Chapter 11 JUDGMENT OF WARRIOR (part 2)
Abu had become even more brutal and ruthless.
He retracted his normal blunt chains and brought out his deadliest 'Knife Chains' from behind his hands.
These chains were forged of pure dark magic, and the curved blades at the end of each chain were sharper than death itself.
Maazin took a defensive stance with his Scimitar sword, but this time, the situation had entirely changed.
Aslam was lying unconscious on the ground behind him, and Maazin now had to shield not only himself but also Aslam's helpless body.
Abu fired four knife chains through the air simultaneously.
Pouring force into his legs, Maazin leaped into the air and executed a 'Sky Burst Drop'.
He descended rapidly, slamming his sword into the ground.
A massive explosive shockwave erupted, altering the direction of all four incoming chains.
But Abu's speed did not falter.
Abu dashed straight forward, closing in on Maazin, and activated his 'Orbit Crush Zone'.
Fifty knife chains began rotating around Maazin like a swirling tornado, slowly closing in. It was a death trap.
"I need to get out of here!"
Maazin gritted his teeth.
He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and executed a 'Chain Explosion Combo'.
He delivered five separate, consecutive slashes against the rotating chains, each slash triggering a delayed explosion.
The fifth blast created a tiny gap in the orbit, and Maazin rolled through it to escape.
But the moment he emerged, one of Abu's 'Soul Hook Chains' (a cursed chain that directly damages the soul) grazed past Maazin's right shoulder.
Maazin's eyes widened in agony.
The moment the chain touched him, half of his body's energy was drained in a single jolt.
He began to gasp for air. Maazin was about to collapse to his knees, but he made his Green Ring glow and used a mild 'Green Recovery Pulse' (healing burst) on himself.
It didn't heal his wounds completely, but it brought a little life back to his muscles.
"Aslam is in no condition to fight right now.
And on top of that, his right arm has already been severed.
Even if our other comrades arrive, we still cannot kill him together...
because of his body's regeneration, he is practically invincible," Maazin said to himself, panting.
A trail of blood leaked from his mouth.
"No... if I give up now, neither of us will make it out alive."
Just then, Abu unleashed his fastest attack.
Leaping into the air, Abu swung his black chains using his 'Spiral Bind Crush'.
Those chains wrapped tightly around Maazin's right arm.
From mid-air, Abu yanked the chain toward himself with all his might.
"ARRRGH!"
Maazin's bones were on the verge of breaking.
The sharp edges of the chain sliced into his flesh.
Overcome by the pain, the Scimitar sword slipped from Maazin's grasp and flew into the air.
With a sadistic smile, Abu looked at Aslam lying on the dirt.
He pointed his free hand at Aslam and fired a knife chain straight for his neck.
Maazin's mind went blank.
He had no sword in his hand, and he was bound by a chain.
He gathered every last drop of his life force.
He violently jerked his chained right arm forward (cutting his own flesh in the process) and used his left leg to kick the airborne sword.
The sword spun through the air.
Maazin caught it with his left hand and, without caring for his own life, dove directly in front of Aslam.
He managed to deflect the chain, but due to the force of the deflection and Abu's momentum, a second knife chain pierced straight through Maazin's chest plate and buried itself deep into the flesh just below his shoulder.
An agonizing scream was stifled in Maazin's throat. A stream of blood burst from his chest.
Abu yanked the chain back, causing the blade to rip through Maazin's flesh even further as it exited.
Maazin collapsed on his stomach onto the dirt.
His entire focus was solely on keeping Aslam safe, and because of this desperation, he couldn't focus properly on his defense.
Abu's next two relentless strikes left deep cuts on Maazin's back and legs.
Maazin's royal red armor, which had been standing proud, was now completely destroyed and shredded to pieces.
Maazin tried to push himself up on his knees with trembling hands.
Blood flowing from his arms stained the hilt of his sword, making it slippery.
Taking the hits and biting his dirt-filled lips, he thought,
"If we are to survive...
then I must make my sacrifice.
It seems my final time has arrived.
My journey was only meant to reach this far...
I always stopped others from becoming weak...
I stopped them from giving up... today, it is my turn."
The three rings on his hand—Red, Blue, and Green—which had only been glowing faintly until now, suddenly began to flash rapidly like hazard warnings and grew intensely hot.
Maazin had entered a completely different zone and aura. Every last limit of his soul was breaking.
Those three rings were growing hotter and hotter from the extreme heat, burning the fingers holding his sword, but Maazin had stopped feeling pain.
Feeling that strange, divine warmth, Aslam's half-closed, blood-soaked eyes opened through the blurriness.
"W-What is happening...?"
Aslam asked in a stuttering voice.
His blurry gaze fell upon Maazin standing ahead, blood dripping from his body, and a brilliant, glowing light expanding all around him.
Maazin suddenly shifted his focus away from the devil in front of him and looked back toward Aslam.
A calm, peaceful smile graced Maazin's bloodstained face. Looking into Aslam's eyes, he said:
"Thank you, Aslam... for staying by my side until the very end."
Hearing those words, a strange, horrifying dread settled deep within Aslam.
All his exhaustion vanished in a jolt because he understood exactly what Maazin was about to do.
"No! What are you saying?!
Don't do this!" Aslam screamed, crying through the pain of his broken chest as he tried to drag himself forward through the dirt.
"Do not put your soul core on the line!
All your power will be destroyed,
you will die!
No, no! You cannot do this, Maazin!
Do not over-push your power,
or your soul core will be destroyed forever!"
There was no fear of death in Maazin's voice now, only the stillness of a final duty.
"There is no need for it anymore.
If I don't do this next, neither of us will survive."
Aslam's tears fell into the dirt.
A grand and powerful Thunder Executioner was weeping helplessly in the mud today.
Crying bitterly, he said,
"But why?!
Why do you always do whatever you want?!
Every time, you refuse to listen to me and only listen to yourself!
Do you not care about the emotions of others at all?!
Please don't do this...!
Divine Disciples team needs you, you can't leave now..."
The scene in the silence of that valley was incredibly sad and heart-wrenching.
Maazin looked at Aslam one last time.
His smile deepened, becoming more genuine. He spoke in a steady voice:
"You have stood by my side my entire life,
Aslam... at every step,
we faced countless devils and dark times.
We never let each other feel weak.
We have always stood tall on the strength of our own hard work.
To this day, we haven't bowed our heads to anyone,
nor have we ever lost..."
There was a strange pride and passion in Maazin's voice.
"But today... today is that time.
This is our trial by fire,
where we must prove that we are not the ones who accept defeat...
but the ones who force our enemies to taste it.
We never surrender, and even in death,
we will not accept defeat...
even if this is the final life bestowed upon us by the Almighty."
Maazin softly closed his eyes, and his voice echoed through the valley one last time,
"Take care of yourself,
my brother... and the rest of our friends too.
Tell them that I never gave up...
and they must not either."
The very next second, all the rings on Maazin's hand BLASTED with a terrifying roar.
As those rings shattered, Maazin's entire life-force, his heartbeat, and the final limit-break power of his soul core poured into his Scimitar sword.
Every last drop of his physical body had converted into energy.
This was his one-time, powerful soul power attack, an act that would disrupt and destroy his soul forever.
Abu Al-Salasil stared intently at that horrifying, blinding light.
For the first time, there was a strange heaviness and dread in the emotionless devil's voice.
"It seems... I must respond to this." Drawing upon all his deathly and dark magic energy, Abu began to prepare his most powerful move, 'Eternal Shackle Judgment'.
Thousands of cursed chains from both the earth and the sky began to gather at a single point.
Tearing through the ground, Zaamir (Maazin) took his position to launch his final attack.
Glaring with absolute rage, he declared:
"Now your final day and your final moment has arrived, devil!
Your end is written by these very hands!"
A sadistic gleam flashed in Abu's blind eyes as he replied:
"Let's see whose end it is.
Offer your final salute to your loved ones...
perhaps you won't even be fortunate enough to get that time.
Take your remaining final breaths, human!"
Creating an explosive crater in the dirt, Maazin surged forward.
He screamed with all his might, fury, and his final burning passion:
"NOW YOU WILL DIE YOU BASTARD!!!"
Charging with full force, Maazin roared,
"AAAAAAAAA!"
This was his final move, the 'CELESTIAL FIREWORK FINALE'.
Abu had taken him lightly at first, but the moment the two attacks clashed, the impact of the blast and the sheer power of Maazin's soul were so intense that a horrifying pressure bore down on Abu.
Maazin's sword was tearing straight through Abu's chains.
A collision of light and darkness occurred in the valley that completely incinerated all the remaining air and oxygen around them.
A deafening 'KABOOOOOM' echoed, halting the very pace of time itself.
And then... everything ended.
When the smoke and airborne dirt slowly cleared, the sight was quieter and more horrifying than death itself.
Abu Al-Salasil's final dark attack had completely ruined Maazin's condition.
Maazin was standing exactly as he had been, but his breathing had stopped forever.
And right in the dead center of his stomach... a small, perfectly clear hole had been pierced straight through.
Abu's dark energy had shredded his heart, his soul, and his life-force in a single strike.
The faint sound of blood dripping onto the dirt echoed.
A lionhearted legend, in an attempt to save his brother and his duty, had drawn his final breath while standing tall in that valley.
Chapter 11 JUDGMENT OF WARRIOR (part 2) End