The figure remained silent, trying to slice her down with rapid blows.
Thoughts clung onto her like a spider, leeching off energy in all directions, causing her to bleed out.
With no time to waste, the humanoid split open several crevices in the ground.
Glowing purple goo spewed out from those divots like geysers; its sticky substance clung to the ground.
Then, as the wave of geyser fluid spilled out like a tossed glass, it slammed and suffocated yet another individual.
"Two." It counted as they noticed even more people coming forth. Its movements and attacks stained the air in crimson.
Aletha started waving and teetering her sword left and right.
She was blinded by a purple luminescence that shook the ground beneath her—pebbles spitting in all directions, with the hand of the creature mutating into a giant claymore.
As Aletha came close with Ubel and the others to slaughter the creature, a random individual with dark hair was pulled by what seemed to be arms extending out from its morphing hand.
"Three." It counted.
Then, just as they thought the fight couldn't get more chaotic, five more creepy, slender arms extended from the back of their being, carrying swords and shields etched into their very flesh.
Aletha dropped her blade in hopelessness, falling to her knees as she witnessed everyone struggling with this one creature.
Pridia tried all she could, but was instantly turned into a toy for the creature.
Emine, with her ghoul power, almost died a second time thanks to the cartwheel of daggers spawned from the creature.
Phthonus, for whatever reason, plummeted in the wrong direction, causing an explosion that not once touched the creature.
And now, Aletha, powerless as she was, kneeled before the creature and seized her life in the process.
Everyone started to feel the urge to feel hopeless.
It seems no matter what they could do, nothing could stop this freakishly abysmal creature.
They have tried striking the back, the front, and even the sides, yet not one attack phased the creature.
It was at that moment that they felt despair. Aletha wanted no battles; all she expected was peace.
But this unknown figure took no heed and slew everyone as it counted its victims.
"Four," said it as it juggled Ubel in the air with repeated blows.
"Five," proclaimed the creature as it threw Emine several meters underground.
"Six," declared the opponent as she almost got killed in one full swing.
This was it.
If any more would be taken, if any more anguish can be forced upon her for who knows what reason…
Just before the creature can get its hands on Aletha… just before any more injuries can be dealt with…
(PEW)
… A green laser shredded one of the arms of the humanoid.
Quickly, it shrieked at the power of the sudden attack, forming another arm in the process.
"It's the Ultimate Weapon of Wraileza." A girl said, focusing her gaze on the humanoid figure. "They have deemed you as…" Green and purple hair with cyan emerald eyes were all that could be seen.
"It's no other than…"
"The Queen of Linuxinia?" All the others shouted in unison.
Before she could get a grasp on it, the floating humanoid screeched and watched itself fall into the mighty hands of the Queen of Linuxinia.
It floated and dodged all the lasers coming from Kali's hand.
Her left cat ear took notice of the advance, quickly dancing to the creature's sword movements.
Just as much could be said, the creature floated at the center of the rubble, then forced its arms through its heart, cleaving and tearing out a chunk of its flesh.
They then gathered all the energy of both the green luminance and purple flashes to craft a giant lavender bomb of deadly essence.
This ball of fury was its last-ditch effort to…
"NO!"
Aletha's heart leaped up in horror as she and the others came face to face with an ultimate being.
"COWARD!" Alai screamed as she ran to the being with rage and tears. "You can't take my friends."
Then, at this moment, Aletha realized.
The relentless training she had undergone; The relentless, brutal training.
All of it shaped her to be this ultimate youth—a youth who knew how to evade attacks and dance with the opponent.
Alai, in every way, had helped shape her into a healthy young individual.
(I can do this.)
Suddenly, fragmented memories surge back to her. The rock climbing, the running, the weight lifting, all of it that formed her healthy being, led up to this one moment. Aletha tied up her hair and moved forward, hearing the Queen of Linuxinina utter from behind her back.
"The Attacker." Kali Leila said as she tore green pulsing roots from the ground. "With power composed from both the Ending AND The Promise, they deem this being, The Attacker. The Ultimate Weapon of Wraileza."
As if something awakened in her, Aletha clutched onto one of the scattered swords.
Memories of training came and went as she leaped back and forth, skidding her feet on the ground and throwing a choking slash at The Attacker.
After a rapid swing, she bravely tossed a wooden sword to another being and grabbed on its steel hilt in rapid succession.
As the five split beings of The Attacker all conjured up a huge magenta light in the center of the house, Aletha struck the center one and tossed The Attacker a few meters back.
They then exchanged blows repeatedly in a nearly endless debate. Back and forward, front and center.
The strikes of her attacks stain the sky in green luminance, pushing out the clouds as all who were wounded witnessed.
One of the blows took off two of the arms of The Attacker, while another tore off its shield.
"The power of the Sealed Beatific is in her." Muttered Kali as she heard the movements from her right. "Now it's just a matter of time…"
This was it, the pinnacle of this fight—a turning point of epic proportions.
Just when things were about to take shape, just as everyone came together, The Attacker…
"NO!"
The Attacker…painfully ripped out one of the primary roots of Linuxinia and gulped it down in one bite. Quickly, all watched as every wound on its steel body healed itself. Aletha lowered her weapon, watching as the green luminance showered The Attacker.
An infinite amount of turmoil and determination, drained dry in an instant.
Furthermore, The Attacker, now floated in the air, unleashing a deadly violet beam straight at the house. Aletha, Ubel, Pridia, Alai, and Phthonus all gazed at the giant purple ball of chaos slowly approaching the abode.
But before the ball could touch the house, Aletha, with just a smidge of hope, parkoured her way up to the humanoid and struck one of its arms. But, to her surprise, it kept regrowing back. Even worse, it grew even more arms.
Now, it had eight arms.
Filling the ripples of destruction that hit the hills, the bomb flew back and unleashed streams of green energy toward Linuxinia Peak.
The books that had resonated within Alai's house floated upward as rocks and debris levitated around the collapsing structure.
Time stood at a standstill.
Alai's eyes widened in terror as the purple luminance captured all the books.
Nothing could shatter the approaching wave.
Except one being.
The other four clones shattered and dissipated as quickly as they had come, unveiling The Attacker, strapped in green luminance. First, it cut and drank all the healing essence of Linuxinia.
Then, revitalized, tore the green strands.
Kali Leila, with all the remaining power she had, used the last of it to lock the creature down.
It flickered and flashed with every movement.
Every swing illuminated the night.
From climbing up one of its arms to recalling her rock climbing experience, all of it highlighted Aletha and Kali's efforts.
As Aletha forced her blade through The Attacker's heart, with her whole chest hammering inside and out… as the swooping heat of adrenaline coursed through her veins, suddenly…
"BOOM!"
"The Ultimate Weapon of Wraileza", The Attacker, had unleashed a devastating delivery of epic proportions.
A gigantic purple rupture tore the sky into oblivion before one beam of light forced buildings to crumble and collapse.
The entire abode of Alai, from the gardens to the living room, to the training room, kitchen, and bedrooms, had all been caved into the wedges of the earth, never to be seen again.
This, combined with the many injuries this one individual could commit, caused Alai to scream in despair.
"NO! That was… that was a gift."
And then, hearing Alai wail in agony, Aletha asked The Attacker again.
"Who… who are you? What do you want from us? Don't you have enough? You hurt my friends. You hurt everyone. And for what…? WHY?"
Just like moments before, all fell into silence.
The distant humming of The Attacker caused streams of purple to expand from the destroyed house to the spiraling peak of Linuxinia, from the gardens to the peak.
A barely noticeable magenta inscription flew upward with the special book.
Alai's ruby eyes broadened at it.
"The Prophecy Book!"
Although most of them have been severely hurt, not one of them was killed. Not even Pridia. It was as if The Attacker was slaying everyone but Aletha.
Even after every shock and pull it made... Aletha was the only one left untouched.
As the cloud of destruction ceased to seize the day, the special floating book, along with the streams of purple, flew heavenward to Linuxinia Peak, leaving only traces of demolition and magical essence behind.
. . .
Afterward,
"The book... The Prophecy Book, it's... gone!" Said Alai, injured. Bruises were on her, from her hip to her thigh. She was grieving something. "No. That's… that's my father's book. I need it."
After a silence came forth from the injured spectacle, Alai, with zero hesitation and thought, rushed to the remaining debris in her house and proclaimed.
"We…. we need to climb Linuxinia mountain. We have to get that book."
"Hold on, hold on. Hold your horses." Pridia exclaimed as she wiped blood off her face. "Do you see what is happening around you? Everyone's injured, including me."
Kali Leila perked her ear and nodded in agreement. Although broken, she wasn't entirely down.
"Yeah, just please... let us recover. We have conquered The Attacker, but not by much. The last thing we need is to pursue it. Just look at all the damage it caused."
Kali was right. The Attacker had done more harm than good. They needed to take time to recover.
But now, with Alai's house fallen and earthed into the depths of the earth, they have nowhere to go, or so it seems.
"Does anyone have any idea where we can go?" Phthonus asked as he placed his scarf over his mouth.
Just as things were about to get hopeless and homeless, Kalil bombarded the group with a suggestion in the circle of people, and added.
"Hmm, I know of a place. It's not too far from here. We can go on foot,"
The Queen of Linuxinia said, pointing eastward.
"I say that we can go to Toivo's household. I have heard that many lost and homeless people of Linuxinia come there to find purpose, and there are plenty of rooms."
"Toivo's household?" Aletha muttered as she fell to her knees. "Who… who is that?"
"A friend of mine," Kali said with a wink as Alai and the others looked at Aletha. "Trust me, we'll get that book back. Not just that, but some little revenge. Okay Alai? Does that help you? Alai?"
As the threat vanished, leaving nothing but traces of flesh from The Attacker and Kali Leila, Ubel, and a few others behind, Aletha started to feel dizzy.
"Kali! Heal that hole in her chest!" Alai demanded as the green-haired cat girl hovered a green luminance in her palm. "Or bring her to Toivo's Mansion. I'm sure we can get maid healers to heal her wound."
Phthonus intervened as he pulled his scarf over his mouth.
"So it appears Aletha got hurt after all." He said. "Just silently. Nevermind. Yes, take her to Toivo's mansion. As Kali Leila said, they are very hospitable. I figure that Asahi could be there too."
"How do you know?" Alai and Pridia said in unison.
Phthonus shook his head and turned to the sun, replying as a careful wind passed by. "Because I have been there too."
While seconds pass by, Aletha, with no energy, suddenly collapses onto the ground, surrounded by the circle of people and her thoughts.
Slowly falling unconscious, she heard her own thoughts fly by in a whirlwind.
"It's over…'
"But at what cost?"
"Why did we deserve this?"
"And who or what is… The Attacker?"
These were the remaining three questions that occurred to her before her vision went entirely black.