Chapter 94 Limit breaker

Hearing her name, Katley's eyes snapped to where the girl should have been. But the figure standing on the ground was different; an almost imperceptible transformation had occurred. Beside her, two bottles lay on the ground, one shaped like a pink heart and the other a black inverted heart, glistening ominously with the sun's rays.

The air around them grew thick, carrying a scent so suffocating, so putrid that it clawed at Katley's senses, making her stomach churn. Yet the smell felt like something she already knew. The best words to describe this semi-alien sensation would be 'if someone had twisted the very essence of two conflicting emotions into this world, forcing them to coexist in that grotesque liquid.'

The once fragile, ephemeral presence of the broken aspect was twisted entirely into something unrecognizable, "I hope that's your actual name." In an instant, the girl's dazzling pupils quickly morphed into heart-shaped pools of vibrant pink with a flamboyant blaze. That gradually got corrupted by a fierce malevolent outline in the iris.

Katley yelled, "Even if you heal with a potion, that won't be enough- Wait..." There was something off, but what? "This isn't the same sensation of a booster or your average drug..." She muttered, with her voice trailing off as her gaze decided to fall upon the bottles.

True Love Potion

True Hate Potion

The words slapped her in the face, and a wave of confusion crashed over her. What was the purpose of these? Why did you drink them? Where did you even get them? But before she could piece it together, a cold and deadly voice froze her blood, "Will meeting my alternatives, I discovered the two paths I usually deviate."

The oppressive and suffocating aura began to crush her under its weight. Katley instinctively stepped back, with her hands trembling, getting ready for combat despite her forceful attempts to steady them.

D A N G E R

It was real, bone-deep worry coiling around her heart. 'Why am I trembling?' with panic clawing itself at the edge of her mind, she continued rambling, 'She's just a young aspect, not even at max level nor anything close.'

Dark lines began to appear around her, writhing like serpents, intertwining with streaks of white that seemed to pulse with an eerie contrast. "I found it disgusting when I first learned about it." Dante's voice was laced with a calm that only intensified the dread, "And yet, here I am."

With a cold face, a shiver ran down Katley's spine; she was quick, but this time, her mind was lagging behind, 'The potions... they were more than simply potions. They were the catalysts, but how?'

Dante, with a serene expression, lifted his gaze skywards. The world around them seemed to hold its breath. The wind stopped, the rustle of grass ceased, and an eerie silence fell over the landscape as if reality itself was watching... Waiting. "I had strings... but now... I'm finally free of them... ironically enough, I just changed what strings controlled me."

Katley's thoughts raced, her mind scrambling for an explanation. 'Is she delirious?! The past aspects of Aqarath never used emotions as fuel, love, and hate; how much can she abuse it?! Does she even know how to-'

Dante's voice cut through her frantic thoughts like a razor, with an icy calm tone that sent chills to the core. "Kaiden Katley, let me tell you something... I swear, even if it means my death..."

A natural visceral reaction invaded Katley; for the first time since she got here, her voice cracked with desperation, "DILATATION, PERCEPTION, DISTANCE, DETERIORATION!"

But it was too late. In a blur of motion, Dante was upon her, with his imposing hand raised mere centimeters away from her face. Katley, Lacking essential concepts to help her in the fight. Watched how time itself seemed to bend, stretching this fragment of a second.

She could only helplessly watch in horror as the blow defied all logic, speeding towards her under the force of a reality-defying strike.

As she could sense the punch in her face, the world stopped, and in that suspended moment, memories flooded Katley's mind. A house of memories of regrets, fears, and fleeting joys rushed past her eyes.

Emotions she had long buried rose to the surface, clawing at her insides. If time had allowed, her face would have contorted into a thousand expressions: anger, sorrow, worry, regret, happiness, disgust, and nostalgia, but all she could do was watch, paralyzed, as the inescapable blow sent her flying.

A flashback of her life also struck her.

...

...

...

Like ink spreading across a blank page, the memory slowly came into focus, bringing to life the scene of a luxurious restaurant, with polished marble floors and dimmed chandeliers casting a warm glow. The remnants of a meeting lingered in the air, being half-empty glasses and empty chairs out of place.

Katley sat with a relaxed posture, finding herself being asked by one of her companions, "Hey, why are we called Limit Breakers? Isn't that name a little... silly for what we do? I mean, it's not like I want a cooler name or anything, but it doesn't really fit us, does it?"

A soft chuckle escaped Katley's lips because this was a commonly asked question, "Have you ever heard the phrase, 'You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have?'"

The assassin sat in Katley's shadow, being barely visible in the dim light. His attire was a fusion of dark and blue, with no unnecessary adornments or flashy accessories. Behind his black mask, his eyes glinted with a conclusion as he quietly uttered the single word, "No."

Katley leaned forward, getting more serious, "Well, now you know! And the origin of the name we carry is quite ironic if you think about it... According to what I read, a long time ago, this type of group didn't have such a title, and they were simply called 'assassins,' doing their job with a 90%-97% success rate."

The shadow ninja shifted his posture, showing a flicker of annoyance hidden underneath that mask, "Yeah, I know that. It's basic math that every player knows. Why are you telling me this?"

With a casual motion, Katley reached for a small vial containing strange pills, popping them into her mouth and swallowing them without hesitation. "5% of our targets escape, but let me ask you something. How do you escape a group of ten players who have prepared themselves meticulously, who are hell-bent on killing you and won't stop until they do?"

Despite being percieved as someone smart because of his attire, the assassin was rather brawn over brains. He blinked behind his mask, then gave the obvious answer, "Uh... killing everyone?"

Katley's smile was thin, almost imperceptible. "Yes... and no. What you need to do is 'incapacitate' them. But that brings us to the real question: how can a player who isn't at their peak manage to fend off ten opponents who are in their prime and have been preparing to specifically kill you?"

The assassin's brow furrowed beneath his hood as he tried to piece together her words, "By... breaking their limits?"

Katley stood up, and the sound of the chair scraping on the ground echoed, "Out of the 5% of players that survive, 37.6% are aspects who have finally understood the limits of their abilities. The rest usually have some method of escape, like pocket dimensions, teleportation, or something similar. But that's where I come in... I simply erase that shit down."

The shadow assassin appeared to be tweaking katley's shadow, as he highlighted a fact, "So that's why we always go all in against an aspect?"

Katley already wanted to leave, so she tried to speed up her conclusion, "Aspects are quite cocky; they are served on a silver spoon by the universe, so most of the time they don't do things like we usually do; an example is ingesting artificial means to boost yourself, or doing unthinkable things for more power, rarely aspects go that far."

The assassin's voice took on a thoughtful tone as if contemplating something he'd never considered before. "But what if an aspect did decide to use drugs or do the unthinkable?"

Katley turned fully to face him, "I'm the fallen Priestess of Neraza, already recognized as one of the strongest Limit Breakers of level 100 in this century. If such an abnormality were to appear..." She let out a soft laugh at mere consideration, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. And let me tell you something... Talent never works hard, nor does it cheat."

Seeing the conversation had finished, Katley bid farewell, "I'll be searching for some materials and future targets. Let me know if any of our current targets plan to attend an event, if the future says something about it, or if their world is easy to invade with a rift maker."

The assassin nodded, watching her exit the building, but before she disappeared completely, he called after her, "Hey, you never told me the irony of the name!"

She sighed, slightly bothered. "Put 1 plus 1; the reason is that one aspect broke its limits for the first time and obliterated the group, and in an ironic way, to mock them for losing in such a way, most players began to call them 'Limit Breakers. ' Time did its thing, and the name was adopted by everyone."