The chains shook noisily. Each link was red hot, drawn together and shaped by the blood of the Chained Bull.
All to kill a certain Wraith.
Noah's form was revealed in the billowing dust and sparks of flames in the air. The black flames on his shoulders trembled.
In front of the ten-foot man-bull, he looked like a child. Yet his hand was covered in the only blood drawn during this fight.
The bull's voice boomed through the devastated patch in the dark forest. The hole Noah had blasted into its chin was healing slowly, and its muscles were growing.
It gets stronger the angrier it gets.
Isaac hadn't known much about his Phantasm, but Noah pieced together its power from reading his memories.
The longer I let it fight, the stronger it'll get. I think I know how to kill it, but it's going to be very hard to actually pull off.
The bull spun the burning chains in its hands. Noah took in a deep breath and prepared himself.
The chain flicked forward at once in a yellow flash; Noah didn't dare try to phase through it. His body shot aside as the molten chain struck the ground.
BOOM!
An explosion lit up the forest, its flames billowing upwards. The bull continued, spinning the chains around—a nimble art considering its meaty fingers.
The chain shot towards Noah five more times, each time leaving just a yellow streak in the air. He flipped over the first one; the second strike came while he was still mid-air.
He made his body intangible and twisted mid-air to avoid the chain. He switched between the two states to move unnaturally through space.
The bull knew he was too fast to keep up with and was relying on the chain that could hit even immaterial things.
But Noah wasn't just fast.
He was unpredictable. He also had a full picture of how the bull fought in his mind after stealing Isaac's memories.
So the chain's attacks were an open book to him, and Noah was a faceless spirit to the bull.
He phased underground in the midst of all the smoke and dust raised by the chains.
When it cleared, the bull searched the area nervously for him, looking under its feet in case he repeated the same attack from before.
Noah shot out in front of it instead, striking its lowered head with skull-splitting force. The air shattered once again, and the bull bounced back, skidding over the floor.
He closed the gap between them immediately and launched a barrage of attacks, using the creature's own body as a foothold to end his chain of attacks.
He jumped off its leg, grabbing the bull by the horns and slamming his knee into its jaw. Then he pulled himself up and vaulted over its head.
Once he was perched on its neck, he rained down punches on the nerve endings in its neck.
Instead of knocking the bull unconscious, all this did was make it even angrier.
It reached back with hands as big as his entire body. Noah jumped, phasing through its fingers and grabbing the molten chain.
He intended to wrap it around the bull to restrain it, but the moment he touched it, pain shot up his hand.
Not the fading pain he was used to. This was like getting burnt in his human body.
"Arghh!" he screamed, leaping down and checking his hand. It was unburnt, but he felt like there was fire in his veins right now.
This second of hesitation was all the bull needed. The red chains swung through the air and wrapped around him, filling his mind with white-hot agony for a second.
Noah always thought he was pretty good at handling pain, but this was maddening.
The bull snorted, crimson eyes glowing with ruthless joy. It spun the chain and Noah through the air.
The trees and world turned into a blurry line as he spun. His body slammed through multiple trees before the beast turned the chain upward.
He rose into the air, eyes still fuzzy from the spinning. The entire forest spread under him, then the bull pulled the chain down with all its strength.
Noah hit the ground like a missile.
BOOM!
A large swath of the forest erupted in a violent explosion. He felt none of it though, still struggling with the intense pain of the molten chains wrapped around him.
A large crater had formed in the forest around him, all the trees and topsoil excavated by the force of his crash.
While the pain from the chains ravaged his body, the tightening gnaw of hunger tormented his mind.
I'll lose myself. Just like Isaac has lost himself to the Chained Bull. I'll simply become a mindless spirit.
The ground trembled as it walked towards him, its colossal form and blood-red eyes looming over his broken form.
Noah forced himself to think through the assault on his very being, the memories of his family and all the people he would hurt if he lost control guiding him.
As much as I hate to admit, there's a man under all that. Just like I'm still holding on, Isaac must be in there somewhere.
I can use that.
He struggled with that idea; it filled him with rage—which turned out to be helpful. He pushed down the scalding pain of the chains destroying him and found his strength.
The chain creaked as he pushed them aside. His white eyes flickered as the black flames exploded around him, locked onto the Chained Bull.
There's a man inside that beast, there's a person inside Isaac. Something that can mourn and cry for his friend.
He couldn't deny it. Maybe there's room for change inside Isaac; after all, even Noah changed and became less of a coward.
But can the dead forgive?
He blasted the chain apart with a shout. The bull roared back, charging right at him. Noah phased through its body and grabbed the chain as it passed.
Ignoring the pain, he dashed forward. The bull reared back for a punch, and Noah preemptively jumped right past it, wrapping the chain around the bull's neck.
This was the final part.
He needed to restrain the bull.
The beast roared with all its strength, shaking the earth around it. It got down on all fours and charged forward.
Noah's legs were dragged through the stone, tearing two lines in the ground as the bull dragged him forward. But he didn't give up.
He clenched his teeth so hard they hurt and pulled the chain despite how badly it was burning him right now.
It was a contest of wills.
The bull's red-hot rage versus Noah's black hatred.
His body felt like it would break first, strength fled his arms, and the pain and hunger almost overwhelmed him.
I won't be forgiven. And I never expected to after all the shit I've done. But I won't let these guys run free. Not while I'm still breathing.
The chain started to grow slack, and Noah thought it was his weakening body, but then he turned to glance at the bull, his eyes widened at the sight.
The chained beast was growing frailer. Its once muscular body was now thinner. It made the creature look longer and slender, malnourished. Its crimson eyes even grew duller.
This is my last chance.