A Wanderer's Lies

Chapter 52: A Thread has been Woven [1]

Isaac picked himself up from the ground, at the Juggernaut's feet as he struggled to catch his breath.

A puddle of blood lay beneath him as the Juggernaut raised its fist once again.

-BOOM

Rolling out of the way as a large crater was made where he previously was, Isaac pressed against his ribs as he stared at the monster before him.

'Shit shit shit shit shit!' 

Isaac cursed inwardly as his contempt for Ravenwood started to grow. But he knew. He knew he couldn't regret his decision now, after all, this was what he wanted.

This is why he came here. For the strong and unpredictable. He wasn't going to run now.

'Nah, I'll win.'

It would take a few seconds for his body to heal, but he was given no moment for respite as the Juggernaut bent its legs, all of its eyes locked onto Isaac, soon shooting toward its prey like a rocket.

Despite its large size and Isaac's Ren being active, he could barely keep up with the Juggernaut as Isaac could tell he was a little slower.

But his flexibility and small stature allowed him to slither past the first blow as it grazed his cheek, the mere air perpetuating off of it cutting his cheek.

In response, he threw a jab of his own, planning to go blow for blow with the beast.

However, he was deeply mistaken.

The Juggernaut tilted its head slightly as Isaac's fist was met with air.

'What…'

Surprised by its agility, the tides of the battle were once again tipped in the Juggernaut's favour. 

This became all the more apparent as Isaac suffered the Juggernaut's shin crashing against his ribs, the side with which he used to jab.

"KHRM!"

Isaac soared through the air, crashing into plant life and tearing through the ground, soon coming to a stop as he smashed into a tree.

'It's intelligent. It waited till I made a premature attack. That jab created a blindspot and left me wide open.'

Perhaps it was because Isaac hadn't expected such Hand-to-hand skills from the terror, but he ultimately blamed it on his ignorance.

'Everything is possible! Assume he's always one step ahead. Its skin is tough too. I doubt my knife will pierce, let alone my Vital Strike reaching his points.'

Using the tree as support, Isaac was glad to see the Juggernaut hadn't chased him down after attacking, giving him some time to heal.

However, his anxiety quickly returned as he witnessed the Juggernaut dig its fingers into a tall tree, tearing it from its roots.

With a heave, it hurled the tree toward Isaac as the surrounding plant life didn't stand a chance, all crumbling away.

Kicking off the ground, Isaac sprinted up the closest tree to him, leaping in the air and avoiding the tree that chaotically devastated where he once stood.

-CLAP

A clap could be heard as the tree he'd run up suddenly disappeared, replaced by the Juggernaut as he loomed over Isaac.

-BANG

Isaac once again suffered the blow, shooting into the ground like a meteor.

He lay in the dust cloud he'd created, hoping for a second to just rest. 

Even with the pain tolerance, Isaac felt as though he was being tortured, every blow dealing him serious damage.

-SNAP SNAP SNAP

Constant snaps could be heard, as Isaac looked up to see the Juggernaut constantly snapping dry wood into smaller pieces.

Slowly rising to his feet, a plan formulated in Isaac's mind as the two fighters stared at each other, unmoving.

It wasn't long until the Juggernaut tossed countless smaller twigs toward Isaac.

-CLAP

'No, you don't!'

Isaac swung his head toward where he suspected the Juggernaut, but he was met with a falling twig.

Suddenly, he shivered as he felt the heavy breath of the Juggernaut on his neck.

-CLAP

Twisting his body back, he was once again met with nothing, only this time, he caught a glimpse of the Juggernaut.

-CLAP

Isaac was once again left to think he might have been hit too hard on the head and started to hallucinate.

-CLAP

Not there.

-CLAP

He's gone.

-CLAP

Nothing.

-CLAP

At this moment, Isaac was merely a trapped mouse amongst a clowder of cats as his powerlessness became more and more apparent.

-CLAP

The Juggernaut blinked around Isaac at near-blinding speeds, and each time he did, he nudged the twigs he was closest to, keeping them in the air.

-CLAP

Even if Isaac tried to leave its blinking radius, it would simply toss a few twigs, entrapping him once again.

-CLAP

The Juggernaut even threw a few feints, making Isaac flinch a little but quickly disappearing once again, as if he were mocking the boy.

-CLAP

However, Isaac noticed something.

To keep this up, the Juggernaut could never let his twigs touch the ground.

'Whenever the twig is about to drop, he teleports to it, or a twig beside it.'

Knowing this, Isaac was quickly able to find the twig closest to the ground, and as he waited for the next clap, he dug his feet into the ground.

And as he thought…

-CLAP

Isaac prepared to attack, but…nothing happened.

Looking back, the Juggernaut lowered its body as it drew closer and closer to Isaac.

'It clapped…but didn't teleport.'

It's as if all time slowed down as Isaac could do nothing but witness the Juggernaut pull back its fist.

But there was something Isaac noticed. This attack was different.

Where the previous attacks were shrouded in a blue aura with black lines, this time, the Juggernauts used no aura.

The bare hand travelled to Isaac, inches away from making contact.

-CRACKLE

-BANG

However, in the last second…no, less than a second, the Juggernaut activated its aura as the space distorted while red and black lighting shot out.

Isaac had turned into a ball of black mass, travelling faster than a bullet as his trajectory and body flailed upon each plant life he crashed into.

After a while, Isaac lay with his back against a tree, his head lowered and darkened, unmoving as if he were a corpse.

Mangled limbs, rivers of blood and an insatiable hunger that felt as though his stomach was being torn apart.

And most notably, a gaping hole in his abdomen.

His clothes were torn, revealing skin while his mask had fallen off his face.

His eyes, dull and whitened. His breathing, weak and faint, Isaac looked no better than a man about to witness his last heartbeats.

However, not Isaac. The benefit to his hunger was the frightening healing.

So much so that as the seconds passed, his consciousness slowly came back, and it seemed his healing was concentrated on the hole in his abdomen.

With his sanity, came conscious thoughts.

'Too strong…'

Isaac thought, remembering what had happened.

The opponent was stronger, faster, more skilled and possessed a flurry of abilities which Isaac stood no chance against.

'Damn it...'

Was he in over his head? Did he let his success in the Dark Continent cloud his judgment, making him arrogant and cocky?

'Maybe…'

Perhaps it was just that, or maybe Isaac just had the bad luck of encountering such a Terror.

'Tsk, luck…'

Over and over, Isaac was reminded of his powerlessness. The Dark Continent, barely killing Silver and now this.

It made him feel a flurry of emotions. Annoyance, contempt and most prominently, Rage.

Usually, Isaac was good at suppressing his emotions. 

But not today. 

Today, he let them take over. 

He gave in to the Demons in his mind. 

The rage, the anger and the vengeance.

He let them all consume him.

'I'll kill him.'

The Juggernaut stomped toward Isaac, seeing the boy barely on his feet as his knees buckled and blood dripped from his body, the hole in his stomach healed, but it was evident that to achieve this, he had to neglect the rest of his wounds.

Dashing toward the boy, it was ready to go for the kill.

However, as Isaac raised his head, revealing his face, the Juggernaut quickly noticed something. 

A change in his eyes.

They were Crimson.

[Nen Proficiency: 3 -> 6]

"Ren."

-BOOM

The Nen exploded from the boy's body as the aura expanded to sizes that had almost reached the tip of the tall trees above.

Faltering in his steps, the Juggernaut stopped his assault before it was too late. 

It wasn't stupid. 

Even a Terror possessed their simple survival instincts, and the Juggernauts' instincts were telling him it was dangerous.

As evidenced by the visible dark aura oozing out from the boy, or in other words, his bloodlust.

"That hesitation…"

The boy muttered.

"...I like it."

The words seemed to have reached the Juggernaut, as it brought its hands together.

-CLAP

Where the Juggernaut once stood, was now a tree which had been uprooted, soon tipping and beginning to fall.

Meanwhile, the tree behind Isaac had disappeared as the Juggernaut stood in its place, swinging its hand which was shrouded in the blue and black aura.

However, to its surprise, Isaac's head was turned just enough so that his eyes stared straight at the creature.

-BANG

The boy was pushed back, digging into the ground with his feet planted, holding onto the hand, his fingers wrapped around it.

Coming to a stop, Isaac glared as the Juggernaut failed to escape from his grasp.

One could see Isaac's Ren shrinking, compacting into a single point around his fist as the rest of his body was left defenceless. 

The same thing he'd seen the Juggernaut do all this time.

He could feel it.

The power in his fist.

All his Aura in a single point.

Pulling back his hand, Isaac yanked the Juggernaut's hand, causing the terror to stumble forward.

"BASTAAARD!"

-BOOM

Isaac's powered fist bludgeoned into the side of the Juggernaut's head as a devastating BOOM rang out.

Isaac followed through with the punch, gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain, causing the Juggernaut to fall off balance and crash into the ground, his head squashed in between Isaac's fist and the earth below.

'This…is the power of the Scarlet Eyes.'

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Next chapter title: A Thread has been woven [2]

Hey, now do your jobs and send me dem POWERSTONESSSSS!

(Wow, I'm starting to surprise even myself with this consistency XD)