Sky VS Illya

I gripped my saber tighter as Illya closed the distance. She scares me, but what scares me more is living with the guilt of letting so many people die.

This was it. I will not let her live.

I tried to attack her, and it was nothing but an attempt. One slash at Illya and it was like she slowed down time to duck under my strike, swing her body around, and slam her heel into my forearm.

It burst the bone like a balloon and out exploded a mess of blood and bone shards. I regenerated it, but Illya wasn't stupid like Providence.

She put her hand in between my dismembered hand and my elbow, and the regeneration stopped. It was a weird tactic that took the basis of strands and everything known about them was used against me. She simply was smarter.

She grabbed me by the throat after throwing her saber up in the air, then threw me to the ground. I spent time flailing on the ground to escape her grasp and regenerate my arm, but as soon as I created that distance, the saber she threw up in the air came down and pinned me to the ground through my spine. Without the saber pulled out, I couldn't move.

I tried to use strands to pull out the saber, but Illya wagged her finger back and forth and said something odd.

"System Lock," She said.

As soon as it came out of her mouth, I felt my body freeze up and the strand trying to pull the saber out of my back evaporate into dust. She continued her stride toward me as I tried to break out of her weird incapacitating ability.

"The unfortunate thing about Providence isn't how stupid she is, it's how powerless she is in the face of a True Deity like myself. Somebody who doesn't need a title like The Deity of The First Trial, or The Deity of Wrath. I am The Deity because I'm the only one in my ranking that doesn't need a title. And time and time again, as I mutilate you and embarrass you in front of your loved ones, I achieve an even more meaningful title.

I broke out of her weird ability as soon as I could, pushed out the saber with strands, pushed my body up, and caught that same saber before it hit the ground. Brandishing the new blade, I held my ground against Illya as her stride stopped and she began to stare at me dumbfounded.

"Do you want to see something cool?" Illya asked me. I shook my head and closed the distance again, but was met with six golden strands, shaped like worms, shooting through the air like beams that aimed straight for my head.

Before I could even dodge or react, Faith jumped in, summoned her saber, and slashed six times in succession so fast that her body turned to a blur. How the hell did she just do that?!

Her speed was on par, or even faster than Boo's. Not only that, but she could control what she was doing! She blocked everything without missing it... Faith is pretty powerful.

"Don't fight each other! Let's just talk this through!" Faith yelled out, turning to me after she was done.

"Sorry, Faith, but we're far past talking. I won't stop until Illya is dead." I told her. I focused strands all over my body, just as she did, and took a deep breath before closing that distance.

And then I did.

A shockwave shot out from behind me and because of how unprepared Faith was, it sent her to the ground. Then, I clashed with Illya and pushed her to her knees on the ground.

[Current Heart Rate: 230]

I kept pushing, as much as I could, but Illya let go of her strength, forcing me to fall on top of her.

Before my body connected with hers, she planted her foot into my chest, kicked me, and split me in half. The feeling of watching my organs fall out of my body as I'm thrown fifty feet into the air wasn't one I was familiar with, but I was soon well acquainted.

I slammed into the ground as my body regenerated, and refused to waste time as I ran at Illya again.

She blocked all of my strikes without fail, smoothly jumping, flipping, and clashing with my saber in the air. I was convinced the fight wasn't going to go anywhere, not as long as she's calm like that. I had to turn this fight into something else, and fast!

"You're in a pretty tough position because I can read your mind. And, I can also assure you, that you will be reincarnated once more on that beach if you die here. You cannot die, and you cannot hide anything from me." Illya told me.

Unfortunately, I knew one of those things was a lie. She couldn't read my mind, otherwise, she would be able to dodge everything.

"You really think I can't read your mind?" Illya asked me again. Calm down Sky... she's just antagonizing you... because if she could read my mind, she would be able to predict this attack!

I moved my hand to project an attack at her head. And she fell for it.

I wasn't sure how she couldn't tell, but Boo was in pursuit right behind her. And just as I moved my hand, Boo threw both of her feet into an extremely powerful kick that knocked Illya forward into a flip. And as she flipped toward me, I took my saber, enhanced it to full power, and slashed through her. Illya was cut in half and sent barreling about a hundred feet from where she was first standing.

Without her legs.

She smashed into the floor, pushing a cloud of dust up to block our vision from her. I met up by Boo's side and turned to her again.

"She can read my mind, you need to leave here! Please, try to find a way out of this mess!" I told Boo.

"I had to help you one last time. I hope you can forgive me for every bad thing I said to you. You were never just an Asterio to me... you were my friend." Boo said, putting her hand on my shoulder. I nodded, and she ran away.

Dani... wherever you are, you need to protect Boo. Please... keep them all safe...

[What's going on? Sky? Are you there? Where am I?]

What the hell?

Why was the System talking to me?

"That goddamn White Ring... Avie... you better back off of him!" Illya shouted out through the cloud of smoke. It was instantly blown away as I read more text in my eye.

[You're not going to hate me, are you? Sky... I'm sorry, but this is the only way.]

The System ended the line abruptly and then displayed another two words in my eyes.

[SYSTEM LOGOUT]

I saw.

And just as they appeared, my hands went dead. My legs went dead. My body went dead.

I was stuck on the ground, unable to move my body. I could only breathe, blink, and think.

"Dad?" Faith asked me.

I couldn't even turn my head to look at her, but Illya stood over me, looking down, with an irritated face.

"You have to be shitting me... I forgot about that..." Illya said.

What the hell were they talking about?! Am I dead or something?!

"I didn't know Avie would be awake so soon after Sky's awakening as Deity. And now, she's disabled your father. Come on, I won't fight him anymore, we have to heal his body." Illya said to Faith.

"Avie...? She's alive? I thought she died when..." Faith was stopped by Illya as she picked me up with strands and dragged me along the floor.

Where am I going?!

Dani? Shike? Belle? Hello? Help me... I can't move... what is wrong with me...?