Chapter 1257: *****’s Power

As the seventh trumpet was activated, Aria’s form started to disintegrate. All of the flesh and bones protruding out of her body melted into the same black goo that ***** had injected.

From within the collapsing corpse of her previous form, a black shadow rose up. Her form seemed to be comprised of a thousand hands wrapping around her body while glowing red circuits pulsed around her body.

On the spot where Shiro’s attack had landed, there was now a blooming flower with circuits acting as the roots.

Similar to Shiro’s current form, where her body is made of black crystals that reflected the stars, Aria’s body was now made of black shadows that represented the horrors.

Illusionary strings extended from the skeletal hands from above and connected to Aria’s body, piloting her like a puppet as she had already lost her sense of self.

Gritting her teeth, Shiro summoned both Iriel and Vinri before overlapping them with the new combination of Nanobots and Error, allowing the attacks to truly damage Aria.

“Reveal yourself! Are you going to continue watching from afar?! So much you have planned for me but you won’t even reveal your face?” Shiro shouted out in annoyance while dashing towards Aria.

This was Aria’s final stand.

The moment her essence burns out due to the third party’s interference, there will never be another Aria.

While Shiro doesn’t know the truth behind the scenes, nor was she going to stop her pursuit of strength, she could respect Aria’s desire for the world. Even if that desire conflicted against hers. And to see a third party not even show their face while controlling Aria like this was not something Shiro liked to see.

Appearing above Aria, Shiro twisted her body and slashed away at the strings in an attempt to sever the connection between the two so that Aria could have control back. But her swords only phased through the strings as though they don’t exist at all.

‘Is the new attack lacking?’ Shiro thought to herself with a frown. Her new ability should’ve allowed her to comprehend anything and everything she came into contact with, yet the strings couldn’t be registered.

Just as she adjusted her body, Aria was already in front of Shiro with her claws about to land against Shiro’s head.

*CLANG!!!

Parrying without any difficulty thanks to her new domain, Shiro wanted to create some distance but Aria grabbed the sword and refused to let go.

Red cracks spread across Aria’s face as a ‘mouth’ opened up.

“I suppose you do need a reward for getting this far. But as for seeing me… That’ll be your reward after you kill Aria. Your reward for coming this far is a glimpse of the truth I suppose. Just a small understanding of what set everything off and you can find out the rest when you see me.” ‘Aria’ grinned as the world around them started to twist.

“So let’s begin back at the war where Anima lost her mind.”

Slamming her hand down, ‘Aria’ activated a giant tier 9 magic circle that started to glitch and flicker.

Suddenly, the world around them surged with mana as a 10th layer was formed. The entire realm shook to welcome the presence of a tier 10 magic circle while the sheer density of mana caused Shiro’s body to be flung backwards.

Widening her eyes, Shiro stared at the magic circle in shock as tier 9 should be by rights the max, even for Chaos. While there are levels of mastery within tier 9, such as the difference between the original Aria and Shiro, Chaos would be around Shiro levels or perhaps a little higher.

Yet the unknown third party activated a tier 10 magic circle like it was nothing.

Reflections of worlds spread across the walls of the realm as ‘Aria’ jumped up and flicked her finger.

A barrier appeared around both of them with the realm being compressed down to a single orb and crushed to dust.

Without saying anything, ‘Aria’ snapped her finger and a wave of light washed over them. A myriad of codes filled the world to the brim as thousands of years of history was written instantly.

Adjusting her eyesight, Shiro frowned seeing the scenery change as the skies were now blood red. The flood of destruction energy spread across the lands as there were two prominent presences aside from the two of them.

Both of the signatures were familiar to Shiro as it was Anima and the original First Born of Creation.

“You’re not seeing the full picture! Use your new domain!” ‘Aria’ called out as she appeared in front of Shiro, slamming her claws into Shiro’s chest.

Guarding at the last second, Shiro could still feel the impact spreading through her body, pushing her physical durability to the limit as she spread out the edges of her domain.

As all of the codes appeared in her mind, Shiro realised what ‘Aria’ was talking about. Even the ‘Original’ Anima and the First Born of Creation were just copies. A reflection of millions of Anima’s and Aria’s.

While it may be the ‘original’ to Shiro, millions of final battles have happened. Untold cycles repeated and ended.

“That’s the reason why Anima gave up.” Shiro muttered in disbelief as she took a step back before twisting her body and launching a counter towards ‘Aria’.

“She was simply destined to lose her mind. Millions of cycles and patterns always emerge my dear Shiro. Neither Anima nor Aria was special, they’re just the tiles on the chessboard, the background of a fight like now! Their lives were never meant to go far!” ‘Aria’ laughed while snapping her finger.

Shadow tendrils erupted out from her body as it severed the mana strands that Shiro was using for her new domain, taking her by surprise.

Before Shiro could react, a huge force collided with the side of her body as she could feel her bones breaking apart from the hit.

Gritting her teeth, she needed to reestablish her domain to stay on the defensive while she worked on her offensive technique. But ‘Aria’ could see everything that was happening, she knew Shiro’s technique, she knew her plans.

“Your worth is dwindling Shiro! Fight for it! Innovate! Create! Search for the solution!”

Parrying ‘Aria’s’ claw attacks with her blade, Shiro jammed Vinri into ‘Aria’s’ shoulder before slamming her palm against the pommel, causing the blade to shred through ‘Aria’s’ arm, tearing it from the main body.

A maddening light filled ‘Aria’s’ eyes as she regenerated a new arm and grabbed Shiro by the throat and slammed her towards the ground of the battle.

However, what ‘Aria’ grabbed was a decoy that Shiro had switched out.

Appearing behind ‘Aria’, Shiro jammed Iriel into her body and flooded it Error’s power in an attempt to comprehend ‘Aria’ so that she could break her apart.

“Too much information is bad even for you.” ‘Aria’ laughed as information flooded into Shiro’s mind. Millions of copies of her life as well as the lives of everyone included in these cycles crashed into her like a tsunami, knocking her out momentarily as ‘Aria’ grabbed Shiro by the head.

“Everything you need to know is within this realm. It’s up to you to find out. And let’s give you a little… encouragement.” ‘Aria’ grinned as she forced Shiro awake.

Waving her hand, she conjured a God Beast similar to the one found in the world of Creation and injected it with the same black goo she injected into Aria before imbuing it with Chaos’ power.

Creating a portal, ‘Aria’ sent the beast away as reflections of the realm appeared across the sky, showing the beast tearing through realities with other Shiro’s unable to stop it.

“It’ll continue tearing through realities until it finds yours. And when it does… I wonder if your friends can hold up against it.” ‘Aria’ laughed as Shiro grabbed at ‘Aria’s’ wrist, anger burning in her eyes.

Activating her remaining berserk skills, Shiro gritted her teeth and tore ‘Aria’s’ arm to shreds before reaching for her head.

However, ‘Aria’ managed to dodge to the side before trying to kick Shiro away. But just as her kick was about to connect, Shiro teleported away as chains shot up from the ground restraining ‘Aria’ momentarily as tier 9 magic circles appeared above her.

They were similar to the attack that Shiro had used to create the singularity but ‘Aria’ noticed something strange with the last magic circle.

The world started to cry out as mana was drained from the land without signs of stopping. The ground turned grey and faded to ash as a smile crept up on ‘Aria’s’ face.

“Magnificent! Truly magnificent!” She shouted out in joy as Shiro was attempting to form a tier 10 magic circle from her memories of what ‘Aria’ had performed.

In the distance, both Anima and Aria rushed over trying to see what was happening but ‘Aria’ would not have her moment ruined.

“Background pieces should stay in the background!” She cried out as blade blades shot up from the ground, piercing deep into their bodies as their essence was wiped out completely.

Raising her arms as though welcoming the attack, she watched as a bolt of red and purple energy gathered in the sky and plunged down, collapsing the realm around it.

‘Is it finally done? Has she achieved the second requirement?’ ‘Aria’ asked as tears started to form around her eyes.