CHAPTER 37: EXHAUSTED

Watching their blades clash over and over again was kind of amusing for a little while since I never really saw people fight like this. People didn’t usually have fights around the junkyard or even in Ashvalis since most were too scared of what ranks people are.

This guy is definitely high ranking with the kind of speed and power he’s got behind each of his strikes against Veria.

She dodged with ease before going in for another attack as he parries her sword, the fight intensity seems to go up more and more with each passing second.

Would it be better to help her against this man or am I stuck watching this out of respect for her? I know she’s definitely capable of handling this fight, it’s just a bit concerning.

I wouldn’t want to lose my new ally because I decided not to help her... But that would also dishonor the fight that she’s having against the man. Does it even matter to have such honor in this day and age?

Her sword begins to emit that same blue light from before as her speed suddenly picks up, I lost track of her for a second there as she started to hit him with a flurry of strikes.

Left, right, left, right, down slash. He looks like he can’t keep up with her anymore after the series of attacks, his defense is crumbling.

"This sudden speed increase doesn’t make any sense." The man thinks to himself while trying to block the attacks.

Slash! Her next attack slices right across his chest and blood immediately begins to spill from his wound. Dripping onto the floor as he takes a few steps back away from her.

"Fast or slow?" She asks while staring at the man, a dead look in her eyes.

I don’t see the same energy in her from when she was fighting the lurkers, is it because they are humans and not some monsters? I guess that would be the most logical way to look at it.

Those guys I fought are probably going to bleed out and it’s already starting to weigh on me. I’ve never killed a human being before.

Bloodlust. Something you must resist, it won’t affect you right now but trust me it’s important.

I don’t understand what you mean by bloodlust. Why would I even have such a feeling anyway?

One of the bigger downsides to our power is the bloodlust we get from killing humans...

It hit me then and there, my heart was all I could hear. Everything around me has a red haze to it as I try to force myself to calm down.

This urge was unlike any feeling I’ve ever felt before... This urge to kill feels like a fire was ignited inside of my damn head.

Thud. I fell to my knees as I wrapped my hands around my head. Thump. Thump. My heart was echoing louder and louder with each second.

Veria is human right? So is the man she’s fighting so what the hell am I supposed to do to stop this urge... Come on I have to think of something or is it really possible to resist this?

It shifted into a stabbing kind of pain in my chest as my hand instantly dropped from my head to it. I couldn’t help out grab my chest as this pain tried to rip me apart.

"Rokuro what’s wrong!?!" Ghost shouts as she runs over.

You can resist it. I believe in you pervy Rokuro.

Monsters always existed in this world, even before the collapse. People like the men I just killed are those very monsters that your parents warn you about.

The ones who lurk in the shadows waiting for a moment to attack, so it’s justified in this situation. Regardless of the fact that I killed them, they deserved it.

I won’t kill a human being that doesn’t deserve to die so I need to calm down and breathe. Veria is a good person as far as I am aware so she can’t be harmed.

I listen to the wind blowing past me as I stare at Veria fighting the man in the distance. He was already close to dying anyway, she wounded him pretty good.

"Rokuro!" Ghosts voice echoes, almost as if it’s distant.

I know she’s next to me, but right now it all feels so far away. I’m exhausted. I never thought that finding my purpose in the world would be this tiring before.

Most people in the world look for that purpose and most can never find it, but those who do are cursed. That’s what I believe personally.

Veria’s sword slashes through the man’s throat and he falls backwards onto the ground. The fight was finally over and all I had left to do was contain myself.

Ba-thump. Ba-thump. My heartbeat was starting to quiet down a bit as Veria slowly approaches me. The look in her eyes seem to be that of someone who’s surprised.

"Don’t let me be right about you being a threat." Veria says while standing before me.

The red haze finally starts to disappear as I force myself to stand up once again. "I’m okay. You’re not right about me." I manage to say with everything dying down.

Good job. It’ll only get harder over time.

I’ll just have to do my best to only kill humans when it’s absolutely necessary. Not every human is going to be monsters like these guys anyway.

"I’m glad you’re okay..." Ghost says with some tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.

"Sorry for worrying you." I respond while patting her head.

We are all in this together right now so I can’t be worrying them with my power. I don’t ever want to let this bloodlust take over... I’ll do whatever I need to do to contain it.

I wrap the bandage back around my eye before turning back to look at the direction we were heading. A giant tower was in the distance, it was tall enough to reach up into the skies a bit.

"Let’s go. It’s not that far now." Veria says as she walks past, sheathing her sword once again.

Seems she is getting used to leading the way, I don’t know how I feel about that.