Chapter 179 Hound Vs Fox (2)

Crude balls expanded and covered Inmate 1453 in mere seconds as Lee Seng tightened his grip. The crude metallic plating sliced and pierced Lee Seng's arms and body. Inmate 1453 chuckled as he could hear Lee Seng's distorted voice grunt from the pain.

"You're crazy to keep your hold on me, boy! Now you can die!" The crude metallic plating spiked outwards in all directions, piercing into Lee Seng's body. Blood and black liquid spilled from Lee Seng's body as his grip loosened. Inmate 1453 chuckled as the boy loosened his grip and pulled away. He turned and watched as the body began to shrivel and fade.

A fist shot out of thin air and smashed the back armor plating in one hit. Inmate 1453 stumbled forwards as tendrils connected and pulled him backwards. Lee Seng wrapped his arms around the Inmate and held him. Tendrils wrapped the Inmate and attached itself onto the ground around them.

"It tells me I should kill you right now." Lee Seng whispered into the Inmate's ear. "I enjoy that thought a lot." The tendrils tightened and the Inmate could feel his armor crushing underneath the weight of the tendrils.

"W-what the hell… Are you?" The Inmate asked. Lee Seng chuckled.

"What am I? You should already know what <strong>we</strong> are." The tendrils squeezed and pierced through the armor. The Inmate started to howl in pain as the crude balls began to shoot out and slam themselves into Lee Seng. Lee Seng pulled backwards, detaching the tendrils from the Inmate and swatting at the crude balls.

"You damn brat!" The Inmate shouted. He turned around as black and red slowly spilled from him. "Fuck the body. Four years is enough time to get out of that place!" The Inmate threw his arm up and all of the crude balls flew at Lee Seng.

'Lee Seng, snap out of it!' Keng shouted. 'Don't give in!' Lee Seng dodged the five crude balls and watched as the sixth one flew straight for his face. Tendrils flew off of his neck and grabbed the crude ball, crushing it in a single motion.

"Quiet, you. He isn't awake. It's only us now." Lee Seng's distorted voice smiled. Lee Seng jumped forward and whipped a large tendril across the sewer ceiling with his left hand. The tendrils tore at the ceiling and slammed down onto the Inmate. The Inmate jumped out of the way, feeling the whole sewer shake around him. Tendrils split and shot straight for the Inmate.

"Catalyst: Cataclysm." Inmate 1453 commanded. The crude balls flew together, creating a perfect replica design of the balls he had before. Metallic claws opened out of the ball and slashed at the tendrils before they slammed itself into the tendrils.

The tendrils and metallic claw ball continued to collide with each other as Lee Seng turned to face the Inmate. He raised his right arm and tendrils shot out.

"Catalyst: Return!" Inmate 1453 shouted. The ball spun quickly, shredding whatever tendrils were holding it and flew back towards the Inmate. The ball sliced through the tendrils and pulled back to the Inmate. "Catalyst: Retribution." The ball flew straight for Lee Seng, slicing away the tendrils as it started to light up.

'Lee Seng, wake up! You're going to explode to pieces!' Keng shouted.

"He's not here!" Lee Seng's distorted voice screamed. Lee Seng's tail shimmered and the wisps began to move towards the tail. Tendrils whipped and grabbed at the light wisps, missing them as Keng pulled himself out, landing as a white fox. Keng howled as the white aura with spots of golden wisps surrounded him. Keng leapt forward towards the ball and shot his tail straight for the ball. It tore through his fur as he wrapped it tightly around it. The ball began to shake and spark. Tendrils flew at Keng as he continued to howl. The energy exploded, engulfing the three in a bright fiery light.

The energy ripped the sewer away, shooting upwards into the sky. A beam of light flew outwards and pulsed in every direction. The fiery light pulled back in and Keng gasped as he pulled his burnt tail away. His second tail uncovered around him as he sighed in relief. His body pulsed, brightly, as he looked around. Lee Seng's body lay unconscious with tendrils tightly wrapped around him in the rubble.

Keng trotted over to the Inmate, his body shifting and changing into a replica form of Lee Seng. The hair on top of his head stayed white as two tails whipped behind him.

'That thing protected Lee Seng, so I don't have to worry so much about him. But this guy… I wonder if he took himself out, too.' Keng peeked over as his ears twitched. The Inmate opened his eyes and threw his metallic left arm up. The metal pulled away from his arm and turned into a ball. The ball flew straight for Keng as he simply moved backwards and dodged the ball. The ball flew straight up as Keng immediately punched the Inmate in the gut. White wisps shot out and started to pull energy off of him.

"You're an Inmate. No wonder why you're like this. You don't care about what happens to anyone, huh?" Keng asked. The Inmate began to scramble and clawing at Keng's arm. He tried to peel Keng's arm away from him, but only struggled in vain.

"W-what're you… d-d-doing to me?" The Inmate asked. Keng shook his head and sighed.

"Who were you talking to?" Keng asked. His eyes pierced through the Inmate.

"I-I-I-I… Can't tell you that!" The Inmate shouted. Keng pressed harder and listened to the man's screams.

"Answer the question! <strong>Who sent you</strong>?"

"I-I-I-I…!" The Inmate gasped. "T-t-they didn't g-give a name! They only s-said that they were within… Ugh, I can't tell y–" The energy pulsed brighter and Keng watched with no emotion as the Inmate's skin started to grow paler. He watched as the color in his lips and eyes started to pale. "I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE!"

'He's telling the truth.' Keng deciphered. He sighed and ripped his hand away from the man. The Inmate screamed in pain as the energy flew into Keng's body. Keng's eyes glowed brighter as he continued to look at the Inmate.

"Y'know what's gonna happen to you when they find you, right?" Keng asked. The Inmate cowered as he turned his gaze away from the Fox. Keng grabbed the man's face and turned it to look directly at him. Keng understood emotions enough from Lee Seng's perspective, but this man's fear was real. "They'll just kill you. Better to die to me and be called worthless in the afterlife than worthless while you're alive."

The Inmate continued to cower as Keng let him go. He stood up and turned around.

"N-n-n-o they won't! Th-th-they only sa-said–"

"They said what exactly?" Keng turned his head to look at the Inmate. "Reduce your sentence and let you live out the rest of your days just like that? You really believe they would have a guy who probably murdered loads of people, get out? Hmph, you're more stupid than I thought."

The Inmate pulled himself up and scrambled over on his hands and knees and grabbed Keng.

"N-no, please…! I-I-I–"

Keng kicked the man away and shook his head.

"You plea for your life in front of my unconscious Vessel and his friends and expect me to accept your pathetic apology?" Keng rolled his eyes and faced the Inmate. "Annoying." Keng turned to walk back to Lee Seng. he reached down and peeled the tendrils off.

"Annoying." Keng's voice echoed in the Inmate's head. The Inmate began to shake his head and clutch his head.

"No, no, no, no, no!" The Inmate shouted. He jumped onto his feet and ran straight for Keng and the unconscious Lee Seng The Inmate pulled a small knife off the side of his belt and swung downwards. Keng threw his hand up and watched as the knife went straight through his palm. He pushed his hand upwards and grabbed the Inmate's hand and punched the Inmate's ribs with his right hand.

Keng continued to pummel the Inmate with punches and watched as the man dropped to the ground. Keng climbed on top of the man and watched as fear and anger fought for its place in his face and eyes.

"I take it back, I'll just take you with me. He won't mind." Keng pushed his hands onto the man's hands and leaned against the Inmate's warm body. He leaned his face up to the Inmate's face and breathed the man's breath in and out. Light began to engulf the man and Keng watched as the Inmate's eyes started to rattle. He began to kick and try to pull Keng off, as Keng held him down.

"At least you'll be useful to us." Keng smiled. He pulled away and watched as the Inmate's eyes dulled. His body slowly came to a stop as Keng stood up.

Ritsuka pushed the rubble off of him and looked over at Liz. She lay next to him, unconscious. His head pounded as he started to pull Liz out. The rubble was too much on them and he grunted as he fought against the pain in his body. A bright light to his right caught his attention. He peered through the rubble and noticed Lee Seng standing up.

'Why is he… naked?' Ritsuka wondered. He watched as the familiar lights moved back into Lee Seng's body as he turned. Two white tails took Ritsuka by surprise as Lee Seng kneeled next to someone. He let out a gasp which caught Keng's attention. Keng quickly lit his body up and pushed himself into Lee Seng's body.