"Whhts monsters should see to it that in the process he does not bee a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze bato you."― Friedriietzsche

  ...

  Ax was face to face with another Oni, this one wielding a sword instead of a club, ever so slightly shorter than him rather than t over him. Instead of throwing lightning, this one appeared to have no notable powers that Ax should be aware of, ahis one seemed to be a much more fearsome mohan anything that he had faced up until this point.

  Ax died and woke up to the Oni holding a fierce stance, inviting him to a duel. Ax responded with his own makeshift stance, accepting this duel.

  Ax raised his sword for an overhead swing and-

  He woke up to see his body fall to the ground and his head roll off; the devilish samurai had already swung the moment it saening and sshed sideways across his neck.

  The Oni resumed position. Ax attempted an upwards swing from below and-

  The Oni, with an overhead swing, sshed his head right down the middle.

  Ax woke up and ran to its side and slipped onto his own pool of blood. Ax quickly got up and tried to swing, but as, with a sideways stroke of its bde, Ax's blood rayed across the paper door.

  Ax woke up once more, and the first thing he did was run past the Oni towards the other door and shuffle to get it open; it, however, did not.

  As Ax turned around to see the red blistering eyes staring at him, he raised his sword once more and-

  Ax woke up once more, in front of the door. The Oni had its body turhe other way; it ed its bde with the crease of its elbow and looked over its shoulder to stare at Ax once more, preparing to swing once more.

  Ax took his gun out and-

  Ax woke up again; every time Ax reached for his gun, the Oni showed no mero guns. It was as clear as day.

  ...

  It has been hours since Ax ehis accursed room, the Oni now surrounded by a ring of Ax's own bodies, the room smeared with blood and the floor flooded with his own red viscera.

  Ax was gasping for air and stu a stant state of shock.

  "I'm... tired. I'm tired... I'm hungry; I just want to go home..." he pio deaf ears.

  "But this... this monster does not get tired, doesn't show fatigue, doesn't o drink or eat; it doesn't even have a body; it's as if this thing is possessed," he tinued as the Oni was staring at him with its sword up.

  "A... this thing still chooses to show pity, letting me run and try and shimmy the door open... letti up when I slip, letting me—" Ax's wot interrupted by his own thoughts.

  Ax remembered that he still had his golden apple. He took it out and smudged off the red that pai and took a bite.

  He had a wave of realization wash over him; the Oni wanted an honorable fight, and there's no honor in killing someone who's fleeing or is occupied.

  The bite tasted like a cool gss of lemoer a hot summer day, filled him up like a hearty steak after a whole day of fasting, and gave him the rest of a full night's sleep and the crity of five hours of meditation.

  His fatigue and frustration got repced with fury aermination.

  The Oni wanted a duel.

  Ax remembered a stupid versation he had with a certain someone.

  ...

  "If given sent, we should be allowed to fight to the death in a duel with swords, just like the old days," said a man Ax's age.

  "Sorry, what? Hamza, what the hell are you actually talking about?" asked Ax.

  "I'm kidding, but you imagihat is so odd to think about; people really would just sent to murdering each other," said Hamz.

  "I mean, I'm hum you... but what would stop me from just carrying a gun around instead of a sword? I could win literally any and every duel if I wao," Ax asked.

  "Well, not really," said Hamz."What do you mean?" asked Ax.

  "In the old days, duels would only be fought with swords and a knife in a separate hand; it was usually a dueling dagger or a sword breaker," said Hamz.

  "I genuinely will never have a use for this information, Hamza," said Ax.

  "Yeah, so a sword breaker is—

  ...

  "What do you knooke to himself, smiling softly.

  Ax then held his dagger with his left hand and the sword with his right, knowing that the Oni would attack him purely for wielding a gun.

  Ax closed his eyes.

  Ax took a deep breath.

  Ax then rushed the Oni. It only ever went for killing blows or limbs and then the killing blow; Ax wao use this to his advantage.

  The Oni swiftly decapitated Ax, but Ax, immediately after waking up, kicked the body forward into the Oni's sword, spraying blood into his own face as well as the Oni's.

  The Oni lost bance, and at that moment, Ax took his ce; as the Oni raised its sword for an overhead swing, Ax blocked it with his fal, holding it there.

  With its on immobilized, Ax went as close in as he could.

  Held his dagger in a reverse grip and shoved it in the crease of the mask and the ned—nothing.

  Ax felt nothing, ander the mask. As if it was genuinely empty.

  Ax jumped back. He was at square one once again, with no way of killing it. It was about as immortal as he was. No, unkilble even.

  In a fra of a sed, Ax swiftly resumed position, dagger in a reverse grip and fal in a lowered stance, ready to attack or block or deflect whatever the Oni threw at him.

  The Oni just looked at him with its dead eyes and grasped its throat with its hand, holding the sword with its other.

  It then walked towards the middle of the room, dropping its katana to its side.The suit of armor then kneeled down, sitting on both of its knees in a traditional position, and grabbed its wakizashi with its other hand, uhing it.

  The Oni then grabbed it with both of its hands, holding it towards itself. It then looked at Ax, as if it was waiting for something.

  Ax aowledged what it was trying to hint at. Ax dropped his own sword and walked up to the katana on the ground.

  He picked it up off the ground and stood by the Oni, ready to swing down as fast as he .

  The Oni then shoved the small sword as deep as it could into its own stomach.

  Ax then swiftly swung at its neck as fast as he could, as as he could. In one swing the helm and mask of the Oni were rolling on the ground, staring at him.

  The head's red eyes slowly faded away, and the head turo dust; the armor soon followed.

  The katana in his hand slowly turo dust, from the tip of the bde to the hilt, as it turo dust. Ax stared at it.

  When all of it disappeared, Ax looked at his fist and opened his palm to see five golden s.

  Ax then walked around the room, rummaging through his own bodies, and found the rest of the s he had lost the first time.

  Ax then walked to the middle of the room and sat down on the ground, surrounded by blood.

  Ax pulled his hair back, rubbing the blood from his face with his hands, and proceeded to take out the apple in his pocket; he once more ed the apple from any viscera and blood that dirtied it.

  Ax took a few more bites, finishing the apple, breathing heavily as he did.

  Ax was surrounded by piles of his own corpses and drenched in his own blood; however, in the end, he succeeded and is the one who won.

  ...

  After a few more minutes of sitting down and taking a breather, he got up and took a bck door home. as he walked into his apartment, he filled the floor with his own footsteps in blood.

  Ax notig this walked straight into the bathroom to take a well-deserved shower.

  ...

  After taking a shower and ing the floor, the clock struck 5 pm. However, he was no loired.

  "Must be the effects of the apples..." he spoke to himself.

  A few more days would go by after this, Ax w at night about what he went through.

  He would decide not to go back to the rooms until after the gig is over.