SKY AND AVIE VS COLE (5)

"A suicide mission... is that what you want, Sky?" Avie asked me again.

Cole's body scrambled upwards, slowly regenerating with strands, and putting back all severed limbs into the correct place.

"I've never wanted anything I've been given so far. If that's what it takes, that's what I'll want," I told her. Avie had learned my big secret in fighting Cole so far.

I paused for a moment, remembering me from four hundred years ago talk. I had all of this power, and I was still losing parts of my life just to continue moving forward. I wasn't powerful at all... I wasn't Illya, who could use it all without reducing her lifespan, I wasn't Dani, who could change into the Goddess of Wrath with a headache that followed.

So why... why was I losing my lifespan?

I looked back to Avie, and a tear fell down the right side of her face while looking forward to Cole. I wanted to ask her what was going on, but she shook her head before I could speak.

"Your lifespan reduction... it is my fault..." She mentioned. I was confused, waiting for her to explain more.

I couldn't leave Cole like this, when he was regenerating, we could've struck him some more, ended him potentially, but I found myself frozen when Avie told me that.

"Your lifespan is being used to keep my stamina full... I'm stealing strands that would support your body in the end... because you and I are both Strand-Entities. In a Master and A.I. duo, only one of them is a Strand-Entity to prevent the other from taking life from the other. In other words, because we are both Strand-Entities and it takes more power to use my abilities... I am stealing your life force to support my body," Avie explained to me. It was as if she was holding that information back... but I couldn't be happier.

Giving life to somebody... that had been my dream this entire time. Dead, or alive. Just to see somebody fulfilled with my sacrifice.

With her words being explained, it started to make sense that as the intensity of the battle turned up, I would lose years of my life. Not because of the abilities.

I stomped my foot into the ground and summoned a large obelisk of ice that surrounded Cole, moving up into the sky to touch the clouds.

"That makes me so happy... so happy I can finally bring justice to my friends..." I said out loud. Avie seemed shocked and left behind in the dust as I ran toward the obelisk.

Fire sprouted from my hands from an ability unknown to me, and I struck the obelisk, and went straight through it, putting a hole through Cole's chest.

Mom's ability pushed him to the ground and Providence's pierced his neck, spewing blood everywhere.

I retracted all abilities, turned my body, and kicked Cole in the face with my foot. The ground ruptured as I hit him, forming cracks all behind him that connected to the six holes that summoned magma.

He was still regenerating...

Using all of the kinetic energy I had been saving up, I punched him three times in the stomach, each one raising him a bit higher, and while he was floating in midair, the bladeless katana slid through his body, caressing his heart with a sharp strike.

It shot wind through his body, exploding blood vessels and causing his eyes to explode.

While everything else was going on, Avie rose above me by jumping up the cracking obelisk of ice, and threw the Mahina Blade through his stomach, preventing him from regenerating for a moment.

Evolved...

"[Singularity Incarnation]" I said.

With the power collecting in my hand as I cocked my fist back, I hit Cole in the chest, watching an accumulation of blue strands, red strands, purple strands, and gold strands mix into a dangerous color that blew up in the sky, giving life to clouds that shared the same characteristics.

Cole shot back, sliding on his feet while regenerating everything but the hole in his chest. Blood dripped through as he came to his senses and wiped his mouth.

I broke the sound barrier again, charging my fist back, and putting so much raw emotion into my punch, for all of the unfortunate things I've experienced, to all of the hatred I had in my heart, I struck Cole straight in the jaw, pushing it back into his head, and something odd happened.

[Lifespan Reduction: 29.99 Years]

I read the text a thousand times over, questioning the credibility of my own memory while staring at it dumbfounded.

I stopped the fight, standing in place while watching the words scathe my mind. Then, I looked up at Cole and noticed the look of fear on his face.

With a single punch, albeit just a single punch, I traded time for my Lifespan Reduction to Cole... which meant it was possible to live.

I had accepted my death the second I stepped onto the Earth, knowing all would be united over the death of an Asterio... but I found myself clutching to life as much as I could now, realizing that all I had to do was hit him 3000 times before I lost the reduction of my life...

Life... Death... I couldn't accept either, no matter the circumstances. I was always conflicted, always confused... and always ungrateful.

What would I do with myself if I lived? Is there a future where I survive?

Avie took a step beside me, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"I have a plan... a plan to defeat Cole..." Avie told me. She wouldn't explain... but something told me that I had an inkling of a clue to her technique to beat Cole... it was my last attack, the one I didn't tell a single person for fear of them refusing it.

It was a suicide move... probably for both of us since we were Strand-Entities...

Against all of my will to live, or die, I knew it was necessary, and accepted it.