Aurora straightened up, her chest rising as she drew in a deep breath. In that moment, to Somnus, Aurora exuded an air of threat that exceeded even that of Heptia"s. It was not just her sword; She herself appeared like a world-ending apostle.Hadron dashed towards her, and Aurora raised her sword. That was all she did, and Hadron fell to the ground.
Then a chasm opened behind Hadron and the shock wave from the sound knocked down trees. Clouds formed at the front of the shock wave as it travelled at speeds faster than the speed of sound. Somnus"s eardrums exploded - his organs rattling within his meat. Having never been a human before or experienced something like this, Somnus thought that he was going to die—he thought his organs would fly apart.
But they didn"t fly apart, and he did not die.
[System: Commencing repair procedures.]
[OPCOM: Aurora Threat Level updated: 10]
Hearing slowly returned to him. It was faint at first, but then he could clearly hear his surroundings once more, and the fading echo of Aurora"s retaliation. He picked up the sound of groaning and whining. He turned to find that almost everyone was knocked down to the ground, incapacitated by the sound alone. It affected even s.h.i.+non, a Herald.
[System: Project Hadron status: Unknown]
The last thing Somnus saw before his eyeb.a.l.l.s were vibrated into blindness was the modified goblin falling into the chasm.
A bright silver streak appeared in the air, trailing a blue light. Within a heartbeat, the silver light crossed dozens of meters and was about to reach Aurora when she reached out towards it with an open hand. The silver light stopped in mid-air abruptly. A golden magic circle appeared around the now frozen figure, holding it in place. It was Photon.
Aurora turned slowly towards Photon and closed her outstretched hand into a fist. A barrier appeared around Photon, dark red and translucent, but it exploded into shards a moment afterwards. Then one of Photon"s legs bent at a strange angle.
"[Gravity]" Aurora said, and the rest of Photon"s legs bent as an invisible force crushed Photon. Plates of argentmetal and orichalc.u.m flew off Photon"s body, falling to the ground, and a black, oily ichor poured out of the cracks.
Photon screeched—the first time it ever produced a sound. It was a sound of pain, rage, and helplessness.
Baryon was dragging himself towards Aurora, using his one good foreleg to do this task. "Leave… brood… brother… alone…" the creature hissed, its mandibles clicking.
The magic metal plates on the back of Photon"s body cracked, unleas.h.i.+ng a torrent of escaping magical energies into the air as the Arrays engraved on it were now broken. The fountain of mana flying into the air crystallized as it fell back to the ground.
"Monssss… ter…" Baryon hissed as he reached Aurora. A pitifully small spell circle appeared above Baryon"s head, revealing the internal damage he sustained. It was an attack spell, yet it was so small and weak it couldn"t even kill an ordinary monster.
Aurora stomped on Baryon"s head, crus.h.i.+ng both the spell circle and Baryon"s body. Green and black ichor exploded onto the ground. Even though she did not hesitate, her expression was one of lament and pity.
Photon screeched again—this time it was pure hatred and rage. Its appendages moved ever so slightly towards Aurora"s neck, intent on decapitating her. Then the plates from Photon"s forelegs flew off, crushed into pieces, and the exposed flesh and skeleton followed suit.
"Sssstop…" Baryon whined out. "Don"t… kill… br—"
Baryon"s entrails splatted onto the ground as Aurora"s stomp crushed his thorax. Baryon"s mana reactor—his heart—released a torrent of blue fire high into the sky as it reacted with the open air. Aurora"s remaining arm was blackened as it was caught in the torrent and she was forced to retreat, releasing Photon.
Photon screeched and whined as he dragged his crushed body towards Baryon"s remains, leaking black and green ichor with each movement. The sound was a ringing, clipping in and out of human hearing range.
Photon"s exposed exoskeleton flew apart as he touched the torrent of mana, but he continued dragging himself towards his fallen brood-brother until he was completely consumed in the blue glow.
Aurora turned towards Somnus.
[Mana output: 100%]
A low sound rumbled through the surroundings as he unleashed the mana limiters. Crystallized mana fell behind him, like snow on ash.
"[Black Hole]," Aurora uttered a single word and everything froze. The torrent of mana shooting from Baryon"s reactor looked like a stairway to the heavens, and even the crystallizing mana behind Somnus hovered helplessly, glimmering like diamonds.
However, Somnus and Aurora were not frozen in time like everything else was.
"All things must come to an end, Somnus," Aurora spoke. "You, the Empire, myself, the universe, even the world you come from—it all ends one day. Some sooner than others."
"How do you know about the world I come from?" Somnus asked, observing Aurora with a cold glint in his eyes.
Aurora shrugged helplessly, her one good arm brought up, palm turned to the heavens. "I have lived many lifetimes and forgotten many things. This is a cursed existence that I have; Always bound to this ident.i.ty—Aurora—even as I go through the spirals of death and rebirth."
Somnus narrowed his eyes at Aurora. The idea that she could be a True Hero like Somnus popped into his mind—it gnawed at his reason.
"In this life I am known as Touka. But in my very first one, I was known as Project May," Aurora said.
[Archive match: Project May]
[Project May: The only surviving subject of the Human Immortality Program.]
"Kaguya Mei," Somnus said. "The Immortal Empress."
Aurora nodded slowly. "You still remember your roots. I have mostly forgotten mine. Each time I reincarnate, a piece of me is lost. I only feel sorrow now, and I do not know why."
"Why do you stand in my way, Aurora?" Somnus asked. "You were once the tip of Humanity"s spear, slaying all that stood in the way of its prosperity."
"I have no choice," Aurora says. "What I was once is in the past; Now I am a slave to the Mechanism. I am the very thing I swore to destroy. That is why I have waited for this day to come, for so long. I waited… for you…"
"Why?" Somnus asked, an impulsive growl modifying his tone.
Aurora walked towards Somnus. "It doesn"t matter now. It is all over for me," she said, sighing and focusing her gaze to the ground. "I no longer have the strength or the spirit to fight. After so many lifetimes of being forced to slay the innocent... the helpless… my heart is broken. I will not fight you. You are the only one... I cannot fight."
The way she spoke calmed Somnus; Even though the voice of her current form was unfamiliar, in Somnus"s mind he could hear the familiar Empress speaking to him.
"Ever since I learned of Seraph"s existence, I knew the day would come when we would meet," she said, placing the palm of her hand on Somnus"s cheek. "I endured this fate for this moment, but when I look into your eyes, I see that you are not there. The real you—the one I am waiting on."
Somnus pushed her hand away. "What are you talking about? Define "real me". Comply."
She smiled apologetically. "It is so like you to be defiant," she said, ignoring Somnus"s question. "Standing against the G.o.ds, usurping destiny itself, even though you have not even found yourself yet. You deceive yourself, yet even so remain true to yourself. I wish I could"ve done that."
"Define unknown terms. Comply," Somnus reiterated, eyes narrowing dangerously.
"You will understand soon, when you meet the G.o.d of War," she said. "Just let me have this moment—this one moment of courage—to be like you and defy the Heavens."
Aurora turned towards the chasm Hadron fell in and gestured towards it, sending silver streamers of stardust towards it. She did the same for the final resting place of Baryon and Photon.
"[Reverse]," she said and a silver glow enveloped the locations where the streamers came to rest.
"What are you doing?" Somnus asked.
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"Undoing what I have done. Defying the Will," she said, looking back towards Somnus. Her hand trembled as it returned to rest on Somnus"s cheek. "This is the end for me. I will never be reborn again. I will never be able to see you again. But this is enough for me. Even though you can"t save me, the way I hoped you would, just seeing you again… it is enough. My heart overflows. Even though there is so much sorrow, there is also so much happiness."
Somnus moved to push her hand away again, but for some reason, his hand came to rest upon hers despite his intentions. Even he was surprised at his unintended reaction, as if his heart knew something his mind did not.
"Thank you," she said, closing her eyes and leaning her head against Somnus"s chest. Her diminutive form barely reached up to Somnus"s shoulder, and in that moment she looked fragile and weak—not the level 10 threat that Aeon"s systems reported.
"Will you hear my final, selfish request?" she asked, looking up at Somnus"s eyes.
"What is it?" Somnus asked.
"My sister, Project December, she is not like me. Please save her," she said.
[Archive Match: Project December]
[Project December: Mortal clones of Project May. Callsign: Kaguya Mizuki]
"In this life, she is known as Emily. Don"t let her end up like me," Aurora said and took a step back.
Somnus nodded. "I will try," he said.
Aurora nodded and flashed another apologetic smile. "Farewell, my love," she said.
The blade hovering around Aurora stopped and then turned towards her. Before Somnus could react, it pierced through Aurora"s heart.
Instantly, time resumed. Aurora"s form exploded into glittering stardust. The chasm Hadron was in repaired itself, and the goblin"s form seemingly reversed through time itself, backtracking all the way into Somnus"s shadow. Baryon and Photon went through the same process, reversing through time until they stood in the field, moments before they engaged Aurora.
The glittering stardust hovered in mid-air and then faded out, red-s.h.i.+fting until it completely disappeared. There was a sense of loss that everyone could feel, not just Somnus. As if the world lost something important to it—as if the heart of the world itself skipped a beat.
A silver light fell upon the Empire armies, in the vague shape of a sword, traveling through them like a wave that unmade everything it touched; their flesh, spirit and even the earth they stood on disappearing in the silver light. The sword of light, the [Calamity Blade], continued traveling onwards, erasing mountains and hills until it finally broke apart into glittering dust.
Inconceivable pain wracked Somnus, as he fell to his knees pressing both hands against his chest. The pain knocked the wind out of his lungs; It lay on his chest like a feather with the weight of an anvil. This pain, familiar yet unfamiliar, troubled him because he knew that he did not sustain any damage. Yet there it was, tearing his heart apart with its icy fingers and he did not know why.