Clink! Clank!

Sparks flew each time Evelyn swung her sword.

Clang!

Chips and cracks encroached her sword.

Cling!

And then it snapped.

“Tsk!” In a swift motion, Evelyn threw her broken sword. Then, as soon as she grasped thin air, a different sword appeared in her grasps. “Why! Won’t! It! Break!”

A wide swing. A thrust. A slash from above. Each of her attacks was either blocked or dodged. And despite the occasional swords shooting out of nowhere, Evelyn was far from inflicting a grievous wound.

“That’s it. More. Use it more!” The man drew his spear and deflected yet another swing from Evelyn—a spear made of densely compressed ice.

Whenever Evelyn succeeded in chipping the man’s spear, a liquid would immediately cover the chip and recover.

“Which would run out first?” The man asked with a chuckle. “Would it be your swords? Or would it be my mana?”

Evelyn grit her teeth in response. Despite the obvious difference in strength she kept going.

Please, just hold out. Hold out until I reached a decent level of proficiency!

A difference in level is not everything—or so Evelyn thought. However, at the passing moment, albeit marginal, Evelyn’s speed increased. It was as if to say that facing a far greater enemy and pushing one’s limits hastens one’s development.

Either way, the trade kept going. They traded slashes and thrusts with very little change from their initial location on the iceberg. So to say, Evelyn failed to push or pull the man from their initial location. The man too failed to do so—or deliberately made it so.

Come on. Hold out.

“Are you not worried about your friend?” The man smiled.

“She’s no friend… of mine!” Evelyn said in-between slashes. The first connected and the second missed.

But it would be great if she was fine… That blow was… undoubtedly fatal…

With her own two eyes, Evelyn saw how Amelia dipped into the sea with a great amount of force.

I don’t think jumping from a ten-story building would even make that big of a splash… but even if she lived that… she might be drowning right now… Can’t hope for much. Just have live with what I have right now.

“Oh, but I’m pretty sure she’s alive. Barely, maybe. Anyway, let’s think about your situation rather than hers.”

Partly covered by both sand and dirt, Amelia was laid unconscious on the sea floor. Her breathing had long stopped. The air in her lungs had long since escaped and was replaced by seawater. All that was left that functioned was her horn, which, as a Divine, sustains her life. So, even if her humanly functions stopped, it could still be supported by her Divine self. Such was her situation.

She was alive—as a Divine. At the same time, almost dead—as a human.

No ordinary human would have survived such a blow. No human would remain intact after such a blow. Normally, an ordinary human would have already burst into bits and pieces after receiving such. However, Amelia was, through and through, intact.

No limbs were lost. Her shoulders were not pulverized. No torn flesh. No smears or scratches. Everything about her body was normal. The only visible damage was her losing consciousness.

Everything was normal, save for the white fabric wrapped around her body and a somewhat translucent layer of thick mana—a mana closely similar to that of Evelyn’s while unconscious.

I was enveloped by a floating sensation. It was a familiar one. The feeling of losing consciousness. Yes, it was close to that. A state where I lose control of my own and blank out. It happened so often that I could realize what was supposed to happen next. However… However,

I… could think. I… am conscious…

I found it ironic. Impossible. Jarring, maybe. I understood that it was the sensation I felt every time I fell unconscious. Therefore, I should not be able to think. I shouldn’t know that I myself am unconscious. It was…

Unbelievable. This should not be possible.

However, no matter how much time I spent, I could not form any concrete answer. Though I have experienced moving my consciousness from myself to one of Celes’s dolls, it was seamless. I never felt it was not my body. I had all the functions that a conscious person had. Therefore, the only answer I came into was,

Celes… But she said she won’t intervene. Still… I couldn’t think of anything else. But maybe it’s me… Celes didn’t appear at the last moment anyway. Even now, there is no contact.

It had been always like this. It was tiring. Every time I encountered something related to my Divinity, I knew nothing. I had to question myself repeatedly and waste time. But I could not blame myself. I needed to know. I wanted to know. Just seeing that it works was not enough for me.

Celes. I don’t care. I want to know. I need to know a way to wake myself up.

[You sure are impatient, Amelia]

Ahh… so you were listening after all. You should have spoken earlier. But in any case, please tell me what is happening. Tell me how to wake up or… am I dead?

[You are alive and well, Amelia. You need not worry. But if you’re that much in a hurry, let me tell you what is happening.]

Wait, you will? I thought… I must learn things by myself?

[It’s true I said that. However, this case is not something that could be explained by anyone else. And your question is closely related to you being far different from others. To put into simple terms, only I can explain your current situation. No other Divine other than you and me could experience this phenomenon. You could say it’s only you and me who could experience this. No, right now, it’s only you.]

Ahh… Then it’s because of being a type of Divine like you.

[No. It is not because of that. The reason is that you are on the verge of being both a human and a Divine.]

Being a half?

[Not necessarily half. Your humanity itself, just as I had explained before, will vanish in time. There was never truly a half, Amelia. It’s either you become a being of a race or a Divine. And usually, Divinity overpowers racial identity. It’s like comparing a God and an ordinary being.]

I could not help but remain silent. It was… a lot for me to process.

[Either way, let’s return to your question. Right now you are part human, part Divine. However, since only one would prevail over the other, there needs to be a transition. You may say that in this case, your Divine self is sharing consciousness with your human self. I coined it as Shared Consciousness.]

[To make things as simple as possible, everything about your human self is being replicated to your Divine self. At the same time, they are being shared. However, not all functions have been replicated and shared yet. See where I’m going?]

So, currently, my human functions are in a state of being unconscious?

[Yes. That is the answer.]

Then how will I wake myself up?

[Your Divine self is awake, right?] Celes chuckled. [Why not experiment on your own body with some magic?]

AH!

[You seemed to have gotten the idea. Well then, Amelia, I’ll be watching.]

Amelia’s body began to glow. After five minutes, the glow subsided, and Amelia’s eyelids rose. Slowly, like a patient, Amelia sat up and cuffed her left shoulder.

It’s okay…

Amelia was sure of it. After the blade instantly snapped, Amelia unconsciously accepted that she would lose a part of her body. Or at least her shoulders torn and shredded from her body. Instead, what she felt were constant aches all over her body.

Amelia took notice of the fabric. It was the same fabric she used against the Angel and against the Dragon—Celes’s gift to Amelia.

I don’t remember manifesting it from the necklace…

Another oddity caught Amelia’s sight. On top of the usual thin-layered translucent mana she covered herself most of the time, there was another substance. It was similar to the mana she used. They did not mix. There was no reaction from both layers.

But then, Amelia’s knit themselves.

It’s the same as the one the necklace absorbed from Evelyn.

Again, Amelia could not recall manifesting such. Nor did she remember the necklace having such a function.

I see.

Amelia found a small trail of mana coming from the necklace. The trail was directly connected onto the layer of mana similar to that of Evelyn’s.

It did absorb it after all. It’s simply… expelling it? Making good use of it? But… is it permanent? Or it’ll last depending on how much I absorbed?

The necklace never reacted to anything—except to Evelyn. Or in this case, to Heroes.

It’s made by Celes. And she was collecting those souls from the Heroes… maybe she made it like that? But what would happen if I made Meiko touch it? What will it absorb? No. Let’s not think about it right now. Focus. Focus. But then again, why is the fabric out? Did it manifest to protect me?

Amelia returned her sight to her glowing clothes. Rather than form the usual one-piece dress. Most of the fabric formed a sash that covered a wide area of her left shoulder.

But three different forms of mana at the same time… I’ve never considered it but… I think what Celes taught me about mana would be useful…

A fabric woven with mana. An autonomous layer of mana for protection. Both were far different from the form of mana Amelia kept using to enhance her body. However, at the least, she found another use for mana. The matter of how to create such, however, was entirely a different challenge.

Anyway. A shiver ran down Amelia’s spins. I must overcome that thing.

Amelia swam towards the surface.

How to say this. I don’t feel as motivated when facing either the Dragon or the Angel… Amelia wore a frown. Is it because they aren’t my people? Am I… that cold now? No, I’m no Hero. My desire is to protect and uplift my people. Don’t get your priorities wrong, Amelia. Not everyone… can be saved.

A tinge of regret and sorrow swirled around Amelia. However, that swirl of emotions was incomparable to that of the past two major events.

Besides… I don’t really know why I’m fighting right now. Sure, there are benefits in turning things around, but… it doesn’t feel like clicks in place. Something is… missing. I can’t really put it into words, but there seems to be no goal for me here… other than surviving. But if Evelyn dies here… would I even care?

Amelia contemplated. A situation where a Hero is removed from the list of problems she had to face.

It will be easier on my side… quite frankly. But if she did die and revive… that’s…

Amelia bit her lip. She then surfaced and coughed to expel seawater contained in her lungs, eventually replacing it with air.

It burns…!

Amelia held her chest as she endured the pain. A few more minutes passed as she idly floated and recovered her human bodily functions.

“Haaahhh…” Amelia breathed a long, heavy sigh. She clapped her hands on her cheeks a few times and shook her head. “Don’t lose sight. Your main goal is to recover the guards. I need to be the one to take it from Evelyn. Not someone who had shown itself for some unknown reason.”

Amelia then tried to control the outer layer of mana—the mana which came from Evelyn.

“… Does she even know how to use her blessing?” In a short moment, just like how she did in the lake back in Alabaster, Amelia was standing on seawater. “Now then. I should treat that man to be on the level of Fenrir, or at least on the level he had shown me.”

Amelia gripped her hands—her two shaking hands. “But this isn’t training. My limbs won’t grow back if I fail. I won’t recover if something punched through my chest.”

Amelia held her hands close and began quivering. “It’s alright. It’s alright, Amelia. You’ll overcome this. You’ll face something far difficult than this. You need to overcome this. You must get over this. There is no choice. There are no shortcuts. The pain only means you are fighting, you are trying.”

Amelia bit her lips until beads of blood peered from the small wound.

“You’ll gain nothing from cowardice, Amelia. Don’t look back. Keep going forward.”

Amelia took a step forward with heavy breaths. She then took another and took a walking pace.

“Come on. Come on.”

Amelia pushed herself forward, but she never felt complacent. She realized. The man saw through her illusion. That simple ability immediately invalidated most, if not all, of Amelia’s usual tactics. What was left was a straight-up battle of physical or magical prowess.

“Come to think of it… I think Amalthea is supposed to see too. Or… she was giving me a handicap.” For a moment, Amelia chuckled. “I’d be dead by now if she didn’t.”

Amelia stopped and began to laugh. “Right. Right. Even if it wasn’t a direct battle, I was supposed to face that Devourer. That huge worm. I almost beat Amalthea’s trial. Then there’s that humongous snake that ate the Devourer. Then there’s Fenrir.”

Gradually, Amelia’s shaking calmed.

“Think, Amelia. Illusions and trickery are not all you have. You are no longer bound by human capabilities. It’s fine to overextend. It’s fine to think past the human limits…”

Amelia began increasing her pace.

“Recall everything. You have been studying.” Amelia unsteadily reached out to her hips. The sword belt she got from Dwight apparently broke off. “There’s no weapon. But if there isn’t any… make yourself as one. Be the weapon you needed, Amelia.”

So far, Sun’s Seer was the most destructive magic Amelia knew. She knew well how a large Seer can stand up to a Dragon’s breath. However, Amelia’s method of incorporating Sun’s Seer into tactics was lacking.

“There is one…”

Turning back to Evelyn and the man’s battle, the situation was a stalemate. However, the scales were leaning towards Evelyn.

Evelyn stopped accelerating and hurtling swords with gravity. Despite that, small cuts and bruises covered the man’s exposed skin. His lower body, covered with fur, was relatively fine. Even so, those cuts and bruises vanished after a glow or two.

Despite Evelyn’s advantage, her cuts and swings connected less than before. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead and rough breathing exposed her depleting stamina. Even so, Evelyn followed-up with a different tactic.

With the passage of time, more and more chips of metal and broken blades littered the iceberg. It was an inevitable sight. However, in a final ditch tactic, Evelyn moved around and collected the littered swords and bits. Then, instead of accelerating whole swords, she accelerated the bits of metal and the broken blades. With bits of metal bursting out, the tactic was akin to using shotguns loaded with shells that contained steel.

The man suffering from the brunt retracted his smile. On the other hand, It was Evelyn who wore a wide grin.

“Where’s your haughty attitude now?”

“Right here.”

The man finally took a step forward and swung his spear in a wide arc, prompting Evelyn to jump excessively backward.

“Here’s another one.”

The man ignored the damage his flesh was taking and pushed Evelyn further. With another swing, Evelyn reached the corner of the iceberg.

Evelyn, realizing the man’s attempt moved towards the side but was met with pillars of ice bursting from the iceberg itself.

“There’s nowhere to run but into the sea, girl.”

“You’re wrong!”

From the front bits burst towards the man. In return, the man deployed five layers of barriers. The metal then crushed four barriers and lost its momentum on the fifth.

In succession, a large shadow appeared just above the man. It was a boulder.

“I was thinking of dropping boulders during a siege would be helpful, but I didn’t think I’d use it for something like this!”

The man jumped backward as Evelyn climbed the boulder and jump towards the other side of the pillars of ice.

“Quite a tactic. It’ll take that in mind.”

The man jumped towards the other side as well but was met by another buck of metal bits. Then, upon recovering, his eyes met Amelia’s.

“You’re fine with switching opponents, aren’t you?” Amelia raised a sword she got from Evelyn and pointed the tip towards the man.

“Ahahaha! Why, yes. But I see you’re no longer hiding that despicable horn of yours. And that dress. I never knew you had the ability to weave them. It’s quite a surprise. A big surprise, if I say so. You may have well passed my experience with mana itself.”

“…”

“Was it compatibility?”

“Who knows? Maybe you just lack the brain for it.”

The man laughed. “Dear, did you know how difficult it is to weave mana into a physical object? Very few are well-versed of the topic. But if you managed to it so quickly, then I guess it’s a matter of compatibility. That, at least, eases my heart.”

“You’re welcome?”

“Ah, right. How typical of you. Sad to say, I had far more experience with battles. No simple instigation would work. Do remember that, Dear Princess.”

“Enough chat. I’m here to return what is due.”

“And that would be?”

“The innocents you mixed up with us!” Amelia rushed forwards with speed unlike her usual.

“Going all-out, I see!” The man responded in-kind. He tried to match Amelia’s speed and traded blows with her spear.

“I have seen this, already, Dear.” The man smiled. “You are simply repeating what the Hero did, less the projectiles. The only difference is that you are faster and sharper.”

“I need no advice.”

As Amelia and the man traded slashes, the first chip appeared on Amelia’s sword. In kind, the man chuckled. However, on Amelia’s face was a bright smile.

Amelia retracted her sword to her left side and crouched in preparation. A rising diagonal slash.

The man prepared to intercept, but as soon as Amelia begun her swing, numerous crackles of lightning were produced on the sword itself. The sword took the brunt and glowed white-hot. Then, as the spear and the sword met, the sword broke off. The other half, however, was flung towards the man’s shoulder.

As the man reared himself to dodge the flung melted part of the sword, Amelia threw sword as a follow-up and raised her palm forward.

“Goodbye.”

Then, at point-blank range, an explosion occurred.