System notification...
Life essence is being drained...
88%...
85%...
81%
Dan wasn't bleeding despite being pierced by the blade but instead, he was losing his life essence- his very soul to the demon.
And it dropped rapidly.
Dan watched as the demon darkened, from absorbing his soul essence. He gripped the demon tightly, with his claws digging deep into him.
With all his strength, he delivered a devastating blow to the demon's side. The sheer force of the strike sent the demon flying back, leaving the blade embedded in Dan.
Though the demon did not have the sword...It continued to savor Dan's life essence and kept draining it...
The system notified Dan his life essence was dwindling...
It was now at 74% and it still kept going down.
His innards felt like they were burning and being sucked out at the same time. Dan braced himself as he pulled out the blade.
Neither blood nor guts were spilled out when he pulled out the blade. Instead little thread-like things kept flying toward the blade could be seen floating out of the body.
Dan then pulled off the mask as he was finding it difficult to breathe. He watched as the demon was at the side just staring at his pitiful state.
"You have already been pierced by the cursed blade. And it will keep on draining your soul till you're dead. There's no need to fight it"
As every second passed, Dan felt weaker.
He held on to his sides as he sat down. With his vision getting blurry with every passing second.
"You said the blade is cursed?" Dan asked as he tried to circulate his energy the way Ryan had taught him. He controlled his breathing. His breath slowed down, his heartbeat slowed down.
The demon turned to stare at him.
"What are you trying to do? I told you, it's fruitless haven't I told.... The soul reaper will keep draining you till there's nothing left" the demon said.
He controls this whole dimension with his mind. What he thinks about, he shapes and makes. He uses his mind... but he needs to see
Dan stood up, limping he walked towards the blade. And then he picked it up. He could feel how flexible it felt. He started working toward the demon.
"You know we had a bet on if I could answer a riddle" Dan spoke as he was steadily approaching the demon.
"You asked me what can't be seen but it shapes what I do"
"Thinking about it, there are actually a lot of things that I can't see but they shape what I do.... we have faith, hope, and a lot more things which can't be seen but then shape what I do"
The demon now had all his eyes on Dan.
"For the second part, you said you can't be held but you weighed upon me this made the list longer and did not shorten it. It made me think of fate. We have never held fate but then it weighs heavily upon us"
"I know you would be wondering why I would be saying all these," Dan said as he stopped and stared at the demon.
"I just need a moment, I am trying to get at something. For the last part, you said you are both fleeting and endless- yet you can not be rewound. I must say this part felt a bit cryptic but the final line gave it away. You are given to all but never the same?"
"The answer to your riddle is time"
The demon's eyes narrowed as he heard Dan say the answer.
"Why didn't you say the answer since then?"
"That's quite simple actually. You would have gone back on your word and still killed them, me included" Dan said as he grabbed his side. He groaned now and then. But as he did so, he began together energy in his ninefoldclaw.
"True, I would have killed you all but then, why say the answer now?" the demon asked.
"Also that's an easy question too. You are basically out of time"
"What?"
With a swift movement, Dan threw the cursed blade at the demon with so much strength imbued within it.
The blade streamed across the air with so much speed that it also tore through it. The demon barely had enough time to react, and nearly got himself impaled by the blade.
But the demon was able to stop the blade just in time.
And that was what Dan needed. For the demon to take his eyes off him.
As the demon had turned his attention to the incoming cursed blade... Dan had moved swiftly as he knew that demon wouldn't be able to control the shadow realm and stop him.
When Dan got in front of the demon. He heavily placed his right claw on the demon's abdomen. As the demon moved back and had lost balance.
Dan then drove his knee into the face. With such a counter-attack and them all landing perfectly, the demon went down on his knees.
Immediately Dan took the blade that was on the floor and used it to impale the demon before it could sink into the shadows.
A roar could be heard as it shook the shadow realm. The demon tried to push Dan and pull out the blade. But Dan had held it firmly in place.
"Do you think you have won because I am injured?"
"No, not really," Dan said as he pulled the blade and drove it into the Demon's heart.
Dan watched as the demon smiled.
"It's just as he said" the Demon chuckled.
Slowly the world around them began to change. It began having vibrant colors.
Dan could now feel the breeze once again on his skin.
They are now both in the alley. Dan had not noticed that their fight had brought them outside.
Dan watched as the demon's breathing began slowing down.
"You have already been pierced by the blade and so you will die"
They both just lay there. The demon's body then began disintegrating and turning to dust that was carried by the wind.
While Dan on the other hand watched as his life essence dwindled...
it moved to 40%...36%...
If only I could reach Ryan Dan thought, but then he was too weak to move or shout.
Dan pulled out his phone and dialed Ryan's number, hoping he could reach him in time.
20%...15%...
It then began to ring...
10%...
Now he was finding it hard to breathe...
5%....
2%...
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