I swung the heavy sword in the air as I dashed for the delusion, the weight was too heavy so I had to resort to burst mode, 1 horn and had to also support myself with a boost from the white flames that propelled me through the air. I greeted my teeth as I got near him and prepared to swing the Nemax at him.
[Bastard!]
He summoned a replica of the shield of prejudice but it was just a copy and not the real thing and I imbued the Nemax with corrosion and corruption so it was useless. The look on his face even though it looks exactly like me gave me the feeling of pure joy to getting rid of him.
"Doing that is useless!"
I shouted as I swung the sword at him, it sliced through him easily and he didn't even get the chance to react because it was so fast since it was so heavy that gravity pulled it even faster. The replica of the shield of prejudice was the first thing to make contact with the heavy blade as the delusion used it to protect himself, but it was too weak to even cover him. After slicing through the fake shield, the sword made contact with his shadow body and he wasn't able to teleport as he used to. The sword was lodged deep in his body and he struggled to move.
"See, I told you it's useless!"
[You bastard!] he retaliated
"Don't even bother moving, you can't do anything anymore and it's about time I end you."
[END ME, THEN I'LL MAKE SURE YOU SUFFER EVEN MORE!] He shouted furiously
"Suffer even more? Me? I'm getting used to it by now and how are you even planning on doing it? I told you making any move right now is useless." I replied coldly
I put even more pressure on the blade that's lodged in him and he screamed even more. A smile crept up my face as if I was enjoying this. When and how did my personality get so twisted...I wonder...
[Atleast...before you go...take my core...you need it to keep on living...I might have been an antagonist to you...but I'm just doing what needs to be done according to her...she doesn't want you to suffer anymore...but you kept on resisting since you have people you want to protect...then fight! Make sure to protect them all!]
He shouted as a glowing grey ball formed in his right palm, he tossed it to me and I caught it with my right hand. The ball was light and there was something inside it that made me stare at it with amazement.
"Are you still plotting something?" I glared at him out of suspicion
[If I'm plotting something, I could have done it already, that core, you better safe keep it will help you greatly in the future in time's of need, she sacrificed her life just to summon me and deliver that to you...]
Perplexed about what he's even talking about, I need to pry for more information because all of the things he's mentioning are probably important.
"'She'? Who are you talking about?"
[You really are dense when it comes to important things...she's the one yo-]
He suddenly stopped talking and the light outlining his shadowy body dimmed as the seconds passed by. His body started to crack and dissipate into nothingness, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't move, my body was stuck in place. I just stared at his dissipating body and I removed the Nemax from him. Suddenly the sword started to glow and came out Zeichi whilst the sword went back to its original form.
"Oh, welcome back Zeichi!"
[My head hurts...you swung the sword too much!] she proclaimed while pouting
"Ah...my bad..." I placed my hand on her head, gently caressing her hair and she seemed to like it.
[Well I guess it's time for you to return...and you can now summon me to the real world since I acknowledged you...and be wary of the second form of the Nemax...]
"Just who are you Zeichi and what's your connection to the swor-"
Before I could finish she pushed me out of my sector and she waved goodbye as she pushed me. My body suddenly felt heavy and fatigued as I opened my eyelids and my vision is blurry, the area around me was pretty humid and the ground was covered in grass and many trees surrounded me. It's a very lush environment and I spotted a white bunny hopping from one of the bushes and hopped away when it saw me. In a daze of confusion, I stood up and went to one of the tree's and I grabbed a fruit which looked like an apple, I bit into it and the sweetness filled my mouth while my stomach suddenly started to grumble. I ate a couple of apples that seemed ripe enough to be eaten, my stomach was full after eating around fifteen apples. Nothing seems to be weird about my body, it's just that I'm so burnt out...I need to rest for now...
"Heyyyyyyyy, are you alrightttttttttttt?"
Some person with a feminine voice woke me up from my deep sleep and when I checked out the sky it was almost sunset. I turned my gaze to the person in front of me...she had short orange hair and green jade eyes and she seemed to be picking up apples or something because she had a basket on her right arm and she wore a red and white ribbon matching her dress.
"Uhhhh, who are you?" I asked
"I'm Celene! I'm here picking up apples for my grandma."
"At this time? Isn't it dangerous?"
"Thank you for your concern but I need to do this or else the nobles will stop sending medicine to my sickly grandma...she's been stuck in bed for the past 4 years and I have to do everything I can to repay her for raising me..."
"That's really sad to hear...what about your parents?"
"They abandoned me when I was just little and my grandma said that they had to participate in a war on the other side..."
"You've had it rough..." I reassured her
War on the other side...sounds kind of familiar...
"Well, may I ask for your name?"
"I'm Tarus, nice meeting you Celene!"
"What a nice name!" she proclaimed
"D-don't be..."
"So where do you live?"
"I just suddenly woke up here in this apple orchard or forest..."
"This is just outside of town and you're claiming to suddenly wake up here?"
"Oh, so there's a town nearby..."
"Well, should we get going?"
"Sure lead the way please."
She sure is a cheery girl for someone who lost her parents...but she seems to be a kind person. She helped me up with an outstretched hand and the sun has set by now and stars littered the sky, I remembered that moment where we all slept in one of the training rooms with an artificial sky...
"Tarus! Stop looking at the sky! There's nothing to see..."
"Don't you want to be free and end the suffering..." I said unconsciously as I raised my arm in the sky and opened my right palm
"Tarus....?"
"Oh, sorry about that! Just talking to myself!" I scratched my head
Suddenly a wolf popped up from one of the bushes and dashed for Celene. I greeted my teeth and I silently summoned the Nemax and I sliced the wolf in half cleanly.
"Heeep!" she suddenly shouted a bit
I hushed her in case there were still any other wolves around and it's nighttime at that so it's difficult to see in the darkness. I placed her on my back as I stood guard if there were any other wolves. The surroundings were silent and the corpse in front of me suddenly got sucked by the ground.
"What the hell happened with the corpse!?" I whispered to her
"If there's a dead body on the grass mother nature just takes it back as nutrients, that's the cycle of life here..." she explained
"What a weird place...we should head back to town before it gets even more dangerous as other monsters might show up! Please don't mind me I'll just make it easier for both of us to get there!"
I carried her with both of my arms and her face suddenly reddened...she flustered so much as if she was glowing...
"Kyaaaaaaaa!" she shouted
"Please forgive me! This is just to make it faster and please point the way!"
I started running...north I think...she suddenly pointed the directions and I just run to where she pointed. After a while, we made it to what looks like a wall made of huge bricks and we searched for the gate. We found it and we proceeded to enter the town but I was stopped at the gate by a menacing guard.
"Your identification please..." he said in a deep rough voice
Bewildered...I just stood there...not knowing what to do....how awkward!