Chapter 8: Failure

Approximately one minute before Nathan arrived to fight the Beast King...

"What's your name?" Asked Nathan to the little girl.

"M-my name is, Rosie..."

"Okay Rosie, my name is Nathan. I'm going to leave you right here in this small alleyway. It's not easy to find so you should be safe. Stay here and don't come out until I come back to get you, okay?"

"N-no! That's what my parents said and they didn't come back! Please, don't leave me too!!"

"I promise that I'll come back. I won't leave you nor allow anyone to hurt you. You've got my word! Heroes never break their promises."

Nathan then smiled warmly before extending his pinkie towards Rosie, "Pinkie promise, okay?"

"Okay!" She smiled. "Pinkie promise!"

Rosie was now feeling a sense of reassurance from Nathan's words. She believed that he would return to help her as he promised, "Where are you going?"

Nathan's face then hardened as he answered;

"I'm going to help my friends and make the guy who hurt your parents pay!"

*****

Presently...

"You bastard!!"

Nathan clashed with the Beast King— anger stifling his thoughts. Not only had the Beast King hurt many innocent people inclusive of Rosie and her parents but he had now made the unforgivable mistake of hurting Sindy and Andrew.

The Beast King was almost caught by surprise due to Nathan's attack. Fortunately for him, he had managed to defend himself just in the nick of time.

Quickly, he then slashed at Nathan's head, but Nathan dodged the attack with minimal difficulty. Nathan then launched his counterattack, thrusting forward with the edge of his katana.

The Beast King was however a very skilled fighter. He caught the blade of Nathan's katana on the hilt of his scythe, neatly stopping the attack.

Though the battle seemed even, Nathan had a needed speed advantage over the Beast King. Nathan's Lightning Art allowed him to make quick and powerful strikes. If the Beast King were to let his guard down then he would surely lose a limb despite being the stronger and more experienced of the two.

Nathan then threw a fake and managed to land a kick under the jaw of the Beast King. The Beast King staggered backward wincing in pain. However, he was not about to let such a simple attack stop him.

Immediately, he launched a counter— swinging his scythe towards Nathan's head. Instinctively, Nathan managed to parry and landed an elbow blow to the King's face.

The Beast King hissed in rage. Nathan was overpowering him with his quick reflexes. It was however evident to the Beast King that Nathan wasn't much stronger than Sindy or Andrew. What gave him the advantage was how quickly he moved when attacking.

Due to training in the Lightning Arts, Nathan had no choice but to increase his physical speed if he were to be able to control the power of lightning. This allowed Nathan to move quickly even without the activation of any of his Art styles.

"Damn it! Where did this annoying brat come from!?" Cursed the Beast King to himself, "Is he the new Mind Hero I've heard so much about lately?! I'll just have to get serious then!"

Now furious, the Beast King decided to activate one of his Art styles, "Demon Art: Shadow Arms!"

Two massive shadow-like arms then reemerged from the Beast King's back, ready to crush Nathan in an instant. However, without hesitation, Nathan answered with an Art Style of his own, "Lightning Art: Fading Strike!"

Nathan then seemed to vanish for a short moment before reappearing behind the Beast King, removing both his Shadow Arms as well as leaving a gaping wound across his chest.

The Beast King was caught completely off guard by this. The speed Nathan had just displayed was faster than his eyes could see.

Currently, Nathan could only use three different attacks derived from the Lightning Arts. Fading Strike was the fastest attack among all of Nathan's current skill set. It rivaled the speed of sound and made it difficult for any opponent to dodge. The only drawback was that it could easily disintegrate his body due to the intense speed if he overused it. Due to this, it limited the usage of the Art Style to two times per day.

The Beast King was flaming with rage. Not only was his previous Art Style countered but he now bared a painful wound across his chest.

"Aagh!!!! Damn you, kid! You'll be food for my dear Demons, I swear it on my life!!! Beast Art: Mass Summoning!"

A hoard of Demon Beasts quickly emerged from the ground, surrounding Nathan. Aggressively, they all charged toward him ready to tear him to pieces.

"I don't have time to play with toys!" Cursed Nathan coldly. "Wind Art: Great Gust!"

With the activation of his second Art Style, Nathan summoned a powerful gust of wind that swept away every Demon Beast the Beast King had summoned. His Art was once again canceled in mere seconds.

"This is it for you..." Said Nathan calmly. "First you hurt many innocent people, then you kill Rosie's parents, and now you hurt my friends. You'll regret everything you've done with your pathetic life!"

Surprisingly, the Beast King's frown turned into a huge grin. He began to laugh hysterically as if Nathan had told him a joke.

"Make me regret everything I've done in my pathetic life? Are you dumb? What do you know about my life? Hahaha!! I'll start playing with you a little more seriously just to show you how weak you are! Everyone shall know the pain that I felt back then!!"

The Beast King then took a deep breath as he began activating his next Art Styles.

"Demon Art: Shadow Arms and Beast Art: Mass Summoning. Art Combo Move: Shadow Beast!!"

Dark energy quickly began rushing through the Beast King's body. It was so thick, that it felt as if it could be cut with a knife. This frightened Nathan as he had never experienced such an Art before. The Beast King had managed to fuse two different Art Styles into one. This was something alien to Nathan.

The energy continued to swarm around the King growing bigger with each passing second until it became a giant monster-like Demon Beast.

The monster stood thirty feet tall, with six arms made completely out of Dark energy. The Beast King's lower body was also fused with the monster becoming its head. This was one of the Beast King's most powerful Arts.

Nathan clenched his teeth in rage. He didn't care for the size or the power the King had. His only thoughts were to make the Beast King pay for what he had done.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

Nathan then jumped upward and slashed an arm from the giant monster. However, to his astonishment, the arm simply grew back almost as quickly as it was cut.

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The massive hand then came down with a violent swing which swatted Nathan from the air like a modern-day housefly. He was hit with so much force that it resulted in him crashing into a house five hundred feet away.

Dust made friends with the surrounding air and the sound of falling concrete echoed through the village. The house Nathan had crashed into had unfortunately crumbled atop him. He coughed violently and groaned in pain as he tried to pick himself up. He painfully arose from the rubble, with a bleeding head and a broken leg which rocketed pain through his body.

Unable to bear the pain, Nathan grabbed his leg and collapsed onto his knee. His teeth and eyes squeezed shut from the agony as he searched for the shortest moment of relief.

Nathan however knew he was still in battle. He had to endure the pain and check his surroundings to ensure that he was prepared for another attack. This was when Nathan realized something frightening.

The house he was sent crashing into had been occupied by a small family who had been hiding inside. The rubble around him had fallen and crushed everyone present inside.

Nathan's heartbeat increased rapidly. He began to breathe as if he was having an asthma attack and he began to lose himself in rage. He had never seen so much death and pain in all his life. His past experiences with his father were the only things that could rival the pain he now felt.

"Aaah!!!" He screamed as if he was going crazy.

Adrenaline seeped through his body and began driving all his pain numb. He was now being driven by pure emotion.

Despite his injuries, Nathan forced himself up and lunged toward the monster once again. His pain was nonexistent in his tantrum.

"Wind Art: Great Gust!!!" Chanted Nathan angrily.

He had used his Wind Art to propel himself upwards to the main body of the Beast King. He had realized that the only way to stop the monster was by taking out the head which was the King.

"Lightning Art: Thunderclap Strike!!"

He then quickly used his Lightning Art to sever all six arms of the monster. The arms fell to the ground below him shaking the surrounding area like an earthquake. This gave Nathan a direct path to the Beast King's body. There was now nothing in his way to stop him from taking the Beast King's life.

"Impossible!!!" screamed the Beast King in horror— fearing his life.

Nathan then landed roughly on the King's chest before putting his sword against the throat of the Beast King.

Nathan needed to kill him. He had taken the lives of many innocent people. It drove him mad with rage. Due to this, Nathan thought it was enough to give him the determination to take the Beast King's life. He deserved death but unfortunately, Nathan found himself unable to move.

He looked into the eyes of the Beast King as all his rage transformed into fear. The fear of taking another's life.

Shortly after, Nathan began to sweat and tremble like he was having a seizure. His body refused to move. He couldn't muster up the courage to take the Beast King's life. Nathan was still much too inexperienced.

The Beast King had noticed this and began to laugh like a madman. The joy of seeing Nathan tremble before him made him proud.

"You can't do it, can you..?"

"S-shut the hell up! I can still at least knock you unconscious..!"

"You're right. I'm completely at your mercy right now. However, killing me is the only way to end this. Even if you render me unconscious, the Demon Beasts in the surrounding area would remain and tear all these innocent people apart! They won't vanish unless you kill me since they're all my summonings."

Nathan froze upon hearing the Beast King's words. Was his only choice to kill the Beast King? There was no way he could muster up the courage to kill him.

"I knew it! You can't do it!! HAHAHAHAAA!!! You pathetic little loser!!! And you call yourself the Mind Hero??!!! I guess the Mind Heroes are all soft idiots and that's why they all died!!!! HAAHAHAHHAA!!!!"

A regenerated Shadow Arm then grabbed Nathan from the chest of the Beast King and held him tightly within its grasp. Nathan was now trapped and unable to move.

As Nathan looked into the devilish eyes of the Beast King, Alondo's words came rushing back to his memories like a flood;

"I'm not saying that you must kill someone to save another. However, failing to do so in critical situations will most definitely cause you to lose someone else."

Just as things looked like they couldn't get any worse, Rosie, who had been secretly watching the fight ran out and began shouting at Nathan.

"Don't let the big bully beat you! He killed mom and dad! You promised you would make him pay!! Don't you dare lose to him!!"

"R-Rosie..! No! No! No! Go hide!! Why did you come out?!" Screamed Nathan.

"What's this..? A nice, yummy little girl? Are you an acquaintance of The Mind Hero? I'm going to kill you to break his spirit!" Grinned the Beast King.

The Beast King then extended one of his massive Shadow Arms over Rosie, ready to flatten her like a pancake. Rosie, however, decided she wasn't about to run. Instead, she continued shouting, hoping Nathan would somehow be able to save her as he had promised.

"You promised me!!! You said you would keep me safe! You said you would make him pay!! Don't be a liar like mom and dad!! I believed you!!"

Nathan looked around at Rosie in horror. His heart was ready to explode like a grenade. There was nothing he could do for her.

"N-N-No..! Rosie, please run! Get out of here! It's too dangerous. PLEASE ROSIE!! JUST RUN!!" Bawled Nathan.

The Beast King grinned deviously as he dropped his Shadow Arm on Rosie, crushing her like a pancake. Blood splashed in all directions like beetroot soup before her cries came to an end.

Nathan watched in horror as the Shadow Arm left Rosie's flattened body on the ground. Her bones crunched and snapped like sticks and a pool of blood surrounded her crushed body.

Nathan stared blankly in utter dismay. His face was wrinkled in despair and his eyes were unable to erase the gruesome scene.

"It's not a fun world," another statement of Alondo's flashed through his mind. Nathan had now seen the pain of the Mind World in all its glory. It spared no one, no matter how young or old. Death would come for all.

The Beast King continued to laugh hysterically. The joy he felt from crushing Rosie was immeasurable.

"I'm not even going to kill you!! I want you to live and thrive in your failures!! I want to break you and show you just how pathetic you are!! I want you to dwell on this for the rest of your life!! There are no such things as heroes! They all fail us when we need them the most... Just like how you failed, Rosie!"

The next thing Nathan saw was a giant hand hovering over his head. The Beast King had no intention of killing him. He wanted to enjoy the pain and suffering Nathan would go through.

Nathan was then pummeled into the ground, shaking the surrounding area violently. And just like that, everything went black.

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