Garden Of The Abyss

"--Aiko, you remember that name, don't you?"

It was a question that came from his lips without his own thoughts; matching the gaze of the man standing taller than himself.

"Oh? That brat from Akitein? I remember her well--we all do. She was feisty, that one...Probably still have some scratches on me--"

Before another repulsive utterance could come from Leo's lips, a knee to his abdomen interrupted him, sending him back as a look of fury was present on his opponent's expression.

"...Not bad. There was some vigor to that one. Let me guess; you're here to get revenge on the brat's behalf? How noble."

Hearing these taunts from Leo, Ren could feel his blood boil with greater intensity, his senses becoming overwhelmed by the potent emotion that invoked only wrath; from this point on, he didn't plan on pulling any punches.

The next clash of blades between the two men; Ren swung Belus down with crimson in his sights, hammering the blade down as if it were a blunt weapon. Though Leo had guarded against the incoming attack, the impact was felt throughout his body, leaving him stunned for a moment before another attack came; this time with the dagger.

It scraped the skin of his forehead, cutting it open just enough to free his blood as Leo's evade came half-successful.

"This guy isn't a joke--he might actually kill me," Leo thought as he could still feel the sharpness of the dagger against his head.

A flurry of heated swings came from Ren, who wildly but form-fully threw both his sword and dagger towards Leo rapidly--breaking through the ex-argonaut's guard, leaving him defenseless as the dagger neared his chest.

However--a smile came over Leo's expression at that moment.

--Huh?

The dagger met its target, but it wasn't the one who bore the lion sigil. It was lodged into the rock-solid abdomen of Dundhrug, buried hilt deep into his flesh.

--What?

Ren felt like puking; his grip on his dagger trembling as he realized what he had done. He fervently questioned his own eyes, knowing full-well that Leo was the one before him just before that moment.

It wasn't even a case of blinking and missing what had happened--it came so fast that his entire perception was thrown for a loop.

Left stunned for a moment, a new heat brushed against his skin as a glow caught the corner of his eye; a burst of flames collided against both him and Dundhrug, knocking Ren back as he retrieved his dagger from the man's gut.

"It seems I need to stop underestimating you; your defensive reinforcement is quite impeccable."

Leo clapped his hands together, watching as Ren landed on his two feet with but a few scratches layered on his skin.

"What the hell did you do?! You were right in front of me then--"

As he yelled out in anger-fueled confusion, Ren looked down at his dagger-wielding hand, now covered in the blood of Dundhrug.

"Oh? Was I?"

"...You're a monster. What kind of person uses his own comrade as bait like that?!"

Ren's words fell on deaf ears, invoking only a shrug from Leo as he stretched his fingers out to prepare for the next attack.

The half-giant was out of the picture; slowly falling backward as the brunt of the fireball seemed to be on his end.

"He's going to die if you don't do something. I know you care about him."

"Spare me that bullshit. I only helped him before because he still had some use left in him. Now...Well, you see what he's turned into."

Flames coiled around Leo's arms, coalescing at the palm of his hands as he faced the young man with a spike in his mana signature. It seemed clear as day that the opportunity to resolve this by talking was gone; Ren had to step up.

--Someone who is perfectly fine sacrificing their own comrades like that, there isn't a chance in hell they'll see reason. I want to do good, I want to be good--but if it comes to pure evil like this, I'll have to pick and choose.

As he rushed towards the lion sigil, Ren swerved into a Dunkel Slicer, cutting through the ground as a vicious wave of sharp darkness cut through the middle of the quarry. Somehow or another--Leo was nowhere to be seen in the direction of the slash, momentarily halting Ren before he felt his familiar mana spike from behind him.

--Again, he vanished from where I thought he was.

"En: Rising Phoenix!"

Behind him, Leo unleashed from his two hands a gargantuan mass of flames, guided by two wing-like shapes that carried the orange light directly towards him.

Just before it reached him, the flaming spell made a sudden shift upwards, rocketing up as Ren brought his gaze up towards it in suspense. After reaching a height that would rest with the clouds, the horde of fire began to plummet downwards directly towards him.

--That's bad. Real bad. I can feel it--the magical energy generated by that...It's enough to destroy this quarry two times over. Is he trying to kill himself as well? Is it a fluke? I have to take it out before it gets any closer.

Left with not many options, Ren sheathed his blades before he intertwined his fingers together, cracking them before he placed his hand up towards the air, "Araphel: Void Piercer!..."

A swarm of abyssal energy coiled from his shoulder and around his arm like a deathly serpent, forming into a majestic, dark lance that spanned several meters. Taking aim, he launched the colossal lance towards the plummeting flames, witnessing the residual dark mana fill the area with black snow. Even if it worked--it would be a violent impact.

Somehow, he imagined Leo wouldn't move until the spell had reached its conclusion, nearly finding his neck to be split open as he barely blocked the incoming steel with Belus.

"Exciting, isn't it? We could both die right here. Maybe just you, maybe just me--that's the fun of it all. This place is paradise, nowhere else in the world can you have this much fun!"

As Leo pressed his blade against Ren's, speaking his twisted, repulsive words--Ren could only focus on the harrowing flames above as he watched his lance near its destination.

The collision sparked; a majestic array of black, purple, and orange filled the void above them as a massive roar of force propelled against the quarry. Leo didn't turn back at all to witness the spectacle; only furthering his frivolous smile as the clash of magic thundered in the air over their heads.

--It worked.

"You managed to stop it? Thrilling...En: Flare."

From the stance he was at, Leo's malediction came at a shock to Ren; casting a spell while both of his hands were tied up in the contest of strength was simply unheard of by him. From the ex-argonaut's body, a glow began to come over him, running over his form before releasing in an explosion directly in front of Ren.

--Shit. Shit. Shit.

Sent flying back by the force, he skidded across the rough ground before landing on his back, knocking the back of his head against a jagged stone.

All that filled his ears was a high-pitched ringing, the scenery beyond his groggy eyes was fuzzy; lacking any substance as he blinked to try and rid himself of the perplexing filter. Lifting his head felt as if a knife was being jabbed directly into his spine, wincing from the sharpness of it all.

--This isn't good...He really got me with that one.

Placing his hand on the back of his head, a warm moistness met his touch, bringing his ash-covered fingers to his eyes to confirm--it was indeed his own blood.

"You really had a chance, you know? Coming up on us all of a sudden after we had a run-in with that fuckin' panda and demihuman girl. Hell, you might've really killed Dundhrug there...but this is where it ends."

Leo rested his blade against his shoulder as he walked past the clouds of kicked-up dust, kicking a loose pebble as he stood above his fallen foe.

"How about it? Lick my boot and I'll consider letting you become my dog. Hell of a lot better than your other option, probably--maybe."

As usual, there was no sense of normalcy to the man as he walked almost in a dance, placing his black, charred boot near the young man's cheek.

"...Go to hell."

"Oh, I'm going there for sure. Not before I send you there myself though!"

In response to Ren's rejection of his offer, Leo reared his foot back before landing a soccer kick directly against his temple.

The harsh impact against his already mistreated head flashed through him like a sledgehammer, spitting out blood after accidentally biting the inside of his cheek. It wasn't the only kick; more came, hitting his ribs, head, shoulder.

"Come on! Are you done already?! Weak, little punk!"

Following the aggressive taunts from Leo were stomps, landing against Ren's jaw as the pain began to dull as his consciousness debated on retreating.

--I have to do it.

Another impact landed against his cheekbone, squeezing blood out from his nostrils as he exhaled.

--I have to kill him.

Before the next downfall of Leo's boot could come down upon Ren, the young man grabbed hold of the boot, using both of his legs to wrap around the single one the man stood on, swerving his hips to cause Leo to fall to the ground.

--It's his life or mine; that's how Purgatory works.