Chains Of Pride

"Takeshi, what is this?! He just jumped right past Genesis right to an Invata!"

"I can see that Viz, I'm trying to figure it out myself, but nothing comes to mind. His aura's a bit unstable, he probably can't maintain that construct." Said the Shepherd trying to calm Vizio and honestly, himself down.

When he thought of this, something came to mind, "Viz, this is supposed to be a rank 2 right?"

"Yes," Vizio answered almost immediately.

He probed further after hearing this, "Then why haven't its arms regenerated yet?"

She smiled when she heard the question, "Have your senses grown dull Takeshi? They grew back quite some time ago."

"What are you- Oh." Realisation dawned when he saw what she meant. "There it is, the dust and wreckage with its body hidden mostly by the two buildings can get in the way of that."

"Should we finish it off now? One of them has awakened after all." She asked.

Takeshi shook his head to indicate otherwise, "Not yet, that idiot will get distracted, then those two will be in danger again. After that, we'll be looking like Opera where everyone gets a construct."

Vizio pondered with her fingers on her chin "Opera, Opera, Op- Wait I know that, hold on, you know Opera? You watched Opera?!"

No ripples could be seen in Takeshi's eyes as he nonchalantly replied, "You're being loud again, and look, the idiot strikes again."

…

"That's right, you mess with me, you get a hole in your c.h.e.s.t." Lanzo gloated when he saw his handiwork, the joy evident on his face, he looked down on his arms, but his construct shattered shortly after. It seems the proper trigger for them to enter this world has not yet been pulled.

Suddenly, he remembered Kia and Lanzo who was knocked back with him, turning around to look back at them, he was just about to shout out to them when a massive blow knocked him quite some distance away.

A layer of rubble covering his body, at this point, no one knew if he was alive or dead.

"Lanzo!! Shit!! Kia, we gotta move now!" Gero prompted Kia to get up and the two of them dashed out of the mostly destroyed alleyway before heading to the inside of one of the skyscr.a.p.ers. The walls to the side were entirely wrecked, so that wasn't something hard.

The Blite's hole that Lanzo just created showcased wormlike flesh pieces wriggling about and connecting to each other in an attempt to mend the hole. This Blite was only rank 2 which wasn't really high and as such the healing process was a bit slow, but it was still happening.

'Roar!!!'

It released another guttural roar as it eyed Kia and Gero who ran into the building for cover, and if possible, get closer to Lanzo. They didn't even take into account that because they were out of the alleyway, they would now receive Takeshi and Vizio's protection, so the feeling of death weighing down upon them was still there.

The Blite rushed after them, its tenacity was shocking if nothing else. While its healing was underway, it rushed after the two boys, it was almost as if it was in more of a frenzy than before. Deadset on capturing and devouring them, Lanzo damaged it, so rage overpowered everything and sent him far away, but now there were two weak preys right here.

…

"Something's wrong here." Vizio assessed.

"What do you mean?" Takeshi asked.

"Don't you remember, when the Blites see us, if there were possibly any humans left, they would ignore the humans and go after us, despite us being stronger. But this fixation, this obsession, it's beyond anything I've ever seen since I've been active, Takeshi, I think we should take them out." Vizio proffered.

"No, we're close, they'll get there, once they've awakened. We'll draw them out and wipe that thing out." By the tone of his words, this was final.

"I sure hope you know what you're doing." She sighed.

Under his breath, he muttered, "…Me too."

…

"Where did Lanzo land?!" Kia asked.

"Somewhere over there!! C'mon!" Gero dogged him on.

It was of no use though, Lanzo was quite some distance away. Covering that stretch before the Blite caught up with with them was impossible from the get-go, and to prove it, this happens.

The beast only sprinted for a short while Kia and Lanzo jumped over the desks and chairs in the bottom floor of the skyscr.a.p.er to get to Lanzo on the other side

Not long after, they reached the other side of the building. Though it was opened up by Lanzo, the lack of a wall here was a huge help as well.

"There! Over there, that must be him under the rubble!" exclaimed Gero in joy.

"Great! God, I hope he's alright, let's get him out and ourselves outta he-"

Bang!!

"Kia!!"

Bam!!!

Before they could react, the Blite had rushed up behind them and knocked away each of them, sending them spiralling into whatever wall or debris that happened to break their flight.

'Cough' "Ack!!"

Both Kia and Gero amassed massive damage from those single blows each. Pain wracked their bodies, so much so that they could barely move.

Takeshi watched carefully from above, ready to take action if he saw where it didn't pan out how he wanted it to. Earlier he released some of his powers to impede the beast, just to make sure it didn't levy a fatal level strike at them.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

It took thunderous footsteps towards Kia first, whose internal energy seemed to be a lot wilder and more unrestrained than Gero's.

"G-Get away from m-me, ack!" Kia heavily coughed, his severely injured body skewered his senses. Yet, he could feel it nearing him, its aura and pressure weighed greatly upon him.

Through hazy eyes, the Blite looked down on him, its prey, defenceless, weak, unable to grasp its own fate. This was the look that Kia saw reflected in its eyes.

Hold on, since when had he been prey to anyone else? (C-Click) When had he been weak, defenceless?! (Click) Since when had he not held his own fate, when had he been down for one to look down on…Never! That's when! (CLICK)

When the last lock clicked open, his aura exploded as a deep crimson bellowed out like fiery inferno, it swallowed the brown in his eyes and cast it in that same colour.

Soon, dark clouds began to obscure the sun, lightning began to flash and the land was rumbling. Something was coming, something powerful. The sound of the thunder was deafening, and the howling wind became a tempest further intensified the movement of this phenomenon.

The Blite, though devoid of much sense, moving mostly on instinct, started to back away from Kia, who had slowly begun to get up. There was now planted a deep-seated fear, this was not a prey it espied, but an authentic predator.

…

"Takeshi! What's going on?!" Vizio had to use her arms to block the wind before she decided to erect an energy shield to block the violent gale.

Takeshi was ecstatic, though not much of it showed up on his face, "Something that only happened in legends. It was said that when the progenitors had summoned their construct for the first time, it induced a weather changing phenomenon as well. Their powers are even greater than I had ever imagined."

"What does all this mean?!" She asked, looking all around at the profoundness of what was happening.

Takeshi didn't shy from it, he simply let it strike at him in whatever form it took, "It means change, it means truth, it means all the things that are not true."

…

Kia stepped forward, and the lightning in the heavens cried out as he did so, "I can feel your pulse, I can feel your denial of this foolish fate, so stop lying down, and rise, Gero!!"

Crackle…Boom!!

Thunder rang out in the air with an even more intense crescendo! The area where Gero lay, erupted with a resounding explosion. The glacial young man looked towards the Blite that backed away earlier.

His gaze, as cold as it was caused the beast to begin convulsing and trembling. Gero willed death upon this creature and he shall have it.

"Requiem." Krrssshhhh!!!

A single word was all he uttered and yet, the lightning danced around in the sky, as chains materialised and began to criss-cross across his c.h.e.s.t down to his stomach, locking themselves tightly.

A flash of light ran streamline in the shape of a Tonfas till it became bladed in full. He held the handle tightly as the aura enveloped him. It was a dark haze that obscured his features.

He looked to the rubble not far away and could feel the fluctuations coming from there, Gero simply smiled when he saw this, as he whispered to himself, "About time."

The rubble that had buried Lanzo all got blasted to dust, his aura exploded once more as his pressure erupted. His arms that were b.a.r.e, began to be encased once more, much more slowly this time.

"Gravis Gauntlet." He called the name of his Construct once more!

It started to form from his fingertips building up stably as it travelled. Looking different, it looked solid, impactful, intimidating this time, no longer ethereal like earlier. The land shook as his construct took form, it nearly took the Blites feet from under it. Fissures began to expand at a staggering rate.

The place only calmed down when the gauntlets slowed down and paused at his elbows.

Both Lanzo and Gero stared in Kia's direction, no longer paying any heed to the Blite that was in their midst.

Kia extended his hand to the skies as the scarlet light flashed within his eyes. His expression turned grave as he shouted out, "Descend for me!"

The dark clouds in the firmament split apart to reveal clouds of purest black. They began to swirl as lightning began to flash, yet there were no sounds. These flashes broke space apart and banished air from its presence, no sound could dare to exist here. The eeriness of it was suffocating.

'Grrrgghh...Roar!!!!!'

Suddenly, overbearing energy spread out from above, while the roar of a true dragon could be heard. The bolts lightning began converging in one spot, it was a mess of space and power.

A large bolt of the silent lightning came crashing in front of Kia, he simply stretched out his hand and allowed it to land upon him as chains materialised and wrapped themselves around both his arms.

When the lightning finally descended, it was so bright that everyone had to look away and wait for the light to dim.

When they turned their heads back in his direction. There lay in his hand, a massive scarlet sword. He brandished it wordlessly, as he closed his eyes to learn of it.

He then pointed it at the Blite that had long lost its fighting spirit and calmly called out his construct's name.

"Scarlet Fang."