With a fluid movement, Zahyla turned the sword toward herself. Her eyes found Elio's as the blade pierced her own left eye.
"No more waiting," she whispered, a genuine smile replacing her usual mocking smirk. "No more games."
For a moment, no one moved. The horror of understanding took a second to reach Zara and Lila.
Diana was disintegrating.
Elio was unconscious.
Divine Corrupted Soul was active.
Zara and Lila's eyes met, the same thought crossing their minds.
Both launched forward.
Mei shouted something, a warning perhaps, an alert, but it was too late.
They no longer sought to intercept a sword. Now they ran to intercept a soul.
♢♢♢♢
Time slowed as Lila jumped, and in that moment of suspended eternity, thoughts flooded her like a dark tide.
'I could simply...'
The image formed in her mind with painful clarity: her, arriving a second late, just after Zahyla possessed Zara.
