The constant clash between the sword saint and the war grade beasts sent seismic tremors permeating through the space around them. Aster felt the subtle shockwaves crash into his being, his mind slipping in and out of consciousness. One second the world was dark, and the next it became cold and blinding under the moon's light.
The feeling was disorienting. He could no longer register anything substantial, as his mind was completely clouded by the pain.
He forced himself into a seated position, a sharp pain tearing through his side from the wound. At this point, he had lost so much blood that he wondered why he still remained among the living.
Another seismic wave crashed into him. The force rattled his ribs and pressured his lungs. He coughed up a mouthful of crimson, but didn't fall back down. His eyes were locked on the battle ahead.
Glorious.
This was the only word he could find that did justice to what he was witnessing. He couldn't sense the mana that emanated from both beasts, but he could tell that they were strong—strong enough for his instincts to still scream, 'run' despite his physical impediment.
Every fibre in his body screamed to leave, to turn away, as if witnessing it in itself was blasphemous. But Aster persisted. The earlier impression that he had of the golden-eyed lady had transitioned from graceful to strong. Despite her being outnumbered, she wasn't cornered. She faced both beasts strategically; her use of the elemental affinities was unlike anything he had ever witnessed.
To Aster, this wasn't someone that would end up needing to be saved. Her strength felt absolute. She wasn't like him—she couldn't succumb to reality when she had the strength to change it. Aster looked up to that, but also envied it.
If he survived this, then survival wasn't going to be his only driving purpose. His gaze had been too narrow, centred around himself alone. Power had become something he had to obtain. Life had become unfair, and death could come at any time, just like now. If it did come again, he wanted to be strong enough to fight it.
The sword saint skillfully moved across the grassy plain, her palm outstretched. The amount of mana flooding through her body and outwards to manipulate the wind was astronomical. Firstly, several wind blades manifested, minuscule and translucent.
They swirled around her palm aimlessly until she created a sphere out of the compressed air and sealed them within it.
Several ice shards still crashed towards her moving position, her focus having been split between perfecting her attack and evading the coordinated attacks of both the humanoid and vine beast.
Sadly, it wasn't going so well. Several ice shards had missed her by mere inches, and the vines had become ten times more disruptive now that she wasn't entirely focused on them. Many times, she almost lost control of the prepping attack. She couldn't rush the mana flow like she did with the previous ones—rushing it would rather make it unstable and dangerous.
A miniature gale wrapped itself around the compressed ball of air and swirled around it. Slowly, it built momentum and turned from what was once a small breeze into a fierce miniature tornado.
The mana spiked. The tornado in her palm pulsated with destructive force despite its small size. Now she searched for an opening—not for herself, but to lure the vine beast's countless tails forward. After decimating its tails numerous times, the beast had grown animosity towards the sword saint. But underneath all that hatred was a deep weariness; having its main form of attack rendered useless had wounded its pride.
The sword saint missed a step, allowing one of the ice shards to strike against her armour. The impact sent her stumbling back. She had tried to minimise the damage by only allowing a part of it to make contact, but even that hurt badly.
The vine beast, clouded by its rage, sent forward its numerous tails. They surged towards the sword saint's position.
She didn't attempt to evade.
A smile crept across her lips. The beast was finally unguarded.
She vanished.
The vines struck her fragmented afterimage.
Pale blonde hair cascaded under the moon's light as she reappeared directly above the vine beast.
Its humanoid companion noticed something was off and had already begun to construct an icy dome, but it was too late.
Her palm shot forward into the half-constructed dome.
The spiked mana she had been concealing finally revealed itself. Without her control, it had become unstable—chaotic.
Exactly what she wanted.
The intelligent eyes of the humanoid beast widened, shock locking them in place with Elaine's golden pupils.
"Human…"
Its primitive voice was disrupted by the chaotic detonation of mana.
The attack erupted.
Its destructive output shattered the ice dome and continued to press forward. The wind howled fiercely, a massive tornado took form in the chaos.
The earth beneath it quaked under the pressure. Blood and bone disappeared into its ever-turning maw. The once clear tornado had taken a deeper, darker colour of crimson.
It stretched far into the clouds like a crimson tower that connected the heavens to the mortal plane.
All this destruction, aimed towards the death of the beasts at its centre.
The sword saint had been thrown back by her own attack. The impact was heavy but bearable. The crimson spire was finally dismantling and coming to an end. The chaotic mana dispersed back into nature, and the wind once again took its normal course.
The sky above them was now painted a slight red. The droplets of blood that had risen into the air now succumbed to the natural flow of gravity.
The vine beast that had once looked glorious now looked pathetic. Its hundreds of split tails had been reduced to mere dozens, and its once sleek feline frame hung weakly. The closed petals that had comprised what was its head opened up, with some of them missing. Its green paw stepped forward. Black blood pooled on the earth and seeped into the cracks beneath it.
The vine beast let out a gut-wrenching roar, and for a second the sword saint thought she had failed. But nothing came after—just a roar. Like a final message to the world of its departure.
The beast dropped to the ground, finally succumbing to its wounds. It died.
Its humanoid companion, also caught point-blank within the attack, was riddled with countless lacerations. It walked towards the vine beast and dropped to the ground beside it.
The sword saint gripped her long sword.
The beast's guard was down, its companion was dead.
She could kill it.
A single step forward, and she stopped in her tracks.
The air, which could not have been colder, felt freezing. Visible frost spread across the trees. A violent mana pressure crashed into her with suffocating force.
The humanoid beast turned towards her.
"HUMAN!!" it roared.
The once intelligent eyes that lacked emotion had now been painted red by rage.
The sword saint brandished her sword despite the pressure.
She had killed one. It was time to kill the other.