Though he felt an incredible strain on his body, allowing the missing limb to throw him slightly off his balance, he Flash Stepped forth, arm straight like a spear, risking it all for a single chance to critically injure Judas.
Indeed, the chance had arrived.
His blade, which previously oozed darkness, had returned to normal, indicating that he had terminated his Aetheric Blade.
And in the next mont, just before his curved blade and Judas's light clashed, white string- like threads word their way up the blade, reaching the tip.
Those were the Author's Strings.
As known and previously tested, the ability worked only against a similar or lower-ranked opponent.
Judas certainly wasn't that.
Control was impossible; Emir knew that.
All it could do was disrupt the attack...
B00000000000000000M!
But that was precisely what he needed.
The two forces collided with a deafening boom, the ground splintering in all directions.
Aether and light danced between them, a deadly spectacle that would pull anyone into a trance.
Most of the surrounding light was diffused, and continuous explosions erupted at the sa point of impact, sending shockwaves through the air, destroying every surface they touched. Through all of that, Emir kept himself rooted in the ground, feet dug in, his strings wrapping themselves around Judas's hand like snakes.
And though in a world of hurt, he smiled even wider, holding on just barely. "Fall."
Then, in response to his command, his strings flickered and squeezed.
"Gh..."
Judas's composure broke almost imdiately, his body trembling as his legs failed to keep him standing.
Finally, the backlash of his spell's destruction had reached him.
To no one's surprise but him, it directly affected him, both externally and internally.
His glowing eyes twitched behind the mask, a crack in his otherwise unshakable confidence. "FALL!"
Emir's already wide smile had widened further, to an insane degree.
His gamble had worked.
For the first ti, Judas's dominance had completely faltered.
Though it wasn't more than a few seconds, both felt that ti stretch to nearly an eternity.
They simply looked at each other, one standing, the other almost kneeling.
Their positions had entirely switched.
But not for much longer.
This... even this wasn't enough.
Killing him would require a bigger sacrifice.
By the fifth second, Judas control had returned.
With a twist of his wrist, he snapped free from the strings, sending a backlash of Aether crashing into Emir's core.
"GAH!"
The force was imnse, his chest exploding with pain as he was flung backward like a loose ragdoll.
His vision blurred as the world spun around him, but he didn't let go of his blade.
Not yet.
He was not going to die!
Aquila, lying prone on the ground, barely able to compose himself, leveled his AR for one final, desperate mag dump, using all the remaining God's Ammunition at his disposal.
Sweat poured down his face, his arms trembling uncontrollably from exhaustion, but still... Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
He aid true.
The bullets ignited once more, streaking toward Judas with a roar like thunder.
Judas turned his head late, too enraged by Emir that he seed to have forgotten about Aquila's existence.
Watching the incoming bullets, he imdiately realized that he could not fully evade them. At least not the first bullet; the ones after it were no problem.
And that was exactly what happened.
One bullet grazed his mask, a spark of lightning shattering the surface and gashing his skin.
Before the rest could follow, he had disappeared, reappearing way off to the left.
Then, unexpectedly... Judas stilled.
The air seed to freeze as a thin line of blood trickled down his mask.
His hand slowly rose to his face, fingers tracing the crack along the edge.
He pulled back and stared at the blood on his fingertips.
Soon, a growl escaped his lips:
"You... insignificant vermin."
His voice was low, but it carried with it a weight that chilled Aquila to the bone.
He couldn't waste ti reveling in his minor victory, even if he wanted to.
His core was dangerously unstable now; the risk of Turning Hollow was closer than ever.
Aquila needed to fall back, but he couldn't leave Emir behind.
Not for sentintal reasons, but because of that favor he still owed him.
Besides, if it ever got out that he had left him here, Azazel wouldn't let him live another day;
he was sure of it.
"Get up!"
Aquila shouted, his voice strained.
"We have to retreat-he won't hold back anymore!"
But Emir didn't move.
He, who just stood up from the ground, remained still as a lake.
His eyes were locked on Judas, even as his body scread in agony, feeling like lead.
A smile, though faint, never left his lips.
He refused to back down, no matter how much the odds were stacked against him.
"EMIR LISTEN TO-!"
Before Aquila could complete his sentence, he scrunched over, doubling in pain as he fell to
the ground.
He was on his knees, coughing up blood, his gun on the ground next to him.
Judas had appeared in front of him, punched his stomach, and returned to where his staff lay
before any of them could notice.
He was finally going all out, his body alight.
Emir was stunned.
'Nothing...'
He saw nothing.
Not a single inch of movent.
His inky eyes, which he was so proud of, were useless.
They couldn't track Judas at all.
That ant that Judas was moving at least twice as fast as Flash Step.
Now, for the first ti in his life... he didn't know what to do.
He felt lost.
Emir knew that winning against Judas was impossible, but this was different.
He was used to doing the impossible.
But, again, this was beyond that.
It seed that the script was broken.
Though he realized that early on, knowing sothing and being shown it was a different
thing entirely.
"Cruel Sun."
Judas showed his palm and raised it, a ball of light forming above.
Even when it wasn't fully ford, the surroundings beca fully bathed in light, as if an
incredibly tiny piece of the sun was brought before them.
For a mont, Emir thought it was the end.
He lost, now for the third and final ti.
But then Judas paused inexplicably.
His head tilted slightly, as though listening to sothing distant.
Emir could feel it too-the faint vibrations in the ground, growing weaker.
"...Amon."
The fight far deeper underground was nearing its end.
Judas hesitated, then, after thinking about it for a mont, he lowered his hand, the sun
returning to Aether, dissipating.
"Ah, it looks like our ti is up... unfortunate. Truly. But don't worry, we'll continue this soon
enough. Trust on that... and just rember, if you ever feel safe. I'm out there, watching...
waiting."
He turned around, about to escape, but then he paused, as if a thought had suddenly co to him, and glanced at Emir for one final ti.
"Oh, and before you go, you might want to check out the bodies. I think soone... relieved
you of them. Quite the retarded oversight, wouldn't you agree?"
"Fuck... You."
"Well, what can I say? As expected of impure trash."
With that, he vanished, leaving nothing behind but the faint rustle of his cloak.
Emir remained still, his body aching like hell, his mind racing.
He turned his head toward Aquila, who was barely conscious, his breath shallow.
They had been utterly defeated, barely clinging to life. But they had survived... they had cleared this stage.
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