Online In Another World

Amidst the chaotic clash, the nefarious smoke dispersed as Briggs revealed himself to be still standing, though his muscle-clad body was covered in small wounds as he huffed.

"Impressive," The Dread complimented him.

"Save it," Briggs responded.

Just as the Dread raised his hand to go for another attack, having a clear shot on Briggs, who was clearly left exhausted after enduring the enormous swarm of darkness, 'something' made the Dread pause as he looked to the side sharply.

–However, what set the Dread's instincts off came from the other side: Scarlet reappeared, taking the Dread's left by surprise as he used his crimson greatsword.

"Hyraaaah…!" Scarlet roared out.

In a vicious slash, the man sliced the right hand of the Dread straight off of its wrist, halting any attack.

There was no agony present on the Dread's expression as the concept of pain was foreign to the entity, however, a look of complete shock took over from the unexpected attack.

"Nraaaah!"

A primal scream echoed from the horrendous depths of the Dread's being, rumbling the desecrated land not with a pained cry but an angered war cry.

Just after the hand of the entity was lobbed off, Scarlet didn't have enough to move out of the way of the vicious retaliation, slowed by the holes pierced through his body.

"Nngh…!"

A mouth of darkness snapped onto Scarlet's body, carrying him upward and past the height of trees.

"Scarlet! Grrrh…!" Briggs yelled out, charging forward to get back into the fight.

Being carried through the false sky by the bestial mouth of shadows, Scarlet was slammed into the reverse forest in the sky.

"--Ghh! Crap!" Scarlet coughed out as his back was pressed into the upside down forest, looking down at the ground below.

Even though Briggs embodied an explosive speed that allowed him to move as a flash of light, there was a fatal flaw in the ability possessed by the man, one that the Dread had perceived: Briggs could only move in a single direction, unable to change his course once he began his dash.

"--Gk!"

As the helm-wearing, dark-skinned man charged by, attempting to bash one of his gauntlets through the malevolent entity, he missed in a startling fashion, instead tearing through the hill in front of him with the wind pressure of his blow.

Appearing at the man's side, the Dread moved with nonchalant swiftness; stepping as though unimpressed by the prowess of his opponent as he jabbed a single finger against Briggs' side.

"Too simple," the Dread quietly said.

Before Briggs could react, a nefarious force emitted from the being's fingertip, stabbing into the burly adventurer's side with knives forged of malicious shadows.

Though blood spilled from the helm that hid Briggs' face, he flexed his body as veins pressed against his skin, taking even the primordial Dread by surprise as he lifted one of his arms with a loud grunt.

Moving past the pain, even as the knives dug into his flesh, Briggs swept his dense gauntlet to the side, knocking it against the left cheek of the Dread with a loud 'crack' emitting through the battlefield.

Though even such a blow by the mighty Briggs didn't move the Dread from his step as he caressed his own cheek with a small smile, thriving from violence.

"What a warrior you are," the Dread spoke in an almost a sarcastic tone.

"--You talk a lot for a ghost!"

Briggs yelled out as he lunged forward, causing the jewels embedded in his gauntlet to shine once more, this time inhabiting the thunderous might of the sky as bright-yellow lightning bolts coiled around his arms.

Even as blood squirted from the wounds in his side, Briggs threw his lightning-infused fists forward as if there were no shackles of mortality on his body; the Dread weaved through the blows, summoning shields of darkness on its forearms to block every now and then.

It was clear when witnessing the movements of the Dread; the entity was continuously growing stronger and more adept with the vessel it inhabited, growing more skilled and sentient.

As another massive haymaker came from Briggs, piercing through the air with a shriek of lightning, the Dread ducked below it, extending its hand forth with a single utterance:

"Death–"

Though before the invocation of malevolence could manifest, Briggs countered it with an unseen knee straight to the entity's chin, cracking it and knocking the Dread up.

"You may have all the power you need, but you're no warrior…!" Briggs roared.

"Grk–"

Having bit his tongue, the Dread leaked black blood from its mouth before adjusting to the blow, fixing his stance as his body vibrated at a high-frequency once more.

"Fine," the Dread muttered, "--I wanted to enjoy my awakening, but I'll have to destroy you–right here and now."

That resolve of manslaughter was felt by Briggs as the Dread vanished right before his eyes with that blurred speed, prompting the veteran adventurer to spin around just as the vibrating figure reappeared.

Shit…! Briggs thought.

"Gates of Hell."

The primordial magecraft utilized by the Dread came in the form of long, spiked rods resembling those that made up a nefarious gate, surrounding Briggs and spearing towards him.

SQUELCH

Through Briggs' right bicep, left thigh, and into one of his shoulders, the malignant rods pierced the temple of muscle that was Briggs' body.

"Grrhhh…!" Briggs winced, gritting his teeth.

They weren't forged of any mortal material; the impalements etched a 'binding' effect into Briggs, injecting his flesh with a decaying factor as he was slowly killed from the inside.

The Dread looked at him, "It was a fun dance, warrior. Now, I'll tend to your friend–"

However, just as the primordial entity began to turn around, a herculean feat that shouldn't have been possible was witnessed as even when stuck through by the hellish rods, Briggs brought one foot up, stepping over before lunging at the figure.

"How–"

In that split-second, the Dread stepped back: in the soul of the force of evil, a certain fear was felt in the seemingly unstoppable resolve of the human man before him.

"---Grkk…!"

Briggs' inexplicable charge came to a halt, however, as the Dread's quick reflexes summoned one more spear, thrusting it through the abdomen of the muscle-bound figure as it perfectly pierced his bellybutton.

Blood spilled in heavy abundance from the mouth of the Nihilum Core member, leaking from his helm as he came to a halt, spitting it up as it splashed onto the torso of the Dread.

"--" The Dread stood there for a moment, as if not knowing whether once more, the man would overcome his own flesh for a reckless charge.

Just as the malevolent being's guard relaxed, a figure dropped down beside him with absolute killing intent.

Scarlet had a glow in his sapphire irises, crouched down after landing from a fall down from the sky as he moved his hand up.

–I forgot about the other! The Dread thought.

"...I'll put that blood you spilled to good use, my friend," Scarlet said.

It was just then that the primordial figure noticed a fatal flaw in his own judgment, glancing down to see the burly one's blood painted on his body.

I'll make sure the opening you gave me wasn't in vain. Even if I have to die to do it! Scarlet thought.

"Raaaaagh–!" A primordial roar left the maw of the Dread, who at once unleashed everything it had, distorting its own image with darkness as it lunged at the blood-manipulator in desperation.

With a single clench of his hand, Scarlet controlled the fluid spilled by Briggs that had stained the Dread's vessel, causing it to vibrate before turning the liquid into a reinforced form, shaping it into spikes that pierced through the Dread's body many times over.

Even yet, the Dread moved like a feral animal–set on attacking even at the cost of its own body as the entity forced its limb to stretch and contort, gripping onto Scarlet's side with fingers forcibly made into claws.

"Nnngh!" Scarlet winced as his side was clenched, being stabbed into by the Dread's desperate hold.

To the Dread's dismay, the horned man still held strength in his sapphire eyes, not letting up as he stood his ground.

There was no risk taken in Scarlet's move: he infiltrated the being's stolen body with the blood, forcing it to rapidly spread out and stretch into spikes, skewering the entity's body from the inside out.

"...Grrh–!!" The Dread vomited up blackened blood from its mouth.

Any blood spilled from the Dread was immediately used without any mercy as even the fluid that leaked from its mouth was used by Scarlet, who gritted his teeth, bearing through his own pain as he skewered the tongue of the Dread, tearing through his cheeks with the figure's own arterial fluid.

…I need to finish it! Right here! Right now! This is it–! This is our shot! Scarlet thought.

The Dread's body was covered in eviscerations and small holes, opened from the inside as black fluid leaked from its wounds, growling with a monstrous reverberation as it tightened its hold on the man's side, tearing into it as the flesh began to peel away from Scarlet's side.

"Arggh…!" Scarlet yelled out, beginning to loosen his hold on the foreign blood.