Raven had not expected another assassin to show up to the fight. He had suddenly been hit by a powerful Lightning Art which had forced him to release both Amanda and Leo.
Amanda and Leo were grateful to Nathan. They would surely be dead if he had not saved them.
"The Mind Hero..." Gasped Amanda.
"Another puppy shows up to the party..! No matter! I'll put a collar on you soon enough!" Smirked Raven.
Nathan ignored Raven's words. Instead, he looked at him coldly— apparently not displaying any emotion. He was concentrated on winning the battle before him.
"You two should get out of here and regroup with the others. I'll hold this guy off for now..." He proclaimed.
"What? Are you crazy?! There's no way that you can handle a Clique Commander by yourself!" Reprimanded Leo.
For a moment, Nathan did not respond. He tightened his grip around his katana and clenched his teeth.
"Throughout my life, I've experienced pain and many disappointments... These experiences made me want to become a hero so that others wouldn't have to go through the same thing as I did back then. But I've learned that it's not possible to save everyone from such experiences. However, I still want to save as many lives as I can!"
Leo and Amanda could hear the emotion present in Nathan's voice. They had realized that he simply wanted to test his newly found resolve against the Clique commander. He was not only fighting to save them but to also face the reality of his circumstances.
"Fine..!" Accepted Amanda in pain. "We'll allow you to fight the commander but we won't let you do it alone. I'm certain that you won't be able to defeat him by yourself, so at least let us give a helping hand."
"Okay, but since you're both injured, leave most of the fighting to me."
Raven frowned. He was unamused by Nathan's words. Most of all, he was upset that he had saved Leo and Amanda. Now the fight was three versus one which would be quite problematic.
Raven didn't want to admit it but he was the weakest of all the Clique commanders. It would be difficult for him to take on three opponents by himself even though two of them were already injured. He had to act quickly if he wished to turn the battle back in his favor.
"Teleportation Art: Shadow Transport!"
Without warning, Raven quickly used his teleportation Art to get in behind Nathan. He was trying to catch him off-guard with a vital strike to his backside. However, it would not be so easy as Nathan had trained his reaction time. He was fast enough to counter Raven's troublesome teleportation with an Art Style of his own.
"Lightning Art: Fading Slash!" Countered Nathan.
The sound of mini-thunder then immediately struck as Nathan countered Raven's attack. The speed and precision of Nathan's attack quickly left a horizontal slash across Raven's chest.
Raven screamed in pain as blood rushed down his chest like a waterfall. He had not expected Nathan's attack to be so fast. He had not even seen when the blade had struck him.
"Nice one!" Praised Leo.
Nathan smirked. He had realized that Raven had received little to no damage from his fight with Amanda and Leo. This meant that he was the first one to inflict such a wound upon the commander.
However, Nathan knew better than to allow himself to become complacent. In truth, he was still a novice when it came to the different variations of his Art Styles. Presently, Nathan could only derive three variations of his Lightning Art, two from his Wind Art, and none from his Death Art. In short, he didn't have a massive arsenal at his disposal compared to someone like Raven. This factor could be the difference between life and death.
Once again, Raven commenced another attack in his rage. He threw his chains fiercely toward Nathan while silently activating another Art Style.
"Vector Art: Rebound!"
Nathan promptly responded to the attack by deflecting the chains with the blunt of his katana. However, he was unaware of the Art Style that Raven had cast over the chains.
Due to this, Nathan's eyes widened with shock upon seeing the chains magically redirect themselves towards him. There was very little time for him to react. Even if he were to somehow manage to block the attack again, he was certain to take damage.
Fortunately, Nathan wasn't alone. Leo quickly came to his aid with the use of his metal staff before deflecting the attack.
"Are you okay?" Leo asked promptly.
"Yeah, thanks for the help! You saved me there."
Raven cursed underneath his breath upon seeing this. The battle was no longer under his control. He needed to think of something quickly if he were to win.
Following this, Raven launched his chains toward Nathan, yet again. At this point, it almost seemed repetitious. But in truth, he was hoping to utilize his chains to snatch Nathan's weapon. Once this was done, Nathan would be unable to properly defend himself.
However, to Raven's astonishment, instead of trying to deflect the attack as he had done before, Nathan dodged the chains with his quick reflexes. He then grabbed onto Raven's chain and activated another of his Art Styles.
"Lightning Art: Flowing Current!"
Suddenly, Raven felt a powerful bolt of electricity arc through his body. Nathan's Flowing Current transferred strong amounts of electricity to anything he touched.
In this case, he had utilized the metallic chains as a medium to transfer the electricity directly into Raven's body, almost leaving him paralyzed.
"Aagh!!!" Screamed Raven in agony. He felt as if someone was injecting him with a thousand needles.
However, Nathan was not finished. He then violently pulled the chain towards himself. This resulted in Raven being pulled toward Nathan uncontrollably.
Following this, Nathan slammed his elbow into the side of Raven's face. As if this still wasn't enough, Nathan then delivered a final kick to his stomach, forcing Raven to his knees.
Nathan now had the perfect chance to kill Raven. It was his decisive moment. It only required a single swing of his katana.
Unfortunately, he froze just like he did against the Beast King. Though Nathan had made up his mind to kill if necessary, it still wasn't an easy task for him. He came from a world where killing was not an idealistic thing. It was his first time experiencing the rush and the disgusting feeling that came with it.
"What are you waiting for?! He won't submit to you so you have to kill him while you have the chance!" Screamed Leo.
Sadly, Nathan still could not find the courage to move. Instead, his body trembled as he remembered Rosie and the Beast King. Was someone else about to die because of his weak heart?
Realizing that something was wrong, Raven looked up at Nathan in rage. He was a very prideful man and he knew Nathan had the perfect chance to kill him. To him, it seemed as if Nathan had taken pity and decided he was not worth killing. Due to this, he was steaming with rage.
"Are you mocking me??!" He screamed. "You had the chance to kill me and you chose not to!"
Stricken by fear, Nathan took a step back. The voice of Rosie screamed out to him from his memories like a scene from a nightmare.
"YOU PROMISED ME!!" Screamed Rosie's voice in Nathan's conscience.
The weight of his memories was quickly becoming too much to bear. Nathan wanted to move forward but it was still too difficult. This resulted in him hyperventilating before falling onto one knee. Sweat began bathing his face and his arm barely had enough strength to hold his katana.
On the other hand, Raven who was still steaming with rage did not hesitate to attack. He quickly swung his chain towards Nathan, aiming to take his head.
Upon realizing that Nathan was in trouble, Leo quickly jumped in the way with his staff to block the attack. However, though Leo had successfully managed to block the attack, the force still knocked him a few feet backward.
"Vector Art: Rebound!" Chanted Raven.
Raven immediately utilized his Vector Art to redirect the chains towards Nathan. Since Leo was still not finished recovering, he would be unable to get back to Nathan in time.
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However, Amanda was still present. She hadn't contributed much due to her injured leg but she knew that she had to do something or Nathan would die. She forced herself forward with pain rocketing through her leg. Thankfully, it seemed as if she would make it in time to deflect the attack from Nathan.
Little did she know that Raven had been expecting this. To everyone's horrific surprise, the chains made an unexpected turn and pierced Amanda's heart in a split second.
It almost seemed as if the world was placed on mute. Nathan and Leo could do nothing as they looked into the fearful eyes of Amanda. Her face was wrinkled with distress and her eyes were shot with disbelief.
The next thing that followed was the sound of her bloodied body hitting the ground with a powerful thud.
"AMANDA!!!!" Shouted Leo as he ran to her side.
Horrendously, once again, this was what Raven had wanted. As Leo ran to Amanda's side with his emotions on high, Raven swerved his chains yet again. This time, a powerful whipping sound was heard as Leo's head was cleanly severed from his body.
Nathan's face trembled like an earthquake. His eyes threatened to pop from their sockets as Leo's head slowly rolled towards him.
Stricken with horror at the death of two of his comrades, Nathan looked up at Raven's face.
Before Nathan could even utter a word, the sound of bone being snapped in two interrupted him. Slowly, he then looked down to see that his right arm had been severed by Raven's chains. Blood gushed to the ground beneath him as pain crippled his entire body.
Just then, before Nathan could even scream in pain, another agonizing sensation struck him. He then realized that Raven's chain had also penetrated his chest. Blood then gushed from his mouth before he fell flat on his face with his life quickly fading away.
"You damned little shit..!" Cursed Raven. "That's what you get for taking pity on me!"
Following this, Raven spat on Nathan and walked atop his head.
"F****** pathetic!"
Just then, as Raven was walking away, Nathan could somehow hear the pain his friends were going through. He could sense the presence of everyone around him fading away. It was a dark sensation he had never experienced before.
"Why do I let the same thing happen over and over again..?" He thought to himself dimly. "I hesitated yet again and now all the people I care about are going to die..."
A memory of Rosie's parents then flashed across his mind. He remembered them being eaten by the Demon Beast he had failed to save them from.
"Why..?"
Another memory of both Amanda and Leo being killed before him then also crossed his mind. His weakness was what had killed them.
"Why?!!"
Next, was the memory of Rosie being crushed by the Beast King. Her tiny bones snapped like twigs and her body became as flat as a pancake.
"Why am I so damn pathetic??! This is all my fault!!"
Additionally, a picture of his friends, little sister, and his mother appeared in his thoughts. However, the picture soon after began burning in black flames before disappearing into darkness.
"I can't take this anymore..."
Finally, one of Nathan's worse memories popped into his mind. It was the horrendous memory of his father, James Styles, abusing his mother and his little sister. He attacked them with a piece of hot iron that left a scar on his mother's back. This memory also became shrouded in a sea of black.
Suddenly, an ominous voice echoed inside Nathan's head.
"KILL!"
"I'm tired of it all... I'm tired of feeling this pain... I don't care anymore... I just want to be at peace. I don't want to do this anymore!" Cried Nathan desperately.
"THEN KILL ALL YOUR ENEMIES AND PEACE SHALL BE ACHIEVED!"
"Kill..?"
"YES, KILL THEM AND WE SHALL BE FREE!!"
"Kill..."
"RELEASE ME AND WE SHALL DELIVER DEATH TO ALL!!"
Suddenly, Raven stopped in his tracks to look back at Nathan. He was beginning to sense a presence that he had never felt before. It was sinister and dark which sent shivers running up his spine.
Soon after, he came to notice a creepy black aura that was now surrounding Nathan. To make things even scarier, birds and other nearby animals began to run away in a panic as if a storm was approaching. The sky then became pitch black, preventing even a ray of sunshine from leaking onto anything below.
Black lightning then sparked around Nathan's body, even catching nearby trees on fire. Gradually, he rose from the ground like a puppet being controlled by invisible strings. The wound on his stomach seemed to have instantly healed and his severed arm immediately reattached itself. Thunder then boomed from above followed by an unstable amount of Dark Energy which poured from the sky onto Nathan.
The power was so fearsome that it shattered the ground into pieces and uprooted trees like a scene from a movie. Everything around Nathan began swirling around him like a violent tornado.
Everyone in the surrounding area was baffled by what was happening. Fear seeped into their souls from the sinister aura that they now felt. Instructor Brady was the only one who had an idea of what was taking place and he was certain that it was nothing good.
Bloodied, both Brady and Waver stopped their fight and looked up at the sky. It was more than enough to earn their attention.
"Well, this isn't good..." Muttered the Instructor.
Nathan's eyes and body then began burning with black flames. His fingernails grew long and dark like that of a dragon. The atmosphere flashed black and white, threatening to gift seizures to anyone with epilepsy.
Even the plants, grass, and trees around him began to wilt as if he was bringing death to all. For some reason, even the screams of the dead could be heard throughout the entire mountain. All the lost souls came together screaming to create a cacophonous symphony.
Raven was now shaking in terror. He had never seen such power in all his life. The mere weight of Nathan's presence felt like it was about to squash him like an insect.
Without even thinking, Raven launched his chains toward Nathan. His primal instincts to survive had kicked in.
However, to his horrific astonishment, the chains became rusty and broke into pieces before even making contact.
"What the hell are you?!?!!" Screamed Raven in fear.
'Nathan's' cold eyes then drifted towards Raven as it spoke in a very bass and sinister voice, "I AM DEATH."
Finally, two dark flaming wings emerged from Nathan's back like that of an angel. It almost seemed as if Nathan was turning into a sort of dark angel. No, surely an Angel of Death itself.
Death then rose his hand and clenched his fist whilst looking at Raven. Without even touching him, Raven exploded like a grenade. Death had killed him in an instant.
By this time, Instructor Brady and Waver had rushed to the scene to see the horrible event unfold. Death slowly looked down at them as if they were mere insects.
Finally, Death then extended his sword towards them and with one final swing, everything exploded into darkness.