Mindless Animal

Crashed into the earth, Chiharu laid on her back left with only her leather padding that the chainmail had rested upon. The sort of defense it provided against enemies like Nereus was meaningless, but it still left her shaken. Motionless, she couldn’t move for a minute. ‘Defeated that simply? I can’t believe it…’ Her mind had trouble getting around the idea.

She wasn’t certain what to do. Nothing she did made it through him. He easily penetrated her defense. ‘How do I beat someone like that? Any attack I make he intercepts. I can’t surprise him! The hidden attack is supposed to be my specialty.’ Unease crept into her heart. She had no injuries, but the wound she took was far worse than any physical one.

Chiharu heard the crumbling of the earth underneath Nereus’ feet. His approach came sooner than she thought. How much time had she lost in thought? She didn’t know what was happening to her any longer.

Flipping backward off the ground, she gave herself a little room. His eyes seemed even less focused than before. He might have seen her as dirt before, something that he walked over, but it wasn’t even that anymore. It was as if she was the very air around him. Just something invisible and pushed aside just as simply. She was of no concern to him.

The thoughts made her want to fume, but she lost even that. She couldn’t get her legs to move towards him. She didn’t expect to face such a thing from him or any of them.

Fear. Doubt. Timid.

Chapter 250 – Mindless Animal

Chiharu ground her teeth realizing her weakness. ‘I’m supposed to be in charge, calm, in command,’ she chastised herself. She was letting everything take over. She was…

Emotional.

‘I’m better than this…this isn’t me. Why is he getting to me so?’ Her hands tensed up trying to deal with everything flooding through her. Nereus stood over her, his presence enlarging his stature. He seemed to cast a shadow that went on forever.

“Disappointing. Already giving up.” Nereus stretched out his hand, grabbing Chiharu by her leather undercoat. “I don’t kill something that isn’t even alive.” He then turned back in the direction of the Capital bringing her with him.

She knew what he planned to do. She wasn’t about to let herself be captured, especially without so much of a fight. She did nothing meaningful. All her talk before was just puffed up pride and arrogance if she threw in the towel now. ‘I can’t let it just end here. This isn’t me!’

Sapped of her strength, Chiharu faced the struggle of breaking free. Her body felt stiff and unwilling. The paralysis went deep. But she couldn’t allow herself to be captured. ‘Move it! Dammit! Are you a Chinen?!’ Her hand slapped the side of her thigh, a signal that part of her body finally started to follow her commands.

Some confidence flowed back into her. It gave her enough strength to break free from Nereus. She leapt several meters away from him, bouncing lightly on her feet a few times to increase the distance. “I won’t be going with you.”

A raised eyebrow was his only reaction. He didn’t look bothered by it. Nothing seemed wasted on the matter. “You won’t be able to achieve anything. Dirt is still dirt. Nothing more. You’ve failed all tests.” Nereus’ disinterest increased quickly with Chiharu. Only his order kept him from leaving.

“I don’t care about your damn tests! I’ll prove to you I’m more than you think.”

“I find that unlikely. You’d have to be a human to even stand a chance. Everything I see makes it clear that’s impossible. Dirt only has one purpose, to submit to the superior.”

It was his words again. They made her angry, fighting the urge to attack. Unfortunately, she knew that none of it worked against him. All she attempted failed. She needed something different against him. It was her only chance. Yet she didn’t have many options. Everything she tried ran through the majority of her options. ‘I don’t really have anything else to throw at him. At least that I’m aware of. That weakling might have given me more than I know, but I don’t know how he thinks. I have to rely on what I know and can achieve on my own.’ Mustering any amount of determination forced her to confront her emotions. They rested on the surface, easily called upon thanks to Nereus.

Her thoughts gave her something to consider. There was one last technique that she had available, though discovered by accident. ‘It’s the only option I have anymore. It might give me a little more of a clue to what his power really is.’ The more she saw his power at work the less convinced she became that it was simple water control. The timing and reactions he had weren’t explained by water. Nothing she could think of explained it, yet. ‘I’ll figure him out.’

Chiharu turned away from Nereus. The distance she had on him made it too close. She was still not comfortable with the ability. She wanted to be sure that she had the distance and time to put it together correctly. It was all about the right perceptions.

Disappearing from a blur, Nereus naturally lost sight of her. Seconds slowly passed by for him. He waited to see what she attempted. ‘Still struggling even though it’s pointless. I don’t understand why it keeps bothering. It’ll never reach.’ In front of him, Chiharu appeared suddenly, but also on his right and then his left. They all looked real. “This your attempt? It’ll meet the same end.”

Her voice came from all of the copies of Chiharu, “We’ll see about that.”

“You already tried it with multiple projectiles, multiples of you won’t make a difference.”

She didn’t take his advice. Maintaining the copies ended. Each one moved on a different arc for Nereus, yet they still all reached the same point. It didn’t matter how different she moved. It didn’t matter that she guided each differently. She controlled every action tightly. It was all her, but she still arrived at the same point. His hand effortlessly blocked everything she tossed at him.

All she got for her trouble was a slightly damp hand, his strange water defense at work, same as always. ‘I don’t understand it. Why can’t I do anything else? I have to reach the other side, but I always end up on the same course. What is he doing to me?’ It still didn’t make any sense. It only increased her frustration. Clenched hands and gnashed teeth did nothing for her, even if it was her only outlet.

“I told you how this would play out.”

“Shut up already! I’ve had enough of your condescending tone.”

“I’m only speaking the truth. This is reality.”

The way he didn’t even raise his voice at her only infuriated her more. Nothing ever got a rise out of him. She just was not worth the effort. That annoying thought persisted in her head. “Reality? I’ll tell you what is reality. You’re just the same as me. Two humans with different gifts or powers if you want. That’s it. Nothing more than that.”

“You couldn’t be further from the truth. I am human, you’re right about that. But you’ve failed all of the tests. You don’t even register as a human. Failing all measures of being human means you can only be something less than human. Since you can’t even protect yourself you’re not even an animal. Even a spider or mouse has a means to defend itself from aggressors.”

Nereus raised his finger with his arm to point at Chiharu, probably the first time the whole fight he had any sort of acknowledgement of her presence. “You can’t even do that. Something that can’t even defend itself is less than an animal. Nothing but dirt.”

There he went again. She couldn’t stand him comparing her to dirt. She was nothing of the sort. She couldn’t control her anger anymore. It might have been pointless as before. All of the punches or kicks she threw before were equally as effective as anything else she did. Anger did nothing to solve anything, but she couldn’t hold herself back. Chiharu attacked him.

None of it matteedr to her. She just needed to vent. It was pointless, meaningless. She wasted her energy, but she could not help it. “I told you to shut up about the dirt. I’m a human being! If anything you’re dirt!”

Lowering his brow a little, after he stopped all of her attacks, he stretched his hand open in front of her. “Then prove it.” An invisible force unleashed from his hand blasting Chiharu at point blank range.

Blood trailed through the air as she flew backwards. Numerous tiny cuts of impossible thinness appeared across her body. The amount of blood held to only a few drops, as the wounds were too thin to release much. However, the damage was done.

Chiharu quickly corrected her position and landed. ‘He cut me up with ease…’ She examined one of the wounds. ‘These are too thin for a blade, it’s almost like it was done by a nanoblade. But I didn’t see anything like that on him.’ She stared across the Field at his hand. The whole time she saw nothing. It was invisible, but knowing their power, she assumed it was yet another aspect of his power. Yet it didn’t get her any closer to understanding what he did. ‘What’s his foundation, everyone seems to have a theme, but what’s his?’

“You did well to hold against that. But it seems it’s natural defense rather than your own will to defend that protected you.”

“Then try again. If all you can do is microscopic cuts, it’s going to take more than that.” Without any warning, she felt a change in the air. Something was off. Then she realized she had another cut on her arm. ‘When did he?’ It was invisible like before, but no gestures. He was getting more serious with her. Chiharu disappeared to dodge the attacks. Unfortunately, she still was hit with it even at her speeds. ‘Is he doing something widespread since he can’t see me?’

She tried to keep moving in different directions. Even at her speed, he shouldn’t be able to see her actions. The cuts still came, which gave her the confirmation she needed. ‘It’s a blind attack.’ However, it remained effective even blind. Yet, she started to feel a bit of the changes in the air before the invisible blade came. She just needed to get her timing down.

It took more mistakes before Chiharu managed to figure out the feel of it. ‘It’s so small, but I can finally detect when it is coming. Whatever it is, it’s still using natural laws. This is a lot easier now.’ Chiharu resurfaced from her evasion. The attacks still came at her, but she had the timing down to dodge while still appearing not to have moved a centimeter. “Your attack’s meaningless to me. You can’t hit me with it.”

“So you can improve. I guess I’ll have to amend my previous statement. You seem to be enough to be called an animal, mindless as you are.”

A vein popped up on Chiharu’s forehead. “Animal?!” It was hard to know if she was angry over a minor correction or that he was still acting superior to her.

“It should hardly be that surprising. You remain unable to pass any of the other tests. You can only react and not act. You’re a follower, looking for the sheppard.”

“I’m no follower! I’m the head of my clan! I command others!”

“I find that unlikely. As you are, you’re weak and directionless. You’re not fit to lead only to follow.”

That was the last straw for Chiharu. She no longer had any reason. Everything about her fell to her rage. “I am their leader!” Consumed, she charged blindly at Nereus. Nothing was effective against him. She even used her speed, disappearing on him repeatedly. “Shut the hell up about things you don’t understand!” Nothing changed, but she couldn’t be reasoned with any longer. He hit what never should have been hit.

None of it mattered. Results and outcome were the same.

Blood sprayed into the air.

Nereus had landed his invisible attack on her, her blindness made it impossible for her to dodge anything. She didn’t care about dodging. She would only be calmed by seeing the bloody pulp of his face under her fist.

The reality was he hit her with numerous attacks. Still small, they began to add up. She lost more blood with each failure. “I’m tired of hearing your voice!”

“Because I’m right,” he replied calmly, halting her attack. Nereus turned her around and threw her into the ground. However, Chiharu escaped from his grasp and came on the offense again. He could stop her all day. The amount of energy it expended was insignificant against such a beast. “The way you are I can only see anyone following you dying. Failure of any leader is the death of those that follow them.”

Chiharu suddenly stopped. While blind, her hearing still worked perfectly. His annoying voice continued to fuel her, until now. “Death? Dead…my men…” Images from her raid on the Higoshi Clan’s stronghold returned to her. She led her men on an attack for revenge for them killing her grandfather, yet she failed them. Men died listening to her. She failed.

“You’re not a leader, you’re just a failure. A mindless beast, barely better than the dirt you stomp on.”

Failed.

Just a failure.

‘Worthless? They’re dead because of me.’ Her body started to shake. She couldn’t move. All she could see were the images of her men. They were all dead before. ‘I killed them. I failed them.’ Chiharu completely lost sight of Nereus. The world disappeared. Everything went black. ‘I’m no leader. I fail at everything I do. I have to rely on others for my success. I’m nothing.’ The light left Chiharu’s eyes. Her body was lifeless.

She was dead to the world.