CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.42 'THE INVINCIBLE RAT KING! RAIGO-NEZUMI!'

The moon behind the duo of Andrei and Alpha.1 was blotted clear out. Mere minutes had passed, and they had spanned half of the town in the search for what they thought would be a well-hidden target. As the sound of destruction rang out behind them, Andrei turned back to see a distant clash between indiscernible light and a hulking mass. He hesitated for a moment, but Alpha dragged his attention back to the present, both still traversing the rooftops. "There is no trace of Nezumi-Raigo behind us... whatever that is, it is no Chimera, or at least not the core of our target."

Gulping back worry, he nodded and picked up his pace. Now, he felt the strain of his ki aura beginning to set in, but he was brought back to a perky state by an explosive cloud of debris from their right. In the center of the town, a new mass, one of hundreds of interwoven tendrils had emerged from the ground, tearing it and leaving a massive sinkhole in the town center. "Contact, I'll be with you." Alpha continued, quickly shifting her direction by pivoting on a heel and launching forward into a gliding, almost missile-like form, her cloak billowing and her hair matching its motions. "This time I... No, we will not fail." Turning back, her patch-covered eye stared more emotion than her usual cold, calculating stare into Andrei.

Taking a stance, he refocused, and his aura seemed to only manifest brighter now. Okuri had told him what this power was... and with that meaning, the boy only wanted it to be his end-all more than anything else. "Right. Together, Alpha!" He shouted, leaping forward in their reignited feud with the crafty flesh-grafter, Nezumi-Raigo.

Time seemed to stand still, and Andrei was in a foggy clearing. The valley, Iya, surrounded him. Okuri stood before him. The wolf-man's ears sat atop his head, blowing gently in the wind, and the pelt cape draped over his shoulder caught some wind. His soft blue eyes were nothing like the man he had fought... though neither was he to Okuri. They seemed to have an understanding. "Battle brings out the worst in you, Andrei. You know that better than anyone, don't you?" He said, quiet.

Andrei nodded, looking down to the ground for a moment. The grass was grey in the thick condensation surrounding them, as were the finer features of the scenery around them. "The worst, but..." Andrei looked up, locking eyes with Okuri and nearly breaking their exchange. "But, I don't have much choice. Everybody I've come to know, they've been dragged through the mud by m-... Chimera, for longer than even I have."

Okuri of the Inu clan nodded. "You think they are frail?" He stifled a laugh. "Though I have yet to see them all, they give the impression of strong youth." Suddenly, Okuri's face dropped, and his eyes became serious once again.

"Andrei, tell me..." The hulking man seemed to grow in size as Andrei looked up to him. Not just his stature, but the aura about him, it commanded respect even from Ra in the back of the boy's mind. "... Do you know what else a battle can bring out?"

Raising an eyebrow, Andrei tilted his head a slight bit, like a confused dog in a way. Suddenly, he saw the man's arm tense, and before he knew it, he had subconsciously brought up his guard. Catching a fist, then stumbling backwards and falling flat on his rear end, he yelled over at Okuri for the sudden assault. "What the hell was that for man?!"

Okuri dipped his head and closed his eyes. A slight smile crossed his black, wolfish lips, and he stepped over to the boy, offering a hand for him to pull himself up. "To prove a point. A battle might bring out the best, either in yourself, or the others around you." Okuri opened his eyes, and Andrei grabbed his hand. "I don't know that you've quite understood that. You'll learn in time though, I'm sure."

Once more on his feet, he grumbled, and in the moment he felt a heat radiating off of him like fire. Turning away, Andrei stomped off, catching an observant Shimoda and Suzuko sitting just in the woods of the valley. "Hmph. Sure, whatever you say." He shouted back, an indignant look on his face masking the awkward feeling inside him.