Chapter 7: Eclipsing Aura
Inura, who had regained his youth after drinking an ominous potion unleashed his famous Crimson Blade from its scabbard and prepared to slash Eternus. He swung his sword down to cut the boy open. However, Eternus dodged the strike by the breadth of a hair.
Eternus widened his eyes with surprise at his speed.
Unfortunately for him, Inura did not stop just at that blow. While Eternus was still in a daze about the incredible speed of that slash, Inura appeared right in front of him and swooped a kick on the boy's face, throwing him back into a tree.
"You thought you could beat me… Well, This is the power of my prime… The prime of Inura, Bearer of The Crimson Flame!" He taunted Eternus as drops of blood fell from his nose on the ground.
Inura walked forward with his feet stomping and his blade placed on his shoulder symbolizing his pride.
"My Master needs you alive… So, I'll give you an offer… Come with me, Boy. If you come quietly, you might just live… I have the power to kill you right here and now, but you're of no use to us dead…"
"You're smart for someone your age, make the smart move and come quietly." Inura proposed this strange offer to Eternus who was panting with his head low, silently staring at the dripping blood from his chin that wet the soil below.
"Do you think... I need your mercy?" Etenus asked while panting heavily.
Inura smirked at this question, "Your only other option is death."
"Do you think I am a coward… Like you?" Eternus responded to the threat.
Inura's smile vanished upon hearing those words from Eternus. Those words from him had touched a truth hidden deep down in his corrupted heart. Enraged at that insult, Inura snapped and struck Eternus with the broad side of his sword and smashed him all the way through the tree behind.
The poor boy coughed up another mouthful of blood, yet his face showed no signs of terror or confusion.
His careless attitude had always annoyed Inura but its effects were doubled at this time.
"That careless face of yours… What is with you?! I've shattered two of your ribs with that last blow… Why do I see no terror in your eyes?!" He screamed out loud and began striking the boy with the broad side of his sword repeatedly over and over in an effort to break his mind.
But throughout that whole beating, Eternus did not utter a single word out of pain and remained as quiet as a barren desert.
Inura realized that his blows were useless and this odd silence from the Boy somewhat intimidated him. He halted his blows with a bitter expression on his face.
At that moment, Eternus finally lifted his head and looked him in the eye.
"Already done? Tch… Pathetic." The boy said to his master in disrespect.
"SHUT UP YOU BRAT!!" Inura yelled out and slapped the boy's face. "Have you gone crazy? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO CALM!? DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU?!"
Eternus spat out blood to the side and then spoke. "Who said I'm calm…?" He looked at Inura once again to show him his eyes. Eyes that held the heat of a thousand raging suns, "I'm not calm…" He shook his head, "I've just been thinking… And remembering. After all the things you did..."
"I'M FURIOUS!!!"
Inura's stepped back instinctively upon hearing those words as every muscle in his body yelled at him to move!
Eternus's eyes flickered in a bright yellow color as he let out a deafening scream of Rage with a major essence of Pain.
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH"
A burst of Black Mana unleashed from the Boy's body and a thin layer of Light surrounded his Wild and Jet Black Aura, similar to a Solar Eclipse.
This sudden turn of events hit Inura with shock and confusion at first, "What is this… I was beating the crap out of this brat just now…"
However, his overconfidence in the strength of his prime self soon overcame his sense of shock as well as his rationality,
"No matter… I am still in my Prime state. I can take him!" He reassured himself.
From within the Eclipsing aura, Eternus spoke, his voice reverberating in the surrounding, "You're really not yourself anymore… But It doesn't matter now, I've decided to kill you!"
"You? Kill me? Hahaha!!!" Inura laughed at the Boy's claim, "You fool, don't you see that I'm as strong as I've ever been right now?!" Inura laughed hysterically with madness smutting his youthful complexion, showing that he had truly strayed from the warrior's path.
Eternus struck a tree with the back of his fist and caused it to break from the center and fall just beside him with just one hit. After a moment of looking, he snatched a stick from the fallen tree. All while not even looking at Inura, tauntingly ignoring and infuriating him even more.
'Ngh... Who does this bastard think he is?!' Inura cursed inwardly.
As Eternus examined the stick in his hand as one examines the blade of a sword before using it for the first time and imbued it with his Mana, Inura lost his patience and was unable to bear this insult any further.
"Master asked me to bring you alive… But cutting off your limbs won't kill you now, would it?" He said with a twisted smile and leaped towards the boy once again but this time he intended to slice and thus struck with the sharp edge of his blade, aiming for his arm.
In the instant his sharp blade neared his arm, Eternus struck him with his wooden stick while at the same time dodging his attack.
This strike from the augmented wooden stick was forceful and caused Inura to skid back and curse the boy in anger.
Eternus's face lacked emotion and seemed as straight as a slate. He lifted his hand up to his face and spoke with emptiness haunting his eyes as well as his tone,
"How strange… Every fiber of my body is begging me to lose control and become the monster you made me two years ago." He recalled his bloodstained and beastly state of unyielding rage when he witnessed his parents die and continued, "My face shows no emotion… but I'm angry… Should I let go, Inura?"
"Do you want to see the Monster?" He spoke with a demonic overtone in his voice that sent chills down Inura's spine. Despite all that, the fallen General was as stubborn as they come, "Haha! Show me! I don't give a damn about anything… I'll take you with me no matter what!!" He yelled in his youthful frenzy.
"When I said you've changed, I wasn't talking about your appearance. You used to be a great warrior. How low you've fallen, Inura… I'll show you the Monster… But can you handle it?" Eternus asked with an empty tone, his eyes slowly losing color, the layer of light around him waned and Black patches started to appear all over his skin.
"Let's find out…" Once again his voice echoed demonically. His eyes glowed red, his skin became pale and the black patches darkened.
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Eternus let out a demonic roar that sent waves of air away.
The grasp of his tight claw-like fingers broke the wooden stick which he was holding. His mental state was now inhumane and his words were reduced to growls and hoffs, similar to that of a wild beast.
Inura on the other hand suddenly felt a sharp pain and held his chest, "Oh no… I feel my youth draining away... Is the potion wearing off? At a time like this?!" He exclaimed in worry for his life as he thought about the boy who stood growling in front of him... He saw nothing less than Doom itself, glaring with a deadly gaze begging for his death.
The Black marks on Eternus's skin expanded up to his right cheek and his both hands seemed like a pair of sharp claws.
"HYAAGGHH!!"
He growled and sprinted towards Inura. With one punch in the gut, he knocked the the breath out of Inura with a mouthful of saliva. He jumped back to gain distance and struck the ground under his feet to form a cloud of dust to distract the boy.
This dust tactic succeeded in discombobulating Eternus who was lacking his usual intellect and merely acting like a beast.
As the dust cleared, the effects of his purple potion had worn off. The youth and strength of his prime was gone like a puddle of water water evaporating on a hot day.
"NO! This is the worst time it could happen!!" Inura yelled out in an annoyed tone with a hint of fear as he looked at Eternus who had lost his sense of reason and the only thing that existed in his vague mind was the thought that his target must be killed.
Not even realizing that Inura had returned back to his old strength, Eternus struck Inura with a flurry of punches, slashes, and slaps. The movement of his bare and dark hands could hardly be seen by the naked eye.
The General, who was still dazed at this unexpected regression from his prime, got caught off guard and fell victim to the mad blows that the boy had unleashed upon him. All he could do was spit blood and feel his bones cracking, being unable to counter.
One last powerful kick from Eternus on Inura's chin tossed him way back.
Inura came back to his senses after his youth betrayed him and he got the breath beaten out of him; he began to think in a more rational manner.
'I acted upon impulse and I'm losing to a boy who cannot even think right now… I need to come up with a plan.' He thought to himself and lied silently, waiting for the Boy to approach him. And when Eternus stood right in front of him, ready to deliver the final blow...
'This will take all I have!' Inura screamed out, "BLOODY HELLBLAZE!!!"
His Blood-drenched body lit up with an explosive red flame. The eminent flash of his flame was on par with the sunlight of the day and the sudden flash of it was enough to temporarily blind Eternus, confusing him and caused him to smash his surroundings randomly.
Inura after lighting himself up in the flame of his own blood, did not waste any time and with great precision, he aimed at a specific spot in the center of the confused Boy's chest.
The blow was forceful and knocked the eclipsing aura out of the boy's back. Consequently, Eternus's beastly form dissipated and he slowly returned back to his senses. Seemingly in a daze and drained of all energy, he fell to his knees.
"You had me on edge there..." He coughed and continued as he limped toward the kneeling boy, "Had I not done struck your core, you would've killed me by now." Inura said while weakly stumbling toward the worn-out boy, holding his wounded stomach with one hand and the other reaching out for the Boy.
'I can't move myself… What did he do… My chest, no… My Mana core…' Eternus thought in concern, wondering what might have happened to him as he watched Inura approach him slowly through the blurry vision of his fading consciousness.
"Y-You…" Inura panted, "You're coming… with me!!" He reached his hand toward Eternus's once again blank and emotionless face whose hollow eyes peeked through the gaps of his fingers.
Being unable to speak, Eternus was only capable of silently staring at the worn-out General and cursing his inability to even move.
'I don't want this to happen… but I can't even move. Am I still as weak… As I was back then?' Hopeless thoughts came into the boy's mind, stuck somewhere in the middle of despair and retaliation.
When it seemed that Eternus's loss was inevitable and Inura had totally succeeded… Something very unexpected happened...
Through his blurry vision, Eternus saw that something appeared out of the bushes and tackled Inura away from Eternus and knocked him unconscious.
Taking a breath of relief, Eternus fell to the ground upon his face.
'What are you…? A beast?' Eternus wondered while looking at the blurry view of a black shadowy beast as he did not have it in him to utter a single word.
[You must Rest.]
A mature female voice resounded in Eternus's mind as the blurred beastly figure came near Eternus and both stared silently peered into each other's eyes... Both their eyes flickered as if forming a connection. After that, it was only an instant when Eternus blinked just once and the beast was gone.
Eternus rolled his eyes around to look for it but instead of the beast, his blurry vision noticed two winged creatures lifting up the unconscious Inura from his shoulders and flying into the dawning sky.
"NNOOOOOO!!!" Eternus screamed out at Inura with all his remaining strength and lost consciousness as well.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone