Sasha charged forward, her eyes locked on Mind. She was determined to take down the mysterious woman and put an end to her mind games.
As she approached, Sasha released a cloud of pheromones, using her Mesmer skill to attack Mind's mind. Mind stumblef as she fell under the effects of the mist. Sasha to advantage and began to slash at her teleporting to the location she'd land and sending her flying before she could land.
As Sasha was about to land her ninth hit aiming to finish it all by dividing mine diagonally, Mind made a flash of light which blinded Sasha and took advantage of that moment to counter.
With a flick of her wrist, Mind rewrote Sasha's mind, temporarily taking control of her body and turning the pheromones in the mist back on their creator. Sasha broke free and drop kicked mind using her momentum to jump back. She landed and stumbled backwards, her eyes widening in confusion as illusions began to play in her head.
The world around her distorted, and Sasha felt herself becoming weaker and dizzier by the second. Mind took advantage of her opponent's weakness, and swiftly knocked the sword out of Sasha's hands and began striking out with a series of swift and precise blows.
Sasha stumbled backwards, her arms raised in a futile attempt to defend herself. Mind's attacks were relentless, and Sasha felt herself becoming more and more disoriented.
As the fight wore on, Mind forced her self into Sasha's thoughts. She could see the deepest desires and fears that lay hidden in Sasha's mind.
"Let me tell you something." She began her taunt.
"I know why you're really with Kojo," Mind said, her voice dripping with malice.
"It's not love, is it? It's because he has the admiration of all those women."
Sasha's eyes widened in denial, but Mind just laughed and landed a blow to her gut with a knee then threw her to the ground. "Don't try to deny it, Sasha. I can sense the jealousy you felt when Sharone and the others were cheering for Kojo. You swore fealty to him because you wanted validation. You were always so composed but you let your inner self,that right the succubus within whisper in your ear." She said picking Sasha up by the hair.
"You want a strong man to protect you, and you attached yourself to the man who showed the smallest glimmer of your desire."
" You're lying. I.... I would never.." but Mind ignored and just continued to taunt her. "You're a leech, Sasha. You latch onto someone and feed off their power. And you were calling us a whore earlier. You're pathetic."
As Mind spoke, she raised her hand, and a giant flaming hand made of pure energy formed above the battle field , hovering above them.
"You're going to pay for being a pathetic, jealous little bitch"
Mind said raising Sasha up by the throat. Sasha was confused by what was happening,still under the effects of her skill. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Mind threw her towards the attack which began to descend. The battlefield was in chaos as everyone scrambled to get out of the way. In that instant,Sasha felt a strong agony within herself like none she'd ever experienced before. She raised her arms in a futile attempt to defend herself. Sasha closed her eyes as she realized she was about to meet her end.
The attack suddenly vanished . Sasha opened her eyes and found herself in Kojo's arms. He was bloodied with bruises all over his body.
" Hey." He said with a smile.
" Kojo." She muttered the tears in her eyes glowing as she hugged him.
A Few Minutes Ago
Kojo clashed with Faust, their movements a blur as they exchanged blow after blow.
Kojo's Accelrant ability allowed him to see into future, giving him glimpses of Faust's movements and attacks before they happened. Using that in tandem with his Scan ,he could see the flow of Arcana throughout the entire battlefield and he saw saw outlines of Faust's spells as the energy pooled into his incantation circles to manifest attacks.
Kojo used is skill Impede Enchant to take control of the arcana pooling into the magic. Faust however was a skilled mage,casting spells faster than Kojo could disrupt them.
(Kojo, move! He's going to hit you with a Light-Speed Barrage)
Kojo dodged to the side, avoiding the beams of light by a hair's breadth. But Faust was relentless, redefining the concept of "momentum" to send Kojo flying towards him like a human bullet and manifesting a ball of lightning Infront of him.
Kojo raised his hands, using his Crystalization ability to harden his body and protect himself from the impact. But even with his body hardened, Kojo felt the force of the blow, his bones creaking under the pressure. That Kojo burst into smoke as other clones took advantage to surround Faust.
" This is getting difficult." Kojo said as he ran around and attacked from the side with diagonal swing from both his swords.
( It's actually not.) Sysia said.
" Huh?"
( You have all the skill required to beat this guy. I don't know why I even warmed you in the first place.)
Kojo gritted his teeth, using his elemental magic to summon a wave of seismic energy causing the ground to melt and a wave of lava to wash over Faust. But Faust was too fast, redefining the concept of " Fast" to slow down Kojo's movements.
Quicksilver
Lightning bounced of Kojo's body as he forced himself to move out of the way of serpents that Faust had created jumping forward and rotating vertical to cut their head. He stood,panting. He was loosing blood and his arcana was running low.
Faust stood at a distance, his eyes fixed on Kojo as he unleashed a barrage of energy blasts. The attacks flew towards Kojo with incredible speed, each one landing with the force of a small explosion. Kojo tried to outrun them but Faust's redifinition of Fast was still in effect and he stumbled, his body battered and bruised by the relentless assault.
As Kojo struggled to defend himself, he sensed a convergence of arcana on the battlefield. He looked up, his eyes scanning the horizon, and saw Mind forming an attack to kill Sasha. Kojo's heart skipped a beat as he realized he had to act fast. He wanted to rush to Sasha's side and protect her, but Faust's attacks wouldn't let up.
Faust's eyes gleamed with malice as he used his ability to erase all magic on the battlefield, save for Mind'sleaving Kojo vulnerable and he was blasted away.. "You're so weak, Kojo," Faust sneered. "What's the value of your life, anyway? What's the point of living when youre ni different from a pathetic little insect, crawling on the ground. You should die."
"You should go first!"
Kojo yelled at Faust with a grin.
Faust looked at him.gir a moment before walking toward him.
" You can barely stand and yet you have the testicular fortitude to mouth off to me knowing I'm going to kill you. I don't know whether it's courage you simply lack intelligence to understand your situation. Regardless ,I'll make you change your mind," he said, his voice dripping with malice. He raised his hands and began a spell.
"I'll define the concept of life with the meaning of agony."
Fausts ability could go beyond the constraints of the world and affect even the realm of the gods. Once he has the understanding, he could manipulate it
As such All Loving Things without resistances came under the Agony that was life.
Kojo's body contorted in pain as Faust's definition took hold. Blood poured out of his eyes, nose, and mouth, and he dropped to his knees, his body wracked with agony. Faust's eyes gleamed with triumph as he raised his hand, ready to deliver the final blow.
"It's over," he said, his voice dripping with satisfaction as he wrote the word defeat in the air with his arcana.
"You've lost." But Kojo's instincts took over, and he swung Caliburn in a wild arc, cutting through Faust's definition of defeat.
" Huh?" Kojo looked confused.
" What- What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Faust demanded. Kojo slashed him in the face breaking the mask and encasing him in ice.
" Oh,I goty magic back." H said clenching and uncleanching his fist.
" But ho" he wondered taping the sword on his shoulder.
( You do know that your holding the Sacred Blade Caliburn which is capable of rewriting the fabric of Reality right?)
" Oh yeaaaah. I forgot about that." Kojo said smiling awkwardly.
( YOU IDIOT!)
Kojo swung the sword again, cutting away the impediment on his speed and ran off to save Sasha.
The ice holding Faust began to crack.
Now
Kojo held Sasha in his arms, concern etched on his face. "Sasha, why are you crying?" he asked, his voice soft and gentle.
Sasha broke down, her body shaking with sobs. "I'm sorry, Kojo... I'm so sorry..." she stammered, her words barely intelligible.
Kojo's expression softened, and he stroked her hair, trying to comfort her. "What's wrong, Sasha? What's going on?"
Sasha took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "I... I truly do care for you, Kojo... I'm not just..." But she was unable to finish, overcome with emotion once again.
Kojo looked down at her for a moment thenput her down on the ground.He moved behind her, his hands reaching around to grab her breasts.
"You're you, Sasha. Snap out of it." he said. "Our relationship isn't going to change just because of some puny magic spell."
Sasha's eyes widened in surprise, but she couldn't help but moan as Kojo's hands squeezed her breasts.
"You're the strongest fighter in Archadia." Kojo continued, his voice dripping with seduction. "Are you going to let some magic spell have it's way with you?"
Kojo licked the back of Sasha's neck, causing her to shiver.
"I'm encouraging you, Sasha," he continued "When we beat this , I'll do all sorts of naughty things to you so fight for me."
The magic spell that had been affecting Sasha instantly broke, and her aura of pink energy sent waves throughout the entire battlefield. Her eyes formed hearts, and she turned to Kojo, her lips meeting his in a passionate kiss her body trembling with desire, before turning and charging towards Mind, her sword flying from across the battlefield into her hands. She jumped into the air, her body glowing with a fierce plight. "Darling!" she shouted with arousal, her voice echoing across the battlefield.
" Tch." Mind sneered, her eyes gleaming with malice as she summoned a wave of illusions to confuse and disorient Sasha. But Sasha was unfazed, her Spatial Awareness allowing her to see through the illusions and track Mind's movements with ease. Mind followed up with a blast of fire magic that scortched the ground below, but Sasha simply cut through the blast, pushing a Spatial slash through it missing Minds gave by inches.
Mind's eyes widened in surprise as Sasha disappeared from her line of sight and in the next instant she was hurtling towards the ground. Before Mind even touched the ground Sasha used Black Hole Bomb to blast her away, running after her and unleashing a barrage of attacks. Mind could barely stabilize herself and was forced into a defense stance. She timed Sasha's attack pattern and aimed a beam of raw energy at her but she vanished.
" An after image?" She began looking for Sasha but immediately she turned she saw Sashas blade aimed at her head. She jumped back but the sword passed through a portal and took off her right leg.
Mind screamed in pain .
"Oh? Don't enjoy it yet. I'm just getting started." Sasha kicked her lips and charged again
Kojo watched from the distance
( I know this isn't the time but it looks like you took the first step, Kojo. You're finally using the balls God gave you.)
Kojo's face turned bright red.
" Shut up!"
Sysia just laughed.
( I did a appraisal on Sasha. Her skill, Bloodlust, has evolved into the special ability Desire.)
Kojo wondered whether this was a good or bad thing. But he just shrugged.
"A promise is a promise," he said.
A figure moving towards him caught his attention.
" I'll think about that after I kill this guy."
Fausts mask had been broken revealing the face of an old man with long grey hair. He was no longer bothered to use his arcana to preserve his looks. The cut Kojo had inflicted on his face made him look more menacing.His watery yellowed eyes were bloodshot and his frame lanky,a testament to the time he'd been alive. Kojo saw how strained he looked,as if he was struggling to contain something. A glimmer around his neck drew his attention to the locket around his neck.
" Turly I underestimated your ability and I forgot to factor in you're possession of a Sacred Blade."he said in a raspy voice.
" Yeah that right,now your ability isn't gonna work on me" Kojo said pointing his two swords on him. He suddenly senses a large amount of energy being released from the city an turned.
" I have no choice but to use my greatest masterpiece. I was going to use it to revive my lovely Beatrice but fuck it."
Kojo rushed to stab Faust as the same energy type was converging around him.
"世界宣言: 無名城の乙女の子守唄"
( Translation -"World Declaration: The Maiden's Lullaby From the Nameless Castle"