Chapter 419 Against the World I (2/2)
Hannah, Lucky, and Alison stood by the edge of the wall, their eyes glued to the two of them. All three had rather somber expressions, especially the former; though she wished to be up there with every fiber of her being, today was not the day.
”Let's go,” she said, shaking Lucky and Alison from their thoughts. ”We've jobs to do to do as well aside from limping around.”
Two recovered slowly, looking down at the cross between left shoulder and her chest where a massive gash appeared, bleeding profusely. She gritted her teeth in frustration, a worm of anger tunneling through her veins into her heart, causing restlessness to overcome her for a moment. Taking a deep breath, her fierce eyes focused on the distant figure before she unleashed all her anger in a singular roar.
”ATTACK!!!”
Hundreds of thousands of roars merged together into a symphony that shook the world. Lino and Ella were forced to take a step back due to the sheer pressure of countless Wills exploding temporarily into the open sky.
”… go into the fortress and man the core,” Lino said, glancing at her. ”Others won't be able to sustain it.”
”… what about you?” she asked, frowning.
”—it's frustrating, but we can't really show our cards just yet,” he sighed bitterly. ”Even pulling out the Orbiter this early cut me deep. I'll try to stall for as long as possible while you focus on shredding a single direction and carving open a path. Direct the fortress to the eastern shores of the Holy Continent; Seya had found someone who can navigate the Edge and guide us to the Isles. Vy told me that there's a pact between the Dragons and the rest that prohibits encroachment on each other's lands.”
”… be careful, alright?” she added with a worried expression, grabbing his hand tightly for a moment. ”Nothing is worth your death.”
”… how can I die now?” he said, smiling gently. ”Just when I'm about to become a dad…”
”E-eh?!”
”Another time.”
”Right, another time.” she nodded, smiling, before vanishing.
Lino took a deep breath and focused. Today, perhaps for the first time in his life, he truly realized what it meant to be at war with the world. Though he spoke of it many times before, it's a difficult concept to comprehend. Even now, he was merely up against a small cut that was able to make it here in time. Yet, even so, it was overwhelming. Beyond overwhelming. He couldn't even fool himself into believing he stood an iota of a chance of winning. Two and Six alone would be enough to hold him back to say nothing of countless others, hundreds and thousands of Fiend Titulars and above.
Empyrean or not, a single soul can always be overwhelmed. The only good of it all was that he didn't need to win; he needed to survive. And, if there was one thing every Empyrean since the time immemorial was known for, it was surviving against all odds.
”… by gods, I so regret the day I took your ass in…” he mumbled softly as he took out the [Dragon Slayer], gripping it tightly. No other weapon in his arsenal could do much in his current situation, which once again reminded him he needed to expand his arsenal once more.
”Rejoice,” Ataxia replied in his usual, robotic voice. ”You always dreamt of what it would be like to stand against the world…”
”Yeah, key difference being 'dreamt',” Lino sighed as surge of Qi barraged the world, cutting it away from the reality. ”Hardly a desire to experience it, however. Ah, whatever, whatever. I've brought this on myself.”
”… oh? Self-awareness in the dire times? Perhaps you should jump into situations like these more often.”
”… go suck a goddamn dick.”
He unfurled his wings, six in total bracing the world, blinding it with pure-white, milky light. His figure darted through the spacetime, ignoring seemingly all laws known to man, appearing nearly a mile away instantaneously, swinging the Slayer horizontally. The mirage of the blade extended over from the steel itself, cutting through over a hundred souls within a single slice. Torsos split open as cries of horror ensued. Yet, Lino hardly had a moment to rejoice, soon crying out himself.
His left arm was blown off from his shoulder by a concentration of over a thousand spectacular arrays of fire; a massive hole wrung itself over the right side of his chest, still sizzling, smoking in the ashen dark. He was forced to cough out several mouthfuls of blood due to what he could only describe as a planet-sized hammer blasting against his back. Every single bone in his body broke within that second, and within the same second, it was all restored as though he were born anew. The pain was still there, however, pulsating. His heart shook in terror, his mind repeatedly telling him to run away.
He endured, however, bolstering himself once more. Whipping out a shield, he heaved it over his head as he charged forward; those around him suddenly came to and withdrew rapidly while firing off chain-links; winding rods of light, fire, and water compounded together in fingers of flexible light that shook his shield. He flapped his wings once more, catching up to those retreating, slamming directly into them before sliding the shield sideways and stabbing out with the Slayer.
Once more the mirage stretched from the tip of the blade, skewering over fifteen souls in a single thrust as Lino heaved them over, thrashing them away into the sky as they drew their last breaths. He had no time to distinguish between who was the Devil, who was Human, or any of the countless beasts that were present. Once more he found himself the target of innumerable attacks that shook and shredded him; in an angular fashion, going from his left breast to the right end of the abdomen, a blade light cut through cleanly, shaving off everything below it. Though he quickly recovered, the pain once more remained. Thumping. Pulsating. Three seconds – just three seconds had passed, and he'd already died twice. He'd already experienced the horror of death twice.
There wasn't a moment of respite, a moment to catch his breath. From the corner of his eyes, however, he caught a glimpse of a scene that renewed his hope; the fortress stood strong. Though besieged by countless more souls than he was, it endured it all with ease. One beam of light after another shot off from the countless arrays, reaping tens of thousands of souls with each attack. Fuckin' hell… why the fuck didn't I hide in that monstrosity as well…
Spotting Two, Three, Six and several God-devils approaching from his left, he quickly remembered why. He was the target – the fortress merely an afterthought. Endure, a thought echoed as an edged storm of icicles blasted at him, one managing to pierce through his right eye. Endure, heaving his shield over, he was nonetheless blasted backward, spinning uncontrollably, retracting his wings. Endure, a shadow appeared beneath him and stuck a dagger in his gut, causing blood to splash out like a waterfall. With faint wherewithal, Lino managed to slice downward and beneath the culprit, causing yet another body to fall from the sky. Endure, the sky tore open above him as a golden palm descended, pressing against him. Endure… the pain was so overwhelming his receptors actually shut off. He turned numb. Numb to pain, to feelings, to everything. Repeatedly dying and reviving, on the fence of two divergent realities, he couldn't make heads or tails of it all. All he could do is endure and tightly hold onto the cube, still waiting. Soon… so just… endure…