(23.4) The 7th Crown

The black hole, now astounding in size, has even managed to carve a space in the clouds and is swirling the rest into its body. Adding the electrified power into the vibrant accretion disk illuminates the dark night. 

Just below and around as much as possible, the wind shield Dent created grows thicker. Likely that more people were adding their own power to prevent the city from getting destroyed at least a little while longer.

A black mist erratically rises from Vira's tattered body, green embers weakly sparking and failing. Instead, the black hole sucks up a lot of the expelled mana and grows even larger and brighter.

The sudden expansion of the spell makes the wind whip up even more as it sucks up parts of the wind shield Dent had created.

A powerful rush of air hits Aki and Vira as it gets swallowed up. The force nearly knocks the pair free but Aki manages to barely hold on. Her fingers dig into the stone with enough force she can feel blood.

"I can't do it. Without a fully working body, I don't have the strength." Vira jerks her neck as loose pieces of her legs are yanked away into the spell.

"Then tell me what it needs and I'll do it. I know I can."

"Without shadow magic and the Devastator's Flame, it's impossible from the outside." Vira counters.

"Stars. Starsstarsstarsstars." The implications are obvious and she hates it. Vira is a mass murderer. A terrorist. A monster. But it would let her leave on her own terms just like she planned on.

More rubble tears off.

"Is there no other way?" Aki asks. Her mouth quivers, already knowing the answer.

Vira jerks her head up. "By reversing the spell or inverting its effect, the spell can be destroyed. But as I am now, that's only possible if I use myself to force it to implode on me."

A thought crosses Aki's mind. Earlier, Vira said she wanted to steal Aki's body for the regeneration factor.

"Use my body!"

"What?"

The muscles in her fingers strain to keep Aki in place against the spell. Her bones snap as she tightens her grip on Vira and struggles to a more stable position.

"You wanted to steal my body before, didn't you? Take it and stop the spell!" Aki can feel her heartbeat thundering in her head.

"Your consciousness would vanish. You'd die."

"Shut up and do it! The city and its people will be safe and you won't be able to run away from your punishment!" Aki feels her left arm pop out of its socket and slide slightly. She stifles a scream and focuses on Vira.

Vira looks at Aki, not with malice or anger but something else. A strong sense of peace and resolve strikes Aki at the same time as the scent of spider lilies hits her. Mana circles through Vira's arm and joins with Aki's own then suddenly cuts off.

"Huh?"

Vira's eyes drift past Aki and the corner of her lips jerk upwards. With their mana connected, it is as if the rampaging winds, thundering rain and looming force of the spell become dulled.

The voices of the two women connect easily. As if they had stepped out of a violent performance into a private sitting room one space over.

"You hold the title of Witch as well." Vira lets out a small laugh. "Such a powerful but common title. Yet so easy to stray down the wrong path."

"What??"

"Back then, when we first met. You saw the 9th's memories." Vira doesn't ask, rather she states this fact. A painfully hopeful expression visible on what remains of her face. "Was it really me he was with?"

"You look different now, but it was you. It was you." Heat blurs Aki's vision.

The last bit of rubble that served as a stop gap is torn away.

"I'm glad that at least in one world, I got to be happy." Vira nods, closing her eye. "Thank you, for crying for an enemy. A stranger."

The flow of mana breaks. In an instant, Vira's arm is torn off and she vanishes, sucked into the black hole that had grown large enough to dominate the cloudy night sky.

It was only a split second but Aki's enhanced acuity allowed her to see why Winter had fallen for Vira in his past life so hard. The tears in her eyes glistened like jewels, her smile gentle and warm.

"Vira!"

Without a second thought, Aki lets go, throwing herself toward the spell.

It is too late. Vira is already gone. The black hole shrinks into a tiny ball in the blink of an eye. With the pitch black of its body gone, it leaves a massive hole in the cloud cover.

The moon and brilliant starlight beyond seemingly shines a beacon of light down on Aki.

Ringing of multiple bell towers can be heard suddenly. Or perhaps they had been ringing all along and Aki had simply been too absorbed in everything to hear them. Now, their high tones were unmistakable.

For a moment, Aki thinks they ring in celebration. Until she notices she hasn't moved a centimetre from where she hangs in midair. In fact, it seems as though nothing moves at all.

Time has frozen all except for the ringing bells whose sounds grow louder. Despite their sound, they do not ring in celebration.

Aki tries to move her head, realising the nature of the sound. She can't move her body but her eyes can shift freely, looking from the city below, to the frozen Dent who floats on his sword as he had kept up the wind magic shield now gone.

Regardless of everything, her thoughts are unimpeded.

"A death knell. Which means the first set was a passing bell?"

Whispers from a multitude of ghostly speakers vying to be heard replace the bell sounds. Or rather are uncovered.

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[Title unveiled: Cr¬wn of H¬ma¬¬tas]

[Conditions insufficient. Adjusting parameters of title-holder]

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The two windows pop up one after each other in front of Aki. At the same time, a searing pain shoots down her spine and a warm weight hangs itself behind her head.

Pain disrupts her senses as more and more pop-up windows keep appearing with the same short, dinging chime. Like a notification bell from Earth.

Aki grimaces as her mind blurs from the similarities.

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[The Seventh Crown has awoken in Caalcia]

[Conditions met: 7 of 14 Crowns awoken]

[The World Narrative: 14 Crowns of Humanity has begun]

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A shining, golden halo intersected by seven thorns flares to life behind her head. The pain disappears but the weight remains as she feels an incredible amount of power pulse through every fibre of her being.

"Dance upon my stage."

The sound of the death knell rings louder, and, though she isn't sure over the sound of her body stitching itself together and the assault of new windows, Aki is almost positive she heard a laughing voice speak.

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[Activating Gift: Reactive Adaptation]

[Acquiring new Passive Skill: Time Stop Resistance]

[New Skills Available - Adjusted]

[New Spells Available - Adjusted]

[Detecting compatible power with Witch title]

[Acquiring Devastator's Flame]

[Time will resume shortly]

[Gift Activated: Precognition]

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So much information appears one after another, she can't read them all. It overflows, burdening her vision as she tries to comprehend everything at once.

However, the last message and the flash of the future brings her focus back at the same time the final toll – the corpse bell – sounds its sorrowful ring.

Aki's eyes dart from the city to the massive empty space where the marble-sized ball floats in timeless space. With her resistance active, her fingers twitch, attempting to move as much as possible before time flows once more.