The gray blades slashed at my eyes and I screamed from the pain. I dropped to my knees, as the gash on my face healed after a few moments. Afraid those two would strike at me again, I willed my white gauntlet to change its shape. It broke down into numerous whips that whirled around me.
I opened my eyes after it had fully regenerated, and clearly, those two Users were looking at me. The purple-haired girl was obvious since she no longer had her hood, and I could only guess that User beside her did the same. His hood prevented me from seeing what his expression was at that time.
"How dare she . . ." I growled.
My eyes shone bright red as I stood up. My white whips danced in the air, excited to tear those Users apart.
I raised my right hand, and it darted at those two Users. The girl avoided the two that came after her head. She then jumped; barely avoiding the permanent loss of her left arm when my three whips slashed at her. Multiple gray Aegis blades sprouted out from her right arm and she swung it forward. My other whips crashed into it, preventing her body from being harmed by those white crystals.
I clicked my tongue.
The other User had managed to run into my blind spot once again, preparing to strike from my rear.
"That guy's annoying," I mumbled. "Aegis."
"Understood," it replied. "I'll release your physical limiters, alongside the Aegis formation limiter."
After that, a jolt shot up throughout my body. I could feel the surging energy that came with it, allowing me to completely focus on that one male Aegis User.
He sprinted at me with his golden Aegis blade, and I formed a green blade at my left palm. It darted at him with blinding speed but he rolled to the side just in time. After that, he just crouched at his spot.
I frowned. 'What's happening?' I thought.
Certain that his mind was elsewhere, I instructed my green blade to strike at that guy again. Despite that, the User seemingly had snapped from his rail of thoughts and shielded himself with an Aegis blade.
However, my crimson blade pierced the air to slice at the male Aegis User. Unable to avoid that attack, it slashed at his throat in a blink of an eye. He gagged from that sudden attack, blood spluttered out from his mouth.
Seeing him vulnerable in front of me, my green, and crimson blades retracted to my side. It then went after him when a cluster of gray blades blocked its path.
My blades bounced off it. I gritted my teeth and glared at that purple-haired girl.
She was breathing heavily; holding onto her gray blades.
"You're holding back, Ava," said Aegis in my mind.
I clicked my tongue. "Ripping my jacket is not what I want, Aegis. If I move too much, my identity would be revealed."
"Surely you didn't have to go that far. After all, they will be dead after all of this is over. I'm certain you're planning on finishing them off?"
"I want to . . . But--" I paused.
For some reason, I found myself admitting what Aegis had said.
'What is this?' I thought.
A sliver of sharp pain stabbed at my heart, somehow telling me to not kill them.
It was true that I didn't want to reveal who I was in front of those two Aegis Users. However, my body was unconsciously reserving its energy as I fought.
It was like, I didn't want to hurt them.
"What's wrong with me?!" I growled.
My body was not moving as it should, so I brushed off the idea of using anything else other than my white fire. I pointed the crystals at my right palm at those two, determined to burn them.
The purple-haired girl pulled at the guy beside her for him to move. However, it was too late.
White flames burst out of my right palm; engulfing the space in front of me.
A soothing chill then wrapped my heart. In a way, I relished the emotions welling up inside me. Perhaps getting rid of those two purged those weird feelings at that time.
My crystals seeped back into my skin, as I watched for any movements from inside the burning white flames.
"I need to help Tuya," I mumbled.
Certain that those Aegis Users had succumbed to my flames, I sprinted to the entrance of the building.
"Argh!" I stumbled when I avoided a gray blade that almost beheaded me. My eyes shot toward the direction of my rear, and a tall man with long, dark hair came into view. He, too, wore a hooded black jacket like the others.
"Who--"
My body rolled to the side when he swung his gray Aegis blade. His red eyes looked at me lazily.
"Vladimir!" yelled the purple-haired girl.
She emerged from the white flames unscathed, and so did the guy beside her.
"How?" I mumbled.
Then I realized that guy had encased his right arm in his golden Aegis; in the form of a giant shield. It shimmered as glints of white fire flickered on its surface.
"Wha--" I shook my head at what was happening to the flames.
It appeared to me that it was being absorbed into the shield. Slowly, it disappeared and the golden shield became brighter than it was a few minutes ago.
"Perhaps it was his specialty," said Aegis in my head.
"Convenient," I mumbled.
The new guy that appeared, Vladimir, shot a look of distaste at me. "So you're the one, huh . . . I kind of pity Ama at this point."
'Ama?' I thought.
For some reason, that name resonated inside me. I was sure that I haven't met anyone named Ama by then.
Vladimir lunged at me without warning as I was distracted. My Aegis couldn't react in time to prepare for it as various thoughts crossed my mind. Suddenly, pink spikes shot up from the ground; just in front of me.
Vladimir's gray blade bounced off it when Lily kicked at his side out of nowhere. His body flew a dozen feet away from us and crashed at the pale gray wall of the building.
"Lily," I said.
She was in her Full Aegis Form, glaring at those two Users that were on their guard.
"Eh?" The hood of my black jacket had dropped onto my shoulders without me noticing.
"Ava, are you all right?" asked Lily as she cast a quick glance at me.
"I'm fine. But that gold Aegis is dangerous, Lily. That thing just absorbed my white fire."
She narrowed her yellow eyes at that hooded guy. "His Aegis could be somewhat similar to mine. The only difference could be, that his does not have that much offensive capability." Lily then approached those two slowly.
From the corner of my eye, the gold Aegis User was seemingly staring at me. Though, his hood once again made it hard to prove that. He appeared to be uninterested in the new threat.
"Arrgh!" Vladimir swung his dual blades at Lily, but it bounced off her crystallized body with ease. His jaw dropped, baffled by what just happened.
Lily gave him a sideways glance, and he glared at her.
Vladimir relentlessly swung his blades over and over, but even so, Lily was unharmed by it. He thrust it at her head and the blades were deflected. "H-How?"
Lily grabbed at his blades and it shattered into pieces. "Caesar's waiting for me." She kicked at his stomach in one quick motion. Vladimir coughed blood, and she punched him in the face. He fell to the ground after that as his wounds healed.
Gray spikes clashed into her side but it did nothing.
"I'm your opponent. Leave him alone!" yelled the purple-haired girl.
That hooded guy was still staring at me, however, he decided to walk in my direction. His giant shield turned into liquid before it entered his right palm.
Vladimir, on the other hand, had gotten back up. He was glaring at me.
I manifested a crimson shield at my left hand when he sprinted towards me. His dual gray Aegis blades glinted as he swung it in a wide arc.
My shield defended me from one of it, but he pulled his right arm just in time to land a strike at my head.
However, someone pushed him to the side before it made contact. Vladimir stumbled onto the ground a few feet away, with his eyes opened wide.
I put away my shield when a gold Aegis blade shimmered in front of me. It slowly dissolved into thin air, leaving golden sparkles to float in the air.
That person had pulled his hood to reveal who he really was.
My heart stopped for a moment at that sight.
"H-Hope?" I said.
His blond hair was trimmed short, and his eyes were no longer blue. Instead, it was gold right then. It glinted as he smiled at me.
"I've had my suspicion. When you put away your hood, I was a loss for words . . . And to think that you really go this far to chase me, I don't know what to say," he said softly.
"Hope . . ." I muttered.
His voice was no longer monotone like how it used to back in Sweden. In fact, he sounded exactly like he was two years ago.
That smile of his warmed my heart, reminding me of how much I missed him.
"You're back . . . Hope."