Silvera stood there with her arms raised in the air as she aimed towards the sky where Lakshman and Orb were a moment before. She was breathing quickly before she clutched her head with both of her hands while making a pained expression appear on her face. The headache she was experiencing was so painful that she fell to her knees and bowed her head down desperately in an attempt to loosen the pain. At the same time, something sinister was beginning to get hold of her from inside of her.
***
Earlier, when the war between the Demon Lord’s Army and Lakshman’s group, Silvera was inside the room they all occupied, accompanied by Ondine, Erza and Tetra. They were solely there to calm her down because of how distressed she appeared to be, which was causing her to smit dark aura randomly.
“Silvera, it’s alright,” said Ondine soothingly to her. “What happened in the past is the past and feeling concerned over it won’t change it no matter what. Instead, use that energy to focus on the present and now. Learn from your past and do the right things in the future. Okay?”
“That’s right, Silvera!” Erza said with a concerned look on her face. “Brooding over what cannot be changed is meaningless and instead, focusing on using that knowledge to do better from here on helps a lot!”
Tetra did not say anything, but she was silently looking at each of them and nodding at them approvingly.
“Forgive and forget, but learn the lessons taught to us by our lives in the past,” said Tetra with a small smile on her face.
The pained expression on Silvera’s face deepened and she said, “Uh… How can I just forgive and forget when I…? I…? I killed so many people! I caused so much destruction and—!”
“Silvera! Stop!” Tetra said as she interrupted Silvera’s pained dialogue. “We just told you, thinking of the past doesn’t change anything… Nothing will be changed, alright?”
“B-But… I…” Silvera began and she covered her face with her arms as tears slowly trickled down her face.
Erza stared at her for a moment as she thought about some way of relieving her of the pain she was in. Then, an idea formed and she immediately smiled when she began talking about it to Silvera.
“Silvera, tell me what Spectra would tell you to do in this situation?” Erza asked her curiously.
Spectra was the ghost woman that befriended and contracted the Demon Slayer before Lakshman, which was none other than Silvera. Later, she passed away to the Higher Plane after seeing her wish come true; seeing the Demon Slayer contracted by someone else that would bring happiness to her.
Both Ondine and Tetra looked up at with a puzzled expression on their faces they stared at Erza. They did not quite understand what Erza was planning to do, but they looked at each other and nodded once in silent agreement of staying out of her plan.
Silvera slowly lifted her head to look up at her with tears covered her face. Seeing this, Erza clicked her tongue and used her hands to wipe the tears off her face with a small smile on her face.
“Spectra wouldn’t be that happy to see you crying like this…” she told her in a calm and gentle voice.
“S-Spectra…? What do you mean by what she would tell me in this situation?” Silvera asked curiously while sniffing a little.
“Like… Didn’t she disappear or more appropriately, leave this plane of existence for another when she saw you form a contract with Lucky. Am I right?” Erza asked her calmly and Silvera nodded at her in agreement. “So… Before going away, would you remind us what she told you specifically?”
“B-Before going away…?” Silvera asked and she suddenly looked troubled as she attempted to remember it. “Um…”
After a moment’s pause, Erza turned her head to nod once at Ondine, which surprised her. She did not quite understand what Erza wanted her to do, but she quickly thought about it and understood the intent. She smiled at her and turning to Silvera, she spoke to the distressed Silvera in a gentle voice.
“Silvera… Before Spectra left, she specifically told you to be happy and cheerful. That’s all she wished for you to be together with the man you were destined to be.”
Silvera looked up at her and her eyes slowly widened in surprise as she finally remembered the words spoken to her by Spectra. Those were the final words of the ghost woman to them before departing from the Physical Plane and it was for her to always be happy. Remembering it, tears began trickling down her face once more as she felt sad once again at the loss of a friend.
“Ah… Now, now… Don’t cry,” said Ondine she knelt down to wipe the tears off her face.
“Yeah! You’re not a cry baby anymore, Silvera! You’re over 8000-years-old, just like me! We’ve got to live up to our age sometimes,” said Tetra with a cheerful smile on her face as she placed her hand behind her back.
Erza eyed Tetra with a raised eyebrow before turning her attention back to Silvera and spoke calmly to her.
“Silvera. Like I was saying… Her last wish was for you to be happy, not crying like this and it would really hurt her if she saw you right now from up in the heavens. Instead, I believe you should forget the past and try to rectify the mistakes of the past and do good in the present. That will relieve you of the burden of the mistakes and crimes you had conducted without meaning to. Alright?”
“I know it’s not an easy task for you to let go of a dark past and move on, but look at Emilia. She was literally tortured and tormented her whole life of slavery, but look at her now. She’s an amazing role model of a house wife with excellent cooking skills, cleaning ability and much more that shames me as a sister sharing the same husband,” said Ondine with a grinning expression on her face.
“Yes. Follow her lead and in no time, you will be cheerful in no time,” said Tetra and she gave her a thumps up gesture.
Silvera looked around at the three girls that were patient and were willing to stay behind for her sake while a battle was raging on the outside. It made her appreciate their existence very much than the previous times.
More tears formed on her face, but this time, she was the one who wiped the tears off her face as she spoke to them.
“T-T-Thank you…! I’m truly sorry for being… like this…! I-I really appreciate you helping me like this…! I really do…! I—!”
“Okay, okay! No more crying and stop saying that and stop crying! Geez… It’s going to make me feel like crying now!” Tetra said with a disgruntled expression on her face.
Ondine chuckled and asked, “You feel that way because you’re watching a fellow Sacred Spirit brought to tears?”
Tetra hesitated for a moment before turning away and replying, “Something like that, yes…”
“I see,” said Ondine and she nodded approvingly at her.
Erza nodded with a smile in Tetra’s direction before returning to Silvera and saying, “Why don’t we go outside and help them out instead of staying comfortably in here?”
“Y-Yes! Please…!” Silvera responded quickly. “I will show my past self I’m different and better now!”
“Alright then! Let’s go!” Tetra said energetically and they rose to their feet to follow her out of the room.
***
Once outside, they were startled to see the raging battle that took place there without their knowledge up until then. Enemies flying around while firing what appeared to be energy blasts, while also using magic circle to hurt stones and lethal looking objects towards the defenders, who were fighting while quickly switching between defending and attacking.
This was where Silvera began to feel very troubled and slowly lost control as she looked around at the destruction. The scene before her suddenly brought the nasty memories of the destruction from her past it. Her eyes widened in despair as explosions occurred, lives were destroyed as the air was filled with chaos.
Unable to bear it all, she clutched her head with both of her hands while screaming, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”
“Silvera!” Tetra exclaimed in a startled voice.
“What’s wrong?” Erza asked in a troubled voice.
“Are you alright?” Ondine asked in a soft voice full of concern.
Silvera stopped screaming and she felt silent for a moment, which made them feel worried. Then, she straightened up and began surging with power as she radiated dark aura that surrounded her. This created a shock wave that pushed the three girls away from her before appearing to stand several meters away from her.
“Uh… Uh… Uhhhhuhhhhuhhhh!!!” Silvera shouted as if she was in pain.
She brought both of her hands in front of her and aimed them high into the air, which was at the direction Lakshman and the Orb monster were fighting at. As she began gathering energy into the palm of her hands, twenty amplification magic circles appeared in front of her raised hands.
With the gathering of the energy complete, she unleashed it into a black wave of destruction at the magic circles in front of her. Her attack surged through each of the magic circle while growing stronger with each magic circle it swept through.
Ultimately, after going through the twentieth magic circle, the black wave of destruction was massive and it soared high into the air before enveloping both Lakshman and the Orb monster in the process, resulting in the disappearance of Lakshman and Orb reduced right down to its core.
***
“What happened?!” Venezuela exclaimed as she hurried over to them with Silvera kneeling down.
“I… I don’t know, but Silvera suddenly went into pain and fired off this great dark attack into the air!” Erza informed her with a concerned look on her face as she looked down at Silvera, who was bent over while clutching her head.
Venezuela looked in the direction that the attack was fired in and her eyes widened when she suddenly realised it was the place Lakshman and Orb were fighting at.
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“Oh no… That’s the place Lucky was fighting at…!” Venezuela said and the four girls instantly became worried with Silvera not showing any sign of hearing her words.
“What?! Lucky was there?!” Ondine exclaimed in a shocked voice and she instantly became troubled.
Venezuela nodded and asked Tetra, “Do you see him, Tetra?”
“Um… I… I don’t see him…” she replied in a low voice and their eyes widened with shock.
“Oh no… Does that mean—?” Erza began with a horrified forming on her face when she was interrupted by a familiar male voice that spoke from nearby.
“If you concentrate your senses, you can feel my life force,” said the owner of the voice in a calm manner.
The four girls quickly turned to him and with smile forming on their faces, they happily cried out, “Lucky!”
Lakshman was standing there with his clothes slightly burnt and torn in several places, smiled warmly at them. As he walked over to them, Venezuela quickly made an attempt to hide the look of relief on her face before they could notice. Unfortunately, Lakshman saw it and his smile widened slightly as he stared at her.
“W-What? I-Is something on my face?” Venezuela asked him curtly while attempting to hide her face to avoid showing him the flustered expression forming there.
“Oh… Nothing…” Lakshman said with a small grin appearing on his face. “Anyway, I’m glad to see you all are safe.”
“Me too! Me too…!” Erza said in a relieved voice and she walked forward to hug him tightly.
He chuckled and said, “Erza… Please note that I’m not someone who would die from such an attack, so don’t unnecessarily worry. It pains me to see the beautiful faces of my wives stricken with worry and fear.”
“Ah… That’s so... um… nice of you…” Ondine said with an embarrassed look overtaking her look of happiness. She quickly tapped her cheeks with her hands and asked, “Seriously, though. Whose fault is it that we got so worried about you?”
“Out of the seven of my wives, only four got worried. That’s not so bad,” said Lakshman and Tetra glared at him fiercely with her eyebrows twitching dangerously. He quickly realised this was not the time to be joking as he quickly said, “Okay, okay. I’m sorry! It’s just that I really had to get out of there.”
“Why…? What happened…?” Venezuela asked him with her eyes narrowed.
“This happened,” said Lakshman and he revealed his right hand that he had been keeping hidden behind his back.
They saw it and were shocked as they slowly said, “This is…!”
“Yeah… Dark energy…” Lakshman said with a small smile on his face. “There I was, preparing to unleash my most powerful technique when, all of a sudden, Black Destruction was fired at us by some unknown person. I quickly reacted and brought my right hand up to defend myself from it, but ended up hurting it in the process before I used Instancity to get the hell out of there. That’s why I disappeared from your line of sight, but you should’ve been able to sense my presence if you just used your senses.”
“Mmm… I see. That makes sense,” said Venezuela and she nodded her head in understanding. Then, she made a frown on her face and asked him, “By the way, why did it take you this long to prepare your strongest technique? Couldn’t you have been able to charge it up and destroy that monster for good? I mean, you’re in your most powerful form, so don’t you have the power to destroy that monster or something?”
Lakshman slowly turned to her and raised an eyebrow in surprise, which she returned while blinking at him.
“Yes… I did think of that, which is usually my standard, but there’s one flaw in that plan; time. I needed time to gather the energy and seriously, I doubt that monster would’ve waited for me to gather the required energy to use Phoenix Electron Charge Wave! Seriously… If I were to use my signature techniques like Positron Cannon and Solar Starburst Attack, that monster will only end up getting blown to pieces and then, it’ll generate back to its original form on top of that, knowing how to use them!”
“O-Oh…!” Venezuela said as she blinked at him with a very surprised expression on her face.
“This isn’t fiction and as a warrior, I shouldn’t be delusional about the fact that most enemies don’t wait for fifteen damn minutes to let their enemies charge up their strongest techniques to be used on them. So, I focused on stalling for time by fighting the monster head on like usual and in the meantime, gathered the energy without letting the monster know about the plan that I had in mind.”
“Oh…!” Venezuela said and she was mightily surprised by his explanation to his actions. “Now, it makes sense because seriously, I was in the mind of thinking that you pitted that monster or something, which was why it appeared like you were going easy on it without using any of your strong techniques.”
“Unbelievable… Just, unbelievable…” Lakshman said with his mouth hanging slightly. “Where did the confidence in my skills go, Vena? I was sure you’d be the one to understand my hidden motives.”
“Uh… Well…” Venezuela began hesitantly and she looked away. “You see, you’re a soft hearted guy and because that monster appeared to be pretty child-like, I became worried and thought you were going easy on it because of that.”
“Oh… Thinking I’d go easy on a freakish monster just because it’s child-like is a bad thought, Vena. Don’t ever think like that ever again,” said Lakshman sternly to her and she nodded in agreement.
He nodded back at her when he noticed Silvera clutching her head while bowing down while her body shook slightly. It did not need him to make a complex investigation to realise it was her who fired the Black Destruction wave at him and Orb.
Smiling slightly, he walked over to her and gently said, “Silvera… I know that you’re hurting yourself in knowing that you hurt me in the process of trying to help me defeat that monster, but it’s okay. I can just use Restoration later to fix this small wound on my arm, so don’t blame yourself, okay?”
Silvera did not say anything or show any sign that she heard anything he just told her. He stared at her with an eyebrow raised when, all of a sudden, his Elemental Sense triggered an alarm in his mind. His eyes widened in shock when he realised something with a dangerous presence was within his hands reach and he was stunned to realise it was none other than his wife.
“S-Silvera…?” he asked her tentatively and he slowly moved his hand forward and placed it on her shoulder.
There was an instantaneous reaction and she automatically reacted wildly by shoving his hand aside and straightening up. Then, she quickly turned around to use both of her hand to grab Lakshman by the throat and she began using her dark energy to try and inflict a mortal wound on him. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the contorted expression on Silvera’s face as she desperately used her dark energy to try and kill him.
“Silvera!”
“What are doing?!”
“Lucky!”
“Stop this!”
The four of them came forward, but at that moment, Lakshman shouted in a rough voice, “Stay back!”
“B-But… Lucky! She’s trying to kill you!” Ondine said quickly as they sensed the lethal dark energy emitting form her.
“I… know…” he said with a struggle. “Something is controlling her, but s-stay out of this…! I’ll do this… alone…!”
“Lucky…! No…!” Erza said desperately and she attempted to come to assist, but was rebuffed away by the fully realised Power Barrier he created.
“Dammit, Lucky!” Venezuela said angrily. “Now isn’t the time to think of being solo!”
Struggling hard against her, Lakshman slowly said, “I-It’s got nothing to do with that… She’s my wife and I’m her husband and right now, only I can save her from being controlled…!”
“B-But… She’s hurting you… He’s trying to kill you…!” Erza said to him desperately.
While struggling to break free from Silvera’s strong grip, Lakshman croaked, “Yes… She is, but I won’t do the same. I won’t hurt her because I want to save her!”
The four of his wives became speechless by his emotional words and they looked at each other helplessly.
In the meantime, Lakshman looked at the evil expression slowly forming on Silvra’s face before muttering, “Elemental Sight!”
In an instant, everything became grey coloured and the body of Silvera in front of her changed into a colour. She was surrounded by a blue aura, but a purple coloured thing was hovering near her head. One glance at showed him that it was a Dark Spirit controlling his wife and it made him feel very angry at it.
Lakshman narrowed his eyes angrily as he croaked, “I hope you said your prayers because you’re going to pay, Dark Spirit!”
He reacted quickly and letting go of her hands, he quickly brought both of his hands forward to grab each side of Silvera’s face tightly. His face slightly contorted as he began gathering the energy before activating the special technique that would enable him to deal with the Dark Spirit.
“Spirit Transition!” he croaked the technique out loud.
There was a moment of pause before a blinding flash of light occurred where they were standing and everything became difficult to see.
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Author's Note
Hello again to my wonderful readers and thank you for reading this chapter. There's nothing much that I can really say except see the full force of Lakshman's anger when someone or something dares to control one or many of his wives. So, I hope you liked this chapter and hope to see you again when the darkness meets light in the next chapter.