[TALIA]

Light orbs around her, giant vines surrounding her.

Talia was determined to go all out. She didn’t have the luxury of being conservative of her power. If she didn’t end it at that moment, then Pheobe was sure to win, given her berserk state.

The question was… Who was going to go down first? Was Talia going to reach her limit first? Or was it going to be Pheobe? The battle would decide that.

Talia launched her enhanced vines toward Pheobe. Immediately, Pheobe reacted, dodging their devastating strikes. She used her great speed caused by the Crimson Armament and began to travel on the vines, aiming for Talia who was above them.

Immediately she noticed this, Talia controlled the other vines to attack the one she ran on. As soon as they did, Pheobe jumped on another, causing the previous one to be struck down without her on it. The other vine she landed on was also struck down as she jumped on yet another. Using this method, she used Talia’s friendly fire to her advantage.

“Tch, she’s smarter than I thought… Or is it her instinct?” Talia asked herself.

Suddenly, Pheobe boosted herself upward by using the vines as a foothold, aiming for Talia in the sky. She brought forth her crimson wings and increased her speed even further. She brought out her dagger, Shino, which was also covered in the crimson energy, and launched it at Talia, who was distant from her.

Ten blade branches stemmed from the main blade, making them eleven in total which was sent to pierce Talia. Immediately, Talia sent her light orbs to counter the blades. They immediately launched with their speed and exploded immediately they came into contact with the blades. The branches broke off due to the impact of the light explosion, leaving only the main blade body.

“Tch, it’s being strengthened by that weird red energy around her. It extended to the weapon too.” Talia said.

“Gruuuuuwwwwwllll” Pheobe let out as she flew to catch Talia.

Talia wouldn’t have this and immediately flew away, increasing the energy output of her wings. She outflew Pheobe, superior to her in both speed and skill. As Pheobe chased her in the air, Talia launched multiple light orbs at her. Due to their speed, Pheobe was unable to dodge most of them, causing them to explode as they made contact with her.

“Guaaaahhh” Pheobe yelled out in pain.

However, their small size lacked enough power to deal a decisive blow on Pheobe, though she was badly injured. But, even with such severe injury, Pheobe pressed on, with Shino on her hand, she lunged at Talia.

“Looks like these small attacks won’t cut it. I can’t afford to drag this out for any longer” Talia said to herself.

She immediately called upon her vines and they rose to attack Pheobe. This caused Pheobe to dodge their relentless whips and attacks, unable to chase after Talia solely. For good measure, Talia also released the last of the light orbs that floated around her. They flew toward Pheobe and dealt more damage to her, slowing her down for a bit.

“I only have one shot…” Talia said to herself.

She heaved heavily and closed her eyes, her entire being became concentrated on her hands which were placed opposite themselves, as a ball of light began to form in between them.

“… I better make this one count!” She finally muttered.

The ball grew bigger and bigger, generating even greater light which illuminated the evening sky further.

Pheobe managed to shake off the vines since due to Talia’s concentration on her light ball, the plants couldn’t optimally function. She charged straight for Talia with a desperate shriek and with full speed, flew with her dagger in hand and the crimson cloak leaving a trail in the sky as she flew.

“Blooooooddddddd!!!!!” She screamed!

Talia opened her eyes and released the white energy which had built up in between her hands in one massive beam of light. The beam surged and fell, descending upon Pheobe who desperately reached out to slash Talia.

“Guarghhhhhhh” Pheobe let out as the light beam sent her flying down.

The energy utterly overcame her red armament and overpowered her. Immediately the power faded away, her body slowly began to get consumed as her skin burned off, turning to dust. Her weapon cracked due to the pressure and heat of the light as it too started to break down.

“B-Blood… I… Lost…?” Pheobe muttered to herself as she slowly turned to ash.

Her face, her body, her entire self burned off due to the immense power of the light.

“Shino… I’m sorry. This one… Was too strong. No blood… For us today… Big brother Gwain… I couldn’t kill… This… One…” Pheobe muttered to herself before finally turning to ash.

The light slowly reduced before it finally stopped. The hole it had dug into the ground caused the earth it struck to glow amber as it sizzled due to the heat the light emitted. The dagger Phoebe used, Shino, turned to dust and faded away, along with its master.

Talia huffed as she saw the sight in front of her. Her vision blurred ad she felt lightheaded. But… She did it! She won!

“I… I killed her! Hexarion, I did as you said. I-I… Killed someone…” Talia said.

Suddenly she burst into tears. She cried and cried as she slowly descended from the sky. Her body was weak, yet she sniffled as tears rolled down.

“How did it turn out this way? I never wanted to… I just wanted… I killed… I ended someone’s life…” Talia sniffed as she spoke.

Her head began to spin as her body ached and throbbed painfully. Her wings vanished and the power that surged through her was no more. She was at her limit.

She smiled weakly, grateful she was able to finish the job her lord gave her before she ran out of power.

“Was I… Of use to you… Hexarion?” She asked herself.

Her knees gave up straight as she crumbled and knelt weakly on the ground. At any moment she would lose consciousness. Suddenly, footsteps were heard, the sound drew closer as it approached her steadily.

With blurry eyes, she weakly looked at the figure that approached her. It was an unfamiliar one. A woman… It was a woman who approached Talia. Her face was not visible to Talia since her eyes were blurry and she was on the verge of passing out. She did recognize one thing though.

White

The lady wore white. Was it the Apostle Hexarion was after? She remembered Pheobe mentioning the Apostle stopping her from using Hex. If that was the case, and this was the person. Then… Then…

“The enemy… I still… Need to… F-Fight…” Talia muttered to herself weakly as she struggled to remain awake as her eyes forcefully shut themselves.

The lady crouched as she looked at Talia’s face. A smile was on her face, but Talia couldn’t make out anymore. She passed out and everything went dark.

Her last train of thought went thus;

“Hexarion… The enemy… I…”

Nothing she experienced, and nothing she thought of before passing out, compared to what awaited her when she would open her eyes the next. She was soon going to find out… The fate she was to live in….