Chapter 13: Sayako
The bloodlust from Sayako's scalding gaze caused Finn to gulp audibly. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a short switchblade. With great unease, he flipped it open.
"H-Hey, Asher. I haven't fought anyone before, but I think I can hold them off for a bit. Run!" Finn stepped in front of him, spreading his hands out.
Finn's actions reminded Asher of the trio of thugs when they faced the Sweeper.
'[Fairy Queen]!'
He patted Finn's shoulder amid the gasps of the Kurokumo.
"Huh-?" An odd squeak came from Finn's throat, as he saw who he previously thought was just an ordinary person materialize neon green armor in front of his eyes.
"Don't worry. I can hold them longer."
"A-Asher, what is... Who are you?"
"Is that boy a Fixer too? What was he doing, taking a message from the Index?" Sayako turned toward her men, but they only shook their heads in confusion.
"Finn, these people are a lot better at fighting than you are. Run away while I hold them off." Asher had no confidence, though. Even he couldn't follow Sayako's sword slash in the slightest, let alone Finn.
He could tell that even if Finn distracted her for a millisecond, the distraction would be just that. A millisecond. It seemed like he really would die today.
But he planned on facing it head on.
"I-I can run to Captain! He can come and save you, he's really strong!" Finn backpedalled, dashing frantically to his Office. The boy held so much hope in his Captain, even though he knew the Kurokumo Clan was well beyond Yun's capabilities.
'I'm fairly sure I'm stronger than him, though...' Even so, Asher sighed in relief. Being unnecessarily brave in such a situation would only be a hinderance to him. Living in the Backstreets must have sharpened Finn's instinct of survival.
"Let's get this over with, folks." He twirled his mace as the four men approached him. Sayako stood to the side, gleefully observing what she thought would be an agonizing death for him.
Even the other four clan members, as Asher soon found out, were insanely skilled. Each of them coordinated their strikes in such a way that left him no room to counterattack.
His weapon could only deflect so many slashes at once, and in mere minutes he became riddled with painful, but nonlethal cuts.
It seemed like they also wished to inflict the most pain as possible.
The egg on top of his weapon split open, revealing two fairies at once. As they rushed to consume the meat in front of them, Asher broke into a grin.
"In a battle of attrition, I always come on top."
Sayako's expression slowly turned unsightly. She could see the boy's wounds healing as the fairies nipped at her companions. Whenever they slashed at the small creatures, the blade merely phased through them as if they didn't exist.
Soon, the tide of the battle changed. Tens of small fairies orbited his body, consuming anything in their path. The four clansmen faltered in their attacks as the fairies bit through their clothes and into their flesh. Every time a slash made its way past Asher's defense, the crowd of fairies would heal the wound in an instant.
Asher blinked. He hadn't even used his weapon to attack yet, wasn't his suit way too powerful?
The swarm slowly thinned as fewer attacks hit him.
His assailants backed away, catching their breath.
They looked at their arms in shock; the fairies nearly ate their flesh to the bone.
"Miss, his powers are too strange!" They backed away, leaving it to her.
"So useless! If you all can't do it, then I'll just do it myself!" Sayako stepped forward, staring at Asher with disgust.
'Dang, this is probably where I die, right?' Asher could tell the difference between Sayako and those nameless folk. Although the cannon fodders' slashes were fast, he could still easily follow the movements with his eyes, even if his body couldn't react in time.
But when Sayako slashed at Yan, it seemed like the blade had teleported. The difference was as clear as night and day. He realized why she was given the title 'Dark Cloud Blade'.
His respect for the Messenger's strength grew even more.
"Bring it, lady."
Asher took the offensive, rushing towards-
"Hrrg-!" He suddenly couldn't feel his weapon in his grasp anymore.
Sayako smirked.
Asher looked down at his arm. It was so cleanly severed that he didn't feel any pain. He saw the bloodied limb lying meters away from him, still clutching the hilt of Wingbeat.
'Ah. So now I'm going to die...'
Asher closed his eyes, pleasantly surprised by the painlessness of the cut.
But suddenly, the System, which he hadn't seen in so long, displayed another prompt.
[The Fairy Queen (E.G.O) resonates with your wound! Upgrading gear... New set exclusive skill unlocked!]
'Hm? This is getting interesting now...'
[Frenzy: Activates when sustaining 20% or more damage in a single second. Spawn one fairy a second and set the values of Insight, Temperance, and Justice to zero. Add all the original values of those three stats to Fortitude. If original Temperance value is less than 50, you will also become controlled by the Fairy Queen for this duration. Lasts 2 minutes, with a 2 day cooldown.]
"Krrrgh..." Asher felt his control over his body weakening as a guttural, feral noise reverberated in his throat. The only thing he could do now was to use his eyes.
Sayako faltered a step, her smirk wavering.
Asher's suit changed, quickly turning into the color of blood. Crimson fluid leaked from its folds and seams, forming a dark puddle beneath his feet. An undescribable aura of hunger erupted from Asher, whose eyes had melted to reveal gaping red holes.
As the puddle bubbled, a fairy emerged, also covered in murky fluid. The color of their eyes changed; the whites of their eyes became pitch black.
Sayako seemed to break away from her trance as she saw the sixth fairy emerge from the puddle of blood.
"I need something fresh… I've been starving for a long while…" The fairies snapped to attention, all slowly turning their gaze to Sayako.
"W-What the hell!" Sayako was creeped out; it seemed like the boy had turned into a completely different person. He was insane-!
She slashed down, but the Fairy Queen merely grinned wickedly, catching the sword with its forehead. The blade sunk down several inches into its skull, but it did not seem to mind. The thing stared at the woman with desire. With hunger.
"I've haven't eaten for so long, I can hardly resist myself… Fresh meat, fresh meat..."
Sayako flinched. A fairy had snuck behind her, ripping a piece of flesh from her pale thighs, through her dark kimono.
She ripped the sword out from the creature's skull. The wound on its head was already closing. She felt multiple fairies landing on her bare skin, tearing her apart with pleasure.
"Run! Everyone run!" Sayako writhed frantically, trying to shake off as many of the monsters as she could before running off. The other four, having already experienced the fairies before, ran even faster than her.
As she looked back, the puddle of blood nearly grew to the width of the alley, with dozens of fairies orbiting the 'thing' in the center.
"I want meat… Unspoiled… And soft… Serve me, your Queen!" The creature, surrounded its servants, shouted a guttural roar. Sayako didn't notice it then, but the voice of the boy had changed into a terrifying monster's.
The fairies chittered with fervor as they launched themselves toward the fleeing group.
Soon, only Asher was left in the alley, slowly walking to where his fairies went.
...
Sayako didn't know what went wrong. It was supposed to be a little stress reliever, yet why were they fleeing so rapidly now?
'What was that thing? It can't be a Fixer, right? It would have never passed their sanity test!'
Her companions were behind her now, unable to keep up with her pzce.
"Please! Miss, they're-" One of them tripped, stumbling to the floor. The swarm immediately consumed him.
"AAAH!" Another one.
"Get- Get off of me!!"
...
Soon, she was the only person left running.
Sayako stopped in her tracks, turning around to face her death. But strangely, the buzz of the fairies faded away as they surrounded her quietly, in a ritualistic circle. It seemed like they were... waiting for something.
Her eyes widened. Asher stepped out of the darkness, approaching her as his grin widened beyond human limits. But it didn't seem to notice the blood dripping from its torn cheeks. If fact, its grin grew wider. Then even wider, until its lips split apart entirely.
"W-What are you?"
The creature ignored her.
"It's been so long... Yet it seems like I'm still trapped."
Before Sayako could react, the fairies surrounding her sighed and crumbled to dust. Asher's suit reverted to its blueish-green form, and bloody mist around him faded away.
"Haha, that time limit kinda sucks. Alright, you can kill me now." Feeling a bit sheepish, Asher politely coughed into his hand, wincing as his torn mouth dripped with blood.
"Just what was that power?" Sayako's blade trembled. She feared him and the unknown monstrosity he turned into.
"Nah, nah, just a onetime thing. Well, a two-day thing, but you won't see it again. You should really kill me now, get it over with." Asher extended neck to her, inviting her to slash it. Now that his skill expired, it was impossible for him to win.
He hadn't checked his stats recently, but he knew that his fortitude at least tripled from [Frenzy], and the 'one fairy a second' effect couldn't be taken lightly, either.
Compared to his previous state, he was now like an ant.
Before Asher could blink-
His body crashed onto the asphalt floor.
Sayako was left panting, lying on the ground along with Asher's severed head. Why did his personality change so suddenly?
'And why did he let me kill him?' Sayako, who was taught 'survival of the fittest' since childhood, couldn't wrap her head around such a thing.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone