Arms launched out from the darkness, grabbing the young man and lifting him into the air, his arms and legs pushing back against the creature's grip as it's hooded form revealed itself, becoming less and less obscured by the light, head snapping in a rotated fashion like a bug examing it's prey with a beastial curiousity.
Ryuu flailed helplessly against the creature's arms, a clicking laugh seemingly exiting its throat. A gaping maw is revealed, endless rows of teeth and a slinking, barbed tongue slicking out from its mouth, a wet and thick slime slapping against the floor with a great impact.
Ryuu gripped one of the Wretch's arms, his hands heating up violently against the beast's skin, causing it to let Ryuu go, throwing him to the side, causing him to stumble backward.
Ryuu attempted to take a stance, soon taking a step back as its massive form revealed itself further, cracking and twisting into a more complete being, squeezing itself through the small hole that it had pulled itself out from. Ryuu spun on the balls of his feet, attempting to get away from the best, grabbed by one of his legs and quickly pulled to the ground, Ryuu eliciting a gasp from the impact.
Ryuu pulled himself back up again, gripping onto a stray stone, putting up his guard, and was quickly knocked down by a stray fist from the creature.
It felt like getting hit by a truck, instantly knocking the wind out of the young man, causing him to fall to his knees, gasping for air before the creature overshadowed him, slamming each of its fists into Ryuu's body.
Ryuu could barely remain conscious. The creature reached one hand out, grabbing him by the air and lifting him into the air, chittering loudly in anticipation as it looked at Ryuu's pained expression.
"I believe... that... this is your language, the language I speak... no? The words I illicit, the words spreading from your ears to your nerve endings..." Its voice came out like wood dragging against gravel.
Ryuu was shocked because, from what he could tell, at most, they were only able to make noises like sharp screeches or low grunts, but... this thing spoke to him.
"Don--Don't be so af-afraid, you've done so well up u-until this points."
"W-What..." A question escaped Ryuu's mouth, his confused scowl hardening.
"Y-You are a... 'determined fellow.' I admire... you... You are much more than the pi-pitiable-- those of similar nature. You have s-stomped out our lives for centuries, trea-treating us as lesser." It paused, "I u-understand though... in fac-act."
It cracked its head to the side, almost as if a sudden sharp pain had shot down its body before letting out a sigh of relief.
"I... I do-- no, the will, the will of others of your n-nature has n-not been this... strong? You are... e-especially str-strongwilled so I-I'd be disappointed if you gave up on me~."
Ryuu attempted to look for any escape he could find with his eyes, his breathing becoming more panicked.
Its maw latched onto Ryuu's chest, causing him to scream out in pain before it ripped out a chunk of skin running along the middle of his body. His body shivered in an uncontrollable anguish, tears running down his face as the creature's teeth individually tore the chunk of flesh into various red bits and pieces, blood running down Ryuu's entire body.
Ryuu opened his eyes to meet the beast's gaze.
"It's that forever... knit in your-- yes. Do you know why I-- think? How can I speak?"
Ryuu refused to answer, simply in too much pain to even think at the current moment. Ironic.
"I have... I have always been e-experimental. I had taken the corpse of a Higher Mimic and have proceeded to fuse it into my very being-- the methods-- methods used are... magical? I stole the Shaman's magic. I... I want-- you are of an intellect similar to mine, so I wanted to say it aloud. None of the others carry such... beauty in their eyes. I believe they call it a... soul."
Ryuu reached a hand up to his head before it dropped limply to his side, causing the creature to cackle.
"No... I... I don't want you to give up b-but... I..." It chuckled again, and before it could continue its sentence, the massive black blade in Ryuu's hand swung into the creature's arm, breaking it before causing a small cut into the flesh. The limb rotated against the weight that Ryuu put on it, causing it to hang limply off a small strip of flesh.
Ryuu brought his knees in, propelling them onto the creature's forearm. Pushing off from it, he caused the last remaining bit of skin and muscle to tear. He fell belly-side up with the blade in hand, held upside down.
Another arm came flying in, split in half by the momentum of Ryuu's fall as he slowly positioned himself to land on his feet. The backward blade swung into the middle part of the hand, causing the two ends to flex and separate from each other.
The Wretch gasped, holding its two mangled arms close to its chest.
Ryuu changed the form of the blade in that moment, still struggling to keep it in his hands. The blade looped into itself until forming a long black blade. Ryuu then rushed forward, prompting the Wretch to screech in fury, jumping into the air, attempting to land down onto the young Ryuu.
Ryuu used the sword to defend himself against the fists of the creature before running behind it, rushing to a nearby divet in the wall that led up into a cavern hall.
Ryuu rushed down the hall, the Wretch crawling across the massive ravine with a newfound motivation for violence.
The young man rounded to the left, heading up an incline, the creature squeezing its way through in an attempt to get to him.
Ryuu turned around to face the beast, once again, hands grabbing onto his body and lifting him into the air. "Did you bel-believe you could escape me~!?"
Ryuu's body lit up in a horrifically burning orange light, a light bright enough to even hurt Ryuu as he visibly looked paler. The creature cried out as he seared its hands, dropped to the ground, dislocating his shoulder in the process once he made impact.
He scrambled up to his feet, slamming his shoulder into the ground to pop it back into place, causing him to cry out in pain.
Ryuu groaned, pulling himself to his feet, clutching the massive blade in his hand. He dragged it forward, the tip of the sword becoming trapped under a jagged section of stone. Ryuu sighed, falling to his knees, turning the blade upward as he rested his body against its hilt.
"I-I can't help but be angry... y-you've hurt me so much though-- I can't help but love... and hate..." The Wretch got closer to Ryuu, slowly encroaching on his dejected form, face positioned just above the blade. "It must be scary for you-- no worries, I won't b-bring an end to your life immediately... I must experiment after all..."
"I... I got you."
"Don't speak... it'll only make it hurt more."
In an instant, their face is split in two, blood spilling on the floor like a river, the shattered remains of its teeth clattering across the floor, the body involuntarily twitching in response, hands reaching out instinctively before flopping limp against the rocky floor.
Ryuu had used the trapped end of the blade and the full weight of his body to give the weapon momentum.
Ryuu coughed, licking his lips as he looked for some semblance of shelter. He found a gap within one of the walls of this ravine, prying open a rock with the end of his weapon, showing a small room underneath.
Ryuu slipped into the crevice, the room just big enough to fit his body, lowering the rock over the hole before sitting down to tend to his wounds.