The Shapeshifter

No!

My mind was in a mess. After all the ups and downs, this is what I get?

It's not fair! Damn it! It's not fair!!!

I stubbornly sat up, despite all the injuries and exhaustion. Crawling hurriedly towards my brother to check if he's still alive. Well he should be.

No, he's still alive. I keep on convincing myself, thinking that he's alive. As if doing this would keep me sane. I was hoping for a miracle to happen. No matter the cost, I'll save him.

I reached for his neck to see if there was a pulse and positioned my ear next to his nose to hear if he was still breathing. Blood was pouring out of his c.h.e.s.t and on his right arm too.

Thank God that he's alive, or I don't know what I would do. He said that I brought him here for something, yet I would be the one killing him.

His right forearm was now gone and he only has his left remaining. As for the grave wound on his c.h.e.s.t... I have to think of something.

Right! My eyes lit up and I kept on thinking along the lines of 'anything that will help my brother' while I summoned a tree branch with leaves on it.

I imitated the one that my body did when it was against the Great Imp, when it summoned a branch and stuffed the leaves directly on wound.

"Ahhhh!" Victor screamed in pain, as I still kept on stuffing leaves on his c.h.e.s.t. After seeing that the blood has stopped pouring out of his body, I turned to look at the Great Imp that was kneeling not far away.

"How dare you b*st*rd!" When I was facing it, I ferociously slapped the Great Imp's face.

"Kek." as a response to the slap, the Great Imp simply smirked and looked at me with scorn.

My vision started turning red, I really didn't care anymore. F*ck this Imp!

"Ahhhh!" with an enraged howl I removed the final limb that was supporting the Great Imp.

'Swooosh!'

I kept on swinging my sword, slicing the Great Imp's body. But I was really careful not to hit its vital spots or hit it deep in its flesh.

"Hahahaha! Look at you human, oh how pitiful have you become." the Great Imp's mere words exasperated me. Even though I was slicing its skin every second, it still continues to infuriate me.

"F*ck you, you f*cking ape!" I still tried to control myself not to kill the Great Imp. I don't want it to die just yet.

"Hahahahahaha! You think you're so strong huh? Human! Let the three of us perish together!" with a mad glee on its face, its body was beginning to inflate.

"What are you trying to do!?" I asked it. I was really panicking at this point as I could sense a great danger coming from its bloated appearance.

"Run!" a weak voice entered my ears. It was Victor's!

"It's self *cough* destructing! *cough cough*" it broke my heart seeing my brother like this.

"No, I'm not going to run. If you die, I die! We die as brothers!" it's not like I can run away carrying Victor, but I really can't run anymore. I walked towards Victor in due haste and kneeled beside him.

I closed my eyes and willed for all the mana in my body to conjure into the thickest trunk I have ever summoned in my entire life. I stuck close into the trunk and gently leaned on it, while hugging my dear brother to protect him from any harm in case my spell isn't capable of sheltering us.

It was my final struggle. Whether we live or die, depends on this.

'BOOM!'

An earth-shattering boom resounded in the whole dungeon. Swathes of dark purple flame engulfed the entire floor. We weren't an exception to those flames. I quickly changed spots with Victor when I saw the flames coming near us.

I placed his face near my c.h.e.s.t so that it wouldn't get burnt. Then I hugged him once again.

"This is the least what elder brother can do for you." I whispered the words next to his hear and gently smiled, for I knew that this would be the end of me.

"Live on." I said. When I said those words, I could feel Victor quivering on my embrace. Hmmm. He's not unconscious? Too bad.

"Sorry." I said while removing my hand that was clutching his head and did a quick chop towards the lower back of his neck. I could then feel his body softening. It was a success, I made him unconscious. It's better for him to be asleep than to feel the torture of being burnt alive.

I lost all hope and I could even feel the ground shaking as the dark purple flames engulfed the both of us.

"Ahhhhh!" the dark purple flames was crawling on my skin. I tightly shut of my eyes to protect it from being burnt.

There was a searing pain coming from all over my body. It was hard to describe the pain that I was going through. It was like someone was flaying my skin inch by inch. The flamea were piercing my flesh thoroughly.

I wanted to cry but no tears was coming out of it.

After an unknown time has passed, I was still clinging to my dear life. The pain of being burned alive has numbed me and at the same time, it caused me unimaginable pain. I could only grit my teeth and persevere.

I originally thought that I could calmly face death. But when death was in front of me, killing me ever so slowly, I began to cower in terror.

I didn't want to die. Please! Anyone! Help! I hugged my brother tightly. The pain was just overbearing. I can't take it anymore. I'm going to die!

...

'Sizzle! Sizzle!'

The dark purple flame that burned the entire third floor was instantly extinguished by an unknown force.

'Hiss! Hiss!'

The extinguished flames made the whole room hot and steamy.

Victor, who had just woken up, gazed at the catastrophic scene. He immediately covered his nose to prevent himself from suffocating.

He could feel his body hurting all over. There were even searing pain on his sides.

Since he had just woken up, his mind was still fuzzy and he was tried sorting out the events that transpired in his mind. It didn't take him long to recall a few things.

'Oh sh*t! Brother! Where is he?' he panicked. He remembered that his brother was protecting him when he heard a loud explosion. Then suddenly, everything went black.

Before he could even look around, he already saw something. There was a burnt black body in front of him. Then his eyes turnes misty and he cried.

"Brother! No! Ahhhhhh!" he cried in anguish. This was scene was a torment for him. All the pain that he was feeling, was moved to the back of his mind.

"Someone help! Please!" it was but a futile attempt of asking for help. Victor knew for himself that there were no other beings here aside from him and the Great Imp!

'The Great Imp!' his eyes lit up and a crazy idea surged in his mind. He turned around and saw that there really was the Great Imp. More importantly, it was still alive and healthy!

'What! Didn't it self-destruct? How can it still be alive!? No way!' despair filled the once hopeful face of Victor as he gazed at the murderous eyes of the Great Imp.

"Shocked aren't you? Even I didn't expect two puny humans, able to kill me twice." it said while raising two of its fingers.

"Both of you are dead anyways. I'll just give you both a quick death as gift for killing me twice." it continued.

"Can you heal my brother? Please! I can be your slave for life! Please spare him." Victor suddenly asked. Hoping that this Great Imp could heal his brother. Since the Great Imp could heal itself, then it should be able to heal his brother.

"That's quite bold of you to ask your enemy to heal your brother. Are you mad or something? Even I wouldn't ask my enemies for either help or forgiveness." the Great Imp said. It continued to gaze at Victor's eyes.

"Hey kid, I could heal him. But you have to pay a terrible price. Do you want to take a gamble?"

"Yes!" Victor answered happily, seeing that the Great Imp was moved by his undying will and maybe a bit of madness.

"Hahahahaha! You don't fail to amuse me human. I can never heal your brother, moreover, I would want to see you die!" the Great Imp said. It used its wings fly at a terrifying speed towards him.

"Hahahah- huk!" When the Great Imp's claws was about to reach him. The Great Imp's mad laughter was stopped.

Victor looked up and saw that there was someone holding the neck of the Great Imp. He seemed to be an old man, judging by the long white hair he had.

"Enough with your arrogance, you dirty imp." a deep ancient voice sounded all over the place. It was hard to pinpoint the location of the voice, but Victor knew that it came from the old man.

"Who are you, you dirty b*st*rd!?" the Great Imp was feeling c.o.c.ky since it was able to escape two deaths.

"Hmph. A mere Imp, do you not recognize your master?" the white-haired Old Man snorted. He didn't really put the Imp in his eyes. To him, such a creature was akin to an ant.

"Master? What dog fart are you talking about?" although its eyes showed fear, it remained to be unyielding.

"Dirty creature, I brought you here to train them, not to display your arrogance towards me! You already died twice, to a human at that. Are you not ashamed of yourself?"

"Kill me then! Haha! I know you wouldn't kill me. You've had your eyes on me since I was young. Hahahahaha." the Great Imp mocked the old man with its words.

"Hmph! Ignorant fool. Die!" the old man squeezed his hands that was clutching the Great Imp's neck.

It wasn't even able to emit a sound as it died completely without any chance of resurrection.

"Hey kid, your brother's on the verge of dying. Close your wide open mouth and come here."

Victor who was watching the scene, was shocked by the strength of the old man. The old man was definitely a big figure. Why was here?

"Come here!" Victor subconsciously walked towards the old man. It was a commanding voice, that wasn't taking no for an answer.

"I can save your brother's life, do you want to gamble with yours?"