Eternal Elysium

The grotesque mass of flesh stirred, opening its eyes and looking at us with a deadly sharp gaze filled with madness.

Enzo, without saying any words, submerged himself in shadows, vanishing from sight.

"How do you plan to take the crystal? I can't cut at two places at the same time?" Chris asked, glancing at me. His sharp brown hair came down, hiding his eyes.

"I will manage somehow. You just make sure to get Elric out." I said calmly.

Saying that, I stepped forward to one side of Sina while Chris walked to her left.

We both gave each other one last glance as Chris raised his spear and thrust it forward with a sizzling sound. The spear's sharp blade came cutting through the air and hit Sina. The blade instantly cut through her flesh, cutting down a network of what seems like bone as if it were paper thin.

Sina didn't flinch or make a sound other than repeating Elric's name. Her body seemed to open up like a maw and struck Chris in an instant.

I watched patiently for him to cut Sina down with invisible slashes like he had previously used. The branches of bone inside stuck out like darts that then instantly fell off their place.

They had been cut down without being cut.

'How strange… His ability is to cut things but not so at the same time.'

We all waited patiently for Chris to get Sina's attention completely.

But that looked not so possible anymore, as her plight for Elric has yet to be stopped.

Even while being struck again and again by Chris' deadly attacks, she continued to mutter the same name in repetition. Chris clicked his tongue and again lunged at her; his steps carried him swiftly towards her right, dodging the attacks thrown at him.

With a sudden twist of his right hand, he pushed his spear forward and placed all his weight over it. The spear didn't bend; instead, it stood still, stabbed inside her as Chris was now in the air while still holding on to his spear.

As the gravity did its work pulling him down, the spear moved in a wide arc while being pulled out by his weight, and a thunderous strike hit her, shattering everything around.

Flesh and blood splashed around as the ground cracked like spiderwebs.

Finally a scream left from Sina's several mouths.

And then—

An assault finally began. With all her focus shifting to Chris, I didn't waste any time and slowed her down with [Kairosflow].

Simultaneously, Onyx arms emerged from the ground, supporting Chris in dealing with the abominable figure ahead.

The fight doesn't need to last long for us to win. It only needs to be planned perfectly, a task not possible in such a short time. And especially not when we knew nothing about the location of either Elric or the crystal inside her.

This is why those who are dealing with Sina need to be extremely cautious and precise with each attack they land. A single mistake could be costly not only for them but for us as well.

But it doesn't mean we have no plan. Rather, we have many ways to deal with Sina; the forces here were more than sufficient enough to deal with her completely and eradicate her existence from this world. The only reason it has yet to happen is due to the sole reason of not having trust in each other.

In case we were to go all out, the other could take this chance to attack once again. For that reason I was the only one fighting from my side. They also had understood this and agreed with leaving Summer behind for their own safety.

… Phew. Doing this is more tiring than I imagined.

Thinking as such, I looked at the forest we had been fighting in. All the surrounding trees have either been cut down or seem to have been blasted away. The land was burned along with several craters created by vortexes of wind and shockwaves. The greenery and smell of nature have been replaced by the smell of blood and flesh.

Clenching my fist tightly around the handle of my newly acquired sword, I started to move forward and activated the enchantment of 'Mask of Panoply' and felt myself blend with the surroundings.

The first step of the plan has been executed perfectly.

… Now I need to locate the crystal and probably Elric as well. An easy task indeed.

I chuckled at such thoughts and moved my gaze through the being of white skin, flesh, and bones. As I strode near Sina's enormous figure, I noticed the crawling body of her on the ground; a mucus-like substance was being left on her walk as she stirred forward.

I again activated [Kairosflow]; the world following that started to slow down in my eyes. At the same time, my essence was being depleted at an astounding rate, like never before.

Using my abilities on several things for different purposes was hard as well and took a very big part of my focus. Feeling my head slowly accumulate a small amount of pressure, I clenched my teeth, trying to not be distracted by it.

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Squinting my eyes to see the bone structure from the inside, whenever Chris cut Sina down, a narrow path began to open. Her figure, even though it was being cut endlessly, has still not shrunk even by a centimeter.

Suddenly the land trembled, and Sina stirred, trying to run away, and launched a couple of sharp bones wrapped in her flesh and blood. Franz and Rose took a step forward as I stepped back—a vortex of wind conjured around us, and a wall of wind then took shape. Following that, Summer raised her finger and pointed at the boulders, blasting them away and creating a big crater around the wall of wind.

Sina stopped and again launched a barrage of attacks. Immediately I slowed them down as this time Mathew stepped forward and touched them, creating a shockwave that thwarted them away along with Summer.

Feeling the need to act, I dashed towards Sina and raised my sword, striking one of her less dense areas. The sword came down, splitting through the air, and clashed through her bones, cutting them down like a slice of butter.

My grip tightened as Sina moved, pushing me back. I stepped in the air and propelled above her while again cutting through her bones and flesh, fledgling outside.

"Dammit!" Chris, tired of cutting her down, cursed as the battle continued; his spear shot forward, bringing her down. Unknowingly, he stepped on her and felt the land starting to slide momentarily before regaining his balance.

"Did you find anything?!" He shouted with jagged breathing, his face red from exhaustion.

"I need five more minutes!" I yelled back as the mask enchantment came to an end, making my presence visible again.

I was already at the top, waiting patiently to find the correct time to act. Observing her for a while now, especially in a world that has been slowed down in my eyes, came with several pieces of feedback.

I gulped, feeling my chest tighten as several dreadful thoughts passed through me one by one.

… She is now a being made of instincts and emotions only, and all those emotions are dark like an endless abyss. All those emotions seem to be for Elric alone; her instincts to protect him are a priority even more than that crystal-like artifact. This was why finding him was hard but also easy at the same time, even more than that crystal, actually.

Sina's body covered more than half the field; every part of her has stirred more than once, fighting against Chris and Enzo. But some parts didn't; they remained the same and were kept more safely than anything else.

That's where Elric was, I was sure of it. But helping Enzo bring him out was not going to be easy. That part was not far from where I was standing, but it was so far from the reach of his onyx arms and so densely packed that it wouldn't be easy to cut the field of flesh down.

I can always use the enchantment of this sword and make it deadlier against her, but I refrained from using it till now for several reasons. One was the pain and suffering it will bring, and all her attention will turn towards me. If that were to happen, Chris will be tasked with finding Elric, something not possible for him to do.

The other reason, while not as important as the first one, was pity. A small feeling appeared inside my heart to not make Sina suffer anymore.

…Sigh

I smiled a little softly behind my mask and yelled, gathering all the energy I could muster.

"Franz! Summer! Attack everywhere except that place!!"

My hand stretched, pointing at the place I had assumed to be the direction Elric was trapped in.

Following my command, they didn't make me wait and launched a barrage of attacks in the split seconds, overwhelming Sina.

Chris stepped back but was still ready to make his next move with a grinning face.

A hurricane of wind and flames made Sina screech and made me stumble on my spot.

They seemed to be avoiding hitting me, but I knew it was going hard; after all, I was at the center of the chaos.

The barrage of explosions engulfed the surroundings; Summer's face paled as her legs started to tremble with exhaustion.

The monster made of flesh started to shrink and vanish, but in the end Summer was tired. She didn't like that even a bit, as she threw silent curses with each attack that hit Sina.

"Get ready!" I yelled and dashed at full speed as something gleaned in the flesh of Sina.

The sparkle was dim, but it was undeniably witnessed by me.

My breathing quickened as I saw flesh and tendons reappear around it. I raised the dark crystal sword and started to cut her down as fast as possible.

"Aaah!!" Chris followed my lead; he simultaneously attacked the area where Elric was trapped, cutting down everything that came in his way. Using the onyx arms as his footing, he maneuvered around, splitting her flesh.

The density of flesh surrounding the orb lessened as all the focus shifted to protecting Elric. Suddenly I felt a metallic taste on my lips; blood started to leak from my nostrils and eyes as adrenaline rushed through my body, bringing me to ecstasy and making me lightheaded.

I laughed, grinning, and started to plunge into the flesh-filled zone as the bone scraper launched at me; cuts filled me, and blood started to leak through my limbs, but I didn't stop. I was hurt, but I wasn't dead. I endured, laughing through the pain, and each strike I mustered gave me hope that this would end.

"Got you!" I yelled, my scream echoing through the harrowing figure.

The area became clear as a crystal with several sharp corners came into view. I leaped toward it and twisted myself by the waist, delivering a powerful kick on it. The crystal flew away, leaving my sight as a small sigh escaped my lips.

And then—

Everything came to a standstill; my footing slipped as I fell down. The flesh rapidly starts to vanish, starting to shrink towards Elric's direction.

Through the corner of my vision I witnessed the attacks by my teammates stop; Elric came into view, his face pale and eyes closed, caught by several onyx arms. Chris, meanwhile, cut down everything near them, not giving Sina any chances to wrap around him.

Thud!

I finally touched the ground, my back throbbing as I had crashed down.

A painful grunt escaped my lips, I gasped for breath, my mask almost slipping out of my face.

With frustration I gritted my teeth and saw Franz and the others trying to rush towards me. I stopped them, signalling with my hand.

The enemy is still here; we can't let our guard down.

Adjusting my mask, I stood up, walking towards Sina, ignoring Elric.

Her body was tattered and ripped into shreds. Blood has engulfed her from everywhere; her arms were nonexistent, her stomach has been flattened, and nothing existed down below her waist.

I still couldn't see her face and sighed, seeing tears starting to drop from her eyes along with blood.

"E…El…Elric…" She struggled to call out a single word, with a painful, almost pitiful voice.

…She won't survive and will only be in a world of pain even if I give her my last potion.

I raised my sword, my hands starting to shake as sweat trailed down my neck.

"Sina, it was nice meeting with you. Though short, I enjoyed the fights we had." I said with an emotionless tone, almost cold and indifferent.

"El…Elric…"

She didn't respond back and still repeated the same cursed name with a voice filled with pain.

And then—

I stabbed her heart; a gasp escaped her lips. I had tried to make sure to be as quick as possible, but during this I saw something stir in Sina's eyes for a split second just before her demise.

… She looked liberated.