Einz looked intensely at Kousuke, his glaring eyes looking at the new form Kousuke made on the spot. Kousuke himself was flashing his shark teeth at Einz, the shark mentality made him see Einz as a meal to feed the overwhelming hunger inside him rising.
"Get ready, Einz. I'm unsure how much I can control myself, but it's going to be a feeding frenzy."
Kousuke leaped to Einz, and Einz swung his sword, but the bone blades stopped it, letting Kousuke grab one of Einz's arms, biting deep into the arm ripping a piece of his armor and flesh off.
Einz grunted from the pain of the teeth ripping into him, the jagged edges of the shark teeth tearing into his body added more pain. He swung at Kousuke again, but Kousuke dived into the sand before the sword hit him. Einz looked around, he was surveying the area for a sign of Kousuke, a hint to where he popped up, he looked at the last second to see Kousuke dart out from the ground biting his left shoulder pauldrons, then slashing his back right on the spinal cord, taking another bite of Einz's arm again.
Kousuke backed off after biting the armor, he was munching on it ravenously with drool dripping down his mouth. Einz sensed something was different with Kousuke, he wasn't acting like a martial artist, but more like a rabid animal seeing red.
'Taberu, Taberu, Taberu, Taberu, Taberu!!!!' The voice of the Shark Alpha rang in Kousuke's head telling him to eat affecting his mind to follow the command.
Kousuke jumped onto Einz's body taking the position of a human torpedo, Einz tried to block the charge with the blunt side of the sword as a shield. Kousuke bounced off it, he plunged the bone blades into the trapezoid area of Einz's upper body, he again grunted in pain from the long blades delving deep into his body reaching almost past his rib cage from the inside. Kousuke bit into his shoulder again ripping the shoulder off completely. Einz tried to yank him off, Kousuke in response ripped many fingers off his hand and then took a large chunk off his right bicep area before being thrown off.
'Taberu, Taberu, Taberu, Taberu, Taberu, Taberu, TABERU!!!' The voice echoed again, and soon it wasn't just a separate voice in his head it was sounding like his own voice. The two different personalities are becoming one.
Megumi and Barnaby watched the carnage before them. Megumi looked concerned for Kousuke while Barnaby couldn't believe the ferocity he was emitting in the fight. Nothing like Kousuke at all during school training.
"Oye Meg, what's up with your pupil? Is it me or does he seem more bloodthirsty than you were before?"
"That's Megumi, Yankee. And yeah you're right he is. That shark personality is taking over. Kousuke just harnessed that shark's traits and instincts. Without proper refinement of the animal he inherits, the dominant side can take over. Sharks are one of the most dangerous species considered to be an Apex Predator. More than likely the one he must have linked to is the Great White Shark, the most dangerous shark."
"What's that mean for him?" A confused Barnaby asked.
"Bad news is what for that Knight and Kousuke. Great Whites are powerful, they are known for being one of the most infamous man-eaters among the shark family, with teeth specifically meant for shearing anything they bite, the damage they do is immense and near irreversible. I know I fought one before during my Deity of Killers training when I was a kid and I almost died from it. Right now Kousuke's mind is being taken over by that shark. He only just bonded with it and unlike the tiger soul a shark is driven by its hunger and viciousness. That's why it's dangerous when linking with an Alpha, their name literally means their the top boss of their kind, the ruler of their packs. That shark is dangerous, it's affecting Kousuke to the point where he's not gonna stop till he eats that Knight alive."
"Dios Mío!" Barnaby shouted in bewilderment. He was now worried about who was the most dangerous in this fight, Einz or Kousuke.
Einz panted from the exhaustion of pain throughout his body, he could see Kousuke's face. The widened smile flashing the bloody teeth, the blank stare in the black eyes. Einz could see that Kousuke was trying to devour him whole just like the Ghasts did to everyone.
"Taberu…."
Einz could hear it in the rough violent tone of his voice. Kousuke was trying to speak with the little sanity he had in him.
"Taberu…Taberu ..Ikita mama TABETE YARU(eat, eat, I'm gonna eat you alive)!!!!"
Kousuke roared out, the Shark Alpha having near is completion in absorbing his mind and soul completely. The crazed Kousuke jumped to Einz slicing him again and biting out a few of his rib bones through his armor.
Tsurara who was guarding Megumi and Barnaby looked saddened seeing her master become so evil in his war of fighting with such bloodlust. It was like her witnessing her father Byakurai in the same mindset when he was overcome with rage the day Raimei was killed along with her brethren.
"Aniki(Big Brother). Please. Stop. Don't give in. Please. Don't become like Pappa did."
Einz needed to get some grounding he was getting more tired by the minute from all the pain bombarding his body. A weakness he hated, once a Ghast evolved into a DreadKnight they regained their sense of feeling in an ironic twist of fate. It allowed them to feel close to humanity to increase to power and knowledge but backfires in that they can feel pain again. Even a Grand Lich can as well with them being all bone in structure.
Einz signaled to Kousuke to follow him as he levitated in the air and flew into the woods line to regain some of his stamina and an area less open for Kousuke to take advantage of. Kousuke followed in pursuit with wicked small laughs, diving into the ground as he 'swam' to Einz, the bone blades cutting up everything in his path as a shark fin in the water. He caught up to Einz who stood patiently waiting for his opponent to challenge him again.
Kousuke leaped at Einz, the bone blades were quick and wild, forcing Einz to spend his time blocking them with his sword or throwing punches, he could hear Kousuke cackle like a maniac as he tried to cut Einz down to eat him more.
Kousuke disappeared again using the environment to his advantage, Einz stood his ground waiting patiently for Kousuke to pop up again. Kousuke did, his open palm at Einz's face glowed from gathering flames into a small explosive shot.
The flames exploded in the style of a flash-bang grenade, followed by another palm strike to the face plate of the helmet. Einz was knocked off balance, and Kousuke bit into him again on his neck ripping off his trapezius muscles in the process. He then took another bite on the opposite side. Einz followed slamming the pummel of the sword into Kousuke's back trying to break his hold.
Kousuke kicked himself off, his teeth stained with Einz's dark blood. Kousuke looked crazed, his breathing was erratic, and the lust to eat Einz was powerful.
"Poor child, you threw away your heart as a warrior to end me. One should be careful when fighting monsters unless one becomes a monster themself."
Einz threw the sword deeper into the woods line, he used his power to grab Kousuke's throat dragging him along for the ride. Kousuke slashed away crazed at the arm pulling him, he broke free finally when he jammed the blades into the ground stopping the momentum.
Einz pulled his sword back to his side, and he dashed to Kousuke swinging it with fury. Kousuke would dodge instinctively to avoid the blows, but soon he stopped dodging altogether. He was letting himself get hit now, the flames would repair him, but the amount he was taking was becoming too reckless even with the flames helping. He would bite and shred at Einz's body and then take a eat in return, Einz would try and repair himself to regrow his fingers to hold his sword better and fight back. It was a back-and-forth battle between those who were more willing to die to dominate the other. In one strike, Einz swung his sword aiming for Kousuke's legs, Kousuke jumped aiming his mouth at Einz's face. Einz in turn swung upward, but to his surprise, Kousuke caught it with his teeth, he then jumped on top of the sword, running and taking a piece of Einz's faceplate off.
Einz planned for this, he sacrificed his faceplate to get a hold of Kousuke's throat when he saw the opening, he was squeezing hard on it till he would pass out from the asphyxiation. Kousuke tried to break free, but Einz applied more pressure applying his power into his hand, he was going to make Kousuke submit even with the damage he was receiving in the frenzy.
In the end, Kousuke went unconscious, his arms stopped moving and his eyes closed. Einz released him as the body fell to the ground, he sheathed his sword on his back and used his power to repair all the damage Kousuke did so his body would function better. Einz then picked up Kousuke's unconscious body, placing him over his shoulder.
"Sleep child. Soon you shall bear witness to the one who shall inherit your identity."
Einz made his march to meet with his master, to deliver the prize he won. As he walked to leave with his target in tow, his legs were stopped in place, wires wrapped around them, tripping him off balance. He dropped Kousuke as another set of wires grabbed him dragging him away from Einz.
Einz looked to see his attacker, Rina was there glaring him down as she got Kousuke to her side. She was staying out of the battle for the moment so she wouldn't expose herself for Lady Yozora to find out. She changed her mind when Einz was about to walk away with Kousuke in tow.
"It seems a young maiden of the dark has taken up arms against me. What is your name woman of the shadows?" He asked curious about who she was.
"Sorry, I don't announce my name to those I silence." Rina launched rapid strikes with her wires at Einz, and he would slash each hit as if it were child's play to him. Rina was out of her league in this fight, this wasn't just above her skill level, it was a death wish at most. She threw poison darts, even smoke bombs to get Einz off balance. Einz was amused at the futility of her attacks against him. She used the nearest shadow to herself to sneak up on Einz, using the wires to strangle him from behind. He laughed in amusement as he used brute force to pull her out of the shadows, slamming her into a tree. Rina let out a small wail of pain, she staggered trying to pull herself up from the impact against the tree. Her vision was blurred as her head spun from the impact she suffered against the tree.
"Commendable for you to save your comrade. A shadow trying to overcome another. To surpass me, you must cast a larger shadow than mine."
Einz blasted a black mist at Rina, and she put her mask back on to defend herself from the sudden rush of mist at her. The mist began to suffocate her, she was trying to catch her breath, Rina reached into her pouch to drink a vial of anti-poison to counter the mist. It stopped the toxins from killing her but she was still reeling from the aftereffects. The mask also had a filter inside it to help purify the air she was breathing in to avoid any more of the mist from trying to infect her.
Einz flew to her, he was looking down on her as she stared up at the eyes of darkness piercing her soul.
"Gaze into the abyss long enough child and the abyss will stare back."
Einz thrust his sword vertically at Rina, she blocked the strike with her wires, and the force behind the strike was beginning to weaken the wire's entire structure. The wires were a Yozora family specialty, surgically grafting the wires into the body. The wires were made from the silk of demon spiders with silver and magic mixed into them. They suffered many attacks and never broke or suffered a weakness. This was a first making Rina nervous about how to hold off the attacks forward.
Rina had them since she was a kid because of Lady Yozora, but she was trained as an assassin, not a fighter. Even with her staring down Einz, with her knowing she couldn't match him in power, she was defiant. Rina wasn't going to back down even when she felt she would lose, she was going to save Kousuke even if it killed her.
"Yeah, you're right about that, but you know the difference between me and you staring into that abyss. I didn't blink." Rina stabbed Einz in his ribcage with hidden blades in her arm sleeves. Einz felt the sting from the blades including the paralysis coating on them. He wasn't affected by it, he grabbed her arms squeezing down on them till her grip was broken. Einz was impressed with her, he had respect for her not bending to the sight of death. He proceeded to telekinetically lift her, choking her the same way he did Kousuke.
"I praise you, woman of the shadows. You do not fear death, you've welcomed it most of your life. I sense you even attempted it yourself. One who has been surrounded by death will make a perfect herald for us."
Einz's free hand flared in a bone-colored light, he was planning on turning Rina into a servant for him to use. Rina tried to fight him off, she wasn't interested in becoming another tool to a malevolent force. Einz grabbed her face, she was screaming in agony as the power Einz exerted over her was draining her soul, the very essence of her being sapping away.
"Down, down to hell and say I sent thee thither. Burn in the flames and be reborn as thy servant of thy Meister Grand Lich Noir in the darkness."
Rina's screams echoed, her agonizing pain thundering everywhere. Einz's grip was strong, he wasn't going to let go till Rina was a shell of her former self.
"The only one going to hell is YOU A**HOLE!!!"
Einz heard the angry voice, he tried to react in time to see where it came from. Soon his hand detached, more so it was cut clean, Kousuke had awoken and sliced off the hand at the wrist freeing Rina, he caught her from her fall and carried her away to safety away from Einz.
Rina's eyes opened midway, and she could see Kousuke, his sanity back to normal as he looked at her with his black-filled eyes showing concern for her safety.
Kousuke sat her down, he took off his jacket and shirt to give to her as a blanket and pillow for her to rest with.
Rina was surprised he saved her after trying to leave him like she did earlier.
"Hmm, hmm, Kousuke?" He could hear her weak voice calling out to him. He caressed her face for reassurance before standing up to look back at Einz, his back was turned to her as he stared at Einz with a killer intent.
"When this is over, you are going to explain yourself. No more disappearing on me again got it." Kousuke scolded Rina telling her what was going to happen when this was over. He wasn't mad, he was just tired of the situations she created, he cared for her, and he wanted her to see that. "You run off again, that'll break me. I don't want to lose someone I care about again." Rina could hear the softness in his tone. She felt pained, the caringness he had for her, she wished for it her whole life, and it was standing there in front of her, making her regret everything she had done to avoid him.
Einz reattached his hand, his fingers cracking from moving them around to test their functionality.
"So, you regained your warrior's dignity. Good, I was getting bored with this little girl." Einz said feeling better at having a more formidable foe to fight.
"Bite me, bonehead. It's not easy synchronizing with an Alpha with such a voracious nature on the spot. Took me a few tries for the tiger when I had to fight Shishou." Kousuke cracked his neck before his knuckles, he was psyching himself for round two against Einz.
Kousuke charged at Einz, Einz swung his sword, and Kousuke dodged in a flash,
He struck Einz in the legs with a calf kick, followed by a flying knee to the face. Kousuke concentrated the flames in his hands into small insect-sized flickers, he used two fingers to follow with rapid strikes to Einz's vital points with the flickers popping off adding a sting effect to knock Einz off balance from his fighting style. Koutetsu followed up by hitting him with a flamed-charged corkscrew punch to the bridge of the nose area of the face plate.
"Saramanda Bureiku(Salamander Break)!"
Einz fell back down from the hurt, Kousuke wasn't going to stop now, he needed to keep the momentum, he was going to use all the forms Megumi taught him, and he was going to combine them with his ingenuity to develop new techniques and take the next step to evolve the Gouki Ryu into his own style. He was going to level up more just like the others did to beat Einz, he hit Einz next with a punch to the solar plexus area.
"Fumetsu no Kata." The bones in his fist were reinforced by Koutetsu's coding skill. They became hard as metal, and the impact of the punch was equivalent to a hammer striking raw material. Einz felt the full impact, his equilibrium was messed up from the punch.
"Tetsu Mohitsuji (Iron Ram)!"
Einz's vision was blurred from the hit, he tried to swing his sword, but Kousuke dodged with his footwork and then hit him again in the same spot with the Iron Fang disabling a vital point to Einz using his telekinesis again. The armor was beginning to crack more, this gave Kousuke his chance. He used his footwork to spin his body for a strong kinetic rotation, and he positioned his arm for an elbow strike. Cocking to the side, releasing at the moment of impact.
The elbow bone was reinforced as his fist had earlier been hardened into a sharp point, with the flames concentrated on the spot heating to an extreme degree.
"Fumetsu to Hino Tsume Kata, Moeru Hachi no Hari(Fiery Wasp Stinger)!"
The strike to the broken armor point shattered the armor. Einz flew back with his abdomen on fire. His plexus writhed in intense pain more than all the attacks he suffered since the start of the fight. It wasn't over, Kousuke wasn't going to stop there, the bone blades heated up, and they began to vibrate themselves igniting the flames higher. Kousuke dashed to Einz who was trying to put out the fire on his body, Kousuke cocked his arms back, the tip of the blades scraping the ground. The bone blades swung upward, the flames making the face of a shark in a split second as the blades struck Einz's sword, creating a crack in the blade.
"Same Shureda(Shark Shredder)!"
Einz's sword took the full force of the hit, cracking from the power it was hit with. He took a few steps back, and Kousuke did as well. He was catching his breath, steadily slowing down his breathing to get his heart rate steady. Einz was looking at his sword, he was amused at the damage he received from Kousuke's attacks.
"Impressive boy. Not since my Meister has anyone pushed me this far. Where did you learn to fight?"
Kousuke gave a crooked arrogant smile after catching his breath and spitting out in rebellion to Einz. "My Shishou, Kuramori Megumi. The one your brothers accused of being weak for killing a Grand Lich with black flames. Don't you dare underestimate her and the Gouki Ryu she taught me!"
Einz chuckled, his assumption of Megumi's abilities was wrong after witnessing Kousuke use them to hurt him to this point. He was rarely wrong about the strengths of his opponents, this was a first in a long while. He was enjoying the moment, being strong was both a gift and a curse, especially when the level of opponents who could stand up to him was hard to find.
"I can honestly say that in the time I was resurrected and given this body, I've only lost one fight and had a few somewhat satisfying ones. But never have I been pushed to the point of my precious sword being damaged like this. I love for this to last. But I have my orders and I don't intend to lose to a child."
Einz steadied his sword, the forehead of his helmet hugging the blunt side of the blade.
Einz's aura blasted out, and the aura shaped itself into the face of the demon surrounding him. His body began to morph, he was shrinking in size, his height near Kousuke's including his body slimming down. His armor's gaudy appearance became a more traditional plate mail appearance and repaired itself perfectly. The half-skull ornament on his helmet grew a large curved horn on it. The sword shattered, and underneath was its true form. The sword was dark black in color being thirty inches in overall length, the blade was thin and long with a slight curve. The guard was shaped in an inverted star with the middle of the star having a X scar design in the middle of the star. The hilt was short for a single-hand style of fighting, and the pummel had a wing on it.
Kousuke shook from the power he felt coming off Einz, the most from that sword of his, it seemed more powerful than Einz himself. With Einz finishing transforming himself, he looked more human now and stronger than earlier.
"This is my true form, the body I seal away only to an opponent I respect, Schwarzer Knochen Jäger(Black Bone Hunter). And this sword is one of the legendary Hell Blades, Astarok. Now then, shall we continue boy?"
Kousuke wasn't going to back down, Rina was behind him hurt, and if he lost to Einz then everything Ren and the others did to defeat the other knights would be in vain. Kousuke calmed himself. He glared at Einz with a solid intent of defeating him.
"Yeah, round three, FIGHT!!!"