Phase 37 “The Windup”
“WHAT... HAVE YOU DONE...” The frightening tone of the voice reverberated throughout the air, giving everyone in the dimly lit room an uneasy feeling. They needed a few more seconds to adjust their vision before they were able to make out the details of their surroundings. Allen was wide awake, much to Kaien's astonishment, and the shaman was only a few metres away from him, muttering about how much pain he was in.
The man spoke quietly, mumbling only a few sentences that ended as whispers as he removed the handcuff. Once the door opened, Allen had to push himself to stand up and whispered a few words to the cage that was located in the middle of the room. Immediately after that, Benji and Nathan stormed out of the room. They ran to Kaien's aid and were able to set the man free without encountering any obstacles.
“Allen, I thought I lost you,” Kaien hugged Allen tightly as he felt his energy suddenly sucked out slowly. He noticed Benji and Nathan were having the same expression like him.
“I can overcome him now, just lend me your energy for another minute,” Allen spoke as he concentrated on battling with the shaman’s mind. It was not an attack spell at all; Allen was hoping, asking the shaman to know what he had done. He should know what he did was evil. That was why the shaman did not detect him when he approached his mind.
The fact that Kaien, Nathan, and Benji realised what Allen had done came as a surprise to them as their thoughts merged together while they were fighting the shaman. Allen was taken aback when he discovered that the others had, for some reason, enhanced the power of his magic. Not only did they make the shaman aware of what he had done, but they also caused him to experience the emotions. It was as though all of the misery, sorrow, and chaos that the shaman had inflicted exploded out of their consciousness and into the mind of the shaman.
“CURSE YOU!” The shaman yelled angrily, in the midst of his outburst. The tears began to fall from his eyes. The shaman marched towards the four men while screaming for the torture to end. While the four men were paralysed since they were too accompanied to attack the shaman.
Nathan was the first person to notice that the shaman was marching towards him. He immediately let go of Allen and drew his sword to defend himself against the attack. As a direct consequence of this, Allen no longer had Nathan to serve as his source of energy, and he started to feel lightheaded. Benji quickly noticed it and he dragged Nathan back to Allen.
They had all reached their physical and mental limits. Allen, who could hardly maintain the spell, was drawing his friends' strength from them. Due to the severity of Kaien's injuries, he did not risk absorbing too much from him. Benji and Nathan's mental states were both normal, but both of them were fatigued psychically.
“Allen, suck my energy as much as you need as quickly as you can.” Benji told Allen and Allen complied. After a few seconds, Benji released his grip on Allen because he felt that a tremendous amount of power had left him. He marched up to the shaman and blocked the crazy strike even though he was almost limping. Nathan and Kaien could only watch in shock, hoping that Benji would be able to hold the shaman for long enough for them to drive the elderly man insane.
“F--- you!” The shaman swore as he kicked Benji in the stomach and slung him aside. Benji was slammed against the wall behind him so hard until he spitted blood.
“Benji!” Nathan screamed. Before he could do anything the shaman was already standing in front of them. The shaman was able to tear them apart in a matter of fractions of a second. He then shoved Nathan aside and kicked Kaien to the left, leaving Allen alone without any defence.
Allen nearly passed out when he lost his hold on Kaien and Nathan. His magic was immediately broken and he collapsed to the ground. He was unable to feel anything, and he was even uncertain as to whether or not he was still breathing. The shaman laughed uncontrollably at first, but then he stopped as the expression of dread on his face deepened.
“F--- you!” the shaman cursed. He landed a kick on Allen’s stomach and swore, “WHAT DID YOU DO? WHY THE PAIN WON’T GO AWAY?!”
Allen looked the shaman straight in the eyes and smiled cruelly, taunting him even though Allen himself felt pain. Before the shaman tore them apart, he managed to keep the magic he was casting along with another spell that he mumbled in secret. It was the most excruciating agony the shaman had ever experienced. He was guilty of all the horrible actions he had done, and he saw pictures and felt anguish as a result. As he screamed in complete and utter disbelief, tears began to well up in his eyes. The shaman eventually lost his mind and he was able to kick Allen a few times until Allen fell to his knees. The shaman continued to scream as though there was no tomorrow.
Kaien desperately tried to rise to his feet and run to Allen's side, but he was unable to move even a finger. When he peered at Benji, he noticed that the other man was still unconscious. He tried to call Nathan, but his mouth betrayed him and he was unable to speak. Because he was so far away, he could only see the back of Nathan, and he assumed that Nathan was also unconscious. The assault that they launched against the shaman caused them to use an excessive amount of energy. Too much effort was wasted.
“NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO WIN AGAIN! IF I CAN'T WIN, SO DO YOU!" Allen was about to be stabbed in the neck by the shaman when he let out a scream as he pulled a dagger from his robe and prepared to do so. Kaien shouted out in horror, but no sound came out of his mouth.
Blood splattered everywhere, drenching the cloth. As the blood soaked the ground and a figure dropped lifelessly to the floor, the odour in the room grew increasingly foul. As soon as it made contact with the earth, it transformed into ashes. Kaien had thought that they would suffer another defeat, but he was wrong. Dominique appeared out of nowhere, grabbed an abandoned sword that was lying on the ground, and stabbed the shaman in the back of the heart from behind just as the shaman's dagger was about to make contact with Allen's flesh.
“Allen!” Dominique went to be by Allen's side and immediately examined his wound. After that, everything was hazy to Kaien. He saw a light close to Dominique and at first he assumed it was an enemy, yet, he was unable to warm Dominique in any way. He lowered his eyes and hoped that everything would turn out okay in the end. His final experience was of the ground severely shaking beneath him, and he could feel enormous stones beginning to fall over. This was his last sensation. The cave was also beginning to self-destruct.