Epiphany Of The Weak 198 Do You Want Something More?

Aya sliced at the elongated tendril using her blade, causing it to miss Elle and fell to the ground. After taking a glance at the little girl, Aya continued her charge with a more resolute determination.

Whips, tendrils, claws— whatever bladed weapons you could think and imagine— darted and slashed at Aya at inhuman speed. Despite that, her eyes didn't waver and her body wouldn't allow such a thing to stop her now. She dodged every last attack my Aegis crystals threw at her unerringly.

In just a few seconds, Aya's curved blades were already about to strike at the monster— at me.

"G u A A u a r R r H G G h h!"

With one clean stroke, her blades destroyed a huge chunk of the monster's lower body. The impact sent a thousand pieces of crimson Aegis crystals flying in every direction. Using the centrifugal force of her first swing, she pulled her blades to form an arc— her feet planted to the floor and spun a full circle. Momentum from her previous attack increased the strength of this incoming strike significantly.

"Hyaaargh!"

At that split second, I could only see Aya's bloodshot eyes as she swung her blades a second time— accompanied by an earth-shattering impact a moment later.

"H a A A Y y y l v V G G h r g H h!" The monster's lower body was blown away completely. Trying to regain its balance, the ten-ton ma.s.s of Aegis crystals stumble sideways. Aya quickly leaped about ten meters away just before the behemoth crashed down to the ground.

"...Ughh. Ava!"

Dust and clouds of smoke filled the area. When my vision finally cleared, a dark-haired girl was standing in front of the monster.

Her curved blades were still there sprouting out of her arms, but it didn't bother her. She stared at me incredulously.

"...I can't believe this. How come you let yourself be consumed by your own emotions? When we reunited, I thought you had become stronger, but I was wrong. It's the opposite..."

Aya gritted her teeth as she glowered at me. "You have become weaker, aren't you...?"

She stabbed her blades into the air and closed her eyes. Moments afterward, a spray of red powder escaped from her blades, covering the s.p.a.ce around me.

"Sleep, Ava."

The red powder seeped into the pores of my Aegis crystals, and I was sure I would fall asleep almost instantly after that.

"Eh...?" Aya's pupils dilated, her eyes opened wide. "It isn't working?"

"G h H H R r r U r A A A a h g g h!"

New crimson Aegis crystals branched out from the damaged part of the monster's body. Unperturbed by the fact that Aya knocked it to the ground, the monster sent more tendrils in Aya's direction.

"Tch!"

Her feet took a few leaps left and right to evade the incessant attacks. However. a few managed to graze her skin. Aya distanced herself further back in frustration as she was unable to get close.

"She's too fast!"

One huge scythe descended from above her and as a counter, she swung her blades upward. However—

"Huh?"

Her curved blades pa.s.sed through the scythe as if she just slashed at a stream of water, flawlessly cut a vertical line across the crimson scythe. She tried to dodge instead, but since she chose to counter before, her body was still in a swinging motion.

Needless to say, all Aya could do was brace for impact.

Plortch!

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The scythe dug deep into her left shoulder and she grimaced. Despite the pain overwhelming her senses, Aya quickly yanked the scythe away and retreated a few steps back.

"Ack... Ugh... What just happened?" Aya was still being wary of me—the monster— but her eyes were filled with confusion. She was flummoxed with the event that just transpired. At the same time, the monster's lower body was supported by newly formed Aegis crystals and it 'stood' back up. It had grown in ma.s.s and seemed to be more agitated than before.

"...Stop."

I hit at the screen projection as hard as I could, stronger and stronger each time my dainty fists connected to the solid surface. Try as I might, the monstrous form of my Aegis crystals ignored my plea and marched towards Aya.

"That feeling... Was that the 'Phasing' specialty of Mara?" said Aya. "Dammit!"

She got back on her feet and turned to the other direction, hoping that her speed alone would be enough for her to escape unscathed.

"G h h r R O o o g g k l l l o e o a A A r R g h!"

A scream, both filled with sadness and anger, echoed throughout the hallway. Aya didn't look at the monster as she ran, and at one point, her legs showed signs of fatigue. She knew that if she even thought of slowing down, the monster would catch up to her as it tore through everything in its path— like a snake slithering towards its prey.

The difference was obvious to anyone if he or she was placed in Aya's shoes. Even from this chamber of darkness, I could sense fear swirling around Aya.

"Eugene, Elle! Run faster!" yelled Aya.

The two people from before— the little girl and Eugene were still running away from the scene when Aya saw them.

Now, I wasn't sure if this was true, but less than five minutes had pa.s.sed since Aya fought me. The fact that Aya caught up with Eugene so quickly proved that little time had pa.s.sed since then. Five minutes wasn't a stretch at all in this circ.u.mstance.

"Run faster!"

Eugene grabbed the little girl and carried her in his arms— just when Aya had closed in and ran alongside them.

"d.a.m.n! This place isn't going to hold on! T-That thing is..." said Eugene.

"There! There! Turn to that corner—"

Boom!

The solid white floor supporting the trio, along with the monster collapsed without warning.