"EHMPH?!"
Olivia freezes in shock.
The oppressive atmosphere spreading across the battlefield is coming from Zeco.
"... no no—no no no."
Olivia stares in disbelief, now fully conscious.
Her vision is no longer blurred, yet her head continues spinning.
KRRK!
Her hands clench tightly.
She struggles to move, beginning to crawl forward.
"Zeco," she calls weakly.
She continues crawling, her head spinning and her throat heavy with nausea.
"EHMPH?!"
Zeco freezes.
Olivia glares at him.
"Get out of the way!" she cries, forcing the words out.
Her body suddenly grows cold, trembling more intensely as she watches the battle unfold.
CRKAK—WRAAAAAKK!
"EKH!!"
She abruptly stops as cracks spread through the ground beneath her.
For an instant, the wide grin vanishes from Zeco's face.
Predator's blade is already descending, only inches above his shoulder—
SKCWLHAAAAASSHHH!
Zeco instantly evades and immediately delivers another full-bodied slash across Predator.
However—
Zeco furrows his brow.
He did not move of his own will.
His body moved by itself.
His consciousness continues fading, while his pupils are steadily rolling upward beneath his eyelids.
Olivia's jaw trembles.
"Ze—co," she cries again, forcing her voice out.
Tears begin streaming down her cheeks, falling onto the ground below.
Predator grimaces in fury, drawing a sharp breath as he glares at Zeco.
Olivia crawls forward again.
Her dizziness gradually fades.
She bites her lip until it splits and bleeds.
CKHAAAAAMNH!
Predator steps forward.
"DAMN—IT!"
Zeco freezes in place.
There is no longer any room for him to retreat.
Predator draws his massive blade behind his body and assumes a stance.
"Zeco—" Olivia shouts, continuing to force herself closer.
Predator begins swinging.
Again and again.
The blade tears rapidly through the air—
Olivia's body, hands, and eyes continue trembling.
"—Zeco."
Before him, Zeco can no longer force his body to move. His consciousness is slipping away, and Predator has completely trapped him.
"Yourself—AWARE!" Olivia shouts at the top of her lungs once more.
Predator prepares his finishing strike.
The sword is drawn fully behind his body.
One final slash.
One final attack that will end Zeco's life.
Olivia grits her teeth.
"ZECOOOOO!"
Her voice erupts across the battlefield, powerful enough to shake the air itself.
The faint breeze ceases.
The atmosphere falls silent.
The world itself seems to hold its breath.
---
"OLIVIA?!"
CKHAMNH—CKHUMNH—PTHAAHMNH!
Zeco rapidly leaps backward several times, widening the distance between them as he moves closer to Olivia, who is crawling toward him.
BRAAK—SHWAAHMNH!
His feet drag across the ground before coming to a stop right beside Olivia. She stops crawling as well, her face filled with worry and lingering fear as she stares deeply at him.
Zeco turns to look at Olivia behind him.
"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" he asks, his voice filled with concern now that he has fully regained his senses.
Olivia furrows her brow.
Order Tames Wild.
"You will never defeat him if you fight recklessly, Zeco..."
She narrows her eyes.
"Fight with discipline—"
She stares at him sharply.
"—that is his weakness!"
Zeco turns back toward Predator.
"Damn it..."
"Hm?"
"I never even thought of that."
PKTHAAHMNH—KRTHUMNH—CPKTHAAAHMNH!
Predator begins moving forward at high speed.
"And yet that is exactly what I should have been doing!"
KHAM—KHUMN!
He runs forward, each step shaking the ground as he rapidly closes the distance.
"Thank you for that, Olivia..."
Olivia smiles faintly.
"I believe in you."
SLSHH—SHH—SWASH!
Zeco settles into a fighting stance, his brows rising.
"Very well, then."
From the deepest part of his heart, he accepts that he has once again reached his lowest point, awakening—
"Bear witness,"
CTHAM—CKHUMNH!
The distance between them becomes dangerously close.
His Inferior Mode.
"This—"
"—is where the real battle—"
"—finally begins, hm?"
"Do you realize that, monster who comes to claim my life?!"
Zeco intends to provoke his fury even further,
to make his power run completely wild and uncontrollable, eventually bringing him down. However—
"How exactly—"
"—am I supposed to defeat a monster like this?!"
—Zeco searches for an answer, yet he cannot simply belittle him with empty words, for doing so would no longer keep his spirit at its lowest point.
"You are not an opponent I should ever be facing!"
"Because I will never be your equal."
Yet endlessly praising him will not make him angry either.
"You almost killed me, didn't you?"
"But that opportunity will come again another time, won't it?"
CLANG—CLING—CLANG—CLANG—SWASH—SWASH!
"I cannot defeat you."
CLING—SWUSH—CLANG—SWASH!
"There is no way for me to do so."
SWASH—SWASH—SWUSH—CLING—CLANG—CLANG!
"I should simply surrender."
SWUSH—CLING—SWASH—CLANG!
"But that would never honor you or this battle."
CLANG—SWASH—SWUSH—SWASH!
"Of course, I will eventually die by your hand, won't I?"
SWASH—CLING—CLANG!
"Even while fighting with this much calculation,"
CLANG—CLING!
"I still struggle just to keep up with your pressure."
His breathing grows heavier.
"...let alone cut you down."
STCKWAAASH!
Predator unleashes a relentless series of slashes.
Zeco is hurled briefly into the air.
"Damn you... and damn myself."
He is blown away by another swing of the sword.
A finishing strike.
One that is meant to end his life.
A faint smile appears on his face.
"So it really is becoming reality, isn't it?"
Predator prepares yet another finishing attack.
Zeco turns his head and looks sincerely at Olivia, who is running desperately toward him.
"And yet..."
His smile lingers.
"...I never wanted to die in front of the person I like."