“I am a coward. I always was a coward”

Words that popped into Vigle’s mind. The dirt that laid beneath his feet was more familiar than it ever was. Maybe it was because his whole life was in that dirt. Despite having wings that could soar through the sky, he laid bleeding on the ground for most of his life.

Akane stood before him. Her hands were shaking as E waves were encircling around it. She jabbed her hand against the revolver, infusing Meto inside as a white light began glowing from it. Her eagle-like eyes locked on Vigle. Vigle let out a sigh. Unlike Akane, who was fighting with vigor, Vigle seemed disheartened. A fight which he didn’t want to fight.

“Why remember about this now… If I… if we want to secure our future… in then this is the only way!” thoughts that went through his mind as he ascended downwards. He took a deep breath. He focused his attention back on Akane. Closing his wings together as the feathers hardened like steel.

“Take this!” he shouted, letting out a gust of wind with feathers that shot out like knives. Akane continuously back flipped, avoiding the attack. As she did the fifth backflip, she let out a shot. The bullet pierced through Vigle’s shoulder as blood poured out like water leaking from a barrel. A bullet wound wasn’t something new to him. But the whole situation that was happening around him was adding a mental toll.

“I can’t sense Hugo’s Meto anymore. The rest are also occupied and boss…”

Suddenly, a distant memory flashed before his eyes. A small white wolf looked down at him. He couldn’t properly visualize the face, only a silhouette. Vigle had the same shoulder wound back then. Maybe that's what triggered the memory? He thought to himself. But there was no time to think about those old tales. They have engaged in combat with a rookie crew, unknown of origin. Vigle had seen his fair share of powerful foes. But Akane appeared intimidating immediately. He dashed towards the sky, the only place where he could dodge a bullet and still fight back. His eyes glowed white as wind began circling him in a roaring fashion.

“I can’t lose this,” He said as the wind slowly intensified.

“No, I will not lose this!” He shouted as a tornado popped out of thin air. Akane looked at it with awe and confusion.

“Wind Meto: Tornado Buster!”

roaring wind began surrounding Akane.

“This is bad!” she thought to herself

Back on the 49th floor, Sora and Vik were clashing blow after blow with their swords. Jumping from side to side as their blades pierced through the space, leaving marks across the field. Glasses were cut, tables were chopped and so on. Sora was still hesitant to use the force that was within the blade called Ashura. Using his silver sword, he was barely getting by. Vik’s six green swords that glowed with a vicious aura were overwhelming him. It was becoming a one sided fight, thus Vik felt disappointed.

“Tsk..” he let out a sound of disappointment as he pushed Sora to the side.

“That sword?! It chose you, didn’t it? Then why the hell aren’t you using it?”

Vik shouted.

Sora felt a little taken aback by those words. Shouldn’t Vik feel happy? The fight was going his way. But no. More than anything, no matter how scum of a person he was, he had a distinct honor for sword duels. ‘Fight to the end. No holding back!!!’

“That move you were about to launch the previous time. You couldn't do it because your sword broke. Then what's holding you back now?” he asked.

Sora didn’t know how to answer him. The only thing he could do was respect his wishes now. From one swordsman to another.

“Don’t underestimate me, you bastard. All that talk about fighting in your own style? What happened?!”

Vik lunged towards Sora. Sora, using his silver sword, tried to block the attack.

“Ancient Sword Style: Crimson Berserker!!!” Vik had let out one of his most powerful attacks.

“You know what will happen if you tried to block it with that sword, right? Not even that shit Meto of your can stand this attack!”

Sora let out a grunt as he reached his hands backwards, pulling out the golden sword ‘Ashura’. Vik smiled at it, looking at its glow.

“I didn’t want to use it.” Sora murmured. His goggles began glowing with a yellow light as he swung his sword in Vik’s direction.

“Because I know you can’t handle it. Even I can’t…”

The sword was about to clash with Vik. Witnessing the raw power radiating from the sword, Vik had already realized that this fight was over.

“So this is the power of a legendary sword…”

The sword sliced through Vik and his attack. But its power wasn’t something to be easily tamed. Sora’s hands felt an immense pressure surrounding it, as if it was almost about to rip off. The whole tower had been sliced. From the onlookers, like Liam and the villagers to the fighters, everyone looked in awe at what had just happened. Rocks began tumbling down the cave as they fell like rain down in the mines.

“What the hell is happening up there?” Ken thought to himself.

“The sword of hell Ashura…” Kuro gritted his teeth in anger looking at the situation.

Akane couldn’t properly hold on to her gun, much less aim. Even staying on the roof became a tough task. Not only was the upper part of the building collapsing, but Vigle was also on her toes in the front. If he swept her off with that wind, then this fight would all be over. An almost 100 floors high-tower. Falling off only meant instant death, no matter how hard your body would be. She immediately pulled out a pocketknife and stabbed the ground below, anchoring in it, trying to not fall. Vigil wasn’t letting her have that chance. He swooped downwards, pulling his sharp talons in front. Akane had no choice but to let go. The wind flew her to the top of the sky, as predicted by Vigle. He dashed into the air. After all, this was his playing field. He believed he was faster than anyone in aerial combat, a feat of course he earned for himself. After, images of him were forming because of his massive rotation.

“With this speed, there is no way she can—”

His words stopped, his eyes widened, soul frightened. Despite hovering in the air, even though she was about to fall to her death, her eyes hadn’t left him. It was locked on. This caused a haste in his movement, the sudden fright of being looked down upon. Of course, Akane wouldn't let a chance like this go away. In her mind, time had frozen. She took a deep breath and pulled her revolver towards one of his afterimages. There was no way she was gonna hit him, he thought. Naturally, he doubted her aim, especially in mid air. But the shot was fired and blood was spilled. Again hitting him on the other shoulder. He fell on top of the roof while Akane fell downwards towards the mines. Vigle felt like a broken bird that was about to lose all his flight. A sorrowful but inevitable end. As the winds were howling around him, his vision was blurring. Old memories began flashing before his eyes. So this was the ‘Life flash before death’ moment he always thought about.

A Tale of Two Brothers, if that is how this story was remembered by Vigle. An alleyway that had no name. A small little bird and octopus-like humanoid laid beaten on the corner. It was Vigle and Vik. They were wounded, lying in the corner left to be dead. A loaf of bread beside them. It took a lot out of them to get that bread. The adrenaline coursing through their veins while running from the shopkeepers and taking the beating from them felt like a distant memory. Yet it had just happened seconds ago. Vigle’s visions were fading as he was bleeding.

“At least we have enough food for tomorrow.,” he murmured to himself. The light at the end of the alleyway was suddenly shadowed by 3 goons. Each looked big and healthy. One had a piglike face, the others were a cat and a fox.

“Well. Looks like we found the petty thieves that were causing such a ruckus.” the fox said with a laugh.

“Hehe. It seems the little twirps got beaten a little, meow.” the cat further added .

“Also, it seems they still have some food with them,” the pig said as he was salivating. Vigle tilted his head to the side, looking at the loaf of bread.

“No… no..no if they take even that then…”

As the goons strolled closer, Vik stood up with a wooden sword in hand.

“Like hell I’m going to let these fuckers take away our food!” he shouted.

The goons walked closer, cracking their knuckles and a smirk on their faces.

“Ah, don’t be like that. Food is scarce for all of us, you know. So it's only right that those who are worthy of it get to eat it!” the fox said.

“Like hell I’ll accept that!”

This was a time of great disaster. A story of 25 years ago…

Planet Demonia, 1997,

A dreary time for the northern continents of Demonia. The famine that engulfed the nations caused by an economic downfall and losing the 4th Omni war had added to that. Food was more valuable than houses, gold, property, and even life. During those chaotic times, survival was indeed left to the fittest. And Vigle knew he wasn’t that. His little brother, despite being younger, had more vigor and power to defend what was theirs. But vigor alone could never give a person victory. The goons began hitting Vik left and right without wasting a single moment. Vigle took a deep breath and instantly lunged on top of the cat, trying to shake it off from Vik. He knew this was a useless attempt, but that didn’t mean they could just give up their food. Despite being injured, the two brothers were fending themselves bravely as the giant pig looked at them, pissed and annoyed. But luck wasn’t on their side as the pig had joined punching Vik towards the trashcan and grabbing Vigle by the throat. This was it, he thought to himself.

“So you’re the guys who was causing all that ruckus, huh?”

A voice came out of the background. The goons looked behind to see a small white wolf cub looking at them. A straw in his mouth and a confident grin that could be seen from far away. Beside the cub were two other kids the same age. One was a red wolf cub, and the other was another pig.

“Hey kid, don’t you see we are trying to do business here? Scram now!” the fox said.

“Hmph,” the young wolf let out a grunt as he smashed the fox’s face right into the ground.

Both the fat pig and the cat were taken aback by it.

“So you guys wanna go at it too?” he said with a smirk on his face.

Those two goons felt something strange from the young wolf. Something frightening. But they knew more than anyone the importance of food. They lunged at the wolf. The wolf stood still, not doing anything, confident that they were not gonna land a hit on him. As the two goons got closer, a small rock hit the pig in the face. It was the small pig beside the white wolf. Whereas the cat was about to land a hit, the red wolf stood in front, taking the hit.

“Not bad,” he said. He then grabbed the cat and slam him down on the ground, breaking the cat’s back. Both Vik and Vigle looked at the acne, amazed by what had transpired. The wolf walked close towards them. A smile on his face.

“That was a pretty impressive run back there from that shop.”

“Who… are you?” Vigle asked.

“I’m Kuro. You guys seem cool looking. Wanna rule the world with me?”

The darkness that covered the alleyway soon disappeared. The light reflected on Kuro’s fur had a captivating glow to it. With the last ounce of strength he had left in him, he grabbed Kuro’s hand tightly. Kuro began walking out of the alleyway.

“We’re gonna survive this alright? Then let's go!”

He shouted as they ran before more people gathered. Vigle started at his palm, feeling happy and amazed. A blink went by and Vigle noticed himself sunk deep within the roof tiles.

Sora let the sword out of his hand because of the pain. He noticed from afar Vik’s body remaining on the ground sliced in half. But there was a smile on his face. He strolled closer, looking down at his body..

“I knew you couldn't handle it… damn it,” He said to himself.

Fight #3: Sora vs Vik, Victor Sora!

Back on the rooftop, Vigle slowly closed his eyes as the light that he saw back in his childhood fading away.

“So this is how far we go, huh brother? I’m sure you’re smiling like crazy, finally witnessing the power of that sword…”

His breath was slowly decreasing. His heartbeat was slowing down.

“I’m sorry, boss, we couldn't help you in the long run,” Vigle said, closing his eyes.

Fight#4: Akane vs Vigle, Victor Akane!