Then the Black Bride floated upward with the momentum, rolling and slashing her longsword at Malin time and again.
Malin parried repeatedly until he was finally sent flying by the heaviest blow.
Upon landing, he had to roll to dissipate the force. Malin stood up, with divine energy shining from his hands, healing the wound on his left arm—The last slash had completely thrown him off balance, and his left arm had been sliced open. To prevent Negative Energy from eroding his flesh, Malin chose to heal himself.
"You must die," the Black Bride’s whisper echoed once more as she leaped from the void, rolling and flying toward Malin again.
With the experience from the previous attack, Malin attempted to sidestep the flurry, but the Black Bride turned in midair, her horizontal slash breaking through his defense. As Malin lost his balance, he saw the Black Bride adjusting her stance once more, forming a thrust in her hands.
"Die," her whisper resonated as if directly in his ear.
Malin closed his eyes—truly, Maya, with her abundant experience in life-and-death struggles, had gained enough physical strength to defeat her own brother.
Malin sighed and then opened his eyes once more. Off-balance, he used his longsword to block the thrust—The black longsword was stopped by the World Tree Sapling, its indestructible nature saving Malin’s life, but being struck again sent Malin crashing to the ground, his back impaled and sliced by broken debris.
As Malin stood up, he felt flesh being torn open.
It felt a bit unfair; his sister had two swords while he only had one. Although Malin didn’t really know how to dual-wield... he still wasn’t pleased.
With such regrets, Malin watched as his sister stood up once more. She lifted her head, with the Soul Fire in her pitch-black eye sockets churning, its owner seemingly dissatisfied that her opponent wasn’t yet dead.
Just as she was about to vanish into the void once again, Malin noticed that she stopped, as if... something had caught her attention behind him.
Malin stepped back, the movement pulling at the wounds on his back, and he gritted his teeth as he turned to see tiny branches sprouting from the mud, topped with a small segment of bone, pitch-black and being purified.
Malin reached out, and the small branch leapt onto his wrist, then merged with the longsword that had transformed from the sapling.
"Brother’s... branch... that’s his... bone..." muttered the Black Bride, becoming bewildered; she seemed completely captivated by that fragment of bone. Watching the segment of arm bone, Malin ultimately decided to crush it underfoot.
The Black Bride wailed once more, her lamentation creating a gust that even blew Malin away. When Malin got to his feet, he saw her kneeling there, seemingly trying to pick up the fragments.
After absorbing the new World Tree Sapling, Malin’s longsword began to change, ultimately taking the form of a Twin-Headed Sword.
"Maya, all this is but an illusion of yesterday. Your brother Lorrin is dead, and I, Malin, made a promise to you, to be the other brother who sends you into eternal slumber," Malin healed himself once again, murmuring to himself.
You said your world was sounding the death knell; you said all you had turned into illusions; you also said you sought only death, only wishing for the purification to come soon.
"The promise I made to you, Maya, I will always keep it."
As Malin finished speaking, the Black Bride lifted her head, her gaze now fixed on the Malin in front of her. Her whispers were no longer filled with confusion, no longer gentle, filled only with murderous intent and determination.
Yes, that’s right, this is how the Black Bride should be, a creature obsessed with the past, keeping the beauty forever in her heart, but never able to step out of that frozen moment in time.
Malin danced with the Twin-Headed Sword, first warding off the incoming longsword with the sword parallel to his waist. As he turned, the other end was already striking the blade of the incoming sword, redirecting the longsword and at the same time, the twin blade was already swinging back as the Black Bride chose to retreat into the void.
Malin took a deep breath, and the next second, a giant’s roar burst forth from his mouth. The power from his bloodline enhanced Malin’s strength and constitution, and Spiritual Energy swept around him, raising and purifying the dry bones; the fragments of toys and weapons were blown away, scattering; and the Black Bride was ’squeezed’ out of the void.
By then, she had moved to Malin’s left side.
Turning, Malin once again started swinging the Twin-Headed Sword. His first strike was blocked by her dual-wielding longswords, but she couldn’t parry it completely. The Black Bride’s defense was shattered, she stepped back, and then with her left hand held sword she withstood Malin’s second strike, which was diverted by pure force. Meanwhile, she twisted her body to dodge the third strike while reaching forward with her right hand to use the hilt’s counterweight to strike at Malin’s head.
She perfectly dodged the third strike, but before she could hit Malin, he, with both hands gripping the Twin-Headed Sword, managed to bash the Black Bride, sending her flying.
She fell into the mud.
Malin didn’t pursue, he merely watched as the Maya before him slowly stood up, feeling her resolve.
"Kill you," the whispering hadn’t stopped since it started.
Malin knew that Maya was cursing the man before her who had destroyed her last treasure.