Soul Spark

6 - Parking Area Showdown

While the gunslingers were fighting in a precise and tactical ranged battle, further north, a more confined and up-close battle was taking place. Captain Zervos managed to recover just in time from his previous battle with Jackal. He and his strangely unkillable subordinate, Zawadski, faced off against the commander of the enemy strike force, and a powerful soulful who radiated with unique beauty.

“Zawadski.” Zervos said, seeing Klaus and Victoria emerge in front of them. “Stay by my side. We need to focus on decisive attacks.”

“I’ll set them up, you do the hitting.” Zawadski replied. He summoned his dagger and took a stance.

They first spotted them while on the first floor of a large parking lot. The sunlight seeped in from the windows, illuminating the battlefield. Victoria and Klaus were outside, and Zawadski went to confront them.

Victoria’s gothic black dress fit profoundly well with her pitch black hair. She wore a small black cloak on her shoulders, as well as a tiny black choker on her neck. Klaus, however, wore his tiny trench coat and a black suit underneath. He wanted to be seen as a man of class, even in war. The back of the coat had the Adler Group’s logo imprinted on it.

“You.” Klaus said, pointing his sword at Zervos. “You are the Heisei’s captain, correct?”

“Yes.” Zervos held onto his blade tightly.

“Then I believe it is our duty to fight one another.” He said. He bent his knees a little, his black shoes.

“It’s okay, captain.” Zawadski said, noticing the slight look of concern on his superior’s face. “I’ll fight the lady.”

“Fine by me.” Victoria sighed, getting on her one knee.

“Then it is settled.” Klaus muttered.

“Good luck, Zawadski.” Zervos said, taking a deep breath.

“That’s right. I am the captain.”

“It is my responsibility to protect my subordinates”

“When I signed that contract back then, and agreed to stand by Mr. Kamiki’s side...”

“This is the burden I agreed to carry.”

In the meantime, Klaus’ vision was getting a bit blurry on the sides. He only saw his target, but he saw him with extreme clarity.

Zervos barely managed to stop the sudden attack. He blocked the attack with his sword, but had difficulty even containing it.

“What the hell is up with that speed?!”

Klaus swung a few more times, each sword clash making a powerful noise. Soul-bound weapons have a unique trait. They cannot be broken, however, when they withstand too much force for the wielder to handle, they are simply unsummoned. It’ll take a few more seconds to summon it back up afterwards as well.

Zervos was lucky to have his soul expression passively activated. Had it not been for it, Klaus would’ve overpowered Zervos with relative ease. And he was just getting started as well. Once he kicked Zervos away, he broke the distance again, swinging his sword with incredible precision and force.

“Oh, it’s on!” Zawadski said. He charged at Victoria, who reached into her small black waist bag. She threw a pair of silver paper coins at him, and by the time they approached Zawadski, they transformed into sharp knives. One of them missed, but the other two pierced his body.

Zawadski tried again and dodged all three knives, and closed the distance. Victoria took a red flower out and threw it on the ground, releasing a hellish inferno that latched onto Zawadski’s feet and started roasting him alive. Zawadski dodged all the knives and quickly left the distance, baiting Victoria to use her flames a little too early.

“What? How did he know to keep his distance?”

Victoria reached for her bag again, but Zawadski broke the distance faster. He punched her in the face and grabbed her by her fragile and pale wrist, stopping her from reaching for more items. He summoned his dagger and landed a slashing attack on her face, but Victoria didn’t lose her composure. She crouched down and executed a perfect throw, slamming Zawadski on the ground. She quickly got a pale blue tulip out of her bag which turned into a powerful gust of water, knocking Zawadski out.

So Zawadski went for another punch instead of using his dagger, almost perfectly avoiding the throw. He kicked her away and sent a miniature slash that cut the waist bag open, revealing a collection of flowers inside.

“What the hell?”

“He’s not packing a punch, but his decision making seems...almost too perfect. Something’s off.”

Zawadski sent another pair of slashes which Victoria blocked. She picked up a small green leaf and rubbed it on herself, seemingly recovering her wounds.

“Flowers? No, there were coins too...coins made daggers, the red flower made fire, blue made water-” Zawadski’s thoughts were interrupted by a sharp gust of wind slashing his chest open, causing profuse bleeding.

He ducked and dodged the wind blade, with almost no injury except his hair getting a little messy from the wind.

“Red for fire, green for self-care...it’s something to do with colors. The flowers and the bag are for the items, and their corresponding colors do things.” Zawadski thought. “The leaves are gonna be the biggest problem.” Follow current novᴇls on novèlfire.net

“What the hell is up with you?!” Victoria asked, already starting to lose her temper. She looked calm and graceful at first, but her more uncontrollable colors began to show.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Zawadski asked in a teasing voice. He cracked his knuckles and prepared to dash in again.

While this exchange was going on, Zervos was being put on the back foot. The more Klaus charged at him and swung his sword, the faster and stronger his attacks felt. Soon enough, Zervos would risk being disarmed and decapitated...

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He stepped aside as soon as Klaus dashed in, trying to trip him. And it didn’t work. It was almost as if Klaus ignored the disposition completely, attacking him regardless. Zervos leant back instead of clashing his blade. He escaped the attack, but nowt without a large scar running across his chest.

“This is bad...his movements are starting to feel more and more unnatural.”

Zervos retreated back into the parking building, where he hid behind the wall and tried to ambush the next incoming attack.

“What type of commander retreats and hides?” Klaus said. Zervos’ gut feeling saved him. He quickly let go of the wall and protected himself, blocking with his blade just in time. Klaus rammed through the wall, almost ignoring its toughness and going right for the kill. Their swords clashed again.

“I can’t retreat. His dashes are gonna mess me up.”

“I have to remain up close.”

He went for the clinch. Despite being the best tactical decision, Klaus was a great wrestler back in his younger days. He managed the distance just fine, managed to drag Zervos to the ground just with his technique. The old man’s sense of battle was on a different level when it came to his ground game.

But Zervos quickly got up, landing a jab and a hook, and going back to swinging his sword in hopes of slashing the geezer. Klaus looked disappointed, and that disappointment burrowed its way into Zervos’ own heads.

“He’s right.”

“What kind of captain am I?”

“I’m their leader, and yet, I’m the one that receives the most injuries. They’re all stronger than me in combat. But for some reason, Mr. Kamiki chose me over anyone else.”

“I’m just weak.”

“I can’t even remember why they haven’t replaced me yet. They’re clinging onto me.”

Even though he was outside, Zawadski saw the situation.

“Captain’s having a tough time, huh?”

“I think I figured something out.”

Victoria touched the asphalt beneath her with her palm. It quickly turned into a river of black goo which destroyed the ground. Zawadski dodged back and weaved to the side, trying his hardest to not get caught. Even if he did, he just tried again until everything worked out.

He carefully positioned himself to be in between Victoria and the commanders. Victoria tossed a pair of small yellow pellets at him, which turned into a nasty acid on contact and burnt through his skin.

“No, not quite this one.”

Victoria prepared to attack, and seeing Zawadski take a few steps back, she changed her approach.

“What? I swear I thought the acid had struck him...did my attack never take place?!”

She chucked a purple rope at him, which transformed into a powerful tentacle that struck Zawadski, breaking his leg. A follow-up attack pierced a hole through his chest, causing profuse bleeding and leaving the soulful on death’s door.

“Still not this. Maybe if I get closer?” Zawadski thought.

Victoria prepared to attack, and this time, Zawadski got a little closer. She threw a silver watch into the air, transforming it into a larger spear, and it pierced right through Zawadski’s stomach.

“There it is!”

Victoria threw the spear again, but this time, Zawadski dodged it perfectly.

“No, I’m certain! The spear pierced him! Somehow, this guy is...resetting our positions? Now that I’m dumping my soul prowess into reinforcing my perception I can remember my previous actions!”

What was even worse, the spear didn’t just fly into the distance. It flew right into the fighting captains and pierced Klaus’ side.

“Captain! I’m so sorry, he tricked me!” Victoria yelled out, before furiously looking at Zawadski, who was enjoying his accomplishment to his heart’s content.

Zervos was surprised by the assist, but nonetheless, used it to its fullest advantage. He inflicted a heavy slashing wound on Klaus and pierced his stomach with his sword. But before being able to land the killing blow, Klaus retaliated and pushed him back.

“Maybe this is why.” Zervos thought, starting his counter attack. Klaus’ speed was back to normal, but with each dash and attack it started to pick up pace.

“When Mr. Kamiki introduced me to the fighters under my command, they all grew so close to me. I’m a weak man, I wasn’t even a fighter before my awakening. All my soul expression does is weaken and disrupt others’ soul expressions, which is ironic because in my head, I’m the one always disrupting the rest of my soldiers’ flow and battle. I’m just a burden.”

“But in reality, to them, I’m something more. It’s like I’m their older caretaker that they protect. Not because of strength or duty, but because of gratitude.”

“Every time I overhear them speak about me, it’s always the same.”

“They think I’m kind.”

“And they’re willing to protect me, no matter how much of a burden I can be. So I’m grateful.”

Zervos charged in, now, he was the one starting to overpower Klaus. Zawadski and Victoria both rushed towards them, trying to sway the fight. Zawadski charged in and tried to punch Klaus, but ended up getting his arm sliced off. So instead, he turned around and caught Victoria by surprise with a swift kick to her stomach. A spinning back kick threw her back.

Klaus was getting his old arse handed to him. The fight was taken back outside, and Zervos held the upper hand. But at the same time, his speed was continuing to pick up pace. Zawadski flanked around him and punched him in the back, breaking his focus once again. Zervos raised his sword, preparing to deliver a finishing blow. His face bore a smile, a sign of gratitude and appreciation for his soldiers.

And suddenly, a bullet pierced his chest.

Klaus sighed and fell back, kicking Zawadski away in the process. Victoria chuckled and rushed towards her captain. And outside,in the distance, was the gunslinger with luck on his side.

“That’s one out.” Danny said, quickly running into the building and entering the first floor. He unloaded an explosive round into Zawadski, breaking his face apart. Zawadski quickly dodged, avoiding the bullet before it was even fired. He fell back.

“Huh? He knew that I was going to shoot him?”

“Reload.”

Victoria approached Klaus and applied her healing remedies on his body. Danny loaded his weapon again. And Klaus quickly regained his composure, his wounds disappeared.

“So this is the guy with the revolver that Jian told me about.”

“Six types of ammunition, loaded in a predetermined order...sounds like a perfect matchup for me. The main issue is the other two...” Zawadski pondered, watching the three fighters square up against him.

“Ah shit, I knew the leaves were gonna be a problem. The old fart is back on his feet, and the girl keeps getting more and more bothersome by the minute. Combine all of their abilities...”

“It’s a good old fashioned 3-on-1.”

“Eh, it is what it is.”

“Get over here. As fast as you can.” He spoke into the earpiece, before taking a stance himself.

“I can only think of one way to kill them.”

“But I’m gonna have to fail quite a lot to reach that outcome.”

“Oh well, who cares.”

“Danny, he has some supernatural fuckery going on with him.” Victoria said, clenching her fists. She summoned her weapon, a large scythe with a dark wood handle and a silver blade.

“It doesn’t matter.” Danny chuckled. “I’ll just shoot him in the head.”