Falric noticed Dan's paralyzing shock and his grin widened. "If you're this terrified... why did you come?"
He lunged. Dan, caught in the grip of panic, couldn't react. A fatal strike tore through him. He collapsed, his heart heavy with a leaden pain. Every thought dissolved into waves of physical trauma and raw fear.
"What a disappointment," Falric sighed. "I thought you'd entertain me a bit more."
⸻
"Little insect—"
Dan charged instantly, throwing everything he had.
"Didn't even let me finish... where are your manners?" Falric laughed, savoring Dan's frantic desperation.
Strike after strike, Dan pressed on, but every swing met Falric's blade or a surge of lightning. The pain was agonizing, a silent scream caught in his throat. A massive electrical discharge blasted Dan back, his sword clattering away. Every cell in his body shrieked.
Falric sat on the ground, watching him with mock concern. "What's wrong? Tired already? That's no good."
In a desperate move, Dan threw a handful of sand. Falric leaned aside, chuckling. "Truly... is this all? You're becoming more pathetic by the second."
Dan kept attacking. His fury grew sharper, his mind focused, but his body was breaking.
"I wouldn't recommend attacking like that," Falric mused. "You're just wasting energy. By the way, I never asked... I'm Falric. What's your name?"
Dan didn't answer. He threw his soul into the fight, while Falric toyed with him like a cat with a dying mouse.
"Well... I wanted to play more, but I'm out of time," Falric said, his smile fading. With a blurred motion, he slit Dan's throat. Blood flooded Dan's mouth. The last thing he heard was: "A pity... I never even got your name."
⸻
"Little insect—"
Blood Bullet. Falric dodged it effortlessly. "Ah, so we're skipping the pleasantries? Fine."
"Blood element? How terrifying," Falric mocked. "I thought only vampires used that."
Dan ignored him, pressing forward. But no matter how hard he fought, Falric stayed a step ahead, laughing as Dan's despair grew. Falric delivered a kick that shattered Dan against the cave wall. His bones snapped like dry twigs.
I can't... match him... my body is tearing apart.
Through blurred vision, Dan forced himself up. Falric's laughter echoed. Another bolt of lightning pierced Dan's chest.
"A pity..."
⸻
"Little insect—"
Death by lightning.
⸻
"Little insect—"
Death by a pierced heart.
⸻
"Little insect—"
A broken neck.
⸻
"Little insect..."
"Little insect..."
The phrase repeated, loop after loop, until it wasn't just a voice—it was an eternal echo inside Dan's skull. His life had been reduced to those two words.
But then, something changed.
Amidst the slaughter, Dan heard himself whispering: "Lunge right... retreat... parry." He was confused. Then he died.
⸻
"Little insect—"
Suddenly, Dan realized he could think about two things at once. It was as if his consciousness had split. One part fought, the other observed.
He failed many more times. He died dozens of deaths. But slowly, the "Observer" began to guide the "Fighter."
He leans left before he strikes. His lightning has a one-second cooldown.
Dan began to survive longer. He learned the rhythm of the devil. He led the fight out of the cramped cave into the open air. Falric's annoyance grew.
"How strange... every time I go for the kill, you slip away," Falric muttered, his amusement turning into irritation.
Dan died again. And again. But he returned with a confidence that felt like ice.
⸻
"Little insect—"
"I know," Dan interrupted coldly. "Little insect. Don't you have any other lines?"
Falric paused, stunned. A faint, intrigued smile touched his lips. "Interesting..."
Dan lunged. Falric unleashed a roar of lightning, but Dan flowed through the gaps like water. He was no longer just a victim; he was a hunter who had memorized the prey's every heartbeat.
"Weren't you trying to run?" Falric asked as they reached the clearing.
"Run?" Dan smirked. "Why? You don't seem strong enough to make me run."
Falric's eyelid twitched. The mockery was gone. This was war.
Dan moved with a precision born of a thousand deaths. He parried a strike that would have killed him ten loops ago. He pushed Falric back, half a step at a time. The sparks flew, the air hissed with ozone, but Dan didn't stop.
He dove under Falric's reach and swung his blade in a desperate, vicious arc aimed at the demon's face.
A deafening scream tore through the forest.
Dan's blade sliced clean through Falric's right eye. Ichor and lightning sprayed into the air.
"You... you FILTHY RAT!" Falric screamed, clutching his face. The playfulness was dead. Only a primal, demonic rage remained.
Falric became a storm of pure lightning. Dan's arm shattered—he could see the bone protruding through his skin. His leg snapped next. He collapsed, using his sword as a crutch.
"How...?" Falric hissed, his remaining eye bloodshot with madness. "How are you still standing? Why won't you fall into despair?"
Dan offered a bloody, broken smile. "Weren't you the one... who loved watching others drown in despair? It looks like... you're the one drowning now."
Falric gathered a sphere of lightning that shone like a miniature sun. "DIE!"
Dan looked up, his vision fading. It's okay... next time...
But before the strike landed, the silence was shattered.
A silver flash cut through the dark. A scream erupted—but not from Dan.
Falric stumbled back, staring in horror at his own severed arm falling to the dirt.
Dan's blurred vision focused on a shadow. A girl stood there, her blade dripping with fresh demonic blood. She turned slowly, her cold, resolute eyes glowing in the moonlight.
"Well done... little brother,"
she said. Her voice was a chilling monotone, devoid of any tremor or heat.
. "Leave the rest to me."
Dan's heart leaped with a profound sense of relief. A weak smile touched his lips as he whispered a single name.
"Elina..."
His body could finally endure no more. Dan slumped into the dirt, falling into a deep, safe darkness.