Chapter 240: The Ones Remain
The clash only grew more violent as both of them pushed further, their movements tearing through the battlefield with no regard for anything caught in their path.
Their weapons met again and again in rapid succession, each impact shaking the ground while the surrounding air warped under the pressure of their power.
The black mist around Myles surged with every motion while Red's crimson aura burned brighter as he forced himself forward with renewed intensity.
Then the rhythm broke.
Red twisted his body and drove his blade through Myles' defense at an angle that disrupted his balance.
The force behind the attack carried through completely, throwing Myles off his footing.
His body lifted and was sent flying across the battlefield before he crashed into a group of fighters.
The impact hit them like a collapsing wall. Several bodies were thrown aside while others were crushed under the momentum. Bones broke. Blood scattered. The force left them wounded or unable to move.
Myles didn't even have time to recover. Red was already there.
He chased forward without pause and attacked before Myles could fully land. His sword slash downward in a relentless follow-up that struck Myles and drove him further back.
Another attack after attack came immediately after. Red pressed the advantage he had taken.
The final strike sent Myles crashing into the crystal wall surrounding the battlefield.
The impact rang out sharply. The structure trembled under the force as cracks spread across its surface in jagged lines. Fragments of crystal chipped away and fell as the shock traveled everywhere.
Red did not stop.
"HAHAHAHA!"
A laugh tore out of him. It was loud and filled with rising confidence again as he continued his assault. The hesitation he had felt earlier disappeared completely, replaced by a surge of aggression as he swung his weapon again and again toward Myles without giving him any room to breathe.
But that momentum did not last unchallenged.
Myles also started to move again in retaliation.
His body surged forward through the assault, meeting Red's attacks head-on once more.
Fangblade and Noctyrix dagger returned to motion and slash and stabbed through the space between them as the black mist coiled violently around him. The clash reignited instantly.
They no longer stayed in one place.
Their battle moved across the battlefield in bursts of speed, appearing and disappearing between strikes as they moved from one point to another. Every step they took left destruction behind.
Fighters were caught in their path and thrown aside or cut down without intent. The ground fractured further, and the already chaotic battlefield fell deeper into disorder as their fight spread through it.
At the same time, not far from that storm of destruction, George was still standing surrounded by the aftermath of his loss.
For a few seconds there he remained still. The weight of Clara and Daniel's deaths still pressed heavily inside him, refusing to fade. But that stillness did not hold long.
It changed into something else.
His grip tightened around his hammer as anger began to rise from beneath the grief. It burned through him, mixing with the pain until it became violent and uncontrollable.
Then he moved.
George stepped forward and swung his hammer with brutal force. The weapon crashed into the nearest enemy, breaking through their guard and sending them flying. Then he turned and attacked again with a heavy and relentless attack as he smashed through anyone within his reach.
His swings carried the weight of everything he had lost.
His attacks grew faster and louder. More destructive. He no longer held back any strength as he pushed forward through the battlefield, using violence as the only way to release what burned inside his chest.
The grief remained but now it moved with him, turning into raw and destructive force.
Ethan pushed through the chaos and reached George just as another enemy fell under the crushing force of his hammer.
He didn't hesitate as he stepped into George's space and shouted over the noise of battle, "George! Get your shit together!"
George turned toward him. The movement of his head was slow, as if his body resisted pulling away from the rage that had taken hold of him.
When their eyes met, Ethan saw everything. Tears streamed down George's face without restraint, mixing with dirt and blood and snot. His breathing came in rough bursts, snot running as his teeth bared in a strained snarl that twisted his expression into raw and unfiltered expression. It looked ugly, broken, and painfully human.
Ethan stepped closer and placed his hand, still gripping his pistol, onto George's shoulder. The contact was firm enough to ground him.
With his free hand, Ethan wiped at his own face, clearing the tears that had begun to gather there.
"I already know what happened," Ethan said, his voice lower but still steady. "Daniel and Clara… this is because of Rafe."
"Yes," George answered through clenched teeth. His voice came out rough and heavy with emotion. "I will find him and kill him!"
"We will," Ethan replied without hesitation. "But not like this. Right now, we focus on winning this fight first." His grip tightened slightly. "Don't move recklessly or you'll get yourself killed too. We move together."
The words cut through the chaos in George's mind. The rage didn't disappear, but it shifted. It stopped driving him blindly and settled to more control. His breathing steadied bit by bit as his grip on the hammer adjusted.
He nodded once.
"Okay."
The anger toward Rafe still burned deep inside him, refusing to fade, but now it no longer clouded everything else. It waited for the right time.
Ethan pulled his hand back and glanced toward the battlefield ahead. "We need to regroup with the others."
His gaze shifted briefly toward the distant clash where Myles and Red continued tearing through everything in their path. The scale of that fight made it clear enough.
"For Myles… we shouldn't interfere right now."
George followed his gaze for a moment, watching the violent storm of black mist and crimson energy in the distance. Then he nodded again.
Without another word, he moved with Ethan, both of them stepping back into the battlefield with the purpose to gather with Kade, Samantha, and Victor. The only ones who were still alive in the group.
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