Author's Preface
Out of all the blacksmiths in history, one stood out the most. Not a shaman, not a witch, and certainly not a magical beast — welding, smithing, burning herself until her works began to consume her very consciousness itself.
Hephaestus was nothing but a human who put her entire life onto the anvil. Into the blades she created.
In the end, her passion led to her own death. Thirteen armaments created in thirteen weeks. Thirteen armaments that devoured her very soul, taking up wills of their very own.
That was her sin.
Her thirteen sins.
Each taking a different name, willful and unwavering they sharpened and dulled on their own accord. Disrespecting any and all wielders who they saw unfit.
Over centuries past, many attempted using these powers. But not all could utter the true name's of Hephastus' sins.
A flash of white light was followed by an intense wave of heat instantly blowing at Naren's face as he ducked behind white stone remains of houses. Yuna sat right beside him, using his body as an extra layer of defense.
Naren's eyes fluttered open while he shook his head, grimacing from the pain in his ears.
Yuna behind him sighed.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he knows how to use that sword."
Secretly Yuna was happy.
She knew there was only one way to get out of a Dreameater's dream. That was to have the Dreameater let you out. For a powerful shaman, that was as easy as intimidating it through their sheer presence. But for someone of their caliber it was a bit more difficult.
So if he had killed it...
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Cairo clicked his tongue as he felt the strength within him being pulled out by Excalibur. His arm twitching as it continued to take and take. The prideful sword that he'd inherited when he was little, was still belittling him.
As the flames faded, Cairo jumped back creating distance between himself and the Dreameater. His body temperature fluctuating from intense heat to a sharp cool that created a stream of fog around him.
Excalibur would dull and sharpen as it saw fit depending on how much stronger the enemy was. But even still, it wouldn't let Cairo actually use it's powers. Being nothing more than a sharper broken katana.
Just then, Yuna's voice cut through the fog:
"Forty-five minutes left! Try to wittle it down a bit, my soldiers!"
"Pain in the ass."
The fog slowly dissipated. The beast folding into itself attempting to put out the fire.
Even if he hadn't been able to use Excalibur's power, it still sucked up enough out of him to do some sort of damage to the abomination.
But even that wasn't enough.
Cairo noticed the hand that he had slit slowly fusing back together, but before it could he lunged forward, throwing a shuriken right into the wound he had just created.
The shuriken wedged itself into the mending flesh. Cairo grabbed onto the steel wire attached to the Kunai. All he had to do was light—
Before he could finish his thoughts he watched as a boy in a dull red scarf appeared out his kunai, his body already spinning like a top as he sunk his knee into the weakest point of the wound.
"Tsk."
Cairo increased the temperature of his fingers coiled around the wire, letting the embers climb up right onto where Naren was standing. The flames creeping onto his legs.
The boy uttered a silent curse but didn't retreat. Instead he continued his assault on the beast. His legs whipping out in intervals of seconds that didn't look possible for even the most trained athletes.
Naren's feet dug deeper and deeper into the beast whilst trying to ignore the blistering heat underfoot.
Cairo watched in amusement.
He had no idea who the boy was...Naren was it? His memories from before he had arrived in this city had been scrambled about. But whenever he saw the boy he got a strange feeling.
Just then the boy had appeared right beside him. His foot digging into Cairo's hind side.
"Sorry, bud...Bad feet! Don't hurt the candle."
"Bet."
Naren was starting to grow on him more and more.
But looking over at the boy, he could tell he was trying his hardest to keep himself awake. Slapping his face whilst yawning.
Cairo was already exhausted after all Excalibur had taken from him. So between him, Naren, and the snake that was hiding herself behind the rubble, he was at a loss on how exactly they could live through this.
He cursed under his breath, he couldn't afford to die here. Not yet. He had to repay what was taken from him, what was inflicted upon him. He had to exterminate them all. All those that stole his mother from him.
The smile on Cairo's face slowly grew deeper and darker, yet almost looked forced.
How exactly they could live?
What a joke.
He was going to die?
"My ass."
Cairo tensed his jaw as he placed Excalibur's hilt in his mouth. Then, he turned to the yawning red haired boy, grabbing him and lifting him off the ground.
"Hey! The hell're you-"
"Rhut ut."
His muscles twitched as veins bulged through his arms. The one-eyed man bit down harder on his katana as he twisted his hips back, gathering all his power in his legs. And with one swift thrust, Naren went flying through the air, cursing as he did.
Cairo watched Naren's body twist around mid-air, the Dreameater's gaze following the barreling boy.
Everything around him was a weapon made to serve him. Whether it be a person or even the scrap of metal Excalibur.
Naren reoriented himself, watching the beast watch as he flew. His instincts caught on as he wound his right foot back, twisting his hips as he and the beast drew closer.
Cairo pulled the blade out of his mouth, forcing his body temperature to increase as much as he could without passing out. The blade glowing a bright orange as flames cascaded across it's edge.
Cairo lunged at the beast, pulling out a kunai with his left hand.
If this feeble beast would use something as bothersome and cowardly as regeneration as a crutch, then Cairo would butcher it until there was nothing left to sew together.
His body temperature shut up as he avoided the beast's swatting hand mere inches away from crushing him, instead using it as a platform to dig right into the beast's gaping mouth that took up it's entire abdominal space.
The blazing man didn't hesitate for even a moment. His arm's moving in one well orchestrated symphony of violence as he carved into the beast.
The Dreameater tried regenerating. The husks grabbing onto one another attempting to close the gaps, trying their bests to come together. But Cairo wouldn't let up. Not for a second, not even for a moment.
It was destructive, but captivating. His motions fluid and intentional, his footwork precise and his body completely moving on his whim. He was indeed a monster.
But even if a monster were to try it's hardest, what could it do against a devil?
In the flash of an eye, the abomination folded over itself, completely swallowing Naren and Cairo whole.
A breif moment of stillness followed. The burning inferno still sizzling while the ground continued crumbling.
Behind the rubble, Yuna's eyes were wide. But only for a moment, before a gurgle came from the beast followed by something flying out from inside of it.
A red-haired boy sliding across the stone pavement, the skin on his arm peeling off from the rough contact. And from his pockets flew out one more thing.
A crude necklace. One made from just a pretty rock attached to some string.