LOCATION - BETRAYAL 3

|Location: Wasteland|

-OMNISCIENCE-

"Kya! My head!" Nuk kept his distance, frightened by what he saw.

"Golden blood!?" Nuk felt speechless after witnessing a blood similar to molten gold that flowed out of his sister's decapitated neck as it desperately searched for her head. A blood different from that of a human in which Nuk now finally realized the changes that happened to his sister, her temperaments and her incredible strength she displayed, he narrowed it down into one conclusion. Sertium contamination. "You mutated since when? How come we never noticed it."

Día's body reached out for her head in an uncoordinated manner, upon grabbing it and gently placed it over her body. The golden blood began moving slowly covering the wound around her neck and it acted as a mediator for the head to be mended back into her body as one piece.

When everything was back in 'place', Dia stretched her arms and popped a few of her bones, looking really refreshed afterwards. She looked at Nuk who narrowed his brows together as he grinds his teeth in horror.

"Ha~ You're wondering that now?" Dia giggled, as she mockingly replied to her horrified brother, she brushed off the hair on her face and gave Nuk a calm but murderous look as she continued her sentence. "What's the point of knowing since I'm going to kill you! And the rest of those hypocrites."

Her murderous aura filled the area with a heavy and suffocating feeling. The marking on her body began to glow along with the ground she stood on and soon something suddenly sprouted out of the ground. Massive vines vigorously shook the soil and started to attack Nuk mercilessly.

Nuk immediately used his seismic abilities to sense the incoming attack and quickly avoided it.

"Crap!"

Nuk rolled a few distance back to avoid the sudden assault, he then rapidly launched a few earthen knives at Dia which she easily blocked with the vines besides her.

Dia chuckled as she noticed her brother panting from exhaustion due to his continues use of his ability.

Dia calls out more vines from the ground and skillfully manipulates it to attack her brother. Nuk manages to keep up with the quick succession of attacks that Dia performs.

But the throbbing pain that he got from his psychotic sister is biting his body really hard, despite this Nuk gave it his all just to avoid the fierce assaults from his 'mutated' sister. Nuk gained a lot of battle experience when he fought with an apostle for the first time during his expedition in the ruins where they got 'saved' by Zero.

Despite not being able to use powerful attacks, he can smartly use his ability to his advantage and act on it.

Dia suddenly stopped her assault and turned her gaze towards Zero. "Look! The tree is about to finish absorbing Zero."

Nuk followed Dia's eye and noticed that the area surrounding Zero's body looked loosely as if the tree were to spit him out at any given moment.

Zero's body who was being absorbed by the humongous tree looked almost malnourished and dry and the tree's golden light started to fade away only to be replaced by a crimson hue, indicating that he might not survive any of this if things get dragged on.

Nuk couldn't help himself but clenched his fist over the knife in his hand as he glared towards Dia. "What are you doing to him!"

Dia smiled widely when she heard the question. Like ecstasy flew in her head, she embraced her own body and frantically moved into spasm before she stopped and looked at Nuk with a straight face.

"I was planning to use my sister for this, but it's also thanks to her suggestion that we get to bring him here." Nuk noticed how Dia's eyes got dilated and how she drooled over her mouth as she said that. She then looked at Nuk straight in his eyes and continued her sentence with amazement. "The moment I saw that face I instinctively knew that he's the one I need to activate the tree and gain full authority."

She pointed at Zero, the knowledge she got from the tree back when she was small provided her with great strength to overcome her weak self but also became subjected to dehumanization that results in her bazaar actions, which recently blew up due to Zero's appearance. It might as well be said that Dia Zero became the trigger for her desires to bloom.

"Damn it! Stop! He saved us back then." Nuk shouted in protest.

"I would have killed that third-rate apostle if it killed you." Dia scuffed at Nuk for being extra in front of her. "HEHE! After this I'll gain the power of this tree, I'll become a god."

Nuk listens to Dia as she utters those words with confidence but also listens to her voice as it falls into madness. He turned his head away. "I don't have a moment to spare, I need to find a way to distract her."

Nuk threw a few knives towards Dia in hopes to get all her attention away from the tree, Dia responded as she wacked the ground with her vines and destroyed the soil around her.

"Resistance is futile, brother!" She screamed and continuously whipped her vines around. Nuk jumps further away to avoid her. "Where do you think you're going? Come back here!"

Nuk witnessed as his sister ran rampant throughout the place.

As the fight dragged on the more Nuk losses his emotions he once has for his sister, the care he had, the happiness he got, and the family he once has are all gone disappearing in front of him one by one only being replaced by the sadness in his heart that weighs heavily as his anger boils out.

But Nuk quickly set it aside, seeing how Dia is buying time for the tree to finish absorbing Zero, he knows that she would be a problem to face later on if he fails to rescue Zero right now.

Nuk thought of countless ways to get his sister away from the tree but could only think of one that may work, but he knew there's a chance he might not pull it off.

But he still needs to try.

"Dia!" Nuk shouted as he tried to attract Dia's attention.

Dia on the other hand clicked her tongue as she felt repulsed by what her brother said. "What are you blabbering about? Is this your way of begging for your life?"

"I hate you, you're nothing but a monster." Nuk clenched his heart and pointed his blade to his sister. "And that makes you anything but a human. Which also means you're nothing special."

At that moment Dia snapped from what Nuk told her, the arrogance and self-entitled ego of her burst into flames, engulfing the remaining rationality inside her head.

"I'm not special? Don't you see the power I possessed! And you say I'm not." Dia screamed frantically against her brother, and caused yet another mayhem to her surroundings. Nuk took this opportunity to step back and head to the forest. Dia immediately noticed this and started to chase after Nuk. "Don't think of running away after insulting me!"

The chase began between Nuk and Dia, as Nuk tried to minimize the use of his seismic abilities to conserve stamina so he will be able to use it for the trap he wants to lure Dia in.

Throughout his search a while back, Nuk encountered different areas that had a lot of danger if one would enter it without caution and the most common areas that he found are weak grounds that would give up at any given moment if something were to disrupt the weak foundations around it.

And that's exactly what Nuk's planning, to bring Dia on the largest area that could collapse the moment she lashed out on it. And that is south east from where they are.

Using the terrain to his advantage wouldn't be hard for Nuk, but being able to get there without getting trampled by his rampaging sister proved difficult as his stamina continued to depletes.

"Shit, I don't know if I can do it with the remaining stamina I have." Nuk clicked his tongue, as he felt his body get heavier as the moment went by.

Dia continues the chase with Nuk. Trampling over the trees on her path with the vines that followed her commands, she made sure that the person who insults her will never escape from her sight. Screaming so loudly her voice echoes through the wasteland attracting the attention of many. "Stop! I said stop!"

On the other hand, Nuk continued to hold onto his chest as he tried his best to conserve the remaining strength he had. And under his breath he mumbled. "But I need to try."

The chase went on for a long time but also ended quickly the moment Nuk stopped as his path got blocked by a huge cliff. He immediately noticed the vines surrounding the area Indicating telling him that his sister managed to corner him instead.

Dia's murderous intentions flew through the air as she walked into the scene with her hands covering the smile that stretched across her face. Looking really delighted as her eyes could not help but goggled over the fact that she blocked the area around her brother, blocking his only escape. "HAHAHA! Looks like you got nowhere else to go."

Nuk leaned against the rocky cliff as he tried his best to hide his intentions. "Nothing is certain until I give up!"

Dia continued laughing as she approached her brother with numerous vines behind her back ready to strike and reap her brother apart, only waiting for her command. With only the waved of her hand she controlled the vines and quickly struck her brother, with the intention of killing him.

Nuk immediately did the only thing he could do, the only thing he could do best. He swiftly dodges forwards, throwing some knives towards his sister's eyes. Dia didn't expect the sudden assault and couldn't block the knives fully.

Her eyes got hit directly, she screamed in pain as she pulled the knives out of her eyes. The golden blood soon started to do its work and slowly healed her wound.

Nuk immediately rushed away from Dia, taking this chance to get away from her and towards the tree where Zero is currently trapped. He knew that his luck would eventually run out if won't take this chance.

The ground trembled as cracks started to form around the cliff due to the damage that Dia did. And finally, it collapsed releasing massive boulders towards the weak ground below.

"Huh?! What's happening?" Taking the time to heal her eyes, Dia couldn't never realize the massive rock falling towards her.

"This will buy me sometime." Nuk said before he rushed away at full speed. Knowing that this won't hold Dia for that long.

"Ah!" The rocks above her quickly pinned her down, the impact broke the ground below her feet, and buried her.

"Zero! I'm here." Nuk made his way to the tree and immediately rushed to Zero's side. His body is partially removed from the tree. Nuk saw this as an opportunity and tried to pull Zero out, but to his dismay he couldn't pull Zero's legs out of the tree.

Nuk suddenly heard a loud burst from afar, he looked around and saw it coming from DIa's location. His heart started to raise when the blast echoed in his ears where he knew that DIa is already on her way back.

As Dia approaches, NUk could feel the ground trembling and he knew that the stronger it gets the closer she is.

Nuk tried to pull zero out again, but no matter what he tried, the tree wouldn't let go. Despite knowing his earth abilities isn't well suited when exposed to tension, he still reinforced his hand with it and started to pull Zero out of the tree. Cracks started to form around his hand but still he continued to put all his remaining strength into reinforcing it.

It seems luck had run out for Nuk, Dia was finally back and witnessed everything Nuk tried to do. Terror suddenly flooded her face as well anger blew out from it, she immediately rushed forwards and with the swiftness of her hand, the roots of the tree suddenly whacked Nuk away from it.

Nuk couldn't guard against it and received the full force of the assault there he felt his body snapping in two because of the sudden attack, the pain he felt couldn't be compared from before. The pain was so severe that his voice failed to function. He could hardly breathe as his eyes tried to roll behind his head. But despite this he didn't let Zero go, making the two of them fly across to the opposite side of the crater.

Angry at what she saw, Dia immediately rushed to the tree where a hole is left due to the sudden interference.

"No! You are ruining everything the ritual isn't done with!" With so much anger that Dia felt her hair turned from emerald green to a blazing ruby and the marking on her body then turned black. "Curse you! Curse you! Curse you!"

The tree seems to be responding to Dia's wrath as its roots suddenly crawled towards her and wrapped around her.

"W-what a-a-are you d-doing?" Besides Zero, Nuk helplessly watched as his sister began transforming, her body burst apart as new parts grew out of her body.

Not a moment after Nuk felt a tremendous change was about to happen. And to his surprise the dark fog that surrounded the wasteland's sky started to swiftly circulate around Dia, then slowly revealing rays of sunlight falling down from the sky. The earth shook from the sudden change and the tree danced as a strong gust of wind came flooding the land.

"Shut up! You ruined everything and now I have no choice but to do this!"

Soon a bright light appeared on top of the land shining it with grace, the sun had risen in the wasteland.

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