"My trial is simple, all you have to do is face your regrets.
At the end of your endeavours you shall see this frame but not this painting.
All you have to do is reach for it and be free of the confines of my territory, and with that my descent can be prevented.
As you seem to be in a rush I'll leave you all to it." She rubbed her thumb on her index about to snap but stopped. "How clumsy of me to forget this."
A longsword of pure black manifested within her grasp, the seven black rings on her hand glowed.
"Is she finally out to kill us?!" Leo thought, he was still on the ground unable to move.
She didn't point the blade at anyone and her form reduced to that of her paleman days, still much taller than the most of them nonetheless.
"Vonsteff" the words she uttered; It was pristine, a sight they had seen before — the lady cut purely through empty space in and of itself.
"No, it can't be." Rud looked above.
It casted no shadow on the white plains but it was visible far above them; this time it was like a tiny stone a testament to how high up in the air it was.
"To those who survive be proud, you survived an encounter with The baroness of insanity.
Try your best not to die…" [Snap!]
They all vanished.
-
"The baroness…it's exactly as the voice said...
Other than that, why am I still here!" Leo thought while still stuck on the ground.
The lady walked over to him, her footsteps had a rhythm to them as the water splashed.
"You may move" Her voice said from in front of him.
Leo felt the invincible constraints leaving his body, he was free again his first action was to grab his staff as he stood up.
He was on guard. "why didn't you send me away?" Leo asked.
"If I may say… []
You became subject to my observation []" Her voice sounded from multiple directions, she was in the room yet still not with him.
"...Did you think I didn't know you were the one passing his thoughts along that line earlier.[]
I let it go earlier because I wanted to hear it from you.[]
From my mannerisms, to my demeanour there was nothing of note that could give it away []…" Her voice sounded closer and closer to Leo becoming ever louder.
He turned his head around trying to pinpoint the direction her voice came for but it was a waste of effort.
"So why then, was the reason you thought…" She appeared at Leo's front.
He locked eyes with her, then tightened the grip on his weapon.
She vanished.
Leo felt two hands on his shoulder, he rotated his head to look behind him.
Her face was staring right at him.
"...What made you think that I bore no animosity" She said.
The hole on her face formed like eyes, the darkness within them twirled and aura enshrouded her body.
" 'Do not run away' " Leo banked on the words he had made his self oath. "Of all things to run from it shall never be this woman."
"Come on boy, speak…" She said menacingly.
Leo spread open his eyes and glared into hers.
"Is it not because you're not?" Leo replied her with fire in his eyes. "And I can somehow see it in her 'face?'
And also In comparison to the voice this is nothing, but I can't say that.
For some reason I feel like I should never tell anyone about that voice."
She ignored his rudeness and stared at him, he didn't as much as blink.
"Boy…what do your eyes see to make that judgement." She held his cheeks and put her face very closely to his.
"..." Leo didn't reply.
"But it's there, so much so; your fear…how did you hide it earlier, yet rooted even deeper than that is acrimony." Her eyes widened as if shocked.
She kept asking questions without demanding answers.
"Even towards me, where does this grievance stem from?" She said whilst she vanished once more.
Leo turned his head to its original position and was met with her staring at him.
He had no need for answering her previous question but he couldn't bury it.
"You are the reason the world has gone to this, you caused the death of so many people.
I didn't understand the phrase 'There's no place like home' but because of you even that place doesn't exist anymore, truly no place called home for me.
Tell me why you did this to us?!" Leo flared up and yelled at her, he gripped his weapon tightly and prepared to attack.
"Heehee…" She giggled and continued doing so nonstop.
Leo's look turned stale, she kept on giggling nonstop.
{There I was exploding within me with anger yet she couldn't care less, it didn't even shake her.
I didn't know I could hold this much anger towards anything}
"Stop laughing goddammit!" Leo attacked her with his staff.
[Clang] His strike was deflected with a…
"... fingernail?" Leo's pupils shook.
She didn't even look at his blade, as a matter of face she was still giggling.
[Clash!] Leo kept on attacking her with aether enhanced attacks and she kept deflecting.
"Why, why, why.
Is this all the progress I've made!" Leo spun his blade he unleashed a fury of attacks, "Connect, connect, connect!!!" Leo looked frustrated.
Sweat dripped from his face, she wasn't moving an inch, yet her giggle had transformed into full blown laughter.
Leo jumped back and contrived his ball of fire, he shot it at her, she didn't even flinch it vanished before it could make contact.
"What's funny about this, stop laughing!" Leo attacked her and she held the tip of his blade. "It won't budge?
Strength like this is possible?"
[Grunting] Leo was in pain again, she dragged her finger on the already open wound on his face.
"Oh this situation is funny, if I weren't immortal I would die from laughter.
We have so much in common of course it's funny we both walk, we both talk, we both see…" Her voice carried joy.
"Stop talking rubbish, I have nothing in common with a person like you." Leo said in a very hoarse voice.
The lady held his jaw up with her fingers and looked down on him.
"...And most especially…I both killed our families, wonderful isn't it." Her grin became an innocent smile, she was truly happy.