'The attack it used earlier should have a cooldown.'
'If I charge straight in at full speed and take its other arm... I can win.'
Ais thought as she picked up the pace, emerald wind enveloping her like an aura while she ignored the explosions erupting around her.
Udeaus raised its head as a green comet came rushing toward it, sensing the imminent danger.
In response, it summoned a wave of spikes in her direction.
But Ais didn't slow down.
She pushed Ariel's output even higher, the wind screaming as her speed surged.
'Faster!'
The instant she collided with the spike wall, she tore through it like a living battering ram.
Black shards exploded outward, fragments scattering across the battlefield.
Udeaus roared again, slamming its power into the ground and conjuring an even denser wave of spikes.
'Stronger!'
Every muscle in Ais' body screamed in protest as Ariel answered her will, the emerald gale howling violently around her.
Her wind-cloaked blade met the spikes head-on... but this time, resistance met her charge.
Her advance stalled.
Only for a heartbeat.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the black mass before it shattered, and Ais burst through once more, closing the distance in an instant.
Udeaus' hollow eyes flared ominously.
Its grip tightened.
The massive black sword came down in a brutal arc.
"Tempest!"
Emerald winds erupted as Ais swung in response, meeting the strike head-on.
The collision detonated with a deafening shockwave.
The ground buckled and splintered beneath them, cracks racing outward as the surrounding terrain caved under the pressure.
'My arms...'
Ais felt numbness flood her limbs as pain flared, the sensation unmistakable.
'I'm being pushed back.'
Her boots carved deep trails into the ground as she was forced backward, panic flooding her chest.
'I'm... going to lose.'
The realization hit her like icy water, brutally grounding her in reality.
'No... I don't want to lose.'
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, her vision blurring at the edges.
'Stronger... I want to be stronger...'
The words echoed desperately as her body trembled.
...
"You are weak, Aria."
A cold voice echoed inside her mind.
"!?"
Ais turned sharply—and there, standing beside her, was Revis, the red-haired tamer of Evilus.
"Revis! What are you doing here?!"
Ais snapped through clenched teeth.
At the same time, a small black flame flickered into existence deep within her.
"Huh? Where is Udeaus?"
Her golden eyes widened as she realized the giant skeletal monster she had been fighting was gone... vanished without a trace.
Revis merely snorted at her confusion and stomped her foot against the ground.
The world shattered.
Before Ais could even gasp, the scenery twisted violently, reality folding in on itself.
When her senses returned, she found herself lying on the ground, her body submerged in a shallow pool of blood.
"What's going on...?"
Her eyes trembled as she slowly lifted her gaze.
Corpses... dismembered bodies... were scattered everywhere.
She could feel the black flame inside her swelling, growing hotter, stronger.
"Tiona..."
A severed head rolled to a stop before her.
With shaking hands, she picked it up... and the moment she met its gaze, her breath caught.
The light in its eyes was gone.
"No... no, no, no..."
Her vision blurred as more bodies came into focus.
Tione.
Riveria.
Lefiya.
Finn.
Gareth.
Everyone.
Everyone she swore to protect.
Her fingers trembled as the head slipped from her grasp, splashing back into the blood below.
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed forward, blood splattering across her face and armor.
Her breath came out in shallow, broken gasps.
The corpses around her began to dissolve, reforming into shadows... towering, twisted shapes that all bore a single familiar outline.
Herself.
Each shadow stared down at her with hollow golden eyes, crawling towards her as if they were trying to drag her into the abyss.
'I wasn't fast enough.'
'I wasn't strong enough.'
'I couldn't protect anyone.'
Her nails dug into the stone beneath her palms.
'I trained.'
'I fought.'
'I tried so hard...'
"These voices..."
Her voice cracked.
"Are they me?"
Revis' shadow loomed over her as she crouched beside her, her presence suffocating.
"Once again, you lost everything."
Revis whispered, her voice dripping with venom.
She leaned closer.
"And once again... you were powerless to stop it."
The black flame surged violently.
"It is because you are weak that this happened."
Ais' teeth clenched as her shoulders shook.
'I hate it...'
She hated feeling helpless.
She hated the fear.
She hated herself.
'If only I were stronger...'
'If only I could erase this weakness.'
The black flame inside her grew.
And grew.
And grew.
It writhed violently, licking at her soul, threatening to swallow her whole as despair and fury intertwined into something far more dangerous.
Ais' hands trembled.
Her fingers curled slowly into fists.
"You seek power."
Revis murmured, her voice almost gentle.
"That desire... it's beautiful."
She extended a hand toward Ais, her palm hovering just above the raging black fire.
"This flame was born from loss."
"From hatred."
"From the wish to destroy everything that took something precious from you."
Ais' breathing grew ragged.
Her vision blurred as another memory forced itself to the surface...
Aria, her mother's back, disappearing into the black storm.
Her outstretched hand grasping nothing but air.
That helpless scream trapped in her throat.
"I couldn't save her..."
Her voice came out broken.
"I couldn't save anyone."
The black flame flared violently, wrapping around her heart like chains.
"Yes. That is your truth."
Revis whispered.
"If you accept it, this flame will answer you."
Revis continued,
"Cast aside fear."
"Cast aside restraint."
"Become a blade that exists only to kill."
Ais' hands trembled.
Her fingers curled slowly into fists.
'If I accept it...'
'If I become stronger...'
The black flame surged forward.
Just as she was about to succumb to her own darkness...
As if a saving grace had appeared, a certain memory replayed in her mind.
"Ais, I want you to keep this in mind."
A familiar voice rang inside her head.
A hand closed around her wrist.
The black flame recoiled violently and grew weaker.
"Judas...?"
He stood beside her, his expression unreadable, violet eyes steady as they met her trembling gaze.
"The person that you need to surpass is the past version of yourself."
He crouched in front of Ais, lowering himself to her level.
Her eyes widened.
'The conversation from that day...'
His grip tightened just enough to remind her she wasn't alone.
The black flame writhed violently, resisting him.
Just by seeing his face, it brought Ais a sense of hope that she couldn't quite explain.
'Ah... what have I been doing?'
Ais' lips trembled.
The flame stuttered, growing weaker and weaker by the second.
"I won't let something like despair and helplessness take over me."
Her grip tightened around Judas' hand, as if anchoring herself to reality.
"I'll get stronger."
She said, her voice trembling... but resolute.
"Not by hating everything... but by protecting what I still have."
The black flame let out a shrill scream before being snuffed out entirely.
Cracks raced across the illusion, spiderwebbing through the warped scenery.
The imaginary Revis standing at her side clicked her tongue, irritation twisting her expression.
"Tch... how tedious."
Still gripping Judas' hand, Ais swung her sword at the false Revis and the encroaching shadows, cleaving them cleanly in half at the waist.
In the next instant, the illusory world shattered like fragile glass, collapsing inward as Ais was violently pulled back into reality.
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