Chapter 118 That's as pitch black as it gets?
Holy Sword Tournament Arc II
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(POV: Akashic Records)
The suffocating darkness began to thin.
Then, a figure emerged from its depths.
Serena, with her pitch black hair flowing around her like a dark aura, stepped forward. Her red eyes glowed intensely, reflecting the malevolence that emanated from her very being. Her lips, adorned with blood-red lipstick, curled into a cold, emotionless smile as her gaze locked onto Lirien.
Lirien's heart raced, her instincts screaming at her to be on guard.
She took a step back, her hand inching towards her sheathed sword.
"Your mana... it reeks of poison," Lirien spoke with a plain voice.
Serena?s eye darted to her ankle, where the mana suppression anklet that had been securely fastened was now conspicuously absent.
Serena's cold voice pierced the air, devoid of any emotion.
"Ah, it seems I forgot to put that back on," she remarked casually, as though discussing the weather.
Lirien's grip tightened on her sword, her mind racing to find a way out of this dire situation.
"...Never have I encountered such a grotesque manifestation of mana..."
There was a trace of disgust on Serena?s face.
A menacing smile crept across Serena's face as she ran her fingers through her dark hair.
"Indeed, I'm quite irritated with myself," she admitted, her tone still emotionless. "But also, I don't give a damn... you see."
Serena's gaze intensified, her widened eyes filled with sheer horror as she stared at Lirien. She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a chilling whisper. "Lumiere once told me never to belittle other races just because I'm stronger. But in all honesty, it's foolish," she hissed. "Those beneath me, are there for a reason. And I will make sure that reason stays intact."
Lirien's silence spoke volumes as she took in Serena's haunting words. She braced herself, her senses sharpening as she prepared for the battle that lay ahead.
Serena, the embodiment of terror, stared back at her with an unholy grin.
"Why should I, a goddess, bow my head to the rules of other races?" Serena's voice wavered with a mixture of disdain and malice. "Why should I allow mere mortals to dictate how I live?"
Lirien, always so dull and unassuming, spoke. "You're not a goddess, well you don't lo-"
"Listen to me," Serena snapped, her voice cutting through the silence like a blade.
Lirien froze, a sense of dread creeping up her spine.
Serena's eyes widened, revealing a bottomless void, devoid of any compassion or mercy. She spoke, her words dripping with venom.
"From the depths of my pitch-black heart and the recesses of my malefic soul, I despise you."
Lirien, shaken but determined, met Serena's gaze head-on. "So, you want to fight me now? Is that what you desire?"
"Huh?"
Small giggles escaped Serena's lips, a twisted melody that sent shivers through the night. The giggles transformed into a chilling cacophony of deranged laughter that reverberated through the darkness.
Abruptly, the laughter ceased, leaving an unsettling silence in its wake.
"That's funny," Serena said, her voice dripping with wicked amusement. "Fight you? What reason could possibly warrant such a confrontation?" She tilted her head ever so slightly, a sickening crack resonating through the air. "No, I have a much simpler plan in mind. I'll teach you a lesson."
Lirien's heart pounded in her chest. "I see..."
Lirien assumed a decisive sword stance.
"I'll make this quick," she declared.
Her mana zone expanded, encompassing both her and Serena.
Time stood frozen via the Unique Skill, 『Relative Barrier』, suspending all movement within their surroundings.
With calculated steps, Lirien advanced towards Serena, her eyes fixated on her opponent.
"...Goodbye..." she whispered, raising her sword with lightning speed, intending to sever Serena's head from her body.
But to her utter disbelief, Serena effortlessly caught the blade with two fingers, as if she were idly brushing dirt off her shoulder.
Lirien's grip faltered as a wave of confusion washed over her.
"( How can she walk through my flow of time?! )" (Lirien)
Without missing a beat, Serena summoned <<Fortune's Edge>>.
The weapon materialized in a shimmering haze of iridescent light.
In one swift motion, she slashed across Lirien's stomach, slicing through flesh and sinew, causing blood to spray and splatter in a morbid display.
"AARRRGGHHHHH!!"
A scream of agony ripped from Lirien's throat, swallowed by the silent clearing.
In the midst of Lirien's pain, Serena smashed her knee into Lirien's chest, the impact sending her hurtling backward through the stillness of time.
Lirien crashed to the ground, her body trembling as she struggled to regain her footing, one knee digging into the unforgiving earth.
Blood trickled down her torn abdomen, staining the ground a dark crimson.
"No one should be able to walk within my flow of t-"
Before she complete her sentence, Serena's knee collided with Lirien's jaw, the impact sending her hurtling towards the unforgiving ground.
Pain seared through Lirien's body as she writhed, her breaths coming in ragged gasps.
"Sorry, did you expect me to care?" said Serena, gazing down at Lirien.
A shadow of darkness seemed to cast over Serena's face, her eyes burning bright red with fury. Slowly but deliberately, she approached Lirien, her footsteps echoing ominously in the stillness of time.
Leaning down, Serena's voice dripped with venom, each word laced with pent-up resentment. "Because of you, all my sympathy is gone. So tell me, where was your sympathy when killed my beloved?"
Lirien's face bore the brunt of the battle, bruises marring her once pristine features. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she crawled on the blood-soaked ground towards her divine artifact, <<Black Crusader>>, located a few meters away.
"( If I can reach it... I'll just jump straight into white stage... )" (Lirien)
Every movement sent waves of agony coursing through her body.
But before she could even reach out, a sharp thrust of Serena's sword pierced through Lirien's left hand, pinning it mercilessly to the ground.
An agonized scream tore from her throat, mingling with the sound of her own blood splattering against the dirt.
"Be quiet."
A swift kick from Serena landed on Lirien's face, causing her jaw to shift uncomfortably, silencing her cries of pain.
However, Lirien remained unyielding.
She raised her right hand, summoning a dark sphere of energy.
But Serena was faster.
With a swift motion, she covered the sphere and Lirien's hand with her own. The sphere exploded with a deafening blast, obliterating Lirien's hand and splattering blood and viscera across the area.
The force of the explosion sent Lirien sprawling across the ground.
Serena withdrew her bloodstained sword from Lirien's maimed hand, delighting in the wails of anguish that erupted from her victim. Her eyes flickered with malevolent satisfaction as she glared down at Lirien, her voice dripping with sadistic glee.
"As a parting gift. The reason I was able to walk through your flow of time was because I created a vastly larger and more potent mana zone than yours, interfering with the very fabric of its efficiency frequency. Pathetic, really. If only my beloved knew this, he wouldn't have fallen so easily to the likes of you." (Serena)
As she prepared to deliver the final blow, Serena positioned her sword with lethal precision, her eyes glittering with cruel anticipation.
A mirthless smile played on her lips as she taunted Lirien, relishing the fear in her eyes.
"Goodbye," Serena spat, her voice filled with cold finality. "This is the end for you."
But just as she raised her sword to decapitate Lirien, everything went dark.
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