Garden Of The Abyss

"What're you zoning out about, huh?!"

Backed by that ferocious, ear-piercing yell from the energetic, shirtless man was a fist that launched itself against Avdima's cheek as he sat hunched over against the tree. The raw impact was enough to shake the oak by its roots, but Avdima only slowly parted his eyelids as the callused knuckles belonging to Fai pressed against his pale cheek. 

With one hand, the Argonaut clenched onto the wrist of his foe, squeezing tightly the blackband that covered Fai's wrist--the grip strength he exuded was enough to drive all of Fai's veins against his skin as Avdima slowly stood himself. It was like a man holding his dog by its leash, getting up at his own pace as he held the tan-skinned man's arm hostage. 

Even if Avdima wasn't outwardly tall or built like a bulwark mountain of muscle, the pressure he gave with those unmoving eyes of his alone was enough to make Fai regret bringing himself to such intimate proximity to the shaggy-haired man. 

It's like I'm standing in front of death itself; those indifferent eyes wouldn't lose any sleep over my own departure, Fai thought. 

Though he was stuck in a precarious position, Fai kept his cool even as the monstrous grip was felt against his ivory bones. He listened as the footsteps of the two feline behemoths neared their position--their thunderous steps filling him with resolve. 

Still, Avdima remained perfectly still with his same, blank expression as the frantic, wild beasts charging towards him was blatantly obvious. 

What is he doing? Is he spacing out or something?! Fai thought. 

"Erebus: Annihilation." 

It was spoken directly to Fai, but at the same time, the words weren't meant for him. Avdima didn't so much as move a muscle as the incantation left his lips, but a stale air suddenly replaced the natural winds of the forest in that moment--a layer of darkness setting itself as countless grains of darkness danced in the air like an inverse snowfall. 

In that small window of time, he focused on the nature of the bits of darkness--they were vibrating at such a frequency that a hum met his ears. 

Was he holding me still and waiting for those two to draw near so he could…? No! Fai thought. 

"No…! Humbaba! Cath Palug! Get back!"

Fai's warnings to his beastly familiars came too late as suddenly a violent, volatile fit of darkness erupted, originating from Avdima's position. It was unleashed at the very moment Humbaba and Cath Palug threw their gargantuan bodies at the Argonaut--being welcomed into the destructive darkness belonging to Avdima.

"Fai…!"

Charlotte yelled out as she attempted to run towards the pillar of intertwining, convulsing darkness--unable to bring herself anywhere near it as the aftershock of its existence dragged her back into the holds of the great oak. 

Stratifications of black winds compressed and released, lashing out towards the surrounding territory as anything within its circular reach was met with erasure. 

"You're better than I thought."

Avdima's eyes took a slight widening as the storm of dislocating darkness dissipated as quick as it came, still holding onto the wrist of Fai. The summoned beasts fell inanimate; dissolving into particles of mana. 

The man had taken a knee, huffing as his next drawn breath was exhaled through a bloody cough. 

"You inhaled matter-erasing darkness. The fact you're not a red mist by now is testament to your strength." 

"...Didn't anyone teach you not to talk so much in a fight?"

In an unexpected burst of vigor, Fai brought himself to his feet with an uppercut that flung his temple of sweat and blood against the chin of the Argonaut. There was no mercy in the fantastic hit; Avdima's grip was released in full as his body crashed against the surviving, decayed oak. 

How is it possible…? Charlotte thought as she watched the two men, Fai is second only to Sirius...I've never, ever seen him lose in a real fight! Is this the type of enemy that awaits us in this world…? 

Spitting out a loogie of blood from his mouth, the oval-eyed man wiped the taste of the crimson essence from his lips. 

I can't do anything against him, not like this. Physical resistance, no matter what arts I use...it doesn't seem to do a damn thing to him. I'm used to this though; he gives off the same feeling as that bastard, Sirius. Am I going to be the underdog forever? Fai chuckled to himself. 

"Fai!"

This time, Charlotte's call of her voice as soft as springtime leaves was coated in relief as she saw the Outlander still in one piece--by some miracle. 

I really felt that one. Good thing I was able to maximize my reinforcement just in time or it'd be just like he said, Fai thought. 

Before he knew it, Avdima was already back in front of him with his ghostly, yet overwhelming self, returning the uppercut with a palm strike directly against Fai's face.

It was an unrefined move at best, but the power behind it cemented it as something daunting. 

The soft, cold soil beneath Fai's feet disappeared as his body felt as if thousands of ants were crawling over his skin. 

Using the brutal slap to knock the Outlander against the holds of the withered grass violently. 

I struck him in the chin with a full-force uppercut. His brain should've bounced around his skull like a ping pong ball—but somehow he's fine and dandy, Fai remarked. 

There wasn't even any mana behind it, just a simple attack backed by the brute force of Avdima's unparalleled reinforcement. 

That bored look belonging to the prickly-haired man that watched him from above sent a jolt of revived anger through Fai as he picked himself up with a full-body kick towards Avdima.

Though it missed the swift Argonaut, Fai followed up with what he planned to do—cupping his hands around his mouth as his cheeks puffed up like a squirrel. 

Zhurong: God Breath Hold! He thought.

Unleashing in the form of an almighty breath from his fiery lungs, a tunnel of bright flames roared out at the somber Argonaut. 

The abundance of the flames varied on the exhale released; Fai's trained lungs that adapted to harsh, prolonged training allowed him to surround Avdima in a wall of flames. It was then that the nature of the spell began to unveil itself. 

Although wild and formless like the seas, the flames enclosed around the Argonaut into a cube-like imprisonment. 

"Now, Charlotte!"

"Huh…?"

The girl didn't expect to be called out so suddenly as she watched the battle, met with the battle-driven eyes of the sweat-clad man. 

"Break that sphere holding Donatien!"

"But—"

"I don't care how, just hurry!"

Hesitance held Charlotte as her eyes quivered at this sudden responsibility plunged onto her shoulders. It wasn't a fear of stepping into the battlefield inhabited by the destructive, insurmountable Argonaut himself, but the doubtful, plaguing thoughts of failure. A weight pressed against her chest as it felt as if her ankles were anchored to the muddy, rain-beaten ground below. 

"You want to be treated like one of us, right?! Earn it!"

Fai's words drove into her harshly, but were needed as she gulped her doubts into the bowels of her knotted stomach. 

"Leave it to me…!"

As Charlotte ran over to the sable, spherical object that imprisoned Donatien amidst the battle, Fai chuckled to himself dryly before smiling, setting his focus on maintaining the fiery container. 

"Child's play."

Avdima muttered as he extended his hand, releasing a blast of overlapped, hissing darkness--only for his arm to be sent back as if being rejected by an unseen force. Raising his hand to check it, it was left steaming as if having touched the inside of a boiling pot. 

What was that? I didn't touch or see anything, Avdima thought. 

"That confused look on your face right now is priceless."

"...?"

"God Breath Hold isn't just a blast of fire or a prison that catches you off guard; when you're within its hold, any spells you use are met with harsh feedback instead! In short, trying to use spells will result in your ass hairs being singed!"

The explanation came with its fair share of brazen as Fai slapped one of his own biceps with a smile that almost reached smug territory. Keeping himself standing tall, he kept his eyes locked tightly on Avdima even while the man was within the flaming, anti-spell prison. 

This spell doesn't chunk away at just my mana, it also draws air straight from my lungs. It's a quick way to gas out if you're not careful--let's hope our friend here doesn't notice, Fai thought. 

"Hey, you said it was just spells it negated, right?"

"Eh?"

Fai watched closer now as Avdima spoke; the man softly placed his hand against the solidified flames as his dreary looking eyes watched the flame-wielding fighter. 

With a small exertion of force, Avdima weaved into the integrity of the imprisonment spell an array of weaknesses; cracks that spread out like a cobweb. It was nothing more than a quick flex of his muscles, but that alone was enough to challenge the durability of the radiant, orange cube that surrounded him with a scorching heat. 

"Fai. Don't insult me." 

The muscular, exhausted otherworlder could only watch as Avdima curled his digit before unleashing a flick against the wall of solid fire, shattering it completely.