An ear-numbing noise rang out. On the battlefield, it was not the only sound being made. A cacophony of others, such as the dirt being kicked up underneath one of the humans' feet, and another would be the sound of metal hitting flesh.
One stood out from the rest. The sound of flesh against flesh.
Unless another Purge Beast were fighting each other, who would dare to perform hand-to-hand combat with such monstrosities?! No one sane, of course.
It was Ira, Champion of Hope and Heir of Nothingness. Perhaps Heir of Nothing would be more accurate.
Her fist collided against the rough flesh of the beast, her knuckles had already begun to bleed and bruise. Small bits of red blood remained on her opponent's hide as if to remind the beast that the being it was fighting was human, and not one of its black-blooded siblings.
Of course, the human did not fight as if she were one. Being raised in a world on the brink of destruction can have that effect on someone, after all. Perhaps she was a monster in her own way.
Another blow slammed into the abominable being's maw, black blood spattering the ground.
If only peace had been an option with the Purge Beasts. There was no reason to think up hypothetical situations that would not aid the world, but it was a nice yet saddening thing to think about. Many people had lost loved ones to the Purge Beasts, including Ira; it was not hard to imagine how such a thing could bring both comfort and despair to a person.
'Die already!' she thought to herself. Dust filled the air, poisoning lungs and blinding all those alike. A ray of light had struck nearby a few moments ago, after all.
She pushed through the burning feeling in her lungs, unless she wanted to die, she would have to; For a matter of fact, she even pushed through the aching pain in one of her ankles along with the numbing ringing in her ears.
Her enhanced body was incredible, equal to that of even an abomination of the Demon class. Even so, the threat still remained. She was in the middle of a mass gate outbreak with abominations of all kinds of ranks and classes waltzing around. Hell, even above their very heads a Fallen Terror and a Crested Tyrant were ferociously battling. Even to the point that kilometers away their destruction could be felt.
Yet, that all did not matter in that moment—even if it had almost just killed the young girl. Things had a habit of not mattering to Ira when in an adrenaline-pumping situation.
Bariealla was not sitting still either. She too was weakening the Strayed Demon Ira was battling. Her mystical slashes connected with their target in the blink of an eye, dealing no physical damage—yet still having a profound impact on the battle.
The beast's arms, legs, individual fingers, and more had already lost connection with the flow of Realm Thread, causing them to grow weak and feeble compared to what its rank and class were.
A glimmer of light entered Ira's eyes. 'What could be reflecting light at this moment?'
It was a simple question, yet it could make all the difference.
A single glance around her surroundings is all she could take. It was all she needed, though. A mere couple of meters away her carbon steel blade showed.
"Could I reach it in time", or "How could I use it to kill this abomination", echoed inside her mind. Two questions—both as valuable as gold on this debris-filled land. She only needed a fraction of a moment to snatch it from the rubble, but she could not find the opportunity to do so.
The Strayed Demon's powerful Clawed hand swung past her like lightning. Her body narrowly avoiding it with incredible precision, almost as if she could see the blows coming before they were even acted upon.
Blood dripped from her lip as she bit into it out of frustration, her brows scrunched together and her eyes turned into spears that seemingly pierced her opponent's very being.
Why had she attempted to see the Will, of a being that did not possess any? Only Awakened and abominations of the Aberrant rank and above held Will. So, why had she done it?
'Do I need a reason for everything I do!? Does this decaying world truly need a reason from a girl who is gonna die in the next six years!?'
She had no reason. Even so, it revealed something that only she could see.
A Profane string of flame connected the three abominations. Perhaps this was what was able to control them, to control fragments of its mind, body, and Will.
Another revelation revealed itself to her, 'The abomination we are fighting is of the Aberrant rank… It possesses a Will!'
What business did she have fighting an abomination of the Aberrant rank!? Well, plenty. That was the entire goal of her mission, after all.
Bariealla yelled out to Ira, her riding sword splitting the air as it spun. "Catch!" she yelled out, breathless as always.
The moment reminded her of the past, she had done something similar with Astheneia, once. Although, at the time it was she who had thrown the blade, and it was against a Fallen Beast, not an Aberrant creature of an unknown class.
Catching the blade in one hand, she struck down with all her might. The abomination with its horrid eyesight had not even registered that the young girl now possessed a weapon. With her extended reach, she split the abomination's chest in two, black blood spilling onto both the ground and her borrowed blade.
The battle was not over. She had fought a Demon before, and it had survived much more than this.
In a sudden attempt to bash the girl into two, it swung its mighty claws at her. Her body was still recovering from the powerful slash she had given to the Demon, and thus she had to find a way to block the abomination's strike.
She could hear the whistling of air being pushed out of the way of the clawed hand, time itself seemingly slowed as adrenaline coursed through her body at a rate she had never experienced before.
Instinctively, the riding sword adjusted slightly to take the brunt of the attack. Perhaps she could have augmented the riding sword and aimed its sharpness towards the attack, possibly severing the abomination's clawed hand from its body. She did not need possibilities, she needed guarantees.
And the only thing she knew for certain, was that blocking the blow would result in her body not being split in two.
Time resumed its lightning-quick pace. The blow slammed into the riding sword and flung Ira away, at the same time, the riding sword disappeared in a flash of light and appeared in Bariealla's hand.
Commanding her mist to enhance Bariealla once more, and for the final time, Bari forced her hands forward in a lunge to puncture the Demon's heart.
All their efforts led to this very moment, this final deciding fraction of a second.
The riding sword plunged past the abomination's skin, past its muscles, through the narrow gaps of its ribcage, and into its heart.
A loud gurgle left its mouth as it took its last breaths. Falling limply to the ground with a thud.
A moment later, Ira's body slammed into the ground.
When she recovered, she could see Bariealla panting and gasping for air, her reserves of Realm thread at nearly a fourth of its original amount.
Ira, too, was exhausted. However, they still had another Demon, and even a Tyrant to deal with.
Glancing around them, they saw something that shook them.
The other Dormants… Had slain their Strayed Demon? Not only that, but the Tyrant was already dead, too. Its corpse mauled in the same way Alter had left the previous Demon.