Chapter 65: Bloodlust

Luna Rosalina

Acacia City

Shendu Territory

 

“Dæmon Icircumflex!” Generalmon swung his axe down on me as a flash of light illuminated the area. A bolt of lightning descended from the sky and struck the Digimon, but not before the blade of his axe had found its way into my shoulder. Ignoring the pain, I pulled the weapon out as Generalmon dropped it, the bolt of lightning I called forth still electrocuting him.

“Ha…I’ll bet you’re sorry you wear all that thick metal armor now,” I said. “The Sage’s Bolas call forth an intense bolt of lightning, and metal is one of the best conductors of electricity…I’ll be truly impressed if your survive this.” I drew another cross on the gaping wound on my shoulder. This ought to help…Generalmon promptly fell to his knees. Steam billowed forth from the gaps in his armor from the electrical attack he had just endured.

“Generalmon…has been defeated?” Michalis asked breathlessly. “Why didn’t we help him, Sephyrus?!”

“He would not have accepted it,” Sephyrus answered. “A Digimon that prideful…would never request help from anyone else.” I sighed, and looked at the smoldering heap of armor kneeling before me. Generalmon’s fingers twitched, but he remained still.

But he’s still here, meaning he’s still alive. All I need to do is… I tried picking myself up off the ground, but to my surprise, my right arm wouldn’t move. Oh, no…did my spell not work? My arm can’t move! Why won’t the spell work?! A loud clanging took me out of my thoughts, and I turned my head to see Generalmon’s arm slowly reaching for his axe. The seven holes on his helmet’s visor emitted a bright red glare.

“You…will…perish!” he hissed.

“Not today, I’m afraid!” I quickly tore his axe out from his grasp and easily hefted it above my head. Geez, I’ll bet this thing weighs more than Zelda, Chrissy, and me combined! Generalmon’s helmet slowly moved as the Digimon looked up at me. “You won’t be getting revenge on anyone…Generalmon!” With but one swing of his axe, I sliced Generalmon’s head clean off. The Digimon’s blood came spurting out of his open neck hole, splattering across the front of my body. Good thing I’m still only wearing my bikini; this would take forever to get out of my clothes! The blood on my hands I immediately licked off as Generalmon’s headless body fell forward onto the ground before dissipating.

“And so, another Digimon returns to the endless abyss that is the Dark Area,” Sephyrus lamented. I was surprised by his sudden comment, and I had forgotten both he and Michalis were still nearby. “Perhaps—”

“Wow, Generalmon’s blood tastes amazing!” I interrupted, not really paying attention to the Bio Hybrids as I continued lapping up the blood that had stained my breasts, belly, and arms.

“…You scare me now,” Michalis said. “And I was already kind of afraid of her before, since she’s…so…pretty…”

“Want to try some?” I held my finger up close to Michalis’s lips, which quickly turned pale as he turned away.

“Let’s go, old man,” Michalis said somewhat weakly.

“Yes; we must report what has happened to Lilithmon,” Sephyrus said.

“What…did happen?” Michalis asked. “I can’t think clearly ever since that witch started licking up all of that blood…”

Zelda

 

“Show me the true might of your convictions,” the swordsman said. “Will you fight me to save the man you love…or will you avoid conflict so as not to see bloodshed?”

“No matter how many times you ask, my answer will always be the same,” I replied. “For bringing harm to him…for threatening his life…I’ll make you hurt. I’ll make you pay!”

“Then prove it to me!” the swordsman lunged forth, and I held up Thomas’s sword vertically to protect myself. The blades of the swordsman bounced up and slightly grazed my shoulders. I swung Thomas’s sword at the man, but he had already jumped out of the way before I could move.

Wow! This sword…it doesn’t weigh very much! I just hope I’ll be able to use it well. I just need to remember how Thomas used it… As I was lost in thought, one of the man’s blades whizzed past my head, making a thin cut form on my left cheek.

“Fighting you…it is no challenge,” he said. “I hold back, and still you do not retaliate.”

“You…you’re not even trying, are you…”

“If I had wanted you dead without the fight, I could have easily done so by now!” the other of the man’s swords flew through the air just above my head, very narrowly missing me as I ducked. I again swung Thomas’s sword, and though the man attempted to jump back, I made contact with his right thigh. His blood stained the sword’s polished surface, and my heart ached with a twinge of regret as the man’s face contorted with pain as his blood hit the sand.

Get a grip, Zelda! You knew it would come to this! I swung again at the man’s broad chest, leaving a thin stream of blood leaking out and down his stomach and staining his clothes. Through the pain, I saw him smile with a mild amusement.

“Good…for one with no experience in inflicting pain, it seems you are quite skilled,” he said. “This might actually prove to be quite entertaining after all.”

“Entertainment? Is that why you’re here?!” I asked. “You’re risking your own life just for a chance to become less bored?!”

“Not…entirely,” he replied. “As I said when we met, only one wielding a sword can defeat me, and after each death comes my rebirth, and with each rebirth, the memories of my previous life vanish without a trace, never to return.”

Rebirth…what does he mean by that? He isn’t a normal Human…is he?

“That is why I chose to fight you,” the man continued. “Without any swordsmen or women around to vanquish me, my memories will never be erased. Is it so wrong to want a few memories of my own before I die permanently, whenever that may be?”

“…No. No, there’s nothing wrong with wanting memories,” I said. “Every memory I have since joining Lachesis is very precious to me. But you…you threaten the life of the person I have the most precious memories with just to get them! As a member of Lachesis, I refuse to let that go unpunished!” The man lunged at me again, but this time, I was prepared; this time, as he approached me, I thrusted Thomas’s sword forward, and it became stuck in the man’s left shoulder. Once more, the man’s face became twisted in pain and agony. The fingers on his left hand unclenched, and the sword he had held fell into the sand.

“You are quite proficient with that sword,” he said. “However…that man is why I am here. If I am to live on, that man must fall!” The man shoved me out of the way and picked up his dropped sword with his right hand, which he immediately hurled in Thomas’s and Renamon’s direction. The weapon flew through the air with peerless speed toward the two, and had Renamon not shoved Thomas out of the way at the last second, either one of them would have gotten hit.

“Tommy, Renamon, are you two okay?!” The man’s sword fell to the ground, kicking up small amounts of sand and dust when it landed.

“Yes, we’re fine,” Renamon said.

“What happened?” Thomas asked. I turned and glared at the swordsman; his uninjured arm was raised, and he was prepared to attack once more. The sympathy and regret from making the man feel pain that had earlier filled my heart instantly vanished, and in its place came the unfamiliar emotion of rage. The expression on the man’s face was absolutely sickening; he looked so calm, as if he didn’t care if anyone here died. The rage I felt only intensified as I glared into his eyes; there was a look of bloodlust in them that told me he truly would have killed the most innocent child without provocation. It all happened so slowly in my mind; the man brought his sword arm down as I brought mine up. The tip of his blade nicked my forehead. No blood came out, though I doubt I would have noticed; my attention was solely on the vile man before me. Thomas’s blade had become stuck in the man’s wrist. The man’s other sword dropped onto the beach as he looked at his hand, which had become pale from the lack of blood. I removed the sword, and he immediately placed a tight grip around his bleeding wrist. He was completely unarmed, and unable to defend himself. In spite of this, I attacked him again, cutting him across his face. He stared at me in surprise as I attacked him once again, and again, and again. His blood was flying through the air — most of it ended up on me — and though he had fallen to his knees, not even begging for mercy, I didn’t let up. My body wouldn’t let me, but I didn’t try to stop it. Again and again, I struck him with the sword, as if releasing all the pent-up rage from my entire life. The man had soon fallen to his back, and I continued stabbing him in the chest until I felt a hand firmly clasp my shoulder.

“Slow down there, sweetheart.” In my wrathful stupor, I turned around and nearly attacked the person behind me with the sword. “What, you’re trying to kill me, now?” Luna asked. As soon as I saw her, the blade slipped out of my fingers. My eyes instantly became filled with tears as I saw my reflection in her golden eyes, drenched with blood, both my own and the swordsman’s. But what got to me the most was that look of rage and hatred I had in my own eyes, on my face.

No…Is that…Is that really me…?!All at once, the spiteful emotions I had grown accustomed to feeling vanished. My grief at the realization that I had killed a man hit my heart hard like a charging Monochromon. I was overcome with a horrible nausea so intense I feared my stomach would be ripped to pieces as I looked down at the dying man beneath me.

“You ok?” Luna offered me her hand and helped me up off the ground.

“Not…not bad…” the man said, coughing up blood. “Next time…it will be easier…”

No…No, I don’t want to get used to this!

“Well…that’s one more death for me…I wonder if I will…remember any of this when I am reborn?” the man asked.

“So…who is this guy?” Luna asked.

“…Don’t know. Wonder about that myself,” he replied, before fading away in a similar manner to the Digimon when they die. 

“Are you okay, Zelda?” Thomas asked.

“Oh…yeah…I’m fine…” I absentmindedly stroked my cheek where I had been cut earlier and examined the blood. Luna bent over and licked the blood clean off my fingers, but I barely noticed. My heart was still beating rapidly, my palms were soaked with blood and sweat, and tears clouded my vision. “Did I…did I do the right thing, Renamon?”

“You were only trying to protect Thomas,” Renamon said. “Granted, things did get a little hectic near the end, and I would have stopped you earlier, but you told me to stay with Thomas…So…” Renamon nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “I guess…I should be asking you that.”

“What happened?” Luna asked gently.

“That man came, and he…and he wanted to fight Thomas, and he did at first, but Thomas got hurt, so I fought him instead…” The tears had begun rolling down my cheeks, mixing with the blood. “He…he tried to kill us, and he…he almost…did…”

“He was clearly a skilled swordsman,” Renamon said. “You ought to be proud that you were able to protect your friends.”

“Proud?! I…I hurt him! Killed him! Why should I be proud of that?!” I burst into tears as I spoke. Luna pulled me into a warm and, in spite of the blood that covered her, very comforting embrace.

“…So, Generalmon’s dead,” Luna suddenly said.

“Oh…How did…that work out?” Thomas asked, clearly caught off guard by Luna’s statement.

“Well, he put up a good fight, but he was no match for me, of course,” the witch said.

“And the Medallion?” Thomas asked.

“What about it?”

“Did you get it back?”

“…Ffffffffuck!”

“Don’t worry about it, Luna; we do still have the Stone,” Thomas reminded her. “Also, they don’t seem to know that the Sword was also taken.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, now that all of this is over with, we should head back to the villa,” Luna said. “I hate to say it, Thomas, but you’re going to have to wait until we get back to Yew for me to make a potion for you to see again. The five different territories of Celosia each have their own unique way of studying and using magic as part of their cultures, and I’m only familiar with Valencia’s way of doing it.”

“That’s okay; I’m already kind of used to it by now.”

“Renamon, do you think you could help me get these two back to the villa?” Luna asked.

“I would be happy to,” the Digimon Spirit said.