tail and leave everyone behind or find a way to kill the damned Cursed responsible for this shit. He's still sane, but as these ebon veins will tell you, that won't be for much longer. Once he loses control, all of us will target you; surely you know that death awaits should that happen."
As he said those words, several groans filled the air. Harold rolled his eyes as he reached for his knives.
"Why….WHY!!!"
"Must we be betrayed again!?"
"Traitor…"
Several charred skeletons stepped out into the open. They each held broken weapons and stood unbalanced as they pointed their weapons toward Harold. A thick black mass that oozed ebon liquid covered their bones. Harold turned to face them and took a wide stance. The skeletons took it as an invitation to attack and launched forward.
"The man controlling us is on the verge of losing his mind," Harold spoke. "Kill him to give him peace. The Cursed humans have been through a lot, so give him a merciful death for me. And Ash, I believe that you have what it takes to help Rose achieve her wish. She's stubborn, but she's a terrible liar. She desperately wants to break from the strings that control her, and with you by her side, she has no choice but to fight against her mother."
Two skeletons ran towards Harold. They were slow compared to him, but it seemed like they were trying to mimic someone else's movements. They leapt from place to place like Cherry and thrusted their weapons towards Harold in a pinching formation. Harold sidestepped, throwing one off course, but the other dashed to the side with him. Harold brought his knife upwards, preparing to bring it down, but a well-timed sword from the surrounding skeletons was thrown, knocking it out of his hands.
Wide open, Harold took a spear to his gut, the head of the breaking off, lodging itself in his body. Ebon ooze squirted out of his body and kicked the kick skeleton that stabbed him. He then used his remaining knife to decapitate the skeleton with a swift strike. The skeleton he sidestepped came back with another spear aiming at his head. Harold reached behind him, pulled out another knife, and parried the attack with another decapitating blow.
The two that he killed morphed into the strange heart-like mass that they had seen earlier. "What the fuck are you two still standing there for?" Harold shouted as he took another blow that slashed his arm off. "If you want to die, then stay here; if not, get your fucking legs moving!"
Alder tugged at Ash's arm. Ash looked at him and nodded. Without him saying anything, he could tell what he was thinking. It was his duty to protect the people of the town, and the man who once tried to kill them gave them the goal. They needed to achieve that.
They ran into the forest whose trees were burned or shattered by an unknown force. As they moved, a strange slashing sound was heard. Ash looked down and noticed a trail of blood. Around that trail were the corpses of wolves whose bodies were either clawed at or blown to pieces. They moved towards an unnatural clearing where all the trees had been blown off at the base. Towards the center was another puddle of blood. In the center of the blood were torn pieces of clothing and black and silver hair.
Alder stopped moving as he went deathly pale. "Shit…"
Ash took another look at the clothing. It was similar to the ones that the girl from last night had worn.
"I guess she didn't win that fight after all. That's just great…now we are royally fucked." Alder spoke as he lowered Cherry from his arms and caught his breath.
"Why are we 'royally fucked'?" Ash looked around. Something about the area they were in felt off. He could not figure out where, but something was watching them.
"The Silver Mantra is the daughter of the Silver Dective that was hanging out in the town, doing us a favor…If he finds out she died, he might snap and kill everyone. Supposedly, he destroyed an entire group of gangsters that tried to sell her into prostitution."
"Wait, you mean you let a ticking time bomb into the town?" Ash could not hold back his surprise.
"She wasn't even supposed to be here at first, anyway. She desperately begged me to let her perform on such short notice. I could not help but let her do it. The look in her eyes said that she fucked something up and needed to fix it fast."
"You big softy." Ash joked, but he knew the reason why; even if he wanted to say no, he couldn't. She had the same power that Cherry had, and the event last night showed him how potent her powers were.
Things were mounting from bad to worse faster by the minute. Ash could not help but feel the stress from the situation. First, the town was on fire, then the skeletons were out for blood, and then Alder told him about Cypress. To top it all off, now they needed to search for a person and kill them under a time limit that threatened to kill everyone in the town. Ash turned towards Alder, who was gripping the pistol in his hands. His shaky grip did nothing to ease his worries.
He then turned towards Cherry, who was still knocked out. With her unconscious, Alder had limited range to attack with as he would have to make sure she did not get hurt. She was a burden that was slowing them down.
"That's rich coming from you, but it also hurts just as much." Startled, Ash saw the colors return to Cherry's hair and her spectral features return. She looked at Ash as if she was about to cry. "Why do you think I'm a burden just because I lost one fight?"
Alder's color returned as a slight hope had been given to them. Once again, Cherry looked at Ash with a displeased look.
"Look, I can't help it. Things keep getting worse." Ash said as he scratched his head. "But I am glad to see you're awake… I just hope your talk about freeing yourself isn't all talk." Ash bluffed, as it was Harold who told him.
Cherry's face flustered up, and she quickly stood up with her claws out and ready. "I haven't got a single idea of what you're talking about. So what are we doing?"
"Ending this at the source," Alder said with a smile as he watched the two of them exchange their banter.
While they were on a time limit, he knew that if they entered this fight tense, they would all be killed. Alder was uneasy about the fight himself, but knowing that their weapon, Cherry, could redirect her damage to Ash puts their odds of pulling this off higher than before. But that would also mean he would have to watch Ash endure endless pain just for their survival. Alder bit his lip as a crunch echoed from the forest.