Chapitre 88: The Young Miss’s Perspective (4)
The shadows concentrating into one place created a shadowy figure, her black hair and strong but feminine looks were familiar with me as I hesitated in drawing my blade. When the shadowy figure turned her head towards me, it looked a bit scared.
"Get away from her! She is an imposter!" My heart surged with confusion as it was almost if she was telling the truth. My head turned towards Anna who was unconscious besides me and back to the 'dark Anna' who was approaching us confidently.
What was going on...?! Why are there two?!
Even though my head was filled with confusion, I slashed towards this new 'Anna' to keep her away.
"Hehe~" After dodging my sword by jumping backwards, the shadowy figure laughed cheekily.
This... whatever this thing is... tried to trick me!
Imma kill it dead!
[Intrinsic Art- Infinite Swords]
Out of by body appeared two hundred and forty Astral Swords of the Light Attribute in the air. The Life Seeker and Calamitous Harbringer were wielded in each had as I stood protectively before the real Anna behind me, my heart was ignited...!
"Hehe... Hehehehe!" The woman before me chuckled as her eyes glowed sapphire and ruby glows. I didn't know why, but a chill ran down my spine as they reminded me of my father's eyes.
[Skill Root- Red Blue Sabre Sword Eyes]
[Intrinsic Art- Infinite Swords!]
As if copying me, the shadowy monster continued by using my family's Intrinsic Art. However, the sheer difference in magnitude dwarfed my own as the amount of swords she created filled up the sky.
From how many I could count, there were a thousand of them in total. Half of them filled with the Water Affinity while the other half was of the Fire Affinity. The overwhelming power coming from this shadowy figure made my blood run cold...!
Am I going to die?
After spending so long in this hell with no distinction of 'time', a lot of things that had been burdening me for a long time finally resolved themselves. Perhaps this 'severed world' was the place I wanted all along have solace and peace...
No... This is no time to be discouraged. I need to protect Anna, my 'aunt', at least. She went through so much to keep me company all this time, making sure I was never lonely and had someone near.
It was because of her that I didn't get swallowed up by my devotion to the sword to the point of becoming just a 'sword' myself. She didn't allow me to stay confined in this world without someone to talk to. I never felt like a solitary star with her close.
"Don't laugh... Savage!" My words were harsh as I stood with my Astral Swords floating close.
The Fire Sabres and Water Swords falling from the sky tried killing us, but my defence wasn't about to be broken by some freakish entity that came out of nowhere. The swords melted into an opal glow...
[Sword Formation- Earth Dome!]
I'd already mastered the many uses of the Calamitous Harbringer and matured my fighting style over the years. Even if I still only had the same amount of blades, the unnatural control I had over them allowed me to defy the opponent's 'quantity' using sheer 'quality'. The Water Swords tried wording their way through my defence as the Fire Sabres exploded into the energy barrier I made.
Hundreds of fiery explosions and sharp blades of water hit my earthen barrier like rain, not even giving me the chance to change to another form as it heavily suppressed me to the absolute limit.
We were at a stalemate, but I knew this couldn't go on. After all, who knows how much Mana this strange creature had access to? Anna will be in less danger if I finish my opponent here and now.
Therefore, I took twenty swords with me and circulated Light Aura around my body. The plan I thought of will only work once. Therefore, I had to succeed my initial strike without wasting energy.
The swords I'd retrieved from the dome shuddered as I aimed them towards the shadowy figure. Using the dome itself to hide my activities, I put all my effort into shooting off the swords like light itself.
Of course, there was no way I'd be able to reach the domain of light-speed attacks on my current level. However, edging near the speed of sound wasn't a problem as I shot them off towards it.
The shadowy figure reacted to the Light Swords instinctively as if she had fought a hundred battles herself. A Water Sword and Fire Sabre appeared in her hands as she deflected two of the Light Swords I shot with ease, but just as she was about to continue on, the Light Aura around my body turned into the 'Clad', and not just any, but the Light Clad of a genuine Light Specialist!
[Light Movement- Traversing Swords!]
My lunged forwards at a near impossible speed as the world slowed down. This wasn't me actually controlling time, but getting into the 'zone' amidst a serious battle. My movements became more fluid as the practiced technique took over my body.
After jumping off the floor, I used the swords between me and my opponent as stepping stones in the air. My body defied gravity as I became a flash of light that reflected off each Light Sword in the air before arriving in front of my target.
[Sword Art- Brilliant Edge!]
The most practiced technique of my arsenal was used as I focused my Light Aura to my upper body momentarily to maximise efficiency. The Life Seeker in my hand glowed like a diamond as I slashed at the shadowy figure's Astral Swords.
The blades in the creature's hands cracked and shattered, but my hand didn't stop as I was about to follow up by slashing this thing apart. Though it looks like I underestimated the shadowy figure as losing Astral Swords didn't leave 'it' in dismay.
The hands of the shadowy figure reached out the moment I was about to bisect the thing's body and redirected my sword using its wrist. Whether it was by coincidence or not, the properties of my 'Life Seeker' was evaded not choosing to avoid the slash. The next slash made by my Calamitous Harbringer was covered flames, yet the shadowy figure still evaded by ducking its entire body.
Even as the creature was using the shadows in the vicinity like hiding places to evade away from my attacks, I still was hot on her trail like a vengeful berserker. The swords in my hands followed each other and danced in the air like a sharp storm of glowing lights. Just like I saw Simon do it in his first duel, my swordsmanship switched to suit the situation. There was no way I'm letting her go...!
The Infinite Swords Intrinsic Art had one weakness only its users were aware of, and that was that there was no way to concentrate and control swords once someone started fighting up close.
I'd thought that I was in an advantageous position compared to my opponent, but reality was showed me that there was still much for me to learn. The shadowy figure before me didn't seem to have a predetermined form as it slipped away from me.
The agitation from the fact that it was leading me further and further away from Anna was taken advantage of as two extra arms grew out of the the female creature's chest to restrict my hands.
"Hehehe~ Swordwick's Child, are you not curious towards who I am?" The woman smiled at me.
"No need." I slammed my Aura Clad foot into her stomach, but she only smiled while looking at me.
"Oh~ Hehe, you are not curious~?" The face of the creature shape-shifted to look like an older version of me. With its white hair and 'soft' features, it was as if I was looking at myself in the mirror.
"I know my priorities." Seeing as she didn't even react to being kicked, I changed my tactics.
The Light Clad around me turned into a B Rank Fire Clad, one that covered me in the burning flames.
Even the dark creature before me couldn't seem hold onto me when I became a walking human-shaped fireball, but even as its extra arms were melting, it didn't seem to mind, while instead reaching her hands towards her own eyes.
[Main Skill- Dual Handling Weapon Unsheathe]
Two hilts arose from her eyes as she looked towards the sky, and those two hands grabbed them by the handles before being 'unsheathed' into blades containing their strong power.
It was as constraint was restricted off the dark creature's body as it released a massive Aura.
Or could it even be considered 'Aura'? My instincts were telling me to escape the Fire Clad body of mine was dispelled by the sheer overwhelming dominance of my opponent's Aura Manifestation. It was as if I was a rabbit being faced with a dragon.
Mythical, prideful, mighty. The fear that etched into my heart wouldn't even let my trembling legs move an inch as the figure took on another form. This time there wasn't only a vague air of familiarity around the shadowy figure after it shape-shifted.
The man had strong features and a sharp look in his eyes, similar to my father. However, the majesty within his Aura Manifestation was on a whole other level as it surpassed all Affinities I knew of.
The only two things that were even slightly recognisable anymore was the Darkwater Sword he held in one hand an the Lightfire Sabre he held in the other. Both the weapons this man held seemed to be constructed wholly from his Skill Roots.
[Main Extension- Explosive Concentration!]
The Fire Sabres that were left left floating near the earthen dome shattered and turned into particles of light before being drawn into the crimson sabre he was holding. Similar to how I could fuse my Astral Swords to boost the overall power of a single one, the man's crimson sabre seemed to gain an enormous boost by five hundred Fire Sabres.
After reaching a certain point, even the colour of the flames around his sabre turned golden as he swiped it in the direction of the earthen dome carelessly. The resulting shockwave by that one non-focused slash shattered my 'Earth Dome' into bits, causing me to belch a mouthful of blood. My body unconsciously retreated back to Anna's side.
Looking as if had finally fully 'awakened', the dark creature seemed to have a change in attitude as the colour returned to his body. He no longer looked like a Shadow Clone as he stopped smiling and looked at his swords with a tinge of sadness.
Melancholy replaced his countenance as the Water Swords turned into raindrops that shot at me.
[Main Extension- Life Homing]
Blood spurted from all over my body as the sharp 'raindrops' punctured holes in my flesh before returning the man's side. My entire body limped as had used my body to cover Anna from the attacks.
Am I going to die? Without fulfilling anything or succeeding protecting anyone? The crimson fluids leaking out of my shoulder splattered onto Anna's body. Even if she said she'd be able to leave this place by dying, there was no way I'd let that happen. What if Anna miscalculated? What if she doesn't 'resurrect' the way she intended to?
I don't... want to die here... I want to survive. Anna had promised me a peaceful life, she said she'd take me away from my troubled life and live with me. I don't want to... break my promise with her...!
"Sapphire Swordwick, child of the Swordwick Household and daughter of the man who seeks the annihilation of an entire race." The man walked towards me as if he was a different person from that crazed psycho from before and put his cloudy blue sword under my neck. How does he know my father? I can't even understand a word he's saying.
"...What do you want?" I spoke calmly after coming to a realisation on something. Why is he talking?
What's the point of talking to someone you want to kill? The only guess I have is he wants something.
"You have a strong mine, to be able to deduct so calmly despite this situation..." It seems like he also realised what I meant. The sword retracted from my neck before he started to think of what to say next. His hand touched his chin as he continued:
"I have a 'request'."
"Can I refuse it?"
"If you want to die with her, that is." The crimson sabre in his other hand pointed towards Anna.
"...Say it."
"There isn't a reason to do so."
"...?" How am I supposed to know without the creature actually saying it? What does he want?
"Just don't resist what will happen next." After saying these words, his body turned in shadows.
I could feel my entire body being stabbed by pins and needles, but all I could do is grit my teeth. The Mana within my body couldn't be used to counter whatever was happening to my body. All I could do was pray that I would still keep my consciousness...
My first meeting with this 'Demon' was like so.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
FlowingWaves
FlowingWaves A friend of mine called Darkstar Dust on Amino has offered to draw the cover of my story as well as other scenes of this story on Amino (which took most of today talking about). Hopefully, you’ll get to see it. It’s going to take a lot of time but I’ll defiantly add the image to Wattpad and Scribblehub as well.
It’s a pity you can’t add images to Webnovel... I’d be able to show you illustrations as well~