Chapter 45: Defiance

His brain was going blank from the tearing pain he felt. He vomited blood time after time dyeing the ground in front of him.

"Weak," Erin, now fully covered with crimson armor, walked toward Arthur as he grabbed him by the head. He lifted him in the air and Arthur looked into his eyes. Arthur could see many emotions such as rage, bloodlust, and – what annoyed him the most – superiority.

Arthur remembered his days as a scavenger, those days flashing before his eyes like the last moment before death. He always bowed down, not daring to look at them, tolerating any insults coming his way simply because he wasn't an awakener.

Strength. He needed strength to live with dignity. He needed strength to decide his fate. He needed it badly. He roared Jizo's name in his mind, asking for more strength. He gritted his bloodied teeth when his cries went unanswered.

Would this be where he dies? He refused to believe that. He had yet to accomplish anything, yet to prove himself, and yet to find his father and enjoy life. What kind of life was this? A dog's life of humiliation and toeing the line.

"Puh!"

Defiance filled Arthur's eyes as he spat blood at Erin's face. It trailed down from his cheek until it dribbled from his chin to the ground.

"I'm not scared of you, you fucking rapist."

His voice was weaker than he wanted, but it was enough to be heard. The hoarseness of his voice added a defiant tone to it, clearly showing his thoughts. He was tired of letting these childish people with superiority complex walk around without being called out.

Layla and the others looked at Arthur like he had a death wish. They all knew of Erin's notorious reputation, but they all looked away as long as they weren't hurt by him.

"Die!" He flexed his arm as he roared, blood-colored chains gathering around them. Arthur tried to use the last of his mana to use a protection rune and a healing rune, but his mana wasn't enough. He was in so much pain that he couldn't even lift his arms. He looked at Erin as a smile crept to his face. If he died, then he didn't bow down in the end.

As he watched the fist come his way at speed his eyes could only perceive as a blur, a figure stood in front of him. Since he was in the air and she was quite short, he only saw her blonde hair sway.

Miko held out her right hand to block the incoming attack, and Erin sneered when he saw this. He knew that her battle powers were weak, unlike her ambushes from the time they last fought. His fist collided with her small pale hand, expecting to crush it completely.

Unlike what he had expected, Erin felt his attack sink into a bottomless whole like he was punching a pillow. It was a nauseating feeling of dissatisfaction but he had no time to express his displeasure as he saw Miko extend her left hand toward him. Since he was holding the weak bastard who sneak-attacked him with one hand and punched with his other hand, he was forced to let go of Arthur to block her attack.

Unfortunately, he was too late to block her hand and it touched his chest. It touched him so lightly that he barely felt it through his armor, throwing him into a fit of confusion. A second later, red mana exploded from her hand as Erin was flung away by a power that he was familiar with. It was his mana that he attacked with earlier.

"Ugh," Miko fell to her knees as blood leaked from her mouth. The scene turned silent after Erin crashed into a closet, falling with his armor broken and a bleeding wound on his chest. His armor started disappearing as he started panting heavily.

The two sides have fallen, Arthur had no strength to stand up again and it seemed that neither did Erin. He was already fighting with Jin before Arthur ambushed him, and the last attack seemed to be enough to render him immobile.

However, the rest of the squad were still there, unhurt and at their peak, except for Layla. As she realized this, Layla screamed for the others to attack. Before they could finish Arthur and Miko off, Jin's summoned monsters started stalling for time as they defended them.

"Miko! Can you teleport one last thing?" Arthur walked with staggering steps toward the panting girl.

"If it's small, without mana, and inanimate then I can handle with what mana I have left." She answered, looking at him with confusion.

"Good, let's call for reinforcement." While looking at the summoned monsters being mutilated, Arthur tore a piece of his clothes that was dripping with his blood and gave it to Miko.

Using his breathing technique, Arthur started healing his wounds using the healing rune. He limped toward Hazel who was tied to a pole. He fell to his knees as he tried to untie the cuffs, but they were locked.

"I'm sorry that I'm late," Arthur apologized, but he was greeted with silence. As he looked at Hazel, he saw that she refused to look at him in the eye. He felt sorry at how traumatized she was.

"Arthur, we need to leave." Miko came over to urge him, one of the summoned monsters was dead. The squad now had some leeway to attack Arthur and his group.

"It's okay, help has arrived." Arthur looked toward the outside as he replied. It was then that Miko heard the assuring howl of a wolf. The squad halted their steps as the howl was clearly of a powerful monster. With a gust, a giant scarred wolf appeared. Its black fur shined brightly in the myriad lights as it growled at the squad.

Within a second, it appeared next to Arthur and his group. Its fur touched the tent's ceiling. The group retreated from the giant wolf after picking up Erin who was now glaring at them while holding his wounds.

"Miko, can you take care of the cuffs?" Arthur picked Jin up who was still bleeding. Miko nodded and used her replenished mana to teleport the cuffs away.

"You… rotten bastard." Jin was far from being thankful. He spat his words out although he was barely awake. "This all happened because of you!"

"I…" Arthur felt guilty because it was true. Things have escalated this much because of a single choice he made.

"Now is not the time, we need to leave." Jin looked at Erin and his squad who were now frozen because of the appearance of the giant wolf.

"Jin, this won't end well for you," Erin glared at Jin and Arthur, seeds of hate have been sewn. The latter looked at him with disinterest.

"Can your wolf kill them?" A chilling question came out of Jin's mouth, and Arthur was alienated by his calm while hearing it. He thought about it before shaking his head. Kira was strong, but the other side outnumbered them and had more versatile abilities. If they took down the path of taking them out, then it would be mutual self-destruction where only one or two would come out.

The group jumped on Kira's back while they stared down at the enemies. Erin tried to take a step forward before Layla held him and whispered something that calmed him down. Under the eyes of their enemies and the darkness, Arthur and his group fled the camp.