Chapter 550 - Peeling (2/2)

Aina grasped out into empty air, causing her odd curved package to snap open. With a surge, a beautiful ax of golden-red shot into her hand.

”Ha!”

Aina swung down with a forcefulness.

At that moment, her aura completely changed. For those instances of time, her body exuded a mystique that demanded absolute obedience. The faint shadow of a woman more than half a foot taller than her seemed to envelop her body, causing the Forces in the air to sing.

A deep gash suddenly stretched out before Aina, even without her ax having completed its swing. Afterimages of golden-red tore through the wind, leaving a whistling resonance in their wake.

Aina's arms came to a grinding halt, a final bead of sweat falling from the tip of her nose to the ground below.

”Completion…” She said softly.

If others knew that Aina had reached the completion stage of the Four Seasons Realm they would be shocked.

Of course, her completion stage was only for the ax while Leonel's was on a level that far transcended that. But, it was a feat that would shock an awe others to no end, regardless.

Aina smiled. 'My training is actually faster now…'

Aina felt that she had underestimated the value of a break on the mind. She had thought it would take her several more months to reach this stage, yet it had only taken a few more days. Now, she felt much more confident about entering Valiant Heart Mountain's Stage.

After basking in her own success, Aina's next instinct was to tell Leonel the good news. She didn't know why she had the compulsion, but after she opened up to Leonel, she felt the weirdest joy even telling him the littlest things, even though the tradeoff was learning that he was a milk-first sociopath.

However, just when Aina wanted to do so, she felt another shift in the Force surrounding the City.

This change was particularly different from the previous ones. Whereas the former surges originated from within the City, this seemed to come from outside of it.

”… What?”

Aina was shocked.

”Why does my body feel so sluggish?”

…

On a corner of Earth, dead bodies laid strewn about. Their blood pooled and boiled, bubbling forth like a death-laced stew.

To the side of this large pool, a familiar man stood, a placid smile on his face. If Aina had been there, it would have been no trouble to pick out that this man was none other than the Puppet Master.

But, what was maybe more sinister were the bodies and limbs floating within the bubbling concoction.

At that moment, a head with a peeling layer of skin floated to the top. On its face, a look of horror and regret was forever etched.

This was the face of former Vice Commander Joseph's younger brother, Damian.