The sword reached its destination, and like a hot knife through butter, it sliced through cleanly. At first nothing happened, but then the sword started to disintegrate, and the harp strings snapped. The moment it did, Elizabeth seemed to wake up from her trance. Suddenly she felt like a weight on her mind had been lifted, and for the first time since she entered the city, her thoughts and mind were her own. She could feel her mouth regain control as well, but she still hesitated to link her mind back up, even though she could feel it try to reach out for her.
[Your memory has been destroyed.]
She snapped out of her thoughts as she turned to look at Rethen, who had not moved as it kept looking at the disappearing sword as well as the harp. Slowly it turned toward her, its face filled with madness and anger.
"Die."
Elizabeth's heart skipped a few beats as a devastating pressure suddenly descended upon her. She tried to breathe, but she could not, no matter how hard she tried. It felt like the air was suddenly too heavy to breathe in, but she knew that was not the case. Reconnecting her other mind, she could feel that the air had not suddenly grown heavy, it was still normal. She felt like Rethen was attacking something else rather than her body.
"Die!"
The pressure suddenly grew by many folds, making her drop to her knees.
'W-What is going on?'
This was not part of the plan. She had believed that as long as she cut off the part that was controlling her, she would be freed. She also knew that it had been severely weakened and knew that the next fight was not going to be easy, but she was suddenly overwhelmed.
'W-Where was this strength hiding when I attacked it?'
She did her best to lift her head only to see that Rethen was not in its best condition either. The human look it had earlier had long since disappeared, and it started to look more like a statue than a living being. Its size was also reducing at a visible rate. It seemed it was using its very being to try and destroy her soul, even if it meant weakening itself even further.
"DIE!"
The pressure suddenly grew unbearable. She felt her very being trembling, yet despite it all she suddenly smiled and then burst out laughing.
"Rethen, you cannot erase my soul! Why?... let's just say your mother loves me more than you."
That seemed to be the final straw for it, as it finally let out a beast-like howl, and for a moment her soul was almost extinguished. Her attribute [Spirited] seemed to be working overtime, and she was glad it was or she would have been nothing but an empty husk. She gritted her teeth and tried her best to reopen the wound on her palms by clenching her fist, and soon she did it. Blood dripped down and landed on the golden surface. The moment it did, the ship shined brighter, and the assault on her soul stopped.
She drew in a sharp breath before she descended into a coughing mess. She quickly reached into her pouch and brought a marble to her mouth. She felt it turn into a liquid that travelled throughout her body, refreshing her somewhat. She sighed as she got up and looked in Rethen's direction. Its size had been reduced to that of a child. The golden chain seemed to have adapted to its form, as it still chained it perfectly. The sight would have been pitiful if not for the look of pure malice on its face.
"Die!"
It yelled, but all that came out of its mouth was a childlike voice. Elizabeth looked at the source of her terror before smiling with glee. Slowly she walked toward the centre of the deck as she summoned another of Rethen's fingers. She did not stop walking until she was four feet away from it.
"Die! Child of the sea!"
Again nothing happened. Elizabeth slowly raised her sword and got into a fighting stance. Seeing this, Rethen was enraged.
"Do you know who I am???? I am Rethen the Disaster Born, herald of disaster, son of the goddess of black skies, and nether the daemon of destiny.... I am the best of his creation, I will not be killed by the likes of you!"
Its childlike form seemed to become a bit buffer before it rushed toward her at blinding speed, punching at her gut. Despite the speed being inhuman, Elizabeth dodged it and swung her sword at its arm intending to cut it. Sensing the danger, Rethen retreated one of its arms, dodging the sword by a hair's breadth before launching a barrage of fists toward her.
From the very start of the fight, Elizabeth's mind had been extra focused, and with the strangeness of having two minds, she could process things at a faster rate than she could ever do before. Her awareness had doubled as well as her reflexes. She dodged each of the punches with minimal movement. When Rethen tried to catch her off guard, she retaliated instantly, as if she had seen it move long before it even did.
'What is happening…'
This feeling was new to her. She had already fought her brother mentally before to get ready in her now estranged body, but now it was different, maybe because unlike sparring with her brother, this was a life-or-death battle. A single mistake was all it took for her to die.
Yet now, the world felt strange. She knew it was moving at its usual pace, but at the same time, it looked slow. That was not all. She could somehow predict what her opponent was going to do before they even did it, and it did not take her long to notice why.
Her other mind was solely focused on her senses, so much so to the point it did not miss any minor movement Rethen made. When its statue-like muscle tensed, her mind could see it, could hear it, and then make predictions based on that factor. Even with Rethen's inhuman speed, the reflexes of both her minds combined allowed her to react long before the punch was even thrown.
'This feeling… I… like it.'
Suddenly, Rethen's speed increased a bit as it launched another barrage of fists aiming at her weak points. Her mind went into an even more intense overload as she dodged each punch, but one managed to graze her cheek, opening up a wound that dripped to the ground.
"Urgh."
Rethen groaned in pain as the chain glowed gold and it was momentarily stalled. She did not hesitate to swing her sword at its neck before it dodged and jumped back. Elizabeth let it retreat as she regained her footing.
'Even with that weird feeling… without an arm my sense of balance is kind of off.'
She would have been able to dodge that fist if not for the slight unfamiliarity with her new body. She let out a sigh, although in the end it did end up working in her favour. She then looked at Rethen.
'Despite having claimed to have been a musician of the gods, it is well adapted to fighting.'
No battle was ever truly easy. Rethen seemed to be afraid to be hurt by this sword though. The hit it could have easily deflected, it dodged. It must have put one hell of a crazy enhancement for it to react like that. Her battle stance tightened up even more as she got ready to attack when she noticed something. Rethen had left her an opening.
'Least obvious trap ever.'
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and smiled, a plan slowly forming in her mind, before she rushed at it. Although unlike Rethen her speed was not quite inhuman, she pretended to attack one of the openings and Rethen instantly attacked her open rib, the one without an arm. She smiled and took a step back, dodging the fist that barely missed her before she swung her sword at its neck, which it dodged again, but this time it was different.
A dagger suddenly shot off in its direction, and from its reaction toward it, it did not consider it a threat, most likely because no weapon could probably damage it other than the one made of its parts, so it chose to ignore it. Elizabeth also knew that might have been the case, but she did not hesitate to try it anyway. She knew that knife was special somehow, and if it didn't leave a scratch on it anyway then so be it.
Just as it was inches away from its neck, a small cut started to appear at its neck, and with inhuman reflexes, one of its arms grabbed it.
"What? That's impossible…"
Rethen's childlike voice resounded out, but it was that small reaction that gave Elizabeth the opportunity she had been waiting for.
'There it is…'
The next moment, Elizabeth's muscles tightened to their absolute peak, and she rushed in its direction as fast as she could. It was already at arm's length, so it did not take her long to cross it. Rethen, realizing its mistake, tried to jump out, but its foot was suddenly stepped on. At a devastating speed, its throat was pierced, golden blood exploding behind it. The ship's radiance instantly reached its peak, almost blinding her, but she did not blink.
She did not want to miss the sight of Rethen slowly dying in her arms.
The sword suddenly shined.
"N-no!"
[Your memory has been destroyed.]
She watched as the tip of the sword slowly started to dissipate.
"I cannot be destroyed by the likes of yo—"
Its voice cut off as if it was interrupted. It was starting to fade, its beautiful face turning more into a statue. It desperately tried to kill her as it rushed at her, raining a barrage of fists down, but she dodged them with ease. There was no longer any technique to it, and its movements became slower and slower. Suddenly it halted and looked at her with pure hatred before it rushed toward the remains of the harp. Of course, Elizabeth did not let it do as it pleased. With her sword gone, she kicked at its leg, and it broke off from the rest of the body. It squirmed for a bit on the ground, its movements becoming more rigid, and Elizabeth enjoyed every bit of it. And broken, before long it stopped moving.
[You have slain a sacred being, Disaster Born]
The moment she heard the spell whisper, she relaxed, falling to the ground.
[You have received a memory.]
Before she could rejoice, everything went black.
[Wake up, Elizabeth! Your nightmare is over]
[Prepare for appraisal...]