And so, Roswell found himself standing there, beholding the chaos unfolding before him once more. The dock was a mess, the people they intended to give to the war empire as slaves were fighting back, and now he found half of his crew massacred.
The people he had worked with, all sharing similar stories of falling into misfortune and turning to the war empire were all dying. Their blood staining the ship that they once all worked together to clean, to eat, drink, and then party over as if nothing wrong was going on beneath them.
In the corner of his eye, he saw the corpse of Aaron. His neck turned in an unnatural manor, along with the face of fear carved deep into him. Whatever he saw before he died must've truly been horrifying for him to keep looking like that even after death.
The other two.. were locked into combat now. Battling against the Awakened woman that was a ridiculous pain to keep contained.. as well as the mundane boy with green eyes, whom he had captured along with that other Awakened.
However, judging from the way that he was moving now and the fact that he was easily able to keep up with his two comrades, meant that he must've been awakened too.
'So he lied to me? Right.. no wonder he turned himself in so easily then.'
They had talked very briefly, but now he wondered what else he had been lied to about too.
He had been rebellious since the very beginning. And since he hadn't been wearing the soul essence suppressing choker as well, how he had so much strength wasn't at all surprising. Instead, what terrified him all the more was the woman that fought alongside him.
She not only should've had her soul essence drained, but she was starved for countless days and nights. And yet, she was still holding her own somehow.
Once he delt with this, she would become his next priority.
But right now, his attention was fixated on Azdin, as well as the the boy laying dead next to him.
Drewey lay crumpled on the ground, his body bloodied and still as his own blood darkened his hair. Bruises and cuts marked his face and arms, with thin streams of blood trailing across the ground beneath him.
Just seeing the sight filled him with an unbearable amount of wrath, but he held back those emotions tightly.
He had dragged Drewey along with him into hell, and now, that boy had paid the price in his place. He was dead.
But still, before he did what he needed too, there was just one thing he had to ask now.
"Hey, that boy lied to me about being an awakened, so I'm sure he must've lied to me about your flaw too, right?"
Azdins eyes widened a little. He had almost forgotten about that fact even, that he was meant t be non verbal. And it wasn't like he made an attempt to keep things that way since. If anything he had been incredibly loud.
"Answer this question for me then.. did he leave behind a message of any kind? Did he say anything to you?"
The tension in his posture changed slightly. He didn't answer right away, instead he weighed the options before him. Now was the perfect chance to get a surprise hit in, since he was already exhausted he'd be fighting at a disadvantage. He needed every chance available to him if he wanted to survive. And yet..
"All he said was Clea."
The name fell simply between them, but still, it got a reaction out of him. The resolve in Roswell's eyes seemed to falter, if only for a moment.
"I see."
Sighing, he reached his hand into his coats inner pockets, preparing to draw out his weapon.
**
Azdin held the Azure Saber as firmly as he could, which frankly wasn't quite as tight as he hoped. Even just standing was exhausting, and he felt that he would pass out at any moment.
'Essence exhaustion feels terrible.'
Even if he dismissed and resummoned the second Azure saber, he didn't think he'd actually last long enough to even get to use it. So if he could, he'd like to get the jump on Roswell first.
But he couldn't make any risky moves without knowing what weapon he wielded first. If it was something unexpected, he'd die without even being able to do anything.
'I need to hold him off for as long as possible until those two finished their fights.'
That was the only way he'd win.
So the moment he caught sight of his weapon, he'd strike. The moment he saw the glow of silver steel flash, he'd plunge his blade right into his chest.
'And kill him.. yes, I'll kill him. I have no choice but too.'
He had always feared having to get another humans blood on his hands.. but he couldn't allow his own emotions to get in the way of this fight. If he failed, everyone would be in severe danger.
He felt the tension coil tightly in his chest as Roswell's hand slowly slipped into his coat pocket. Time seemed to stretch painfully thin, his focus locking onto that single motion.
But before Roswell's hand even came back out, something flashed through the air briefly. He didn't even register that it had been thrown until it was far too close for comfort.
His instincts screamed at him to move, his body reacting a heartbeat behind the danger, unable to avoid taking a hit. As he leaned back, the small blade narrowly avoided his heart.
Instead, it tore through his shoulder, the impact jolting through him as pain followed an instant later.
'A knife!?'
Still, he did not even have a moment to regain his bearings. Pushing through the pain, Azdin tried to lift himself back up, only to see Roswell already coming upon him. In the same moment that he had thrown the blade, the man himself ran just as fast enough to keep up with it. Only being a couple steps behind.
Azdin could only throw a reckless stab forward, the motion rough and unsteady from his exhaustion. But Roswell was already there, his hand snapping out and seizing his arm, easily halting the strike.
He yanked him upward before Azdin could regain his balance, as the next instant came hard and fast. A sharp knee drove straight into Azdins jaw as his head snapped back, followed immediately by a crushing punch that sent him reeling.
The Azure saber slipped from his grasp, clattering uselessly to the ground as the blow ripped it from his hand. Blood and fragments of a tooth burst from his mouth, scattering into the air before being swallowed by the sea.
"Is this it!? Is this really it??"
Still gripping his arm tightly, Roswell yanked him back up again, forcing him upright despite his staggered state. Without hesitation, he drove another punch straight into him, the blow landing hard and unrelenting.
"This is what Drewey lost too!?"
His foot shot out low, sweeping Azdin's legs from under him and sending him crashing hard onto the floor. Unable to even guard himself, Roswell began to kick him again and again, each strike more vicious than the last.
"This trash? This garbage?!"
It was less of a fight, and more of a one sided beat down. By the time it was over, Azdin was hunched over on his side, desperately trying to stop the blood from escaping out of his shoulder anymore.
"I thought that would atleast calm this anger of mine.. but it isn't enough."
Looming over his battered body, the ship captain rose his foot high, ready to bring it down on his head.
But in that same instant Azdin's hand moved—dragging a blue sword from beneath him with what little strength he had left, as he then hurled it forward with everything he could muster.
Azdin dismissed the Azure Saber he had lost earlier before the fight even begun, however he did not have the opportunity to resummon it until now. While he was being beaten on the floor, he resummoned it beneath him so that Roswell wouldn't notice, for if he did he surely would've been disarmed.
But that wasn't enough. He wasn't strong enough to make use of it effectively in a head on fight, so he instead decided to save it for when Roswell let his guard down.
In otherwords, it was right now when he had decided that Azdin couldn't fight back.
Shock flashed across Roswell's face as the blade spun towards him, close enough that there was no time for him to move, leaving no space to dodge and only room for thought.
Atleast that was what Azdin believed. And to some extent he was right.
A single thought was all Roswell needed.
For a split second, it seemed inevitable, the sharpened claw was carving straight for it's mark with no chance of missing. Then impossibly, the blades path shifted mid-flight, it's trajectory bending drastically away from Roswell as it veered off course. Eventually driving itself into the ships mast behind him.
"Fool—"
Just as he believed it was over, Azdin moved once again. He surged to his feet in a sudden, violent burst, faster than what he seemed capable of just a moment ago. His body driven by the slivers of soul essence he had left, threw the strongest punch that he could muster within that moment.
This was it. It was everything he had. After this, there was nothing left. This punch would not be fatal, and after this he would be severely vulnerable. Even just one of the mundane crew members would be able to finish him off.
Which is why if he was going to die, then the least he could do was leave Roswell with an injury or two.
Letting out a raw, furious cry, his punch hurled forward, his voice tearing through the air with everything he had behind it.
But alas, that punch would never meet it's mark.
His body harshly jolted as something sharp drove through his back, forcing through him in a brutal instant as it tore out from his stomach in a spray of blood. The sound cut off into a choked gasp, the strength and adrenaline behind his strike collapsing as the reality quickly settled in.
Falling, Azdin could feel his strength already fading away from his body for the last time. He watched as his own blood escaped him again, now both only from his shoulder but also the gapping hole in his belly.
And the knife that caused it all gently landing back in the palm of Roswell's hand.
'An.. Aspect?'
"Well well.. colour me surprised.. I had to use my aspect twice!"
He had used it once to throw his blade at the beginning without even using his hands. Him reaching into his pockets earlier was a misdirection, to throw off Azdins timing.
The fight had been in his control since the very beginning.
"I knew it, no way would Drewey lose that easily. Atleast he left a nice parting gift for us too."
Kicking over Azdins body, he sent him silently rolling over onto his back. Before he could settle, Roswell reached down and seized him by the neck, hauling up off the ground with a firm unyielding grip.
He held him there, watching in cold silence as crimson blood poured from his wounds in a bloody stream.
But still he was not satisfied. Azdin needed to suffer even more, and die horrifically. Only then would he feel that Drewey's death had been avenged.
"I think I'll feel better if I watch you get devoured by those creepy things hiding in the waters. Yes.. you and your friend will make perfect fish food."