Blood leaked from the corners of Sylas' lips, his body rattling with pain. The response was involuntary, no amount of Will was going to change anything. And he felt that intimately.
"I'm not sure why you're being so stubborn. I'm sure you know that I have many more abilities than what I've shown. If you're waiting for an opportunity to reverse the situation, it doesn't exist."
Aki released Sylas' throat once again, this time launching two fists. They blurred through the air, claps of thunder ringing out with their movement. And yet, when they landed, the echoes overlapped, making it sound as though just one had landed.
In Sylas' body, though, he could intimately feel both. It was like two drills, rotating in opposite directions, clashing and churning in his body.
He knew by now that this was the special ability of the Tiger Warlord Armor. Even blunt attacks held the sharpness of slashing claws and gnawing bites. There was an extra bit of pain to every strike, and it wasn't just an illusion.
Sylas could tell that if Aki wasn't holding back in order not to kill him too quickly, his inner organs would have truly been turned to mush already.
It was getting hard even to breathe. Every breath not only carried the fire of smoldering lava, but the sharp, etching pain of tiny blades grinding against his chest and diaphragm.
Aki asked the same question, just as patiently, every time. And then, he would unceremoniously attack.
At some point, it didn't even feel like Aki was expecting an answer; he was just having fun. He asked the question out of habit, and the time he waited before attacking was getting just the slightest bit shorter every time.
By the sixth or seventh time he asked, the attempts blurring together in Sylas' mind, he was sending out series of combos, a light, almost airy chuckle coming from his lips.
It didn't seem like he remembered his original purpose. Like a toddler tossing around a toy, he railed against Sylas again and again, only stopping as he started to notice bruises blooming across Sylas' torso.
"Oh my, it seems I've gone too far. Sorry, sorry."
These weren't bruises at all, at least not in the normal sense. The grotesque blotches of pale green and dark violet were signs of internal bleeding. If this continued, he really might accidentally kill Sylas.
He caught Sylas' neck again, patting his cheek with a palm.
"You see, when I get excited, bad things happen. If you just cooperated, none of this would be happening."
Rather than waiting for Sylas to respond, Aki forcefully turned his head to the side, squeezing Sylas' cheeks as though to make sure he kept his eyes open.
"Those people on the altars, they're all the greatest heroes your Earth had to offer. That guy over there—" Aki turned Sylas' head again, "—he's the Emperor of the Celestial Republic. He's really not bad. He managed to clear all the danger under the ocean. Truly, he was quite the headache for me. All that effort just went up in a puff of smoke.
"That guy—" Aki forcefully turned Sylas' head again, squeezing his cheeks a little harder, "—he's the King of what you lot call… Eurpeia, I think it was. I'm not sure, honestly. You change your names quite often. Though I guess that's my fault, timey wimey stuff and all.
"He's also not bad, a bit blood thirsty though. He likes to have everything under his control, so infiltrating his Kingdom was particularly difficult and I actually failed in the end. You know, you humans might be weak, but I guess you have your own redeeming qualities."
Aki chuckled and then turned Sylas' head again. "That gal over there, she might be stronger than you. You know, they call her the secret ace of Legacy. Back then, what you probably don't know, is that they wanted both of you, but they felt that it was only possible to control one of you at a time, so they gave up on you and took her on. How does that make you feel? Do you think they made the wrong choice? Does it make you angry they thought someone was better than you?
"If it makes you feel better, I don't think she actually is stronger than you right now. Well, maybe in terms of raw strength she is. But your Rune Mastery… that… that is quite the anomaly."
Aki seemed to lose focus for a moment, looking at Sylas as though he was a slice of meat on the chopping block.
"I'm very interested in just how you managed to raise the first layer to Essence Mastery. I have never seen such a thing."
Aki shook his head. "Ah, where were we. Yes, right—" He turned Sylas' head again. "—That one over there is another member of Legacy, one of their Legendary little sheeps. Might not be as strong as the gal, but he's quite the variable. Somehow he's reached the E-Grade in Race. You know, your world truly has a fascinating history. Even I'm wondering just who was your first Overlord Race. A spontaneous Race upgrade by the system is rare, truly rare…"
Aki clicked his tongue. "Some of the people here are a bit disappointing. That Africor Continent of yours is truly spineless. None of their Monarchs appeared and they sent their little minions instead. If they were going to be such cowards, I'm not sure why they didn't just bend the knee in the first place. They must think I don't know about their little Silver Grade City."
The chuckle that came from Aki seemed particularly dark now.
"These people," he released Sylas' face, opening his arms wide, "they're the very best your world has to offer. And yet, didn't they all fall into my trap? The country you call home is nothing but a nice little pawn for me, what good is it for you to struggle so much?"
A deep, rumbling voice echoed. Even as he spoke, it sounded as though gravel was grinding in his throat, the quake of the earth coming with the shift in tone.
"If you are, you can die now."