Vinnie's amazement of Gerald's sudden arrival faded as she regained concentration of the unfolding events, remembering that she was surrounded by the citizens of her own country and was to be executed by her archnemesis. "Gerald…?" Vinnie spat out, looking straight up at his back, which was turned straight towards Sarath. He set down his leg, now pouring blood out of it, and arched his head back up almost immediately. "Vinnie…" he muttered, remembering that he was not to take his eyes off of his enemy. "When I had gone on my first mission, I was cowardly and didn't fix anything I started! But now that I've come this far, running away from my problems is no longer an option."
Sarath laughed at Gerald's heartfelt speech loudly. "It seems like running away from your problems is going to get you killed!" he slandered, swinging down his sword yet again. "This sword will absorb your power in your attacks every single time, so you'll fall to me either way!"
Vinnie's eyes widened in horror, watching the constant bloodshed on Gerald's leg spread across his body with each collision - however, his determination to defeat Sarath had still not faded alongside his injuries. With each kick, the fire became more powerful - from normal fire, to Flamulia, then to Emberatalia, the sword still held up, but along with its power absorption, it was slowly starting to become overwhelmed due to Gerald's growing power. He silently set his leg down, almost stumbling to the ground due to the rapid loss of blood he endured. As his breath started to fade away due to the constant swings, Sarath held his sword over his head once again. "Why the hell won't you just LET ME KILL HER!?"
"Treat people the way you want to be treated!" he said, kicking his sword with his bloody leg yet again. "I'll protect Vinnie, EVEN IF IT COSTS ME MY LIFE!"
Volume 12, Chapter 10 - That Is A True Hero
Vinnie watched in horror as Gerald's bloody body emerged from the floor once again, his face showing his undying determination to protect her. Gerald glanced closely at the sword, looking at a crack that had not been there before. "Looks like I've finally got an opening," he said to himself, creating distance from himself and Vinnie. "You're all beat up!" Sarath joked, slandering Gerald yet again. "You just never know when to quit, do you!?"
Gerald arched his head up right towards Sarath, looking him straight in the eyes. "As long as I'm standing… you're not going to do anything to Vinnie!"
"SO BE IT!" Sarath screamed, swinging his sword down with even more force than the previous times. "I'll make this short and sweet for you!" Sarath's sword and Gerald's leg collided once again, but now, Gerald was focused on breaking the sword entirely. "Emberatalia!" he screamed, the fire on his leg now turning to a black color as Sarath gasped in shock. "Even if I'm on death's door, I WON'T STOP FIGHTING FOR THE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD!"
Sarath noticed the sudden exponential growth in strength. "If you're getting stronger, I might as well do the same!" he screamed. However, it was already too late - in a matter of seconds, Sarath's blade had shattered into pieces, scattering around the growing crowd surrounding all of them. The cloud of dust due to the impact blew slowly, everyone watching as Gerald, still standing, appeared alongside his shadow, screaming at the top of his lungs.
Now, eyes widened, Sarath no longer had anything to say as he dropped the remnants of his sword. All he could do was watch what Gerald was going to do next.
Vinnie looked at both of them in shock. "He broke the blade!?"
"Seems like your sword has a major flaw!" Gerald said. "Nobody else can handle Emberatalia as fluently as I do, which is why it weakened along with every single ounce of power I put in it! But where does that power go when the sword is broken?"
With all the remaining firepower Gerald had, the ultimate black flames emerged straight from his feet, strengthening with each second passing. "Even if you steal my power, the fire will NEVER fade!" he screamed, pressing off from the ground and dashing straight at Sarath. "Purgatory… SWING!"
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"If you want to be a true hero, you have to save not only people, but you also have to save yourself," a flashback from Victor rang in Gerald's mind.
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Sarath watched as Gerald's leg closed in on him. "Even if I took almost all of his power, he still had a solution to all of it…" he thought to himself. "This boy is one of the most formidable opponents I've ever taken on."
Sarath went flying across the city, the momentum knocking him through building after building until he had finally been knocked into the grassland of ART, and Gerald, filled with pride, slowly set his leg down as he looked at the settling rainclouds. "Vinnie is not a murderer… I swear, we will find the leader of ART," he reassured the crowd, falling onto the floor in exhaustion. The wind now picked up as the rain began to settle in, and that was the last thing Gerald saw before he had fully passed out. "I… protected someone."
Meanwhile on the outskirts of the city, Sarath, now beat up as much as Gerald was back in the city square, silently looked up at the rain. "That was the man… who killed her father. Yet he still pushed himself to his limits to protect her in the end," he thought. "That is a true hero." His thoughts slowly cleared as the rain relaxed him, concluding the battle between Gerald and Sarath.
"Vinnie…"