Chapter 1024 ‘Aria’ part 2
Ais was frozen for a minute or two before she reacted again, "...No. That's a lie."
Aria's melancholic smile grew deeper, "Please don't ignore it. I can see everything in your expression whenever I make a mistake."
"...That's!" Ais couldn't refute her words. It has become a source of her discomfort since earlier but she didn't want to believe it. She stood up and took some distance from Aria "...That's impossible... If you're not my mother... Then who are you!?"
Although Ais only asked in the heat of the moment and was hoping that she'd deny it, she received a straight answer, "You also have an idea for who I am... But for clarity's sake, allow me to introduce myself. I'm the one you call Black Dragon... More specifically, a part of the original that was implanted with some memories and personality from the Spirit of Wind known as Aria."
Ais' head went blank and before she could form any concrete thoughts, she saw her mother's beautiful golden hair slowly turn black and her bright golden eyes turn red. The next instant, a crazed smile that doesn't match her gentle face emerged while spreading her arms open, "...Yes. I'm that Black Dragon! The monster that took all of your important people in the past!"
"No!!!" Ais instinctively replied. Despite the logic telling otherwise, her heart couldn't handle the reality in front of her.
'Aria' started chuckling at her, "What's wrong? Escaping from reality once again? In front of you are your eternal nightmare and the target of your revenge, albeit only a part of it. Why don't you use that sword of yours to strike me down? Or is it just for decoration?"
'Sword?' The distressed Ais looked down at her hand and was shocked that she was already holding her rapier, '...Since when?'
"What? Still refuse to believe it?" 'Aria' raised both of her hands and wind tinted with black miasma rose from behind her and started circulating around her like countless poisonous sharp blades, "In accordance with my original objective, I'll have your entire consciousness removed for my main body to occupy this space."
The black wind from 'Aria' began extending towards Ais and the latter had to jump back while also conjuring her own wind to counter it, "W-why? Why are you doing this?"
The heartache from Ais' question could be felt and 'Aria's' expression twitched a little, but only for an instant, "You're really stupid if you're asking that for real. Of course, it's all for the sake of removing all the pesky inhabitants of the lower world and I'll do anything to gain the power to achieve that! Even if it means eating everything in my path."
With greater difficulty, Ais asked, "...What... What happened to my mother?" It was hard, but she had no choice but to accept that this entity in front of her was not her mother. But within all of this, there was this strange feeling that she's getting from this 'Aria', '...That was fake...?'
The black wind around 'Aria' became worse as she answered, "What do you think? After being devoured and using every ounce of her strength and mind to save her only daughter, it only took a few decades to fully expel her soul from her own body. She was already gone long ago."
Ais didn't answer and gritted her teeth before initiating an attack of her own. After thinking about it for a moment, this was already true ever since she decided to get her revenge on the monster that took away her parents. Nothing had really changed. She's just angry that she was given false hope, 'Yes... It's as she said... Everything is fake... But... What's this? What is this feeling?'
It should have been an easy answer, but there was still uncertainty somewhere and she had a feeling that she had to figure that out or else she'll regret it.
.
.
.
The exchange between two opposing winds went on for some time and while they were at it, Ais finally noticed the black dot in the sky that seemed to be getting bigger and bigger as time went on. What's strange, however, was that Aria's' provocations were only intensifying and instead of getting angry unlike the first few times, Ais calmly assessed the situation, '...She's... Desperate?'
And even her own calmness was a wonderment for Ais herself as she knew that she shouldn't be this calm in this situation. It's as if something was affecting her own state of mind without her knowing, 'But it isn't a bad feeling... Strange... It's as if telling me to take a closer look at what's happening.'
"What's wrong? Already losing your focus? Looks like this is going to be a lot easier." 'Aria' continued to taunt Ais, "What Aria and Albert did was a total waste of time and effort."
Strangely enough, Ais wasn't bothered by her words and only felt that she was coming closer to the truth, '...Could it be?'
Despite her calm mind, Ais displayed a wrathful expression and gathered all of her Magic Power in one full-powered attack.
Seeing this, 'Aria's' crazed smile changed into that of a satisfied one.
After a massive amount of Wind Magic gathered on the tip of Ais' rapier, she disappeared with a single step and instantly arrived in front of 'Aria'. 'Aria' didn't have the time to react and only saw the tip of her blade aimed at her neck, 'But even if I could... I wouldn't...' The black wind around them disappeared and 'Aria' closed her eyes to wait for her fate.
But as the second went by, the feeling of her throat being pierced didn't arrive. She waited for another second before opening her eyes back with great confusion only to see Ais, contrary to her wrathful expression from earlier, was very serene while pointing her blade at her neck. The same as her black wind, Ais's own wind also seems to have dispersed and only the tranquil environment remained, "...What? Why are you not killing me?"
In response to her question, Ais asked back, "Why are you crying?"
'Aria' was startled and touched her face to feel the wet cheeks, "...T-this!?"
"Why?" Ais repeated.
But 'Aria' only got angry and grabbed her rapier with her bare hand, causing it to bleed, "Why!? Why are you not killing me!? I killed your parents! I showed you false hope! I tried to harm you! So why!? Hurry up and do it!"
Her frantic demeanor only solidified a certain idea in Ais' mind, "You have my blade... If you want to die, you can do it yourself."
'Aria' had already lost her calm because it wasn't going as she planned and there was not much time left before 'that' arrived, "Because I can't do it! I can't take my own life! This is your chance! Do it! Are you taking pity on me!? If you don't do it now, you'll only die without any chance of fighting back! Hurry up and do it!"
Ais let go of her sword and stood straight in front of her, letting all her guard down, "Then I won't make it harder for you. Use that sword. Aim for my heart. Finish what you have to do."
'Aria' was speechless and her face contorted to a very complicated expression of remorse, guilt, and despair. She let go of Ais' sword and dropped to her knees, "Why...? Why won't you kill me?"
It was late, but ever since earlier, Ais realized that 'Aria' didn't have any killing intent despite the huge show she was putting up.
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