Soon after the pair split up, Ria searched everywhere for Kiseki. She found nothing, but she heard a person talking on the other side of a huge door, which seemed to lead to a cathedral.
As she felt safe by her own power and by Exwind's words, she opened the door. It wasn't locked, so she managed to get in. The first thing he saw in the spacious room was Kiseki's body sitting on a throne on the opposite side of the cathedral. Her arms were chained and she appeared to be unconscious.
After entering, the first words she heard were:
— "It's just" what, asshole?! You're not going to tell me to wait another day. You promised me that I would become a goddess, so keep your word! Hey, can you hear me? Hello?!
Although she didn't see the person immediately, she understood that they were talking to someone on their phone or talking to themselves. At the benches, she stood up and looked back to see who was entering.
Ria shivered. In the first second of visual contact, she recognized that horrible person. She had dark blue short hair, wore sunglasses that cast a light blue light on her eyes, a white suit, a red cloak and a black top hat.
When she turned back, Zenith asked:
— Hey, you're not the Pope. Who the fuck are you?
— Zenith? What are you doing here?
— Do you know who I am? Amazing. But you still haven't answered my fucking question.
— That's not possible. You should be in Tokyo right now.
— Turns out I'm not. I wanted to go back soon, but the decrepit old man couldn't finish the ritual.
— Ritual? What do you mean?
— You came here and you don't know anything? You must be fucking kidding me. I will become a goddess if this works, is it easy to understand?
— Goddess? But that doesn't exist...
— Of course it exists, I'm proof of that! I'm so perfect that I wouldn't even need to do this, but it turns out that there are still people stronger than me, oddly enough.
— Do you intend to defeat the top 3?
— Not just defeat, but kill and humiliate them for leaving me in fourth place.
— I won't let that happen. The association never wanted you alive, but your power must be very useful to the Boss.
— The Boss? He's nobody next to me. Of course the association doesn't want me alive, because I'll be the next one to play tyrant.
In order to test Zenith's power, Ria took out her revolver and shot the heroine in the shoulder quickly, before both of them even realized it.
Ria had no idea what her power was, so she tried a light attack so as not to risk her own safety. The shot went through Zenith's shoulder and caused considerable damage. Soon after, Ria was injured in exactly the same place, but with much greater damage.
A huge hole formed in her shoulder, and blood began to pour out. Surprised by the attack, Zenith commented:
— You have a lot of courage, brat. I never thought I would ever get a surprise attack.
— What did you do?
— Me? I just stood here and got shot by you, no big deal. You are the one getting hurt.
Ria understood that Zenith's power was related to damage reflection. The problem was that the intensity of the returned impact was much greater than that received.
Ria ran towards her enemy, who was in the corridor between the benches. She tripped her to unbalance her body and shot her in the heart. As expected, Ria's heart was shattered in response, but Zenith's was also pierced enough to bleed.
Surprised again, the level 7 picked up a card that was hidden under her cloak. It was black and light blue, just like her glasses. As Ria passed under her opponent's legs, Zenith touched the card on the level 6's head, but it did not cause any damage.
Ria continued sliding until she hit the stage elevation. She quickly got up and saw Zenith flying towards her, about to throw a punch. Having no time to react, her face was crushed and she was thrown a few dozen meters away, destroying all the walls in her path.
Ria's barrier would have reflected Zenith's punch, but only if she had been motionless during the blow. When her opponent threw her entire body towards her, the difference in mass caused Ria to be thrown back into the wall, and the punch connected with her face.
She was now in what appeared to be the castle's prison. When she stood up again, she remembered that her heart no longer existed. She created an ultra-powerful regeneration bullet and shot it at herself. In a few seconds, it was completely healed.
She looked around, but there was nothing but handcuffs and iron bars. Suddenly, a tower of flames rose up where Ria was, and began to melt her. Instinctively, she ran to the side, but a column of ice covered her. Zenith finally appeared and snapped her fingers, shattering the block of ice.
She melted her and said to the dismembered heroine:
— Come to think of it, I think I saw you at the association. You are Ria, the top 1 level 6, right?
— Why are you saying this now?
— Because I wanted to reinforce that you are much weaker than I could imagine.
— Why don't you just kill me?
— Well, you still amused me enough.
Ria realized that the hole in Zenith's heart was also healed. Since her arms were disconnected from her head, she used an emergency attack.
Ria created a regenerating bullet inside her mouth, aimed inwards. Biting the back of the bullet and pressing hard enough generated a spark strong enough to propel the shot towards herself.
Hearing the shot, Zenith fell silent and looked at Ria, who was healing quickly. Surprised, she asked:
— How did you do that, bitch?
Ria quickly grabbed both revolvers and shot Zenith in the head, who dodged it. The bullets, however, were reflected in random directions.
Ria quickly jumped up and punched her in the head too, but from right to left. Zenith raised her left arm to block the attack. To the surprise of both, the blow was reflected to the side, hitting the air.
Ria realized that this type of reflection was exactly the same as her barrier. Zenith realized that she had unconsciously awakened yet another power and smiled mischievously. Ria positioned herself to fight, but Zenith started laughing uncontrollably, saying:
— See? I wouldn't have realized this hidden power of yours if I had already ended the fight!
Trying to understand the situation, Ria asked:
— Did you steal my power?
— Maybe, who knows?
— Spit it out, jackass!
— What did you call me? Know that I will kill your boyfriend too if you continue insulting me.
— If you lay a finger on him, I'll-
— You'll what, kill me? Honey, you should know by now that you have no chance against me. After I kill you, I will use your friend as a toy and then throw it away.
Ria's eyes widened with pure hatred. Realizing that the provocation deeply affected her opponent, Zenith commented:
— You're mad, aren't you? It's so fun to play with kids-
Suddenly, Ria jumped up so quickly that she destroyed everything in her path. Zenith, confused, looked at the hole in the ceiling and shouted:
— What is this, are you going to run away now? In addition to being weak, you're a coward?
Zenith accepted the challenge and also jumped up. When she crossed the roof, she continued flying for a few more seconds and stopped in the sky. Suspicious, she looked everywhere, but didn't see her opponent. Impatient, she exclaimed:
— What is this now, hide and seek? I'm sorry to say I don't feel like playing this, so come along and let's continue our fight!
Zenith continued to look to the sides, until a shot pierced her body from below. As the bullet passed through her brain, she was paralyzed for a while, as if she had been sleeping awake. Her right foot was hit first, then the rest of her body that was in the path.
The wound on his foot began to bleed more and Zenith's body stopped floating, starting to free fall. While she was falling, she managed to regain consciousness for a few seconds due to her 7-Up. Her instinct was to create an ultra-powerful regeneration bullet in her hand and smash the back of it, propelling the projectile towards her own head.
Meanwhile, Ria appeared jumping and holding her carbine, ready to fire. She was aiming for Zenith's feet. When fired, the bullet went through the level 7's body again, but both wounds were soon healed.
Zenith's body fell to the ground. Ria thought she had finished her opponent, so she approached her with the carbine aimed at her head. She fired, but the bullet was reflected and then ricocheted off Ria's barrier, being launched in a random direction.
Realizing that the plan had failed and her opponent was still alive, Ria despaired. Zenith stood up slowly, with an evil smile. Ria was startled and took a step back. The villainess raised both hands and a powerful laser from below hit the level 6's body, desintegrating her legs, since they were closer to the ground. The rest of her body also burned.
Ria fell face down. Zenith commented:
— So your barrier doesn't reflect from underfoot?
Zenith slowly brought her hand closer to Ria's arm, who pushed off the ground to propel herself to the side. Noticing yet another weakness, the magician said:
— So slow objects also pass through it?
After recognizing the barrier's weaknesses, she became serious and asked:
— How could I not see you while I was up there?
— If you're enjoying testing my power so much, find out for yourself.
— You have a lot of courage, brat.
Zenith raised her hand, ready to fire another laser. Ria just waited for the attack, which, to the level 7's surprise, was reflected. At the same time, Ria shot herself another regeneration bullet and jumped behind Zenith, who was still distracted by the laser.
When she realized that her opponent was no longer there, she looked around, but didn't see anyone. Even more impatient than before, she activated an infrared sensor with her power. She soon saw Ria's silhouette, as well as a slight distortion in the light around her.
Pretending not to know where her opponent was, she looked to the side and shouted:
— Stop this nonsense, you shitty child!
As she spoke, Zenith raised a metal spear beneath Ria, piercing her heart. Ria's "invisibility" fell apart, revealing her impaled body. Zenith approached her and said:
— You were reflecting light around you to disorient me. Did you think I wouldn't notice that?
— But how?
— How did I manage to see you? I already told you, I'm a goddess and I can do whatever I want.
Ria's discreet earpiece rang. It was Exwind reporting the situation:
— Ria, I met the Pope and discovered a lot of useful information. Where can we meet?
Noticing that Exwind was about to leave, the Pope relieved himself and asked:
— DOES THIS MEAN I CAN LEAVE?
— No way. First, take me to where Kiseki-chan is.
— B-BUT MY PLAN GOES DOWN THE DRAIN!
— You still don't understand your situation here?
— ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! BUT I CAN GO AFTER THIS, RIGHT?
— What do you think?
The Pope finally gave up trying to convince him and accepted his fate. They both left the room, with him leading the way to the cathedral. When they arrived, Exwind soon saw Kiseki and ran ahead, leaving the Pope behind.
Taking the chance, he took out a pistol from inside his religious clothing and aimed it at Exwind's head, who was still running towards Kiseki. He thought conflictingly:
I CAN'T LET THIS GUY RUIN THE RITUAL, OR ZENITH-SAMA WILL KILL ME! I NEED TO STOP HIM HERE AND NOW, FOR THE LORD'S SAKE!
His hand shook for a few seconds, but he found the courage to shoot. Exwind felt a tiny object hit his head and turned back. When he saw the Pope holding a pistol, he ran towards him, grabbing him by the neck and saying:
— Did you have a gun this whole time?
— SORRY, IT WAS UNINTENTIONAL!
— You leave me no choice.
Exwind released the Pope and punched him in the head hard enough to knock him out. After that, he ran back to Kiseki, who was still unconscious. Trying to wake her up, he shook her body and said:
— Kiseki-chan, are you okay? Can you hear me?
Instinctively, Exwind brought his ear closer to Kiseki's heart, and confirmed that she was still alive. He took her in his arms determinedly and jumped up, through the ceiling. He flew for a few more seconds and stopped in the air to see the situation.
When he saw Ria, he flew towards Zenith, to punch her as hard as he could. Predicting this, Ria said:
— Don't do that! She copied my barrier, so you won't be able to hit her!
Understanding immediately, Exwind redirected his flight downwards, re-entering the castle. He went through the walls until he reached where Zenith was horizontally. When he was lined up, he jumped back up.
Now that the trickster magician knew the power's weaknesses, she predicted that her enemy would aim for the feet, where the barrier didn't cover. When Exwind was close enough, she switched places with Ria through teleportation .
As Ria was still stuck and motionless, she only had time to tilt her head back, but not to dodge Exwind's attack, which destroyed part of her body. She healed again quicly. When he landed on the roof of the castle, he realized what he had just done.
Desperate, he put Kiseki on the ground and ran to Ria's head, shouting:
— Ria, I didn't mean to do that! What can I do?
— Don't worry, Tetsushi, I can heal myself.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Ria created an instant healing bullet in her mouth, biting down hard and firing it at herself. Zenith smiled and said:
— So this is how you healed when you had no arms?
Ria realized that Zenith was observing all of this to gather more information. Enraged, Exwind glared at the magician with a murderous aura, saying dryly:
— Your free trial of life has ended.
— I want to see how you could enforce that.
Remembering that Zenith could copy powers, Ria thought about what the condition was for that to happen. The most common limitation was range. She soon remembered that, when she approached her for the first time, making her trip, Zenith took a card and placed it on Ria's head. Finding the answer, she warned:
— Tetsushi, don't let her touch you with a card. She will copy your power like this.
— Thanks for the warning, Ria. Did she just copy your barrier or something else?
— I don't know, but it's best to consider that all my powers are now hers.
— Right. You can rest now, Ria. I'm going to finish all of this.
— Wait, I can still fight…
Ria tried to get up, but fell again. The combination of fighting, healing and regeneration bullets consumed a lot of energy. She could no longer stand, so she was unable to fight. Realizing this, she commented:
— Looks like I won't be of much help...
— You've done enough, so you should be proud. But you have to learn to ask for help when you need it. If I hadn't called, you would be dead by now.
— I'll try to remember that next time...
— Can I ask you a favor? Protect Kiseki-chan while I'm fighting.
— Sure, I can do that.
— Thank you, Ria.
Exwind stood up, still with a murderous aura. Zenith, yawning from all that talk, said:
— Are you finished yet? Can we get back to action?
— If that is your last wish, I will grant it.
To Zenith's surprise, Exwind jumped towards her, ready to punch her with all his might. Confident in her barrier, she just waited for the attack and picked up her card to copy another power.
Just as the fist was about to touch the barrier, an explosion covered Zenith. Furthermore, she was pushed away, falling onto one of the secondary islands and being dragged along the ground for another few dozen meters.
Exwind took more damage, but Ria soon fired her regenerative bullet. Realizing that she was still fighting, he shouted:
— Ria, you don't have to worry about me! If you keep using your power, you will end up dying!
— I can still breath!
While saying this, Ria had a determined smile on her face and spat out blood. Exwind had never seen that girl smile like that before, but he accepted the help. Soon after, he jumped to where Zenith was.
When he arrived, she was still lying down and shocked by the surprise attack. Trying to understand his power, she asked:
— How did you hit me?
— Find out on your own, clown.
— I'm a magician, not a clown!
Zenith stood up again, healed, but began to feel the effect of fatigue after using the power so many times. Laughing, she said:
— But if you see me as a clown, I can make you laugh.
Exwind remained motionless and with a look of someone who wanted to disintegrate what he was looking at. Zenith continued:
— Do you know what a human and a mouse have in common?
— …
— No matter how hard they try, they will never defeat a god.
Exwind, who was serious until just now, suddenly smiled. With a proud expression, he started laughing at the "joke". Zenith was surprised and took a step back, afraid of what he was about to do. Trying to analyze it, she asked:
— What are you laughing at, worm?
— Didn't you just tell a joke? It's only natural that I make you feel better for at least trying.
— I know what you're trying to do. My mental strenght is not as weak as you think.
— Oh yes? So why are you so defensive now? Did I happen to find any weak points?
— It does not matter. You are good at masking your feelings. Even better than me.
— You mean I'm hiding my anger behind this beautiful smile? You are absolutely right. But tell me one thing: why do you wear those sunglasses all the time? They're too futuristic for a magician.
While asking the question, Exwind pointed his finger at the glasses that looked like a metallic mask covering her eyes. And they really were futuristic, like a monitor that projected the silhouette of Zenith's eyes and eyebrows in light blue.
— Oh, this here? Do you think I have a weakness related to this? You're very mistaken if you think that, idiot.
Zenith didn't realize that the main purpose of the question was to find out if that unusual accessory had any function. She continued:
— A kid with spiky purple hair poked out my eyes a few years ago and I went blind. But I see everything perfectly with these glasses. And know that taking it from me won't give you any advantage. I have all kinds of powers, including sensory ones.
Zenith specified his archenemy's appearance to see their reaction. If they showed any signs of knowing a person with spiky purple hair, she could get information out of them.
He recognized the person immediately, but did not show any reaction so as not to arouse suspicion. Exwind responded:
— Wait, are you serious? Are you that stupid?
— What?! What are you talking about, bastard?!
— Have you ever thought about asking Kiseki-chan to heal you?
— Kiseki-chan? What the hell is that?
The two stopped for a moment, trying to understand the situation. Zenith thought for a moment and then remembered.
— Ah, that girl with green hair that the Pope asked me to bring here? How could she heal me?
— Are you freaking serious? Don't you know who she is?
— No.
— Oh my gosh... She may be a few ranks below you, but she's still a level 6.
— Ah, now I understand why I don't know this brat.
— But you know both of us.
— That's because you are the top 1 and 2. And you're strong. A little bit, but no more than me, of course. But anyway, are you saying she could bring my beautiful eyes back to life?
— Exactly. I don't know if I should have said that. I really didn't think you were that stupid.
— Shut up, insolent. You just gave me an advantage. Now hand me the girl.
— She won't be able to heal you while she's unconscious, genius.
— Oh really? Well, whatever. She will be part of my collection anyway. By the way, if you knew that, why do you have a scar on your nose?
— Oh, this? Well, Ria and I were hiding in our house while our village was on fire and being attacked, when-
— Skip to the important part, dammit!
Exwind paused the story and smiled proudly. He raised the index finger of one hand as a sign of silence and scratched his chin with the other. In a heroic voice, he said:
— I'll be there soon, madam. If I'm telling it from the beginning, it's because the story needs context. As I was saying, Ria and I lived in a not very small village and relatively close to Tokyo, when...
He started the story even further back on purpose, didn't he? Why does a goddess like me have to listen to all this nonsense? Well, I asked it, to be fair...
— ... our people began to panic, and we soon understood why: an army attacked our village, setting fire to it and killing everyone in sight. My parents were away and were the first to die. I ran to find Ria and saw her parents were outside the house holding the door...
It never ends... I can't take this anymore...
— ... so she wouldn't leave. When they saw me, they pulled me inside to protect me. They soon died too and I decided to leave to protect the other residents. As I didn't have any power and was just a child, I entered in front of a swordswoman with long black hair and silver armor to bar the way. And now comes the main part... can you guess it?
— To tell the truth, no. But keep going.
— If you say so. This swordswoman told me to get out of the way and with her left arm she cut off this part of my nose/forehead. I didn't realize she was left-handed at the time, but when I saw the scar, it was pretty clear. Do you know why?
— I have no fucking idea.
— This cut is diagonal from right to left. A greatsword like that wouldn't cut from the bottom to the top even if held with one hand, so it could only have been swung by a left hand.
— What prevents you from cutting in the same direction with your right hand?
— That... I hadn't thought about that, but it doesn't matter. I remember that entire trauma vividly, so I can say she was left-handed.
— And what in the fucking world is the importance of that story?
— Ah, I forgot the main part.
— I thought that was the main part!
— The Boss arrived with his heroes and defeated the invaders. It was too convenient for him to arrive at that time. He probably knew this was going to happen.
— Then why do you work for him?
— That's my question.
— For money, power and fame. Simple.
— I still plan to discover everything the association hides, but for that I need more power. If not even the top 1 in the association could do it, I don't have a chance. Until then, I decided to keep this scar. It shows that I have become stronger.
— So you asked Kiseki to keep a defect on your face just for pride? You're not much different from me. By the way, do you know who killed this top 1 person you are talking about?
Exwind thought for a moment, and when he saw Zenith's evil and proud smile, he soon understood what she meant. Realizing that his friend's sister's killer was mocking her death, he became more and more serious. Zenith couldn't contain her laughter and finished:
— Me! That's right! What is it, are you scared now? Now you know you don't stand a chance against me, if I've already beaten the strongest.
— Are you sure? So why aren't you in the first rank?
— It's just a matter of time. Everyone will understand my superiority after I become an even stronger goddess. That is if that Pope is telling the truth.
As she spoke, Zenith discreetly lifted chains from the ground where Exwind was. Grabbing his arms, the chains pulled him down. However, they exploded before exerting enough force.
Zenith understood that his power was related to explosions of all scales. In reaction, Exwind punched the air hard and hit Zenith's face, which was more than ten meters away. Furthermore, her head twisted on its own axis.
The pain was excruciating and reflected much more forcefully towards Exwind , but he managed to reverse the contortion of his own head with his power. Zenith became angry and generated an acidic cloud above Exwind and froze his feet to immobilize him.
Ria arrived at the island and shot herself with her revolver and disappeared. Exwind was already expecting this, but Zenith was distracted for a moment, just enough time for a small explosion beneath Exwind's feet to launch his body upwards.
Just as he was about to touch the acid cloud, another larger explosion pushed him back. He pointed his finger at Zenith and destroyed basically the entire island with his power, creating screens of fire and smoke to hide his presence.
Zenith stopped in the air again and coughed from the smoke. She used a sensory power to detect the two's position. However, it was just a useless infrared sensor in that situation. Zenith thought that Ria had used an invisibility round and was still around to catch her off guard.
In anger, she launched a jet of water in all directions, trying to hit anyone nearby. As a precaution, she created a storm of blades around her to retaliate against any danger. As there was still some smoke and fire scattered around, she decided to launch a blast of wind in all directions to dispel the curtain.
Ria held Kiseki's unconscious body and shot herself in the head in a diagonal direction from there. She had yet another type of special ammunition, which was capable of pushing any living being or small or medium-sized object in the direction it was hit, without causing damage. The speed was so high that Ria just disappeared in Zenith's vision.
Exwind took advantage of the distraction and flew for a moment until he found Ria. She was in the bell tower of a church on an island far away. He flew there in less than a second to save time and landed. He asked:
— Ria, do you know if this castle is vital to the other islands? If it is destroyed, will the others stop floating?
— I have no idea. Why?
— I need to move all the islands away from the center so as not to catch them in any explosion. But if they fall, many people will die.
— In that case, don't worry. The central island has no one but the Pope.
— How do you know?
— Did you see anyone else there?
— No. But that castle is huge and there could be someone hiding there.
— What a pain. I'm going to go see it in person. Give me a few seconds and I'll speed up as much as possible.
— Thank you, Ria. Don't try too hard.
— It's too late to say that.
Ria slowly stood up while carrying Kiseki on her back and shot herself a light regeneration bullet, just so she wouldn't die from trying too hard, and another to increase her speed to maximum. She jumped from there and landed on the central island. Without wasting time, she began to search every corner of the castle and the island.
Zenith looked everywhere and found only Exwind in the bell tower. Using a simple teleportation, she appeared behind the hero and materialized an energy knife in her hand to stab his back.
Exwind already expected the low blow and grabbed Zenith's feet with his invisible "hand" of wind, lifting her to the side. Losing her balance, she missed the strike and the weak point of the barrier aligned with the hero's punch.
However, Exwind grabbed Zenith's foot and threw her upward with enough force for her to reach an altitude with little oxygen and at which the curvature of the earth was visible. Zenith expected him to strike her, so she waited for the damage to be reflected with more force.
Exwind soon flew towards her. She thought he had chosen that place because of the lack of oxygen, but Exwind thought beyond that: since there was no ground in the sky, he could hit the weak point of the barrier much more easily. Furthermore, he could breathe his own flammable air to gain a few more seconds of battle, no matter how dangerous it was.
Zenith didn't train much, as she was convinced she was the strongest. Exwind, on the other hand, knew his potential. Before Zenith realized his presence, a flaming blow hit her body from below, burning everything in its path.
Still, her resistance was much higher than normal, and Exwind knew why: she didn't just have one card. Using his superior speed, he now realized that Zenith's pants had four pockets, two in the front and two in the back. This was almost impossible to notice normally, as her cape covered a large part of her body, in addition to the extravagant design of her clothing that camouflaged her pockets.
Taking advantage of the element of surprise, he quickly grabbed the two front cards with his wind, pulling them one into each hand. Desperate, Zenith soon shot a huge laser at Exwind's left hand, prioritizing the card she considered most important.
The laser disintegrated the arm holding the card and traveled a few hundred kilometers more, until it was visible from space. The card, however, remained intact. With the advantage of time, Zenith quickly grabbed the card that was in the air, smiling in relief.
But Exwind expected her to react quickly and switched the position of the cards in relation to her pockets when she picked them up. The card that Zenith prioritized was the wrong one. Exwind grabbed her by the foot and threw her down toward the castle.
The force was so great that the impact destroyed more than half of the castle and slightly pushed the island downwards. If the island didn't have a force keeping it still, it would crash into the surface.
Meanwhile, Ria had already searched the entire castle and was surprised by the noise. The Pope was still alive, somehow. Confirming that there was no one besides him on the central island, she was about to start the second part of the plan: pushing all the islands away from there, when Exwind landed close to it. She soon said:
— There is no one here but the Pope. I'll need your help to get the islands out of here.
— I have a better idea. Let's push the center island up. It will distance itself from the others anyway.
— Right.
Ria aimed a strengthening round at Exwind and fired.
— Thanks again, Ria.
Exwind flew down to the surface. Leaping upward with all his might, he punched hard enough to push the island a few hundred kilometers above where he was standing, far enough for any debris to burn before reaching the islands or the surface.
Ria relaxed and placed Kiseki on the floor for both of them to rest, as she was exhausted. However, Zenith appeared from the rubble beneath her and entered Ria's barrier. As she entered from below, the barrier did not block her passage. Triumphant, she grabbed her back.
When Exwind returned, he immediately ran to Ria to help her. Zenith grabbed her hostage's neck, as a threat:
— If you take one more step, she dies.
On instinct, Exwind raised his hand and a high-speed ice blade shot towards Zenith's head, ricocheting upwards from Ria's barrier, due to the difference in height between the two.
Confused, Exwind stared at his hand for a moment. Zenith soon understood that the cards had been exchanged. He had managed to keep the ability to copy powers and she had the other. Desperate, she shouted:
— If you don't kill yourself now, she will die in your place! It's your choice!
Zenith pierced Ria's heart with her fist.
— Don't you see?! If you give me the card now, I won't hurt her more than this!
Exwind hadn't fully understood that until she mentioned the card he had stolen. Realizing that only Ria's original barrier was protecting her now, he took the time to slowly infiltrate it with his power so as not to be bounced off.
Once inside, he pushed Zenith out of the barrier. Ria lost her balance and fell unconscious to the ground, on the verge of death. Zenith fell sitting on the floor and was indignant:
— Do you want her to die so bad?! She won't last at all without her heart! You have no choice but to run away with her!
Exwind approached Ria and noticed that she was holding one last healing munition that she had created right before she passed out. He quickly grabbed her revolver and inserted the bullet.
He shot Ria in the head and the hole in her chest slowly regenerated. She was still in no condition to wake up. It was just enough to not die at that moment.
Does she have any teleportation power stored in the card?
Exwind pointed his palm at Ria's body. Suddenly, she disappeared and a bed appeared in her place.
That's the bed from her room! Does that mean they switched places?
He did the same with Kiseki. Another bed appeared.
That's right! She must be in my room now.
— Hey, hey. Stop using my power.
— It's not even yours. You stole it from someone.
— It does not matter. It's mine now. Give it back, or I'll have to use brute force.
— Let it be the second option.
Zenith partially closed her eyes, clearly irritated. Exwind positioned himself defensively. Still missing one of his arms, he was at a disadvantage. But he could still win, stealing his opponent's trump card.
Before he knew it, his stomach was punched with such force that it made him lose consciousness for a few seconds. He was already in the sky, far from any island.
How did she hit me? Most importantly, I can't stay away from that island!
Exwind flew close to the edge of the central island. Zenith was staring at him.
— What's the matter? Will you stay there in the air?
She could have killed me while I was passed out. She probably can't fly now, so she stood on the edge watching me.
Exwind pointed his palm at Zenith, imagining the huge laser she had summoned.
She is much stronger than I expected. I'm going to have to try that attack, since it disintegrated my arm.
At the same time he conjured the laser, Zenith was already centimeters from his face. She dodged the laser, which crossed the entire island and left a cylindrical trail.
Shit! I didn't think she could reach me from so far away!
Zenith punched Exwind in the face, who defended himself at the last second with an explosion that pushed both of them away. His face was bleeding, even so.
— How about I leave this island and kill everyone down there? Come down here already, you motherfucker.
She was toying with me from the beginning. If I keep provoking her, she'll end up losing her temper and killing me.
Exwind landed on the island. Simultaneously, Zenith charged behind him. Anticipating this, he placed his hand behind his back and shot another laser.
Got it right! This time she dies-
A knee hit his groin, causing the most pain he had ever felt in his life.
— Did you think that shitty little laser was going to kill me?
Laying down to bear the pain, Exwind didn't stop staring at her.
— Are you underestimating me?
Zenith turned his opponent's body so she could punch him in the face. Each blow was enough to erase the head of any normal human. He was at his limit, but he couldn't give up.
I forgot about Ria's barrier! She probably approached me to slowly cross it!
It was Zenith's strategy: move as quickly as possible to within a few centimeters of the barrier. After crossing slowly with any part of the body, she would not remove it from inside so that the speed limit would not activate.
Almost losing consciousness, Exwind used the last trick up his sleeve. Zenith felt a very strong sting in her heart, paralyzing her.
What? How did he hit me?
— I pierced your heart with my power. If you move, I'll explode your entire insides.
He can't be serious. My resistance is more than four times greater than his.
However, Exwind was prepared to risk everything. With a determined smile, even the level 7 cowered in fear.
— Wait, you don't have to do that. You're a real hero, aren't you? Heroes don't kill anyone.
— Are you sure? If the villain threatens everything the hero loves, he won't risk losing. If he spares those who cannot be saved, he is not a real hero.
— You can not be serious! Think carefully: Ria will hate that her boyfriend is a murderer!
— You got two things wrong. I'm not her boyfriend. And she has killed a lot of people. Me, less so, but I'm a killer too. I began to judge the value of my enemies' lives. It's not just you who has no salvation.
— Hey, wait! My reaction time is better than yours! If you do anything, I will kill you first.
— Then why don't you try?
— You brat!
Reading Zenith's movements, Exwind decided it was time to end it all. He couldn't risk all the effort everyone has put in. If Zenith made it out alive, she would go after Yuto.
Sorry to steal your kill, friend. But I'm going to die anyway. Ria, Kiseki, I hope you are proud of me.
Exwind knew that a simple explosion wouldn't even damage Zenith's heart. For some reason, she was much stronger and more resilient than him, even though she didn't seem like it. But if he released all of his power, perhaps it would be enough. It was that or die without purpose, after all.
Click.
As a symbolic gesture, he used his thumb to detonate the bomb inside himself.
3, 2, 1…
Since it was hundreds of kilometers above sea level, the island's debris wouldn't kill anyone.
Boom!
The biggest dream of a pyromaniac like him: a nuclear explosion.
Before Zenith could hit him, the mushroom began to form. Raining flames everywhere, the explosion could be seen from space. The sound traveled dozens of kilometers, with a delay due to speed. The shock wave was minimized by the distance, but it even affected the surface.
Both their bodies were disintegrated. If Ria or Kiseki were there, Exwind wouldn't be able to use his trump card. It was the best choice. He managed to die like a hero.