Chapter 57: Deadly Emotions (Outer)

As Pedro’s blood splatter onto me, I can’t help but question amidst the stream of guilt and regret storming in my head. Why? Why would he go in for a suicide attack like that, when he knew that he had no chance against any of us? What meaning would his actions be? For what purpose would he throw himself away like that?

“Focus, Peter,” Balam’s voice sounds once more, in a kind of skeptical tone that I’ve never heard from him before. “That boy is most likely still alive.”

“Alive? What do you mean? I cut him in…”

I don’t get to finish my sentence. From the pile of flesh that is Pedro’s disembodied corpse, a multitude of red strings spawn, wiggling around as if having life of their own. The collection of strings goes from his lower half to his upper torso, and with a crackling snap, forcefully pulls the corpse together, stitching its two halves like a makeshift abomination.

The halves aren’t even placed perfectly, with Pedro’s upper half being on the opposite side as his lower, but with a quick turn, his body is whole again. And to my surprise, his eyes open, and the young knight gasps in shock and horror.

“How in the…” I can’t help but exclaim at the scene that has just happened before my eyes.

“Meet Belial’s regeneration,” answers Balam. “As long as either the heart or the head isn’t damaged, she can offer an infinite amount of recovery to her vessel. Open wounds, internal wounds, hacked limbs… it doesn’t matter. What surprises me, though, is how in tune with Belial the boy is. Not even Kay has managed to be this fast in regenerating a large wound… unless…”

Before Balam can finish his words, from Pedro’s hand, a giant scythe has already appeared, and the young man soon charges at us at full force, swinging the weapon without any care for elegance or efficiency.

Ironically, that is the most effective way for him to fight right now.

His moves are still sloppy, and now it has lost the small lick of refinement it once had. It’s too easy to pin him down with a spear to his arm, or send a bullet through his head. And in fact, that’s exactly what happened in the span of a second, as soon as Petra and Benkei saw him revive himself. However, Pedro doesn’t seem to care at all, as he just simply shrugs off the hole on his head, pulls out the spear stuck in his arm, and continues on his rampage.

“I thought you said his head needed to be intact!” I exclaim out loud as I block one of his scythe swings with Excalibur.

“I said either the heart or the head,” answers Balam. “If we want to take him down, we need to destroy both at the same time, or at least within the shortest delay as we can.”

“How much of a delay are we talking about?”

“Around a second, give or take.”

“Then it’s basically at the same time. Any other ideas?”

“Wait for them to tire out. That’s the only one I have left.”

“How likely is that?”

“Never happened before.”

“So we’re screwed either way. Great.”

Pushing away Pedro’s scythe, I point my sword forward, ready for another round. “But this isn’t time to give up just yet.”

As the words leave my mouth, my feet immediately go on the move, rushing into battle as fast as they can. My speed and power are still superior to him, so for now, I’ll just try to disable him for as long as I can before I find out a way.

With a quick slash, I cut off Pedro’s scythe arm with Excalibur. Utilizing the torque of my upper body, my other hand readies Galatine and makes another slash towards his neck. Pedro’s head falls once more, but the double slash only buys time for a brief moment before the same red strings from before reattaches his neck once again. Wasting no time, Pedro returns the favor with a direct swing from the top, cleaving his scythe deep into my shoulder.

“Damn it!” I exclaim, cutting off his scythe hand with Galatine. The wound he just caused is on my dominant arm, so my sword skill is hampered for at least a while.

“How long is it until the wound heal?” I ask the voice in my head.

“It’s deep, but it’s non-fatal,” answers Balam. “But with your current strength, it would still need ten minutes at least.”

“Then I guess I can’t use Galatine anymore,” I mumble, sheathing away the golden sword before switching Excalibur to my other hand.

“Wouldn’t Galatine be better at stalling for time?”

“You mean that flashbang attack I did? For a field as dim and wide like this one, a flashbang would just end up hurting our side more.”

“Good. At least you don’t seem to be losing your edge in this situation,” a small snicker from the Demon echoes inside my head.

“Must you always test me at the most random of times?”

“Just checking if you’re still with us, especially after the more recent… incidents.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try my best not to blow my top again,” I take a deep breath and answer. “Now let’s finish this.”

You are reading story Peters’ Crosses at novel35.com

I do have to thank Balam, for the talk just now has sparked an idea in me. There’s a reason why he asked what he asked, and it was meant to remind me to use Excalibur for my main attacks. For one thing, Excalibur is my first weapon, so naturally speaking I should have more proficiency in it. But the more important reason lies in its other ability.

I don’t rush towards Pedro anymore. With his scythe’s bigger blade and longer frame, I have a range disadvantage in close-quarter combat, and while I can make up for the difference with my superior speed and strength, his counter just now reminds me of my shortcomings.

I take a step back, stab Excalibur into the ground once more, and employ a different tactic.

From below, earth spikes once again form, but unlike the hard, stable pillars when I caught my comrades, these are brittle and unstable, breaking down as soon as they erect themselves, before forming into another spike in a completely different direction.

In the air, I might be helpless, but on land, I can’t be beaten if I’m more flexible with my powers. However, that only applies to a normal opponent, and my opponent currently is anything but.

Pedro just doesn’t care about anything anymore. Time after time, he has been hit with an earth spike, each worse than the last. First, it was a hole in his stomach, then another pierced off his arm, then it was another that cut off his leg. But time after time, the accursed red strings would appear once more and stitch him back to his original state, while the crazed young man keep on his assault of madness towards me.

This is just sad to watch.

I can’t even recognize the person I call my friend anymore. And this time, I can’t even kill him to put him out of his misery.

At least, I hope this last punishment is enough for him to contemplate his choices.

I stop forming spikes entirely, but still keep Excalibur planted into the ground. As fast as my reaction can give me, I draw out Galatine and shout out loud:

“Everyone, close your eyes!”

A flashbang is extremely effective in a dimly lit space like this, but it works too well. If taken by surprise, both sides will have their forces disabled, but if you take out the surprise factor, it becomes a harmless nuisance that only lasts a second. That’s why it’s horrible for stalling fights.

However, on the battlefield, sometimes one second is enough to change the tides of the war. And right now, one second is all I need.

I gauge Pedro’s distance towards me and activate Galatine.

A blinding light illuminates the cave once more. Both sides, however, have all heeded my warning, and have closed their eyes in preparation. The light, unlike before, just halts them for a second. And in that one second, I pour everything I have into Excalibur.

Immediately, an earth dorm forms around Pedro, completely sealing itself shut in just a single second. The same kind of earth dome that I used to deal with Gabriel. The kind that kills a person slowly but surely by snuffing the air out of them. However, like the last time I used the technique, I still leave a tiny hole open just enough for air to go in and out. If I can still strike a deal, I’m going to do it.

As the light settles, I step towards the earth cage.

“Give up, Pedro. With your current strength, you can’t break out of this thing. Surrender, or I’ll have no choice but to shut the air out. Belial might have regeneration, but she doesn’t provide you with immortality. You’ll still die if there’s no wound in the first place.”

Answering me is a deadly silence.

“Pedro, hear me out. We don’t have to do this. You don’t have to do this. You’re not part of this battle. Leave when you still have the chance.”

Another silence. However, it’s too unnatural, considering everything we’ve gone through.

“Pedro?”

“… Peter, dispel the dome,” Balam interferes before I can ask more.

“What do you mean?”

“I know why he was so in tune with Belial. Just open it, and… prepare yourself.”

“Prepare myself? What are you talking about? Isn’t it better to keep him inside so that he can’t recklessly attack us?”

“No, it’s… not needed anymore. See for yourself.”

Doubt still lingers in my mind, but never have Balam given me bad advice before. I follow his instruction, dispelling the earth cage I just made.

I wish I didn’t listen to him.

Inside is no longer Pedro. Just a collection of lifeless, bloodied, disembodied parts that were once my friend.

You can find story with these keywords: Peters’ Crosses, Read Peters’ Crosses, Peters’ Crosses novel, Peters’ Crosses book, Peters’ Crosses story, Peters’ Crosses full, Peters’ Crosses Latest Chapter