The wrapped hilt of the Limitless Edge didn’t hide the feeling of cold metal deeper within the de as Chikere wrapped her fingers around it. She lifted the sword, swinging it experimentally. With its master dead, it could freely go to a new owner. To her.
The chill spread from the hilt into her hand, rapidly spreading through her body, soul, and everything else. Then the de was gone, along with the remnants of the moon Chikere had been on. Instead, she found herself in a world of swords. A part of her was envious of the collection, floating in the void.
The swords moved all at once. Chikere reached out to extend herself, preparing counters for the iing attacks. But nothing happened. Instead, the des pierced into her. The first ones held her in ce while the rest destroyed her vital organs and body.
She died, unable to do anything to defend herself. And Chikere could say she did <em>not</em> enjoy that. Oh, she knew she would die some day, and her death would be a violent end. But she wasn’t ready for a death where she hadn’t fought back. She’d done <em>nothing</em>.
She felt the des, still. The pain of her body being pierced, and the lingering pain of the des inside of her. But she also felt her body, whole. In the moment it took her to process the sensation, she was killed again. Her head fell to the ground. And instead of simply feeling the pain of one death or another, she felt both at the same time.
“Foolish girl,” came a voice from nowhere. “All sword masters are like this. They think they are something special… but in the end, they can’t resist their greed. Now here you are, unable to even fight back.”
Chikere twisted her head, looking around. Swords pierced into her body, destroying her vision. Three deaths, the full experience of each replicated all at the same time. Chikere found herself unable to do anything.
But she refused. These were swords, and even if she didn’t necessarily feel the same way about them as before they were still weapons. If her own power didn’t work, then she would have to y by the rules of this ce. She grabbed two swords by the hilt, wrenching them away from the control of the Limitless Edge.
She parried and shattered swords, but not only did they reform momentster but they were added to by more and more des from the world around her, more than filling the space with their attacks. And each time the des in her own hands broke, they would not reform for her.
Chikere stopped keeping track of her deaths. Instead, she focused on what she had to do. She was seeking the Limitless Edge in a world of swords- though none so far shared the appearance of the true de, its perfection. She could not control any swords beyond her reach, but she had just enough strength to control any she held.
How long she spent searching for her quarry she didn’t know. Each time she perished, her position changed, but always she was surrounded by a sea of swords. At some point, that might have made her happy. At the moment, she didn’t find it particrly appealing.
Her senses… didn’t seem to work. She could hardly even sense the swords around her, piercing into her many bodies. But she didn’t give up, seeking out her quarry. And she found her, Chikere didn’t hesitate in her assault. Her des cut through the world, slicing her target in two.
Augh rang out. “You really don’t understand. This is my world. There’s nothing you can do.”
Chikere doubted that, actually. Indeed, it seemed as if the Limitless Edge couldn’t kill her either. So what was this ce, then? What would be the point, if she couldn’t die?
The answer came to her quickly enough. Here, she would be worn down by death until the Limitless Edge could take her over. It was that simple. Alternatively, if her skill and resolve were greater… couldn''t she do the same in reverse?
But no. This was her enemy’s world. Chikere took a deep breath, even as her lungs were impaled another hundred times. She didn’t want the woman’s body, nor did she really want her de. Not anymore. “You know, I have to thank you. If I had not lost to you the first time, I would not have grown so strong.”
“And yet,” her voice rang out. “Here you are, unable to defeat me.”
Chikere shook her head slowly. “That’s not true at all. I’ve already defeated you. In multiple ways.”
“Is that so? But you cannot escape this ce.” The Limitless Edge sounded fully confident in that affirmation. “You can’t kill me.”
“Of course not,” Chikere agreed as des sliced her to ribbons. It was… actually quite educational, if unbearable painful at the same time. “Because you’re already dead.” She squeezed down on the de in her hand, driving all her power to destroy it. The <em>true</em> de that she <em>knew</em> she was still clutching. If she hadn’t lost so horribly before… she wouldn’t have had the willpower to do <em>this</em> either. In fact, if she didn’t have to get back to her friends she would have dly participated in an endless battle of wills, as fighting in a highly restricted state was quite valuable.
The perfect de cracked in her hand. There wasn’t even time for an exmation of surprise from the Limitless Edge as thest vestige of her existence was destroyed. It didn’t coincide with some sort of ultimate sh in the inner world… because as she had said, it was <em>her</em> world. Maybe Chikere couldn’t win there.
Though personally, Chikere just hadn’t wanted to take the time. Her vision returned to her, and the chill not of the world within the sword but instead the icy moon she was on. Or at least, a significant portion of an icy moon. There were a few slices missing, having been dislodged only to fall into the gravity of the gas giant below.
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Chikere looked at the broken de, and her blood flowed over it. The de turned red with rust before bing nothing. The Limitless Edge was gone. The person, the sword, and all of that. Oh, and the feeling of a hundred or so deaths was gone too. That… actually could have been a problem given time. She was used to handling only a few nearly lethal wounds at once, and little more than that.
Her head rose, looking around. There were a few bodies around her, but none had life, even those few ‘disciples’ with no apparent wounds. But just for the sake of thoroughness, she sliced the moon into tiny slivers and shoved it into the gas giant. It would be a shame if they came back and bothered someone else after she said they were gone.
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Three of Sly’s teeth were punched out of his mouth. That wasn’t the first time he’d experience it- indeed, it wasn’t the first time this battle. He was going to run out soon enough. “You hit pretty hard, for an old woman.”
“Hmph,” Kigal grunted. “And you’re just a spoiled brat. A traitor to your sect.”
“Nah,” Sly retorted.
“What did you say?”
“I said ‘nah’. It means ‘nope’ or ‘no’. As in, I am not a traitor.”
“Your entire lower realms faction joined with the riff-raff of the lower realms, betraying the Exalted Quadrant. Of course you are a traitor.”
Sly’s head snapped forward to catch her mighty fist. That prevented it from mming into his ribcage and shattering… well, <em>re</em>-shattering all of them. The old woman didn’t look like much, but her power was far beyond her appearances. “Yeah, so? I don’t see what that’s got to do with me.”
“Do you deny encouraging others to follow them?”
“Of course not,” Sly said.
“Then you are a traitor.”
Their knees cracked into each other, Sly of course being the one pushed back. “Nah. That’s not how that works. Unless… are <em>you</em> a traitor?”
“How <em>dare</em> you suggest such a thing?” That made Kigal really quite angry, and she smashed several buildings behind him with a sweep of her leg.
“Then, me neither. Because I wasn’t even there when they started that crap.”
“They’re still your responsibility!” Kigal said. “Therefore, you deserve your punishment.”
His elbow met her other fist, aiming for a single finger. For most others, the shockwave passing through their energy would have at least bruised a finger, if not crushed it… but Kigal was an Augmentation cultivator and Sly… just wasn’t. Not quite.
“If that’s the case,” Sly began. “Where’s <em>your</em> punishment? Aren’t you responsible for those below you?”
“Obviously. Which is why you’re going to be punished with death.”
“Nah, that doesn’t make sense,” Sly said, catching her hand with his palm. His whole arm went numb. “You’re higher up, you’re more responsible for two different systems being fed up with the crap you give them. I could get if you wanted to beat me back onto the side of the Exalted Quadrant, but being upset because I chose a path? Can you even call yourself a member of the Hardened Crown Sect?”
“More than you.”
Her leg whipped around to catch his back. There went the rest of his vertebrae.
Sly went headfirst into the ground as well, digging a ditch a few hundred meters through the city they were fighting in. Well, at least all the civilians had been evacuated. He didn’t think he could stand, though.
Then he sensed something. A great disturbance from where Chikere had run off to. She was supposed to be helping him and instead she ran off to go <em>see a sword</em>. Well, he ultimately figured out she was fighting the Limitless Edge, but still. Margriet was busy with a bunch of others, so that left Sly a little bit outmatched.
He was just going to lie there and let himself get squashed, but he felt the sharpness of Chikere’s eyes watching him. Seems that she’d won… and really messed up the moon she was on, from what he could vaguely feel. The Limitless Edge was… dead? No, way beyond that. He didn’t sense even a ripple of energy from the battle that had been happening.
Sly groaned and stood up. He couldn’t let his prison break buddies down like this. Kigal was flying at him foot first with the weight of a few mountains. Sly blocked her attack with his face, halting her momentum and then flipping her backwards. He spit out a tooth. That had to be thest one, because he only five left. Sly just looked at Kigal, his face bruised and bloodied.
“Just because you resisted one move doesn’t mean you’ll survive, traitor,” the old woman emphasized thest word.
“Listen, old hag,” Sly said. “You are making some assumptions. Like that I care about this as much as you do, and I <em>really</em> don’t.” He shook his head wildly. Oh yeah, his vision was <em>totally</em> blurring. How many concussions had he had. “But despite us being known for our stubbornness, I think your version is wed. We’re the Hardened Crown Sect. Not the Stubborn Ass sect.”
It sounded better in his head. But either way, he leaned forward, digging his toes into the ground. His head wasn’t for dumb things like thinking or <em>talking</em>. It was for smashing things with.
Kigal didn’t hesitate to charge towards him with just as much if not <em>more</em> ferocity. “You think you can win this? Even if you break through to Augmentation <em>right now</em> you’re still going to-”
“Shaddup, don’t care,” Sly said. She did have a point though. If he wasn’t in Augmentation, he wouldn’t be strong enough.
So he did that. Some people might need to have some sort of fancy enlightenment to grow stronger, and maybe for Sly getting hit in the head counted. But ultimately, he didn’t know nor care how it worked. With a surge of upper energy, he felt his power bloom. And then he connected headfirst with her stomach, his forehead knocking aside her heel. She scalped him pretty good in that exchange, but he hit her midsection with his maximum amount of power.
As an <em>experienced</em> Augmentation cultivator, she was able to distribute the force of his blow throughout her body… which is why she simply got knocked backwards. But perhaps a <em>bit</em> faster than she had anticipated. She shot straight backwards a few hundred kilometers, skirting out of the atmosphere and away from the.
Sly felt his jaw. Good, he still had his teeth. He’d need to grow back the rest of them still, but he could do it. And hopefully Kigal wouldn’t make it back in time for the battle to be over without her. His head hurt.