Despair: Act 3!
Yohan's heart felt like it had stopped for just a moment, seeing the Hound about to strike down upon him with that blade! That's when the rabbit girl appeared and appeared to be silly, but in caught the Hound off guard and that's when it just sunk down and was gone! At least, that's how it looked from his viewpoint anyway. With the two Hounds Miranda was facing, one of them had it's head viciously torn off, only for the head to have reattached itself as though the injury never happened. The two Hounds quickly moved after Miranda, but as they did, all the other Hounds suddenly came flying in towards them until...
BAM!
In a flash, the Hounds seemed to have vanished. It was strange, Yohan looked over and could no longer make out five Hounds. He couldn't help but growl slightly and grab hold of the weird tongue thing that had stabbed through him, pulling it out without another thought as some of the scales fell as well. He couldn't help but be thankful it was the right arm and not the left it had aimed for. That's when black flames suddenly burst forth, forming a ring now among all of them as there stood a Hound! But the Hound looked different now, maybe it was just the black flames covering over it's body instead of blue. Yohan watched as the Hound opened it's mouth and released some black flames temporarily before they stopped being emitted and that voice whispered out again.
"Well done. Had that rabbit girl not come here, the boy would of arrived to see his friends all die." The Hound of Despair cracked it's neck to the left and then to the right before staring at them all coldly. "I am the Hound of Despair. I have survived many battles, and my body has been pushed to the absolute limit. I too have a power similar to all of yours. You have what is called The White, while I have what is called The Black. The powers you are using now are Dominion's. I, too, have a Dominion. My Dominion's name is Despair." Yohan was surprised by this information.
"Despair?" He couldn't help but ask. It could talk, so it must understand them as well. It was telling them this, why not ask questions? Though those black flames it had were too menacing for him to try to step in and try another attack, he didn't know how hot they even were!
"Despair is a unique Dominion, as I said before, I have survived many battles. But I have never truly died during any of them. My body was even modified so that I could harness the true power of my Dominion. With every battle I survived, my body adapted and grew in power, granting me an infinite amount of possibilities along with it. All of this, in order to ensure my survival and growth as a hunter. As long as I live, my body and Dominion will both continue to adapt and give me more things capable of surviving any situation. This is the first time in many years that I have been restored to my one, original body. Before, I was split up into five versions of myself, all of them connected, much like you and your friends here. The difference being that if you injured one, it would adapt and survive." The Hound of Despair turned it's eyes briefly to Saiph.
"She came fully prepared, knowing of my abilities. You, boy, managed to figure it out, I saw that as a problem in the heat of the moment. I honestly wasn't expecting much out of any of you, but here we are anyway. There is one thing I wish to tell you, however." It's eyes set upon Yohan as Yohan felt scared now. "The one who sent me here to kill you... He told me that should I be restored to my original true form, that you have been invited for a special duel." Yohan felt angry, but he continued to listen just to hear everything. "He is waiting for you to come personally. I hope you can survive what he has in store for you." The Hound of Despair let out a creepy cackle, Yohan had to restrain himself in order not to go in and give the Hound a punch to the face!
"Alright, what's the point in telling any of us this though?" Yohan raised his left brow at the Hound. "You could of just as easily used it to prepare some kind of attack." Yohan heard an unusual response in the form of another cackle, creepily coming out of the Hound as if it knew he was going to say that.
"I knew you were all stupid enough to listen to me, in order to try to gain any information about the one who sent me here. Now, it is too late." The Hound gave a small smirk as best as it could before the black flames began to gather within it's body. "These black flames are the only thing that are natural to me. They have been with me ever since I was born. I got my name originally for bringing terror upon my enemies with these very flames! While we have been talking, I have been concentrating and gathering them up within my very own body. Should you kill me recklessly, I will lose control and I will erupt like dynamite!" The Hound of Despair laughed in a high pitched tone now, the black flames in it's eye sockets running wild before being absorbed into it's body.
"Why don't you just blow up already then?!" Yohan called out the Hound, his eyes narrowing slightly as he pointed at the Hound. "You talk as if you are alright with dying here. So why not just do it? You were sent here to kill certain people, right? Wouldn't it be best to do that right now?"
"It would be, yes." The Hound of Despair grinned at Yohan. "But I want to play a little game first. To see who is better at being the prey. You see, I have always been the predator, but never the prey. In this case, I feel cornered, trapped, knowing full well that if I were to try to attack recklessly against you all, I would surely perish. This way, it gives us all a fighting chance! My game is simple: All of you have a choice. You can attack me, you can run away and go home, you can report me to the police, you can do whatever you want! You can even do nothing, it doesn't bother me." The Hound of Despair chuckled upon seeing Yohan's expression shift. "I know what you are thinking. There must be a catch to this, right? Well, there is!" The Hound's grin grew bigger. "Should I fail to die before my attack is fully charged, I will kill one of you!"
Yohan couldn't believe what he was hearing right now, this Hound was playing some sadistic little game in order to get out of a fight it knew it couldn't win! "You little...!" Yohan flinched as he felt the pain rising up again in his wound, his body shaking as the Hound gave a mocking laugh.
"Do you hate me? It doesn't matter to me, that's the fun part of this game. If you leave right now, I can't kill you. If all but a few leave, my choice is obvious! That is the offer, I ain't giving any of you a chance to reject it! I will do nothing while I wait for your decisions, but don't forget I'm still charging up my attack all the while! I look forward to seeing the choices you all make!" If Yohan's injury wasn't so serious right now, he would send a sound blast right now at it! He didn't know what to tell the others, he didn't have any control over what they said or did. But to kill one of them... Would any of them actually be willing to just leave and let the others be easy targets to choose? It... Couldn't be true, right? He could only wait and watch while the Hound just stood in it's ring of black flames.