"Lord of Heaven and Earth.
You who set my hand upon the sword, and counted my days.
Look not upon my fear, but the spark of courage that pushed me to stand before my enemies." Sam prayed in his mind as he turned his sword around, lowering himself as he took a stance.
"Let your words be my blade and your love be my shield, and each strike be truth, for you are my Lord and I fight evil in your name." He whispered, looking up at Raymond, who waved his hand fiercely, waves of ice spreading outward, pillars of frost rising and crashing together in an attempt to pulverize Sam between them.
Sam leaped back, avoiding the trap, then sent out numerous slashes that cut through the walls of ice, before dashing forward with his sword leveled at Raymond's neck.
But Raymond vanished from his spot, appearing behind Sam with a dark smile, his palm turning white as he reached out to freeze him in place.
Sam spat, twisted violently and dropped to the ground, avoiding the contact freeze by a hair's breath and used his sword to pivot, launching his body forward, and drove both boots into Raymond's chest, blasting him backward.
"Just die, bastard. Just die!" Raymond sneered, accelerated rapidly with speed that matched the locomotive burning above the bridge.
Sam grinned maliciously, closing his eyes and channeling his new spell [Desire Sense], which allowed him to acutely sense the desires of everyone around him.
By utilising this spell, he was able to grasp where Raymond would attack next, seeing through his intentions, and his desire to rip Sam's head from his shoulders.
His eyes went wide open, raising his sword, he blocked the claws, fur growing from Raymond's arm like a Werewolf's as he delivered crashing blow.
Sam's arms trembled, his muscles tensing as he gritted his teeth, his legs buckling, and his entire body shaking from the devastating hit.
He held his sword with both hands, one on the handle and another on the blade, pushing the claws away and deflecting the strike, sparks scattered through the air. In the same motion, his leg crashed into Raymond's leg, then his abdomen, then his jaw as Sam launched himself upward, raising his sword and bringing it down with a vicious smile.
Raymond raised his one hand, catching the sword and pulling Sam toward him, his eyes burning with hatred as he clenched his fist and punched. A rotting aura of decay pulsed outward from his body, the grass withering and the air turning foul as his fist connected to Sam's hands, raised like cross to prevent greater damage.
What a hell... He thought as he felt tremendous strength behind the strike, slamming hin upon the ground and forcing him to roll through the dirt.
His chest rising and falling as he felt air leaving his lungs, blood dripping from hus mouth, sliding down his chin, his body growing disorientated and vision blurry as he hit his own head, trying to snap out of it.
However, he wasn't discouraged. Instead he looked up, cracking his neck and stabilising his breathing as he stood, leaning on his sword.
I need to look out for the frost and the aura of decay, I've already seen those moves so I can avoid them. The problem isn't that he has more spells, but the vast difference between our physical strength. He's faster and stronger than me, and besides, he has a near-immortal body... Hmm, think, think, think. How can I... Eh? That could actually work, hahaha.
That's right, corpsefucker might be stronger but he's no match for stable boy.
He grinned, swinging his sword and the blood flew from the blade in a clean arc, dashing forward with anticipation, smile of exhilaration splitting his face.
Let's do this then!
His reptilian eyes went wide. Sensing Raymond's desire and instantly rooted himself in place, dust rising as his boots found purchase, then leaped forward with astonishing speed.
In the next second, chilling vapour spread outward, white consuming everything as the ground turned to ice.
However, that wasn't something Sam was worried about right now, since he was already in the air. He grabbed a bent steel rail hanging from the destroyed bridge, using it to twist and redirect his momentum, and launched himself downward, sword raised to split Raymond in half.
Sensing the danger, Raymond elongated his nails into dagger-like sharp claws to block the strike, his eyes desperate and crazed but Sam, who possessed the ability to sense desires, knew his intention, and his vast experience allowed him to outmanoeuvre him.
His bloodshot, wide eyes observed everything in detail, darting around the area and analysing it all with stunning precision while he kept attention to Raymond's intentions through [Desire Sense], processing information granted by his spell and using it to plan his next attack.
As he fell, time seemed to slow, and then he dropped his sword, twisted his body backward mid-air and kicked the blade, ricocheting himself away while driving the sword into Raymond's neck.
"Hahaaa..." Sam let out a laugh as he stared at Raymond, falling in the dirt and rolling backwards to jump to his feet.
But Raymond didn't scream in pain, nor did he show any reaction. He simply stared at Sam coldly, reached up, and ripped the sword from his own neck as though it had done nothing at all.
Then he raised his hand, and every corpse, dozens of them rose to their feet, their expressions bleak and hollow, their postures hunched and lifeless. Some of them, limbless and mutilated, dragged their bodies forward, growling like beasts. One woman had her intestines caught between destroyed machinery, the entrails holding her back like a leash as she strained forward, reaching for Sam with a torn hand.
An army of the dead stood between them.
"Oh..." Sam remained silent for a moment, then bent down and picked up a bent iron rod from the rubble, swinging it once to test the weigjt. "Should work for now."
He said, licking his lips and looked up at Raymond.
"Give up. I admit, you're more skilled and experienced than I am. It's truly surprising that you can fight higher-sequence Beyonders despite being so weak... But skill alone cannot bridge the gap in strength. Give up, and I promise you a peaceful death."
Meanwhile Sam wore the kind of look that said you know that bastard is lying, but you listen anyway, smiling faintly as he held back a laugh and stared at him. "Sit down, you're retarded."
"Huh? Are you mad!? Can't you see the difference in strength!?" Raymond spat with venom as the zombies drew closer.
"Am I!? I don't know! I might be... But seriously, does it really matter?" Sam laughed, spitting at Raymond's outstretched hand from several meters away, the accuracy somehow more insulting than the act itself.
"Sorry but I will never obey a corpsefucker who can't celebrate the name of the one true God!" He grinned, wiping blood from his mouth and slamming down his iron rod, smashing the ice that was restricting his mobility.
"The one true God, huh? Are you asking me to abandon my Goddess, who is more real than anyone, and worship a dead, forgotten deity? How ridiculous." Raymond shook his head, belittling Sam. Since Sam had proclaimed the honorific name, Raymond knew which god he was referring to.
"The Ancient Sun God is already dead, boy."
"You should humble yourself before the Creator God who brought light to a lightless land." Sam spoke coldly, his expression turning murderous as he sensed Raymond mocking his Lord, his eyes emotionless and unsettling.
"And what if I don't?" Raymond raised his chin, grinning at him with malice.
"I won't answer that question now. But when the time comes." Sam shrugged, raising his hand and then...
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Gunshots rang out from above, bullets punching through skulls in rapid succession, bodies dropping one after another.
On the steel railings above the bridge, a young woman lay prone. She had pale skin, sea-green hair swaying in the wind that carried ash, a rifle pressed to her shoulder. Her left eye was closed. Her right eye, crystal blue and narrowed to a point of pure focus, swept methodically across the field of risen dead. She killed the ones who could move first. Then the ones who couldn't.
As for Sam, the moment Amelia fired he was already upon Raymond, his iron rod crashing into Raymond's abdomen, driving him back beneath the shadow of the bridge.
At the same time he glanced at Amelia, giving her a signal. His eyes were crazed but the intent was there, which Amelia understood with a nod, standing up and vanishing from the steel railings.
Meanwhile Sam dashed forward, putting his index and pinky fingers to his lips and whistling. In a second, a ferocious snort rang out and a majestic stallion with bloodthirsty eyes came charging from the forest.
Raymond cursed under his breath, coming to realisation that he was surrounded. Gripping the sword tightly, he slid back across the ground, balanced himself while raising his sword and coated it with frost, then brought it down with tremendous force, dust exploded upward as Sam leaped back to avoid strike.
"Come then, bastards!" Raymond's expression twisted with hatred, his composure finally breaking under the pressure of the curse, diminishing spirituality, and the rage he never felt before. "I'll butcher every single one of you and sacrifice you to my Goddess!"
"Fuck your goddess, dude!" Sam laughed, sliding low as Raymond swung again, intending to split him in half. However, Sam drove the iron rod into the debris at his feet, used it to pivot hard around the arc of the blade, and slipped past the fatal strike by mere centimeters.
At this very moment, Sam's expression burned with the desire to rip him to shreds, and the same could be said of Raymond. However, while one was enjoying the battle and fighting to his heart's content, the other was desperate and consumed by anger, his spirituality dropping rapidly and his mental state deteriorating with it.
They exchanged numerous blows, slash after slash, and because Raymond's body was already half destroyed, he couldn't keep pace with Sam. And the curse placed upon him was putting even more burden on his spirit.
Normally he would have abandoned the fight entirely and tried to escape, but he was so enraged, so consumed by hatred, that he wanted nothing but to destroy the boy before him.
Sam deflected a blow, turning his iron rod upward and slashing. Then he ducked to avoid Raymond's strike and delivered a crushing blow of his own, his eyes scanning the area and catching the dark stallion approaching.
Smiling faintly, he launched his body forward, dropping to his knees and sliding across the wet surface, leaping off the wall of the bridge and ricocheting backwards, his boots slamming into Raymond's face before he could raise his sword, [Desire Sense] predicting his every move.
Raymond groaned, blasted back with ridiculous force, only to realise something he had somehow overlooked...
Wait... Why did I keep ignoring the horse...
But it was too late. In the next moment, the stallion's hooves smashed against his spine, sending him crashing back beneath the bridge while Sam had already run away.
Above, Amelia stood tightening a rope around her waist, then systematically began dismantling the railings, cutting through everything that kept the ruined locomotive in place. Her eyes were sharp and focused, with no sign of fwar or hesitation. slowly, the bridge groaned beneath her. A deep, resonant crack split the air as locomotive started shaking ominously.
At the same time, Raymond hit the water below, his bones shattered and expression filled with disbelief and rage, leaning on his ome hand to stand up, dragging his body only to freeze in place, his finger twiched as he felt his body shaking, despite being dead, looking up only to see...
"Oh..."
BOOM!
***
[A/N: okay, I'm a bit busy, so I didn't check for grammar mistakes. Seriously tho, it's such a chore ;(
But no worries, I'm sure the Dao of Reading Comprehension will come in clutch if I wrote some stupid shi.
Anyway, this small arc will slowly end, and we also learned about Sam's second spell, while the third is still hidden for now.
I'll also make an auxiliary chapie so we can observe his progress, since I forgot to do so but luckily, Eternal Sleeper reminded me.
That's it for now. Enjoy the meal.
PS: Horsy is goated.]