5.4 Resolve

"Bastard...you're going to...!!" said August. "We're in for a bumpy ride, kid, but don't worry, leave it all to me." he muttered to himself.

It was not too soon that the military forces attacked them both. Smoke, bullets, and shrapnel covered the sky. The jets had launched several missiles, same goes with the frigates. It was an orchestra of whistling and drums, followed by a large trail of smoke. However, all of their efforts were wasted as the two prepared for self-defense. March melted most of the projectiles with corrosive poison, and August either sliced the projectile, or absorbed it using a blobs of blood, like a cushion for comfort. Both were still fighting each other, using both their mediums and the military's firepower for their own.

August lifted his arms, and sliced the jets like butter, while March flung acidic feathers, corroding most of the ships. It was no mere minutes, but an hour, that had passed, and still, the fight went on, with no end in sight.

It would seem that the two are on the same side. However, there was a clear difference in effort between the two. March simply hacked away with any jet or ship he could find; whilst August extends effort to spare the humans involved. Each human he saved or spared, floats in the waters below them.

" *cough* *huff* *huff* well, August? Your wings seem smaller than before...you getting tired yet?" said Arche.

It was already obvious. August could no longer keep- up with his previous pace. His blood wings, now half it's original size, was an obvious indicator. He needed just one thing at this moment: Fresh Blood. It's against Richard's will to slay a human that isn't involved. The duo usually drained blood from those who were half-dead, or recently kicked the bucket within a span of fifteen minutes.

For a moment August hid in the debris of clumped metal, the proof of their battle, and an ironic hiding place to be hiding in anyways. The relentless assault focused on Arche whilst he hid, and gave August and Richard a moment t gather their thoughts.

"Richard, we'll be sticking to our own rules, till the end, right?"

"I guess we're both idiots, eh?" Richard replied

"If we're gonna lose here, I want you to end our contract. We're cheating your death, kid. We just have to get a container for your blood and a safe place and we're all set"

"No, I'm tired. I've been with you for eight years now. I'm a weakling who doesn't deserve your power"

"you're absolutely right, kid. You're pathetic. You can't do anything without me. But you deserve my power. Even an idiot like you should understand why."

"I... Thanks, August. Now, let me take over. I know you're exhausted. Just please, let me persuade my brother for the last time..."

"You're both idiots. I can't believe that I'm stuck with you and that guy until we reseal the 0-frag."

The sound of explosion had lasted too short as August hid. It was the silence that caught Richard's attention that made him curious, and eventually, peek. Richard had finally decided to come out, only to witness a gruesome sight. A gaping hole in the sky was too familiar for both Richard and Arche. It was a sign, and a rather ominous one. Every single ship and jet that hasn't been destroyed was being devoured, and screams of pain and howls of agony echoed through the waters as the people were crushed, and became part of what couldn't be described more than a large ball of metal and brine.

Arche wasn't too far from where Richard had surfaced, and it was a gruesome sight to see. His dull, venomous wings have been seemingly torn, and his face pales with fear, evident in the wounds that surround his body. He immediately notices Richard and with a shaky voice, he said: "B....brother? You're back?! Run! It's the 0- frag and a host!"

The 0-frag had clearly dealt the lethal damage to Arche. Strange, though, that it did not attack Richard on sight.

"It countered every blow I did! agh... I..." said Arche.

Normally, a good-for-nothing like Richard would run away from a grand confrontation such as this with the 0-frag. However, the result would be obvious if he left: He would never forgive himself for abandoning the only person who survived the "August" tragedy. To him, Arche was thicker than water, and he did not want to put him in any danger. His concern for the boy had made him decide "I have to do it"

Richard was resolved. He looked around, and saw the murder below him, much is said to the ball metal lump before him. "August...I have to save him..." he muttered. Richard descended to the water's surface. He pointed up to the sky and said: "Stain the world with blood and sin, 'Hemostigma'. " In an instant, the water turned blood-red for miles, and the countless bodies have disappeared. The clouds darkened, but with a crimson dye, even covering the hole that the 0-frag made. Within seconds, the area was filled with red mist. The stench of death lingered in the air, as if suffocating anything that stood above water.

The 0-frag had stopped growing, and seemed to have noticed the threat before him. Its was as large as a baseball's diamond, and made of scrap metal to boot. It descended to the water's surface, and extended metal tubes to the sea. It readied itself for an encounter. It shifted it's salvaged cannons, and grew itself arms, much like an octopus's.

The machination seemed mindless, until it spoke to the two: "I won't get caught and sent to that crummy prison again without a fight".