Phantom: 6

Phantom: 6

…

Commissioned by Blfqy

Word Count: 2526

…

You lift the Shard of the Morning up and examine her for any illness solely with your gaze. Her skin seems fine. With a brief flashing of light, you find here’s nothing wrong with her eyes, either. Her weight is also the same as before. You bid her to open her mouth, she does so with a little “ah,” and you find not a scratch on her.

Putting her down, while you sit cross-legged and confused, you can only scratch your head as you find her physical state to be fine… after consuming all the fragments of her former self, besides the ones inside Lucifer. You suppose the logic checks out. How can taking in former parts of herself possibly hurt her? However, the question remains as to why she hasn’t changed at all besides that. You’d have thought her body would have changed, yet despite the fact that she’s grown in power and seems closer towards gaining the edge her full-fledged self had, she remains the tiny, fairy-like being she was when you’d Ascended her.

“I am strong now.” She retains the same, simple, yet effective mentality and personality too. There’s no change to her in the slightest. She’s still the Shard of the Morning instead Primi Sanguinis Occisor. You’re glad that’s the case, but how can it be? Everything about her has changed except for that fact. She flexes her tiny arms without the slightest hint of emotion on her face, as if reading your mind and choosing to prove your point about her circumstances making no sense whatsoever. “I will stronger once I have consumed the rest of me.”

You get it.

But, at the same time, you don’t.

Worst of all, you know that it’s a waste of time to keep worrying about it.

All you can do is nod, heft the Shard of the Morning in your hands, and fly back to the camp and prepare to gather rest of the pieces.

…

The sight of your other self upon the table is strange, but you work through your fear and concerns with just a shake of your head.

You call on Hyoudou-san and check if he’s ready.

“You bet! I’m raring to go, especially since I get to go back home after this! I’m pretty sure if I spend any more time here my friends will kill me!” You take note of how easily Hyoudou-san speaks during battle. There’s a loose confidence about him that is more than slightly contagious. You can’t help but hold yourself up straighter hearing him say such words. “Let’s do this! I’m going to punch this guy in the face, keep him off your alternate self, and eat Asia-chan’s homemade dinner, if it’s the last thing I do! Yoooshhh!”

Hmmm, does Argento happen to be a girl in his universe?

“Oh, yeah! The absolute cutest girl! I love her with all my heart and soul, you know!”

That’s very, very great to know. You’re very happy to know that.

You’re pretty sure that you can hear Miyakuro’s laughter, despite being trapped in another dimension, and you’re doubly sure that Hyoudou is crying at the moment.

However, your focus now is extraction of the rest of the Shard of the Morning and speeding away the instant you’ve managed to it.

You’re almost tempted to speak to the Chieftain… but the way he is ready, with a sound mind and spirit, is more than enough.

You commit to your gristly work, call upon the Shard of the Morning, and strike.

The moment you pull the first at the base of the spine, Lucifer’s toes twitch.

At the extraction of the fourth and fifth, his hands grasp in the air.

When you take out the ones at the base of neck and his spine, you are moving before the last drop of blood drops from them.

His healing against Occisor invites many questions to the forefront of your mind. Can you do the same? Can Lucifer not be harmed as fully as other by the Sword of the Morning? Is there a way to kill him, even?

Those questions rage in your mind, but you instead force yourself away and afar from the location, whilst limiting your power as much as possible and feeding the Shard of the Morning the rest of her fragments.

She consumes them with the same ease as one would eat one chip after another, but your focus is on the battle that has erupted behind you. The temporary home you created is utterly destroyed in an instant. Black flames engulf most of the Drone fleet that you’ve conjured from nothing, destroying them instantly, while the Vimanas buckle beneath the assault. You can feel that the Chieftain exists, but his strength wanes quickly, so he flees. Lucifer follows him, quickly gaining on him, while expanding a zone of absolute devastation in his path.

You almost think you’ve sent the man to his death, until Hyoudou-san collides with Lucifer with strength that makes the whole of reality shudder, and the two rocket into the far horizon at supersonic speeds.

Hyoudou-san launches Lucifer away from himself after five kilometers… right into the area zoned for the Vimana to fire upon.

Miniature suns impose themselves upon the world, composed of divine power and strength, and you can feel Lucfier’s power ebb and flow whilst fighting against them.

But, you soon find yourself unable to pay attention to the battle.

Because, you find the Shard of the Morning at her full strength in your hand, and you cannot use anything that uses magic, so that your position cannot be given away. 

You take a breath and strike at the sheer, white floor at your feet.

With the Shard of the Morning, you manage to make the slightest of cuts upon it, and that is all you need to know to continue on your path.

You take a breath, remember every degree of safety Ai insisted upon you following when using Blade, and disregard them all whilst aiming at the pale, ivory sky that imprisons you. 

You’ll apologize to her later, but you cannot do that without escaping this place.

There is no form, merely efficiency of a million cuts and the toll it has on your body, as you look to tear down a sky.

…

Time becomes meaningless as you swing and swing. Paying attention to the passage of time itself slows you down. You refine every swing you take, every thought you make, and examine every reaction of your body. If you can make the same cut, while inflicting less harm on your body, you do so. Your regeneration is all you use your power for and it barely keeps up with the rate of internal wounds you’re taking by surpassing your every limit.

Blade is a style that sacrifice’s a human’s body for the simple action of cutting.

It only makes sense that with your body, you can use it to greater effect.

However, you are very aware of your limitations in the art, as you commit yourself to using it. Your bones are breaking earlier than they should. Your tendons tearing mid-stroke and requiring you to compensate when you should. Your muscles bleed and rupture too fast, slowing down the speed of your cuts, so you only cut twice when you cut once. You feel pain that you’re not supposed to feel. That slows you down.

All you can do is push past it, refine each process, and make it so that you evolve millisecond by millisecond to be better than the last.

However, it takes the entirety of your concentration.

Lucifer can kill all your companions. He can appear at your side and plunge his hand into your heart. He can kill Hyoudou, Hyoudou-san, and the Chieftain all at once. He could be waiting by your side, waiting for you to finish your work, and kill you and escape. The only reason you can do as you are, even while your break and bleed, is because you can focus only on your current goal.

Every swing cuts a mediocre amount of the white substance barring the sky from you and your allies. Though Occisor can cut through mountains with ease, you can only scrape at the surface, slowly forming indentations upon the material, and you can only make a hole that is as large as yourself, because you know that even a centimeter more would lengthen the time it takes to finish by many precious moments more.

You are cutting and carving a tunnel to escape, using your body as fuel, and with your protection in the hands of others.

You don’t even know if there’s another side. What if it is just a solid substance that goes on for infinity? How long can you keep this up before dying or requiring rests? A kilometer? How long can you be sure that everyone can survive against Lucifer? A quarter of that?

But, you have no time to worry.

All you can do is strike, strike, and strike again.

That is all you can do.

And, eventually, both time and thought loses meaning to you…

Until light brighter than any other light shines through the gap you’ve created, and darkness takes you.

…

You awaken to the sight of Hyoudou’s face above you.

“Li! You’re back!” You’re vaguely aware of the fact that you’re aching all over, but you also keep in mind that the pain is fading away. Looking around, while Hyoudou looks at you with relief, you find you’re still holding your sword in a way. Your clothes have been changed, but the Shard of the Morning sleeps upon your arm. “You almost died doing that! If you said that was going to happen, I wouldn’t have let you do it!”

It needed to be done, is your simple answer to Hyoudou, while you rise from the bed you’ve been given. You’re vaguely aware of the fact that you’re wrapped in bandages from head to toe. There’s an innate pain to your body that is slowly, but surely fading away. However, you are functional, and there’s a window that leads to a blue sky outside. You almost use your powers to look beyond, but it causes you to wince, as your healing abruptly fades to nothing. You’ve exerted yourself massively. It has caused you great pain and suffering, but it has cost you some of your power, too.

And, you have no idea where you are.

“Don’t change the subject! That was dangerous… and… we’d probably still be stuck there if you didn’t do it. Dammit, Li.” Hyoudou slumps into his chair. You look at him and find that he’s uninjured. You ask if he’s been healed by someone. He blinks at your question. “Ah… no. This place is just someone nice enough to help us out, but they didn’t recognize you or me… or any of our technology.”

The words make you blink in surprise as he did.

You’re in another alternate world?

“Yeah, but without the other me or the other you. When you carved through the barrier, there was a bright light, and the next thing I knew we were both next to each other on a sidewalk in the middle of the night.” Hyoudou, after he’s calmed down, provides you with the information you seek. You pay more attention to your surroundings. It seems relatively modern and clean in your immediate vicinity… for the wasteland. There’s no sign of the wondrous technologies of the Arcologies and civilization nations anywhere. Well, except for the communicator Hyoudou has on his person, and what you have in your head. “I think we’re someplace really different. There’s magic in the air, but it’s wild and unfocused, like no one’s ever used it. I think we’re on another Earth that’s just completely different from what we’re used to.”

Idly, you compliment Hyoudou on his Sage Arts, but the situation is still worrying. Yet again, you’ve been transported somewhere against your will. 

“Yeah, but it’s better than how we were before, right? I mean, there’s people here, the sky’s fine, and everything makes sense.” Hyoudou shrugs slightly. He makes a good point, though. You are indeed in better straits now that you were before. You ask him if he’s eaten. “Yeah, I did a little healing of the nice old lady that found us. I…uhhh… told her that we’re kind spirits? You know? The kind that rewards people for helping them out? She’s nice. It sucks that this world’s technology isn’t good enough to keep her spry though. She’s only 80 and she can barely walk.”

Hyoudou’s somber words aside, you manage to make yourself relax after internalizing that you’re no longer trapped in an infinite cell with your friend starving to death.

Or, about to be forced to consume Lucifer’s flesh.

“Y-yeah, that would’ve been bad. I’m glad that didn’t happen. Thanks, Li.” Hyoudou lets go of the little anger he kept for you since chastising you for your reckless plan. He scratches at his cheek idly, before turning to the window sharply. “Uhhh… Li? Can you check that way? I think I heard something strange?”

You know that he wouldn’t request such a thing without good reason, so you overcome the pain brought about by the action and sense with your power in that direction. Hyoudou stands and almost seems ready to fight, but he doesn’t raise his hands, and instead chooses to simply strengthen his senses towards that direction.

You ‘look’ past a multitude of houses within the sprawling, simple, and modern city. It is a place that seems more out of history than anything else, leading you to think that you’re somehow in the past. However, you focus on what Hyoudou had pointed out, and what quite a few cars and vehicles are stopping to look upon.

There’s some sort of rift in the distance. An immense gash that stands tall within the center of the city. It’s about the size of ten-story building and just as wide. Given the small nature of the city, you liken it more akin to a large village, it’s easily noticeable by those close to it. It’s only the positioning for your household that stops you from seeing it outright.

You tell Hyoudou all of this.

“Ah, that makes sense. It’s a portal. Well… it sounds like the one that opened over Japan, but less… sinister.” Hyoudou calms a little, especially as you tell him that it’s doing nothing, and that quite a few people are around it and gawking at it without any sort of ramifications. Chimera aren’t the sort to waste energy. If it were a Chimera Rift, then it would have spewed forth an immense number of monsters the moment it entered. “Hmmm… do you think that’s where we’re supposed to go after we’ve rested and recovered? I mean, we can’t stay here for long without interfering with the world, so I’m guessing that’s our exit?”

That’s likely.

But… your exit into what?

That is the question.