Awaken Book 3: The Rise of Knonus

Chapter 25: Blind, but can still see

Armona lands at the bottom of the well, she looks around as the lights all around were dimmed, she doesn't see any water as the bottom of any well would have, "What the hell is all this?" Armona asks to herself as she looks around, one light shines brighter than the rest of them and she walks carefully towards it. She sees a bunch of bugs crawling around and she approaches the light, she sees gigantic shelves with numerous books, scrolls, and other forms of literature; she walks around as she sees a door ahead of her. "Big door.." She says as she attempts to open the door and it doesn't budge. She stops as she hears something around in the darkness, she turns around sharply and it's just more bugs flying around. "Gosh. What's up with these bugs?" She says as a figure approaches behind her and doesn't move, "They help me see what I can't.." A voice surprises her and she takes her sword and swings at the figure. A loud slash comes through as it's suddenly stuck and she can't pull her sword back, "They protect me." The figure says as she leaps back and the bugs form around the sword's handle and they drop it in its hands. The figure walks into the light, she sees an elderly man with a crane with one blue eye directly in the middle of his head. "I am Sage. You are Armona, correct?" He says as she gives off a weird impression, "How you know my name?" She asks as he smirks, "These bugs rule by my command, they fly, they look, they observe, they're my little data collectors. Every book in my library here contains all the knowledge of this realm and all realms alike. I know you're the Queen of Vikings, what's left of them anyways." He says as she balls her hand to a fist and a vein slowly shows up on her hand. "I'm the only one left...the only one who survived..." She says as she lifts her hand, her palm faces the man and the sword leaves his hand and goes directly in her hand. "See if your bugs know that, old man." She says as the man smiles. "Seses. That's my name, not old man." Seses says as Armona turns to face him, "You didn't come in alone." He continues as a book falls from the distance, "How do you know, I could be with a team of people..." She says back to him, "I only hear your heartbeat...and you're a terrible liar. I may be blind, but I can still see." He says as he opens his eyes and his pearly white pupils roll. "Yeah. My friend is at the entrance but it's just me here with you." She says as he shakes his head and one of his bugs turns into a crystal ball and it shows something jumping in shortly after she did, "Not so observant, are you?" He says as Sin jumps and lands behind Armona and kicks her in the chest immediately after she turns around.

Banno sits peacefully next to the well as his three swords are all stuck in the ground with the handles in the air. He senses a slight change in the wind direction and he opens his eyes, Doug lies on his stomach and loads his rifle, he locks in and aims slowly. "Wind is soft...target is alerted but calm." He whispers to himself and looks through his scope. He sees Banno in his sights for a quick moment and as he clicks the bipod under to properly rest the barrel to the ground, he looks again and he vanishes. "Looking for me?" Banno says as he stands behind him and his blade touches the back of Doug's head, Doug smirks as he underestimated his opponent. "Get up, slowly." Banno orders as Doug gets up and turns to face him, "Guess I'm caught." He says. "Who are you?" Banno asks as Doug smirks and drops to a knee, he spins to trip Banno as he jumps to avoid it. Doug and Banno reach to a stalemate as Banno's blade is under Doug's chin and Doug's small knife is clashed to position Banno's blade to be under his chin, "Swordsman, huh?" Doug grins as Banno nods and they both back up. Doug's knife turns into three knives and he throws them all towards Banno, Banno bats them all away after each one thrown. Banno leaps towards him and Doug unbuttons his coat, Banno's blade gets close to Doug's chest and quickly, he wraps his coat around his blade. The blade cuts through the coat and the blade almost got to Doug, he slides to the left as he believes he sees a blind spot. He goes in and immediately, a sword appears and it cuts his cheek, he flies backwards as Banno's second sword goes in his hand. Doug runs in, throws three punches as Banno dodges them one by one and suddenly, his swords float next to him and start to move on their own. "Shit!" Doug says as he backflips away from him to rethink a strategy. Doug dashes back at him again as one sword swings towards him, he slides underneath the blade and launches off the ground with his hands and delivers a hard uppercutting kick to Banno's chin. Doug smirks as suddenly, blood pours out of his mouth, he blinks and two swords are through his chest, "Doug..." He says as Banno nods. "You know...who I...work for?" Doug asks softly as he spits out blood. "Your boss doesn't scare me." Banno says as he takes the swords out of his body and Doug falls to his side, "He...doesn't....scare me...either. All beings have an...expiration date." He says as he dies upon impact.

Armona flies through a bookshelf and hits her back on the wall behind her. Sin walks to her slowly, sharpening his claws as Armona gets up and her sword isn't in her holster. "Wanna help, Old man?" She says as he smirks as he runs towards her, she ducks immediately before his claws strike the wall above her head, she kicks him in the chest to make some space. "What...no, noooo. You're the combat expert, I may know all things but fighting, not meant for me." Seses says as Sin growls. Seses throws a book and he turns around and slashes it in half, she tackles him and they both fall, she mounts him, throws a punch, and he grabs her fist. He rolls to his left and delivers a forearm to her face, Armona sees her sword in the air, Seses' bugs are holding onto the handle of it. She rolls back to her feet, she wipes her bloody nose and smiles as her lust for battle burns through her heart; Sin's eyes light up and blasts two small beams. She jumps and dodges them completely, she grabs her sword from up above and clashes with Sin's claws. She attempts to kick him, he grabs her leg, sweeps the other leg she's standing with, she falls to her back, and she kicks his leg to bring him down as well. She swings her sword towards his head, he leans back all the way so his head could touch the ground behind him, he sticks his claws through her leg, and rips them out as he makes it back to his feet. She screams as blood falls to the ground, "That's all you got for me?" She says as Sin tilts his head as if he didn't understand what she said, she puts her wounded left leg back and places her right leg in front, bearing through the pain. Sin licks the blood off his claws, "It seems like you're out of options..." one of Seses' bugs fly to her ear. "Yeah. No...shit. What you have in mind?" She says as Sin walks to her slowly. Seses puts his hand up as a swarm of bugs fly from behind and in front of him, "I shall provide a little bit of a distraction." Seses says as he orders the bugs to attack Sin. The bugs fly at him, a cloud of bugs fly to Sin and cover his vision, the bugs wrap around his body and he tries to fight them all off. A line of bugs pass Armona's sight, pointing her to follow Seses to the hallway he walks in, "Well come on." Seses says through the bug in her ear and she runs in after him, Sin continues to fight the multiple layers of bugs all over him. Sin falls to a knee as the bugs are eating him alive and negating his regeneration, he falls face first to the ground, the bugs fly off his face and it's nothing but bones.