Everything felt numb as she was swallowed by an inferno; pain wasn't something she could experience. How could she? The body she inhabited was just a glorified doll at the end of the day. Her original body had been discarded a long time ago. And why wouldn't she get rid of it? Her body had been the reason she never experienced love.

With great effort, she pulled herself off the scorching ground. Skin melted away as the flames refused to die down. She crawled towards the exit feebly. There was no real point behind this action. There was no way she would survive this; Lust was practically already dead. Dark convergence took all her doll cores and placed them in a single one. Once this doll was gone, she would disappear forever. The fire didn't help either, seeing as though it's one of the counters to dark. Her greatest hex had caused her own downfall.

She escaped the firey mound and looked up. Standing above her, waiting in a fighter's stance, was her hope. Or at least he had been; now he was just her final disappointment in a long life devoid of love.

"I knew it wouldn't be that easy. You just had to survive that. huh?"

She couldn't muster a response. She was sure her vocal cords were burnt, but even if they weren't, she no longer had any will left to vocalize.

She turned her eyes to the side to avoid looking at him. If he was going to kill her, then she would welcome it without pointless resistance.

"...?" Jong looked at her with hesitant pity. He looked ready to finish her off, but for whatever reason, he didn't. He just continued to stare at her with eyes of concern. She thought that maybe he just didn't have the heart to kill someone so tattered and defenseless.

'Pity...' Once again, she was being pitied, and once again, she would have to lie down and accept it.

'Always pity...' How many times had people got close to her because of that emotion? They would see her face and malformed body as a curse and use it to emphasize with her. She would always start off happy that someone was paying attention to her, but it would inevitably turn into despair. Despair knowing that those who socialize with her were only there because they felt sorry.

'Never love...' She turned back to look up at the man in front of her. She couldn't count how many times she had been forsaken on her quest for love.

In her head, she could still hear the voices of men berating her. Calling her a monster. Asking who in their right mind would love her. How many times had she been called disgusting? Horrifying? Ugly? In her heart, she knew they were right. She knew what she looked like, and that was why she wanted to be loved more than anything.

She was so consumed by what she couldn't have that she even threw away her own body. When that wasn't enough, she took up an authority; A curse that stands above all curses.

Now she was lying on the ground, slowly dying as the two things she gave everything up for had failed her. Her authority didn't bring her love, and her beauty had melted away.

Darkness crept into the corners of her vision as the world faded from her. Her mind thought of many things, but in the end, there was just one thing stuck in the back of her head.

"Am...I...pretty?"

Her voice was shaking and raspy. As if she had just inhaled thirty cartons of smokes. She waited for the response even though she knew what he would say. Her body was a wreck. Any beauty that used to be there had burned away.

Jong looked at her with a thoughtful expression, as if he was putting the pieces of a puzzle together in his mind. Then with a kind smile, he responded.

"You're very pretty."

Her eyes recoiled with shock as a cascade of tears forcibly came out. She returned his smile with one of her own. Her final words were quiet as they vibrated in the night air. They were sad but laced with another emotion; a brighter one. "I've always wanted to hear that..."

Jong collapsed in the street as the tension left him. He rolled on his back, so his face was looking up to the sky. "I did it... Rosey."

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As battles tied up left and right, a man approached his destiny with a sigh. He made his way to the gate of Priscillaca. He had passed through this gate more times than he could count. Sometimes he would be alone, other times he would have a capable party, and sometimes he'd have a lady friend or two. A small light illuminated his gruff face.

"Damn. These jobs just keep getting more and more ridiculous. Or maybe I've just become a curmudgeon."

Rory's old age was starting to get to him these days. How much longer would he have until he needed to retire? These questions often plagued him as he went about his business. Even now, he was thinking about his coming resignation as he puffed on a fancy cigarette. They weren't exactly easy to come by, but he had his ways.

"Hey, how long are you going to stand there smoking that thing in your hand?" A woman with a lion's mane for hair sat on a bench wearing a sly smile. Her way of speaking was rough and tough, something that Rory would have enjoyed if he didn't know her identity. "Am I wrong in assuming you're here for me, Commander?"

Rory's eyes opened in shock before realizing that he was wearing the traditional cape of the commander. Its red and white patterns, which were supposed to represent a phoenix's fire, fluttered in the light wind. Very rarely did he wear the special cloak that was ordained to him. Despite not wearing it much, he actually thought it was nice, but the attention he garnered on the street was not to his liking.

"I suppose this means you're Hybris then? You know, from the way he described you, I was sort of expecting a visibly deranged gorilla woman." He took another drag off his cig before throwing it to the ground. "But you're quite the looker. It's too bad that not looking the part doesn't actually make you any less of a fit for it."

Hybris crossed her legs while retaining her grin. "So somebody told you I would be here? That is rather interesting. Tell me did they have a book like this?" She produced a heavy-looking black book, with a flip, she let it soar through the air before catching it.

Rory spat to the side upon seeing the foul lexicon. "So you have one of those, huh? Makes sense; only the losers of this world cling to such things."

"So following my dreams and convictions makes me a loser?"

"It does when your 'dreams' involve mass suffering all in the name of misguided anger." Rory was really getting tired of talking to her. He would never see eye to eye, even slightly, with someone like Hybris.

Her smile never faltered. She seemed to be having a fun time seeing his reactions to her beliefs. "Misguided? I think my anger is very clearly guided, but I suppose you would like to change the conversation."

Rory grunted in response. His usual jokey attitude had dissolved the second Hybris revealed her book. Now the commander of the knights looked on with scornful eyes. His hands by his sides, thumb pressed against his middle finger primed for a snap.

Pride analyzed him from top to bottom. Without a word, she got up from her bench and started walking away.

"And where the hell do you think you're going?" Rory's voice was cold and stern.

She didn't bother to turn back around but stopped to answer. "My 'misguided anger' has been thrown off course. I need to leave and put it back on its proper path."

"Oh, I see. So you won't stay and tussle with me." His speech was methodical and as condescending as possible. "You're just going to scurry on along and torment the weak. Arent, you supposed to be pride?"

Again Hybris stopped walking, but this time she did look back. Her eyes were wide and reflected a murderous intent that would leave most people's trousers soaked. "So you want to die first then? That's fine with me." Pride put her book away and then slowly drew her dagger.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Now, hold on." Rory shook his head. "Aren't you supposed to be super strong?" A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead. This was part of the plan, but he wasn't entirely sure this woman would take the bait. "So even you, the strongest of the sins, has to resort to using a knife on a poor defenseless old man. Are you perhaps afraid that if you don't use that blade of yours, you'll lose?" He was becoming increasingly more doubtful about this plan working. His taunts weren't likely to work on a teenager, much less a centuries-old monster.

"..." She remained silent as she put away the dagger. Her eyes studied him once more before she broke out yet another smug smile. "I won't use my dagger on you, but I hope you're aware that still won't save you."

His fingers snapped, and the air was scorched. "Tarkis."

Pride sat atop the great gate, looking down on the decimated square she was just standing in. "Explosion magic, huh? I thought knights used swords."

Rory walked forward, hands raised and fingers primed for another snap. "I really hate that stereotype. If you didn't know it already, you're looking at one of the best magicians in the world." Another ball of light was set off after his fingers snapped. The gate Pride stood on was now just a pile of rubble.

"Is that all? I was expecting more from the greatest magician."

Another explosion threatened to tear her apart, but before it could ever manifest, she was already hundreds of feet away. Then another, and another. Countless tiny explosions littered the front of the city as Rory slowly but surely, pushed her back. All the while, Hybris quietly watched on, never striking back as if she was waiting for something. Minutes later, they stood a great distance away from where they started.

"Are we far enough away now? I'm growing tired of these half-assed attacks." Pride playfully pranced around in the grassland. The gate and city were barely in view.

"So you went along with it even though you knew what I was doing? You're pretty cocky." A surge of mana collapsed around himself as he began sucking the very atmosphere dry.

"Ooooooo." Hybris did nothing but stare in amazement at the man in front of her. She had never witnessed someone who wasn't an awoken absorb that much aether. "So now you're all stocked up! How about you fire some of that my way and see if you get lucky or not!"

"Al Tarkis!"

A torrent of power swelled in the space in front of Rory, then a bright light enveloped the quiet and peaceful grassland. In front of him now was a barren and black wasteland. The heat billowing off the air made him wince. He didn't like setting them off so close to himself, but in this situation, he had little choice.

"The highest degree of explosion magic! Absolutely a sight to behold!"

In the air high above the destruction without a single one of her hairs burned was Hybris. She continuously kicked the air with enough force to sustain her flight.

"Bisjor Tarkis." A rapid series of eruptions cloaked the sky in orange. Crumbs of fire rained down from the sky as smoke billowed through the night. Meanwhile, a blur raced through the atmosphere, always staying one step ahead of the impending surge.

'Even this isn't enough?'

His thought was shortly interrupted by an abrupt feeling that his jaw was crooked. He found that a fist was lodged into the right side of his face. After a moment, the force seemingly caught up to him sending him sprawled out on his back. The proud cape of the commander turned into a dirty rag by the blackened ground. With no small effort, he rose from the ground, ready to cast once again.

"The average person would be a splat on the ground from that, but there you are, standing back up." Hybris clapped slowly with a condescending smile adorning her face. "I guess heroes are made of sterner stuff, huh?"

"I'm quite used to punches of that magnitude. You'll need to try harder if that's all you can do." He spoke with confidence, but in reality, that was a total bluff. Rory couldn't even remember the last time a simple punch had flattened him out like that. He sensed no mana flow whatsoever going through her body. 'Everything she does relies on that damn authority.'

"Is that so? I could say the same to you, Commander; You'll never catch me with such slow casting."

"Slow?" He gazed at her with thoughtful eyes as a crazed smile took him over. "Alright, it looks like ol Rory has to step his game up for this one!" The smile remained as he raised his hands to the sky. His open palms slapped against each other. "Al Tarkis Durax!"

The ensuing light show could be witnessed from any hovel in the city. Blast after blast covered the landscape in craters. Visible waves of heat could be observed as the light of each creation shined brightly before burning out. Neither land nor air was safe as his blasts speckled the entirety of the space around him. All the while, Rory held a look of contempt.

"Gotta try harder!"

A fist slammed into his stomach hard enough to cause his earlier drink to rise back up. With his hands still raised above his head, even with him titling over, he clapped again. The fireworks show resumed, and it ended once more with a fist driving through his center.

"I said harder, not the same thing!"

"You fucking-"

As Rory recouped himself, a leg, going faster than anything he had ever witnessed before, slammed into his side. The landscape changed once more, and this time it wasn't due to Rory. A streak of destruction appeared on the desolate battleground. At the end of the trail was a semiconscious knight. As he rose from the ground, he felt his side that was kicked.

'She's been holding back? This just keeps getting worse.' While Rory thought of his situation, he continued lightly feeling the area of the impact. He wasn't any doctor, but even he could tell that his insides were currently in trouble.

"You're still going? At this point, I can't tell if I'm impressed or annoyed at your continued fortitude." Hybris appeared in front of him and looked down at the man currently entrenched in rock and dirt.

"..." Rory looked up with a silent determination as he prepared his final plan. Hybris did nothing to stop him as she continued looking with her mocking smile. "You have two choices."

Her eyes widened and eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Oh yeah?"

Rory continued as he rose out of the pit. "One, you face me and die. Or two, you run and escape taking a visit to hell."

Hybris's smile only grew wider upon hearing the challenge. "You know that if I die, I'll just become nothing, right? I won't ever get to experience hell for myself."

Rory let out a dry laugh. "That's not what I meant. You said earlier that Al Tarkis was the height of explosion magic, didn't you? But that's where you're wrong. I've spent my entire life thriving off of explosion magic. Of course, I've developed a few spells!"

Hybris seemed less than impressed by his statement. "Even if that's true, I know that you're at the end of your rope. Superheating the air in a way that stimulates a rapid expansion of energy, especially when you're projecting it to a place far away from you, takes untold amounts of mana." She continued to speak as if she had already won. As if the outcome had been decided from the very beginning. "You just created more explosions than an entire academy of mages would be able to accomplish. Even if you're one of the greatest magicians, you still have limits. Do you even have enough to cast one of those spells you have up your sleeve?" She asked, even though her tone implied she already knew the answer.

Rory didn't refute a single thing she had said. She was right, and he knew it was pointless to bluff at this stage. So instead, he did the opposite. He looked into her eyes with malice that he had cultivated over the years.

"Do you want to find out?"

At that moment, Hybris looked into that hatred and understood that they were both of the same breed; they were both visionaries. She fought to destroy the system and end her suffering. He fought to uphold his beliefs and to bring happiness to people the only way he knew how.

He raised his hands once more, and Hybris prepared to dodge his attack the millisecond he clapped, but nothing happened. She looked at him confused; his only response was a sly smile before muttering, "Cahannam."

A catastrophe, that was the only word that described the scene before Hybris, that or hell. A single sphere of hot, white energy swirled below her. Its diameter was the same as most famous football fields. Looking directly at it caused her eyes to burn, and the heat it generated sent beads of sweat down her neck despite her being hundreds of feet away.

"Insane..."

She mumbled in awe. She had still managed to effortlessly jump into the air fast enough to escape the attack, but now she looked on with unease wondering what she should do in response.

Meanwhile, Rory waited patiently in the only safe place. A single column of space extended up, revealing the night sky. The heat cascading off the energy surrounding him drenched him in sweat. The air slowly became thinner and harder to breathe, but he was confident that he wouldn't need to hold the spell for much longer. Then as if on cue, a blur of blonde came rushing down the eye of the storm.

"So this is hell!" Hybris laughed mockingly while rocketing towards him.

With a motion of his hands, the only way out was swiftly closed off.

"A cage match then?"

A shock rocked through his body as her hand collided with his face. He raised his hand above him as fast as he could, trying to grab hold.

Hybris took one look at his shaking hand and body in the short time she was lingering above him. 'He's completely drained!'

Without the fear of being burnt to a crisp lodged her fists into his face. Her right, then her left, then her right; she unloaded a flurry of punches. The commander sunk further into the ground with each strike. Each one would have been enough to kill a man like Ryuji, but Rory wasn't just a man; Rory was a legend. His hand did not stop moving despite the pain flooding his body. With a determination that could move mountains, he managed to do something no person had been able to do for over a thousand years.

Rory had grabbed hold of Prides arm. The punches instantly stopped. How many had he just taken? He didn't know, but her speed was something that surpassed logic. He was sure that if Rosey went all out on her best day, she still wouldn't be faster than this monster. The spell he crafted fell apart as the last piece of his plan fell into place. The energy surrounding them dissipated, and Rory readied himself for the incoming pain.

"..."

The look on Pride's face as Rory held onto her arm was devoid of feeling. It was as if her brain had just stopped working. In her head, the touch she felt was reminiscent of different times. As Hybris idly fell complacent thinking of past trauma, Rory cocked his fist back.

"Phoenix Rising!"

His free fist touched her neck as he summoned all the mana he could muster. Red lines that gave off visible heat broke open across his body. In a fraction of a second, Rory let go of her arm and compiled all he had into his fist.

'Phoenix Rising' was Rory's pocket skill. Taught to him by one of the greatest knights he had ever known. A skill that he only used when magic wouldn't cut it. He was internally thanking his teacher as he felt the clear snap in his fist. Her body flew through the air, and he saw that the girl's neck was disgustingly lopsided. With a thud, her corpse fell onto the black earth tens of feet away.