SSS Ranked Awakening: I Can Rewind Time!-Chapter 40: Psyche Of Monochrome [4]

...A long crimson sword pierced through his chest...

The force from the strike, luckily, was too harrowing —flinging him back with tremendous force— instead of impaling him.

As pain tore through every fiber of his being, blinding and flooding his mind, he crashed against the ground, each impact jarring his senses.

Crack, Crack--!

In that moment, it became crystal clear. The nightmarish entity had set its eyes on Aezel.

After all, compared to the crimson haired lady that could be easily dealt with, the archer was proving otherwise. Striking from a safe distance, while buying the figure wreathed in light, every little chance, his attacks were starting to prove a little bit too... troublesome.

As its cold gaze landed on Aezel, the morbid pool of darkness within its eyes seemed to intensify. And then, it dashed right for the archer.

’Crap!’

Right about then, I was about to dash towards Aezel when,

Crack.

A loud, deafening sound broke the silence.

A figure wreathed in burning, incandescent light suddenly appeared before the nightmarish entity. Her golden sword shone brightly as she swung it into a violent arc. In a flash of blinding light, the nightmarish entity was forced to stop in its track.

With a deep scowl —or anything a dark shadow could form— a small, round shield made of crimson blood coated his hand. Raising it into the air, the burning sword struck against the surface of the blood construct, the harrowing impact bringing the dark entity to his knees.

Clang!

Catching a glimpse of its imbalance, Mia twisted mid-air, striking forth with her right leg.

Crack, Crack--!

The deafening impact seemed to break some bones, the sound echoing through the tense silence.

The force from the strike sent the nightmarish entity staggering backward, the abysmal glow in its eyes dimming slightly.

Mia stepped forward right after her feet touched the ground. In an instant, she was already chasing after the retreating dark shadow.

...The dark shadow wasn’t dumb. Eeriely strange it may be, it was anything but senile.

With a light stomp of its foot, and as spiderweb cracks ran across the ground beneath it, it retreated, hoping to regain its footing. However, the figure wreathed in dimming light gave it no such chance.

She surged forward, stepping forward as her sword cleaved downwards in a blinding flash of white.

The nightmarish entity seemed to grimace as it raised its right hand into the air. A crimson barrier spread outward, rapidly coating his hands. Just then, the golden sword collided against the small barrier, and in the next moment, it shattered it into pieces, cleaving towards the entity’s grotesque hand.

...However, in that moment, the entity’s eyes glistened with a hint of madness. Ignoring the attack that sought to claim its hand, it slashed forward with its other dark, writhing hand.

The crimson sword cut through the air, leaving Mia with two choices.

’Either she retreated and missed this opportunity, or she continued, and risked severe injury.’

Either of the two was a decision that could dampen any man’s confidence and resolve. And to make matters worse, if she wasn’t careful enough, she could pretty much lose her life.

The thought darkened my features. In that moment, time seemed to slow down a little as the two figures closed in on each other.

Gritting her teeth, Mia seemed to have come to a decision.

...One that didn’t really sit well with me.

Her eyes glowed with a furious, burning light, her expression paling further as a burning dome surrounded her. And then,

BAAAAANG!!!

She stepped forward.

In the next second, a deafening explosion rocked the entire space. The crimson sword struck the barrier with obliterating force, shockwaves undulating outward from the point of impact.

Crack--

Cracks finally appeared on her barrier as the crimson sword cleaved downwards. However...

RIIP!!

Her sword was already right before the entity, easily ripping off its dark, grotesque arm. Right about then, she expected the dark entity to scream, or at the very least, lose its footing. However...

"...!!"

To her inevitable shock, the creature simply grinned.

Crack--

Madness spilled out of its pair of black eyes. Staring into it, she felt as though she was staring right into the abyss.

A sense of dread gripped her as fear slowly sank into her. And that moment of hesitation was all the nightmarish entity needed.

It was all it took.

Crack...!

The barrier surrounding her cracked, and then shattered into pieces, the shards piercing through the surrounding space. Streaking through the darkness, some managed to pierce through the entity’s dark body, blood spilling from its grotesque form.

Yet its grin only grew wider. Taking a step forward, the crimson sword inched closer than ever.

The nightmarish entity’s grin widened, its lips slowly curling into a smile.

The fear.

The look of dread on Mia’s face.

I-... It enjoyed it.

In that moment, time seemed to have come to a stop.

Tick, Tick--!

The seconds ticked even slower. Excruciatingly so.

However, just at the last moment, the sword barely an inch away from piercing through her, I felt something within me shatter.

My hands clenched as a variety of emotions surged within me.

Drip! Drip!

Blood dripped down my hands, my heart pounding faster than I could have thought possible.

Ba- dump! Ba- dump!

Just as the sword pierced through her golden armor, easily ripping through her.

"Miaaaa!!!" The word slipped past my lips, tears dripping down the corner of my eyes.

She glanced at me and smiled.

S-She smiled.

***

...Grinning, the nightmarish entity removed its crimson sword from her body, its leg slamming into her stomach with tremendous force.

Crack--!

The force from the strike sent her crashing against the ground, blood spilling from her mouth with each jagged impact.

However, right about then, Aezel was already behind the nightmarish entity. Making use of the moment of chaos —and with his focused state which enabled him to keep his emotions in check. If only barely— he was able to sneak up on the nightmarish creature.

Lightning crackled across his entire body and then,

"...!!"

He punched out, his muscles tensing as multiple bolts of lightning coated his arm.

Step.

Just when the harrowing strike was a second away, the nightmarish entity suddenly moved.

Crack.

The ground fractured, and my eyes widened, failing to believe the scene before me.

...I had believed it was over. That strike should have sealed the deal.

But it didn’t. And worse,

"Behind you!"

I roared out, face paling further.

Aezel’s gaze narrowed. Shifting his body, he slammed his legs against the ground. Cracks ran across the ground as he retreated backward, but...

Ba- thump!

Ba- thump!

...It was still not enough.

The nightmarish entity suddenly accelerated even faster, appearing before the shocked Aezel. Its hand slammed onto Aezel’s stomach with such tremendous force, that I could literally hear the sound of Aezel’s bones snapping into two even from where I stood.

Aezel’s eyes widened, blood spluttering from his mouth as his body bent at an inhuman angle. And then, the dark entity leaned in, his muscles tensing as the force backing the strike rose to nightmarish heights.

A dark crimson glow erupted forth from its hand and then,

BOOOM!!

Aezel’s eyes widened as he was flung into the air, crashing violently against the ground. Each tumble sent pain and agony tearing through him, before his head finally slammed onto a dark rock, his vision blurring as he collapsed onto his knees.

...He could feel his vision slowly getting blurry. His surroundings became chaotic, and it reached a point where he couldn’t see anyone or anything.

Everywhere was blank and... dark.

And he was slowly sinking into it. However, just then, he bit onto his lips.

’No! I can’t afford to faint!’

The metallic tang of blood filled his mouth.

’I can’t. I have to stand up.’

...Livia.

Even at such a point, all he had in mind was his twin sister. He couldn’t afford to give in to the darkness because of her.

...He couldn’t.

But alas, his thoughts slowly came to a stop.

***

"..."

As I stared at the carnage that surrounded me, my mind was thrown into disarray.

Everyone laid weakened, wounded, and sprawled across the morbid ground. Just then, the nightmarish entity’s gaze shifted towards me.

Its eyes glowed a bright crimson. One that sent cold chills running down my spine. However, more than that, I felt a surge of a certain emotion coursing through me.

It rippled through every fiber of my being.

That feeling was indescribable at first. But as my eyes reddened, hands tightly clenched as teardrops slowly dripped onto the ground beneath me,

Drip!

Drip!

It became clear what this feeling was.

The emotions burning within me.

It became clearer.

Anger.

It was anger. Uncontrollably rage.

I glared at the bastard, my eyes glistening in defiance as I shot towards it.

"You bastard!"

The azure dagger shimmered into existence as I recklessly charged towards the nightmarish entity who simply smiled and moved. And then,

Crack!

All I felt was a searing, mind-wrenching pain.

Coughing out a mouthful of blood as my vision blurred, I flew through the air as pain tore through every fiber of my being.

Crack, Kaaa!

I violently crashed against the floor, blood dripping onto the ground beneath me.

Drip! Drip!

I tried to force myself to my feet. But,

"Ugh!"

I failed badly, crimson liquid dripping down the corner of my lips.

Crack!!

I fell once again. And then, tried to stand up.

"Agh, ukh!"

Only to cough out blood profusely as I collapsed onto the ground.

And as the nightmarish entity inched closer.

Tak--

Tak--!

My eyes subconsciously moved towards the others. Aezel had most probably fainted, or so I thought, until I saw his arm twitch.

And,

Mia.

...Mia was severely injured, but I could see it was an injury she should heal from.

...Or rather, I hoped she could.

My eyes then shifted towards the nightmarish entity as it inched closer.

Tok- Tok--

Each step it took resounded through the tense silence, my heartbeat struggling to keep up with the pace at which it was walking.

Ba- thump!

Ba- thump!

Gritting my teeth, I felt something more indescribable slowly rising within me.

’Bastard!’

A variety of emotions that threatened to overwhelm me.

Anger.

Hatred.

Regret.

They all crawled their way into the walls of my mind. And as my vision blurred, the endless darkness inching closer, a bitter smile slowly curled up my lips.

’...Is this the end?’

Tok-

It took a step forward.

Tok--

It took another.

...With the wide grin on the bastard’s face, it was clear that it was enjoying this moment.

Now just a few feet away from me, I could now see it with abysmal clarity. But just then,

"...!"

A figure suddenly appeared before me.

It... it was Livia!

’What the hell are you doing!’

I wanted to shout. To scream at her to get away.

However, nothing escaped my lips. Instead, I only ended up worsening my condition as blood seeped out of the corner of my mouth.

Tak—

It took another step towards her. And I felt my heartbeat rise tremendously.

Ba- thump! Ba- thump!

The sound echoed through the silence.

But just then, the blind girl stretched forth her hands, an indescribable aura gushing out of her body.

"Diee!!"

She spat out venomously.

For a second there, the petite and fragile blind girl seemed to have turned into another entity entirely.

...All I saw was the nightmarish entity falling to his knees, and coughing out a mouthful of blood. And then,

"...!!"

’How?’

I blacked out.