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WORLD-EATER (II)

The stage was set – quite literally, Lino mused, observing the phantom floorboard beneath his feet spreading out into the infinity . It appeared to flicker in and out of existence on occasion, the tiles somewhat transparent, seemingly holding the entirety of the stars across the cosmos within them . On one end of it stood he, clad in ordinary-looking yet nigh-invincible armor, currents of black and crimson streaking across his body, folding over his wide frame .

On the other end, Ella stood upright, holding two swords in her hands tightly, clad in shimmering, majestic armor of gold and silver . Beneath her, a halo of purity spun like a wheel of destiny, jets of golden liquid looping over it, feeding the holy atmosphere even further . The look in her eyes cleared up, the blood in her veins churning with the newfound strength . If she failed to win, both her brothers would perish here today . She couldn’t afford that loss; no, the universe itself couldn’t afford that loss .

Rising new Agents was an extremely long, extraneous and painful process . For her to go from a young, talented fledgling to a full-blown Agent, it took full forty billion years, to say nothing of the grueling pains everyone, including her, had to endure throughout it . Loss of a single Agent, even for the Creator, was a difficult ordeal that took a long time to recover from . If three fell in a single day? Even she couldn’t quite grasp the sheer ramifications of it all .

So, she had to win – no matter what . The gauntlet was thrown, and the past binds were dissevered . She gazed at the figure standing opposite of her clearly, her eyes bursting with the radiance of stars . The figure smiled, tilting his head to the side somewhat . Though he was beyond-eons younger than her, Lino appeared far older; while she, at most, looked to be in her late twenties with her current appearance, he looked like someone well in his sixties, entering the twilight of his days . Grays had all but completely overrun the black strands of hair, wrinkles decorating his forehead and the corners of his eyes . However, this hardly took away from his countenance . There was something eerily sagacious about his appearance at the moment as he held onto the small sword rather loosely, staring back at her with his abyss-dark eyes .

Just as she was about to burst forth, something strange happened; Lino unlatched the binds of his breastplate, shoulder-pads, and armguards, withdrawing them into his void world . His leggings and greaves were quickly replaced by ordinary, loose, gray trousers and sandal-like wraps . Top of his body was completely exposed, scars mounting his muscular features infinitely . He snapped his neck a few times, tying his loose hair into a long-winding ponytail behind him, rotating his arms a few times to seemingly relax and warm up his muscles .

"—you’re putting everything on the line," Lino chuckled, noticing the incredulous expressions of the trio . "I’ll humor you with a chance, El’ . If you can wound me, I won’t kill any one of you . If you can’t, all of you will die . Make the best of the last of my graces toward you . Don’t disappoint me . "

"..." Ella stared at his figure that suddenly grew hundreds of layers more imposing than before . As though chains that were binding him were loosened, his figure grew stalwart, a contrarian to hers . Though nothing changed physically, she felt an enormous sense of pressure coming from him .

Meanwhile, Cadel and Limrur withdrew further back, the latter’s expression sinking as he closed his eyes .

"... we’ve lost . " He mumbled in defeat, sighing deeply . The sigh seemed to carry the boundless burdens, as he let go of them .

"... lost?" Cadel muttered in shock . "But—but sister is at least a Hermit right now . Save for Big Sister and Big Brother, none of us would be her match . "

"... erase the regrets from your heart, young brother," Limrur didn’t explain any further, merely closing his eyes . "For today we perish . "

Rather than waiting to get attacked, Ella steeled her nerves and burst forth, her speed leaving afterimages behind her . The light itself had no time to catch up to her fading figure as she turned into a mere speck . She crossed the dual blades across her chest and sliced them outwardly as she reached Lino; the latter, seemingly as slow as a snail, barely lifted the blade and deflected her strike . What seemed like an ordinary deflection, however, was anything but; just as Ella braced herself to chain more strikes and gain the momentum, the blades crossed . She felt her figure flutter for but a flash before she bounced back like a cannonball, ripping through space for over a hundred miles and rolling across the phantom floor, completely losing the control over her body .

She didn’t despair, however – she had no time to . Gritting her teeth, she shoved the two swords into the ground and pulled herself to a stop . Lino didn’t pursue, waiting at the same position . A battle cry burst out of her lungs as the halo behind her spun violently, shedding away a layer while her body exploded in a golden glimmer .

Her speed increased twofold as she darted toward the distant figure, covering the hundred miles distance before a mind could register she even left . She flanked from left rather than clashing directly, maintaining a distance of around twenty meters as she shot out beautiful blades of light that wiggled through space, crossing the immensely short distance in a flash .

Lino turned and glanced toward her, meeting her gaze squarely; a chaotic swirl exploded out of him as he swung the Protector, burning through everything in its path and scalding the platform . It was an invisible blade – no, not even a blade, just the withdrawing composition of reality – that assailed Ella . She withdrew back slightly and spun twice over, sending over a dozen blade lights to negate the pressure .

Lino moved finally, crossing the distance between them in a flash and swinging the Protector overhead; the blade tripled in size all of a sudden as he held it in both hands, crushing down at the speed beyond the conception . Ella shifted to the side, barely dodging the blade’s descent by a breadth’s hair, before counter-attacking, holding her swords in a reverse grip, moving them to stab Lino’s sides directly .

The giant Protector halted mid-descent as Lino’s muscles bulged – he moved it sideways immediately, using the dull side to pummel the right side of Ella’s chest . Before her swords were even within the vicinity of his ribs, she felt her entire right side crack in pain . Bones blew under the unrelenting pressure, her armor barely doing anything to repel it . She shot sideways even faster than before, entirely out of control, rolling around like a ragdoll for tens of miles without a stop .

Blood flew out of her like a river, her energy barely counteracting the insane destructive prowess of a single strike . Her heart froze for a moment; physically, she was completely outmatched . No, it wasn’t even the matter of being outmatched – even if she was a hundred times as strong, she felt, she still couldn’t be able to resist that strength . So far, Lino hadn’t used a single art, entirely relying on simple swordsmanship . No, it wasn’t even swordsmanship, Ella realized – they were just ordinary swings even a child could do .

Inhaling a deep, bitter breath, she finally restored a semblance of control over her body as she came to a grinding halt . Like before, Lino didn’t follow; she half-suspected she would already be at her wits’ end if he really did follow up each time he blew her back like a ragdoll . She couldn’t understand . Just a moment ago, he was nowhere near this strong . Why did he suddenly grow so much?

Though she already knew the answer, she was unwilling to admit it . With another cry, she shed another layer of her halo, the shimmer around her turning into a corporeal barrier . She no longer had the luxury of probing . Rather than closing the distance, she pulled her arms back and wound them as much as possible, to the point of nearly breaking her bones and muscles, before swiping down with all her might .

A golden wheel-like array of light struck out, alighting the entire world around her in brilliant, resplendent colors, as it raced over toward the distant figure, reaching it in a flash . On the way, it suddenly exploded, manifesting into two, then four, then eight, all the way until it reached a thousand and twenty-four in total, surrounding Lino from all ends . <Wheel of Creation> was a layered Art directly passed down by the Creator . Ella had barely comprehended its first form, which meant its prowess was greatly diminished . However, it was still something that could cripple every other Art in the universe .

Lino glanced at the wheels indifferently, as though they were ordinary ones made out of everyday wood . He held up the Protector with both his hands, raising it above his head slightly before shoving it down into the platform, nearly all the way up to its hilt . Cracks spread around violently as chaotic energy churned .

"<Sword of Destruction>," he uttered slowly; he didn’t have to use any Art to deal with the wheels, but he wanted to reply to her heart with his own, without holding anything back . Though it would cost him dearly, as his body was still completely incapable of enduring the sudden surge of strength he had obtained, it wouldn’t impede him in the long-term . "<Lotus of Ruin> . "

All around him, in diameter roughly reaching eight miles, black-crimson pillars exploded out like jets of light from the floor, collapsing unto themselves for a moment before forming a lotus-shaped surface . The flower blossomed in eerie colors, its veins pulsating in the crimson dye for but a moment before it suddenly exploded . Everything, including the phantom platform, collapsed . The wheels of light didn’t endure even for a second before being obliterated out of existence . The energy swept out in droves, the shockwave ripping through the sword domain as the might of lotus burned through, devouring everything within a hundred thousand miles radius .

At the epicenter of destruction, Lino coughed up a mouthful of black blood, seemingly aging ten years almost immediately . Aaah, shit, I’m really an idiot...

"No—You—Are—Not," the voice inside of him, which largely remained in slumber, suddenly replied . "Wounds—Of-Flesh—Are—Temporary," the Edifice continued as Lino found himself afloat in strange, alien energy that bundled him up in its arms and began healing his wounds . "Continue—Replying—The—Hearts—of—Others . Surely—then—You—will—hold—their—hearts—and—wills . Fight—her--," the Edifice said, surprising Lino somewhat as he frowned . "Even—at—the-expense—of—resurrecting—Us . Roots—of—heart—run—deep . Never—betray—them . " ...ah, I see . Lino chuckled audibly, feeling reinvigorated . That’s why this idiot lost . Fuck... I might lose in the long run as well if I listen to him . What a hopeless romantic...