In yet another morning among so many others, a coffee shop welcomed several customers. The gentle, affection-filled voice of its owner, Fofa, made the atmosphere calm and welcoming, with few voices echoing, and when they did, in low tones.
At one of the tables sat a woman. She drank her coffee slowly, her eyes marked by darkness beneath the lids. She yawned now and then, scratching her messy hair.
From the distance, she spotted another woman approaching. This one in a lab coat and skirt. She greeted her with a smile and sat down. What a cold morning this was, wasn't it. She agreed, tightening the scarf around her neck firmly. Had winter already passed. The one in the lab coat shrugged, did it matter. What was winter after five hundred years. Just a brief moment.
Really, Libretãnhya always with such unstable weather. Anyway, what did Aurora want from her. She was busy, couldn't take on any of her requests right now. The Huntress of Destruction let out a light laugh, why would she think she'd come only out of self interest. What kind of friend did she take her for. It wasn't a request, more of a... idea.
What idea would that be.
So Aurora traded her friendly expression for something more serious, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on them. There was someone she didn't like, someone she suspected of something. Could she investigate.
What would Rin Yuang gain from it.
Aurora shook her head. If her theories turned out to be right, Rin Yuang could gain a case out of it, or even money from her, if she wanted. If it turned out to be just paranoia, she could compensate her... with just money.
What a ridiculous offer. It really was, but she didn't have much of an idea what else to offer. Well, if she was right, she'd give her more money, how about that. Rin Yuang shrugged, it wouldn't amount to much, she had another case to solve, but fine, she'd take it. Who was this person.
Slady.
Slady...? Rin Yuang raised an eyebrow, had she met her, by any chance. Yes, she had. She hadn't liked the way she was.
But she didn't really know her, she was a good person. There was nothing to be suspicious of. Aurora nodded, she understood it might sound like madness, but this Slady seemed connected to a lot of strange things. Could she do this favor, for her. Aurora clasped her hands together and made a childish pout with her lips.
She was ridiculous... but she'd do it. Like she said, she had no time for this nonsense, and she hoped to prove her wrong as soon as possible so she could collect the money already.
Aurora stood up, thanked her, and even kissed her friend's hand, promising she'd hold up her end of the deal. If it really was just paranoia, she'd even throw in extra for showing her she was wrong. Rin Yuang smiled, set the coffee money on the table, and left.
As she made her way home, Rin Yuang tried to think through the reasons for that investigation. She had little clarity, it was like trying to picture an image inside a thick cloud of smoke. Why would she suspect Slady. She was someone who had proven herself not only a dedicated worker at her library, but also, as a friend and everything else.
She'd probably even talked to Roger about the case... talked to him... it had been so long since she'd had a conversation with him. She herself hadn't had the courage to send him a message, let alone him. He must have felt guilty... it wasn't his fault. It was the Theater Killer's.
Where was she, again. Right, Slady. She had talked to him. Could he have misread her wise words. No. Even she, exhausted as she was, had managed to understand, why wouldn't he. Could he have done something to her. No, that couldn't be. That case wouldn't have caused so many consequences.
And if it had happened, why hadn't Slady said anything. Or maybe nothing had happened at all. And he'd just ended up like that from all the pressure. That had to be it...
Without noticing, she'd bumped her face into the door. She rubbed her eyes, taking a while to open them again. She yawned once more. Investigating Slady... what a waste of time, but it was good to earn a little money. She'd understand.
With a tired smile, she went into her house, with not a single light switching on.
***
For the following seven days of the week, Rin Yuang devoted some moments of the morning, afternoon, night, and, rarely, the small hours, to spying on the kindly librarian.
On hills that stretched toward the sky on the city's horizon like mountains, even atop some buildings, Rin Yuang would lie down and bring the binoculars up to her eyes.
In the morning, she wore firm, sturdy clothing, the same as at night. In the small hours, she nearly melted into the darkness beneath all those layers. In the afternoon it was more bearable, she could wear the more official clothes of her job with some gear to protect herself from the cold.
Every now and then, she got so absorbed in the relaxing moments of the librarian's routine that she ended up growing a layer of snow in her hair.
But, in short, there was an undeniable normalcy to her routine.
In the morning, she woke in light clothes, serving Elisa and Shaphira, two amateur hunters who'd gained a bit of fame in recent days. The younger one for having been the daughter of one of the most respected, important, and powerful hunters of recent times, who had yielded to time and bad luck. And Shaphira, the mysterious girl with magical abilities no one had managed to define.
Through the rest of the morning and the afternoon, she received visiting customers, who sat on the sofa or in a few chairs, tables set up, and rented her books. Sometimes she left the library to deliver some to the homes of those who'd ordered online, as she showed when she worked at the computer for long minutes.
At night, she welcomed the girls with dinner and, finally, rested, the routine repeating the next day.
However, there was something. During the afternoon, when she wasn't receiving anyone, Slady would shut herself away in a room beneath the stairs. She'd stay there for hours. Even after returning from her shift to resume watching her, she still hadn't appeared.
It was probably just her mind, but she felt an immense urge to question it. Was this idiotic. Why was she thinking about it. Lack of sleep. Heavens... she... she really did seem strange.
When she came out, she carried equipment she couldn't quite make out from the distance. But they looked like weapons. Lethal weapons.
She couldn't wait any longer.
So, on Friday, the last working day of the week, she went out and followed the figure walking through the city's darkness, her hair nearly swallowed by white as it flew in the wind. The dark clothing, not as delicate as what she usually wore, protected her from the cold.
Rin Yuang's teeth chattered, smoke pouring from her mouth. The darkness in her eyes ran much deeper. At her hip, the pistol, her hands trembling as she drew closer to it.
When she entered an alley, she found Slady standing there, her eyes gleaming in the darkness.
Why was she following her. Did she need something.
No, she didn't need anything. She was fine, very fine.
She didn't look it. When would she learn she needed to give up the case, hadn't she listened to her advice.
She'd listened just fine, but she'd been a fool. The Theater Killer needed to be captured, or killed. He was destroying her life and the people she loved. By the way, what had she told Roger when she recommended her to him.
Slady furrowed her brow, taking a step toward her. Nothing, she'd told him the same thing she was telling her now. Why. Had something happened.
She didn't deserve to know.
She raised the pistol.
Slady's eyes went wide. She asked, low, what she thought she was doing, had she gone mad.
No, but she couldn't trust her anymore. So many attempts to make her give up, so many attempts to make her yield. She hadn't told Roger to give up. No... he was a very clever man, she'd been using him. The way she was using her.
She denied all of it, Rin Yuang was exhausted, her mind wasn't working right. She should...
A shot rang out beside Slady's ear, striking the wall next to her. The sound was low, the silencer keeping anyone but the two of them from hearing it.
She owed her nothing! She was always trying to tell her what she should do, as if she were her owner! She was the Theater Killer, she was certain of it!
As she spoke, her eyes filled with tears. The pistol in her hands trembled, her chest rising and falling rapidly, smoke still escaping with every breath.
Slady stayed silent, and walked toward her.
She should stay back! Rin would shoot!
But she was wrapped in warmth instead. Slady enfolded her waist with her arms, her coat becoming a cocoon to keep the biting cold from reaching her skin. Slady's greater height became more obvious, her chest pressed against her face. Warm, mild...
She didn't know what had happened, didn't know what she was going through. She didn't know anything. But she wanted to help her, she was her friend, she should trust her.
As much as the warmth wrapped around her made her want to close her eyes, her heart beat slower, her chest becoming like a natural pillow...
...she couldn't trust her.
Raising one leg, she kicked her in the stomach with all her strength, firing at the very same moment.
Slady vanished into the shadows, reappearing before her as she seized her weapon with brutal force. Rin Yuang fired several more times, but she saw no other choice, pulling her head back and striking Slady across the face, her nose bleeding.
Advancing this time, she began a sequence of leg strikes, but Slady blocked them with her own. Then she landed a punch to her chest, grabbed her by the shoulders, and hurled her farther away.
When she tried to get up, she saw something stick near her feet. A sonic vibration sent her flying into a closed shop, the alarm wailing loudly.
Spitting blood, Rin Yuang raised her head, a calling device sliding from her pocket. Speaking loudly, she ordered the entire battalion of the Libretãnhya Investigation Department to the Horn Family hardware store...
The Theater Killer had been found.
Stepping out of the alley with a grim expression, she pulled the equipment from the wall and fastened it to her wrist, the material molding itself into a glove with a hole at the knuckles. She drew two pistols from her pocket, checking the red and blue ammunition.
A shame she had to use this.
She walked calmly into the empty store. A shot flew toward her, but in one fluid motion, Slady dodged it and started walking toward Rin Yuang.
She screamed for her to stop, fired more shots, but Slady kept dodging until she reached her. With a furious cry, she threw herself into the fight. Slady's eyes widened for an instant before she advanced.
They traded frantic blows, each one echoing like a crack. Rin Yuang grabbed Slady and slammed her against the counters. She kicked her in the jaw. Teeth flew across the floor along with blood.
Rin Yuang pulled back, feeling some of her own teeth missing. She couldn't believe Slady still hadn't changed her expression, hadn't lost a thing!
She... she didn't even come close to the Theater Killer.
Slady tried to open her arms, but lowered them again. You know, she'd let herself be discovered many times. That was what she'd wanted. But she didn't wish for this ending. For now, there was no choice, she needed to clear her from her path.
Unable to react, Slady spun the pistols and fired, the rounds flying straight for her feet. She fell, groaned, trembling with the shock, crying at the sensation of her own flesh cooking alive. The woman standing over her seized her by the throat, lamenting that it all had to end this way.
Finally, a blow mixed with vibrations sent her flying into the wall, which shattered, her body rolling down the road.
Face up, Rin Yuang stared at the dark sky. It started to rain, firm drops falling against her chest, hiding her tears.
Why... why was she so weak?! What had she done to deserve this?! Was she... was she just going to be another victim? It wasn't fair!
The officer wept quietly, no longer able to make out the female figure in the distance. The sound of police sirens echoed in the background, blue and red lights glowing in the darkness.
Without her noticing, calm footsteps drew closer, sinking into the puddles that had just formed. The situation was pitiful.
Moving her eyes upward, she made him out. Roger. Please, could he help, the Theater Killer was Slady.
What nonsense, the Theater Killer was a man.
Then two daggers slid from his belt.
Rin Yuang froze.
***
She walked toward where Rin's body had been thrown. Slady felt her hair soaking through. She looked, so far from everything, at the library. Elisa, Shaphira. All of this would come to an end. Everything would be fine.
But, as if in instant answer from fate, she found nothing. Her steps quickened, searching for any sign of her. Each step sent ripples through the puddles of water, her hair becoming one with the current of wind.
Until, finally, she found her.
In a wishing pool in the center of the city...
Rin Yuang lay there, floating, torn open, her organs spilling out. Her nearly colorless eyes meeting Slady's.
She didn't hesitate to step in, pulling her into her lap. No, no, no no no! This wasn't supposed to be happening, she hadn't been trying to kill her!
In a hoarse, weak, nearly nonexistent voice, she said she'd noticed that.
Who had done this? She didn't deserve this!
Roger... Roger Trager.
This couldn't be real. He hadn't gone mad over this case, tell her it wasn't true!
She didn't know. If she was saying she wasn't the Theater Killer...
Then who was she, really.
Slady fell silent at the sudden question. Her lips trembled, her face hiding against her chest. She wasn't the monster she'd believed her to be. She was someone who'd made plenty of mistakes too, she wasn't a good person. But... but she would never kill her.
Rin Yuang was a good woman.
A good woman...
If she was good, why was she in this situation.
...
Slady didn't answer this time. She touched her face slowly, stroking her cheeks, nothing more.
Until she left this world, once more.
She never found that answer.
Rin Yuang laughed, a drop of blood flying from her mouth. The librarian had no answers, how ironic.
If she wasn't as bad as the monster she was hunting, then someone like her deserved one last request, didn't she.
Yes, yes! She'd always deserve one!
Slady's shoulders trembled as the color gradually drained from the officer's eyes. Her body grew heavier with every passing moment. With a smile smeared in blood, Rin Yuang pulled her close by the face, bringing her lips to her ear:
Don't let her be forgotten.
At last, her fingers slid down, sinking into the water, and her eyes lost their focus. Slady watched, wiping away her tears, but the glow in her pupils now shone red. Why did she feel pleasure in this. She'd never enjoyed this before! Why did all of this feel so... good to do.
She stood, the still, heavy body hanging from her arms, left the pool and began walking slowly into the darkness. Her face held no expression, only that red glow. Her chest pulsed, the same color soaking through the white shirt now drenched in blood.
With each breath, red smoke escaped her.
Reaching the forested areas of the city, Slady set the woman down and began clawing the earth back. Her nails turned brown, the tips breaking, the delicacy she'd had before now gone.
With a hole dug, she lowered Rin Yuang's dead body into it. She began burying her, thunder echoing in the distance, the glow partially revealing the blank expression on Slady's face.
Sorry, Rin Yuang...
For everything.
When there was nothing left to hide, a man's voice rose behind her. He'd done what she wished, but she didn't deserve to see the result.
With that, two daggers flew toward Slady's neck.
***
In an empty building, Roger's body flew, shattering the glass. He crashed into a pillar, a crack spreading out behind him. Damn her...
And the damned woman appeared before him, finishing her climb up that structure in seconds. The glow in her eyes burned even more intense, making Roger get up and ready his daggers. Could it be she was a Destroyer in disguise, as they'd suspected.
She didn't answer, though. On the contrary, she smiled and advanced. Roger, swallowing hard, did the same.
A violent exchange of blows began. The rain in the background grew heavier while the sound of the sirens grew even more deafening.
Roger tried to shout for the police team to open fire on the building, but he was cut off by a blow from Slady, striking his head, an electric discharge sending him plunging down several floors.
But the order was heeded.
Several men and women took position in front of the building and fired at the shadow descending at supernatural speed toward the ground.
Before she could strike Roger with her sharp high heel, the man managed to dodge, using wind magic to push himself into a corner of the room.
At that moment, countless rounds flew toward Slady.
But with a sweep of her arm, the rounds stopped in midair and redirected themselves into one of her pistols, which fired, the shots whipping through every corner, striking several of those officers.
Roger trembled at the scene. That wasn't a Destroyer...
It was something far worse.
Rising slowly, he wiped the blood from the blade in his hand and muttered, low, about what that woman had done to him. Destroyed his life, his mind, his heart...
And had gotten the woman he loved killed.
With a tear sliding down his face, he advanced. Slady seized him by the neck and slammed him against the wall. She didn't respond, only punched, punched, and punched.
As his face grew more and more unrecognizable, Roger found himself, for an instant, remembering his old life.
His mother, his father, his sister.
Why had he gone into that line of work, in the first place.
Money. Fame. Significance.
Why, after meeting that person, had he forgotten his reasons.
Left on the floor now, Slady placed her palm beside him. Their eyes met for a moment. Her hair fell across her face, a dark mark pulsing from her chest up to her neck, climbing even to her jaw. Growing more alive by the second.
As the ground beneath them began to melt, Slady leapt and drove her nails into the building's concrete. And the floor gave way.
The man's last sight was a basin of blood beneath him.
***
He woke to a slap.
It had nothing to do with anything. But, in little time, a light came on.
She was before him, seated on a chair. With a strange sensation in his mind, he turned his head downward, seeing his own nakedness exposed.
What... what had she done.
It took her a while to answer.
She'd tell him, not because she wanted to show off, but because he was going to die soon.
A year ago, she'd lived through hell on earth, something far worse than what he'd gone through that night.
There had been a moment of clarity.
She'd wished for an end to her criminal life, what people mostly called her, the Theater Killer.
She'd needed to craft a perfect plan. Someone like her needed a very particular culprit.
Someone capable of living for centuries.
Nothing could do that except a Destroyer.
So she'd gone looking, chosen carefully. It had taken a long time, until she saw him. Not because he deserved it, but because she'd seen something in him.
A tendency. A void. Something only centuries of life could explain.
That was why they were here, now. He had become a Destroyer and would be her perfect proof of innocence. Her image was already at risk, so having someone like Roger was perfect for at least removing the possibility that she was a monster.
She couldn't help but be grateful to him for that. So, he deserved one last request. What would it be.
...There was no answer.
Slady laughed, fine, the night would be long enough for him to decide.
With that, she walked over to a table, where several pieces of equipment waited, syringes and electroshock treatment devices.
And she prepared them with a wide smile.
For an entire night, Roger felt his skin pierced. For a night, he begged for death. For a night, he felt the energy overtake him through pain and mind, but he was always kept awake. For an entire night, he felt the transformation take hold of him, but his body was molded like a puppet to remain almost the same as before.
Just as she had intended.
A disguise.
He felt equally powerful and vulnerable.
But it was too late to cry.
When the clock struck five, Slady stepped back, hands on her hips. The naked man breathed raggedly, blood running down over all of his skin. Renkai Energy emanated from every wound. On the outside, nothing had changed, but inside, his heart had become nothing but a small storm.
She gently took the man's hands and set them against his own face, had he thought of a request.
...Yes. He wished for her to tell his family that he was sorry for everything he'd done.
She smiled, his wish would be granted.
Now, kill yourself.
Without hesitating, the man tore through his own chest with his claws, gripping his airborne heart and crushing it in a single touch.
In the blink of an eye, his body exploded, pieces of him, skin, and small fragments of his limbs scattering across the room. Slady, on her knees, laughed, and laughed hard.
What... what had she done.
Later, with glasses over her eyes, the red glow dimmer now, she worked at some of the cerebral tissue left from what remained of the man's head, the only thing that had survived. Delicate needles probing gently through every corner.
Until she stopped everything she was doing.
The limbic system, responsible for emotions, feelings, and memories, when she'd made changes to his brain more than a year ago, had been faulty. Not just faulty. In truth... it had been permanently damaged.
In other words, if Roger had gone around acting so "hollow" before, it was her fault, entirely her fault.
She was the one who'd created the "monster."
The needles fell from her hands, and she dropped to her knees. She raked her hands through her hair. She hadn't made that mistake, she couldn't have done that...
How, then, had he shown tears. The despair and the rage. Had they been intentional. Had it been an emotional dysregulation where the region tried, and failed, to function. God... how could she have made so many mistakes?!
She lay down on the blood-covered floor, pounding her fists against it. All of this was her fault! She hadn't been trying to remove a possible monster from society, she'd tried to remove the creation she'd made out of pure selfishness.
This... this was too much.
But it was too late.
It was already done, now.
Sacrifices were needed to live in peace.
This had been one of them.
She hoped they'd live in peace now.
***
She left the place with a glass jar containing pieces of what had once been a man. The sun lit the sky in a majestic glow. The rain was gone, the darkness was gone. Only light and peace remained. Feeling the winds caress her face, she closed her eyes, letting out a sigh.
Now she began walking toward the Trager family's house.
***
In an apartment, Aurora woke to her alarm beeping, turned her head, seven o'clock. What hell. She rubbed her eyes, picked up her phone. Normally, Rin Yuang would report some result by now, expecting to see a message dripping with scorn about her being a paranoid fool.
But there were no messages. Maybe she was just tired.
Getting up, she showered and put on her work clothes. She went to the kitchen, where machines with pincers began pulling at her hair and arranging it into a bun. She tapped the coffee machine once, and the scent of the steam already caressed her nostrils.
With coffee in hand and her hair impeccably arranged, she sat on the sofa, took a sip. And turned on the television...
But what she saw made her drop the cup and rush desperately out of the apartment, leaving the coffee spreading across the floor.
She arrived at the area sealed off by an invisible barrier that kept civilians out. She crossed the barrier with no difficulty at all, which made the investigators look at her with concern, followed by a formal greeting.
She waved it off and made her way to the more experienced woman, Cas... Castare. She was kneeling before the wishing pool. Her fingers sweated around the device in her hands, the result showing Rin Yuang's image.
Clenching her fists, Aurora asked if there was other DNA present. The young woman turned to her, eyes full of tears. Yes, there was. And what was it.
She didn't know. Something distorted kept appearing. A jumble of numbers and letters trying to access the information, and red gas kept rising from the blood on the ground. It was as if Rin Yuang had been attacked by something that was neither a Renkai Creature nor human.
...And where was Roger. Missing, just like Rin.
Aurora looked away, she'd try to find more information. With that, she flew off in an instant.
In front of a house, Aurora swallowed hard. Telling a family that their loved one might be dead was something that turned her stomach every time. She'd done it so many times already, been cursed out even more.
Yet, the door opened with an eerie ease.
And then, she fell, emptying the contents of her stomach.
In the house, blood was spattered across every corner. In the entrance hallway, there was no one. Walking slowly, lips trembling, she saw a man on the floor, the television echoing the recent news at a low volume. His throat had been slit, his eyes still frozen in an expression of pure shock.
In the kitchen, the mother was pinned against the fridge, food smeared across the blood-soaked floor. Her wrists pinned to the surface by a sharp knife.
Aurora's eyes went wide, and she rushed up to the second floor.
He... he couldn't have done...
When she opened the door, she froze.
Sitting on the bed, Slady had her fingers interlaced. A shadow covered half her face, the pulse brighter than ever. The girl was there, her face unrecognizable, crushed, torn, her eyes bulging out of their sockets.
Why... why hadn't she run.
Slady looked at her, stood, and offered up her wrists.
Because she could no longer live in this world.
***
The broadcast on every television sent everyone pouring into the streets. In the center of the city, where all the terror had unfolded, a platform rose meters into the air. Slady stood in the middle of it, and before her rose something resembling a guillotine, that ancient tool once so widely used for public executions.
Aurora stood beside her, wiping her face again and again. Behind Slady, two robots positioned their blades at her neck. Her face held no expression.
The whole city erupted in screams, the truth that the most wanted killer of all had been a constant part of their daily lives driving them to hurl every kind of insult at her.
Among the crowd, Slady's eyes met those of her friends, the reasons behind everything she'd done: Elisa and Shaphira.
The two girls turned to the scene, mouths open. Faller wore a serious expression, and Victoria looked somber. However many emotions crossed their faces, Slady could still see what they wanted most, written in their eyes: for it to be a lie.
Slady took a few steps toward the microphone, her deep voice coming out hoarse.
She was the Theater Killer.
She was the one who had killed thousands of men and women across centuries.
How had she lived so long. She didn't know. But did it matter. Out of centuries of existence, perhaps she'd lived less than an ordinary adult.
Were there regrets. Many. More than she could count. And they'd been right, she'd wanted to put an end to her entire career so she could live with the people she loved most: Elisa and Shaphira.
However, when they heard their names, Elisa quietly pulled the other girl by the hand, hiding her from the crowd. The younger one covered her eyes with her arm, the older one turned her head to look at her, her pupils communicating something that made her clutch at her own chest.
Aurora suddenly asked if she had any last words. Slady tried to find Faller and Victoria's eyes again, but couldn't anymore.
...There was nothing, because everything she felt couldn't possibly be put into words.
And so, the guillotine moved, locking into place around her neck. Aurora stepped forward, her voice coming out in command. Humanity was witnessing the end of someone who had shaped this city for centuries. Did they truly wish for this one's death.
And the voices agreed without hesitation.
With that, Aurora turned. It had not been a pleasure to have known her.
The sharp blade descended. The couple stepped back. The girls fled.
However, a click of the tongue set off countless devices that, even deactivated, activated and filled the city with gas within seconds. Aurora watched the sky turn hazy, how?! She'd disabled the systems herself. But she couldn't think any further, as she inhaled, she dropped instantly.
A translucent blue barrier rose from the city's horizons, stretching out for millions of kilometers, keeping anyone from escaping. Within seconds, the entire city fell asleep.
Through the smoke, Slady walked slowly. Her hair flew with the winds. She coughed again, falling to her knees, the mark on her chest glowing like a light. She spat up blood, murmuring unfamiliar, distorted words.
But suddenly, from beyond the barriers, she saw a figure wrapped in flames. The barriers dissolved in the blink of an eye. Footsteps echoed, and the woman revealed herself through the thick smoke.
Slady...
Ferinish...
The two stared each other down, bright, hollow pupils against a form made of flame. Slady laughed for a moment, shadows crawling further across her skin.
This... this had been for her. She'd said she was a danger, wouldn't allow it any longer.
Suddenly she felt her chest tighten. She bent forward, coughing up blood. Slady's eyes gleamed, and a wide smile bloomed on her lips.
She wouldn't be a Destroyer any longer, she'd be free.
But, in that very same second, she readied the blade in her one remaining arm, what had happened to her. Nothing. She felt just fine.
She rose and offered her hand. Come with her, the two of them would live together, bring about a better world. They could live eternally at each other's side, no matter how painful the death of everyone around them might be.
Ferinish listened closely to her words, watching her own flames lose their strength, she didn't answer for a while, but soon...
That wasn't Slady.
It never would be.
Without hesitating, she advanced.
The Theater Killer vanished, the barriers rose once more. The wind current carried several bodies away after the sword's strike, fire fusing with the smoke.
The air warped, Slady appeared with a kick. Ferinish blocked it, stepping back. She'd pull out whatever was inside her, whatever it cost. She laughed, there was nothing wrong with her!
They closed in on each other again, a violent exchange of blows following. Their blood scattered, the fire warped. Reality came undone with every cut. And as the armor cracked with each punch that disfigured the surrounding area, Ferinish was sent flying into a building, which collapsed on impact.
Slady's hair turned entirely white, closing the distance to the other woman in seconds.
In a vision far removed from reality, countless houses were destroyed. However much it rained down on the population, the barriers surrounding the entire city of Libretãnhya made every piece of debris veer away from the bodies below.
Nothing touched the people.
Every electric shock, every shift in gravity, every alteration struck only the Destroyer of Flames.
Ferinish dropped to her knees, bracing herself on her blade. The fire surrounding her lost its strength entirely, leaving only the armor, which began to crumble apart, revealing a bit of her skin. Her hair, then, dull, just a dark color with bluish streaks. Her vision blurred.
Slady braced herself against a wall, covering her mouth, vomiting the red liquid uncontrollably, smoke pouring out along with it. The darkness now tried to consume the other half of her face. Her hands were gone, replaced by dark, black, sharpened claws. And underneath, there was no skin left at all, it was like staring into the abyss.
They walked slowly toward each other. One tried to fire, but had no more ammunition, tried to pull something from her coat, but it fell apart off her shoulders. As did the rest of her clothes.
With every step, the Destroyer of Flames' armor dissolved into the wind, but her blade remained steady. In her vision, there was no Slady left anymore, only a creature of pure darkness.
Now, face to face, they struck, but only one of them bled. A dark blood.
The Theater Killer leaned into the Destroyer of Flames, her chest run through by the blade. She took hold of her chin, forcing her to meet the last remnants left in her eyes. By the end, she thanked her for everything, she had been the detail that made her realize there was someone who deserved so much more than just peace.
...Someone who deserved to have her life. Accept this final gift.
With no answer, Ferinish collapsed beside her, every last trace of Renkai Energy beginning to fade.
And Slady, now made of shadows, drew the blade from her chest and walked through the ruins of the city. For a moment, she saw the two she'd called daughters. The younger one leaning over the older one, who showed no change from the smoke.
The barrier dissolved at last. Her bright white eyes fixed on a single path.
The sky above her still glowed, leaves brushing against her "skin." Low growls escaping her "mouth."
Then she reached the temple, passing the divine image of Buddha, descended the stairs, crossed the carpet, and arrived at the Gate of Renkata. No one greeted her as lord, but her touch undid it within seconds. Revealing a machine... a colossal machine.
A capsule with colored liquid at its center. Wires stretched out in every direction. Several hearts pulsed before the machine. And a voice echoed that the system had been breached. Countless weapons emerged from the ceiling and fired at her, but they passed straight through without causing harm.
As she typed, her claws cracked and crumbled between the keys. The massive password screen appeared before her.
Activate Project Memory Reset?
[YES]
PASSWORD?
"Shaphira"
Then a fifty second countdown began. The weapons stopped and retreated back into their hiding places.
However, an ethereal light appeared behind the walking shadow.
An angel.
Truth.
Her white mantle now looked like a dress. Her eyes were open, revealing a celestial blue color. Wings stretched out for meters, reaching as far as the wall of the chamber. Her feathers falling over the shadows.
However, there was no warm or wise expression on her face, only cold.
She nearly touched her face, the shadows drawing back just enough for Slady's eyes to see her, motionless. But understanding.
Slady had committed a mortal sin.
She had used her body to commit terrible acts. Her knowledge, to create that blessed creation. She had traded her perfect heart for a corrupted, human one. How could she have imagined that, deep down, Truth wasn't truly a Destroyer, but a Creator.
She could call her a Fallen Angel, but... unfortunately she wouldn't allow her to live long enough for that.
Her ethereal body rose into the heights. Throughout all eternity, she had served Zyrionq, had been her first daughter, her greatest pride. But Satan... Satan had made her fall, made her die, and be born into the body of a mere mortal.
How could he possibly think she would go on living at his side, or hers. It was ridiculous. Unfortunately, it was too late, she had converted the Renkai Energy into Pure Mana within moments. Perhaps, after everything she'd done, she deserved that farewell in these final seconds.
By the way, twenty seconds remained.
So she told him everything. How she had used his body for centuries and only lent him small fragments of memory to make him believe he'd lived something. And he had been right, he had lived for centuries, but had truly lived far, far less than an ordinary grown man. His theory had been mistaken.
Now this truth, unfortunately, he wouldn't need it anymore. As a gift, since he'd so wanted to see beyond the Earth, she would give him a taste of it.
Then she touched his forehead.
...And an entire world appeared in his mind. Not a world, an entire reality. He fell silent, feeling his white eyes burn. The truth began to consume him along with the memories of what he'd lived. The images of Shaphira, Elisa, Raizer, Ferinish... of everyone and everything began rising with the infinite information overwhelming his mind.
Then the counter reached zero, and the liquid turned into energy, tearing through the ceiling, rising toward the sky and the stars. Truth watched it happen and touched the device, starting a self destruct countdown, and finally, she vanished from that place, her feathers drifting slowly down to the ground.
Beyond the stars, an explosion swept through, in seconds, everything. A circular line expanded across the Earth and beyond the solar system. Passing by millions of stars until it left the Milky Way and passed through Andromeda in seconds. Stretching across the finite infinity of the entire universe.
Then photographs that had Slady in them disappeared, and reality adapted to create another figure. Then digital records, any that bore her name, were erased. Written records had their name altered, or simply erased.
Until nothing remained connected to him, or her, at all.
And, at last, among the information still reaching her, her vision losing all meaning, matter reshaping itself and elements coming undone...
The explosion turned everything white and silent.
— End of Volume Three: The Theater Killer. —