Fragments

Ch.29 - Wasted Effort

During their short walk between Station 2 and the border of Hinansho, the young men and women at the centerpoint of the operation were conjuring up their personalized approach in Reuel's absence.
"If we're gonna capture him, we should get some cage or restraints," Min-jun deeply pondered, "but we shouldn't make it too apparent… If we do, he can easily counter us. Does anyone have ideas?"

"Can't you make something with your shields?" Yin inquired, to which Min tensed up momentarily, still heavily discomforted by the suspicions about the Guild Tariru brought into his life.

"I guess," he replied quietly, "but I'll be at the front, probably without Reuel's assistance… Who knows if I won't be taken out."

"How 'bout I do it?"
From the back of the group, Ku raised his hand, showing the ring on it.
"I wanna maximize my power's potential, and for that I bought this ring, which I wanna use for restraining– expand it, and then close it around someone like one huge cuff… If that's not enough and we wanna be extra cautious, I can shape it into a metal ball to trap 'im inside of."

A short discussion filled with brainstorming ensued after the proposal, and a mutual agreement was eventually made – Ku's plan would be followed, his backline positioning would be perfect for observing the clash and finding opportunities.
The move was just as powerful as it could be obvious and foreseeable, so they'd get only a single shot at executing it… For that, Tariru would have to be worn down greatly.

In the present, determined to overcome their foe, the Guardians persistently attempted to draw attention away from Ku by spreading out and throwing various attacks from both sides, but the malformed behemoth reacted not, intently following his chosen target.
Only after taking a heavy breath, Tariru slowly crouched down amidst a shower of explosive rays shot from Yuu's drone, and drew his morbidly herculean left backwards, fully revealing he planned on blasting forward and demolishing anything in his wake.
"KU! GET OUT OF THERE!" Yin warned him from a distance, beckoning the man to start running around as well, hoping to throw the brute's aim off…

And shockingly, it worked, if narrowly.

Tariru moved at blinding speed considering his immense weight, swinging his monstrous left over Ku's head, who barely managed to evade, the towering giant suddenly next to him.
"Fucking hell… He's still unbearably fast," the Korean nervously thought, eluding mighty swipes of the club-like arm that followed and still clutching onto his ring while Yin turned the Reaper's backside into a morbid pin cushion.
However, being forced into close quarters, the biggest weakness of Ku's Sandbox became massively apparent – though he formed the ring into a large, scutum-shaped cover to hide behind the moment he saw his evasions fail, the blood-red, excessively brawny limb headed straight for him was overbearing regardless, and threw him into the air alongside the shield.

Any power he wielded was entirely external. By his lonesome, Ku was helpless, and possessed no means to overcome the unimaginable gap in combat prowess.

Once he landed, however, rolling to his feet, he looked ahead, realizing Tariru wasn't in front of him anymore…
But above.
"JUMP BACK, QUICK!"
Yuu attempted to shoot the Reaper out of the sky and change his trajectory somehow, while Ku instinctively acted as commanded, leaping away from his position…
However, the Reaper descended onto their last hope no matter their combined efforts, pinning his target against the ground in his left's inescapable grip.

Hopelessness befell everyone. Though slowly, Tariru was still regenerating… Still persisting. Without Min-jun or Reuel, they couldn't stop him.

The landing of the hunk of flesh quaked the earth enough to reach one of the men trapped in the factory's remains, but the problem at hand was that Ku, while drowning in his own blood amidst crushing anguish, couldn't escape.
"...I said I'd get you," Tariru whispered. "Goodbye."