The Dream Shifter

Chapter 239

Seiji pushed back with his body starting to stand up. Blood burst up again from his shoulder as he forced the blade in deeper. 'Sorry Yuki…but this is one man I can't forgive!' Suddenly, hundreds of papers materialized from the air looping around his disabled arm. They kept spinning around his arm faster until becoming a blur. Their loops became smaller until sticking to his skin. The paper quickly wrapped up his arm closing up the two long wounds and molding his arm back into one. A stronger glow came from his arm as it began to move stiffly.

A deep roar welled up from inside Seiji. He took hold of both weapons and stood to his full height. The act left Cosmas a little stunned and confused. Seiji stepped forward forcing Cosmas back. His hands tightened around the blades shattered them to pieces. Once freed from their threat, Seiji slammed his foot into the ground breaking it up around him. He rammed his fist into Cosmas' chest.

The punch blasted out a shockwave around the field slicing up metal. Cosmas nearly folded around Seiji's arm from the rushing force. A moment later Cosmas flew away, the impact finally carried through his body creating momentum. Trails of dust sped off Cosmas as he careened over the ground before finally cast into the earth.

Seiji stood over it all with his fist still extended and the look on his face unforgivingly harsh.

It took almost a minute for Cosmas to recover. He felt shaken still. The arrogance knocked off his face by Seiji. He pulled himself up coughing periodically. Once he stood up, he forced it all down. Cosmas focused himself to keep the fight going. However, he coughed again with blood spraying through his teeth. 'Impossible!' He looked down at his bloodied hand.

The darkness that surrounded him disappeared, but it actually made him appear even more sinister. It turned the air foul and a deathly atmosphere surfaced. Cosmas wiped away the blood from his face. "Don't think you can actually win!" His hands took hold of two new swords unlike the past ones. The blades were serrated to a ghastly appearance with black forged metal. "Forcing me to get serious…it's been a while…"

None of the posturing made an impression on Seiji. He began marching towards Cosmas with a look that said 'I'm finishing this'. However, Cosmas did not give Seiji a chance to make an attack. Five forms of Cosmas appeared around the field. Seiji panned his eyes around trying already knowing what Cosmas had planned. He charged forward to the one that he knew was Cosmas before he had a chance. Seiji rammed his fist into Cosmas, but it burst through weakly coughing up blood on Seiji. A fake, he realized too late.

A flash of black arced through Seiji's back. Blood sprayed from his body. Not even flinching, Seiji spun around throwing out his arm. Bone cracked painfully as his forearm slammed into Cosmas' neck snapping instantly and killing him. The force still sent his body flying away until it disappeared. 'Another…he's afraid…I don't care!' Rage ran uncontrollable through his eyes as he thrust off from his feet. He quickly took out three more fakes before the others got a few more swings on him.

Mocking laughter erupted again, but no longer from a specific source. Cosmas voice broadcasted through the air as though each particle emitted his words. It proved impossible to locate or escape. "I've been doing this before you were born. You can't beat me!"

The laughing started to grate on his nerves, however Seiji had no room for frustration in his body. Unforgiveable anger filled every corner of him. He could not even understand the first step of Cosmas willingly killing allies. All Seiji could do was swing his fists around destroying each fake. 'He's in here somewhere. I'll keep killing him until it's the right one!'

Nerine's appearance quickly became paler with each passing minute. Her stumps might have been bandaged, but it did not stop the blood from still flowing. She coughed periodically with each making her head feel even lighter and foggier. Her body felt tired. It begged her for rest, yet she denied it. The fear of death did not hold her on to reality. The sight of Seiji struggling painfully because of her kept her attached to the world. She still had trouble understanding it. 'He's already so injured, how can he keep going? What's holding his body together?' Her eyes remained transfixed by him burning everything in her mind.

Blood dripped upon the weapons of the field. Seiji stormed across to deal with another batch of fakes. He already killed more than twenty of them without finding the real one. Through all of the rage, he realized that the numbers never decreased. 'Endless…'

Cosmas orchestrated his fakes to make quick attacks on Seiji that focused on speed over power. He planned to chip away at him until he fell. It was not a tactic that he had to use often, but against ones with the endurance to overcome him head-to-head, it was effective. He would eventually win.

The fight felt a little disappointing once he got serious. It always bored him when he had to do things more roundabout. An execution had to be direct and exact. The fact he had not yet won felt like a bit of a failure in his job. He still had to deal with Nerine after the rebel.

He felt the battle starting to wind to a close with Seiji covered in small wounds all over his body. Blood coated most of his bare chest. It soaked into his pants. The fact he stood still after everything was impressive. "You've become so boring. You were much more interesting when you weren't just swinging your fists around aimlessly."

Seiji panted heavily from his spot, glaring at all of the copies of Cosmas. They all looked completely identical and their swords just as real. His body screamed at him, but he refused to listen. Everything in his eyes focused on Cosmas. He needed to bring him out.

Roaring with blood trailing off him, Seiji dug into ground to increase his speed. He disappeared from the sight of Cosmas. Explosions of Seiji's powerful fists erupted around him. Half of the clones died horrific manners before fading away. Cosmas replaced them immediately, but it was difficult to keep up. His hand subconsciously wiped away a bead of sweat from the side of his face. 'Persistent still…'

All of the clones died at his hands, but they came back. Seiji paused with them all surrounding him. They did not wait to attack. He fended them off with relative ease. However, none of them were the real one. 'I've kill them all! Where is he?! Where is he hiding?'

Seiji rammed his fist into the earth casting chunks in all directions along with a powerful shockwave. It ripped apart the clones. Hunks of stone claimed the remaining fakes. His head glanced up around at the terrain around him. Even all of the effort still brought on more of the same Cosmas. In fact, he was certain the numbers increased. It made Seiji slam his hand into the ground again blasting out another chunky shockwave.

The pounding made Cosmas legs vibrate and stagger. He found the frustration rather amusing. "Finally reached your end, eh? Giving up!? I told you couldn't win! It's futile! I will kill you and then I'll kill the woman you turned!" Another quake broke through the ground nearly knocking Cosmas off his feet. He did not understand Seiji's purpose, so he just laughed.

Pounding out a repeating pattern into the ground, Seiji built himself a deeper crater. He grounded out his teeth at the thought of Cosmas making good on his boast. Seiji took one final swing into the earth. Light blasted out from his wrapped arm. Chunks of earth sliced up in an instant and flew away surfing the shockwave.

Seiji's eyes widened for a second and he disappeared.

Cosmas glanced around expecting to see his clones dying, but nothing. Silence pervaded the air. Not even the explosive weight of feet echoed. He held his breath and lowered his grin a bit. Confusion sank in as the seconds became prolonged. 'Where'd he go? Did he flee?'

"…behind you…" whispered a deep menacing voice.

Only two words entered Cosmas' ears, but it made his body run cold. The voice penetrated so deeply into his body even he did not understand why it bothered him. Sweat dripped down his face. His eyes slowly pealed behind him wanting to know who stood behind him, while his mind already knowing.

Cosmas tilted around finally confirming Seiji towered over him. A dozen thoughts sped through his mind in the single second he stared. 'Impossible, I'm invisible!' However, Seiji stared down at him with no doubt in his face that he found Cosmas. The next second came and Cosmas swung his swords down at Seiji, but they never made it.

Seiji grabbed Cosmas' forearms while was in still in the motion, predicting his action. Even though he fought with someone he could not see, his hands did not lie to him. His hands tightened around his arms to crushing pressuring. Wrinkles grew around Seiji's forehead and eyes. The shaking in his hands did not stop. Seiji teetered on the line. His rage told him to follow his emotions. The light bits of reason he regained suggested something else that he did not want to consider.

Everything still tried to process through Cosmas' head. The pain in his arms blocked some of his focus. He tried to escape, but could only gather his clones to deal with Seiji. It made no sense to him how Seiji found him. 'I'm completely invisible with no flaws…how…How?! How?! All he was doing was punching the earth! How did he find me?' Strain on his bones from Seiji's hands snapped him back and shattered his concentration.