[x] Charge forward and hit him now with everything you have!
Attack Roll: 7k3=43
Damage Roll: 7k3=8
"That was excellent!" the Ronin Shinichiro cheers, a grin splitting his face. Considering the blood pouring from the wound he took before, it's a rather grisly sight. "Well done, Akio! We have him!"
"It helped that he kept gloating." Akio responded between panting breaths, still holding his injured arm close. He looks at the Ronin quizzically. "I don't recall you talking so much."
"I don't recall myself talking so much," the Ronin responds, his smile turning into a scowl. "It's damned odd."
You don't hear whatever else is said, for you are too busy running toward the blasted crater where the shadow-touched wreckage of Moto Shinichiro lays prone. This fight… no, this madness, has gone on for more than long enough. It needs to end now! No more surprise, no more trickery! All that is left is the weapon in your hand and the enemy before you, nothing else matters.
But even as try to convince yourself of this, eating up ground beneath your long strides, you can feel the pulsing fire within your mind. It is a bright spot within your thoughts as you charge through the gloom toward the ruined form that was once the Great Traitor. Incredible power if you reached for it, but at what cost? It hurt you so badly before, and in the haze of your memories you were like another person entirely.
No, it is better to end this properly. You don't need that power. You don't need anything but a strong arm and a good weapon.
Bellowing at the top of your lungs, you bring your tetsubo down atop Moto Shinichiro's broken chest. The man gasps in pain, his single remaining hand clutching at the air in a clawing motion. The sound of the air escaping what remains of his lungs, if he had any to begin with, resembles bones rattling within a porcelain cup.
He looks at you as you raise your weapon again, sunken eyes somehow still intact despite the awful burns that cover what is left of his skin, then closes them. It is a look of resignation, of someone who has accepted something they have long held off. It's all the easier for you, then, if this monster simply accepts his death.
"Fine, then," Moto Shinichiro whispers with a voice like bone grinding against leather. "So be it. I forsake this mortal form."
The world goes dark as a moonless night in an instant as the black fog that permeates the battlefield expands to cover everything. Then it goes one step beyond, becoming an utter absence of light. You cry out and stumble back, barely keeping your footing within the terrible shadow that has engulfed everything in its embrace.
Even through this all consuming gloom, however, you cannot help but notice what becomes of Moto Shinichiro. The lingering remnants of his flesh slough away like wax beneath a flame, and a darkness even deeper than that which surrounds you stands up. It is vaguely in the shape of a man, or rather the outline, and is like looking into the true absence of shape and form itself. Whatever this is, it is truly… Nothing.
And then it begins to grow.
The shape expands to twice your height in an instant, and in the next to three times. In the moments it takes for you to back away it swells to towering stature. It looms above the tallest trees of the nearby forest, perfectly visible to your eyes as a spot of complete darkness that puts the surrounding shadows to shame. It reaches out to both sides with huge limbs as if in triumph, or perhaps regret, and bellows a cry that is deafening in its all encompassing silence.
The world trembles in response to the birth cries of this thing that was once Moto Shinichiro, and you know that now you are looking upon the truest of horrors. And even for one such as you, who has braved the terrors of Jigoku, you feel the choking sensation of fear gripping your heart. For you know this is the beast that would devour the world.
"How terrible for you," the voice of Nisshoku says in your ear, so close you feel the illusion of breath on your face. "He's finally given up what's left of his flesh." You can almost see the creatures smirk. "But we can help you defeat him, if you would only extend your hand."
Anger breaks through the terror that grasps at your limbs, but before you can respond you feel the fire in your mind ignite to new heights. It strains against your control, pushes against the boundaries of your thoughts. You can feel its desires. It wants to break free, to burn away the darkness and let loose cleansing light.
All you have to do is reach for it, and accept whatever agony it may bring.
[] Embrace the fire.
[] Accept Nisshoku's offer.
[] Find your comrades.
[] Write in.
