Fairy Tail: Shinigami -
Chapter 37: Unseen Doubt.
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Don't forget to check the auxiliary chapter about Adam. It's like an info chapter.
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[Mavis Vermillion POV]
Adam staggered forward, blood streaming down his body, as he flashed a fierce grin and slashed at Deliora with his sword. However, unlike before, this time his attack didn't do anything and was instead deflected off the beast's skin with a loud grinding sound.
"Huh," Adam muttered, moving his shoulder a bit.
This didn't make sense. Deliora had been affected by Adam's blade so far, so why the sudden change?
Could it be that his chest has a higher defense?
Or... could it be something else?
"Adam, there's something strange going on!" I shouted as I stared at Deliora with a cold calculative demeanor. "Proceed with caution until I analyze what's going on!"
If he wasn't going to escape, I might as well help him to the best of my ability.
Nodding, Adam turned to Deliora who, seeing Adam was still alive, roared releasing another blast of fire at him, making Adam grin widely moments before the attack collided with him in a massive explosion of fire.
"Why... why didn't you dodge?" I muttered in shock and pain. One blast had damaged him to the point of needing medical attention, two would kill him.
The beast, assuming Adam was dead, turned around to continue with his destruction, only to experience a monstrous and intense level of aura enveloping the entire place. The demon tried to turn around, however before the latter could fully react, he was met with a slash of his body.
The demon stumbled backward with a painful roar, its chest cut open, leaving behind him a trail of acidic blood.
That means Adam is still alive!
Almost as if confirming what I wanted to hear, Adam stepped out of the crater Deliora's attack had left, smoke still swirling around him as he smirked. "Still can't cut through you huh?"
At this, Deliora bellowed, the sound of his roar shaking the ground around, as his colossal fists pounded the ground like an enraged beast. His face was twisted with fury, eyes flashing dangerously as he pounded his fists into the ground again and again.
The demon continued to stomp and roar, baring its teeth and shaking its fists in the air with such ferocity that I found myself stepping back in surprise. It seemed almost impossible to believe that such an abomination, one that had no capacity for thought or feeling as they had been lost in his creation was raging like a bloodthirsty maniac, it didn't make sense, he should feel nothing, yet his rage was fully present and undeniable.
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[Adam POV]
I clenched my Zanpakuto, pupils dilating as I slowly stepped forward into the center of the town toward my most formidable opponent yet. Deliora.
The demon towered over me, his hulking presence casting a massive shadow around me, as he roared in rage, in pain. A monster without thought, a being of pure malice.
Taking a deep breath, I readied my Zanpakuto, tightening my grip on the hilt as I took a step forward. Immediately the air around me was filled with the sound of Deliora's imposing roar, as his enormous claws swiped through the air toward me, their sharpness glinting in the moonlight as they descended mercilessly on me.
Taking a step forward, I thrust my Zanpakuto forward to block his attack, pushing as much spiritual energy as I could into my swing, our attacks clashing in a clash of sparks and thunderous sound, as everywhere around us, the earth trembled with the force of our struggle.
I couldn't help but think that if there were any spectators seeing this, I bet they would've thought this was a comical sight, seeing the massive beast and me clashing, both of us unmoving.
Moving above Deliora's head, I swung my Zanpakuto downwards with all my might sending a powerful slash down at the beast, however, like a few moments ago, instead of getting any damage, the demon's thick hide of his skin absorbed the blow.
That didn't make sense. I had used more power than I had used to slash his chest open, and instead of hurting him, it had done nothing?
Maybe there's more to him than what I remembered from the anime--
However, before I could finish that thought or analyze Deliora any further, I felt a chill run down my spine as the demon lurched towards me, moving faster than ever before. His fist suddenly appearing a few inches away from my body, before hitting me like a sledgehammer, sending shockwaves of force throughout the town as my body was thrown back flying through several buildings.
Moving my body around, I landed hard on the ground, rolling to my feet as I struggled to catch my breath, my entire body shaking from the hit.
He was faster than before.
His skin was growing more durable as well...
The bastard was evolving as we fought!
Was that his curse?
Now that I think about it, his curse was never stated in the show.
It's not like he ever got the chance to display his full power, Ur defeated him in a single strike with her Ice Shell, sealing him before he could fully show what he was capable of.
If the power of his curse was indeed the power of evolution, then I could understand why the demon had no mind of its own. The evolutionary process was one without logic when dissected to its most basic state, it was driven by an instinct that was primal and indefinable.
In short, not always the evolutionary process leaned on the path to higher thinking, more than not it leaned on other evolutionary paths, deeming the ability to have higher intelligence not necessary for survival. After all, there is a reason why only a few species have the ability to think on the same level as humans, at least in this universe.
Focusing my energy, I leaped away just as Deliora lunged forward narrowly dodging his advance, his sharp claws outstretched and bared fangs glinting in the moonlight. The momentum behind his attack carried him forward, and I used it to my advantage, spinning above him and slashing downwards with my Zanpakuto, hitting him in the same place I had at the beginning of the fight.
He recoiled from the unexpected impact, and stumbled forward, blood dripping from his wound, his eyes blazing at me with rage.
"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudo #61. Rikujokoro," I said, pointing my index finger forward at Deliora, as a bright spark of yellow energy erupted from my hand, quickly taking shape of six thin beams, that shot toward the demon's midsection at lightning speed, slamming into him, locking him firmly in place.
That will only hold him down for a few seconds. I might as well make the most of it.
Wasting no time, I leaped forward, my feet barely brushing the ground as I used Shunpo to move around the beast while channeling all of my power into my Zanpakuto.
I wielded my Zanpakuto around with all the strength I had, each strike cutting more deeply into Deliora's skin, each swing carefully aimed towards the wounds I had previously made on the demon before his hide began to thicken. Its howls of agony echoed through the town, shaking the earth beneath us until the beams of light surrounding Deliora's form began to flicker and dim, seeing this, I jumped back taking my distance, seeing how with one final roar, the light keeping him in place fractured into a million shards and vanished from sight.
With his mindless yet rageful gaze on me, Deliora let out a deafening roar, shaking the ground with its intensity as the fissures bloomed around him and spread out like cracks in a windshield, widening the crater beneath his feet to massive proportions.
"Adam, as you might have already deduced, Deliora has the power to evolve, at least partially," Mavis said, floating beside me. "His speed and durability have increased exponentially since the fight began, but his attack power has remained for the most part the same."
Now that I think about it, yeah. Not that he needed his attack power to increase, with what he has, he already has me on the fucking ropes.
"Any plans?" I asked, my eyes fixed on Deliora.
"Yes, I have noticed his durability and speed seem to come in short intervals, when he lowered his guard, you slashed his chest, only for your second attack to do nothing," Mavis explained, staring at Deliora. "I have a plan, but for it to work we are going to need more than just us, so wait for my signal and keep him occupied for as long as possible."
Lovely.
I grinned.
Who am I kidding, despite how fucked up I am, I am having the time of my life!
Grinning, I turned forward, watching as Deliora charged at me once again, his eyes fixed on his prey. I could see the mindless rage in his eyes, a feral beast hell-bent on destruction without reason.
Not waiting for the demon to reach me, I sidestepped his advance, using Shunpo to get around his hulking body, moving close enough to slash my Zanpakuto across the wound of his chest.
The demon howled in pain and anguish, the sound echoing off the surrounding cliffs, and I could tell his fury had grown, intensifying his attacks to the point I didn't even see his next strike.
Unable to perceive Deliora's move, I felt the full force of his blow as he slammed me into the ground, my Zanpakuto clattering out of my hand, as I gasped for air, struggling to catch my breath as Deliora loomed over me, his teeth bared in a vicious snarl.
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[Adam - Inner World - POV]
"Adam," The voice of my Zanpakuto echoed in my mind, as all of a sudden I found myself within my inner world.
"Why am I here?!" I asked as I surveyed the area, the acrid taste of blood coating my tongue. I wiped at my lip, and my hand came away smeared with crimson.
"If you keep this up, you will die. You have yet to truly unleash my power. You seek the thrill of battle, but are blind to your own hesitation behind your strikes, that hesitation is your greatest enemy, not the beast before you." Zanryuzuki appeared in a burst of bright light, her long, raven hair cascading over her shoulders as she looked at me. "What are you afraid of?"
"What am I afraid of?" I mutter to myself, looking at Zanryuzuki.
Zanryuzuki answered before I could speak again, "You doubt yourself. You doubt my power. Abandon those doubts, Adam. Abandon your hesitation. Only by facing forward, unwavering and unyielding, can you hope to succeed. Retreat and you will fail. Keep hesitating and you will die."
I wasn't hesitating, was I?
If I were, I wouldn't have tried to fight the demon. If I truly doubted my power, I would've run when Mavis told me to run.
"I'm not hesitating," I replied firmly.
"You aren't?" Zanryuzuki said, her eyes fixed on me. "When you used me to strike the demon, not once the thought of cutting him down occurred to you, instead you were aiming to hurt him, and hurt him we did."
I...
She was right.
Not once did I picture my blade cutting through Deliora's body completely, in my mind only hurting was possible, the thought of killing him with one strike seemed just impossible.
Zanryuzuki's eyes bore into mine, her voice low and almost hypnotic. "Our blade only exhibits doubt with each strike you take," she said. "Can a blade sharpened by doubt truly cut anything? Can it conquer the enemy?"
No, it can't.
"Send me back, I have a demon to kill," I said, and this time, I would erase all traces of hesitation from within me, this time, I would attack Deliora, and kill him.
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[Adam POV]
My eyes fluttered open, and I looked up to see Lilia's determined face as she hurriedly carried me away from the deep crater in the ground, created by the force of Deliora's last blow on my person.
Glancing over Lilia's shoulder, I saw Ur, standing between us and Deliora with an icy aura around herself, as she stared at the demon, tears running down her face.
Fuck canon!
And FUCK THAT!
Without hesitation, I leaped off Lilia's shoulder and vaulted through the air, my feet pointed directly towards Ur's back. The force of my kick combined with the fact she hadn't expected that, sent her crashing through an open window in the nearby building, effectively stopping her suicide spell.
"Adam-sama!" Lilia shouted in shock and relief.
"The hell was that brat!" Ur's voice was a sharp crack as she threw her fists to her hips and glared at me from within the building I had kicked her into.
"I can ask you the same! You almost killed yourself with that spell!" I replied, kicking a rock her way, only for a gust of cold wind to freeze the rock into dust before it reached her.
"Right, because almost dying without doing shit would've been better?!" Ur barked back, walking towards me with an angry glare.
My breath fogged by the cold air around Ur, I took a step forward and summoned my Zanpakuto. "I didn't die, so suck on an icicle!"
Ur clenched her fists and spat out the words, her cheeks flushing and one of her eyes twitching. "You didn't die because I saved you!"
I spun around to meet her gaze as Deliora began to howl, his roar reverberating through the town in a chilling display. "Look," I said, trying to convince her; out of her suicidal plan. "I'm pretty sure we can kill this demon without any of us dying. So...are you willing to not die?"
Ur narrowed her eyes and scanned my disheveled figure. Worry creased her forehead as she took in the deep gashes, the multiple bruises, and the dried blood that still clung to my skin. "You look like shit..."
Hurtful, but fair. "I know."
Ur looked up at me with her deep black eyes, her brow furrowed in confusion and something else. "Why do you even care if I live or not?" she asked, her voice tense.
I offered my hand to her, stained with dirt and sweat, and smeared with fresh blood, as a tender smile crept onto my face. "Let's make a deal, if we survive this, I'll tell you, deal?"
Ur sighed in defeat, turning her attention to Deliora. "Fine, I can't believe I'm humoring a kid, but fuck it, let's fight the demon. Just remember you fucked up the easiest way out of this!"
"You'll thank me later!" I shouted, blurring out of sight executing Shunpo to almost instantly close the distance between me and Deliora. This time, carrying more determination in my blade, and an ally on my side.
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