Manifest War: The Weapons Within

The eye vanished and in an instant, Azhane Belouis stood before them at the center of the throne room. She didn’t speak a single word to them as she continued to glare menacingly. Briddle began to sweat as he felt the pressure from Azhane’s unreal and otherworldly energy levels. Briddle then turned his attention down towards Homura and his fear quickly transitioned back to rage.

“H-How could y-ou?? You.. Y-You killed her… YOU WILL PAY!!!!” He screamed as he exploded with power, exerting a massive amount of Core Energy. His resonance level was incredible and in most situations, anyone would cower at his power, however Azhane didn’t even flinch.

Briddle aimed his Manifest at Azhane and suddenly, the ground beneath her turned to liquid. It shot upward and swallowed her whole before turning solid, encasing Azhane in a sandstone colored tomb. Runic symbols appeared on the outer casing and glowed a bright yellow color as the tomb stopped its ascent.

Lovi, Trion, and Karris all fired off attacks of their own at the structure, hoping to overwhelm their foe in a quick and brutal manner. The throne room filled with smoke as the ground cracked and crumbled from every powerful blow.

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU SILVER HAIRED HARLOT!!!” Briddle yelled as he continued his rapid assault, turning the ground into spikes and commanding them to stab the structure he created. Their attacks finished and the dust settled, revealing a highly damaged pathway. It looked as though a war had occurred in this room with the amount of destruction around.

Moments later, the sandstone structure exploded and Azhane stood at the center with not a single scratch on her. She remained silent as Briddle and his group looked on with wide eyed bewilderment.

“T-There’s no way…” Lovi whispered with a fear filled cadence, not understanding how she was completely unharmed from all of those attacks. Briddle scowled as he stepped forward, not backing down an inch from this powerful woman.

Trion then activated his Manifest's special ability, hoping it's Core Energy sapping capabilities would even the odds more. The room filled with a dense fog, causing Azhane to stop her approach. She lifted her hand slightly and looked at it as she squeezed together a fist, noticing some of her power leaving.

"Ahh, there we go. Lord Briddle, this is our chance to strike again!" Trion said as he gripped his Manifest tightly, slightly chuckling by the supposed effectiveness of his weapon. Before Briddle could take advantage of this opportunity, they felt a gust of wind that escalated at a rapid rate.

Azhane's swords began rotating around her, increasing their velocity with each passing second. A swirling purple vortex was eventually erupted and as the intensity of the gust reached its peak, the fog was dispersed entirely. The swords stopped their rotation and assumed their original positions, completing their task effortlessly. Trion and the others were stunned by the amount of utility this woman possessed, now beginning to think this was some kind of sick joke.

Azhane slowly started to continue her approach, her heels clicking loudly against the distressed floors below. Briddle slightly flinched at the sight of her movement and he quickly looked over to his right.

On the floor next to his throne were the multiple boxes of extracted Strands. The silver strings glistened as though they were beckoning for Briddle to make use of them. He slowly aimed his palm at the boxes and the Strands began to float in the air.

They flew towards him and absorbed into his body, curiously entering through his hand and arm. Azhane ended her advance and glared at him, confused by his strange actions. Briddle averted his gaze back towards Azhane and deviously smiled.

“I never thought I would need to resort to this, but it seems as though you need special treatment. I’ll definitely be sure to make you cower in fear and beg for mercy. I will not rest until I make that a reality!!” He said with a crazed smile, clearly starting to lose his mind.

“U-Uh, Lord Briddle! That much Core Energy could kill you!!” Karris remarked with a worried tone, raising his voice to an uncharacteristic level.

“Silence you fool!! My body can handle it just fine.” He absorbed the last Strand and his chest started to glow a bright white. He held his arms outward as significant amounts of Core Energy built inside of him.

His resonance level jumped to absurd amounts and in that moment, he crossed the resonance threshold to Calamity Class. Lovi, Karris, and Trion marveled at his new power and their hope got restored, feeling confident that Briddle could wipe the floor with Azhane now.

As the bright white dwindled, it revealed a completely transformed Briddle. His body had become much more toned, multiple thin lines raced around his muscles, his once pale skin was now eggshell white, and upon Briddle’s head were two horns protruding through his jet black hair. His new appearance complimented his increase in power perfectly.

Briddle smiled and suddenly, the entire front half of the throne room shot upward in an aggressive fashion. With a mere thought, Briddle manipulated the various materials of his palace and crushed the area where Azhane stood. The amount of devastation caused by this attack was immense, destroying a significant portion of the building within seconds.

His group struggled to stay on their feet as the energy from the explosion pushed them backwards. The attack ended and Briddle cackled, feeling invincible from his newfound power.

Just before the dust settled, he continued his assault by darting forward with immense speed. The ground exploded beneath his feet from the powerful quickness. In a flash, he found himself directly in front of Azhane as he reared his fist back. At that same moment, his fist became enveloped by various materials surrounding them.

The materials hardened completely just before he punched in Azhane’s direction. Despite the impossible amount of speed, Azhane swiftly teleported out of the way. He connected with the ground instead, causing it to collapse and shatter from the crushing impact.

Even though he missed the attack, Briddle quickly darted after Azhane, sending attacks towards her in every direction. She dodged and teleported everything sent her way, masterfully maneuvering as she floated in the air.

Briddle then aimed his Manifest towards her and exerted a massive amount of Core Energy. Suddenly, the entire room shifted and melted, changing entirely from the sandstone material to a dense and heavy metal. The now metal walls and ceiling quickly transitioned to sharp spikes, protruding outward in a menacing fashion.

Azhane floated at the center of this spike filled room, completely surrounded in every direction. Moments later, all of the spikes fired from the walls in rapid succession, colliding with an unending intensity. She continued to float as her twelve ethereal swords blocked and sliced every spike sent her way, matching their speed completely.

This brutal barrage continued for what felt like an eternity as it filled the room with thick smoke and debris. In most circumstances, any normal Vesta would have been skewered a hundred times over by now, but Azhane handled this situation with a dangerous calmness to her.

As dust and debris clouded the room, visibility was reduced significantly for everyone present. Briddle finally ended his assault and began to cackle as he no longer felt Azhane’s presence. He cheekily smiled as his arrogance spiked to unhealthy levels and he happily posed a question to the cloud of dust.

“Azhane Belouis… Tell me, how does it feel to be in the presence of a God? I must know the answer.” Briddle asked with unsavory amounts of confidence and ego.

For the first few moments, no response came. Just as his patience hit its limit, he started to hear a soft chuckle while the smoke cleared. Azhane floated down to the ground with her ethereal swords rotating around and protecting her. Once again, she didn’t have a scratch on her.

Briddle was bewildered that his attack had no effect and even though he had been wanting to get some kind of reaction out of her, this was not what he expected at all. She continued to softly chuckle at him, finding his declaration rather hilarious.

“You dare laugh at me, girl?!? Has my power driven you mad now that we’re equals??” Briddle replied with anger, feeling greatly disrespected at this moment. Azhane wiped a joyous tear from her eye as she finally stopped laughing, gathering herself before giving a reply.

“Please, tell me this isn’t the extent of your strength. Surely you have more power than this heh heh.” She commented with a snicker, trying her best to keep from laughing again.

“What do you mean?! If this is som-” His irritated reply was cut short by Azhane’s soft yet disappointed whisper.

“And to think I hesitated for this long… Tch, what a joke…” Briddle and his subordinates continued to look confused by her statements, not knowing where she was going with this. However, deep down they began to feel like something was incredibly wrong with this situation.

“What I meant to say is, why are you so weak?” She added with another slight snicker, still feeling tickled by Briddle’s previous words. Despite her playful and joking demeanor, they could tell that she was being dead serious.

His previously smug expression shifted completely as he heard her simple question. Briddle was absolutely speechless as he saw her laugh at him like he was some harmless and adorable child.

“And what is this nonsense about being equals? There isn’t a single lifetime where that stupid statement would be true…” She softly replied with a slight smile.

Before Briddle could even reply to these outlandish comments, for a brief moment, Azhane exerted her Core Energy to the max and what they all felt was beyond comprehension. The pressure was terrifyingly suffocating and the power spike could be felt halfway across the nation, causing nearby Vestas to sense Azhane’s presence. Seconds later, Karris fell to his knees as though he had just witnessed a God straight from the Core of Alaira itself.

“Extraordinary… Simply... Marvelous!” Karris yelled out as he lost his mind completely, dumbfounded at the overwhelming amount of Core Energy permeating before them. Briddle continued to be at a loss for words as his body screamed for him to flee.

“No human should have this much Core Energy within them… H-How is she... Even real?” He was in a stupor as Azhane slowly held her hand up, aiming it at the group. Her glare stabbed into them like searing hot daggers as she prepared her next move.

In an instant, Briddle, Lovi, Karris, and Trion found themselves in a new location. It was completely empty, cold, and devoid of any landmarks. Everyone looked around with perplexed expressions, trying to figure out where this new and unfamiliar destination was.

“Lord Briddle, what is this place?? Where is the palace?” Trion asked, wondering where everything went.

“I’m not sure… Karris, do you know where we are?” Briddle asked but when he turned to Karris, he noticed that he was looking up at the sky. Briddle shifted his attention upward and saw Azhane hovering high above them with her arms fully stretched out.

“What is that cursed woman doi-.” Briddle couldn’t finish his sentence as he was stunned by what he saw in the sky. Hundreds of thousands of swords began forming, entering from the deep purple void above.

“What is this madness!?” Lovi questioned with a terror filled yell. Briddle yet again had no words to speak and no moves to make.

For the first time since his revival, Briddle felt true fear. No one from his era commanded a power like this and he couldn’t understand how this was possible. Beads of sweat ran down his face and his heart raced harder than it ever had.

“This is absurd… I-I was naive to think I could cross her... As far as she’s concerned, we’re nothing more than mosquitos to her...” Briddle stared up at Azhane with a blank expression, now fully realizing the mistake he had made. Their eyes met for a brief moment and all Briddle could see was true evil. A level of sinisterness that made his entire crusade look like a charming fairy tale.