The Leviathan: Malice's Return

Subconscious Devotion

Estrea: It's about time you gave me what I came for. Now please do let me experience your speed and strength to the fullest extent.

Ryker takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. Now relaxed he gets out of his fighting stance and gets into a casual stance?

Ryker: No matter what I can't lose here. All they need is a little more time and they are depending on me to get them that time. Failure isn't an option here.

Estrea: What's he doing now? You think I'll stop just because you closed your eyes, I'll kill you whether you have the heart to look at me or not. Such arrogance is totally lost on me.

Ryker: I wish. Estrea, I'm a naive kid who can't seem to accept the world for how it is nor see it the way I should, all I do is go to school and come home as fast as I can so I don't have to deal with the looks people give me and slurs people throw at me. If your master truly believes that a no life like me is the Lost Son then I'd be better off accepting that title as opposed to what I am to these people.

Estrea: But you're so much more than a no life Ryker. You are the first person that I've run into that could outlast the effects of my Deadly Spirit. This means that you have such a high affinity with my Spirit that it wants you to escape unharmed.

Ryker: What?

Estrea: My Deadly Spirit is what holds my Sin of Pride. Actually it's more like the sin itself within my body. Attached to my very soul. My Sin of Pride truly adores you Ryker. You must be quite humble for it to want you.

Ryker: How fitting for a knight.

Estrea: What?

Ryker: I think your Sin is getting a little sick of you Estrea. I think it wants somebody that's a little bit more terrifying to take good care of it.

Estrea: Is he trying to steal it?

Ryker: Tell me Estrea. Do you think that the Spirit would prefer an Audacious and Hypocritical person such as yourself. Or me, The one and only Great and proud Wind Knight of Ranland and soon to be Storm Sage.

Estrea: Getting a bit cocky aren't we, here I was complimenting your humility and now you show your fake Pride that you use to mask your own self loathing just to look strong for the Oni girl. I must say Ryker that I am quite impressed that you were able to realize her virtue before she even did.

Ryker: The fact that I know exactly what you're talking about both impresses me and pisses me off.

Estrea: I felt it during our oh so lovely fight. When the Oni girl and I locked hands and made direct and eye contact oh man it was terrifying to look into those eyes. Once so beautiful and innocent had been infected with Wrath and Envy. I know you saw it too boy because you see the world just like I do. Her power, the Ice witches power and even your own were all fueled by your undying Chastity. Oh how heartwarming it was to fight such an amazing person such as Yurie. It reminded me of my fight with the twin queens of the Oni race. Yurie's 2 halves are so different, one so pure and the other so sad and filled with despair but through neither of these sources does her determination waiver. I could love someone like that. Ah yes I see it now, I see what you wish for so badly now Ryker. I see your deepest despair, your brother right? You lost him to. . . your father? Your loving father killed his own son oh how depressing. Too bad I don't remember my dad or I might feel sorry for you.

Ryker: Silence. My determination is fueled by nothing but my small will to live. I'll never abandon that because doing that would be abandoning all of the people I fight so hard for. They are depending on me to fix this and I'll do just that till the day I die. I'll forsake the gift of death and accept the curse of determination. I'll suffer through any punishment no matter how grand to save these people. I'll die a thousand times if I must. I am the Knight of The Wind and I bow to no one, not even the gods.

When Ryker moved his hand from the pointing position it was in facing towards Estrea. Estrea saw the orange eyes of the Helios race and felt the winds of Ryker's Intervention beginning to take shape all around him as the sky darkened all around them. The winds began to grow in intensity and the few remaining tree's were about to snap like toothpicks but Estrea only acknowledged this by flexing his own muscles. Now bursting with red mana and full of Pride and excitement Estrea stared the young Ryker down. Ryker's immense loyalty towards his allies had fueled his incomplete transformation while his Subconscious Devotion spawned a sense of desperation deep within his soul activating his Intervention. The two warriors stared each other down waiting to begin the final bout.