“…What?”
Dohyuk opened his eyes in shock. Bill turned.
“Our experience isn’t gone. We just don’t remember it… I believe it is made to be like that. To remember it only when we accept the world.”
It was easy to guess who ‘made’ it to be like that.
“So, you remember… your past life?”
“Not all. I just have flashes of information. But it’s getting clearer… that’s why I can talk to you in your own language right now.”
Cactus Bill stopped at the metal pool.
“Maybe.”
He spoke as he looked down at the pool.
“We nine were not welcomed.”
“…”
“There were people who trusted us. You had your people, and I had my family. But to others, what we were forcing upon them was too much.”
Bill stepped into the metal pool, and it began to burn his flesh.
“Hey!” Dohyuk shouted. The pool started rising and reached Bill’s knees. It was his solution against Dohyuk’s heat — to come into contact with metal to regain his control. But doing it didn’t mean he was immune to the heat.
“I think… we still thought it was the right thing. That’s why we pursued, though people cannot understand us. Just by relying on the other eight.”
“Hey! You’ll die!” Dohyuk shouted as Bill grimaced in pain. But the metal liquid was now covering Bill’s chest.
“…But I now know there is no need to do it.”
Dohyuk ran towards at Bill. Was it to save him? Or to strike him down? Whatever it was, Dohyuk was certain that he needed to do something before Bill could do what he was trying to do.
“You will understand once you become one.”
The liquid covered Bill’s face and he was finished.
“So, I will make you understand.”
His body was then covered by metal liquid. It kept melting away as it flowed back into the pool, but it was now forming around Cactus Bill like metal armor. At the same time, a giant tsunami erupted from the sea. Metal monsters that were hiding within had risen to charge at Dohyuk to finish him once and for all. Metal tentacles struck at Dohyuk mercilessly, and as Dohyuk melted them away, another giant charged at him.
There was no reason to hold back. They needed to inflict as much damage as possible to Dohyuk and to restrict his movement. Dohyuk dodged and melted a countless number of attacks against him. The dock was now a sea of lava. There was no fire, but it was filled with molten metal and steam.
As Dohyuk melted away the last metal giant-
“To the side!” Kasha shouted, and Dohyuk felt something coming towards him from the side. He raised his arm to block it, and Bill’s fist struck.
“….!!”
Pain enough to crush the bones in his arm into pieces came with the heat. Even though Dohyuk had powerful heat resistance that he borrowed from Kasha, the heat of the metal was too intense.
Bill, who was withstanding the heat from within, was probably…
No.
That wasn’t something to be considering right now now. Dohyuk twisted his body to dodge a second punch from Bill and kicked towards his stomach and leg.
With the sound of metal splashing, the surface was damaged. Even if it was controlled to be shaped constantly, it was still melting away. The amount of armor kept lowering in quantity as Dohyuk and Bill exchanged attacks.
‘There’s…’
There was no way to win. Bill’s solution was to only keep trying to fight when it wasn’t even possible. But even then, he was still trying. Even with his armor that had been taken apart in seconds and his body losing the power to move due to the extreme heat, he was pushing Dohyuk back.
Dohyuk gritted his teeth.
“D…”
It was the first time for Dohyuk to be in a fight where he had no motivation.
“…ammit.”
He could not control his feelings. Bill’s attacks were very powerful and were inflicting dangerous damage to Dohyuk, but there was no pain or anger. He just wanted to end it.
And that thinking-
….Activated>>
Triggered a power Dohyuk had never imagined.