*
"Looks like you spared her life after all." (Myuu)
"I can't say I'll do the same for someone who nearly killed me."
"You're still alive anyway right?" (Myuu)
She spoke with cold eyes and a hint of cynicism, her smooth palms grip tighter onto her spear once more. Now that I think about it, I havent really thought much about the existence of skills, I barely know about those in their possessions. How Does~ She summon those spears? From what i understand, it allows her to summon plants with high conversion efficiency and extremely high magic affinity. The infusement of her plants with magical particles can handle high concentrations of magical particles beyond what any normal plant or plant monster could naturally have.
She swung her spear once more, this time it took my full speed from the Magia retainment technique and the propulsion technique to avoid it by a hair's breadth. Her speed got faster... No, it's simply her positioning. She's moving with far more efficiency in her steps and her approach now takes a shorter amount of time. My eyes still follow her movements just fine... But she still seemed faster than before...
A movement technique? Something similar to my propulsion, she might have something up her sleeve. Or else she was treading and building her advantage with pure skill. She summons a second spear that she wields in her other hand, she thrusts the one on her comfortable hand, her right, first. Slamming against it from the right with my blade, I pressed against my blade with my left palm as I twisted my body and ran towards her left. The spear on her left positioned perfectly against my head, ready to pop it like a cherry.
In the short moment where it was reaching towards my forehead, I abruptly dropped onto the ground by materialising another blade and giving a big push. Using her spear as leverage, rather than parrying them I allowed the force to push me towards the ground before I roll towards the right. My view shifts into a whirling blur as I try to escape. Forming a large propulsion under myself, I shot myself further away to create distance between us. Shifting the wind around me to reposition myself, Myuu reappears once more right in front of me.
"Refined technique,'multiply'." (Myuu)
The edges of her silhouette formed afterimages like a halation as each of her spears split into 3 blurry copies of itself before fusing back into 1. The spear itself held an unimaginable oppressive aura as just the sight alone was causing my hairs to stand on end. Every small movement caused a small explosion to form, and each successive explosion swallowed the previous ones to embroil and transform into a larger burst of energy.
"Return her." (Myuu)
A blinding flash of light split forth from the tip of the spear into countless rays of light in random directions.
Looks like I can't avoid this. Fine, I was a bit pissed off anyway. We return to this shit again. Just how many times do I need to tell you?
"She's dead!!!! Kaori is dead!!! She's never coming back!!!"
Since I can't do anything about Myuu's new attack, I might as well trade blows with her. REIGNING!!!! DRILL.CROSS.PUNCH!!!!! I swing my fist with practiced movements, my body shifts into the optimal position as it readied an attack. My movements are further optimised and enhanced by the wind surrounding me.
"Multiply x 2." (Myuu)
The spears split into 3 again before combining back into 1. In simple terms, her power is now 9 fold of her usual. With that much magical particles working to make such a delicate circuit, her body's strain becomes higher with each multiply. But that isn't my problem. I need to survive this first. My fist shoots straight for her neck and lower cheek, combined with all the propulsion I can muster.
The limit to Magia retainment, I can house activated magical particles in my body and keep my enhancements up, but if I spend these magical particles on techniques other than Magia retainment then they can not be retained. Meaning I was now far below 90% in retainment status and my enhancements have gotten less effective. But with this final push I flash past her spear and struck her in the face, causing a large chunk to cave in before sending her flying away.
On the other hand... Her technique was able to multiply her power 9 fold while keeping the cost to 1 fold. It was a ridiculous feat that gives me a headache whenever I think of it. Now that I was severely at a disadvantage... RUN! I twisted a 180 before crashing through the wall of that empty house then I jumped into the sky. I could feel her presence hot on my back, while her momentary shock did buy me some time, it was not enough to build much of a gap.
Tch, I assumed Kaori was far stronger, but Myuu is straight up a monster in disguise. How can anyone have that much power and be an A rank? If she were to use her entire well and go 9 fold, she would be able to replicate a S grade attack! I send a barrage of weak wind blades from my back as I landed on the ground and began to run. Her speed didn't change at all as she tanked through all those attacks, did she even wince or feel anything? Before I knew it, my speed had carried me a region away and I was back on the outskirts of Central.
***(Myuu)
A skeptical voice resounded with its usual hint of cynicism. Its tone fluctuating on her whimsical voice.
"Are you sure about this?" (Paridia)
"Yeah. " (Myuu)
She looked down as she contemplated her own words. Was she sure what she did was right? Or was she just tying to convince herself? Her eyes wavered for a moment when she thought about the old Kaori, but then she realised she was thinking about the old Kaori. Not the new one. But the one that can never return again. It was like a family member had died. Though she had gotten numbed to it when she lost both her parents. Her everything.
"Tch, it'll be harder you know. Why should we accept your choice?" (Gerald)
"If you don't." (Myuu)
I brandished my spears once more. Even if it seemed unbelievable, this was the spear I had been using since the very start. My very first trusty and reliable partner. Over time as I got stronger, this spear did too. Her durability and her sharpness, they've grown to insane proportions. As I keep summoning plants from the dead, I naturally grew attached to them. My first passive, [Akasha's encyclopedia] holds the information of everything I summoned. This spear actually has a will of its own, but essentially I've made a contract with it so that it obeys.
The more I summon them or the more magical particles I put into them, the more they exhibit their true power. In truth, they are ancient plants from the past age. For whatever reason, the magical particle concentrations were ridiculously higher in ancient times. So much so that every human could use magic as they had to fend off every other threat like monsters, demons, gods and these plants.
This vine spears were grown naturally in the shape of spears, used by an ancient tribe to hunt. But there are microscopic picks on its surface that inject a deadly venom on whoever touches them. The tribe had adapted to have thick skin on their palms and they cover their body with a layer of magic too as a precaution. These vine spears had an entire hierarchy but that's a story for another time.
In other words, they have insane durability and power far beyond any modern plants. There are also other species beyond these like the eldersage trees I use that are normally fireproof and can withstand floods and typhoons quite well.
"You may not have noticed, but we were severely holding back for the sake of our dear Kaori." (Paridia)
"Are you sure you want to threaten us in that state? Our team had threaded on a string to stay together, that string is the feeble equilibrium held by the fact that you guys had 2 members and we had 2 too. But now that Kaori is gone..." (Gerald)
" Then what after that? You make a loss either way if I leave. You've seen my strength. Unlike Kaori who has been under so much scrutiny for being the weakest member, I've been honing my skill continuously in the background.
I'll ask it to your face this once. Do you think you can even beat me? "(Myuu)
3 oppressive auras clash against one another, weirdly enough one of them was able to assert itself really well against the other 2. It didn't seem to be engulfing the other 2, but it didn't budge at all either. It stood firmly still like a fortified mountain. If it had been a 1 on 1 fight... Would they even be able to push her back by themselves? With that her power was made clear.
"... I'll apologise, if you stay with us we'll accept it." (Gerald)
".... I'll follow whatever Gerald does." (Paridia)
Tch, this makes me look like I'm growing my ego now. Damn it Kaori, please... live normally. You now have a normal lease on life, please... Live more safely. In the meanwhile, I'll kill the progenitor, so wait for me...
***(Kaori)
The sky had quickly turned dark once more, just how long has passed? Oddly enough, my body felt cold despite not being able to feel. This wasn't physical coldness... As proof, no matter how much I hugged myself I would still feel cold inside. As I glide through to gloomy night air, my thoughts wandered in the suffocating silence. Was this abandonment? Would I be enemies with Myuu in the future? Perhaps.
As far as I could remember, the first person I saw when I woke up Paridia. She seemed aloof and looked to be the type that kept to themself, so I was shocked when she stood against myself. I mean... It's not my fault you know? That the old Kaori can't return back.... I have nothing to do with that... So why... Can't you accept me? Was it my idealogical clash with the original Kaori, with you guys as the proxy? Or was it something else?
You know I'm blind to everything in this world without you guys. I was able to deal with the fact that I had no sense of touch, taste or smell because I had no memories of having such things. But when you guys looks so happy eating your food, I feel empty you know? I can't smell how good the foods is like you all can, I can't feel if a drink is hot or cold... Is this how it is now? I cope by listing out my problems? What do I do now?
I suppose I could have listened to them... But... No matter how beautiful her utopia was, Amony was still an enemy. It's only normal if I wonder now whether I made the right choice, not that there was any alternative for my plan... I still can't tell them about it, so I can't return to them...
I'm headed in the south direction, I'm already out of Central so I should be able to reach it next morning. The place where Kaori started. The labyrinth. Over there I should be able to meet her old acquaintances and gather information on her. Maybe I could imitate her somehow, not that I would know how. Technically I'm just her without her memories, so would it be so wrong to make up such a facade? Hopefully, acting as myself wouldn't give anything away. If I just act normally, it should be able to hold up. Recognising their faces would be hard though.
At that moment I heard a little flutter. It was a piece of paper but it didn't resemble the one I wrote. The one I wrote was left in Amony's utopia, I had checked upon my return but it wasn't with me. But it should have served its purpose since she gave me a similar paper before she died. On the mysterious letter I just found, on it was written a few names. "Barius, Garion, Kenzi, Fiel, Izumi, Vibell, Xin, Usami, Kaori. -Myuu".
I wonder if at the end of all this I could smile again. With you.
***(?)
"... I suppose she's now out of the picture. Without her weird skill, their little team should be far easier to deal with now. Congrats, you can get your family back." (?)