I followed Delfina out of the hospital-looking room, back out into the hall where the two guards stood unconscious, stuck in Time Prison.
I've got Delfina isolated from the other two, now. This is the best chance I've got at nullifying her Fractal and ending her.
"Choose one. Any one. I'll let you demonstrate and prove that you have the Null," Delfina said.
I looked at the two guards, contemplating my choice. But at the same time, the thoughts of how I would go about attacking Delfina ran through my mind viciously.
I need to unholster my knife first so I don't waste time drawing the blade. I need to be close enough to her so I don't waste time reaching for her. I need to watch her mouth for when she starts to voice-activate her Fractal. I can't allow her to use Chronostasis.
"Klyson…?" She waved a hand in my face, catching me daydreaming. I snapped out of my trance.
"Sorry, just thinking about who to choose."
Maybe I should demonstrate the Null on one of these lackeys first. I'd kill two birds with one stone.
I had the pulse guy and the amp guy to choose from. The pulse Fractal seemed powerful, but the supporting amp Fractal was on another level. I could only imagine how it could empower other people's Fractals other than just the pulse one. I deemed it a higher threat.
"I choose him," I pointed at the amp lackey.
"Very well." Delfina kept her hands in a praying stance. "Forgive us for erasing the gift you've blessed our brother with, MONA. Let his sacrifice not be in vain as it will lead to a higher purpose—your retrieval."
My heartbeat picked up quickly. My mind was spiraling with ideas. The Null inside of me was lusting for blood. So many things would happen soon in the next few moments, and I was preparing myself mentally.
"Whenever you're ready, Klyson."
I drew my blade. It drew surprise from Delfina, to which I looked at her and nodded.
"This is necessary, I promise."
She kept her hands aggressively peeled together continuing to pray. Her red robes were flapping.
Your faith in this delusion is so strong that you're oblivious of what could happen to you right now. You're so closed-minded to think that things will always go your way.
I'd made up my mind. I raised my blade, and stepped towards the amp lackey.
Shlrk—!!
I slashed across his arm, shedding blood onto me. The sight of red must have shocked Delfina, as she began to chant.
"Chronostas—"
Shank—!
I'd thrown my knife at her having expected that response. I was aware of the possibility that she would immediately retaliate at the questionable method of using the Null, so after slashing the amp lackey I carried my knife's momentum quickly into a throw. It had embedded into her shoulder.
"Ah—!" Her Fractal voice-activation was interrupted, and in the stunned moment that she registered what'd just happened, I wasted no time. I dashed towards her, intending to retrieve my knife. She snapped back into the moment, realizing my intent. Her mouth opened.
"Chronost—!!"
Smack!!
I leapt forwards immediately, clasping my palm right over her mouth and lips, quite literally shutting her down from speaking aloud. Although I no longer had Flow State to react to this at the moment, I already expected all of these responses from her long before this started. The knowledge I bore, in combination with the physical capabilities I'd retained from my growth with Flow State, allowed me to barely keep up with the moment. With one hand over her mouth as we fell towards the ground, I reached for the handle of my knife with the other and tugged it out.
Slam!
We tumbled along the ground from my tackle and I scrambled to keep hold of my knife. Her blood was on its blade.
It's right there!
I rolled aside, away from her, wiping her blood from my blade onto my skin. When I stood back up, she did too, holding her bleeding shoulder in pain. She looked at me with a horrid, seething look on her face.
I already knew what was coming next.
"Chronostasis: Time Prison."
Time and space froze around me. But it was too late. I'd already met the conditions for my counter.
"Nullify."
The infrastructure of her Time Prison immediately collapsed, and I was released from the frozen state. Time resumed its flow immediately.
I'd successfully erased Chronostasis as planned.
Wasting no time, I began my stride towards her, with my knife readied in hand. Her face read instant shock as she saw me beginning to move.
She stumbled backwards. "Huh…!?" Clasping her hands together in a prayer motion once more, she yelled: "Chronostasis: Time Prison!!"
Nothing happened. I kept walking towards her.
"What? What?!" She began to scream erratically. The sound pierced my ears. "Did you use the Null on me?! Why isn't my Fractal working!? Chronostasis! Chronostasis!!"
I got closer and closer to her. Her back was against the wall.
"It can't be… How? How did you even erase it!?"
I spared no response to her desperation. It wasn't necessary. I was here to complete a mission, and I was nearly done. I was just moments away from lunging at her with my blade, before—
"Pulse!"
My body was suddenly sent soaring down the hall, and I tumbled along the floor. Recovering from the pain, my eye grew wide as I looked up and saw that the pulse lackey now stood in front of Delfina, defensively.
"What have you done? What did you do!?" The pulse lackey shouted from down the hall at me. "What did you do to her?!"
Behind him, I saw the amp lackey holding his bleeding arm. I realized what had led to all of this.
Since I erased Chronostasis, it meant that Delfina was no longer able to hold those two in Time Prison anymore. The same goes for all of those other lackeys in those rooms that were stuck in Time Prison. They've all been released now.
I'd released all of these victims from the clutches of Delfina's force, but at what cost? The majority of them must have been brainwashed to follow her rule by now, including this pulse lackey who continued to threaten me.
"I knew we couldn't trust you as soon as we saw that blood on you! And now, you've hurt Delfina!" He raised his hand with his palm faced at me. "Pulse!"
A wave of invisible force hit me head-on, sending me tumbling backwards along the floor again. I quickly recovered, realizing a crucial thing.
His 'pulses' are significantly weaker right now. With Chronostasis' erasure, I also erased the amp Fractal from that other lackey. He's no longer able to power-boost this 'pulse' lackey, which is why his attacks aren't nearly as effective.
If the amp lackey still had his Fractal to support this pulse lackey, those two attacks should have sent me flying into the back wall of the hall. But each 'pulse' was only enough to send me tumbling, like an aggressive, yet tolerable gust of wind. He's been heavily weakened by now.
"Carson?" The pulse lackey turned to the amp lackey. "Amp me up, will you?"
"I'm trying!" He said. "It isn't working for some reason!"
They panned over to Delfina, who leaned against the wall, clutching her shoulder aggressively as it bled all over her robes. Her teeth were gritted. Her eyes were bloodshot.
"He used the Null...." She turned her head towards me, a sight full of rage. "He used the Null on us, Carson. Our Fractals are gone. Only yours is left now, Orius."
Orius, the pulse lackey, looked straight towards me, his face full of shock, pain, and anger. It seemed as though he couldn't fathom what he'd just heard. None of them could accept what I'd done.
"You are the apex predator, Klyson. With the Null, you bare the sharpest fangs in all of Melysia right now."
Ian was right all along about what he'd said. These people feared me now that they knew I could erase the very thing that's defined them their whole lives.
A Fractless with the ability to render anyone Fractless. How ironic.
I got back up on my feet and stood my ground. Orius stepped forward.
"You're sinning in our own holy place. You're stripping us of our gifts from MONA! I won't let you do the same to me, or anyone else!"
I began walking towards him. "It's too late already. I've used the Null on every other member I've come across before getting here. There's no one left to save."
"Tsk!!" He clenched his palm at me. "Pulse! Pulse!"
I knew what amount of power to expect from these blows, so I fronted them straight-on, planting my feet to stabilize against the pressure without falling backwards anymore. I could handle it now.
"Urg…! I need your Fractal right now, Carson!"
"I can't! It's gone forever! It's gone…!"
"Tsk!" The fire in Orius' eyes lit up as he heard the depression in his partner's voice—the sound of loss of his identity, his Fractal. "Pulse! Pulse!!"
The pulses were bouncing off of me at this point, as I got closer and closer with my knife.
Once I erase his Fractal, the rest of Chrono should be smooth sail. The only notable Fractal left afterwards is from a guy in his deathbed—Reversal.
I watched as Orius' face went through the motions, transitioning first from rage and anger to desperation and growing fear. It twisted the closer I got.
"Pulse! Pulse! Pulse!!"
I could tell he was in denial.
He can't accept what I've done. I've done everything they never wanted. I stand completely against their dogma. What if I challenge them with their dogma itself?
"Are you trying to kill me?" I asked.
"Pulse!" He ignored me.
"Are you forgetting that I have the Null? I have the key to all of your dreams and ambitions, the Shattering. Kill me, and the Null and Shattering are gone forever."
There was a sudden lapse in Orius' attacks. He looked at Delfina, as if hoping for reasoning in all of this. I could tell he was now conflicted: attack me out of vengeance for erasing Carson and Delfina's Fractals, or preserve me as I held the key to their endgame. When I looked at Delfina, even she looked conflicted. She had a clear hatred and resentment towards me for what I'd done, yet her furrowed eyebrows expressed her worry in the Null inside of me.
"What do I do, Delfina? Do I spare him since he has the Null?" Orius asked.
She pondered, her response was lagging. I was getting closer.
"But if I don't defend us, he'll erase my Fractal too! He might even erase your husband's Fractal if gets through me!"
That realization struck Delfina like a brick. I could tell in that very moment that her emotions took over her completely, and that all of her reasoning for the sake of her end goal immediately vanished. The only thing she could think of in that moment was—
"Kill him!!" She screamed. "Anything but Reversal! Do not let him near my husband! We can make the Shattering work without the Null!"
Orius turned to her in shock. "Are you sure?"
"Does it look like Klyson's going to help us with the Shattering at this rate!?" Delfina was outraged. "Protect what's left of MONA's gifts!!"
Those words connected with Orius in an instant. I saw his face light-up with certainty more than ever before. Just as I was getting within arms-reach of him, he looked up at me as his body trembled aggressively.
"M-MONA would hate this! All of this goes against MONA! You're making us look bad in front of MONA! I-I can't let you erase anymore Fractals! I won't let you steal anymore of our gifts from MONA!!"
Orius' body shook, and he groaned in what seemed like pain. The groan grew into a loud roar before his body leaned back in an unusual way, as if retracting for a release of some sort.
What's he doing…?
If I had Flow State right now, it would have gone off immediately.
"Pulse: Evermore!"
The atoms in my body began to vibrate. The ground, the walls, and the ceiling all around us began to shake. An ever-growing tremor originating from Orius' body was soon to quake everything.
It had been a long time since I'd last felt true fear like I did at that moment.
Fractal Activation…?
In the next second, abominable force and pressure was released from every part of Orius' body, as he unleashed his newly-activated Fractal. If the amp Fractal from Carson empowered Orius' pulses to two times its original strength, Orius' activated Fractal now empowered it to tenfold. As soon as the wave of force hit me, my vision went blank, with the last things I saw having been everything shattering into a scatter of debris.
All my senses vanished as I was knocked out cold.