the era of calamities-Chapter 92: Two Minutes and Ten Second’s (2)

Based on what he had observed over the past few days, Sirius seemed like an intelligent, thoughtful man , too clever to fight alone against someone far beyond his level.

San had expected Sirius to retreat, or perhaps join forces with the other candidates to bring down the Count.

But never not in his wildest thoughts had he imagined Sirius would face a Count alone, and worse, let himself be poisoned.

San found himself wondering what category Sirius belonged to somewhere between a reckless fool and a genius.

He only knew one other person who had once dared such madness, a junior he had trained long ago.

That junior had eventually caught up to him and surpassed him, even reaching the position of Director, breaking every record in the process.

San glanced at Sirius again and pushed the memory aside.

Sirius and Gramm were different.

Where Gramm had the raw strength to take such risks .

What did Sirius have?

Though he was still standing, soon the poison would consume him completely. Once his body could no longer resist, he would be done for.

Two minutes at most.

That was the time San estimated Sirius had left before losing.

According to the Director’s orders, he was supposed to prevent the eleven prodigies from dying.

By all logic, San should have stopped the fight saved Sirius before it was too late.

And yet... his body refused.

His instincts forbade it.

He could feel that Sirius was learning something through this ordeal growing stronger, evolving, changing his style.

And as a senior, he couldn’t rob his junior of that chance to grow.

Holding a small syringe in hand, San stood ready to intervene. The moment Sirius reached his limit, he would act.

But for now, he would simply watch in silence.

He would let Sirius show him what made him special.

What Gramm had seen in him, and in the other ten.

---

Sirius was no longer aware of anything.

The pain from his wounds, the blood flowing out, the poison spreading through every vein none of it existed anymore.

He had closed his eyes, shut off his senses, trusting in only one thing: madness.

When Kai struck him when the monstrous strength of a Count shattered his bones and stole his breath , he felt nothing.

It was as if his consciousness had detached from his body.

In truth, his mind now inhabited something new, a substance, he could shape at will.

A sword. Chains. And a mist.

Sirius’s consciousness was divided between these three things.

He felt at peace as though he were within his own soul.

New instincts were born within him.

When his blade clashed against the Calamity’s hard exoskeleton, where before he would have only felt the dull resistance of a solid surface, now something different happened something impossible to describe.

Something was changing.

It was small, almost invisible, imperceptible.

A transformation occurring at a level only Sirius could feel, even if he couldn’t understand it.

When the blade struck the solid armor, it grew heavier; when it slipped between two plates, it became sharper.

The sword in Sirius’s hand was subtly shifting its weight, its edge, its density adjusting to tear flesh, shatter chitin, draw blood.

And that wasn’t all the chains changed too.

They synchronized with Sirius, shielding him, pulling him back, striking from blind angles even he couldn’t reach.

All in such fluid harmony that one could have sworn the chains were part of his body.

Controlling them felt as natural as moving a finger or drawing breath.

At that moment, Sirius didn’t regret losing his left arm. The chains hadn’t merely replaced it

They had surpassed it.

Lost in this trance, without realizing it, Sirius had begun to crack Kai’s chitin. Black blood seeped through the fractures.

Sirius’s attacks were finally landing real damage , minor, yes, but accumulating slowly, enough to threaten the Count’s life in time.

Unfortunately, time was something Sirius no longer had.

Two minutes had already passed since the poison entered his bloodstream. His body was reaching its limit.

Then came a single heartbeat , a slowed pulse, a brief hesitation and Kai seized the opening.

A brutal punch slammed into Sirius’s stomach. He spat blood, but Kai didn’t stop.

Pincers pierced his chest before a right hook and an uppercut sent him flying.

The impact rattled his skull. His brain slammed against his cranium, nearly knocking him unconscious.

Amid the chaos, he couldn’t hear Kai’s furious curses only the blows that followed.

When his vision returned, he realized his body was falling plummeting from the cliff toward the raging waves below.

Sirius didn’t understand right away, but when he caught Kai’s eyes and saw the regret there, he knew the Count hadn’t dropped him on purpose.

He had hesitated perhaps wanting to make Sirius suffer a little longer.

Sirius looked down and saw his death waiting for him.

As his adrenaline faded and pain reclaimed his body, a flood of thoughts crossed his mind.

For one brief second , barely an instant , he allowed himself to think.

His mind drifted to the ocean’s majesty, the fury of its waves, the pride of its power.

Truth was, he had fled toward the cliff intending to drag the Count down with him.

He thought that even a Count would struggle to rise again after being swallowed by that merciless sea.

If I had mastered my power... could I have defeated him?

Sirius’s resonance allowed him to control matter , to shape it.

The ocean was water.

And water was a liquid form of matter.

He believed that with enough ether, he could summon waves and unleash them with power rivaling or even surpassing the sea itself.

Then why didn’t I do it?

Because I didn’t have enough ether?

No... it’s because I never thought I could.

Every time the idea crossed my mind, I told myself my ether wasn’t enough.

That was the rule.

Why did I obey such a rule?

Who imposed it on me?

Sirius manifested the white sword again.

Rules are meant to be changed.

If the world fights me, then I’ll change the rules of the world.

We’ll play by my rules.

That is my decision no, my will.

As he fell dragged down by death’s embrace Sirius raised his sword.

I don’t need an ocean to manifest its power.

I don’t need waves to unleash its force.

All I need... is my sword.

That realization alone was enough to make it happen.

For a fraction of a second, the blade grew heavy almost a ton as if an entire mountain had been condensed into it.

Its shape trembled, undulating like a wild wave.

Sirius poured all his ether into it, pushing the power of the strike beyond all limits.

"Igros Wave!"

The sword left his hands, forming a curved arc though not quite an arc at all.

The ocean’s fury and might condensed into a single strike, unleashed at impossible speed.

Kai saw it coming. He sensed the danger, tried to dodge but before his body could react, the wave struck.

Sharp as a razor, it cleaved his body clean in half at the waist.

Sirius watched him split apart, his mouth still spitting curses even as he fell.

The Calamity wasn’t dead yet but Sirius no longer cared. He smiled.

His madness had paid off. He had just created a technique capable of cutting through an Intermediate’s coating.

His eyes closed, and he sank into the darkness.

A soft, comforting darkness.

Death gently welcomed him into her arms.