ELIORA AYLING
It was surreal to believe that I was in Stafford, a place I wished I was at every single day but didn’t dare to go to, even though it was within reach. I wasn’t sure if my actions were justified; what kind of mother abandons her children? But I was prepared to face the consequences of the actions I took. Even though Yukina and Svan hated me, the most important thing was that they were alive and grew up well.
I didn’t expect that I would have to meet them soon; I wasn’t prepared for such an extempore meeting. Svan didn’t seem to throw any fit of pique, contrary to what I expected. Maybe it was because he didn’t know who I was and grew up believing his mother was dead. The feeling was different in scenarios where a person had something and lost it and one where a person didn’t have what’s lost from the get-go.
I really sucked at expressing what kind of emotions I felt. When I saw Svan, I wanted to scream, cry, laugh, and do a lot of things with him, but I just locked up all those emotions. I didn’t know how he felt when I tried explaining that I was his mother, but I knew what we felt was very different.
I was so excited yet scared to meet Yukina. I didn’t know how she would react if she saw me, but I knew I had much to apologize for. Just as I thought about her, I caught a sight of her. Time sure flies quickly. My baby girl had grown into a woman. She was everything I had imagined; beautiful, strong, and fearless. Yukina was charging at her demon opponent with fierce intent. Her body and swords moved in synchronous harmony, and her sword techniques defined brilliance as she wielded it like it was an extension of her body.
Svan, who left my side moments ago, was already up against three falxes. The guards were no match for them, so it was a wise choice to reduce causality. Any mother would be scared of the sight I beheld, but on the contrary, I was proud. I wasn’t even thinking about what might happen in a scenario where things go sideways. I was only filled with positive thoughts on the outcome of their battles. Even if the situation happened to turn out badly, I was ready to put my life on the line for them.
I decided to give Edger a helping hand since he was occupied with two demons. I could tell that the demons that launched this assault weren’t just casual ones, and they weren’t even going at full strength. That was how they fought generally. I knew because I’d fought against them. They always stall for as long as possible, trying to wear out their opponent before they go all out. The question, “what do these demons really want?” echoed in my head, but I didn’t have the luxury to ponder it. I’ve had fifteen years to do so but discovered so little. I had always believed they were after divines, but they launched an attack on the Choryth House right before my eyes.
Edger’s eyes stretched wide in surprise when he saw me. I would have been surprised too if I were in his shoes. Our first meeting after so many years was wordless and only needed quick glances. There was enough time to entertain questions later if there would be one. The gender distribution of his opponents was even; a man and a woman, so I took on the woman because I felt it was the right thing to do. I managed to draw her away from Edger and made her my sole opponent.
“Why don’t we have a little conversation, the one where I ask and you answer truthfully. How about that?” I asked.
She smirked,
“I know what you are. Too bad you met me, I would have to erase your existence from this world.”
“Since you know what I am, I wouldn’t stand here with you and hypocritically conform to norms. I can only imagine scenes where you are able to do what you just said. But don’t you think it’s going to end badly for you, given what I am?”
I didn’t get any response in words as a torrent of piercing gale shot at me. I responded with a lightning bolt as the two spells met and canceled each other. I heaved,
“Why are you in such a haste? I thought your kind loves a good conversation. Why don’t we have one, maybe we might not even have to fight.”
I was trying to rill her up and it seemed to work because she was already using her deviant ability as I felt a crushing pressure that slammed me forcefully to the ground. I was lying face down, and it felt like a large boulder was placed on my back. The weight on my back increased steadily until breathing was almost impossible. I could hear my bones crack and blood sipping from my eyes, nose, and ears. I had to control the situation, or else I would be dead.
I imposed a Feel realm instantly. The mana from my nexus materialized outside my body, surrounding the area where I was being crushed. White motes and wisps floated in the air around me. Their movement was devoid of pattern as they often collided with each other. As odd as it was, I felt connected to each one of them, like they were inside my body even though I could see them outside. The tiny wisps looked beautiful and harmless, like fireflies on a clear night, but in reality, they were monsters of their kind. They aggressively interacted with something I couldn’t see. I could tell because their motion went from gentle floats to vibrational collisions, and as it occurred, the crushing pressure gradually assuaged.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Her ambiance was still imposing, but I did just enough to relieve the pressure off my back. Her gravity control would definitely be a pain to deal with.
I immediately conjured a giant fireball and blasted it at her, and while she dealt with it, I created some space for myself. I amplified the surge of my Feel as the wisps increased their coverage area. I still had the luxury of a bit of humor,
“You didn’t even tell me your name,” I yelled at her, unsure if she could hear me.
She emerged the fireball I shot at her, as she appeared to be in a middle of a cyclone, gusting at a high rotational speed, dispersing the fireball I shot at her. She was impressive, exerting a strong influence on my Feel realm, though I imposed it primarily to free myself from her crushing constraint. She had to counter and had to do it quickly, so she imposed her own Feel realm to counteract mine. I knew because I could see wisps colored slightly differently from mine. While mine was pure white, hers was a little duller in color. Her Feel was at pearl stage.
As my wisps collided with hers, trying to knock them off the area in order to assert dominance, I was confident that I had the edge over her. Once a Feel realm is imposed by a caster, reimposing another realm was the only answer. Though the caster having a higher Feel stage would most probably dominate, it still provided fighting chances for the caster with a lower Feel stage.
The demon I was facing pushed strong winds in my direction, trying to throw me off balance and distract me away from herself. Though my situation was dire, I was still too cautious about what elements I manipulated. I didn’t want to give the impression that I could manipulate more than one element because there were eyes on me, and I didn't wish to have eyebrows raised at me.
Though the level of my earth manipulation was just a little above average, it was a good counter against her wind abilities. I was very tempted to use it, but I couldn’t for obvious reasons. I encircled myself in a lightning vortex, providing much-needed protection. The strong winds deflected as they came in contact with the vortex, but the demon wasn't done. I suddenly felt weightless, floating above ground, and before I could even gain the slightest composure, I was slammed hard to the ground. Though my Feel realm seemingly superimposed hers, she was doing just enough to keep me on my feet.
“Just give me a break,” I grumbled.
Once again, the motes of my nexus did the work to get me out of the crushing constraint she forced upon me. I couldn’t afford to let her slam me to the ground anymore.
Under my influence, lightning bolts from all directions shot at her. Lightning was fast, so it was impossible for her to avoid all of it because she was in a Feel realm I enacted, and the lightning strikes came from everywhere within it.
Rocks erupted from the ground at a speed that matched my lightning bolts, taking most of the damage, but they weren’t enough to stop every bolt I sent in her direction. A few bolts hit her and did a lot of damage to her body as she fell to the ground. I knew that our face-off wasn’t over because demons were resilient. She was covered in familiar black flames, confirming that we still had more fighting to do. The annoying thing was that her gravity manipulation was trouble for me, reminding me of Svan’s ability, as It was difficult to fight something that couldn’t be seen with the eyes.
She slowly stood up; her clothes were reduced to shreds and didn't do much to cover her body, but she didn't seem concerned about it. The intent in her eyes was frightening; she wanted to kill me so badly. I didn’t care about what cards she had up her sleeves because I had mine too. I decided to go for the most decisive one because I was already tired of looking at her face.
I wiped off the blood from my nose and conjured fire. I amplified on it, and the wisps of my nexus started to disappear. Everywhere within the Feel realm burned, but her black flames kept her from burning. The fire I conjured changed its color from bright orange to blue and then purple. I just conjured the purple flame of death.
The purple flames weren't destructive as expected of fire. They were gentle but hungry, feeding only on mana that existed in any form. Too bad the demon imposed her Feel realm; it made it easier for me to finish her off. The demon looked quite relaxed when she saw the purple flames. She didn't know what they were because she should have been very worried. She tried to conjure a strong wind to push the fire away, but to her shock, the fire gently ate the winds away like someone wiping off dirt from a table top. The flames extinguished when every mana in the Feel realm was gone entirely. It was a double-edged sword; I couldn't conjure any spells too since I imposed a Feel realm which the flames ate away. Since our Feel realms were consumed, it meant that the refined and stored mana in our nexus was gone.
The demon was struggling to understand what had happened. She realized she couldn't conjure any spell. Even if she knew what I did and left the area where I imposed the Feel realm, she still needed time for her Feel to take in mana and process it for use. To me, she was just like a helpless child. I walked up to her, and though the effects of my empty nexus were telling on my physical state, I knew I could still hold my own. She threw a jab at me, but I simply hinged my torso backward, and with my weight supported on my back leg, I leaned on one side. She lost her footing and wobbled as she missed her jab. I was confident that our fight was over.
“Are you ready to talk now?” I asked her.
The response I got was a spit on my face.
“Okay,” I replied, wiping the spit off my face.
I drew out my sword and stabbed her through her torso. She dropped to her knees as I squatted, bringing myself on the same height level with her.
“What? Are you wondering why you can’t summon your black fire?”
She was shocked to hear what I said to her.
“This fight was over the moment you imposed a Feel realm against mine. You never stood any chance against me.”
I drew my sword out of her belly, and blood splattered on the ground. I stabbed her again, but this time, through her chest, aiming for her nexus. She dropped dead on the floor as I drew my sword from her chest. I looked around, and my vision tunneled to Svan, who was staring at me. He was done with his fight as three falxes lay dead around him. I forced a smile on my face. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and I couldn’t also tell if he was shocked or surprised. For some reason, I felt like a woman who committed a crime in front of her child. The only thing I could do was hope he didn’t see me as the monster I was.