Chapter 6

“Begin!”

Victoria didn’t charge at me right away, instead she simply kept her guard up as she surveyed what I was doing. Taking slow deliberate steps towards her, I moved slightly to her left, circling her.

“Stop smiling freak”

Victoria, completely calm, matched me as she turned her body to face me. Just as she was making the second step…

Blinding!

I closed my eyes as I willed my blade to explode into light! I swung my blade downwards at its flat edge as it scraped across the floor creating unholy sounds. Opening my eyes again, I saw Victoria’s dazed expression as I charged in.

Jumping slightly and putting my all, I swung down…

*clang!* again! *clang!* That’s not the sound of cutting through flesh…

I flipped backwards into a safe distance again as I realized what had happened.

She blocked it with her hand? Her Body Resistance is that strong? That blade was coated with shinsu though…

A thought of panic shot through my head before I forcefully shut it down. No person who haven’t even begun climbing the tower could be invincible, she must have taken damage or at least some pain.

However Victoria showed no signs of pain or struggle but I she remained silent, her lips thin as if holding in a sound.

An intimidation strategy? It’s effective but why not fight directly when she obviously can?

Blade Aura II

The white aura on my blade thickened as the lines became more pronounced and the blade began to hum with energy once more. If she’s going to try and play with me, then I had no reasons not to entertain her.

Arie Style-Chain Fury

On the offensive, I pushed her with the fastest strikes I could manage one after another. From all angles, the chained strikes struck…but all were parried. Nothing I didn’t expect though, as expected of someone of her caliber…how was she not chosen by Headon to become a regular yet?

Arie Swordsmanship, Stance Breaker

Forcefully locking our blades, I pushed further as I began to gain ground. Just as she was beginning to take a step back…

I tightened the muscles on my forehead before…*bash!*

Victoria’s look of shock as I head butted her right in the nose. I twisted the angle of my blade as I tried to pry it into her defense but…

*creak…*

So Close…

The tip stopped right in front of her chest where her heart should be. Victoria, who had also realized the danger, narrowed her eyes. I saw her wrist begin to turn as the lean muscles on her arm began to flex.

Slowly…the angle of our lock began to change. The edge came closer and closer to me until it right right below my neck…

“I should have ended you right from the beginning” Her soft whisper sounded. “What’s so funny?!”

Just as the blade pushed further, I ducked under and let my blade flow. I felt her swing miss barely over my head as I reached into my clothes…grabbing the short handle of the blade I had kept hidden

*drip…* *drip…*

I missed. Even fighting dirty…I still managed to miss

A dagger stuck out of Victoria’s right chest as she stumbled back once…twice…she regained her balance as she ripped out the blade. The warm liquid began to stain her clothing but knowing Victoria, she would easily shrug it off until the end of the fight. Didn’t mean there was no pain though, I could almost hear the grinding of her teeth as her brows scrunched up together in focus.

As a rather dangerous kick came for my head, I rolled to the side and stood up as I saw Victoria mid-air, already in the process of slamming down her sword.

Don’t defend! Dodge!

I barely managed to sidestep as another gleam of silver warned me of the next strike, and the next, and the next.

A flurry of strikes of rage came at me as parried them off one by one. The strength of each strike was hard even through the blocks as I felt my hand go numb.

“STOP SMILING DAMN IT!”

I have to use it…if it even works!?

I kicked her off but she was right on me again in a second.

Blessing of Athena: Pattern Recognition

… …

It worked…it worked! The Blessing’s effect was immediate as my eyes began to trace her sword. My mind and body moved perfectly together and began to push Victoria back. The surreal feeling as if someone else was controlling my body as I finally felt as if I was on equal footing with my opponent.

My insides was filled with the sensation of pure disgust at having to rely on them for help but survival took precedence over anything. I knew this feeling of hatred would burn inside me which was why I tried to ignore the holy blessings inside of me all my life but…but…

“Heh”

My smile grew wider as Victoria’s face twisted to that of confusion, eye widening in shock and glaring in anger. Hatred of loathing aside, perhaps I did have a chance today.

The swordplay went back and forth but I was gaining more and more momentum, strength, and hope as each of my strikes became faster, heavier, and accurate. Victoria, on the other hand, was getting slower and slower as she continued to leave a trail of blood from her chest, the small cuts across her arms.

Come on come on!

Just a little more and I have this battle in my hands.

*ripple*

??!

*burble* *burble*

“I should have done this to begin with”

Behind her were 2 glowing orbs of water…shinsu. But…but…I knew that father’s contract with the ‘guardians of the tower’ flowed through our blood which meant that the Arie children didn’t require to make a direct contract with the administrator to use shinsu but…

I really didn’t think she would be able to create and control ‘rooms’ like a Wave Controller to this extent.

A shimmer of blue was followed by two beams of shinsu. Dodging under the first one and parrying the second I tried to create some distance.

“You don’t get to run anymore”

Thin rays of shinsu were cutting through the air, the floor, the rubble, and anywhere that I managed to dodge…barely.

Using her entire weight, her blade locked with mine as she brought it down to the ground. Using her left hand, she grabbed my hair as she held me in place.

So she’s fighting dirty as well?

I saw the delight in her eyes as blue light shined from the corner of my eyes just before I felt it.

Pain. Intense sudden sharp pain. My side felt unnaturally hot…empty yet burning as I felt my life seep through where the hole would be. My hair still held in her hands, I lost control of my knees as I buckled and fell. The foreign shinsu continued to drill into my side over and over as it excavated my flesh and spilled the blood. Over and over, room after room of shinsu appeared as my natural-given shinsu resistance failed against the relentless attacks.

I wasn’t allowed to fall or even kiss the ground as my head was forcefully held up as I tried to keep conscious.

A thousand burning needles was stuck in my side as cold wind blew where flesh should be. Cold, hot, numb…fading slightly. My mouth felt strange…surely that couldn’t just be saliva could it? The metallic liquid running down the corners of my lips.

Should I have tried to run after all? Away from the tournament, away from the family?

I couldn’t see much anymore and I could hear even less. Were those the cheers of the audience or the judge telling her that it was her right to finish me off?

I blinked and the world cleared…cleared only to see my own blade, Azurite, no longer in the right hand. She held my blade up high as she was cheered on by the supporters, those cowards.

It seemed that things got slower as I saw the sharp edge come down for my neck, inching closer and closer to take my life. I resisted, of course, or rather tried to as I powerlessly tried to pry off her hands from my hair; push myself away from danger. Nothing worked.

‘Lub-dub’

The blade was getting closer

‘lub-dub’

My heart? My eye?

I always knew my left eye was strange, different, but it had never been a problem. The cursed eye who’s vision had caused it to rot, crystalize, and preserve the unholy memory for eternity…and followed me into this new life. It had never acted like this, been this painful or strange.

But now it did.

… …

It must have been an instinct. A natural fear, rejection, of certain death as I felt something that was fundamentally me, my soul, eject something.

Darkness, an evil I was too familiar with, was pumped from my heart as I felt it burn its way up. Under my chest, through my throat and right into my eyes.

And then…I heard a voice. A deep voice of an aged old man…a voice which had suffered too much.

‘We don’t like it that a child is using what is ours…but as our lives are tied with yours…we’ll make an exception just this once’

Pandora’s Curse; Lyssa-Reflection

What was that?!

Darkness bursted from my left side as my sight got dimmer…but I wasn’t dead. How was I still alive?

My hand clutching and covering the left side of my face, I looked up to see with my one good eye, the normal one.

What I saw was Victoria on the ground with quite the distance from myself. When was she pushed all the way back there?

I wasn’t given the chance to rest as my heart beat harder once again…and again. It thumped hard against my chest until I thought my breath couldn’t keep up. It heated up until I could feel the fire in my heart.

*drip* *drip*

Onto the ground dripped some foul black ooze of unknown nature. The source of the sinful liquid none other than organ my hand was covering up; however, it seemed as if the evil was only beginning.

*Cough* *cough*

I was nearly puking on the ground as another detached from my soul, my self. It felt as if acid was making its way the wrong way as it too made its way into my left eye.

No, no! Not again!

I held my palm against my eye harder as the evil within tried to push its way out. I let my eye open for the sin as it began to burn through my hand. Still, I held it in. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t.

The Blessings were one thing but this…this was like reliving that moment. A time I would rather spend in the depths of Tartarus than be reminded of.

Yet as my offender, Victoria, approached me once again with sword in hand…the courage and will I had built up broke down like sand. The dry walls of it’s castle holding nothing together, opening the way for whatever beast inside.

I lowered my hand and hell let loose

Pandora’s Curse; Apephagia- Toxingenesis & Pathogenesis

My left sight which was dim already turned pitch black immediately, closing off its senses to witness the carnage that followed…but my right side was open to see it all.

Victoria’s march was halted as her mouth hung open but no sound came out. It was her legs that began to spasm first followed by her arms before she lost control over herself and fell forward.

An unhealthy shade of blue appeared on her face as her skin began to darken. Rot appeared on her side as black blood seeped out. It spread rapidly to all her body and face as the horrific sight continued. Her eyes, initially of shock turned into panic, fear, pure terror, and right before her head too lost strength, I saw her eyes looking for mercy.

I had none of offer. It was no longer mine to give

Evil worked its way on her as it bit her, bled her, rot her, all while the pain of being alive ate away her will. Despair, grief, fear, terror, depression, guilt, and the knowledge of defeat.

I saw the moment where the light in her eyes went out before she was even dead. Her arms swung loose as my sword, Azurite, was dropped to the side. Even as she lay in defeat, unmoving, the full might of Adephagia was not done yet. All the diseases that laid waste to humanity, all the pain was on her. All plagues known to man destroyed her cell one by one as a finale impossible to forget played out.

She melted where she lay. Her body, no longer able to hold itself together even on a microscopic level, failed as she melted.

As I watched this, I saw the light shimmer beside me as I saw something I never wanted to see again. It was no longer exactly the same as it seemed bigger than last time and very well decorated.

On its sides were elaborate ancient carvings and drawing of them. High on a mountain which stood above the clouds were the Olympians and their servants crowning a single mortal girl, the first girl.

Yet directly under the mountain where a small jar lay where demons, who represented all evil in the world, were being forced inside by the servant gods…closing the lid and ready to be presented to someone with unquenchable curiosity.

Next to me, as I lay half dead on the arena, stood the cursed pithos.

Pandora’s Jar

AN: I really hope this chapter was worth the effort... it's only 2300+ words but it felt like an eternity writing it because I reworte it 3,4 times.