Players-
P-Players
Players-
Back to Gynesis, we see him outside of the... whatever he was in when he was last on scree- page.
Now, he's walking down a well-lit hallway you'd find in an old French castle from the early 1600s. Complete with random paintings of old people long dead that nobody really cares about and tapestries of events long past.
But we're not here for that, are we?
No, no, of course not. We're here for the guy in the hallway. Who just spun around to look the cameraman in the eye.
"Yo waddup?" He asked casually, spinning back to look where he was walking. "Haven't seen you lot in a bit. While you were busy fucking off, I managed to figure out what was happening. Kinda."
Gynesis kept going, arriving at a tee in the halls where he'd pause.
"I was stuck in a shitass loop of some sort. Believe me when I say, it was annoying as all fuck." He said as he looked to his left then right.
On his right was what looked like the entryway to a fucked up evil dungeon of doom and despair. Decrepit was the walkway, disarray covered the walls, and the ceiling looked like it hadnt seen maintenance since it was put up. On top of being so dark seeing past 6 feet was a luxury not many in that passageway got.
On his left was the same hallway continuing, with the same nice red carpet and the same 7 paintings. Reused like unity assets in a barebones eroge game.
Oh wait-
"I was deadass getting returned to zero so many times I'm pretty sure the numeral notation would require several commas. And I tried breaking it by many means, including suicide by self stabbing.." He turned to the fucked up dungeon between his words, casual as crossing an empty road on a green light.
"I did that out of desperation and forgetting my body regenerates. Stupid I know." Gynesis added, continuing down what many would call the wrong damn way.
The place was quickly becoming more and more eerie as he went further down. Not like he was even paying attention to that anyway with how all over the place he was looking.
In fact he was walking as if his feet and eyes were arguing. And it wasn't quite clear who was winning to be honest. Because he was stumbling like he just spun for 2 hours straight.
It's a surprise this is just getting brought up considering he was doing this since he came back on page...
"Anyway, I broke the loop after finding this cool little thing~" He kept speaking normally, reaching for his hip and producing a clear bottle containing what is most definitely liquor.
Specifically whiskey if that color and consistency is to be taken into consideration.
"This shit bussing not gonna lie." He added before taking a swig- no, swig is too generous, more like he chugged half the thing. And it could definitely hold more than a liter of liquor in there. "The loops stopped after I took my first shot. So you know, to keep the loops away I've been taking a hit every couple minutes or so. You know, to be safe~"
Yeah sure buddy...
After a good old gulp of the alcohol Gynesis had off screen mined into existence, he found himself wandering right up to a massive pair of stone double doors. It was closed, but looked pushable.
"Anyhow, yeah, after that I decided to use this neat ability my wife and I share. Think of it as a biological version of that GPS app your clingy girlfriend secretly installed on your phone so she can track you whenever she wants. Except it's both ways and you agreed to install it yourself." He rambled in one breath, cracking his knuckles as he also prepared to open the door.
That was oddly specific but we're just gonna breeze right past that right quick...
"And that GPS said I gotta go this way~!" He chirped happily as he pushed the doors open.
Those things were massive. Around 20 feet tall and 2 feet thick. And he just pushed the pair open like a souls borne main character.
With some elbow grease and grunts of effort, he started off barely inching the thing right before just shoving them the rest of the way.
With the doors no longer blocking the other side, the scenery is revealed to all.
And it's-
"Bruh what kinda gooncave did I just wander into?" Gynesis couldn't help but blurt out at the sight.
There were takeout boxes all over, alongside empty cans of energy drinks spread about the uncarpeted floor. Not to mention the place smelling of... let's just say someone was-
"Nepgear in a Gundam whoever lives here has to be the grandmaster of the Great Goon Sect or something cuz this scent is fucking STRONG." He kept going, walking forward anyway. "And why is here so massive- are those swords stuck in the ground?! Why?! And so many too..."
All other thoughts were cut off by this new revelation. There are in fact, swords, alongside spears and other melee weapons, just in the hardwood floor. Adding to the feeling Gynesis was getting. A feeling of being some random dad who'd just stepped into his son's friend's room to announce it's dinner time only to find... well this.
"Ah, a new challenger, huh? That was quick." Spoke a new voice. Very much male, and clearly a young adult.
Making a T with his hands, Gynesis called out to the unknown male added to the stpry.
"Ayo hold up, time out-" The ALU responded, looking rather confused as to the events playing out for some reason.
Out from the couch on the other side of the room- that was totally there this whole time, a man with brown hair rose to his feet.
Kazuma Satou: the Gooncave Guardian
Kazuma's name floated above his head, alongside the questionable at best title. A sight that made Gynesis chuckle as he read it. 'Damn, whoever gave him that title must hate this guy.'
"Nice title card." He said, trying to hide a snicker with a cough. "Gives you quite the aura boost, Kazuma." He added with a thumbs up.
The brown haired guardian didn't let such a snide remark phase him as he posed, letting everyone see the fit. A open green tracksuit, with white accents and black sleeves, billowed in the nonexistent wind. Coupled with the black undershirt it did look pretty tough.
"Damned right it does, stranger." The green eyed guardian nodded, throwing up a thumb of his own in response.
The Satou looks the ALU up and down, assessing the challenger before him with quite the care free smile before stepping around the couch.
"Looks like you don't have a weapon on you. Don't worry," He said casually, one hand waving at the countless weapons strewed about. With the other, he drew a weapon of his own and got into a combat stance. His katana poised at the ready. "There's quite the list of options right here."
At the same time Kazuma spoke, fog rolled in around the duo, shifting the very surroundings behind it before dissipating at the same rate it rolled in.
Gone was the gooncave. Replacing it was a battlefield. One that's seen countless loss of life and endless carnage.
Holy shit that was edgy...
The ALU sighs out his mouth. Not exasperation, annoyance, or even anger.
Just deep resignation. 'Welp, guess this is another Tuesday.' He shrugged mentally, glancing at his side.
The nearest weapon there was a broad blade. Single edged, easily six feet long, deep brown in color. 'Yeah that works.' Thought the intruder, picking up the weapon and giving it a few testing swings.
And when he was satisfied, he lowered the blade before him. Having it rest its tip against the floor, and appearing to have lowered his guard.
Which Kazuma let happen for whatever reason. Call it warrior's honor. Then again, he was slowly walking his way over to his opponent. Closing the now 30 foot gap at the speed of snail. On top of his guard
"So, just to reiterate," Gynesis began, lowering his newly acquired weapon's guard to point at the floor. "If I want to go through that door behind you, I have to beat you?"
Speaking of a door, it was massive, heavy-looking, and made of some kind of metal. Painted red with gold accents, past that door was where the exorcist's instincts said to go.
"Yup," Kazuma nodded. "I was tasked to protect this door with my life and that's what I'm going to do. Nobody comes here by accident, meaning you want to go through the door."
'Okay that explains the whole "challenger" thing quite nicely.' Gynesis internally mused. 'I think I can win. Although fighting the living might prove a little bit difficult. Know what? No, I WILL WIN.'
Psyching himself up for the altercation, the exorcist found himself taking a swig from his flask-
Wasn't it a bottle earli- Aw forget it!
"Well with that out of the way," Gynesis raised the broad blade and rested it on his shoulder. "Guess I have no choice, do I?"
"No." The Satou said like he was asked if he wanted ketchup with that.
And like that, the slow walk was gone. And so was the guardian himself.
He dashed right at Gynesis, katana held low, the wind up of an upward swing clear in his movements. His body a blur as it zipped closer in the blink of an eye.
A straight line was drawn between where Kazuma was and Gynesis, 20 feet. Seeing the attack coming, the exorcist prepared his broad blade to block.
Too bad it was for naught.
That upward swing was nothing more than a feint. And it worked exactly as intended.
The isekai protagonist pivoted the instant he registered Gynesis poising himself for a frontal assault.
Like a ninja, he maneuvered around his enemy's guard and went for a stab. Leaving the ALU barely any time to adapt.
It landed true, piercing right through back flesh.
But only after Gynesis had managed to pivot on his feet, shifting his more vital organs away from that metallic mincer.
During all of that, Gynesis thought about a counterAattack. 'I shoulda picked up the rapier next to this thing...' He internally mused as the realization hit that he couldn't move the sword in his hand fast enough to hit Kazuma in their current states. 'Yeah with how fast he was moving I ain't hitting shit with this six foot long piece of sharpened rebar.'
Why wasn't he thinking about how much that stab to the liver hurt? Most likely due to it being functionally useless by now. 'HEY! My liver works just fine!' He retorted in his head while still very much impaled by his opponent.
Yeah sure buddy just unfreeze the frame before this starts looking like the Bluelock of fanfiction.
'Yeah, yeah, all of that.' Gynesis responded with an eye roll and a horse kick. His foot aimed right for the Satou's gut. Perhaps revenge for the now "holier than thou" liver. One foot firmly planted right in the solar plexus.
The move managing to give himself some distance and dislodge that katana at once. Thanks to the owner refusing to let go of it. Even letting out a grunt in pain from taking the hit.
"It is," he admitted as Kazuma went skidding back a few feet. Only stopping because he stabbed his katana in the ground to kill his momentum.
Then he followed that up with a swing of his broad blade.
The guardian opened his mouth to ask a question, but couldn't even get a syllable out before he had to dodge the horizontal swipe for his guts.
It missed.
The sharpened rebar managed to hit the idea of Kazuma instead of the man himself. Because said man had ducked at the perfect moment to get nothing more than a light breeze.
This didn't deter Gynesis from going for a follow-up, or 63.
In two seconds, the exorcist had managed to swing a 2-tonne slab of metal at his enemy 64 times. With the shockwaves made by said swings slicing straight through the granite that made up the flooring below Kazuma's feet.
And as for Kazuma himself? He was unharmed by the end of it.
The first few were panicked scuttles, either to the side or dropping low to evade damage.
But when the misses on Gynesis's part reached double digits, the Satou started smirking to himself. Sneaking in little taunts in between the gaps in the exorcist's attacks.
Some included:
Posing for Instagram pics. Waving his hand over his face. Jumping into the air with his arms out akin to a particular speedster. And even fixing his hair several times, either with a comb or his bare hands.
'Did I just get sonic swayed?' Questioned the ALU as he found himself at the end of his combo string, and his frames in the negative. On top of that he only had a few frames to react to whatever Kazuma had in store for him.
And that yellow poise bar above his head was looking almost full already.
Over with the tracksuit wearer, he was already winding up a punishing move, his sword pixelating into nothing for an instant before reappearing in its sheathed state in Kazuma's hands. With Kazuma himself already holding an iaido stance.
Suddenly, there were black borders at the top and bottom of the screen. Not to mention there was red and black lightning enveloping the man's body like a set of tattoos now.
And let's not forget the camera man getting the angles of this whole scene too.
The writing on the wall was obvious. And that writing said "This shit gone hurt lil bro".
"Damn, he really bouta rock my shit-"
"Aura Breathing First Form, Medal Clip That." Kazuma inhaled deeply before whispering, Gynesis hearing every word and cringing internally for a heartbeat before getting a line drawn over him like he was a PNG on Microsoft Paint.
Like the opening attack from earlier, Kazuma had disappeared again, this time appearing behind Gynesis mid-swing. The Satou spending a second like that before sheathing his katana.
The motion caused the damage of the slice to finally set in, cutting Gynesis's HP bar in two, and almost doing the same to the man himself. Fortunately, he was still in one piece, just in pain. A lot of it.
PING!!
The hit landed like a pickup truck slamming into him at 100 miles an hour.
But hey, he's still standing and that's what's important. Unfortunately no one was behind the wheel-
"That was way too obscure..." Coughed out the exorcist, alongside two mouthfuls of blood. "Fack! That hurt."
Aaand the main character just dropped on his knees after saying that. And despite having the claimed ability to heal himself, his health bar remained right where it was, in half.
Kazuma was straight aura farming on his side, holding that pose like he won the fight and was waiting for the victory music to kick in or something. His back still turned to his opponent
"Damn Laz, can't believe I got clipfarmed like tha-" He started yapping to his friend, only to remember that fox sword spirit was nowhere to be found. "Shite."
Seeing as his homie was unable to respond, Gynesis started standing back up. Grunting through the thousands of pings from his nervous system telling him that was a bad idea. 'Damn son, what the fuck did he hit me with that got me feeling like an arthritis victim?'
Hearing the sounds of a definitely alive enemy, the guardian glanced over his shoulder, hiding half the shock that shot through him at the sight of a very alive Gynesis getting back up.
"Ayo what the FUCK?!" Thinking he got pranked or he had hit an illusion, Kazuma quickly began looking around for someone else to pop out of nowhere and try swinging on him.
There was nobody else there.
Just an exorcist and a human boss mob.
Hearing what he thought was an insult, Timmy Tough Knuckles over here gave the camera a disgruntled glare like he could do something about it. Why is he mad anyway? It was in the script.
The exorcist in question looked down at his wound, Kazuma still looking all over, just in case. The ALU then reached his left hand down to his abdomen, right where he was struck. Planting his palm right on the wound.
His hand came back bloody, as anyone would expect in such a situation.
He clenched the stained hand into a fist, then looked across to Kazuma.
"If your goal is to make me bleed out..." Gynesis chuckled, his lips curling into a small smile as he passed his bloodied digits across the sharpened edge of his broad blade. "Get a new one, kay?"
Kazuma's eyes narrowed in focus hearing that threat. It was already clear for him before, but now it was transparent that Gynesis wasn't a pushover. Or at least he's really good at bluffing that he isn't.
The guardian didn't respond verbally. At least not at first. Instead of responding with a clever remark like he was used to, the Satou instead opted for going on the offensive again.
Opening with a thrust aimed for the heart. Blocked by a broad blade's flat side. Followed up with a horizontal slash for the face. Deflected around the target by its owner.
The maneuver managed to get Kazuma off balance a little.
An opening Gynesis went in to exploit with a half-sworded upward slash, grabbing the back of his blade for leverage and increased attack speed. And aiming right for the overextended right hand of his enemy.
It works. Kinda.
The Satou couldn't move his hand out of the way in time. So he just went with flipping the sword into a reverse grip and bracing simultaneously. Catching the blade in time.
At the cost of his poise bar shooting up drastically. Reaching around 25% from those two moves alone. On top of lowering his own down to a more manageable 45-ish.
Gynesis went in for a follow up, only for it to turn into a block on his end. Kazuma recovering from the counter rather quickly. Getting out his reverse gripped slash before whatever the exorcist was about to do could happen.
Only for the turns to table on him when he tried to follow up only for Gynesis to use the handle itself to thrust right into the Satou's stomach.
PANG!!
CLANG!!
CLANG!!
The sounds of steel on steel echoed like a steady drum at 900 BPM beat as they went band for band. Neither side had gained enough ground to really do anything that could be considered damage.
The fight itself had devolved into what many Deepwoken victims would call "parry slop". And it would keep going like that for what felt like forever. With both parties refusing to back down.
It was not even 2 minutes. Barely 90 seconds.
On the 91st second, something finally happened. Gynesis overcommitted on a swing, and the shark known as Kazuma Satou saw blood in the water.
"Gotcha!" He declared, delivering a swift smack to the temple. A pommel strike he earned through his sheer tactical prowess.
The blow landed with the weight of a commercial airliner.
At least, it had to have been because it sent Gynesis FLYING. Spinning like a drill bit through the air until he crash landed 30 feet away. Flat on his face with his legs kicking him in the back of the head due to how he landed. And skidding another 6 feet before finally coming to a stop.
His sword, which also flew off, landed half an inch away from his face. 'Lowk, that should've landed an inch to the right...' Thought the pommeled male as he began getting back up casually.
"Fah..." He yawned, the sounds of his jaw cracking as he opened his mouth filled the air.
A closer look at his face showed exactly where that sword had made contact. Square on the chin, twisting the lower mandible by several degrees. While there was no bleeding, that did not look pretty nor comfortable.
His jaw was unhinged now. Hanging by three threads and the grace of Iris Heart herself. Outside of that, he looked fine. Ignoring the Twoface cosplay he was forced into rocking thanks to the floor turning into a cheese grater.
Above the Unahona's head was his HP bar, barely above 10%.
Can you not heal?
And when the exorcist spun around on his heel, Kazuma got a physical flashbang by witnessing the injuries first hand. He also got to see Gynesis "healing" it.
"One sec" He gargled verbally to the Satou, who was a bit too confused as to what he was looking at to interrupt it.d
Using a move Ajay Ghale himself would approve of, Gynesis put his hand onto the hanging mandible and pushed up. Forcing it to snap back into place and function as it should.
"Ew... Brother ew," Kazuma cringed at the sight, physically recoiling at the scene taking place. His hands motioning automatically as if they could push away whatever he was seeing. "Brother, what's that? What's that, brother?"
Genuinely appaled, Kazuma almost dropped his sword. Not out of fear, but disgust. Unbridled disgust.
"Amongst the thousands of challengers... and the tens of thousands of enemies... you were the only one... who made me almost vommit cuz what the hell was that?" The guardian spoke further, pointing a scabbard at the main male character's face.
Which was still half-missing, mind you.
Ya'll gone fight or?
"The hell are you made of?" Asked our second on screen tracksuit wearer.
Gynesis, apparently accustomed to such reactions, didn't bat an eye at the Kazuma's actions nor words. He simply answered earnestly as he scanned the surroundings for literally anything other than that goddess forsaken broad blade.
"Flesh and bone-"
Violent puking from jet-lagged vertigo of blood, bile, and some o yesterday's lunch
"Same as you."
Quickly, the isekai protagonist spun around, facing the other way until Gynesis was done ejecting his lunch. And when he was done, then the brown haired man returned his attention.
"You gotta go," Kazuma sighed, raising his sword and lunging in with a rapid thrust for Gynesis's heart.
The exorcist didn't pick up the blade at his side. 'It has done too little to deserve a second chance,' he thought as he reached a hand forward to grab the weapon headed his way by the cutting edge.
Both hands reached out, wrapping around Kazuma's weapon with a vise grip and stopping it dead in its tracks. Then he pulled, hard.
"Wha- AH!" Kazuma was about to ask something, but was cut off.
The ALU would yank his enemy to him by his own sword. Then he'd reach out with his right hand for a swipe, each finger pointed right for the green enjoyer's throat.
A move Kazuma barely saw coming, A common occurrence at this point.
With not many maneuvers left for him, Kazuma quickly side-stepped. Possibly the only move available aside from letting go of Chunchunmaru that wouldn't result in a free throat surgery.
"That was close..." Kazuma said quietly, accidentally letting an inner thoughts escape his head.
This left the man positive. Positive enough to flip the cutting edge and pull up.
What followed suit was Kazuma freeing his sword and Gynesis loosing four fingers.
Gynesis didn't even flinch as his digits were severed. He just tracked them as they fell, like they were just spent bullet casings instead of his now sliced off members. Now with only one left and five right.
Down to 8% max hp main character, lock in,,,,
"Damn," He shrugged, sounding almost happy to have lost those fingers.
Kazuma, not wanting to give the man a second to recuperate, went in for a follow up. Sending out a beheading slash, perhaps to return the attempted de-throating in earnest. With interest.
Disgust was tossed to the wayside. After all, it's like the Satou said. He gotta go.
Gynesis, despite having ample time to do something- anything, he just stood there.
Now, luckily, Kazuma didn't commit to the move hard enough, resulting in a graze instead of the proper execution.
Unluckily it still struck a blood vessel, opening a new constantly bleeding wound. In fact, it sliced every blood vessel on the exorcist's left side.
His health bar updated again, 5% remained.
While his neck had just gotten a new hole installed, Gynesis used that moment to readjust his arsenal. Out from the stubs of his hand, four red digits shot out, vaguely shaped like sharpened fingers.
Completely out of the guardian's sightline at that.
The first second his makeshift addition to his arsenal was made, Gynesis went in to use it. He'd suddenly plunge his hand forward, aimed for the Satou's gut.
It landed true. Piercing straight through the green tracksuit like it was wet tissue paper. Going through the owner like a pin to a full water balloon. Stunning the poor man the moment the attack connected.
"I thought I told you to remake your plan to make me bleed out?" Gynesis asked rhetorically, his face no longer resting in permanent neutrality, but tinged with clear amusement.
A Cheshire grin was slowly forming. In fact, it was forming since his fingers were cut off. But now it was getting obvious. Too obvious to ignore.
"Guh!" The Satou gasped in pain, looking down at the reason with widening eyes. Finally caught truly off guard since the entire squabble had begun. "The fu-"
Not done there, Gynesis violently jerked left his hand to the right, snapping the newly formed appendages in his opponent's stomach, leaving them in there. Then he threw in a roundhouse kick to the jaw, sending Kazuma spinning like a top through the air.
Unlike the exorcist, Mr. Satou didn't turn into a rocket from his adversary's attack. Only a propeller. So there was that. Oh and his weapon was still in his hand too.
The vertigo arrived all the same though.
The landing wasn't pretty, and by the end of the little combo, the human boss mob was sitting- er, lying at around 50% of his maximum health. And a shattered poise bar to boot.
"Urrggh...." The man moaned in pain, his jaw still in one piece, but hurting like hell.
His body was rattled, hard. 'What the hell was that? He was so fast for no reason...' Kazuma mused internally, fighting his nerves' refusal to listen to him telling his limbs to move. 'At this rate, I'll have to use that. Assuming I get to recuperate enough to even get up,' he added to his thoughts.
Gynesis, now holding the upper hand, started circling Kazuma; acting like a cat that had just found a hiding mouse.
Brother, stab him! Stab him now he's right there! He's so free!
"Get up, Kazuma." Gynesis commanded calmly, eyes glued on his enemy in search of any micromovement. Of which Kazuma gave plenty.
The Satou's hand kept twitching, the one gripping the sword. His empty hand followed suit. In fact, every muscle twitched to varying degrees. Making him look like a seizure victim. 'Fuck, everything hurts all of a sudden. At this rate he'll attack me while I'm down for sure,' Kazuma pondered as his poise bar regenerated to almost full.
And yet, Gynesis refused to attack.
"I said get up damnit," Gynesis spoke again, standing at Kazuma's side, his smile fading. "I know you can hear me."
'So close, just a bit more and I can move again,' thought the Satou, his poise bar at 99%.
GET THE FUCK UP-"
'SANDEVISTAN!' Kazuma chanted in his head the instant his poise bar was fully regenerated.
In that same frame, time came to a crawl for the guardian. Slowing to 1% of what he was percieving originally. And with his already liudicrous speed, this made Gynesis look almost like a statue to Kazuma.
Making haste, he jumped to his feet, his body no longer aching as severely from his most recent blows. Leaving Chunchunmaru on the floor for whatever reason. 'Sorry old friend, but you can't help in this instance,' He mentally apologized as if the sword could hear his thoughts.
Instead of his trusty using his signature weapon, the man had a knife in his hand. Which he used to stab the exorcist before him repeatedly. He'd stab the main character 27 times. Swapping between the heart, temples, throat, and below the chin for good measure.
Talk about making sure.
The combo came to an end via a brutal kick to the stomach.
For Kazuma, he 10 seconds had passed. For the real world, it wasn't even one since he started moving again.
In one instant Gynesis was standing there- in another, he was sent rocketing yet again. This time crashing into a couch, Kazuma's couch.
The exorcist ended up looking like he was chilling on a Sunday morning more than a victim of a recent murder attempt. Slumped on one side with his arm resting comfortably on the back of the couch, Gynesis didn't move.
His coat tattered and body battered, the titular main male lead had found himself a tragic end. Beaten by a story boss and sent right back to the main menu like a scrub.
Yeah, that guy's dead. Guess alllll that talk about healing were lies...
Kazuma had won. That much was clear to him. The Guardian had done his j*b: protecting whatever was behind those doors.
With a sigh, he slumps his shoulders a bit, smiling at a well fought fight.
"Stand proud, you are strong," the Satou smiled, looking over the defeated opponent across the battlefield with his hand idly hovering over Chunchunmaru.
Meanwhile Gynesis's corpse just sat there bleeding and unresponsive.
The tracksuit wearer pulled out and checked his pocket watch, a silver tool for tracking time. An odd one that thing was, seeing as it ticked down, with what looked like 30 seconds on the clock.
"Just a bit longer, and I'm freed," Kazuma breathed happily, turning his back to Gynesis's body and walking back to his gaming chair.
Or whatever he was doing before.