I always knew letting her live would come back to bite me in the ass, but I didn’t imagine it would be like this. She was just a mid-level boss and yet she was giving all these problems. It was also the fault of the bastard that was helping her. If only he hadn’t been here, everything would have been much simpler.

But I couldn’t complain too much. After all, thanks to Isaac, I didn’t have to deal with that terrifying Monster alone. The sight of him mowing down all those people sent shivers down my back and reminded me of all the bad memories I had of him.

There was no need to fear him anymore. Thanks to the Power of Justice and the miraculous Thorn of the Garden I had picked up in the Northern Garden, I would be able to face him. Once I dealt with these two a******s of course.

I swung my weapon once again. It elongated and shot out like a bullet, sweeping away everything in its path. I destroyed all the glass stalactites around me with a spiralling movement and then swung the whip down towards the annoying girl.

Her friend immediately appeared in front of her and deflected my flow to the side using the flat of his sword. It was a strange weapon, much less versatile than mine, but completely unbreakable. The b***h had somehow inherited the power of Creation. It should have disappeared aeons ago, but the Monster had most likely taken it for himself when old man Miller had cut him like tofu. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to build himself a new body. Or at least that was what the Madam told me in my dream, years ago.

I tried to go for a thrust but I had to step back as a sudden laser beam aimed at my head. he girl was reading me like an open book and that was extremely annoying. She was much slower than me and her friend, but she could predict what I was going to do well in advance and she deployed her attacks and mana-shields accordingly.

If she had been alone, I would have swiftly made work of her, but her friend was absurdly powerful and always in the right place at the right moment. I had a clear advantage in terms of equipment and martial arts, but, even if I didn’t want to admit it, I had to accept that he was faster and stronger than I was. It barely made sense, but I remembered that in the first version of the story, the girl indeed experimented on people to make them faster and stronger indeed. Another variation that came back to bite me in the ass. I hated the Monster so much.

I changed up the pace of the fight, going for the offensive, and I managed to inflict a deep wound on my enemy. Unfortunately an ice lance appearing from nowhere hit me on my arm. The smug smile on that b***h’s face would make me go crazy.

I retreated backwards and scratched my wound to remove the remains of ice. I couldn’t leave them there, as they would expand and devour my entire arm. Once freed from the mana remnants, my arm started to heal swiftly as I circulated my colourless aura.

I raised the Thorn over my head and swung it down on both of them. This time, my aura enveloped it and swiftly changed to a deep blue hue. The girl's eyes widened and she barked a series of orders. Unfortunately, the other one reacted in time, grabbing her and pulling her away from immediate danger.

I grinned as my aura exploded outwards, generating a shockwave that destroyed a big chunk of land. The girl’s eyes darted around confused until it finally dawned on her. I clicked my tongue. She remembered I had the ability to emulate the special abilities of the main cast. I didn’t know how much she knew, but I could tell her little annoying brain was already coming up with ways to counter me.

I swung once again the blue-aura whip but this time the shockwave was much smaller. In a fraction of a second, the girl had used mana to pull away the surrounding her, making my aura explode in a quasi-void. She was really good and that was really annoying. It was a pity she had decided to stand on the side of the Monster.

The guy appeared from below me and slashed at me, almost gauging out one of my eyes. In a rage, I transformed my weapon into a spear and pierced through his thigh. He showed no sign of slowing down and slashed at me once again, but I avoided it by somersaulting in mid-air and forced him to step back by swinging a whip.

I manipulated the aura in his wound. It changed colour and became a deep purple.

“Stop!” I shouted, and his movements became clumsier.

Jonah Deleon’s power was less scenic than that of the other members of the main cast, but it was undoubtedly useful as it let me influence or even control my opponent. Unfortunately, the girl responded swiftly. A laser beam cauterized his friend’s wound, closing it and dispersing my aura.

I gritted my teeth and ran at her, avoiding or breaking all rising metal and glass pillars. As I was about to cut her in half, the guy’s sword pierced through my back and abdomen. I groaned in pain, turned to him and landed a kick on his head, pushing him away. I turned once again to the girl but she had gotten away. I held my side, circulated my warm orange aura through my wound and healed myself up as I followed after the girl.

I was sustaining heavy damage, but I continued to patch myself up. I would kill that girl if it was the last thing I did. It didn’t matter how much the other bastard hit me, as long as I had the power the Madam had bestowed upon me, I would never fall. Although most of it was currently going to weaken the Monster.

The girl suddenly stopped running away. She was looking at me with a frown. She opened her mouth and for the first time since the start of the battle she spoke to me.

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“I had an inkling you weren’t a genius, but you are really surprising me”

I saw red and accelerated towards her. There were less than a dozen metres separating us. She was done for.

“Do you even look where you are going?” her voice sounded fazed.

The ground under me broke. I instinctively swung my weapon but dozens of vines wrapped around my body, trapping me completely. I struggled to free myself but couldn’t move an inch. The more I tried to move, the more the wriggling vines tightened like snakes who refused to let go of their prey.

A horrid stench filled my nostrils. It was the smell of the Monster. Inside the vines coursed his purple blood. I had fallen into her trap like a complete idiot, venturing inside his domain, completely disregarding Madam's warning.

The vines squeezed me. I couldn’t breathe or scream as they strangled me. My bones began to crack under the pressure. A blade punctured through me from behind and a new wave of pain travelled through my body. It seemed like I was done for.

But I couldn’t fall here. The Monster was still alive and well. As long as he lived, it wouldn’t be possible to start over. I needed to fight back. I closed my eyes and focused on the power the Madam had bestowed on me. A golden hue enveloped me. The Thorn of the Garden feasted upon this newfound power.

It grew in thickness and length many times over. Innumerable vines sprouted from it and enshrouded the ones keeping me prisoner. They wilted under the Thorn’s grasp. The blood of the Monster boiled and disappeared, pushed away by the authority of the Madam.

“Push him away!” the girl cried out.

I was kicked hard in the lower abdomen and sent flying away. The vines retracted and the Thorn returned by my side. Several slashes hit me, making me unable to concentrate. he golden hue was protecting me, but wasn’t perfect. An electric blue aura enveloped me and I answered the attacks I received with my own.

I was slowly pushed back, and before I knew it I was once again outside of the Perimeter. I clicked my tongue. I had failed in taking control of the land. The girl had understood quickly what I was trying to do and stopped me.

I tried to get back inside, but the guy stood in front of me while the girl rained fire and light from above. Thanks to my electric aura, my attacks always hit. Unfortunately, the girl seemed to know quite well how the ability functioned. She was guiding every single movement of her ally, making sure my attacks would indeed hit the mark, but no vital points would be hit.

We went on like that for at least an hour. We were both wrecks. I couldn’t see well from an eye, while he had lost a good chunk of his arm. I hadn’t been able to attack the girl directly, but she was definitely growing tired. No matter how good and efficient she was at handling mana, she would reach her limit in the end.

The guy slashed down on me. I barely managed to block his attack. It was like getting hit by a sledgehammer. He was a fanatic who was giving all of himself, while spewing blood. On the other hand, I was completely spent. It was quite clear I would lose if things continued like this. Luckily for me, I had prepared a backup plan.

A golden hue emitted from my body and travelled through the land. It was the signal to act. She was bound to respond to my calling. She had no choice but to obey her Mother’s orders after all.

She had been biding her time, hiding in the depth of the Perimeters, trying to escape her fate. Yet, she immediately appeared once I called for her. A warm cosy aura enveloped my body and my strength returned. I pushed the guy back and kicked him away.

I laughed loudly at the girl’s distorted face as she stared dagger at Chloe. She curled up under her gaze, trying to hide her body between the rubble. I laughed once again.

“Good girl,” I chuckled while looking at the enraged girl.

Chloe looked away. She didn’t dare to meet the girl’s gaze. She immediately turned to stare at me. A shiver ran through my back. I frowned and took a step back. Something had changed inside her.

“Miss Deveraux…” Chloe hesitantly raised her voice.

“Silence,” an otherworldly cold voice filled the air.

Thousands of roots emerged from the ground, as tehy wrapped tightly around Chloe, trapping her in a cocoon and pulling her under the earth.

“Traitor,” she mumbled under her breath, after spitting a mouthful of dust on the ground.

Her mana changed. A thick fog filled the land and black and purple tinted the sky. The land trembled and what remained of the forests of the Gamma withered, sweating purple vapours in the process.

“Hector,” she whispered, and a mana shockwave cracked the ground.

The guy darted towards me, the dark mana filling his lungs and vain. I raised the Thorn but the rebound of his attack sent me flying. I circulated my aura and prepared to hit back, but I had to step back. In an instant, innumerable glass fragments, ice lances and metal pillars rained down from the sky. I swept many away, but many more fell. It was an unstoppable bombardment of melting metal and broken glass.

I continued to fight back, dividing my attention between avoiding the barrage and fighting back against the guy. Smog and dust filled the air, making it difficult to distinguish my surroundings. I didn’t understand how such an unexpected change could have happened. I had clearly underestimated her. I had forgotten who made her.

Wounds started to accumulate and more and more of my bones were being broken. It didn’t matter if I focused my aura on healing, a single hit from the rain of bullets was enough to incapacitate me for several seconds. It didn’t help that the guy seemed to have thrown to the wind all worries about his own well-being.

It took some time, but it was clear. I was definitely going to lose. I gritted my teeth and my expression distorted. I couldn’t accept it. I was so close, and yet I was being manhandled by a couple of extras.

“Go to hell!” I shouted.

I swung the Thorn without any care in the world. It didn’t matter if the projectiles or the blade hit me, I would bring them with me. My aura exploded and I moved faster than I had ever had. First, I cut off his sword-holding hand. Then I kneed his lower jaw, breaking his teeth. Third, I tore off his legs. Fourth, I scared his eye. And lastly, I pierced his body with the Thorn.

I grinned as he spewed blood on my face. He was done for. I laughed. Without him, the b***h was defenceless. I would cut her head off before she could understand what had happened.

I suddenly smelled burnt flesh. I looked at myself in horror as I discovered thousands of white-hot barbed wires digging through my flesh. I tried to free myself, but for every single one I broke, hundreds more grasped at me. I tried to shout, but the wires invaded my lungs. A searing pain invaded me.

Her cold eyes were gazing at me. I shivered. She reminded me so much of the Monster. They were both so cruel. The more I struggled, the more my flesh got ripped. My eyes boiled and my ears were torn off.

I lamented my fate. I didn’t want to end like this. I grasped the Thorn still in my hand. A golden hue travelled from me to the one I had impaled. That flash of light was the last thing I saw through my eyes.