It hadn't even been a split second that Quinte and Frey had been waiting, but with their speed of thought, it was already an eternity for them.
Fortunately, even their mental fatigue could be cured with Imagination.
"Quinte, we're not going to be able to continue like this, it's an impasse" Frey said.
"You're right, but what can we do about it?" Quinte asked. "The only way to spot it would be to completely destroy the Ark, but the problem is that it is linked to my life, and can only be destroyed if I die"
"I don't value my life that much but without me to help you, even if seriously injured, Ei is still too strong for you"
"Argh, that's true, but every moment that passes is another moment where she can heal her wounds... Wait, I know! Quinte, I have an idea but you're going to have to cover for me, okay?"
"I suppose taking the time to explain would be too complicated?"
"Chloé can listen to us very well, so it actually seems complicated to me"
"Just try your idea, I'll protect you from the mad woman in the meantime"
Without being asked a second time, Frey began to create something with Imagination while Quinte stood guard, protecting him and at the same time blocking the passage to the outside of the Ark.
At the exact moment Frey became too focused to react to what was happening around him, a bright arrow appeared out of nowhere and hurtled towards him, tearing reality apart in its path. Quinte grabbed it even though it was less than an inch from Frey's face and looked around, but he felt no presence.
'Hmm, I see, she can attack without revealing her position, that's problematic' he thought.
After that, countless similar arrows headed towards Frey, stopped short by a barrier of light.
"Frey, faster!" Quinte shouted without panicking.
Frey didn't reply because, in fact, he didn't even hear it, too focused on his creation. He was almost finished when a new arrow of light stuck into his neck. Quinte rushed to treat him, but this made him lose his concentration and prevented him from completely blocking a spear thrown towards him, which penetrated his leg.
"Tssk, it thinks it's God and it makes traitorous attacks" he complained while healing himself.
At this moment, Frey finally finished Imagining his secret weapon. Suddenly, without any warning, Chloe reappeared a few hundred meters from them.
"What…" she began.
But she was cut by Quinte's fist, which sent her flying away.
"I understand" the latter said. "You added an entire law to this world just so you could flush it out"
"That's it" Frey confirmed. "This law more or less ensures that "the most powerful being in creation is incapable of hiding. Since so far I have been able to do almost everything I wanted with Imagination, I was wondering if this too would be possible. But it actually took me longer than I thought. Thank you for protecting me during this time"
"Don't mention it. Now let's hurry and get this chore over with"
Quinte and Frey began attacking Chloe again. They had suffered some damage but were still in better condition than their opponent, and could also count on their numerical advantage. Thus, once again, Quinte and Frey took the advantage and inevitably pushed Chloé back.
Suddenly, the latter Imagined a galaxy, in which all the stars exploded at the same time, creating an astronomical amount of light.
Frey was confused: although to anyone else it might have been threatening, he and Quinte wouldn't even have a scratch, considering how much they had strengthened themselves by using it. 'Imagination. Frey knew that Chloe was aware of something so obvious, so he wondered what her purpose was until he saw her heading towards the passage leading out of the Ark.
"Frey, be careful, she uses flashy moves to distract us and take the opportunity to break through to the exit!" Quinte shouted, rushing forward.
"Quickly, we must prevent her from returning to the Platonic Sea or the Primary World at all costs!"
Frey and Quinte barely managed to get between Chloé and the exit in time.
"Hehe, I forgot that it was in adventure stories that we let the bad guy escape easily, and not in dramatic plays" Chloé joked. "Well, we'll see which of the two it will be!"
She imagined an infinite mass that exploded, recreating a situation similar to the big bang, the detonation that created the universe according to scientists, but several times larger. Once again, she was counting on it more to distract her opponents than anything else, but this time they were ready: with a thought, Quinte Imagined a gigantic black hole right in the middle of the explosion, which instantly absorbed her.
For her next attempt, Chloe imagined countless doubles, and Frey and Quinte did the same, the two-on-one fight becoming a real war. This was not to the advantage of Frey and Quinte who were not to let even the slightest copy of Chloe escape, lest it was in reality the real one. This caused them to make more mistakes, thus rebalancing the fight.
"Haha, Frey, Quinte, if you knew how happy I am" all the Chloé's said at the same time. "After all these years of suffering, I finally see the light!"
The attacks of Chloe and her doubles increased in intensity again, and the doubles of Frey and Quinte were beginning to no longer be able to hold them back. With no other choice, they changed tactics, opting for suicide attacks, trying to drag as many copies to death with them to increase their chances of finding the real Chloe.
The bodies of the copies were flying all around them, and the devastation caused by the fight had already decimated all of the dream dolphins, the creatures that populated the interior of the Ark. Frey had a brief thought for Fal, his pet Traveling Falcon, hoping that he had been able to escape into the Platonic Sea in time, but unfortunately he had no time to check as he ordered his copies so that they play suicide bombers, blowing themselves up with those of Chloé
"Quinte, do you think this will last much longer?" he asked, not knowing if he was talking to the real Quinte or a copy.
"No, I have the feeling that the end of the fight is approaching, and at a dangerously high speed" Quinte replied. "It could be for the better, but also for the worse, I have no idea at this point"
"Great, very reassuring. Okay, let's get this over with and neutralize Chloe!"
The copies continued to fall until all that remained were the original Freys and Quintes, and half a dozen Chloes, with no idea who was the real one.
"It looks like it's a defeat for you" one of the Chloé's said.
Of the six, two went to block Frey, three went to block Quinte, while the last one rushed towards the exit.
"No, it must be the real one, she will escape!" Quinte exclaimed, showing a tense expression for the first time.
With Imagination, he turned one of his three opponents into stone before smashing her into pieces, but could not immediately get rid of the other two. On his side, Frey managed to eliminate one of his two opponents too, but grimaced as the second delivered a vicious kick to his neck.
"Urgh" he said through his teeth.
But at the same time, the copy that had just attacked him was dragged by a rope of light, forcibly dragged towards Quinte.
"I'll take care of these three copies, hurry up and stop the real one, while it's weakened!" the latter shouted.
Frey didn't have to be told twice and joined the real Chloe. He was in a deplorable state, covered with wounds, but the state of his beloved was much worse: it was as if she was already half out of existence. Parts of his body were normal, some were all white, some were black, and some were just not visible. Only his orange eyes remained perfectly intact. The sight of them fills Frey with sadness:
"Chloe, there has to be an ending where neither of us has to take our last breath, so why?" he asked as a tear rolled down his cheek.
"Precisely because it's an end" Chloé replied. "There are an infinite number of possibilities for us both to end up happy, but in this case it would mean the end of history, and therefore a new Fate for this world. I can't stand this...having to start all over again...again. And it is to avoid this end that one of us must disappear"
Frey did not clearly understand what his beloved meant, but he could see in her eyes that she would not change her mind. With a final sigh, he imagined a new sword, just like Chloe, and the two embarked on a final joust. Frey, due to the difference in experience, was much less gifted than Chloe, and he accumulated cut after cut, getting closer and closer to his own death.
"I'm sorry, Frey"
Schlak.
Frey's left hand, which held his saber, had just lost a finger.
All these readings, all these different readings of creation that I have experienced...
Schlak.
Two other fingers, still on the same hand. Frey was forced to shift his saber into his right hand, which he was not used to.
"In total, I lived longer than anyone else, even Quinte…"
Schlak.
Frey was forced to use his left arm to block the next sword strike, and that same arm was severed.
"And I have had countless experiences that have saddened me, made me suffer, and made me lose hope in this world..."
Frey, in a last desperate gesture, reflexively threw a thrust towards Chloe's heart.
"But nothing has ever been as diffecult as difficult as this separation"
Schlak.
This time the wound was fatal.
Moreover…
…The person who received it was not the one Frey expected. He looked at the tip of his blade that had lodged itself in Chloe's heart, with both horror and surprise.
"Chloe, how come you couldn't…"
He then understood when he saw the smile full of melancholy and sadness worn by Chloé:
"You... did you let yourself be pierced on purpose?"
"Hehe, you always knew how to find the way to my heart... Frey... urgh!"
As she said these words, she spat out a stream of blood, and her body slowly began to crumble and disappear from creation.
This time, the life of the first being born from the Imagination was truly coming to an end.
On that day, the woman known as Ei, a creator and as Chloé Zénith Noir, a human, would finally obtain eternal rest.