The young man with the iron armor stood with a fabricated confidence, while blood still stained the sands. Tension filled the air, with the sea and the red scale fish behind them.
shimoro said hesitatingly:
"Who... are you? And besides, we... are the ones who found the beast first."
The young man was on the verge of exploding with anger:
"What does that have to do—"
But ryo took a step back and then forward, cutting him off with a sharp tone full of sarcasm:
"Ah... I understand now. You're that guy. I saw you before while you were planning with your team to enter arabisel and kill the red scale fish... but you're an idiot. You don't have enough strength to stand before it, not even before its shadow, so back off."
The young man raised his eyebrow haughtily:
"Heh! And you think you're stronger than me? You don't look like anything special."
shimoro looked between the two, not understanding what was happening:
"ryo... what do you mean? What is—"
The young man didn't wait for anyone. He advanced with steady steps, ignoring both of their warnings, and shouted:
"Watch me closely!"
A faint brown aura gathered around him, and then he struck the ground with his sword. The earth split open before him, forming a straight path toward the giant fish. Then he lunged forward, his iron sword gleaming under the moonlight.
ryo shouted with annoyance:
"You idiot! I told you—"
But it was too late.
The young man reached the fish, jumping to strike it.
BOOOOOM!
The fish's head lunged like a red boulder, striking the young man with a force that sent him flying two meters, crashing onto the shore. He tried to stand, staggering, panting.
shimoro moved immediately:
"We must save him!"
But ryo grabbed him by the shoulder firmly:
"Stop, don't be reckless. You'll get hurt too! And besides, you don't even know this man; he's just a human among millions, you idiot!"
shimoro shouted with a trembling voice, saturated with guilt:
"But he is... an innocent soul! We must help him! I can't just... watch!"
ryo tightened his grip even more, his eyes never moving from the fish:
"shimoro... if you go forward now... I'll lose you too."
ryo's words were heavy. Shocking. Sincere.
But the fish waited for no one.
It approached the young man, who was screaming madly.
He threw his sword with all his might, but it only caused a scratch; the sword cracked and fell into the water...
"Don't come closer! Stay away! I apologize! Someone sav—"
His sentence was never finished.
Instead of striking him with its head... it opened its long gills, like extended knives, and pierced his chest directly.
In through the front...
And out through the back.
His chest was pierced to the extreme; even the armor couldn't withstand it and shattered into small pieces of iron.
Blood flowed onto the sand—warm, thick, dripping onto the sea shells. The smell was strange. The young man stopped moving... he was certainly dead.
shimoro's eyes fell and stared into the void, tears beginning to run down his forehead.
ryo's pupils dilated for a second... then contracted. But he was not like shimoro; he was like someone who had seen such sights before.
The fish lifted the body high, without mercy, without hesitation... then it opened its mouth and began devouring the young man's flesh, piece by piece.
The sound... was disgusting.
Dash...
Dash-gh...
The sight... unforgettable.
And the smell... unbearable, scattered everywhere... it was a revolting smell.
After a moment, it spat the remains of the bones and iron onto the ground.
shimoro covered his face with his hands, his body shaking violently:
"No... no... this is too much..."
ryo ran toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder:
"Calm down. shimoro, look at me..."
But shimoro shook his head violently and suddenly, his voice broken, torn from the inside. It was as if he hadn't just been crying seconds ago; he had seen a human die before him for the first time... and in a hideous way, which had awakened his latent instinct.
"It's a monster! It has no feelings! It killed that innocent person without any mercy!"
He raised his head, his features distorted with rage:
"Let me kill it!!!!"
Suddenly, his ice aura exploded—powerful, unlike anything before.
He lunged forward with speed, forming ice ground beneath his feet, sliding over it with an unconscious mastery. In his hand was the dagger... and in the air before him, three ice swords formed and launched at three different angles toward the fish.
ryo lunged as well because he had no other choice, his sword in hand, wind around him striking the sand, then he took a high jump using the wind to attack.
The fish began moving its head randomly, angry and raging.
It collided with the ice swords and shattered them. Then it struck ryo with its head, knocking him to the ground, and the scratches on ryo's body increased.
ryo stood up immediately, spitting blood from his mouth:
"Ptu... shimoro! You idiot! Get away from it!"
But shimoro heard nothing.
He jumped onto the fish, clinging to its red scales, taking advantage of its previous preoccupation with the ice swords and ryo. He raised his dagger with all his rage and tears.
He shouted:
"You're going to pay for this, you garbage!"
And he plunged the dagger into its left eye with force.
BOOOOOM!
The eye exploded, crimson fluid splattering from it—a viscous, thick liquid. The sound of the fish was terrifying as it writhed.
GWAAAAAAH!
The head of the red scale fish moved with great speed on its own, and the fish threw him cruelly. shimoro hit the ground, bleeding from his nose, with blood dripping from his mouth.
ryo stood stunned for the first time since knowing shimoro.
He never imagined that shimoro... was capable of such brutality.
He looked at him with shock, in silence, with a seriousness he hadn't shown before.
And shimoro... was still trying to stand, despite the pain, despite the blood. He was determined to avenge that young man, even if it cost him his life...
"I won't give up!.. I will kill it!"
To be continued...