Chapter 52 : You Kill Me, I Kill You

The explosion of purple energy slowly dissipates, revealing a dark silhouette in its center—a girl with white hair, her eyes a cold and vacant white—Llyrnoth.

"I’ll hold her off," Githin suddenly declares with a determined voice. "Aley, Elvaria, tap into your own Stria. Abandon the Will of the World." Without waiting for a reply, he leaps, his jump so powerful it shakes the entire floating platform beneath his departure.

Llyrnoth responds, a casual smile on her lips: "I thought I’d wait until you mastered five Stria before coming for you. But you’ve already scattered so many. It would be wise for me to finish this now."

No sooner had her words left her mouth than a shockwave ripped through the sky, slamming me violently to the ground. I lift my head just in time to see Githin, a trail of shadow behind him, rushing straight at Llyrnoth, his attack descending on her with an unmatched fury.

But after the impact of the attack, she’s no longer there. She’s vanished, leaving behind an oppressive silence.

"W-What just happened?" murmurs Elvaria, her gaze fixed skyward, bewildered.

Suddenly, a dull sound echoes behind me. As I turn abruptly—

"BUARG—!" A searing pain pierces me. Everything blurs.

"ALEY!" cries Elvaria, her gaze desperate as she looks in my direction. I raise my eyes and meet Githin’s. They are filled with hatred, a burning rage directed not at me, but at something behind me.

I turn my head weakly and catch sight of Llyrnoth, a satisfied smile on her face, her hand gripping a blade of pure energy, driven deep into my chest. That’s why… that’s why I’m in pain.

"Urk..." A few words escape my lips as I cough up blood. I feel life slowly slipping away.

"One Stria recovered," Llyrnoth murmurs, her voice as calm as it is icy. "This will go faster than expected…" She turns toward Elvaria, trembling—not only with fear, but with a hatred so fierce it steals her usual glow.

In a scream that shatters the silence, Githin bellows from the sky, "BITCH!" With blinding speed, he dives toward the platform, ready to annihilate the Void Queen. As my eyes close, consciousness escapes me.

My body collapses, lifeless. Elvaria's scream resonates, filled with pain and anger. She charges at Llyrnoth, her spear ready to strike, but the enemy dodges each blow with unsettling ease.

"Stria! USE THE STRIA!" Elvaria shouts, her voice fractured with despair as Llyrnoth merely avoids her attacks, a mocking smile on her lips. Githin then lands with such force that he propels Elvaria to the ground, pushing her aside.

His gaze pierces the Void Queen. "Tell me… For millennia, this man has been my friend. How dare you kill him?" he murmurs, his voice dark and heavy with hatred.

Llyrnoth replies, nonchalant, "Oscar, I thought you’d be happy with this reincarnation. This appearance should please you."

"You’re kidding, right?!" growls Githin. "You knew full well it would be a curse for me. I sacrificed my body for him, so he could restore this world. Even Elvaristria thought me dead… and that suited me."

Behind him, Elvaria rises slowly, her gaze vacant, devoid of her usual light and innocence. She turns a hollow gaze toward Aley’s lifeless body.

"Aley… Wake up… Please, you can do it…" she murmurs softly, a flickering hope in her voice.

But he doesn’t move. Her sadness turns into a burning hatred, directed at Llyrnoth. "You enjoy this, don’t you? Even during the Holy War, you did everything to kill him, but you were pathetic, unable to succeed."

At these words, the Void Queen shudders. "Y-You’ve also regained your memory…"

"No," replies Elvaria, coldly. "But Elvaristria probed my soul, splitting my mind so I’d know every necessary detail."

She and Githin grip their weapons, their gaze relentless, fixed on the Void Queen. Llyrnoth then understands. The only reason these sacred monsters behaved like humans was because of Aley, that memoryless being. By attacking him, she’s sealed her own fate.

"Ah… but it doesn’t matter. I’ll crush you anyway," she tries to say, a glimmer of panic in her eyes. But before she can finish, Githin’s fist, quick as lightning, crashes down on her, hurling her violently backward.

She gets up in a flash, vanishes, then reappears behind Elvaria, attempting to slice her with an energy blade. But Elvaria parries the attack with unsettling ease, her movements precise and cold.

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Caught off guard, Llyrnoth hurls her blades toward the ceiling of the dungeon. A massive explosion echoes, followed by an oppressive silence. The world around them tilts, and in an instant, they all float above the mountain, the dungeon’s gate beneath their feet.

Llyrnoth laughs, a satisfied smile on her lips. "Outside this prison, I can use all my power," she murmurs. She raises an arm, unleashing a blinding light that engulfs them.

When the light fades, they all float in a strange sky. Above them, pillars pierce into the infinite celestial; below, other columns stretch out as far as the eye can see. Reality itself seems bent under Llyrnoth’s authority.

Then, she dives toward them, summoning rays of dark energy. Githin and Elvaria dodge, their movements mechanical, devoid of spirit. Neither of them attacks.

Elvaria murmurs, as if to herself, "He will wake up soon..."

"Let’s hide..." murmurs Githin, and with those words, the two of them spring into space, each using their Stria to elude Llyrnoth.

"It’s useless to hide; I’ll steal your Stria!" screams Llyrnoth, overcome by panic as she watches the situation slip from her grasp.

Suddenly, Aley’s body, lying at the foot of the mountain where the dungeon stands, begins to glow with a supernatural intensity. Valentin’s voice rings out, accompanied by Alfira’s, resonating in unison.

"Aley, don’t die for something so petty, you big idiot," they say in a mocking tone.

Aley’s body then starts to rise toward the heavens, still enveloped in that brilliant light, like a second sun above the mountain, slicing through the clouds by his mere presence. His radiance is like that of a divine apparition.

And suddenly... he begins to move.

"W-What’s happening...? My head hurts, my chest hurts... What happened to me...?"

Ah... "BWAHAHAHAHA!" I can’t help but laugh. She really tried to kill me.

"Stria..." I murmur, before launching into the air, unleashing a colossal explosion where I once stood. Without wasting a second, I rush straight toward Llyrnoth. I grab Kuroina as well as the blade Elvie gave me and raise them high above my head.

When I finally reach her, I bring down my blades with overwhelming speed, a brutal force that nearly bends reality itself. The strike is of absolute violence, far beyond what she can withstand, yet she still manages to barely parry it.

"Y-You’re alive?!" Llyrnoth exclaims, terrified.

"No, I simply fused with Aleystria upon my death," I say in a deliberately casual tone to annoy her.

"So, you are…" she adds, her voice trembling.

"I am the nightmare of the divine; it’s been a while, hasn’t it, Llyrnoth?" I say, challenging her.

"You only have two Stria!" she exclaims, as if that made no sense. But it doesn’t matter. She killed me, and it pisses me off.

I charge at her again, hitting harder and harder, each blow heavier and faster, a force she struggles to parry. Suddenly, she vanishes and teleports several meters back, summoning a massive ray of pure dark energy. But with a casual gesture, I block it effortlessly.

"Born into poverty… I gained the Stria, became an emissary, killed the gods to the last, and ended up becoming a god myself. Then, I destroyed those who mattered most to me. That’s who I am," I say in a slow voice, a smile spreading across my face.

"That’s it! You’re a monster! A horrible monster!" Llyrnoth cries out. But before she can finish, I kick her squarely in the face, making her nose bleed. She’s driving me crazy! Who does she think she is to talk to me like that?

The force of the blow sends her crashing into the ground with a terrible thud, creating a crater around her body.

She then raises her hands to the sky, summoning an enormous sword of pure energy that slices through the clouds, descending slowly from the heavens.

"WITH THIS, YOU’RE DEAD, WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE; THIS IS MY ULTIMATE AUTHORITY, ONE TO DESTROY THIS WOR—"

She doesn’t have time to finish. I look up and, with a simple, nonchalant gesture, shatter her entire sword, sending the divinity within it back into the sky.

I turn my gaze toward the crater where she lies.

"You killed me, so I'm going to kill you," I say in an indifferent tone, my smile having vanished.

I launch myself at full speed toward her, and before she even reacts, I grasp my blade with both hands, infusing it with all the magical energy I possess. In a final effort, I drive the blade into her chest.

The power of the blow triggers an earthquake, even slowing time itself so immense is the force of the impact. A massive hole forms in the mountain, so deep that it seems to touch the very entrails of the earth.

"PUAHG!" Llyrnoth exclaims, spitting blood as she lowers her gaze to see the sword embedded in her torso.

I withdraw the blade, allowing her to rise again, just for the pleasure of it. She ascends into the sky, this time summoning a gigantic black hole, a power similar to that of Githin. In her hatred, she insults me—or something like that. I no longer listen. She brings down her attack on me, but I do not move and let it hit me.

The cataclysmic explosion resounds, plunging the landscape into a thick cloud of dust. When it dissipates, she sees me. Still unscathed.

Suddenly, I vanish before her eyes, reappearing behind her. My speed is far too great for her to follow. I drive my fist into the back of her head, likely breaking her skull in the process.

She crashes down to the ground once more.

"I sacrificed everything for this power when I was still the princess of Locce... I was the one who discovered the existence of the Absolute Void!" she screams, motionless.

"How can a human, who has become an inferior race to the Void, manage to master it better than me? It makes no sense!" she adds, desperate.

She annoys me, so I take a breath and whisper to her:

"I'm going to answer you..."

"The truth is that..."

"I'm sexier than you."

At my words, I imbue my sword with a divine light, similar to that which Aleystria had used to tear me apart in one of my dreams. I barely move, allowing just my arm to strike the blade with precision. A minute particle of magical energy falls from the blade, and at the moment it touches the ground, a massive explosion erupts.

All the energy charged in my blade then pours forth, heading straight for Llyrnoth. She turns, watching the magic descend upon her, her eyes fixed on me as I float in the sky, my gaze empty, as if she were just another distraction.

"A-Aleystria... I'm sorry! I don't want to die! In the past, we got along well—" she tries to scream. But it's too late. My magic strikes her head-on, an explosion like a curse devastating not only her body but the entire region around the dungeon. A vast crater appears in that place, perhaps a lake in the future.

In merging with my former self, I realize that this is not the first time I redraw the maps.