True Motives

If I was to point out my most suspicious action from when I had my thoughts restricted... it would be the confession I gave to Sylphy, no doubt.

I don't know what reason she may have had to restrict my thoughts, but from the understanding I have of my own 'mind-control' ability, there's a chance I could have been turned into a puppet!

Even if her intentions was more virtues, it still doesn't change the fact that she's dangerous... an existence that can only be known as an 'enemy'...!

"Ya piece of-! Why do YOU have a mysterious type of Mana coursing through your veins?" I spat out in annoyance. Oops, it seems my old habits are acting up again, I have to stop swearing so I can be a role-model of an older brother for Merilin~

It's all because of this creepy stalker!

I've had enough of being toyed by her...

"Oh, come on~! We are of the same 'family' after all... Of course I'm going to have certain traits that a similar to yours. I have to thank Enigma though~ If it weren't for him cautiously trying to hide you from the other Gods, my whole plan would've been ruined." A really annoying laugh left her lips as she effortlessly put us in a deadlock while holding her ordinary-looking sword in one hand.

[Skill Overlay- Muscle Enhancement!]

"What 'family'? And how do you know about Enigma?" I increased the strength in my arms using my Fire Marble and tried to push my sword forwards, but my strength was only able to make her use her other hand to grip her sword the same way I did. Her strength didn't match her magic- Now that I think about it, why is it I never noticed that I couldn't sense her Mana properly? It was definitely there yet I couldn't quite grasp even its Attribute.

"You actually don't know? Did Enigma never tell you about me? Even though you are the 'first born'?"

"..."

"Hehehe, you don't know~ You don't know~!"

"Shut the hell up!"

"How strange...

Do you think you were the only one who was split in half along with your soul?" She asked rhetorically. Her eyes that locked with my own flashed a bizarre radiance I couldn't quite recognise... unlocking the sealed memory regarding our first meeting.

The memory of my five year old self back when we first met each other suddenly became clearer...

She really did introduce herself as my so-called 'sibling'. No, can it even be called that? If I compared my own circumstances correctly, then the complexity of how her soul was 'born' is unfathomable. The amount of reconstruction her 'soul' went through to even exist was no small feat.

Argh! It's giving me a headache! So she had been created by the combination of the lingering intentions of fallen ancient Warriors which had tainted the Divine Sword of Light and the Divine Sword of Darkness? In the end of it all, this girl seemed to be the most artificial out of the four of us since he was born out of pure 'intentions' alone...

All this is just confusing as hell... Why should I even care about such things?

"You remembered my goal, haven't you? I'll now ask you again: Please form a contract with me." Her sinister smile faded away as she asked in a pleading tone. A feint whimper left her lips it was almost like the previous sinister expression didn't exist...

...How stupid do you think I am?!!!

"I refuse." I replied without hesitation.

"Why?" She asked 'indignantly' in return.

Some might think that forming a contract with the soul created by combining the intentions that had tainted the two Divine Swords I once owned is a good thing. Since her origins were clearly 'Divine', I would probably be able to gain a lot of power beyond anything imaginable from her. However, I naturally understood that this 'contract' wasn't that simple.

Back then, she explained how we both shared an intricate connection with each other because I was once the 'wielder' of the Divine Swords she technically originated from. The contract I made with the two Divine Swords that created her were still valid due to her special nature even after the Druids and Fiends had attempted to destroy it.

Sounds pretty nice if you thought of it like an alliance between a sword and its wielder, but if you think of it another way: Then it's more like creating a rope connecting our spiritual power which we'd use to tug out the each other's Mana forcibly.

[Main Extension- Chainsaw Edge!]

"You think I'll let you have an opportunity to pull out what little Mana I already have?" A murderous intent burned within my eyes as I rotated the Sun Mana located inside the edge of the Heavenly Sword.

The result created by this was a kind of 'magical chainsaw' formed precisely to mince her flesh!

Sparks flew off the off the ordinary sword she held in her hands but the damage it received was negligible at best. I only vaguely understood how she was able to stop my extreme sharp attack from breaking her ordinary sword since I could sense that her Mana was turned into a sharpened aura around it.

However, how is she able to resist my physical strength? Thinking back, the reason I was able to survive this long was because she was unable to beat me in close-quarter combat no matter how mysterious her abilities were. Even my five year old self at that time we first met was able to defeat her that time despite having been extremely fatigued from training. I guess she must have felt embarrassed at that time since she had specifically chose to approach me at my weakest but still lost.

One definitely couldn't underestimate the kind of martial arts I refined through dozens of actual life or death experiences in my past life. Using the opponents force against them and not using excess amounts of energy in every movement has already been ingrained into my mind years ago as started to grasp the intricacies of close combat. Her chances of beating me in close combat was lower than ever now that I have surpassed the technical martial art skills I had attained as a soldier in my past life.

Had she attacked me before I became a strong Skill Holder, my chances of winning would have been low considering she may have had trump cards to deal with me, but now that I've increased my strength: There's no need to fear this girl any longer.

"You misunderstand. It's not like I want to harm you or anything~" She shook her head in vigorously.

This girl called 'Sylphy' sounded apologetic, but her other hand which she freed moments before grabbed onto the blade of her original metal sword. She then used the strength hidden within her two frail-looking arms to push my feet into the ground.

"Like hell you don't. Why is it your eyes are so full of hostility towards me then?" I was shocked by her unbelievably strong physical strength but was able to calm myself in the face of my sworn enemy.

I have already lost the initiative due to how she was overpowering me in this deadlock. The only thing I should be thinking of right now is how kill her!

Instead of continuing this contest of brute strength, I channeled the strength of my Support Skills into one arm and used the other I freed to take out the knife I hid within my uniform. It was the same one from Anna's personal knife collection which she gifted me on my birthday. I could tell just by holding the hilt of the knife she gave me that it was pretty good quality despite not knowing much about blades.

Moving on, an extremely simple but deadly attack aimed for Sylphy's throat at an inconceivably swift speed, but once again she seemed to have predicted it. One hand left her sword hilt to block my attack with such ease that I felt under the impression that I wasn't fighting one person but several Warriors.

It was only then that I remembered the fact that she may have inherited something other than power from the 'lingering intentions' she had been created from. To think that there would be someone who could match me in close combat... I'm sure that if she is able to properly fuse the fighting styles of all the Warriors she was a amalgamation of, then she'd very well be able to make even me submit to her.

I need to find a way to kill her...!

"Trust me, darling~ I truly do 'love' you to the point of not wanting to let you go. If I didn't, why would I have merely sealed your memories? I even disguised to be the type of dream girl you always wanted in your past life. A cold outer appearance with a pure heart~" Although her expression and words were lively, her eyes were an abyss of hostility. It was a complete 180 degree turn from how she was before.

I have to admit that I really did like it better when she looked expressionless but was inwardly pure-hearted. What can I say? I just like those types! Even my brothers-in-arms knew the type of woman I was chasing was based off a female soldier I had once met at our base of command...! I succeeded in getting a date, but nothing really progressed farther than that since she dumped me later on... It's sad that I was rejected because of my cold personality...

"You seem to know a lot about my interests, don't you? But don't make me laugh! Not only is that just a fetish of my previous incarnation, but do you really think I'd give anyone an opportunity to drain my Skill Roots of their Mana just because of something stupid like 'love'? Look for someone else to con!" I'm starting to feel a little creeped out by her now.

For some reason, even though I should be muscularly superior, her physical prowess was way beyond what a human being should be capable of. I could understand where her seemingly years of battle expectations came from. Even though it currently wasn't anything I couldn't deal with, I would be in a tough spot if the level of her physical strength grows along with her swordsmanship...

I couldn't understand her Attribute, but judging from the fact that she had unconsciously able to disarm the Sun Mana I secretly injected into her body through my Heavenly Sword, it seemed like its power leaned heavily towards the 'Creation Aspect' of Dark Mana due to its similar nature of being able to enhance her muscle density. Though this still didn't explain why she didn't have have a pure black Mana Flame of the Dark Attribute. She's definitely hiding the true strength of her Mana's abilities...

From what I can guess, this unknown 'Attribute' of hers definitely mimicked the Eclipse Attribute I myself had due its ability to allow the user to attain the benefits of both Humans and Beasts. Though her Mana Flame didn't seem to have the limitations of my own which required me to morph into a Beast by switching my 'foundation' before I was able to fully access my Dark Mana's true capabilities.

Could she evolve like Beasts and obtain innate abilities like a Beast as well as be able to use the Aura Sharpening technique I had just seen her use at the same time? I really hope I'm wrong and that there are limitations or else I'm going to have to put everything on the line so then I'm able to eliminate her. Even flipping my 'switch' and awakening my beast mode isn't a bad option if things get worse...

"Ah... To think you'd reject me even after all I done for you. Even though I 'love' you so much?" She sighed helplessly. It was at that moment that I felt a tingling sensation of dread after sensing the change in her aura. A sinister smile was plastered on her face as alarms started to go off in my mind!