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Chapter 9 - Insanity

The remnants of the purple flame my punch left were eating away at her inky armour which elicited an astonished expression from Seris.

"Hahahahaha! Now what are you going to do, Oh great Scythe Seris?" My laughter turned maniacal as I mocked the scythe in front of me.

'No, this isn't me. What is happening!? No, this is me. I'm a king! A pinnacle of power. I WILL KILL HER!'

Ignoring my conflicting thoughts, I focused my attention back on the fight. Seris had discarded her destruction infested mana armour as a new layer took its place. She pulled an obsidian black sword from her dimensional ring which matched her horns.

'It doesn't matter' I thought as I raised my arms and white fire with a tinge of aether and destruction swirled around in a ball in the palm of my hands...or what was left of it. I watched wide eyed as the flames ate away at my flesh and were reaching my bones.

I stood there horrified at the sight of my own power eating away at my flesh as if hungry for mana and aether. It was then I realised that my core was almost empty. Whatever this purple fire was, ate away at energy indiscriminately. I needed to end this fight quickly.

Burst steeping to her again, I thrust the ball towards her abdomen. But she sidestepped and brought her sword in a downward arc cutting off my arm and jumped away in that instant.

The arm fell to the ground along with the spell, which on touching ended up freezing our surroundings.

Pure dread washed over me as I saw the purple flames eat away at my severed arm which had Sylvie's bond on it.

'Please don't let this affect Sylvie' I begged to no one in particular as guilt ate my heart out.

My senses slowly started to return in the absence of that purple flame. Pain due to mana loss and a severed arm bombarded my senses as I struggled to stay conscious.

'No. I can't lose now. If I do, Caera will be taken away. I can't let this happen to her.'

Seris stood there with caution as she hovered above the frozen ground. Taking out my sword from the dimensional ring, I tried to look for a way to deal a damaging blow to her.

The aether in the atmosphere slowly drifted towards me as I felt a burning sensation on my spine.

Multiple images flashed in my vision, no, these images are of the different places in our surroundings. It felt like I was viewing different sets of paths, like a portal. One above us, one facing myself as I saw the bloodied mess I was, one beside me and so on.

Would it take me to the place if I used burst step at the right time? But the paths kept on appearing and disappearing. Preparing myself, I searched for a path that led me behind her.

Soon, it appeared. The path appeared for a fraction of a second which showed Seris's back as I used Burst Step. The world shifted as I materialised behind her, purple tendrils of lightning coiling around me as I thrusted the sword where her mana core would be.

Seris's form blurred as I felt pain erupt from my abdomen. Looking down, I saw the same obsidian sword Seris had in her hand, now puncturing my abdomen as blood flowed freely. Realmheart deactivated as the colors returned to my vision.

The taste of metal invaded my mouth as I looked up to see Seris who had a horrified expression on her face.

As strength started to leave my body, knowing I failed to protect Caera, I pleaded, clutching on to the hem of her battle robes.

"Please Seris, he- cough help Caera. I beg you. Please. cough She's innocent. Plea-" I felt the rest of my strength vanish as I seperated from her sword and fell on my back, staining the ice covered terrain a bright red.

'Reminds me of her eyes.'

My vision lost its color once again as darkness slowly took over.

"GREY!" Caera's voice came out in a pained cry as my consciousness faded.

'I'm sorry, Caera'

Seris Vritra POV:

What are those purple flames?! It even consumed my nullification magic which, even the strongest of Scythe's soulfire couldn't affect. It left an ominous feeling and I couldn't detect a shred of mana from it.

It had even started to consume his own hand which I had to cut off to stop it from eating more of his body. It seemed to work as I could see him come back to his senses as the sinister smile which he had plastered over his face vanished.

Now he stood there staggering as if contemplating something. He summoned the sword to his remaining hand as he stood there ready to strike. His gaze faltered as I could see him not looking at me, but at something in front of his eyes. But the next moment, he vanished.

It was primal instinct.

The moment I felt a presence behind me, my body automatically attacked it. It felt the same as my encounters with those pantheons. But how did Grey do it? It was more terrifying than that asuran technique. My blade effortlessly slid through his abdomen as if cutting through butter.

'What have I done?'

Emotions which I thought I lost back then flooded my senses as a mild stinging sensation attacked my eyes.

I felt him tug at my robes.

"Please Seris, he- cough help Caera. I beg you. Please. cough She's innocent. Plea-"

He couldn't finish as he fell to the ground as blood flowed freely from his severed arm and the hole in his abdomen. I could feel my eyes finally turn moist at his unmoving form.

'What did he mean by help Caera? Is she alright?!'

But before I could think of anything else, I heard her voice.

"GREY!"

Her presence dashed towards us in an instant as she pushed me away and knelt beside Grey with tears streaming down her face. Looking at her now, answered some of my questions.

She had manifested. On the sides of her head were a pair of beautiful onyx horns and I could see soulfire begin to manifest on her trembling body.

Sylvia POV:

Today was the day my son and Caera are supposed to return from their week long training. Sylvie was the most excited out of all of us since she wanted to spend as much time as she could before they left for the academy.

Call it a mother's intuition but an eerie feeling lingered in the atmosphere which made me uncomfortable. Going over to the balcony, I could see the forests were slowly but surely regaining their luster ever since Sylvie was born. She seemed to be playing with one of the toys Grey had made for her which involved drawing pictures using mana.

Suddenly I heard a pained cry accompanied by a loud thud. Rushing inside the room, I saw Sylvie on the floor, curled up into a ball while clutching her temples. Tears stained the red carpet below her.

"Sylvie!! What's wrong dear?! What's happening?!"

"I-It's brother! Mama! I can't feel brother anymore!" she managed to cry out as her whole body shivered.

The uncomfortable feeling I had earlier seemed to only aggravate my worries at this new found information.

My heart raced as I hurriedly picked up Sylvie and placed her on the bed. Taking out a communication artifact which was linked to Seris, I placed a tempus warp on the ground which was anchored to her mansion in Sehz-Clar.

My hands wouldn't stop trembling at the thought of losing my son.

'Please Grey, my son. Please be alive.'

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First time writing a fight sequence.

Sorry if it is shabby xD