Frantic yelling from the sidelines barely reached Sasha’s ears. It was Isaac. “Sasha, his range isn’t infinite! It’s some kind of bubble! Everything outside of it isn’t in his control! You’re near the edge!”

Major added onto the observation. He can even accelerate his surroundings, but at what cost? What a nuisance.

Sasha rushed to make space away from Uriel’s Danger Zone. She threatened his pursuit with another drawn arrow. The ringing in her head didn’t make it easy to strategize. She couldn’t run away forever. The circle of guards entrapped them, and getting too close brought many threats.

Disarming Uriel seemed to be the best option; separate the man from his god, forcing him to fight more on her level. Sasha set out to try it. She’d knock that machina from his hand. Sasha dispelled her bow, her expression shifting deathly cold. With a flash of light from Major, the spirit of the bow withered away until once again a dagger. She focused into the blade.

“Ghost in the Shell.” Sasha split Major into small, uncountable shards shining with blue radiance; throwing knives barely visible to the human eye. “Kafka here. Showtime, baby.”

She fanned them with her fingers like a deck of cards. Its power spread out thin, Major's eye attached itself to her palm. The dagger warned her.

My soul sealed within the eye is vulnerable when you divide me up so much so. Don’t even let it get scratched. It could kill you.

“All you do is worry.”

Sasha sprinted toward Uriel who swung his flail in anticipation. She planted her feet within grazing distance, slung her knives his way, and observed his reaction unblinking. One second, the flail ceased its spin. The next, his figure vanished to dodge her attack. He reappeared to the left.

Sasha put space between them as she reflected. I’m starting to get the pattern. He can only accelerate one thing at a time. His choices are between the flail, himself, and his surroundings. If I can force a reaction, will he dodge left again?

Major agreed. A good analysis but watch out. Rain!

As Uriel raised his hand to the sky, beckoning it, Sasha threw a dagger at him. His weathering assault started and then stopped prematurely. He teleported to the left, evading once more, distance kept between them.

Sasha nodded, resolute in her observations. He should be capable of running me down, but he won’t. Why?

Major answered. He respects your power too much to be careless.

I know what to do now. She looked off to Isaac, filled with confidence. Watch me, teacher.

She materialized another set of fanned knives and sprinted full force at Uriel. He stood his ground, watching with wide-eyed focus. She reared her throwing arm and planted her feet, aiming at him. In anticipation, he teleported from sight. Sasha feinted and launched the knives to the left. Uriel appeared right into a barrage. He roared as they plunged into his face, torso, and arms.

With shaken eyes and an Oh shit… face, Uriel held pressure to his chin. He let go and his jaw fell open morbidly low, revealing a deep gash cut through his cheeks and tongue.

“Gwaugh,” he uttered. Blood poured from his face like a fountain.

Major praised Sasha. “Excellent work. Victory is yours. Accelerating now would be a bad choice. It’d quicken his blood loss and kill him. His only option is to surrender. Hurry and end this.”

She didn't feel exactly ecstatic about her victory though. There was a part of Sasha that respected her enemy. Looking defanged, she called out to Uriel. "Give up and call this off so I don't have to kill you! If you're tended to right now, maybe you could live!"

But was surrender an option for such a man?

Uriel grinded his teeth, shaking his head sternly at Sasha's hope-filled plea. He burst towards her with a sonic boom, exploding full force into her chest. Sasha was blown away. She tumbled and rolled a dozen times, bones cracking and muscles ripping against the stone, as he splattered into the ground on the spot of their collision. Blood spray, limbs, and gore burst from his corpse of meat and metal.

Uriel accelerated himself into his own death. He’d put everything into this suicide missile.

Sasha lay in a twisted pose on her back with blurred vision, unable to move or breathe even an inch, her neck snapped and chest caved in. Every wheezing exhale released was impossible to claw back. She quickly succumbed to suffocation. Uriel threw away his own life to take hers, and for what? Pride? Glory?

She never expected things to flip so easily. The curtains of life as she knew it closed. Her life ended before it could truly start. She didn’t get to do anything with it. Ambitions? Accomplishments? Romance? All these experiences were ripped away before she could taste them. Only teary-eyed, panicked thoughts of horror and a faltering heartbeat remained. They numbed into gray nothingness.

Isaac scrambled out into the arena, yelling with a cracking voice. “Sasha?!”

Countless guards gave chase after him. He planted his feet, every muscle in his body flexed to utmost tension, and roared. A fiery burst of green ki erupted from his heart, creating a shockwave of wind that blew the closest soldiers away. Raging turbulence born from his soul carved chunks from the ground beneath his feet.

One guard further away shouted to his comrades as he braced against the ki’s force. “A ki cultivator?! Wind natured too?! Fuck us!”

Isaac let out a ravenous growl. A vein on his forehead popped out. “You’ll...!” He twitched and frothed at the mouth as his chaotic aura expanded further with his anger. “Pay!”

Dozens of arrows and bolts shot toward Isaac only to be misdirected by his wind. He stomped toward Sasha, screaming at the soldiers in his way. “Move!”

When they didn’t obey, falling into battle stances instead, a razor-sharp gust summoned by the swipe of Isaac’s hand sent their heads flying. He glanced around, noting waves and waves of countless enemies, and grumbled. “Sorry… everyone.”

Isaac ripped Dio’s dagger of light from its sheath, wielding it two-handed. “Rainbow in the Dark.”

All semblance of light disappeared and absorbed into Dio. Torchlight, moonlight, all of it, became his. Isaac claimed authority over light as an idea as if he were the sole star in the universe. The dagger’s blade extended into a great sword of pure weightless energy. He wielded a rainbow of myriad colors which blinded all who stared at it.

Imagine what would’ve happened if it were used under the sun.

Sasha lay numbed by brain fog, curled up in utter abyss. Familiar voices echoed around her. The first was Major’s. “She did well. Better than some of you other wielders. I had high hopes for her.”

Those to speak up after that weren’t easily recognized. They became a ravenous swirl of noise.

“It’ll be nice to have a girl in this soulscape for once. This place is a sausage party.”

“At least she lasted longer than Ley! Imagine contracting and losing a great machina in a single day. What a loser.”

“I guess at least we’ll be together now.”

A clearer, blunt voice pierced through all the fog. “This host was going to be special. She has more potential than any of us. If her story ends here, it’ll leave a bitter taste in my mouth.”

Major faced that man. “It’s not often you show yourself, Leo. Have you taken a liking to the girl?”

“Perhaps. She reminds me of someone I once loved. I’m going to intercept just this once. I’m the only one who can make a difference, after all.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Do as you wish.”

Sasha felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up from the cold ground to see the phantom of an emotionless prince. He held his hand out to her. “Everyone should be given a fair chance to live for what is dear to them. I’ll give you a taste of this power once.”

She gazed at him with an utterly broken will. Living again would mean dying again. It would mean seeing others die again. Why couldn’t she just rest? Sasha couldn’t bring herself to answer him.

He continued. “This will be the summit of the mountain. You’ll only ever see it again by your own hard work. Will you sit here and vanish, or will you continue?”

“…” Sasha contemplated an answer with a mind and face bleak.

“How determined are you truly? Show me.”

Another ancestor, Kafka, scoffed. “You just want to show off, don’t you? You think you’re better than us.”

Next came Ley. “Thank you. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

Leo gave them a shrug. “This isn’t my decision. It’s hers.”

From the distance, a crazed yell barely reached her. It was sobering. The battle cries of a teacher who’d seen his student murdered right in front of him. Isaac’s voice shook her, sending shivers up her spine. It shook her soul.

Sasha took Leo’s hand, nodding with determination. As he helped her up, he spoke to the others warmly. “I won’t lie. Maybe I do want to show off a little. I’ll show this girl and Monestate what a genuine bond between man and machina means. I apologize in advance for the ruckus it will cause.”

In the arena, Sasha’s mangled cold corpse got rained on as Isaac hacked and slashed away at an army of two-hundred guards accumulating more and more.

Rainbow in the Dark disintegrated whatever touched its blade. You’d think this would frighten and route the royal guard, but they met the challenge with unbroken confidence and morale. Uriel’s sacrifice and spirit lived on in them. They believed without a doubt that they would die and reunite in glory.

Isaac’s enemies sung military cadences and hooted as he cut them down. One such shanty went: “To Yellen we’ll go! Onwards, fellows! Our mates await! We’ll feast with greats!”

Elise curled up as far away as she could get against a wall, shielding her vision from being taken away by Isaac’s sheer shining. Despite that, heat still burnt her skin like being dangled over a bonfire. If Isaac got any closer, it’d mean her death too.

It took enough dead men to fill three graveyards before Isaac’s Rainbow in the Dark fizzled out. With that, so did his ki reserve and momentum. Shoulders slumped and gasping, he sunk into the shadows. The soldiers hunted him frantically as he weaved in and out of darkness, taking lives with brutish grappling and guerilla throat slashes.

A small group of archers on the outskirts noticed something. They looked like they’d seen a ghost. Their leader called out. “What in The Gods?”

Sasha had risen from her back, catching her breath with shallow, wispy gasps. She sat on her butt, staring vacantly at Major in her hands. Cold. So cold.

Even the weakest of heartbeats had embers. Embers with the potential to flourish into flames chaotic and all-consuming. That was the power souls possessed.

An eerie clarity possessed Sasha. She spoke as if knowing both everything and nothing. “God Aspect.”

The world recoiled at her words. Lightning flashed as extreme weather, rain and snow alike, beat down over everyone. Guards dodged surprise hail. An aurora borealis formed in the night sky, a tsunami crashed on a faraway shore, and an unmeasurable leviathan deep within The Eversea awakened.

Blue, volatile energy radiated from Sasha. Her aura grew so bright and reaching that staring at her was like staring at the sun. It caught the attention of Isaac and the royal guards. Everyone gawked at her, squinting, shielding their brows with their hands.

What emerged from the light was no girl. Goddess was the only proper way to describe her.

The dagger was nowhere in sight. A vascular, silver metal encased her entire being like living armor, hair flowing with ethereal elegance. If looked at close enough, there was no mistaking it. That was Sasha. The goddess’s glowing green eyes possessed both her soul and hurt.

She and Major had become one.

Sasha wasted no time. Now bonded in soul and flesh, she gained the machina's ability to read the hearts of others. Her mere presence wouldn’t be enough to scare off the royal guard. They were as suicidal as they were cocky. She’d need to kill almost all of them to escape.

She pointed her fingertip and shot concentrated ki across the arena. It pierced through the heads and chests of a dozen, killing on touch. Their merciless deaths frenzied the ranks. Countless rushed Sasha, hitting her with spears that snapped and dented instead of damaging her or halberds that bounced, rattling their own bones instead.

Once acclimated to her new dimension of perception, their movements became slow motion. Sasha dodged flurries of blows and incoming crossbow bolts from every direction with slight movements.

She materialized a longsword from thin air to begin the culling. Beheading after beheading. Gutting after gutting. After two more graveyards of soldiers with such fates, what few footmen remained realized that they were outclassed. There was no more singing. No more excitement for the thrill of battle. There was only fear. Sasha didn’t allow any to escape. They were cut down.

The crossbowmen far off still felt safe though. That was until Sasha snapped her attention to them and summoned Evelyn’s great bow. She didn’t even have to draw an arrow to send them scurrying off. Death was implied.

Escapes weren’t allowed though. With a wave of her hand, she beckoned. “Stand Alone Complex.” Phantoms raised up from the ground in front of the runways, possessed them by jumping into their mouths, and then brutally killed each other.

At the end of the bloodbath, the only three remaining were Isaac, Elise, and Sasha.

She approached the two who held each other in their arms, staring at her in fascination tinged with fear. Sasha struggled to walk straight, groaning. She looked deathly sick and pale, hugging herself as chills shot everywhere. Deep cracks formed in the metal exoskeleton of her God Aspect. Little by little, it crumbled and fell apart as she succumbed to exhaustion.

Before vanishing in its entirety, the metal half of her face spoke. “The girl blew through all our ki. Watch over her for me. She will be frail.”

With those final words, Sasha’s God Aspect dispelled, leaving her curled up naked on the ground, the dagger Major by her side. Both the machina and wielder sunk into deep sleeps. Surprisingly, her fatal wounds had vanished. Was regeneration an attribute of such a form?

Isaac looked between Sasha and Elise bewildered. “This is all some big dream, right? I did not just see her achieve that.”

Elise pinched him in the arm. Nothing happened. He sniffled. “The only other person I’ve seen reach God Aspect is my father.”

She nudged him. “You shone bright too.”

“I guess I did awaken, didn’t I? My soul’s nature is wind?” He showed a little excitement but shook it off. “But enough about me.”

Isaac scooped up Sasha, darting his eyes around in fear of retaliation from the law. No one should have escaped, but there was no way to be certain. Soon, someone would stumble upon this scene too. The king would investigate and lash back with double or even triple the numbers and might. “We need to get through here while we can. We’ll find somewhere to lie low and regroup with Abdul.”

“I can agree on that, but...” Elise seemed somewhat annoyed. “At least wrap her in a blanket.”

“Are you worried about that right now? I’m not even looking at her. I only have eyes for you.”

Elise shook her head. “I’m not calling you a pervert. I’m looking out for her feelings. How would you feel if you woke up and figured out everyone knew how your balls looked?”

“I’d feel proud as any man would—”

Her glare made him rethink his words. “Wouldn’t. As any man wouldn’t. I do have a blanket in my bag.”

Carrying Sasha wrapped snugly in a blanket, they rushed beyond the final gates barring their entry to High Monestate. Isaac eyed Abdul’s bag he left with them. Where was he? Had he fallen behind? Things would’ve gone different if they had his help.

Sasha flickered awake. Her consciousness was iffy at best. No way in hell she’d be able to move. Isaac noticed and spoke. “Our little goddess is awake. How do you feel?”

She groaned, barely able to speak. “Hit. By. Carriage.”

Isaac chuckled. “My father’s first time went the same.”

The streets of High Monestate were the antithesis of what Sasha and Ley called home. There wasn’t a spec of trash on the sidewalks lined by iron fence wrapped trees and plants. The marble buildings towered high, colorful flowers and vines decorating everything. Lanterns hanging from posts basked most things in warm light.

They tried to stick to shadows and bushes in their roaming. Isaac motioned for Elise to follow through a vineyard leading up to black iron fences. They stood along the borders of some nobleman’s sprawling estate. Elise questioned the choice. “Is hiding on someone’s property a good idea?”

“We have no choice with Sasha like this. It won’t be long until they start searching for us. Let’s rest for tonight, and plan how we’ll make our way into Castle Hemmer.”

Elise pointed at the distant shadow of the estate’s looming mansion beyond those fences. Stone pathways winding around sculptures, fountains, and hedges, led up to it. “Every light is out. I know it’s night, but you’d at least expect a lantern.”

“Nobody’s home.”

“But if that’s the case, then wouldn’t there be a guard or maid left to watch over the place?”

“Then we’ll tie them up. It’ll be easy if they don’t have a machina. Just have to be careful.”

“I feel like you’ve jinxed us.”

They circled around the property but failed to find an entryway. It would be hard to scale the walls with Sasha’s weight too. Isaac sighed. “I could store her in your shadow while you make the climb, but I don’t like the risk. I’ve lost things in the shadow realm before like pens and snacks. Not things as big as a person, you know, but it could still happen.”

“Don’t even think about it.”

Light footsteps from behind startled them. Isaac unsheathed his daggers out of instinct and Elise jolted back, slamming her head against the black iron poles. It rattled loudly.

Abdul waved casually, covered in black soot. He smelled like a burnt dog covered in sulfur and gunpowder. “Everything go well?”

Sasha’s state made him shake his head. “Never mind that. What happened, and where are her clothes?”

Elise settled down. “It’s a long story. You scared me. How’d you find us anyway?”

“I heard your voices. Can I have my satchel back? I need a change of clothes.”

Elise tossed it back to him. “She’ll need clothes too. What happened to you?”

Abdul’s guard disguise was busted and charred all over. His helmet, nowhere to be found either. Hesitant, he explained. “I found their munition storage for siege defense. It was filled with weapons, oil, and explosives. I was trying to be careful.” He seemed embarrassed.

Primus spoke up from his back. “He sneezed sparks and blew up that entire place with us in it. I’m surprised I didn’t shatter!”

Abdul raised his voice to try to overpower the truth. “Nuh-uh, didn’t happen. I can’t hear you.”

Elise sighed. “Well, in the end, at least you did your job. Seems we all need a breather then.”