(Kalemonath 6, 56 / 7:24PM)

  Two weeks after the colpse of Ticia.

  (Gwen) Who's this fellow?

  (Benn) Don’t know.

  Both Gwen and Benn looked at the sweat-drenched, dark-complected old teenager that was right in front of them, his arms motionless to gravity as his legs wobbled back and forth. His hair was messy and oily, and both Gwen and Benn noticed the amount of dandrum that riddled the teen’s burly shoulders.

  (???) Please! You got to help me! I-I have nowhere to go…

  (Gwen) Hmm …

  Gwen tilted her head to the right as she pced her right hand onto her right cheek, her palms staining her skin with her calloused hands.

  Benn, who put both of his hands onto his sides, hunched his back forward as he squinted at the old teen. Peering into the depths of the unwashed and hungry teen, he wrinkled his nose as the smell of body odor radiated from him.

  (Benn) When was the st time you showered?

  (???) I don’t know how long… but I need somepce to stay, e-even if it means being—

  (Gwen) Do you want to be a soldier that bad?

  Gwen slowly walked forward toward the dark-complected teen, her hands now on her hips as she swayed them back and forth, even though she didn’t have any curves to begin with.

  Straightening her back and clearing her throat, she inhaled an abundance of air into her newly pink lungs, trapping the air as if it were a balloon.

  (Gwen) Do you know how grueling it would be?

  (???) I know that training would be hard … but if it means to survive, then…

  The teen looked away onto the asphalt ground, panning his eyes away from the smug face that the freckled soldier pinned on him.

  He stared into the cracks of the bck road, tracing along the cracks as it eventually led up toward the boots of the woman in front of him. His mouth opened wide, the old teen curled his hands as he then looked up toward the freckled woman, his eyes making a fiery gre.

  (???) Then I’ll be more and happy to do it.

  Tapping her chin with her pointer finger, Gwen gnced at the shark-human who continued to fold his arms at the teen.

  Noticing that the dark-complected teen gnced at the shark-human repeatedly, the old teenager took a step to the left as he silently clicked his tongue. Focusing his full attention on her, Gwen let out a cheerful smile that reached toward the height of her ears.

  (Gwen) Well, if you are going to be a soldier for us, then we could put you on the list of candidates.

  (???) Candidates?

  (Gwen) We’re doing a little program. Even though you’ll be the oldest one in the bunch, I’m sure you’ll fit right in.

  (???) Oh okay …

  Csping both of her hands, Gwen tilted her head to the right, forming a peachy facial expression that caused both Benn and the teen to fluster.

  Walking off toward a brown van that was fully loaded with ammunition and weapons, the teen pushed both of his heels off the ground, his body already in turmoil from the ck of food. Pcing both of his hands on his stomach, he noticed the two soldiers staring at him in front, causing him to straighten his posture despite his abdomen feeling as if it might implode.

  Tapping both of his lips, he looked toward the freckled woman who still eyed him.

  (???) I could drive. I drove from my hometown to here in one day…

  (Gwen) Hmm … sure, as long as you drive and let us do the heavy work, then it’ll be ok. What’s your name anyway?

  (???) Oh, the name’s Miles. Miles Brown.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Libertatem 1, 59 / 5:36AM)

  Light glowed all around the darkened corners that drowned for the heap of light.

  Air as sharp as samurai bdes, friction as dense as lightning.

  All around the two strongest fighters were nothing but the crusted air that was circling all around the room.

  Her heels pushed off the ground, Gwen arched her hand back as she pinned her eyes on the filing old man with light green hair. As his body soared in the dusted air, his back smmed on the stone pilr that held the building, the stone already seeming to break apart from the impact.

  (Lazaros’s thoughts) So this is her damage boost huh… Not bad.

  His cheek was bruised but not bleeding, he focused his eyes on the incoming light that was hurdling at him. With his back smudged on the stone, he used his shoulder bdes that were stuck to pop out, making a loud crack as his old joints popped out of pce.

  Able to freely move his hands, he also was able to freely move his legs.

  Having both of his feet on the ground, the floor beneath him soon thundered as the wind glided away the decade-old dust. Creating a mini dust storm with just the push of his feet, he arched his entire body backward so that the punch from Gwen wouldn’t pelt him.

  (Lazaros) Is that all you got?!

  Pushing herself off the stone cement again, she then twirled around repeatedly as the wind around her became as sharp as obsidian. Unable to even motion the twirl with his old eyes, Lazaros continued to sprint and jump backward to avoid the deafening punches from Gwen.

  Moving around all over the room, a bead of sweat trickled down from the corner of his left eye.

  Analyzing her with his own eyes, he barely dodged each punch and thrust as he took in the sight of her eloquent punches. With one of the punches sliding off the tip of his nose, his hands and arms that were motionless to his sides, soon extended upward in an instant.

  (Lazaros’s thoughts) How’s this?

  Gwen immediately pushed herself back many feet away from him, her boots creating a chain of sparkles that lit the ground with friction. Her boots still clinging onto the stone beneath her feet, she extended both of her arms outward as she showcased the outlines of her callused hands.

  Light emitting from the ends of her hands, two light whips formed with the snap of a finger.

  Having a death grip on the light whips, she crouched downward as she readied her stance, the ends of her whips touching the ground.

  And with a simple thrust of her heels, she yet again charged forth, with weapons that she could use instead of her bare fists.

  This time, one of the whips managed to strike right where his left hand was, his eyes not even able to configure the speed at which it was drawn.

  Pulling his left hand toward his body, he grits his mors shut as he soon gred at her, his light green eyes making their rays of light. Motioning his head upward, he noticed the window that was on top of the ceiling, the only way to reach the surface without taking the stairs.

  (Lazaros) How about we take this upstairs!

  Instead of pushing both of his feet, he only needed to use his right foot to unch himself upward.

  And with that right foot, he barreled the air like a turbulent bullet, his white robe unable to ripple as the wind was too much for his fabric to handle. Looking upward toward the ceiling, he extended his right arm high in the air, making a curled-up fist as if he were a superhero.

  (Gwen) Get over here!

  Following him through the ceiling, her clothes couldn’t ripple through the crusted air that was too slow for the glowing woman.

  Having her hands down toward her thighs, the only thing that pierced the wind was her light whips, the ends of them whistling like a freight train.

  Finally, the old man’s knuckles made contact with the gss, the thousands of shards that were contained inside of that small window pstered all around his body. Yet even when the shards rained down lethal pieces of gss that could cut anything, not a scratch was formed on his skin.

  (Lazaros’s thoughts) Just hope that I don’t overdue—

  Good luck or bad luck, no matter what outcome was good in the end, Lazaros not only got through the gss window that lurked on the first floor of the ground…

  He also passed through many floors above the first floor.

  His right fist soon reddening from the metal and stone that he inflicted upon his knuckles, he clenched his eyes shut as bits of metal got into his robe. Going through each floor, the stone was mere paper for him as he remained in a Superman position.

  Many floors ter, his body came into contact with the bristling morning air, his eyes opening up again as he saw the status of the city in full dispy. Seeing his trump card still alive, the sky above him in a reddish state, and the darkened city surrounded in darkness, the only thing he could do…

  Was smile.

  (Lazaros’s thoughts) Oh, Lagefor…

  But there was one person who could put an end to this.

  As his eyes were drawn toward the beautiful sight, he failed to take note of a glowing light that was behind him.

  (Lazaros) Oh shoot—

  Gwen then pulled Lazaros straight toward her, his body being thrown as both were midair. Reaching the climax of their height, both soon started to fall onto the ground beneath them, but luckily for Gwen…

  As soon as Lazaros was in front of her, she holstered her left whip onto her left hip, and with her left hand, she curled it into a deadly left fist.

  For her thrusting punch aimed right at his left cheek.

  And with a simple blow, he flew to the right.

  As the air was finally rippling against the ends of his white robe, he sliced the air with just the bare bones of his body, his ears being hammered by the gusting winds at lightning speed. Not soon after, his entire body smmed onto the bckened asphalt, the location being around the southern area of downtown.

  Which was dozens of miles from where the Zirardge tower was located.

  (Lazaros) Oh, shoot…

  Dust surrounded his entire being, and a cloud of it darkened his vision. Deciding not to move his arms and legs, he gnced to the left and right of him to see the hole that he created with just his body.

  Cracks and splinters riddled in the gushed hole, Lazaros arched his body upward as his head was barely on the level of the street. Seeing the street filled with stone debris and litter, he let out a sigh, followed by a simple smile.

  (Lazaros) Reminds me of six years ago.

  Another crash came from the back of him, wiping away the dust cloud that circled his entire hole.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  Arching his head back, his entire world became upside down with the top of his head stabilizing his body.

  In front of him, a glowing woman had both of her hands and knees on the asphalt, drool coming out from the corners of her lips as they then littered the debris-ridden street. Her face continued to gre at the old man who y motionless, she slowly stood herself up as she dug her heels into the cement.

  Her chest breathing heavily, her heart on the verge of exploding from out of her chest, she walked steadily toward him.

  (Gwen) I’m … pants … not finished … gasps … with you yet.

  (Lazaros) Can’t we just take a break? I’m too old for this, hell, my back is stabbing my spine relentlessly.

  (Gwen) Does … gasps … it look like I care?

  Towering over the id-back old man, she curled her hands again as she motioned her head downward onto him.

  Seeing that his body was snuggling the cement that he id, Gwen clicked her tongue twice while continuing to store an excess amount of air in her lungs. Her glowing body flickered violently, and the light that came out of her soon started to fade, her eyes widening as she gnced at her clothing.

  (Gwen’s thoughts) What…? What’s going on?

  (Lazaros) I guess you could say that you outdid yourself. Because you focused your fight on me, you have no room to deal with my trump card.

  Lazaros soon brought himself up, pcing both of his hands and his knees to get himself up from the hole. Cpping his hands, an excess amount of dust and grime was swept away from his palms, analyzing his hands as he pulled them close to his eyes.

  Not only did he check every corner for any dirt or grime in his hands, but he also noticed that bits of mud and rubble smeared his soft woven white robe. Patting it repeatedly, he shook off crumbs of the city’s body onto the hole, dumping them away as if it was garbage.

  (Lazaros) That should get rid of most of the dirt. Now back to what I was saying.

  Gwen extended her right hand forward, her fingers spread out as her palms showcased her calluses blisters. Her head down, she darkened her face under the reddish sky that turned more ghastly by the second.

  (Gwen) There’s no time for talk.

  Lazaros put out both of his hands forward, raising them high in the air as his old knuckles creaked in the cold air that surrounded them. Letting out a sly smile, a bead of sweat rolled down from his right temple, his eyes rolled upward as to look up at an answer from the heavens.

  Returning his irises toward the steaming, yet slowly light-fading Gwen, Lazaros inhaled an abundance of air inside of his pink lungs, while casually letting it out.

  (Lazaros) Then there’s time for a show.

  Gwen’s nostrils wrinkled under a foul odor coming from behind.

  Turning her entire body 180 degrees, her eyes pinned upon the zompire that grudgingly walked toward her, the undead’s hands filing around as its mouth was wide open. With the light that flickers on and off that glowed her clothes and skin, that little switch that went back and forth…

  Shut off.

  Her glow finally faded away into the reddish darkened morning sky, no light bestowed upon the dying star.

  As she remained frozen by the zompire that trickled stones and sticks upon its feet.

  (Lazaros) Do you recognize that zompire? He’s someone that you’re close to …

  The zompire had all bck hair as well as its face painted with a ghostly pale color, along with the creature missing its nose and ears. For good luck or bad luck, Gwen noticed the genetic trait that the zompire had on both of its chiseled cheekbones.

  (Gwen) Freckles…

  Gwen didn’t let out a voice or meek from both her throat and mouth.

  Her vocals rested against one another, forming a small bnket to halt the words from coming out of her windpipe.

  Not only her throat, but her arms, hands, legs, feet, elbows, and knees; all six of these body parts that were needed to carry or push, to pull or be carried, all ceased to work.

  (Lazaros) Family reunion yay…

  Putting both of his hands into his sleeves, making a regur stance that he usually would, he tilted his head upward so that his eyes were peering down at her. Having both the crevices of his lips curling upward to form a sly smile, he let out a small chuckle with his head bobbing forward from the chuckle.

  (Lazaros) So what do you think? Pretty simir to the real thing no?

  Gwen immediately turned her entire body toward the old man.

  Unable to decipher her darkened look, Lazaros took a couple of steps back and soon gulped down whatever saliva was trapped inside of his throat.

  (Lazaros) Hellooo? Terra to G—

  He was then bsted away, gliding through the putrid air that choked up the entire city.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  Buildings came crashing down as a subpar human sped through the stone and wood like it was cardboard.

  His arms and legs filing outward, his back led him to become a wrecking ball that couldn’t be stopped, his entire body being a simple battering ram that had a limit of being subjective to pain. Since he had no way to stop himself, the only thing that he could do was to limit the gilded pressure.

  (Lazaros’s thoughts) Time to get serious now…

  Smashing through the st building with his dented back, he put both of his feet onto the asphalt that y bare to guide him. His sandals smoking from the friction and speed that he was still conceiving, he brought his right hand toward the center of his face.

  Having his finger on the metal of his gsses, he put them on the colr of his robe.

  And out of the st building was none other than a woman with a darkened face, her facial expression hidden away by the loosened ponytail that led her hair to be down. Having her arms thrust backward, her body can be perfectly described as being aerodynamic as possible, her entire gliding stance mimicking that of a peregrine falcon.

  (Lazaros) Are you using—-oh boy…

  Instead of wielding her light whips that she normally would use—

  Both of her hands wielded heavy glowing chains that mimicked that of normal metal ones, with the metal reaching the length of about two stories.

  Thrusting both of her chains out in front of her, the ends of them twisted and twirled until they reached the end of their target, the deafening sound soon to come for the poor Lazaros that was in front of them.

  Luckily for him, Gwen didn’t have her boost to begin with anymore, so even if her drive was motivated by pure vengeance…

  (Lazaros’s thoughts) She’s slower, but I got to end this soon.

  Using his left heel, he pushed the stalling air as he stiffened his body to become one with the wind.

  A loud boom of air cracking the oxygen needed to breathe, his breath soon drew weary and slow, followed by his lungs punching and turning his chest. With the air of the chains managing to whip the insuted air, it allowed a sonic boom to assault his eardrums.

  (Lazaros’s thoughts) Yeah, I really need to end this soon!

  Tinnitus arming his earlobes, followed by bits of blood pouring out of his left ear, he focused his old shallow eyes all across the little battlefield that they welded together. Peering through every corner and cranny of the many buildings that were several stories high, one building in particur caught Lazaros’s interest.

  It was the tallest building in the city, but he put the tower in the back of his mind as his eyes returned to the disturbed wind from the corner of his right eye.

  Resuming his dodging, he only amplified his speed to the max. Pushing him farther and farther away from the building where he emerged from, the only direction that he could think of was due north.

  As the cold blowing wind struck the back of his head.

  (Lazaros) Here you go!

  From out of his sleeves, he pulled out both of his hands that crinkled under the cold morning air that stiffened his joints. His hands gripping two pieces of metal that seemed unworldly and bizarre to the human eye, he showcased them onto the raging Gwen who had her hair blocking her eyes.

  Soon after, he threw them toward her.

  As if it was encapsuted with something, the two metals that seemed to mimic a handmade grenade soon erupted in the air around its vicinity. And since the explosion of both metals managed to make contact with Gwen’s jacket and face, the st thing that Lazaros saw was her face being caught in the lethal explosion.

  The air itself burst wide open, the light of the boom causing Lazaros to swift his head away as his irises burnt from the light.

  (Lazaros’s thoughts) I hope that’s enough to get her.

  Unfortunately, the smoke that soon formed afterward was swept away by a long heavy light chain.

  The tip of the metal weapon barreling its way onto the widened old man, there was a brief moment where Gwen’s bangs of hair managed to unfold. Squinting his slow and moving eyes at her, he caught a whiff of a sight that managed to stick his words inside of his throat.

  In that little sight that he saw, was none other than anger incarnate, her face pstered in a burning crimson red.

  Her eyes bloodshot, her forehead, temples, cheekbones, bits of her neck; all were riddled with blood-gurgling veins that sprouted out from underneath her skin.

  And with her teeth chipping away from the skin-tearing grip that she had on all fronts and ends, a tsunami of drool decorated the corners of her lips, chin, and mouth. Slowly opening up her mouth, the words that were held back for who knows how long finally emerged from her convulsing throat.

  (Gwen) AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

  Releasing both of her chained-like weapons again at the jumping-back old man, she swung them back and forth as the metal smmed onto random buildings that were in the way.

  Most of the highly structured buildings were crumbled by the pressure of just her strength alone, her eyes all too focused on the dodging old man who did his bald on the bckened street.

  (Gwen) AAAAAAAAHH!!!

  Her metal chains started to itch closer and closer toward the old man, dragging both of the chains on the ground lit up the asphalt.

  Accumuting an excessive amount of inertia inside of the chains, she then thrust both of them onward, the ends twitching by the time she already unched them. As the chains slithered like an aggressive snake aiming for its prey, she used whatever muscles were asleep to use them to her maximum potential.

  Which made it her st and desperate push, a finishing blow destined for a foe on equal terms as her.

  (Lazaros’s thoughts) She’s going to put all points on that…

  Barely able to see it, he saw the two chains in slow motion as they traversed the air that was whipped upon.

  And in slow motion, he motioned his entire body so that he was beneath the chains that glided across his unholy body. Seeing the chains barely grazing the tip of his nose, his feet that were close toward the lunging Gwen didn’t push forward, but—

  Pulled himself toward her.

  Moving his entire body closer than farther, caused both of his hands and arms to be whipshed by the sudden movement. But even then, it wouldn’t be a disadvantage to him anyhow.

  (Lazaros) Dumb move.

  Silence fell.

  She could see.

  She could barely hear.

  She could still see.

  She could feel.

  Feel bits of a warm gushing liquid coming from her lower abdomen.

  Now having both hers and his feet on the bck asphalt that was beneath them both, Gwen slowly tilted her head toward the area where she felt the warm liquid traverse out of her body. Not only did she see her blood nestling along the simple pavement down below, but she also took note of the—

  Fist that was lodged inside her lower abdomen.

  Quickly coughing out blood that belonged to her intestines, she couldn’t wipe away the reddish and slightly brownish liquid that traced down to her neck. Her hands still wrapping both of the long glowing chains, the light that shone from her weapons soon faded away, her weapons being withdrawn as they turned to air.

  (Lazaros) You know, when a human gets turned into a zompire, do they truly die?

  Her hearing was still audible enough to hear the cold words from his mouth, Gwen continued to gre at the smug face that encapsuted it in her eyes.

  The hunger and thirst that began to dawn on her started to fade away like the fresh leaves at the beginning of autumn, her body trembling under the unfelt pain.

  Despite a huge hole inside of her stomach, her bodily functions continued to push forward like a horse that has broken one of its legs but continues to work until it falls.

  (Lazaros) Well, if you want my sadistic opinion, I think that zompires don’t go to heaven at all. If you think it through, all of the corpses that they originated from were all human, and if they somewhat act human, then doesn’t that mean it’s the same soul but corrupted?

  Blood continued to pour forth from out of her quivering lips, her entire face soon began to turn a deathly white that could rival Terra’s gcier caps.

  Unable to even dig her teeth against each other, the ck of strength before and after her wound was ever-present. Drawing her right hand alone, it trembled under the animosity and pressure as she barely got it to reach the rge open hole.

  Intestines, blood, shit; her entire abdomen was open for the world to see.

  (Lazaros) If their soul is corrupted or trapped within a zompire’s body, then doesn’t that mean the said person doesn’t go to heaven or hell?

  Scratching her open wound, her right hand tried to mimic the action of her scratching her lower stomach. Her fingers not clinging onto a skin that would normally be there, she then slowly brought up her left hand as well.

  As she dropped down onto her knees.

  Her mouth opened, more blood poured as the warm liquid burned her soft and sensitive esophagus, the contents of her body mingling inside of her teeth and gums. Since her breath soon turned from a mist to the breath of someone who hadn’t brushed for over a week, Lazaros took a step back as he wiped away the bits of shit and intestines that were covered with his right hand.

  With one swipe of his hand.

  (Lazaros) Reminds me of a person having no mouth but they must scream. Or having no eyes but they must see the light. Either way, you get the picture.

  Using his left hand, Lazaros pulled out a small box of hand sanitizer from inside of his white robe, the small box see-through. Putting on 1/4th of the liquid contents onto his right hand, he put the little box inside of his robe as he scrubbed his hands repeatedly.

  Bits of sanitization stinging the ground and as well as his bare feet, the old man turned around to look at the west.

  (Lazaros) I’ve done my part. Doesn’t matter if Sidney wins or loses, but it will take a miracle for you guys to defeat her, now that you’re reduced to a mere dying woman.

  Pcing both of his hands into his sleeves, he then walked away from the dying Gwen, her forehead slouching on top of the bck asphalt that welcomed her with open arms.

  Both of her hands cradled the air that used to be her stomach, more intestines and blood spurred out from the depths of her insides. Painting the street with a reddish yet slightly brownish color, the smell that radiated from her decaying lower body wrinkled her button nose.

  (Gwen’s thoughts) Luke…

  Gncing at the tallest building in the city, she continued to look up at the edge of the building. Not bothering to push her feet up, or move her bloodied hand that dripped with her insides, her mouth opened as blood trickled from the left corner of her lip.

  As she let out a single tear from her right eye.

  .

  (Gwen’s thoughts) Please save me…