The Martial Unity

Misha felt a tinge of regret as her body weakened, her life diminishing. Her blood gushed out of her body involuntarily as she struggled to maintain control over it. The only way she maintained consciousness was by exerting what little control she had over her blood to continue supplying oxygen to her brain.

’I… got ahead of myself.’

Her rapid descent towards death put everything in perspective for her. As if she had been looking at the world through veiled eyes. Perhaps she ought to upgrade her cybernetic eyes if she made it back home alive.

But even as the life in her body slowly slipped away, she couldn’t help but realize just how foolish this entire venture had been.

’It was dangerous… I knew that, why did I think… it would be fine?’

In hindsight, her own foolishness made her question her sanity. What in the world was she thinking when she thought that entering a greater manifold with untold dangers was a good idea? Had she been cognitively impaired? Had she been hypnotized?

She had no idea what possessed her to believe that this was a good idea.

RUMBLE

Tremors passed through the ground as her dimming consciousness spread outwards. She beheld the battle between Ria and the faceless human. Unlike the four of them who had been rapidly demolished by the creature, Ria was not only able to go toe to toe with the creature, but even get in some hits and inflict some damage, however mild.

She was on another level compared to the four of them.

That was when Misha remembered why she had joined.

’She’s infectious.’

There was something about Ria that was compelling. Her vision and her ambition, her goal to hunt infected worlds, it was a very intoxicating vision. Her power was special, as was her vision. They made everybody who was with her feel like they could be part of something special, something that they would never otherwise be a part of.

Yet, the fantasy was doused with cold reality as Misha found herself bleeding to death on a godforsaken planet many light-years away from home. She felt a profound surge of regret and euphoria, all at once.

She wished she had never been part of this venture, yet at the same time, it had been a novel experience.

’If only I had been more worthy as a pathwalker to stand by her side.’

She cursed her own weakness. Had she been strong enough, she would have been able to continue this journey with Ria, without having to burden her with her death, with the death of the entire team. Now, she exerted her blood manipulation, or what was left of it, to cling on to life for as long as possible.

”Cough… cough…”

Her attention was drawn to Runark. She could feel him dying as his blood gushed out from his wounds, spreading across the soil at the center of the manifold. Even though his unconscious, his wounds were less lethal than hers.

She remembered how he had saved her from certain death.

He could have run off towards the manifold tree himself and taken shelter. With his speed, he might even have made it. Yet, he chose to put himself at great risk to save his friend.

’I must return the favor.’

She had never been the sentimental type, but in that moment she was overwhelmed by her desire to save her friend. She abandoned the blood manipulation from her own body, shifting it towards Runark as she did everything in her power to prevent him from losing any more blood than he already had. While her manipulation of the blood of other people was much weaker, she was close enough, and the wound was open enough that she could temporarily seal the wound.

At least for as long as she was alive, which didn’t appear to be that much longer.

’…It’s up to you now, Ria.’

In the distance, Ria’s expression grew increasingly desperate and frantic as she felt the activity of life within the bodies of her friends rapidly diminishing. Her attacks grew more and more violent while her body grew more and more strained.

She pushed herself to the limit, all with the goal of killing the faceless human as soon as she possibly could.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!

She inflicted a series of attacks on her opponent’s abdomen, which merely caused the creature to stir, before redirecting one of those attacks towards her opponent’s skull at the last moment, hoping to sneak in Death’s Sympathy.

Yet, the faceless human was intelligent, instead launching a lethal attack at Ria at the same time, forcing her to leap away to evade. Yet, the moment her feet touched the ground, she shot back at the faceless human.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

She unleashed a devastating blow charged with momentum and torque, lifting the faceless human off its feet. Yet to her shock, the creature didn’t even bother defending against the attack, allowing her to ravage its body.

Her fist opened up into a palm to maximize her reach as it shot towards the creature’s skull yet another time with Death’s Sympathy.

This time, the creature defended itself.

By attacking her with a lethal attack.

’Death’s Sympathy is the only time the creature defends itself.’ Her amber eyes flared with determination. ’That means the only attack in my arsenal that it senses a threat from is an attack on its brain.’

Perhaps because it sensed Death’s Sympathy’s permeative effects, it didn’t try to block it with a guard, showing that it was much more intelligent than it let on.

’I have to land a Death’s Sympathy, no matter what.’

Yet, what was she to do about the retaliatory defense?

It was too fast for her to evade in the middle of her own attack. It was almost impossible for her to defend against while she poured all of her power into her attack.

’If I can’t avoid or defend against the retaliation, then…’ Her eyes sharpened. ’Then I’ll just have to take it head-on.’

A gambit with her own life on the line for the sake of her friends.

WHOOSH

She charged forward, preparing Death’s Sympathy and unleashing it towards the faceless human’s skull. Like clockwork, the creature retaliated with a sharp palm jab aimed straight towards her heart.

An attack meant to kill.

Yet, this time, Ria didn’t stop.

Her amber eyes blazed with determination as she pushed through in the face of death.

SPLAT!!!