A123 was not a fool. To think that he was going to stand and receive Lenny's brutality was like a fish jumping into the fisher man's pot of soup.
Immediately, he raised the big Black shield, covering himself, A222 and C888.
This was the only way.
Any other, and death was sure.
It was loud like the ringing of bells but it was as fast as the beating of drums.
*DANG! DANG!! DANG!!!*
Lenny had not held back. With two swords carrying his full force, he beat against the drums againa and again.
He was ferocious, but C888 quickly noticed something.
Unlike the other times he had seen Lenny fight, this one was without flair.
In other words, it was absent of technique.
It was just a display of brute force.
This was not how Lenny usually fight.
Even when he was angry and raging, his brutish slashing of sword still carried a trace of the elegance of one that had toiled his life to perfect his technique.
C888 looked at the Soul Devil controlling Lenny and a thought came to his mind.
Before he could enact it, the fiece banging stopped.
C888 saw it clearly.
The Soul Devil's eyes was suddenly drawn to something else.
As it did, so was Lenny's.
"It would seem we have guests," the Soul Devil's voice echoed through Lenny's mouth, "a little blood bath for a welcoming seems appropriate." It hissed and then controlled Lenny through a particular direction.
Of course it followed behind.
Once gone, A123, A222, breathed in relief.
"Damn it! For a second there, I thought we were dead for sure," A123 lamented.
Meanwhile, A222 massaged her ears.
Like all other things, she had sensitive hearing and as such, she hated when it was abused.
"We need to find the exit and get out of here," A123 stated.
A222 nodded in agreement.
However, C888 immediately disagreed, "we can't leave without D999."
The gladiator couple looked at him as if he was a fool.
"Did you not see that!?" A123 asked an obviously rethorical question.
Only moments ago, they watched the second Level Mini boss take over Lenny's body and then dispaly an assault on them.
With the kind of capabilities Lenny had, it was a miracle that they were not dead yet.
If for some reason, he did not get distracted, then he would have pounded on the shield until it broke.
This would not have ended well.
In fact, they would not have been contemplating about life.
And here was C888 suggesting that they saved Lenny.
A123 was even close to even hitting C888 on the head, in hopes that he might develop some semblance of common sense.
"Wait!" C888 raised his hands in his defense, "I know how it sounds, but trust me when I say this, We can still help him out. I don't know if you guys noticed but D999 was not himself. "
"You don't say!" A123 quickly added.
"No! I mean that he did not fight like he usually did. Something is different."
A222's eyes shot open in understanding. She thought back to what had just happened, and a realization came to her.
"You don't mean...."
"IT HASN'T TAKEN OVER HIS SOUL YET!" Both of them spoke together.
C888 smiled, "yes!"
"What the heck are you guys saying?" A123 was obviously confused.
"It's simple," A222 decided to explain, "Earlier, the Soul Devil said it now had a body it can call its own. But it is a soul devil. It is supposed to consume the soul. But it didn't."
"Or it couldn't!?" A123 added.
All three of them nodded.
"That means that somewhere in there, Lenny is fighting back. That is why the Soul Devil could not take over his soul." C888 Concluded.
C888 did not know that he was close, but he was still further from the truth.
The only reason why the Soul Devil had not consumed Lenny's soul was because of the recently improved shield around it.
However, the Real Lenny was still broken.
"We now understood the problem. Solving it is an entirely different matter!" A123 clearly stated his concern.
A222 thought hard. Her mind hurried for a solution to the problem. She remembered the Soul Devil controlled Lenny like a puppet.
"The STRINGS!" She voiced out. '?"If we cut the strings, there is a possibility we can free him."
"Are you crazy!? You are saying that we should get close to the freaking Butcher and remove his apron!?" A123 shook his head, "No! No!! No!!! I won't be a part of this."
"But We have to help him!" C888 stated again. This time with a little more firm and resolve at the base of his voice.
A123 looked into C888's eyes.
He could tell that he was serious. Then again, it was expected.
For C888, Lenny was a benefactor. The one that helped him unlock Darkline magic which in turn saved his life.
Leaving Lenny was like asking C888 to kill his own mother.
"Okay! But how do we do it!?" A123 asked.
"Lenny kept on calling 'Catherine'. And the Soul Devil also used that word in his possession," C888 Massaged his jaw as thoughts crossed his mind.
"Maybe it'sike a magic spell or something like that."
A222's eyes brightened up, "or a name!"
C888 shook his head, "I thought the same thing too at first, but that's a very weird word for a name. I think it might be a spell word."
All three of them thought hard and nodded, agreeing that it was a Spell word.
"We have to lure him with the Spell word. A222, you are the most sensitive amongst us. I want you to tell me when he is close."
"What exactly do you have in mind?" A222 asked.
"We are going to break the hold of the Soul Devil. Knowing D999, we might only have one shot at this. Let's make it count."
Just then, fiece screams reached their ears.
They were Gladiators and from the screams alone could tell what was happening.
They looked at one another, and nodded at C888's idea, knowing fully well that the probability of it going their way was not at all smooth.
Meanwhile, Lenny had began a Massacre.
These Gladiators were unfortunate.
For many if them, their major skill laid in their ability to conceal themselves.
Unfortunately, this was not a good plan as this was the Soul Devil's domain.
The moment they entered the Cave, the soul Devil became aware of their presence.
Soul Devils did not track with physical presence, but with the presence of the Soul.
This was their disadvantage.
With the Soul Devil knowing where they were, it was easy pickings for Lenny.
Even those that tried to defend were laid to an unfortunate end.
"Let's get away from here!" One adviced the other that had excessive trust in his concealing ability and remained hidden.
However, that Gladiator did not have a choice. With the blood of his colleagues all over the place, all he could do was conceal himself and hide.
His fear allowed him nothing more than to hide.
Lenny had appeared like the Grim reaper.
He was sudden, and from the moment he appeared, the Soul Devil had appeared behind him.
All the Gladiators remember hearing was, "my love, they want to take me away. Will you let them take away your Catherine!?"
Suddenly, blood went up in the air like it was a car speeding through a water puddle.
Of Course, they had gone intoa stealth mode the moment they saw him arrive.
However, it was not a barrier to their suffering.
In the hearts of many of these gladiators, their only regret was putting in too much effort into training their concealment ability as opposed to training their FLEEING ability.
Then again, against Lenny's blade, Fleeing was a temporary comfort the heart and mind found vain satisfaction.
As limbs went up the air to the celebration of Lenny's defence of his acclaimed 'Lover', all they could do was appreciate the slaughter that signified the end of their lives.
One of them even hoped that the death would be swift as Lenny's blades reached him.
Thankfully, Lenny's swift cuts were merciful enough to answer his prayers.
Cutting and dicing him like a Sushi chef eager to show his sharp skills.
That unlucky fellow was torn like Cinderella's clothes after the touch of the Wicked Step-mother before the ball.
Lenny rushed for the unlucky fellow that did not want to move.
The Gladiator embraced his knees to his face.
He had already sealed his fate in his mind, just like the others that had unfortunately died before him.
His counterpart that encouraged him to run had already abandoned him.
At the mercy of death, Familiarity was not a tune many were willing to dance to.
Lenny lifted his hands high in the air. Without a doubt, the unlucky lad before him was going to be another unworthy stain to his blade.
However the call came and his hand paused in the air.
"Catherine..."
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