Fighting Brothers

"Cough... Ho... cough, cough..."

Hope slammed the back of his hand into Wilbur's neck, striking his Adam's apple.

The tall man's face turned bright red as he clutched his throat and coughed in agony.

"Are you crazy?!" Hope roared at Wilbur.

He immediately looked at Little Brick. "Run."

"Mon... monster... you..." Little Brick was still reeling from the shock of Wilbur killing Rose.

"Get the hell out!" Hope growled. "Get out now! Otherwise I'll kill you, and your parents will never find you for the rest of their lives!"

"No!" Little Brick nearly fled on all fours, but Wilbur's syllables rang out again.

Hope immediately...

"Cough, cough... cough..." Hope clutched his own throat, briefly thinking he could no longer breathe, that his Adam's apple had been punched down into his windpipe.

He stared at Wilbur in astonishment. This goat had used the same move as him.

2.97

Wilbur's fourth number began to drop. Hope felt dizzy and lunged at Wilbur, but Wilbur easily dodged him while the syllables continued without pause.

2.96

Little Brick was still running.

Heh, looks like using it on people costs more than using it on Rose.

Hope suddenly raised his leg.

"Urgh!" Wilbur cried out in pain. He looked at Hope in disbelief, then dropped painfully to his knees with both hands covering his groin.

"You... bastard... shameless!" he said.

"This is... cough, cough... a simple and efficient fighting technique."

Just looking at Wilbur made Hope's legs ache. He squeezed his thighs together and slowly backed away, constantly guarding against a possible counterattack from Wilbur.

Wilbur panted heavily and opened his mouth again.

Fuck, does he still have the strength to chant?

Hope edged closer, ready to give him another one.

But this time, the syllable Wilbur uttered was different. It was extremely brief, just a soft, shriek-like sound.

2.93

"Ah!" Hope covered his eyes and nearly fell over.

The moment Wilbur finished his new spell, a tiny spot of light appeared before Hope's eyes. Before he could get a good look at it, the spot suddenly brightened into a hundred-watt light bulb.

Even someone with normal vision would be temporarily blinded by staring directly at such a bright bulb from so close, let alone an albino like Hope.

Tears streamed continuously from Hope's eyes, and he could not open them no matter what he did.

"A simple... and efficient spell... and especially effective against you."

It was Wilbur's voice.

"Open your eyes, Hope! Wilbur's getting up."

A woman's voice—it was Lavinia. Her voice was vague, probably because she was shouting from five or six meters away.

Hope was now certain that this mother favored her eldest son more. After all, she was willing to warn him at a time like this... though it was more like watching a boxing match and not wanting one side to lose too quickly. If it ended too soon, there would be no fun in it.

Hope heard Wilbur get to his feet. He did not hear those strange syllables again.

"Did he run away?" Hope asked.

"I couldn't find him. He probably ran away," Wilbur answered.

"That's good." Hope smiled.

Wilbur smiled too.

Wilbur punched Hope in the face.

Caught off guard, Hope took the punch full-on.

"Smack!" He heard a sound from his left cheek. He could not hear clearly, so perhaps it had been more of a "bang!"

After the sound came a rusty taste spreading through his mouth. His tongue, with nowhere to rest, brushed against a tooth at the side. The tooth wobbled slightly, and then his lips could no longer stay closed. They gaped wide as he spat out transparent, foamy saliva tinged faint red.

He was still standing, but the blow to his head threw off his balance. He fell sideways into the Rose Garden as if diving, and the thorns on the rose stems pierced through Hope's white shirt, leaving several wounds on his skin.

"Ah!"

Hope struggled to stand, but every movement opened fresh wounds where the thorns pierced his skin.

"Urgh... mmph..."

He stopped moving and simply sat there. It was more comfortable that way.

"Which way did he run?" Wilbur asked.

"I don't know. Look at me—I'm practically blind."

"Lavinia, which way did he run?"

There was no response.

"Lavinia!"

"Ah! Uh... mm... You two aren't fighting anymore?"

"He'll come home eventually," Wilbur said.

Hope grabbed a handful of dirt mixed with sand and dead leaves, then viciously flung it.

"Ah... damn it... Hope!"

"Lavinia, don't worry too much, we... Fuck, my eyes! Wilbur!"

Enduring the pain, Hope crawled out of the rosebushes. He opened his eyes just a sliver and barely used that bit of vision to dodge Wilbur's punch.

Wilbur was like a madman now, wildly swinging his fists.

Wilbur could not open his eyes. At least, not for the time being.

The tables had turned, Wilbur!

"Watch closely, Lavinia!" Hope shouted.

Amid Lavinia's cheers, Hope stuck out his calf and gave Wilbur a casual shove. The two-meter-tall man fell face-first to the ground.

It was a large wooden board, perhaps Old Williams's cellar hatch. Falling on it hurt more than falling onto dirt.

"Thud!"

A wonderful sound.

Hope crouched beside Wilbur. "Can we talk properly now?"

"..."

"If I remember correctly, our agreement was that as long as I didn't run away or kill myself, you couldn't kill anyone here."

Hope raised his head toward the sky. He could not see anything. He guessed there were stars overhead, but all he could see was a blur. "I can promise not to break the agreement, but only if you abide by it too."

"That's different."

"What's different about it?"

"I can't let him reveal Whateley House's affairs."

Hope nodded. "How old is he this year?"

"No more than ten."

"Then do you think anyone would believe him if he told them? Come on, Whateley House's reputation is already bad enough. At a time like this, what is there to care about if someone says you practice black magic?"

"..."

"Is there a witch hunt here?"

"What's a witch hunt?"

Hope thought for a moment. "A bunch of people crazed by religion hunting and killing witches and the like."

"Which religion?"

"Uh... the biggest one?"

Lavinia moved closer. "There doesn't seem to be a biggest one. They're all pretty small. Whateley House is considered quite large."

No, not a cult...

It seemed there were no major religious organizations here. He could basically confirm that although this place resembled a certain great country from his previous life, it was actually completely different.

Then would there still be Eastern countries?

Hope suddenly felt weak all over and collapsed to the ground.

What was happening?

Too much blood loss?

Impossible. They were only a few small puncture wounds from thorns.

He saw Wilbur stand up and crouch before him.

"You did this?"

"Who else?" Wilbur replied.

"How is that possible... I clearly didn't hear..."

"You misunderstood," Wilbur said. "Just because I showed you spells doesn't mean extraordinary abilities are limited to spells."

"So what are you going to do? Go to Brick's house?"

"No. I think you made a good point, and even if I went now, it would probably be too late."

"Then..."

"I hate it when someone holds their head higher than mine."

"Heh..."

Lavinia leaned in again. "But Wilbur, someone's head is higher than all of ours right now."

"It's just a metaphor, Lavinia. It means he doesn't want to lose to anyone," Hope said. "...Wait, there's someone else here?"

"On the roof," Lavinia said.

"Can you stop bullets?" Wilbur suddenly asked.

"Unfired ones, yes. Are all those messy extraordinary powers of yours useless?"

"I tried, but she isn't in my Inspiration at all."

"I don't understand. That means it's useless, right?"

"Yeah."

"Useless trash."

Hope felt a punch land on his shoulder, but it was very light, as though the fist had changed its mind halfway through.

"Damn it, she's taking aim!" Wilbur said.

"You scared her," Hope replied.