Exodia 207: Forgive and Forget (2)

In the eastern sector of Eden, Luminous was clashing with Squad 2, Akane's squad. Currently, she was exchanging blows with Kuroha. Luminous' Singularity, Gear Clock, was in Gear Three and she was being pushed back.

It was not simply Kuroha attacking her and beating her. Luminous was being attacked by different people at certain intervals. Akane would pester her with ice birds and ice horns—she could use her full power now that Lesser Niflheim was released—then Qiang would swing Hephaestus, unleashing a fierce wave of flames. Lin-Hua and Kuroha would switch in and out, beating Luminous at each and every turn.

The Arcana clocked her Singularity up a gear.

"Gear Four!"

Mana converged toward Luminous and it dispersed outwards, pushing them back. Lin-Hua approached her from her blind spot—the woman turned and kicked her side.

"What the...?!"

Lin-Hua was sent toppling sideways. That kick broke two of her ribs. The power of her attacks jumped. It was a surprise that everyone received.

Impending doom was approaching. From Gear One to Gear Four, Gear Clock would simply amplify Luminous' power. However, once she would activate Gear Five, not only her power but her agility, strength, speed and etcetera would rise exponentially.

The time limit between each Gear Clock was 2 minutes. Meaning that from now, Luminous had two minutes before she can get into her fifth gear.

"Nyx."

Kuroha said.

A moment after, shadows burst around her body, cloaking her in a coat of shadows. Shadows danced under her eyes and her irises glistened crimson. Her ears stretched and her tail became fluffier.

[A new form...]

A different voice came out of Kuroha's mouth. Akane, Lin-Hua and Qiang froze upon hearing her voice.

The aura that leaked from Kuroha darkened in hue, becoming matte black.

Brandishing her arms, Kuroha's hands transformed into a black claws.

"Kuroha—no, who are you?"

[My name is Nyx, the Personification of the Night. I'm assuming that the orange popsicle is our enemy.]

Akane had no idea what to make of Kuroha's sudden change. Nevertheless, Kuroha transformed of her own will, meaning that Nyx would aid them in defeating Luminous.

"Yeah..."

[This child is bold in calling me whenever she wants. She must know I love spoiling children.]

The goddess said with a grin.

Luminous was fairly patient despite her childish personality. With the transformation, she only had around a minute and a half left until she could change to Gear Five.

[Now, let's play, Amber.]

With a single step, Nyx filled the space between her and Luminous. The Arcana jerked backwards.

"Crap!"

Luminous swung her fist at Nyx but it hit nothing. Nyx was already behind Luminous. She had swept by her like a shadow. The goddess feinted a punch and transferred into a roundhouse kick.

(Too slow!)

Luminous blocked the kick and was ready to counterattack when—

"!"

The orange-haired woman felt a strong impact connect with her face. The impact was delayed. No, more importantly, the attack was successfully blocked.

(So, how?)

Nyx kept on attacking Luminous. Each attack was simple and easy to block, but after each attack, Luminous felt delayed impacts.

It made no sense.

(No, it does. Her attacks are connecting and I'm blocking them but...)

Then, Luminous noticed it. Nyx's shadow moved right after she attacked.

"Your shadow...!"

[Correct.]

Dodging Luminous' punch, Nyx spun around and kicked her in the face.

"It's like playing tag with two seekers."

The woman muttered.

Since this was a real fight, Nyx did not bother to explain her technique.

Nyx was using a special technique—Shadow Puppet. Not only does Nyx attack her opponent but her shadow does too at different intervals. Nyx was limiting her use of Shadow Puppet and only making it attack after she does.

All attacks made by the Shadow Puppet exert the same strength that the user uses.

There was another feature of Shadow Puppet.

30 seconds left until Luminous could activate Gear Five.

"Hephaestus! Shout your cries of rage!"

Qiang positioned himself in Luminous' blind spot. Hephaestus proudly cried out, releasing a conflagration of flames.

Luminous knew that she could not block such a deadly attack. She attempted to move out of the way but did not budge an inch.

"What is this?! Why can't I move?!"

In her struggle for movement, she looked at the ground below her. Something attached itself to her shadow.

This was another feature of Shadow Puppet. Nyx could bend it to her will, meaning that she could use it to restrain someone like she is doing now.

The goddess stood to the side, observing with a smile.

Akane readied herself too and Lin-Hua seemed to be chanting something.

"You know, I rarely use my Singularity but now is high time to use it. My ability is Superhumanity; my body surpasses its limits for 10 seconds, making me unstoppable."

"Get off!"

Luminous struggled to get the shadow off of her.

10 seconds.

"Singularity Overdrive."

Navy blue lines appeared all over Qiang's body like tattoos. The ground beneath him was crushed as he bolted toward Luminous.

5 seconds.

"7th Circle of Hell!"

In a circular motion, Qiang cut his opponent, landing ahead of her. It took a second—Luminous burst into flames. A pillar of flames engulfed her from the ground.

Akane then proceeded by using a special move of hers.

"Glacial Boreas."

The girl placed her hand on the ground. A mound of snow rushed towards the burnt body and froze it in an instant.

Freezing something that was already at a high temperature was not an easy feat, even for Akane.

"No wonder your name is Qiang."

Lin-Hua joked with the boy.

"Using my awakening state took a bit out of me though."

[Singularity Overdrive, is it? My first time seeing it. We never had anything like this 2500 years ago. Humans truly evolve.]

Singularity Overdrive, in other words, the awakening of a Singularity. Awakening a Singularity leads to a temporary boost of power which can help you win almost any battle. It is a temporary power-up, so to speak. It can be learnt but can also be achieved by a sudden spike of intense emotion.

"I guess we should move on and try to find Emika."

"Not so fast..."

The ice body moved. The ice broke down and a burnt figure looked at the group.

"You survived that?"

Qiang winced.

She was badly injured. It looked as though she could fall and die at any moment. Her skin was slowly regenerating.

"Let's... continue playing..."

Suddenly, Luminous dropped to the floor. It was as though her body would not listen to her. With Gear Five now active, she could fight them, even for a short time, but that was useless since she could not move.

"Why can I not—? Master... I want to see Master... Master, it hurts... Please, save me... Master... Let's play tag, please..."

She croaked.

Like a child, tears swam down her face. Luminous was holding on to life, with the hope of seeing Regulus once more.

Squad 2 were shocked by this scene, all but Nyx. Akane returned to her senses and walked over to Luminous.

"We specifically attacked you with intense heat and bone-chilling ice so that, firstly, you would suffer immense damage. You'd also receive burns, which would hurt like hell. Then, with the ice, your burns would hurt even more and you'd be imprisoned."

"Master..."

The white-haired girl crouched down and looked Luminous in the face.

"In the case where you would escape, which you did, the sudden change from hot to cold would render you immobile for a time, ruining your nervous system and muscle tension. You'll die in a minute from all of the damage you've sustained."

"Please..."

"Huh?"

"Play with me..."

It did not seem like Luminous could see any more, yet, she was staring straight at Akane.

The girl tapped the Arcana's forehead.

"Tag. You're it."

The look on Luminous' face changed. She smiled, grateful. Luminous did not move anymore. Finally, she died.

"..."

Akane silently stared at the body.

[Although the girl was trying to kill you, it was clear that she only had the mind of a child. I'm not trying to hinder you all but, remember, every homunculus in this base was born here, taught here and they were forced to work for their master. None of these homunculi have done anything to be considered evil.]

They all listened to her words.

[I love life, so, I guess what I'm trying to say is think before you next take a life. Of course, I won't get angry at you if you do take one, anyway.]

"Snowflake?"

Lin-Hua called out to Akane.

The ground under her froze as she clenched her fist.

"For some reason, I can't stop this hot sensation burning in my chest. I want to beat the absolute shit out of Weissmann!"