CHAPTER 423

OVERCOMING (I)

Hannah's eyes fluttered for a moment as she groaned in pain, her blurry vision recovering somewhat as she tried to sit up. She suddenly felt a pair of gentle arms help as she glanced sideways, recognizing a familiar face of her Master, smiling. She smiled back, taking the help and sitting up, observing the room around her.

It took but a moment to realize she was in Myveen’s chambers, a simple-stacked room with a praying mat, a bed, and several bookshelves to the far left. Though the peace washed over her for a moment, it didn’t last long as memories came surging back.

“W-what happened?!” she quickly asked, turning her head to Myveen. “Where—where’s Lino?!”

“He’s fine, he’s fine, just sit down already,” Myveen chuckled gently, pushing Hannah back onto the bed. “I suppose, in a way, we won. We are phasing through the realities right now, rather casually if I may say so. It looks like we aren’t being followed.”

"… ah… that's good… --no, wait, if he's fine, he'd definitely be here. What are you hiding from me, Master?" Hannah quickly asked, the look of worry growing deeper on her face.

“He’s resting,” Myveen replied. “I didn’t exactly see it myself, but from what I gathered he managed to kill Three in the last bout which cost him quite a bit. I’m sure he’ll swing by the first chance he gets.”

“… he… the motherfucker what now?!”

“What do you mean the motherfucker-what-now?! Didn’t you hear how badass my story is? Humph, you should be getting wet right about now!” Hannah’s horrid expression suddenly mellowed as she glanced sideways; leaning against the wall, the familiar figure sauntered at her with a slightly prideful grin on his face. He was bandaged up quite a bit, some remnants of disfigurement still present, though she hardly noticed the blemishes.

“Hey…” she mumbled faintly, slowly trying to shuffle out of the bed, Lino, however, quickly storming over and holding her down.

“Amadeel tells me you too went a bit nuts out there,” he said, stroking her hair gently. “Aah, I’m so sad I missed it.”

“It’s alright,” Hannah said, taking a deep sniff. “I’ll go nuts for you anytime.”

“Hey, guys,” Myveen suddenly chimed in from the side, her eyebrows twitching. “Did you already forget I was here?”

“… yep.” both replied at the same time causing Myveen to both groan and laugh at the same time.

“Alright, I’ll leave you two to it. Don’t make her do any hard work for now Lino,” she added, slowly moving toward the exit. “Congratulations, by the way. And good luck.”

“… thanks.” both replied with somewhat sheepish smiles as Myveen left.

“So… I guess everyone knows?” Hannah asked quickly.

“I may have mentioned it to Ella… and, well, uh… you know her…” Lino mumbled, scratching his nose.

“… so, yeah, everyone knows. Eh, it’s fine. You alright? Killing Three can’t have been easy.” she asked.

“Ah, it’s mostly just a backlash from using a sliver of Primal Chaos,” Lino replied, lying next to her. “Boy, that shit is dangerous. I really need to be careful with it. It practically nullifies anything it touches.”

“… you? Being careful with something? Yeah, right.”

“Ha ha, yeah, I guess it is a curse,” he chuckled. “You ought to do a better job of reigning me in.”

“… nah,” she said, snuggling into his chest slowly. “I love you just the way you are…”

Alison was currently sitting in a half-sleeping state on a rocky chair, the only source of light in the room being a shimmering white crystal embedded in the sidewall behind her, casting rays of light over her shoulders and onto the bed in front of her where Lucky was lying fast asleep under a thin blanket.

The former was startled full-awake by a low groan of pain and a shuffle of folding cloth as she shot up to her feet. With trembling arms, she reached over and grabbed Lucky’s hand as the latter turned toward her with a startled cry, her expression mellowing right after.

“Yo’,” Lucky called out with a grin. “You look like you could use a drink. How about you pour us some, huh?”

“… is this really time for jokes?” Alison mumbled, pouting faintly. “I was really worried, you know?!”

“Aww, that’s so sweet.”

“H-hey!! Don’t make fun of me!”

“I would never.”

“… haah,” sighing in defeat, Alison sat next to Lucky. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Lucky asked, sitting up herself and taking out a bottle of wine from her void treasure as she realized Alison wasn’t going to.

“Because you rushed headfirst into the battle!” Alison exclaimed.

“… eh,” Lucky shrugged, taking a sip and moaning right after as the slightly bitter wine hit all the right spots. “Not exactly headfirst. My dear Master, I’m afraid, hoisted that banner.”

“—he… well, he’s… he’s an Empyrean! It’s different!”

“Oh? What? Are you saying he can take care of himself and I can’t?” Lucky asked with a playful grin.

“No, not that,” Alison quickly shook her head. “I… I don’t know, I…”

“Ha ha ha ha,” Lucky burst out into laughter over Alison’s awkwardness. “I get it, don’t worry. And, yeah, he probably can. But, you know, we can’t expect him to, now can we? You also headed out there rather quickly.”

“Yes, but I was accompanied by my Master and Elders and—”

“And I was accompanied by hundreds of people, Ally,” Lucky said, her smile waning slightly. “Some barely fifteen. If I cowered, what of them, then? I had to be the first there, to alleviate their tasks as much as possible. They weren’t ready…”

“… yeah… I… I heard, some of them died…” Alison mumbled lowly. “How… how are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Lucky said. “Plenty died today. But even more would have if everyone selfishly cared for themselves over everyone else. Hannah’s pregnant, yet she faced off an entire side herself. Ella held up the entire fortress all on her own against the siege of the thousands. Eggor’s just a smith, yet he managed to bar back attacks for over a minute. Your Master, Hannah’s, Amadeel, heck, I saw even Val actually fighting. Everyone played their part. Even Eve and Al’, and Tom and Edith, shit, I think I even saw Litha and Vyrove picking up the slack toward the end.”

“… you’re right,” Alison sighed lowly. “Doesn’t make it easier, though. When I came back and they told me you were passed out… aah…”

“Well, of course I was passed out,” Lucky shrugged. “I fought for like ten minutes without holding anything back. I’m more of a backstabber rather than a direct fighter. It was fucking exhausting. Right, do you have any news on Lino?”

“He’s banged up, but fine from what I’ve heard,” she replied. “As to how… I… don’t know. You must have sensed it too, didn’t you? The oscillations coming from where they fought…”

"… I have, yeah," Lucky said, replying to the tightening of Alison's grip on her fingers. "They were pretty insane."

“… pretty insane?” Alison chuckled bitterly. “He’s… he’s our age, L’. Even younger. And, it doesn’t matter that he’s the Empyrean. Those oscillations had nothing to do with that. It’s his Will. Have you ever wondered? How he managed to make it like that?”

"… I have," Lucky nodded after a short silence. "But, it's nothing mysterious, Al'. It's actually rather simple."

“Hm?” Alison hummed, glancing at her.

"He's spent most of his life with a target on his back," Lucky explained. "Always chased, made into a monster, fought and crippled. Since the day I met him, well over two decades ago now, he's hardly had a week of proper rest. Time and again he'd find himself in situations like this one… where odds were overwhelmingly against him. When he was just a pipsqueak yet to even hit Level 100, he was already fighting against people hundreds of levels above him. This struggle, I imagine, defined him… among crippling losses he'd suffered over the years."

“… aren’t you the same?” Alison asked. “Why is your Will so different, then?”

“… because he can’t let go,” Lucky said, smiling gently. “I deal with my demons, but he uses them to fuel himself. I don’t know how he does it Ally,” she added, sighing. “How he holds onto all the pain and anger for all this time without going absolutely insane. That’s what makes him so different than us. You can crack at him, beat at him, do anything and everything in your power… but, no matter what… in the end, he cannot be broken.”

Eggor was currently staring angrily at the somewhat awkward-looking Ella, the former holding young, sleeping Cae in his arms. His thick mustache and eyebrows trembled ever so often as a pair of dusk-dark eyes glazed over the woman in front of him.

“Humph,” he scoffed. “You’re lucky that bastard really did ask you to do it. Humph.”

“… why?! Why is it okay I overexerted myself because of him but not because of me?!” Ella cried out faintly.

“’cause he’s our boy. You’re a grown-ass woman who should know better!”

“… argh… yeah, you’re right,” she chuckled, getting up as well and kissing Cae’s forehead gently as to not wake him. “If you should be angry with someone, it should be him though. You saw his state when he came back.”

“Oh, trust me, he’s got it coming. I mean, for god’s sake, he’s about to be a father! How can his thick-fucking-skull be so stubborn and stupid?!” Eggor quickly fired out. “I’m just waiting for him to recover slightly so he can take my eighteen hours long lecture that I had prepared!”

“… why do I have a feeling you’ll go in with that intent but end up drinking yourself to sleep with him as you two wind up going through the entire once more.” Ella said, suddenly bursting out into laughter. “Ha ha ha, aah… even after all these years, you are still beyond adorable when you blush.”

“S-shut up. That won’t happen again!”

“Sure won’t, big guy.”

**

Six hadn't moved from the spot he stood at when Three fell for over an hour now, his lips trembling still. Two was in a similar state, though she had managed to put herself in a meditative disposition after undergoing the Awakening; that was merely, however, temporarily delaying the similar shellshocked reality Six was dealing with.

He was perhaps the one who gave Lino the most credit out of every other Descender, and in his heart, he even suspected to have overestimated him slightly… yet, despite that, he never once, even for a second, believed Lino had the capability to kill any one of the Descenders from the top twenty, let alone Three. Yet, the reality was right there – Three was no more, and Lino escaped. That attack, Six was certain, would have killed everyone save for perhaps One… and even he would have had to evade it rather than take it head-on. There was something uniquely different about it – it wasn't an Art of any sort or a technique… it was just an ordinary attack.

The difference lay in the fact that it obliterated everything it touched – the conceptualized nothingness existed, orbiting the surface of that blade and all it stirred. He didn't know what it was, or how Lino pulled it off… but, what he did know was that today would change the course of history forever – for the first time since the Descent's inception, anyone within the ranks of top forty was felled… and, even worse, it was Three, the quintessential element to a lot of future plans. You… ah, you certainly know just what to do to stir the hornet’s nest… Six thought, sighing audibly. But… do you yet know the consequences, Lino?