Chapter 12- The Will to protect

A dim light pierced through the deep, gloomy darkness as a white-haired boy drowned in it. His eyes were partly open and his breath haphazard. He felt like he was losing himself to space, and his heartbeat slowly dropped.

'Hah….? Do I die like this…..'.

Memories of how Phillip exploded, causing his current situation flashed through his mind. 

'No…..my sisters….I still need to protect them'.

He stretched his hand forward as if trying to hold on to something but he still kept drowning. 

He felt his breath suddenly cease, and he opened up his mouth to catch quick breaths, but instead, he choked up in the darkness. 

He gripped his neck as he struggled to fight back. 

'Shit ! I don't want to die ! I've already died ! I don't want to ! Not in this life ! I will survive…and protect my sisters. I alone !'. He ignored the choking feeling and pulled his arms up trying to swim out of the darkness. He felt like he was finally going to escape when he suddenly felt something pull him back down. 

He looked down to find dark, icky hands grabbing onto him. He struggled but it kept increasing, holding him tight from ever escaping. 

'What is this ?!' He thought, unable to fight back, and slowly drowned deeper and further away from the surface. 

"Do you wish to survive ?". 

A familiar voice projected in his ears as his eyes roamed around the darkness in an attempt to locate it. The source of the voice.

"Why bother searching for something that's right in front of you ?".

The scenery changed in a second. The darkness turned into a bright white-colored room. 

Raffaelo stared at the walls and his body condition when he heard footsteps coming from afar. 

"...." he looked up to find two strange people coming his way. One a female and another a male. 

The female had a bandage wrapped around her eyes and the male had an expression exuding coldness and indifference. 

"You are….." Raffaelo didn't need to think twice before he realized who these people were. They both had the characteristics of a Jun patriarch. Blue hair. 

"Raffaelo….we meet at last". The male said with cold breaths. The air around him froze at the sound of his voice. 

'So….so cold' Raffaelo thought as he stared at them. 

"What…..Why did you call me here ?" He asked. 

"Why ?.....how do we even explain this situation to a 10-year-old?" the female said, playfully extending her finger to her pink peach lips. 

"Don't jest; we're your ancestors….and the predecessors of your trait," the male replied, ignoring her taunts. 

Raffaelo chuckled at their reaction. "I am well aware of that….it's just…I thought I was going to die so.." 

"Die ?" The female repeated as her lips curled into a smirk. "You think something like that can kill you? We simply called you here" 

"Called me here ?" Raffaelo repeated, raising his eyebrow baffled at her statement. 

"It's a thing ancestors do when their descendants don't use their traits properly," the male said. 

"What….what do you mean ?" Raffaelo asked, confused.

"To put it simply…we're just giving you a little tutorial on how to use it…" The female said, walking up to him slowly. "You don't mind if I start first right ?" She asked her partner, who stood behind her, and he shrugged in reply. 

"Thanks, dear," she waved at him as she stood right in front of Raffaelo. "Did you know….you could easily find the assassin with those eyes…"

Raffaelo's eyes dilated, and realization dawned on him. '..why…..why didn't I think of that…' 

"Now…let me teach you properly…how they use those eyes". She slowly placed her hands on the side of his face close to his eyes as her lips curled into a devious smile. 

***

Phillip staggered to the ground as his armor fell off, one after the other. 

His body was a bloody mess and some of his open skin was purple due to poison.

Green vines surrounded him while Gloria stood from afar watching the whole thing unfold. 

'.....why…hasn't he used his yet….' She thought. In normal cases, she stood no chance against Phillip, a 10th star knight but somehow she was able to not just stand her ground but also put him in a miserable state. 

The second rule of the Jun household is never to think a battle is finished until you confirm the dead body. 

"In that cas- 

She stopped her words when Phillip slowly and firmly found his way back up. 

"Hmm….so this is the extent of your Aura Field of Vision ? Well this is kinda disappointing….compared to my brothers…this is simply….childish". 

He rotated his arms around adjusting his muscles and bones as if nothing had happened. 

'As I thought' Gloria thought as she pulled her sword from the ground. 'I'll have to take care of him myself' 

She took a step forward and the ground broke apart as she suddenly appeared in front of him. 

She swung her blade down, coating it in a fiery blaze of aura. 

"Soul Aura ?" Phillip muttered with bewilderment. "Just how many monsters...Seriously !". 

It struck Philip on his shoulder and the force pushed them further into the ground, causing rocks to split into the air. 

She struggled with all her might to pierce through his skin, but instead, the force pushed them deeper. 

"Oh…didn't I tell you already" Phillip muttered as he held the blade of her sword. "You can't pierce through my defense". 

His expression exuded a mixed feeling of pity and annoyance but she wasn't going to let him have his way. 

"7th chapter of the Jun Swordsmanship…" 

'7th ?!' Phillip thought in an attempt to escape from her sword. 'Shit.' 

"Boundless Surge". 

Her aura suddenly shot out of her body and spread to the blade of her sword. Her eyes glowed a bright white as the aura around her sword shot out explosively like the projection of a rocket forcing her blade down into his skin. 

The aura continued to roam and increase wilder around her blade, sharpening it endlessly in an attempt to completely slice off his hand. 

Phillip struggled to hold the sword in place from going any further than it already had. The pain was unbearable, and his expression was mixed with countless emotions as the blade gradually descended his body, causing blood to drip down to the ground. 

He struggled and groaned when he thought things couldn't possibly get any worse. 

"8th chapter….." She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes as the mana producing her aura suddenly ceased from her body, and instead, fumes of smoke began to spread out openly from the corners of her body. 

Phillip's expression turned from pain to dread as he slapped the blade continuously in a ferocious attempt to break it. "Fuck it ! What is wrong with you? Don't you get tired! This isn't a situation where you can use this!! Shit ! Shit !" He cursed continuously in a fruitless effort to fight it off. 

The ground suddenly split, and he was pushed further; he felt his knee bones crack, and he fell to his knees, screaming in pain. 

"...Peerless surge". On opening her eyes, her body was ravaged with a ferocious amount of power. Her aura roamed around her as it spread out forming the head of a dragon on her blade. "....just Die…". 

She muttered as it exploded with a supersonic scream. Phillip screamed in pain as she effortlessly split his right arm off his body. 

"Arrrrgggghhhh...." His body vibrated to the force of the attack while Gloria felt relieved in her heart that she was somehow able to achieve something when murderous intent prickled her skin. 

A vine pulled her away from him in an instant as black spikes, long as a pole struck out from his body. 

"That FUCKING HURTS YOU KNOW !" He screamed in outrage as blood rushed to his eyes. " Tch…I've had enough….I'm killing the whole lot of you". 

Gloria watched him stand up effortlessly as black mana formed another arm. "....Aura Field of Vision…" 

The sky began to gather above him in obedience to his will. 

It formed a tornado-shaped black mass of clouds as it slowly began to descend to the earth. The sky roared with black thunder and the vines began to die off. 

The tornado-shaped black mass began to form an arm as large as a skyscraper. 

"Just so you know…..you brought this upon yourself". He muttered as he pointed his blade at her. 

Gloria could feel it. Dread and an ambitious feeling of doom. 'Was the difference always this large !?!... Am I going to survive this….'. Memories of her siblings flashed through her head as she held the hilt of her sword tightly with a feeling of new determination. 

"I can't believe I was scared….what would Dad make of this?". She chuckled as the vines began to grow out of the ground once again.

She pointed her sword at him as well. 

"Don't think I'll let you do as you please". 

"Much better…..it won't be fun if you don't put up a bit of resistance". 

She swayed her sword across as she disappeared from her position and appeared beside him; she swung her blade across, aiming for his neck when the arm from the sky struck her away. 

"Huh? Did you think that would work again ?" He muttered as she got back up from the pile of rocks.

"Who said so ?" 

A vine suddenly sprouted out directly beneath him, stabbing into his right leg. He winced, slicing the vine off his leg. 

"This bitch !". He charged at her aggressively swinging his sword towards her neck. She blocked it and the force pushed her back, opening up her defense.

Phillip jumped in the air, rotating his body in the process as he kicked her across her face. 

She groaned as the force slammed her to the ground. She struggled to get back up when the arm from the sky grabbed her and threw her back into the ground. 

"Stay down already…." Phillip muttered as he walked towards her. He attempted to slice her when a vine pulled her back away from him. 

The hand from the sky reacted instantaneously as it was about to slam her. 

Another vine from a different location pulled her to the left changing her position as the hand slammed into the ground. 

"....oh…" Phillip muttered while he stared at her as she landed safely on the ground. "You'll be troublesome to take care of". 

"....well…sorry for disappointing you….but I don't intend on letting you have your way" 

"....we'll see then". 

They stood, staring at each other, calculating each other's weaknesses and strengths as ideas spontaneously formed in their heads. 

Gloria could feel adrenaline build up in her but she could also feel strength draining out of her. She was nearing her limits, but the yearning to protect her siblings was strong and her will even stronger.