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75.53% Playing with other Supernaturals / Chapter 1026: Chapter 1026 Clash of Wills

章節 1026: Chapter 1026 Clash of Wills

'Aria' tightly grabbed Ais as if she was going to lose her forever. Nevertheless, she understands that Ais only accepted her for who she is, not her second mother. Even then, that was way more than enough.

'Aria' still wanted to drown in this sea of warmth but time is not on her side and any further delay will only reduce Ais' survival against her upcoming enemy that was threatening to expel her soul and eat her body.

"Ais... Thank you... But what you have to do hasn't changed."

Ais finally remembered the predicament that she was in and separated from 'Aria', "Do you still want me to kill you!? Why!? I don't see you as my enemy anymore! In fact-"

'Aria' covered Ais' lips with her finger. She didn't want to hear it lest it cause more pain at their inevitable separation. 'Aria' had already guessed it, but Ais thought that the reason why 'Aria' wanted Ais to kill her was because of guilt. However, that's the furthest from the truth.

'Aria' pointed to the sky and Ais saw a pitch-black dome that was about to engulf the whole place. It was the black dot that had been growing and Ais didn't notice that it kept enlarging, '...That wasn't her doing?'

"This place is the deepest part of your soul. You are about to be consumed by my main body but I created this space to protect your consciousness. However, what I can do is only delay it and right now, it's about to breach this sanctuary created from Aria's memories. And when that happens... I'll return to my main body and it will regain its full strength, making your chances of survival slimmer than they already are. Finally and most importantly... I will lose any and all of my sense of self."

'Aria's' words were like a hammer to Ais and her mostly calm and collected demeanor was demolished, "W-what? But..." Ais didn't know what to say, much less what to do and felt her throat dry up.

'Aria' smiled wryly and grabbed Ais' hand before leading it to the hilt of her rapier, "You have to do it. Please do it. I can't allow myself to return to the way I was before. Please grant my wish of not turning this beautiful dream into my worst nightmare."

Ais still didn't answer. She didn't have an answer. She thought that everything would be alright, but her naive hope only served as a painful realization that not everything will go the way she wanted it to.

The black dome was rapidly approaching and 'Aria's' skin started cracking with flakes of it beginning to float upwards, "Please. I don't have much time left."

Ais' hand started shaking uncontrollably. She didn't want to pull out her blade, "T-there has to be another way!" She's not willing to lose the warmth that returned to her despite it coming from someone else.

The pulling force is becoming unbearable for 'Aria' and her consciousness is slowly being sapped out. It'll only take a moment for this space to collapse so she gathered her strength and used both of her hands to force Ais to pull her rapier out, "You're the only one who can do this. You have to. For you to defeat the Black Dragon, you first have to destroy me."

"But..."

"Ais!" 'Aria' yelled at her in a scolding tone like an actual mother would, "I'm happy with your thoughts... But that selfishness will not only destroy both of us in the worst possible way, but also those who are important to you who are currently fighting will be put in danger. It's hard to do it, but you have to weigh your options now and it's obvious what you have to choose. I'm just someone from the past and it's about time you get over it if you want to continue moving forward."

'Aria' then looked straight into Ais' eyes. The red eyes that Ais thought to be disgusting at first were now beautiful and full of longing, "You of all people understand what will happen those to who will be left behind if you were to be defeated here. Your friends, your family, and everyone will be mourning for you. But worst of all, they might be trapped in the cycle of revenge and hatred as you were."

The faces of everyone flashed through Ais' mind for a moment and her facial expression immediately darkened. While gritting her teeth and shadow cast on her face, Ais slowly stood up as if she was enduring a boulder on her shoulders before shakingly pointing the tip of her rapier at 'Aria's' chest.

Ais could see that 'Aria' was already about to collapse but there was a relieved expression painted on her face, "That's it. You don't have to regret it. Just continue looking forward from now on. Nonetheless, if it gets hard, it's fine to stop and look back. All you have to remember is not to stay stagnant or else you'll return the way you were before."

Even with a heavy heart, Ais still smiled, "Do you really have to lecture me right now?"

"If not now, when?" 'Aria' replied with a chuckle. Despite the pain that was running through her entire body while she was being torn apart, her heart was at ease after seeing the resolution within Ais' eyes, "Promise me that you'll never give up. Look for the chance to get around the Black Dragon and escape its dominion. I'm sure you'll find it."

'There's another way... But that's... Impossible...' 'Aria' thought as she saw Ais' blade going through her heart. It should have been the most painful thing, but 'Aria' only felt an invisible shackle finally letting her go.

Since the heart is the source of her power, her senses instantly deteriorated.

But the moment her vision clouded, 'Aria' suddenly saw an outline of another woman appearing just behind Ais and that woman has an uncanny resemblance to her, '...Ah... So it was you.' 'Aria' finally understood how Ais could keep her calm.

'Thank you.' She heard the woman behind Ais speak.

'It was me who should be thankful. There would be nothing left of me if not for you.' 'Aria' tried to say, but after seeing her, she instead dedicated the last of her strength to say something else, "Ais..."

The tear-filled Ais hurriedly pulled out her sword and supported her body with a hug, "Yes... I'm listening."

"If there's a chance... For you... To defeat it... You can..."

Ais' eyes widened in shock at 'Aria' last words.

"It'll be... up to you... Good luck... And I love you."

.

.

.

'How long has it been... I can still remember those words clearly... But I can't find a chance...' Although she appeared strong, the toll on her mind was already affecting Ais' motivation to continue fighting.

Another attack came from the darkness and at the single lapse of losing a bit of concentration, she only was able to barely dodge the sharp claws, leaving a deep gash on her flank.

Ais shook her head and gritted her teeth, 'I can't lose! Besides... The frequency of attacks has been slowly increasing. Is it getting impatient?'

And Ais was correct with her line of thinking. Although time seemed to flow very slowly in this space within her soul, it was still continuously flowing and any further delays would be a bad risk for the Black Dragon in case those detestable lifeforms outside decided to attack.

But after looking at the bleeding Ais, it finally decided to go all out and devour her in one go. Leaving the darkness of the world, the Black Dragon appeared behind Ais while being covered by a dense black wind, ready to blast Ais into many pieces.

Unbeknownst to it, however, Ais was also dearly waiting for this chance and even if it exacerbated all of her wounds, Ais released all the power and strength that she still had to face her enemy.

The Black Dragon was stunned that Ais still had this much in her and finally realized that it was her that's waiting for the chance. It tried to defend itself and turn back, but the wind that Ais conjured had already trapped it and her rapier was already traveling multiple times the speed of sound, 'This is the end!'

Ais remembered how 'Aria' disappeared when her heart was pierced so she aimed at the same place. Her rapier traveled in a straight line and shredded everything in its path, reaching the Black Dragon's chest. Only a fraction of a second and it would have been over, but she failed to notice the sneer on the Black Dragon's mouth.

As soon as Ais touched its scale, a bolt of black lightning suddenly blocked her sword and traveled along its blade. Ais tried to release her weapon but it was already too late and she was instantly stunned. As she saw the Black Dragon's maw approach her, a certain name emerged in her mind, 'The Spirit of Lightning, Tornitus!' Before she was swallowed whole.


創作者的想法
Goyya Goyya

Editors:

28th00: I got nuthin.

章節 1027: Chapter 1027 Clash of Wills part 2

Ais didn't know for how long, but after some time, she was able to regain consciousness. And while her head was still a mess, light entered her eyes, and saw the outside world for the first time. But this wasn't at all good news to Ais since she immediately found out that her body was trying to move on its own despite being enclosed in a block of ice.

The first thing that Ais saw was the state of her arms which were obviously not hers anymore and that made her realize that she had already lost and the worst scenario came true. And knowing how dangerous she was right now, she panicked and despaired when she saw that Lysa was approaching her. But when she saw who was beside her, she immediately pleaded while she could, "...P-please... Kill... Me... I... Can't..."

She couldn't hear what everyone was saying but it looked like Serafall was smiling and everyone else was admonishing her. However, she couldn't care about any of that now because Lysa is still approaching her, "...N-no... Don't come!!!"

Immediately after that, Ais' consciousness sank back into the darkness.

Strangely enough, however, the 'dirty' darkness seemed to have escaped from her and was replaced by a different kind of darkness. A kind that gave a regal and majestic feeling, totally different from the darkness just before that was slowly gnawing away at her mind.

Before she noticed it, Ais was standing in the darkness again, but this time, there was an extra person watching from afar and she was someone familiar to Ais, "Ophis?"

However, 'Ophis' ignored her and just blankly stared at one point in the darkness. Ais followed her sight and saw the Black Dragon growling and gritting its teeth at Ophis from some distance away from her. Ais didn't notice it, but her rapier instantly materialized the moment she thought about it. She gathered her Magic Power and Ki to prepare for the inevitable clash.

Ais waited for the Black Dragon to move but even a few minutes later, it refused to even step forward from its spot. She, however, noticed that not all of its attention was on her, but on 'Ophis' instead and she could see fear and apprehension within its formerly arrogant and madness-filled eyes.

Ais turned her sights back to Ophis and the latter was now staring at her using the same expression she had when she's looking at the Black Dragon, indifference, 'What does she want?' Ais didn't know what she's doing here or how she came here, but the most important thing to figure out was what her intentions are.

Deep in thought, Ais started second guessing Ophis' intentions but it was also at this moment that she felt a threat coming towards her fast, "!?"

Ais hurriedly turned and lowered her body to block the incoming claw with her rapier. Nonetheless, due to the element of surprise, Ais was sent flying away and almost dislocated her arm, "Guhh!!!"

She stabilized herself right away using her wind and performed a counterattack. Unfortunately for Ais, the Black Dragon wasn't playing around anymore with its life on the line and roared, releasing a massive amount of black wind that formed a horizontal tornado of nearly invisible blades.

Ais was taken aback and also used her own wind to block but she was no match for it and got engulfed within the wind blades.

Her clothes and armor were instantly shredded into pieces and she was only able to escape when her body was full of cuts and she only got away with her because she was able to concentrate her wind on top of her skin. Sadly, she couldn't protect one of her eyes and so she was blinded.

The sharp pain all over her body made Ais buckle and take a deep breath. It was so painful that she almost dropped her guard against another incoming claw, "Tsk..!" Ais couldn't figure out how it could move so silently and stealthily with that massive of a body, but she knew for sure that it wasn't using the darkness anymore to hide.

As she was sent flying once again, the world in her eye slowed down when she saw the Black Dragon preparing another roar and this time, the power it was gathering was more than five times the first one. After it concluded that Ais wouldn't be able to defend effectively anymore, it decided to use everything it had to finish her off, 'Ah... Is this the end?'

At the same moment, her eyes incidentally glanced to the side and saw Ophis, with the same indifference within her deep black eyes.

Those eyes that didn't care about her upcoming demise woke Ais up to the reality that she wouldn't be saving her. As that realization dawned on her, Ais gritted her teeth and became angry at herself, 'She was not here to save me... She's here to create a level playing field and be an impartial judge... And I just wasted the opportunity that she gave me.'

She should have known that a hero that would save her wouldn't easily come. And she questioned herself, 'What's wrong with me? Why am I expecting something like that? When did an idea like that enter my head?' She remembered what her late mother said about finding her own hero and for the longest time, she believed it while bearing the weight of hatred and revenge.

But it's also been a while since she also learned that one 'truth' is not all the 'truths' in the world and finding a hero is only a single option in the sea of all possibilities. Her mother wasn't wrong, but it also wasn't what her own story should be about since they had very different experiences.

She realized this, however, some Gods, especially Hermes, kept mentioning the idea of a hero and without her knowing, she started to long for it, 'But that isn't right... Hoping for a hero that will save me would mean that I'm resigning myself to fate.'

Ais' memories kept flashing in front of her as she tried to gather her remaining strength in an attempt to resist until she was reminded of the first time she fought Kisuke, 'That guy... He had the power to save everyone yet he never moved forward himself unless he could get something out of it...'

It was the memory of their sparing that reminded Ais that her wind was very weak and unpolished. Her tensed jaw relaxed and a smile emerged, 'But he's always been a big help. He helped me walk so it'd be too much to ask him to help me run, huh?'

Relaxing her body, Ais sharpened her mind and recalled everything from her first spar with Kisuke while the black tornado was approaching her, 'I don't need to overpower it. I just have to read its flow and apply the necessary pressure on certain focal points to disturb its entire structure.'

Ais held her rapier tightly and reoriented her body mid-air, 'Using my vision won't be enough. I have to feel it using all of my senses to get a better read.'

The aura of defeat had already entirely disappeared from Ais and her chaotic wind became serene, 'Predict the path, wait for the right time, and create an opening. Just a single opening, without disturbing anything else. I only have one chance. If I fail, the price is my life and potentially my family's life.'

Strangely enough, the more she focused, the more the fear she had been feeling subsided. It was supposed to be a bet with her life on the line, but she only got excited. An unprecedented amount of excitement for when she's about to break the chains of her fate.

The Black Dragon thought that it'd already won when the wind barrier surrounding Ais weakened and let its guard down. So when its 'food' suddenly took a drastic action, it became too late for it to react.

The serene and gentle wind around Ais suddenly became a strong gust that pushed her forward directly towards the eye of the tornado. By now, her fear had completely left her, and knowing that it'd be a life or death moment, something that'd make her hesitate had no place in her mind.

With very precise calculations, Ais arrived at the center of the tornado and it started shredding her, taking off bits of flesh. Ais, however, entirely ignored the pain and instead of counteracting the black wind, her own wind went along with its flow until her proportionately small amount of wind had completely melded into her enemy's wind, 'Remember how he did it. Hitting it is not the only way to change its direction. Following along and changing it from the inside works too. This wind is something it only stole and I shouldn't be afraid of a tool that it only knows how to swing.'

Ais could now understand Kisuke's frustration at that time, '...It really looks like child's play.'

Not long after she entered the tornado and shrunk the distance between them, Ais controlled her wind at a very specific moment. The next instant, the Black Dragon could only stand shocked when it saw its attack suddenly dispersed into nothing, leaving only behind the bloodied girl that was glaring at it with her only remaining eye.

Because it'd just used a big spell, the Black Dragon was temporarily stunned and could only watch helplessly as Ais arrived right in front of it and thrust her rapier that was aimed straight at its heart.

It became scared for its life and immediately called for the trump card that it received from the corrupted Spirit.

The power of the corrupted Spirit of Lightning, Tornitus, came out of its heart and black lightning arcs blocked Ais' rapier.

Ais was already expecting this and released her remaining power to act as a defensive shell against its stunning capabilities before pushing forward.

Ais clenched her jaws and used the entirety of her strength to push this one final thrust.

The rapier kept moving forward and slowly going through the black lightning and the Black Dragon's scales and flesh. For several seconds, it became a battle of attrition and the Black Dragon did its best to harden its flesh. It knew that once it could move again, it'd win.

Ais also knew this and kept pushing with only a tiny bit needed to reach her target. Despite this, however, the progress of her blade is not up to her expectations. Whether she's a lot weaker or the Black Dragon was a lot stronger than expected, she didn't know. But what she did know was that her strength was already waning and didn't have the confidence that she could reach its heart.

Seeing this grim future, she regretted it. She regretted the fact that she acted and realized things far too late, 'If only... If only I acted before I was reduced to this state... I could have won.'

The pain she has been enduring had already disappeared and for someone who was trying to move, it was bad news. Ais couldn't feel her legs or arms anymore and was just pushing herself with her lingering wind. Obviously, that wasn't enough to close the gap that was only a fraction of an inch. So close yet so far.

'...I lost.' There was no fear in her eye, only regrets.

But at the moment that she'd lost all of her strength, she caught the sight of golden hair at her side. If this was a normal situation, she would have mistaken it for her own hair. However, her own beautiful hair was already gone and only a few inches of it was left on her head, so the long flowing hair shouldn't have been impossible.

The next instant, a very familiar scent tickled her nose, followed by a very familiar soft voice, "Don't stop. You promised her that you'd never give up, didn't you?"

'Mother!?' Ais wanted to yell and turn around, but she didn't have the strength to do either.

Tears started blocking Ais' sight as she saw a flawless arm stretch out from behind her and gently held her hand that was holding her weapon, "This isn't the real world. This is your world. As long as you don't give up, you'll never lose your strength. Forget the laws of the world that you know of, for your mind is the only thing that matters here."

Ais knew that it was her real mother this time but before she could say anything, the outstretched arm disintegrated into motes of golden light along with the presence behind her, "I know you can do it, Ais. Your father and I will always be watching over you. We love you."

The last vestige of her mother that silently lingered within Ais that even the fake Aria didn't notice until the end had completely disappeared, but not before leaving her final gift.

The golden motes of light traveled along her arm, towards the rapier, until it reached the black lightning. As soon as they touched, they annihilated each other into nothing.

She shouldn't have any strength remaining yet she noticed that she could still cry, 'Not yet... There's still something within me. I just have to pull all of it out!'

Ais opened her mouth and took a deep breath and shouted, "AHHHHHHHH!!!"

The inner world, while it followed the understanding of the individual owning it, was a malleable world where one could act like a God to a certain extent. The reason why Ais was losing in the first place was because she was using common sense to fight while the Black Dragon was proficient in moving about in such a world, which made it capable of moving silently and stealthily while also covering this world in his own darkness.

So when Ais lost her strength, it was her mind that lost its power to provide strength. And with the right motivation, strength that she never knew she had all came erupting out, easily pushing the sword and crossing the gap, piercing through the Black Dragon's heart.


創作者的想法
Goyya Goyya

Editors:

28th00: Mind over Matter is a thing when souls get involved.

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