chapter 116 : Escape part 4
Too much.
From the other end, Aziel blocked the beast's first blow, striking her with tremendous force. The impact was a violent shock that shook the surroundings. Sparks from the contact sparked around her, briefly illuminating her face, now covered in a thick layer of sweat. It seemed that her cry of exertion echoed through the surroundings, straight into my gut. I wanted to move, to help her, to do more than just watch... but the transport matrix still hummed, incomplete, its magic vibrating between my fingers.
"Just a little more...!" I muttered through gritted teeth, swallowing the rage, and... the helplessness that consumed me.
Then it happened.
"Shhhh..."
A sharp whistling cut through the air. From the darkness, a blade of wind emerged, spinning like a sharp, murderous scythe, flying straight toward me.
In that instant, the world seemed to slow down.
I saw the flash of the energy blade reflected in my eyes. I felt the weight of Cyan's body in my arms, warm, vulnerable. I saw Aziel's exhausted face behind the creature, and beyond… scattered scenes of my life passed like shadows: the academy, training, lost laughter, mistakes, decisions, promises. Everything passed between our eyes like illusions pointing to my past.
"I'm sorry…" I whispered, squeezing Cyan, closing my eyes.
***
『Erwing's Perspective』
"Amelia, take Erwing and keep going!" I yelled, my heart pounding. I knew time was running out and he would soon catch up with us. It was my turn to protect him… like he once did for me. I told myself, firming my resolve.
As the girls' footsteps faded, I turned my gaze toward the shadow advancing swiftly toward me as if obsessed. It was so strong it chilled me to the bone. I regret my weakness, I thought many times as I fled. Perhaps if I had trained more, this situation wouldn't have happened.
And then, not much time had passed when she appeared.
The woman emerged from the shadows like a poisoned specter, like an angel of death come to deal misfortune. Her smile was a knife: sharp, cruel, impious. She looked at me as if I were nothing more than a piece of meat thrown to the slaughter.
"So you decided to stay..." she murmured in a seductive voice, her words trailing with false sweetness.
I didn't answer.
I didn't deserve it.
I took up my sword. The steel vibrated more strongly in my arms, yearning for justice. I closed my eyes for a moment and let the mana flow through my body.
Power surged through me like an explosion.
Red lines began to weave over my skin like glowing threads, running through every part of my body. The heat was unbearable, like a burning ember in my gut. The pain tore a gasp from me, but I accepted it. I needed it.
The increase in power was immediate: almost triple what I'd achieved against Master Galahad. Within seconds, a fiery aura erupted around me. My muscles tensed, enlarged, and then compressed as if holding back a storm. My breathing synchronized with the deafening beat of my heart. The sword I held now burned with a reddish light, sparking dark lightning that tore through the air.
—κόκκινος. —Blood Evocation.
She waited patiently as my energy grew, with that arrogant sneer as if everything I did was useless. Her eyes narrowed. The contempt was evident.
"Shhh."
Like a whistle, I appeared before her in the blink of an eye and swung my sword straight at her neck. I noticed a slight tremor in her pupils.
Surprise. For a second. A single instant.
But it was enough for her to react.
From the shadow at her feet like branches of a tree, chains of darkness sprouted and were launched directly at my back. I was forced to deflect my attack, rolling to the side while cursing under my breath. She laughed, a hollow, empty laugh, and raised her hands again, summoning her foul magic. Tentacles of shadow emerged from the ground and launched themselves at me.
I slashed one, then another. I pushed my way through that living nightmare, trying to get closer, trying to hurt her. But she stopped me at every step. Ever more aggressive, ever faster, ever more certain of her victory.
My movements began to lose precision. The wounds accumulated like layers of suffering. A gash on my arm, a dark burn on my side, blood leaking from my lips with every breath. My legs weakened. My reflexes slowed.
And she… was having fun.
"Is that all you got?" she whispered near my ear after dodging another of my attacks and slipping like a shadow behind me. "How boring."
Her confidence was suffocating. But in that excess of confidence… she made a mistake.
For an instant, she tried to finish me off with a direct blow, a bigger spell. I saw her open her chest, conjure something large, too large. I threw myself at her with the last of my strength, sword first, straight for her center.
I managed to wound her.
A slash crossed her side. She recoiled, her face pale from the impact, the smile erased. She was bleeding. I saw it. She was bleeding.
"Damn you…" she roared, now without coquettishness, without masks. Her gaze turned savage.
And then I knew. She was done playing.
She raised one of her hands while with the other she coated her side with that dark energy. The shadows responded like a raging ocean. A storm of darkness fell upon me, tearing me apart. I screamed. My body no longer responded. My knees touched the ground. The sword slipped from my hands.
She had defeated me.
She approached slowly, savoring the moment. In her right hand, a spear of darkness materialized.
"It's a shame to have to kill such a beautiful creature," she whispered, raising the weapon.
But she didn't throw it.
A bolt of lightning erupted from the sky, splitting the earth between us. The wind roared. The world trembled.
And from the light, a figure descended with brutal force. A silhouette wrapped in white and gold fire, an energy so immense that even the witch's darkness retreated.
"Stand back!" that voice shouted, a voice I recognized instantly.
My barely opened eyes filled with tears. Not from pain. But from emotion.
"Do you...?"