The petrified pale face revealed the last traces of tenderness; Teda had so much to say to Aimou, but now he had no time, he could only lift his constantly crumbling hand, and gently place it on Aimou’s cheek.
This time her skin was no longer cold, but had the warmth of a human. Teda showed an awkward smile, with no farewell and no sad emotions.
As the breeze swept by, Teda’s body crumbled inch by inch, vanishing into scattered dust.
Teda gave everything of himself, all he had, to the Tyrant.
Aimou could vaguely see the greedy Devil, who opened its hands calling to Teda, taking his soul, obliterating his body, until there was no trace of him left in this world.
Aimou wanted to stop all this, but as soon as she stood up, she fell back down, and then new sensations began to emerge from her body.
It was a familiar yet alien feeling; Aimou had only felt it when in Shared Chord Body with Bologue. From their human perspective, this sensation was called... pain.
Aimou looked at her scraped knee; beneath the abraded skin, faint traces of blood were oozing. She stumbled to her feet, and for a moment Aimou felt the world had grown larger.
She could sense the touch of wind against her body, the coldness in the air, the satisfaction in her chest with each breath, and her eyes could capture more light, a dazzling, colorful world reflected in them.
Aimou had never felt the world to be so vast, vast to the point she was at a loss.
Gray-white dust brushed past her body, leaving white marks on her hands, as if a ghost was giving her one last embrace.
No one explained to Aimou what had happened, but she understood everything perfectly. She realized Teda’s sacrifice and sensed her own wishes coming true.
Yet, none of this mattered compared to the voice lingering in her ears. That voice echoed incessantly in her mind.
That was how he called her.
This was a land where wishes could be fulfilled, where all desires were met, but Aimou wasn’t happy now; her chest hurt in a way she had never felt before.
Her eyes became sore, and large, scorching drops overflowed — at first, Aimou thought her oil was leaking, but then she realized these were tears.
These feelings were so unfamiliar, yet so real, Aimou truly didn’t know how to deal with them.
Aimou whispered her own name, wiped her tears, and raised her head.
A rasping scream came from one side; Alice climbed up again, her head splitting into petals, craving Aimou’s blood and flesh.
At that same moment, another voice roared.
Bologue forced his way out of the entangling flesh; half his body was entwined with wriggling hairs, his face eroded mostly away, with half a human visage and the other half a bloody skull.
Yet he did not stop. To break free, Bologue twisted his own arm off, with the hairs quickly wrapping around it, gnawing Bologue’s flesh and blood to nothing.
But this allowed Bologue to stand fully upright; his expression was fierce like a demon, and then he extended his hand towards Aimou.
Aimou hesitated for a second, and behind her, Alice’s grotesque figure suddenly appeared, with sharp bone blades and countless arms raised high.
No words were needed now, only action.
Aimou could sense the fierce killing intent behind her, but it couldn’t stop her. She was naked, with the patterns of the Alchemy Matrix clearly reflected on her skin, and the Ether roared and rotated, amplifying the Ethereal Amplification on her body.
But this wasn’t enough; the flesh and blood body could bring Aimou a more real sense and make her understand this world better, but ultimately the flesh and blood body was too weak. Discover more novels at N0veI.Fiɾe.net
So radiant light spread along her feet, searing light passing over, transforming her flesh and blood into cold metal, and she dashed out like a gust of wind, leaped towards Bologue.
The ground trembled, with one slender arm after another rising from it, intercepting between Aimou and Bologue; Aimou’s hands transformed into metallic shells, her heavy fists easily smashing these obstructing arms, but this also slowed Aimou down. Alice caught up with her.
The condensed killing intent was like sharp iron needles, pricking Aimou’s body, high rising fear spreading in her heart — this was a Forbidden Power from the Devil, not something a personal will could withstand.
In an instant, a roaring wind swept past, swallowing Alice with a howling gale, and myriad sharp blades embedded in the wind repeatedly slicing this grotesque monster.
Severing arms, shattering bone spears, leaving deep and shallow wounds on the crimson skin, and driving up swirling metal fragments, like a Sharp Sword, piercing within.
A familiar figure appeared beside Aimou unknown from where; he was facing away from Aimou, eyes ablaze.
Palmer shouted, pushing Aimou along, and immediately slender arms broke through the storm, smashing down towards Palmer.
His figure was as nimble as a flying swallow, deftly evading numerous attacks, with sharp Flying Knives accompanying him, leaving many scars on the arms while dodging.
Palmer’s attacks weren’t enough to kill Alice, but a short skirmish was all that was needed.
Blood sprayed everywhere, some splattering on Palmer. Subsequently, maggots from the writhing blood bit through Palmer’s skin, burrowing into his flesh, consuming it while continually proliferating.
Palmer remained expressionless, completely ignoring the existence of this pain. He wasn’t an Undying Body, nor was he like Aimou, able to use the Shared Chord Body to mitigate damage.
The only things that followed Palmer’s commands were the omnipresent storm and the "gambler" manipulated by destiny.
"To be honest, I’ve always thought I’ve had pretty good luck."
Palmer comforted himself, tossing out a hook rope. Dragged by the wind, he flew high, circling above Alice’s head, unleashing a storm mixed with steel feathers.
Having had enough of this pesky little bird Palmer, Alice summoned the forbidden flesh, scarlet fur broke away Palmer’s body, spreading like a virus.
Palmer slashed at the fur with a knife, but it kept proliferating, nourished by Palmer’s flesh, entangling him like thousands of mosquitoes.
Palmer now regretted helping Aimou. In this madman’s battlefield, as a miserable soul, he was just courting death, yet if given another choice, Palmer felt he’d make the same decision.
After all, no matter how inadequate he was, he was still a Clarks. Even Palmer’s dad, let alone his fiancée, would be disappointed if Palmer ever acted cowardly.
Luckily, Palmer had achieved his purpose. It’s now up to the experts.
Palmer shouted, crashing into a cliffside, while Aimou below stretched out his hand forcefully, touching the scarred hand.
The gleam of Canyin flickered, Aimou’s figure disappeared, replaced by an Evil Spirit breaking free of bindings.
One leg was gnawed clean, the other covered in scars, with one arm missing. The remaining arm drew the sole folding knife from his waist, using it like a cane to support himself, allowing him to stagger forward instead of collapsing.
Bologue seemed like a specter digging out of a tomb, the halo of Canyin appearing in the azure pupils. His steps staggered initially, then stabilized as a large amount of Ether infused his body, reconstructing his bones, reviving flesh upon them, before his skin enveloped it.
When Bologue returned to the battlefield of struggle, he reverted to his powerful stance, clutching a stained folding knife with his bloodied arm, while the newly grown arm drew a Sheep Horn Shock Hammer, surrounded by azure light trails.
Taking a deep breath, the fog of shock spread around Bologue as he savored the extreme terror, feeling a long-lost joy from it.
Now, Bologue was going to return this fear to the monster before him, no matter if it could perceive fear or whether it was willing.
The halo of Canyin churned in Bologue’s eyes, swirling into golden whirlpools, the pupil color melting together into regal blue gold.
Bologue spread his arms, crossing the Sword Hammer, speaking to himself first.
"Welcome back, and then..."
Bologue crouched, then suddenly pounced, his roar arriving with the sword’s glare.
"Come on! The second half of the counterattack!"
Slender arms raised one after another, grasping at the Bone Spears standing upright on the deformed mass of flesh, snapping them forcefully, transforming them into sharp Bone Blades held in hand.
Alice let out a shrill scream, then swung the Bone Blades, as if a thousand Blades swept across.
The trajectory of the slashes crisscrossed, sealing off all of Bologue’s escape routes, yet Bologue moved forward without hesitation, followed by the roar of Ethereal Shock across the battlefield.
The powerful wave mixed with Ether slammed into Alice like a heavy punch, the raised Bone Blade hindered, suspended mid-air in struggle, disturbing the attack trajectory.
This was a piece of Alchemy Armament gifted by Belli to Aimou. As Aimou’s Shared Chord Body state released his clothes and equipment, she handed these armaments to Bologue. Luckily, amid flesh consumption, these Alchemy Armaments weren’t completely damaged.
Alice’s defense was breached, Bologue leapt high, some arms tried to defend, only to be mercilessly sliced apart by Blade, shattered into chunks of flesh and bone fragments.
Bologue glared at the twisted petals, suddenly they contracted together, transforming back into Alice’s face calling out longingly to him.
Alice tried to beguile Bologue, disrupting his mind, twisting his cognition.
The Heavy Hammer descended unwaveringly, smashing this repulsive face into fragments and blood stains.