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War and Cataclysm 13

  May 14, 2020

  In the blink of an eye, Iravin’s soul punch evolves into the Spirit Crash. The Spirit Crash is capable of entirely erasing the soul and every trace of someone’s existence. Luckily, this Spirit Crash did not land on Waldo with its maximum force. Iravin was not going to have Waldo die like this. It would be a bummer for the both of them. Even so, Waldo’s core rattles around and part of it even shatters. He feels his essence and source being damaged extensively. There’s more pain on the inside than on the outside. Right as Waldo gets hit with the Spirit Crash, his body rag dolls and is sent crashing down hard into the ground. The amount of impact creates a gigantic gust of wind. The shockwave soldiers around Mara surround her and attempt to shield her from all of the wind. However, she peeks out from the encirclement of soldiers and looks towards the crater that Waldo lies in.

  “Waldo!”

  Mara screams in horror and desperation. The vivid flash of seeing Waldo die continues to repeat inside of her head. His presence feels so faint. It’s almost as if it’s just a singular speck of sand in the middle of a tsunami. It has to be because of her.

  (If it weren’t for me… Waldo could fight with all of his power. But it’s because I’m here and it’s because I’m weak. It’s because of that that he’s holding back.)

  However, Mara was misunderstanding the entire situation. Waldo was not holding back for her sake. He was not doing this for her. He couldn’t care less about Mara in this situation. The reason he was holding back was because he was afraid that this battle’s outcome would be different if he didn’t. He wasn’t even aware that he was holding back. He may have recovered all of his memories and experiences from his past lives, but the fact remains that Waldo is still his own person. All of his previous battles have been nothing but short and done. Only Osoroi would have been able to fulfill his hunger, but is he here? Of course he isn’t. He had doubts about Iravin at first, but he regrets doubting this warrior. But there’s no point in lamenting right now. He swore to himself that he wouldn’t do that again. He has to find a way to get back up.

  In that moment, he recalls his first encounter with Osoroi. He was able to repair his core then, but how? In that moment, sure he figured out he could do it, but he didn’t know the actual method. It wasn’t until his memories came back and his cursed energy awakened that he knows now. Mara’s eyes tear up just slightly. Iravin begins to float down to the ground. Suddenly, Waldo’s presence begins to return. Mara and Iravin feel Waldo’s cursed energy resurfacing again. He’s not down for the count just yet.

  (Waldo! He’s not done yet!)

  Mara’s expression turns into one of glee. She realizes this and forcibly tries to become nonchalant again. Iravin faces Waldo’s crater with an intrigued expression. Coming out from within the armored face, a sharp smile begins crawling out to the ends of his face.

  The truth behind Waldo’s core being able to repair itself lies within his special cursed energy trait. Waldo’s cursed energy has been dubbed as Destructive Cursed Energy by Rāj and his previous incarnations. As the name suggests, any attack that Waldo is able to dish out has much more impact and force than if it were using regular cursed energy. But that is not the only peculiar thing about Destructive Cursed Energy. As previously mentioned by Waldo, Destructive Cursed Energy has a mind of its own. It’s able to think for itself due to it possessing its own will. Because of this, it can perform many miraculous tasks that normal cursed spirits and sorcerers are not able to perform. One of these things are being able to repair and change the soul, although only limited to the user. Using the power of Destructive Cursed Energy, Waldo begins to apply it to his damaged core and gradually repair it. The flare in his blue eyes return. Waldo grabs the ground and stands back up from his crater. Iravin and Mara both stare at him with widened eyes. Waldo stumbles out of the crater, clutching his right breast as he gets out.

  “That did quite a number on me. If you weren’t focused on keeping me alive, I would have been a goner for sure.”

  “Still… how are you able to get back up that quickly?”

  “There’s a thing about my cursed energy. I’m able to use it to repair my damaged soul. I don’t understand all of the specific details yet, but I wouldn’t sweat over it.”

  “What a trump card…”

  Waldo’s core continues to repair itself. Waldo looks at Iravin and then back up at his hall. His halo is starting to chip away. It’s returning back to its original faint state. That means the time he has in this form is reaching its end. There’s only one thing left to do.

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  “I apologize for having doubted you Iravin. I didn’t even realize it at first, but I thought if I went all out, this battle would have ended. I’m ashamed for thinking I should hold back against a warrior like yourself. But now isn’t the time for such thoughts.”

  “I should commend you as well. I haven’t had to fight this long in my armored form before. We may have had our differences today, but you are legit when it comes down to battle.”

  “Then I suggest we end this in one go. My time in this form is about to run out. It would be better to go out with a bang, don’t you think?”

  “I have to agree with you. But aren’t you worried about the girl?”

  Waldo glances behind him. He sees the encirclement of soldiers and Mara inside of it. It’s very likely that Waldo’s next attack will reach all the way to her. If his human is damaged, how can she train? She still has a lot of untapped potential, and it’s barely been a couple of weeks. He has to see her progress to its fullest. If he cultivates a warrior of the lowest caliber, how can he live with that fact on his back?

  “Mara… move. Get as far away as you can. If you still get hurt, it’s on you.”

  “O-ok…”

  The soldiers beside Mara begin to escort her away. She looks back for a second one last time and then runs off. Waldo turns back to Iravin and clenches Hades. His core has just been repaired and his power has returned. A laugh manages to escape his mouth.

  “Well… it’s been quite the ride.”

  .

  .

  A soldier begins to run back to their base. The uniform and emblem of the U.S. army is brightened by the moonlight. They pant frantically, running as fast as they can despite being completely out of breath. They suddenly stumble on a loose tree branch and fall on their face. The cold hard ground is not the most ideal material to fall on. The U.S soldier looks up with a groan. They see another soldier crouched in front of them, offering a hand to them. The fallen soldier takes the hand and gets back up.

  “Thanks, Harper. pant Sorry you had to see that.”

  “Don’t mention it, David. Just tell me what you’re doing here and not out there.”

  “Well, there was something sudden that happened. The group of people that we were looking after in the refuge just disappeared.”

  “You mean the stragglers and the jujutsu sorcerers? Why the hell did they leave the refuge?”

  Harper’s expression twists in annoyance. Her foot begins to tap the ground impatiently. Meanwhile, David wipes off the dirt and grime on his face.

  “I wish I knew why, but I don’t have a clue. The guy that was posted there to help them wasn’t there when I arrived to check on them. He must have went somewhere for a little and the group saw it as an opportunity to run? I don’t really get it. Why would they venture out into the dangerous plains?”

  “Desperate times make desperate people. They probably don’t even trust anyone no more. I wouldn’t blame them. Suddenly the world gets along and then the ropes of friendship are severed in the blink of an eye.”

  In that instant, before the two of them could even move or speak again, a gigantic explosion is heard in the distance. The ground rumbles from the sheer energy and gusts of wind reach all the way to them. David and Harper are knocked off their feet by the tremor and winds and fall on their back.

  “What the fuck?!”

  “Is it another nuke?”

  The two of them could barely hear each other over the intense noise and strong winds. After a minute or two, everything begins to calm down. David gets up and helps Harper stand back up. The two of them look to the west, the direction of the large explosion. A giant cloud of smoke rises to the sky.

  “Harper, that couldn’t be another nuke right?”

  “No, it shouldn’t be. Sure, lots of energy, but it didn’t topple down the entire forest. It must have been tightly controlled.”

  “If it’s not a nuke, what kind of bomb can pull off that kind of power?”

  “It might not be a bomb, David. Worst case scenario, some idiot sorcerers or curses are fighting out there. Regardless, we should let the Sergeant Major know about this.”

  “Sergeant Major Anselm… if anyone knows what to say about this, it has to be him.”

  The two U.S. soldiers turn back and quickly make their way to their base. They try to come up with ideas to explain the explosion, but nothing comes to mind. Little do they know that the explosion was created from the clash of two powerful beings. An explosion like that would only be able to be produced by another military. But that’s not the case here. It was the product of War and Cataclysm.

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