Arc 2 - Chapter 52: Gwen vs Jason

(Libertatem 1, 59 / 5:28AM)

‘I feel strong…’

She glowed like a newborn star.

Her eyes closed, her body felt like a feather in the fall breeze. Even when she was vulnerable to any attack, no one dared laid hands on her.

‘I feel beautiful…’

Crackling the room with blinding light, evil shielded themselves from the radiant beauty. Feeling the heat, feeling the warmth that was drawn from her glow, Jason himself felt overpowered.

—‘I feel closer to the ends of Paradise…’—

This bountiful light soon ceased.

Uncovering his eyes, Jason lowered his hands toward the front of his thighs. Staring straight at the large transformer in front of him, he saw a tolerable glow that shone on his irises.

All the while the freckled woman opened hers. Her head arched to the heavens, she stalled it there, as if she was thanking God for the power she was bestowed with. Slowly lowering her head, she locked pupils with Jason.

Without warning, she raised only her right hand, and unleashed a brightening yellow to smolder her palm.

“Try to fight me.”

Death poured from the flames, as they dribbled to the floor like ash.

Darkness and black littering the ground, a collection of dark figures emerged. Rising up from hell, the blackened mist confined to one another, and began to build from the molecular level up.

Leading to the creation of many black figures. Being ghastly, no emotion or words were spoken from the creatures. But in horror, only a pair of white dotted eyes beamed out from their faces.

And with his boots straining the floor, his back straightened, and rasped a command from his cold throat.

—“Twilight Legion.”—

The horde charged at her, but her body was unfazed.

Sliding her right foot back, her palm that glowed unleashed a simple whip. With the tip glowing from electricity, it sundered down to the surface of the marbled floor. Having electricity soaring through her whip, it crackled like thunder.

“I don’t need any edgy names for my attacks.”

Just as the horde tried to ambush her, she leaped back as if she teleported. Sliding through the marble, a trail of fire emerged from her boots. In fact, all of her boots were smeared off, making her feet go bare at the sudden slide.

And thrusting her right hand, she didn’t need to pulsate any of her biceps or triceps. Crackling the air with the tip, it spun horizontally, but it ended up cleaving and striking the horde like cattle.

As if she were nothing more than imaginary, the horde dissipated.

“Again!”

Gwen glanced at the floor from underneath, and noticed a sultry darkness that surrounded her feet. Trickling her toes, was nothing more than fog that rose up from the ground.

Leaping to her right, she slid through the marbled floor with infinite friction. Giving flame to a line of fire, she let her other hand free. And upon forming another whip, it was the exact same replica that she had on her right.

With a leap to her left foot, she zipped through the air like a bullet.

Slashing through the horde, she felt their sickly shadows submerge down to the fog below. Hopping all around the dark gargantuan room, she avoided many hands that tried to bring her down.

“Is that all you got? Just ghosts?”

“I have more than just those!”

Instead of pushing his palms forward, he had his palms facing up toward the heavens. Hunching his head forward, he crouched down, and tucked in his chest and stomach.

Gwen narrowly avoided a hand that trickled her ankle. Slicing away the black air, she glanced up at the roof, and took in a surging amount of—

Her eyes widened.

“Creative are you? Good.”

With just the tips of her toes, she surged only a bit of her strength within them. Crackling the marble, and pulsating the air around her body, she thrusted her arms back.

A rain of darkness descended upon her, making her glare at the cloud that enacted as a roof. Using some of her arm strength, all the electricity from her whips sizzled. Hearing thunder bliss her ears, she twitched her right temple with a small vein.

And once her whips reached the black cloud, it soon dissipated and withered like a storm in a jet stream.

‘How did she … just what power can she … no …’

Pushing his body from his crouched state, he had the soles of his boots gripping the marble. His hands low to his waist now, most of his strength that he soared in his biceps wrinkled.

Trying not to think, he wouldn’t allow his brain to fold. After dealing with his ghastly cloud, he felt the back of his teeth clatter.

“I still have more!”

Seeing that she had her eyes on him, he didn’t dare leap back or to the sides. Raising his palms forward, he wrinkled his face the more he stared at her. Feeling like it might come off, he didn’t care any longer, as he corrupted his throat with saliva.

“I still have a lot more!”

As soon as she was dozens of meters in front of him, a pillar of fog and darkness sprouted from the ground. Already creaking, already forming, it was built like a small box only just for her. Her eyes, calm and relaxed like a morning sun’s rays, it was like she awaited this action.

Like catching a bug, she was stuck within the confines of the box. Closing the lid on it, her body glowed from the transparent blackened walls.

“Hmm … What's next? They’ll pop out from the walls—”

A dozen heads, from all directions, sprouted out like weeds.

Rolling her eyes, she gruffed out a simple batch of air from her throat. The tips of her whips stationed on the floor, she raised them up with just a slight amount of strength.

Slicing through the ghastly figures, honing her technique firm, she made it seem like she was one with the whips. Sparks sizzling, electricity rising, the box that contained her flickered and weakened the more she rambled within. Like caging a bear with rabies, and with the bars being replaced with cardboard, that same analogy can be proven here…

Once the walls broke down.

Breaking free from the darkened walls, Jason jumped back with a pale face. Seeing her dissipate every ghastly figure, every soul he summoned, every silhouette that he created…

Was nothing more than insects to her.

‘How can I …’

Flying through the floor like lightning, she only had one hand free. Glancing at her left hand, it was free with no weapon, as only her knuckles paled and crackled from …

Without blinking, he flew across the darkened floor.

Her punch all too powerful, the wind blurred his face. Steadying her bare feet, she maintained her breath as she stared. Seeing him strike a random pillar, it didn’t crumble, but crumbles of rock piled from the dent he created.

‘Ah! How …’

His nose and mouth were caressed with blood.

His hands low to his sides, and his palms gripping the pillar, he stared straight forward with sluggish eyes. But to no avail, he felt no feeling in his legs … as his own power was eating his strength.

‘Wait … that syringe…’

Barely hearing her footsteps, he thrusted his right hand into his pocket. Grabbing what his fingers were looking for, he took out a simple syringe, a shot filled with purple liquid.

And thrusting it deep into his left arm, he reddened his scleras and his face.

He allowed the purple liquid caress every inch of his body. Vomit in the gate of his throat, his brain thrashing against his skull, everything wailed in pain. Having his mouth agape, he didn’t shout nor scream.

Kicking up and down his feet, his eyes turned red the longer he submitted to the pain.

Trying so hard to ground his teeth, the pain struck every nerve from his head to his toes. Unable to breathe, the pain reached the climax, as a small gutter cry quenched from his nose.

Until the pain began to cease.

Feeling his bones move freely, feeling his face relaxen, he even ceased the kicking and wailing of his shoes. Along with his face returning back to its original color, he soon unleashed a surging breath into his lungs. All the while Gwen ceased her walk.

‘What did he—’

He shot out from the ground, and narrowed his eyes. His palms already stretched outward, and his fingers wiggling the air around him, he burdened his irises with red and even his cheeks.

Using anger like a suit, he wore it for just this moment.

“You will not beat me!”

Leaping high in the air, he didn’t charge at Gwen. Using his palms, the black air that he tamed began to shapeshift by his command. From the fog from the floor and ceiling, he had both palms facing below and up.

And summoned from both ends, was a cataclysm of black souls tarnished in torture. Hearing the flames scream against her ears, hearing them wail out from misery, it was like seeing the damned rising from hell.

Sliding back, she readied her left hand, and created a whip she melded from the air.

“You! Will! Not!”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

She lost count of how many figures she saw … mostly because she wasn’t good at arithmetic.

From the hundreds, a whole army of them assembled like a rising wave. Dropping from above, arising from below, she readied her boots and whips.

Like seeing the inside of a washing machine, the blackened souls recycled as they waved. Wanting to yell, wanting to slash through the wave with her whips, she knew she needed to maintain composure. Having two to three veins scattered on her forehead, she used half her strength…

To speed through the air like a railgun.

‘You’re far too weak, for a person who loves the dark.’

Booming the air, time flowed slowly for only her.

Feeling it project, she had her whips flowing and rippling in back of her. From only just a few nanoseconds, she was right in front of the—

She reached the other side.

Her whips already low to the floor, she had taken the liberty to drop her left one. Unable to glance in back of her, she heard the wailing of failed embers entice her ears. Only a few meters in front of her, was none other than Jason… who stared at her like a deer in headlights.

‘O—’

Without blinking, even though he felt like it, he saw a blur of air coming straight at him. Unable to dodge or jump back, he stalled his breath upon the innards of his throat.

And in that instant, all of that stale air brushed out from his gasped mouth. Spazzing out saliva, he flew again with red liquid trailing out his nose. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, his hoodie fluttered in the wind the longer he flew.

Slamming into a pillar, it shambled off rock and debris from just the impact alone.

“That should do it.”

Glancing in back of her, she took note of the collapsing wave of souls. Fading into the darkness, her skin continued to glow, but it felt like it was dimmed a shade lower than usual. But even so, she brushed it off.

‘What just…’

His eyes flickering repeatedly, he couldn’t move an ounce of his legs or arms. Latching onto the pillar like how a trophy hunter collects pelts, he looked down to the floor with blood rising from his mouth.

And after so long, the black flames he had dissipated.

‘I couldn’t…’

Gwen stood in front of him.

Unable to tilt his head up, he was in the same position from a few moments prior. His hair blocking his face, Gwen placed her glowing hand on the top of his hair. Tilting his head up by force, she made him look at her.

“What are you going to do to me…?”

With just a bit of strength, she pulled him up from the ground, and had his shoes dangling in the air. Since she shed her body like a glowstick, she allowed her light to see his battered face, as it was dented and restructured from her previous punch. And now that he was unwilling to fight any longer, she hardened her face, and chilled her voice.

“I want you to answer this.”

She reached out her other hand, and grabbed his throat with sharpened nails. Having no choice but to look at the woman, he felt his face already beginning to turn blue. Her freckles standing out like sun spots, and her skin staining his, he tried to grasp air from his nostrils.

“Do you know Jerry Phillips? The elf who wore the eyepatch?”

Pushing his eyes to roll toward the back of his head, his cheeks began to turn a shade of purple. Noticing that he wasn’t willing to talk, she shook his body once.

“Tell me now! What have you done to him! How come no one is worried about him other than me! Answer!”

“How could he speak if you’re stealing the very thing that allows him to do so?”

In a simple twist, she turned her head around, and saw a man garnished in white robes.

Sharpening her eyes nearly instantly, her grip on Jason continued. His lips slightly opened, his hands began to decrease his wailing, making succumb to sleep much easier. All the while Lazaros tread the marble lightly, with nothing but his sandals.

“It isn’t like you to choke a beaten man. I always wondered about your morals. I mean, you did eliminate Cameron as if you enjoyed it.”

Gwen let go of Jason’s throat, and allowed his entire body to plop toward the floor.

Her fingers trembling, her body quaking, frustration and anger ran deep into her very blood and bones. Keeping her bare feet glued to the floor, cracks and loosened marble were unearthed from her strength.

“I … didn’t kill Cameron … you guys did.”

“Do you hear yourself now? We killed him? What on earth is your logic here? You wiped him off the face of the earth and before that, you declined his role as the soldier he wanted to be.”

Swaying his head back and forth, he placed his hands into the sleeves of his robes. Keeping them there, he pushed out a smirk, a smirk that reached the halfway point between his ear and jawline.

And as he took a couple of steps forward, he was only a few meters away from Gwen.

“I on the other hand rescued him, gave him the power he never had. We did … process him … but in the end, he got what he always wanted, to be a soldier.”

“Your soldier.”

Gwen growled the words from her throat, as a couple of veins splurged her forehead.

Her fists enclosed, her knuckles shook the more she eyed the green-haired man. Making it seem as if she was the big dog, she had her body straightened out like she was sizing him up.

“You brainwashed him. You brainwashed all of those kids. Gemma, Ryan, Cameron, Gary’s best friend, that lich girl—”

“The lich girl wasn’t done by me. A friend of mine more or less did it … and besides.”

He maintained his smirk, and hunched his body ever so forward. Looking like he was trying to ragebait her, her glaring eyes only worsened her mood.

“They’re happy. They’re proud. I would say your group … didn’t partake in their best interests at heart.”

A fist launched toward him.

And he caught it in return.

Both of them equaling speed, only one of them was left speechless.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be the good girl here?”

Gwen widened her eyes, and pulled back her hand from his palm. Her body’s light flickering repeatedly, her breath quickened and her eyes fluttered. Trying to control her breath, trying to keep it in locks, she let her hand drop to her knee.

“Come on, where’s that joyous attitude of yours? You ditched it a while back when you first battled Jason.”

Feeling like she was losing herself, she bit the inside of her cheeks. Straining the marbled floor with her bare feet, all of her toes and heels dug deep.

Taking a step back, she growled the words from her throat, yet again.

“You and him … you two … you guys don’t deserve my pity.”

“Then are you willing to hear the news regarding that elf? Take it as my personal pity then.”

Placing his right hand onto his cheek, he rubbed it back and forth with his fingers. Looking smug in his smile, the cold air that was barely noticeable managed to trickle his skin like butter.

Meanwhile, Gwen pushed the corners of her lips down to her jaw. Replacing her nervousness with anger, she felt her stomach boil the more she laid eyes on his face.

“He dueled with Jason, but he failed … spectacularly. That young man didn’t kill him, but he did give him one hell of a beating.”

“… Did you kill him…?”

Her body clenched. Clamping every enamel within her mouth, she rubbed them together with sealed lips.

Looking like she was on the verge of exploding, her body flickered light. Taking three steps back, he raised his hands to the height of his shoulders, and made himself look weak.

“Now hold on now. I didn’t kill him, but let me show you rather than tell you.”

Using his right hand, he moved it toward the inside of his robe. Pulling out the grip of something metallic, some of the metal glowed, making Gwen stall her feet the more she stared.

And like baggage, he threw the metal blade to the floor, right near her feet.

A deafening silence took hold of both of them. No water to spill, no muscle to move, nothing blinked as Lazaros stalled his hand in the air. Only moving her eyeballs, Gwen glanced at the metallic carving of the sword … and saw a J + S within the grip.

She remained silent.

Darkening her face, tilting her head down to the floor, she had her body straightened out. Feeling like she was brewing a hot soup in her stomach, she quaked her knuckles along with her hands.

“Oh yeah, and here’s another thing I should show you as well.”

From the inside of his robes, he pulled out another metallic object. Being much smaller in stature, he gripped the handle, and tossed it near the sword. Making a small click to the floor, it sent her ears to ring deaf.

—It was the safe knife Maverick used.—

Her world growing black, she took a step back with small strive. Trying not to falter, her knees wobbled relentlessly the more she kept her body stable.

“Hey look, no hard feelings. Keep in mind, your brother is … well I’m not that heartless, so just ask me if you want to know.”

Lazaros took a step back, and felt like he was walking through a minefield. Keeping his eyes solely focused on her, he didn’t know how she’ll react, given the fact that she trembled the more she stared down.

Until she began to let her hands loose.

“Hello? Anyone in—”

—He was sent flying.—

And in less than a second, he crashed through a pillar. Going through it, he tumbled and rolled through the marble, and lifted it from its loosened hinges. Crashing onto the other end of the wall, a huge boom shuddered the room, as his eyes barely kept themselves ahold.

Her body shone even brighter than usual. Steadying herself on the marbled floor, her heels pressed firm on the floor, and blistered her toes.

“Die…”

In that single instant, the room began to rumble, as all the pillars barely contained the tension …

Of the strongest fighters Terra had ever seen.