58 Chapter 58: Battle in the Graveyard (2/2)
Again, Cecilia darted into the gravestones for cover, rushing between two rows of tombs as Hades' rampage smashed a devastating path through them. His scythe cleaved through another grave, splitting the rock into debris, but Cecilia made use of the slight delay in his attacks when his monstrous scythe was impeded to alter her trajectory and launch a counterattack. She slashed at him, opening up a cut in his arm.
Bellowing, the berserk Hades reversed his hold in his scythe and swung at her, but she spun away gracefully. Landing on top of another tombstone, she waited for Hades to approach before leaping away. Hades' scythe obliterated her former perch, but Cecilia was already rotating in midair to launch a fierce strike that actually sent him staggering from the force.
Landing at his feet, Cecilia then eviscerated his abdomen, causing another spray of blood. Miraculously, none of the blood actually splattered her.
”Hu…”
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Exhaling deeply, Hades calmly smacked her with his scythe, but again the tip of his crescent-shaped blade snagged against a tombstone, cutting a thin line through the rock. By the time it reached her, Cecilia was already in position to block it. They exchanged another furious blows, with the nimble swordswoman making use of her superior speed to fend off Hades' relentless and more powerful barrage.
The two combatants than sprang away from each other in another clash that left Hades bleeding. Cecilia was relatively unscathed, but her breathing had grown heavier. Even if she was faster and had the edge in this particular terrain, she didn't have infinite stamina or the raw power of her opponent. I could see that she planned to end this battle as quickly as possible.
I raised my eyes to Selina, who had reappeared and taken up position in a remote corner of the graveyard. Alicia raised her guns, but didn't fire. The both of us knew it was meaningless. The tombstones provided her ample cover, and even if we hit her, she had an impenetrable barrier that was proof against ranged attacks. I was beginning to see a pattern here – both summoner and summoned spirit were all but impervious against ranged spells…
I wondered if I should summon Vermillion Phoenix and incinerate both her and Hades, but Cecilia would get caught in the blast. Besides, Cecilia seemed to have the battle well in hand, and she was actually winning. I had a feeling that, despite Selina's scowl, our enemy still had more tricks up her sleeve. If that was the case, revealing my Celestial Guardians too early would prove to be a mistake. I wanted to see what else Selina had in store – depending on what she did if Cecilia did indeed defeat Hades, it might be more advantageous to summon my Celestial Guardians later.
Vaguely I wondered about the possibility of converting the power of my Celestial Guardians into my Constellation weapons. What if I transferred all of Vermilion Phoenix's formidable firepower to a single arrow, for example?
Pushing that thought to the back of my mind, I still kept toying with the idea while focusing a good portion of my attention on the shifting battlefield that was the graveyard.
Cecilia and Hades had broken apart from yet another bloody clash, and now the former was pointing her sword at the latter as she assumed a final offensive stance.
”You've been a worthy opponent…perhaps the most skilled and strongest enemy I have faced thus far. As such…” she took a deep breath, channeling her magical energy into her sword. Thousands of Sakura petals gathered around her, gleaming faintly in the silvery moonlight. They shone vividly as they responded to Cecilia's call.
Hades merely growled as he brought his scythe down, ready to parry this new attack. His red eyes followed the trail of pink Sakura petals as they increased rapidly in numbers and formed a dense cloud of fluttering blossoms.
Where there was death, there was also life. It surprised me to see the epitome and symbol of spring coming to life so forcefully in a place of death, but perhaps it was precisely because of this contrast that made Cecilia's attack appear more powerful than ever.
”Stuart Clan Sword Style,” she whispered. ”Ten Thousand Sakura Blossoms, Divine Blades of Annihilation.”
Narrowing her eyes, Cecilia then kicked off the ground, propelling herself forward to meet her enemy. The Sakura petals surrounding her whirled into a vengeful maelstrom at the tip of her sword, and she surged toward Hades while wreathed in a glowing vortex of pink energy.
Growling, Hades swung his scythe down at Cecilia, probably intending to cleave her in half before she reached him, but she nimbly altered her trajectory at the last second. She barely evaded Hades' deadly scythe, the blade slicing into the earth and sending chunks of rock and soil flying. Even so, she received a single graze, a line of blood dripping from her temple into her eye. However, Cecilia continued onward, refusing to be distracted from her goal by pain or injury.
With a determined yell, Cecilia drove her sword right into Hades' chest before he could parry with his scythe. Still, in one last-ditch attempt, he caught hold of Cecilia's sword, his hand bleeding profusely as he barely managed to prevent the blade from reaching his chest.
Despite that, Cecilia would not be stopped.
With a shout, she directed the maelstrom of Sakura petals forward. The pink Sakura blossoms actually flayed through Hades like a million blades, cutting through him and slicing through his bone and organs. In a second, blood burst out of Hades from countless injuries as his once unyielding iron body was perforated by the ultimate spell. Hades roared in fury as his body imploded from being cleaved apart by so many tiny blades and he slumped down in an unrecognizable heap of flesh and blood, the red light from his demonic eyes and tattoos fading away upon his death.
Panting, Cecilia withdrew her sword and stepped away, exhausted and drained by the use of her ultimate technique and the toll the battle had taken away. The Sakura petals vanished, almost as if they had never existed to begin with, and she slumped down. Wiping the blood away from her face, she pressed her left palm against her temple in a vain effort to stem the bleeding.
”Cecilia did it.”
Alicia was smiling, her expression filled with immense relief. I also relaxed, realizing that I had been holding my breath this entire time. I inhaled quickly and nodded in agreement.
However, whatever words I was about to say swiftly died in my throat when I noticed something peculiar about Hades. No, even before that, I turned around and caught sight of Selina. She was shaking her head in exasperation rather than despair, looking more annoyed than afraid at Hades' demise.
Something was not right.
I blinked as I studied Hades' corpse. It was faint, but I could sense some sort of demonic energy flickering to life within it. That was strange. Usually when something died, the energy should be fading away into nothingness, not amplifying exponentially.
Then it hit me.
”Cecilia!” I yelled, my voice hoarse with dread. ”Get away from that monster! He's not dead yet!”
And then the tattoos on Hades' bleeding body burst into life, shining a demonic red that saturated the graveyard in a sinister light.