Revis was wrong, or perhaps it made no difference.
Because at this moment, Ais had no intention of seeking her opponent's weaknesses. She also didn't care about her opponent's attack methods. What she showed her opponent was only the sword of despair, enveloped in a ferocious hurricane, giving the enemy true despair.
Boom...
A downward slash, an upward thrust.
The slender sword of despair and the pitch-black evil sword collided. Revis was struck by immense force. In just one exchange, Revis was sent flying upward as if launched.
If the evil sword hadn't possessed the unbreakable property and couldn't be severed, Revis might have been cut in half by that single strike.
Revis was launched by the immense force, crashing through the rock wall above.
"Ahhhhh! Aria!!!"
Revis roared, looking at Ais, who was accelerating towards her, propelled by the black storm. However, Revis, with no foothold, was utterly unable to cope with Ais's torrential attacks.
Flesh was torn, bones were severed. In just one exchange, Revis lost an arm, but even so, she desperately bit down on Ais's sword, because if she hadn't, the result would not have been merely losing an arm, but directly losing her life in that storm.
Cracks appeared even on the unbreakable evil sword. Even with the unbreakable property, it wasn't truly indestructible. Revis forcefully swung the evil sword, evading her own death, but large amounts of blood continuously spurted from her wounds.
The two fought and charged, smashing through countless walls. Although Revis was suppressed by the black wind, torn by the sword light, and toyed with by the surging currents, she continuously controlled the direction in which she was struck flying.
In the unseen, she could feel it.
Close...
It's already close...
As long as they reach that place...
Boom!
As the last wall was torn apart, the two arrived in a new battlefield.
Green fleshy walls filled the surroundings. Revis was already covered in wounds. She had lost her right arm, her left leg was completely unrecognizable as a leg, and she had dozens of wounds gushing blood. By all appearances, she had lost the ability to continue fighting.
Even the evil sword was covered in cracks, and like Revis, it wouldn't be surprising if it shattered at any moment.
An angry expression twisted Revis's face, which was soaked in red blood. White steam rose from her wounds, and the monster's high-speed regeneration took effect, even her lost right arm quickly regrew.
"Where did you hide this monster? Why haven't you used it until now!"
Facing Revis's question, Ais replied.
"I couldn't use it. I always treated you as a human. Even if you possessed great power, somewhere in my heart, I still believed that you, who could converse, were not a monster."
Just as Ais said, she had never considered Revis a monster, so she naturally couldn't activate the power of Avenger. And after the experiences of this past month, she was certain.
"I will distinguish. Human or monster. I will confirm for myself who this flame of vengeance should target."
This was the answer Ais brought after her encounter with the Xenos—not a puppet of vengeance swallowed by power and dominated by hatred, but one who would use her clear, golden eyes to see clearly the target of her sword.
Even if her body was corroded by black flames, the will of humanity, like a sharp sword within her pupils, would not disappear.
"Hoo... Hahahahahahaha!"
Revis let out a long breath, then burst into loud laughter. As Ais looked on in confusion, Revis provided an explanation.
"You've changed, Aria; ah~ ah~ you've truly changed."
"..."
"Compared to when I first met you, you're really different. Back then, you wouldn't have shown such eyes. Rather, the blackness deep within your eyes was more like mine."
In just a few words, Revis's almost fatal injuries had recovered. Revis, moving her newly regenerated body, looked at Ais.
"What exactly changed you? What made you so strong? This is the first time I've felt interested in you as a person."
"Aria, you have always been my everything. Taking you is my job."
"Everything in this world makes me feel bored. Even the meaning of why I've lived until now is unclear. Although there are things I must protect, that's just inertia."
For the first time, the world-weary monster revealed her inner thoughts to Ais. As she spoke, her tone grew stronger, and the emotion contained in her words was not just battle intent.
"But, while chasing you, while dueling you, I inexplicably felt joy. Perhaps only when our blades cross will I become engrossed."
As if venting, Revis shouted at Ais, "So! To be able to confront you in this current form, I! I'm probably very happy! There's an unbreakable destiny between you and me!"
But Ais's cold gaze was the only response Revis received.
"I am different from you."
Unlike Revis, Ais at this moment was not only confronting her, but also confronting her own power, not to be swallowed by that flame, but to control it and turn it into her own strength.
She recalled, recalled who her true enemy was.
Avenger, the stronger the hatred, the greater its power. Having awakened such a skill, Ais must have an object of hatred.
But that object would not be Revis before her.
"You are a step I must overcome. I will defeat you, but you will not be my fated enemy. I have only one fated enemy, but it will not be you."
Hearing Ais's words, Revis suddenly laughed.
"That's just the kind of person you are, Aria. With a doll-like face, as defiant and arrogant as a little girl, but that's fine too, or rather... that's even better!"
Revis's eyes suddenly widened, and one hand plunged into the green flesh on the ground.
"Bring them to me! Clones!"
As Revis moved, with her right hand as the center, the surrounding green flesh climbed onto Revis's body, devouring and enveloping her.
It was a mass of magic-filled flesh. Just by looking at it, one could feel the magic contained within, even more than in a magic stone.
At the same time, it brought power beyond human comprehension. This was an outer shell derived from a Corrupted Spirit.
Her right hand, right arm, right shoulder—after enveloping Revis, the green flesh turned the same red as Revis, forming a flesh armor that merged with her body.
The red skin bulged, and vein-like blood vessels continuously throbbed. An eye even grew on her right shoulder, staring directly at Ais.
"Since you've changed, I must change too."
Revis pulled her hand from the ground, extracting a glowing red longsword. This was a corrupted Elven sword, overflowing with magic that seeped from its blade.
"Let's begin. This time, it's the true decisive battle!"