BANG!
"I will kill these bastards!" Throwing the woman who had just collided with him, the man's eyes shifted towards the masked figure standing on the ground, causing him to visibly grit his teeth as frustration welled inside him.
'?!'
Suddenly, the man's eyes caught sight of the masked figure pressing down on his son, not caring about Edward's current condition and ruthlessly stomping on his back.
"Stop—CLANK!—ughh?!" Despite the pain known to him, the man managed to stop the incoming blade, his eyes turning towards the amber eyes just a hand's distance away from him, using his back.
"Don't even think of it," Regina firmly stated, seeing the man's eyes fixed on the ground, but her hands kept pushing him.
"Ugh... Why are you so stubborn?!" The man couldn't comprehend how this woman kept coming back after being attacked so many times, causing a visible frown on his burning face.
The emerald flames shrouded his body, burning away the skin on its surface, producing intense pain. Yet, he kept pushing himself, like a candle burning away itself to achieve its result.
"Four minutes more," Regina stated, increasing her force, rapidly emptying her energy core while releasing all her strength.
She knew a small barrier had been formed around them since the beginning by Drishti to prevent this continent from tearing apart.
Unlike the previous collision with Valhale, both were conscious of their actions' effect on Titanora, but it was still enough to destroy the whole capital city even after that much control.
This time, however, no one was controlling themselves.
The man in front of her was burning away his life force to rush at her with a broken body, wasting more energy than it could utilize due to some wounds.
Regina had to keep her ground against someone like him, yet her own energy core had drained more than half.
Even after all this, there was no effect of their collision on the outside world due to a force field automatically appearing every time they collided.
It proved the strength, precision, and control of one executing it.
"Yo—SLICE." The man tried to speak out but was met with the sharp sound of a blade. His eyes furrowed, not understanding the source of the sound when Regina hadn't even moved.
SCRCH!
'Huh?' Levitating in the air, the man's body, now completely changed into energy, began to show a thin line forming across it. At a visible pace, his eyes fell into darkness.
"E...dwa...rd," the man glanced down, seeing the black-masked figure with a sword in hand, turning towards the blond man lying on the ground, his eyes trembling.
'I am sorry, Edward, my child,' the man thought. His body was far too weak to withstand the strike of an 8-star sword, especially in a state where he wasn't even aware that his enemy possessed such a weapon.
As he dissolved into oblivion, only a few words remained in his mind, belonging to the woman who bore his child:
:: I don't know about the head of the family whom I never met, but you are my husband and soon will be the father of our child. Please protect him till the end. ::
drip
SWISH
With the recollection of those words, even before a tear could slide down, the heat finally causing his body to break into pieces turned the liquid into vapor.
As the air finally caused the whole humanoid figure to disappear, the long battle was over.
'....' Regina glanced down at the young man standing amidst the rubble, looking down at the shocked one. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced towards Drishti levitating in the air with another woman in a white dress. Above all, the most noticeable thing was the smile on Drishti's face.
SWISH
"Commander, should we kill them?" A cloaked figure materialized in front of Regina, bowing while standing in midair, inquiring with his eyes downcast.
"Kill them, but be respectful. They are warriors," Regina firmly ordered, her eyes following the direction where all the dozen Abernathys were now turning into green light, their outer skin shredding and burning away, with the remains turning into dust.
This was the difference between a strong individual and a veteran.
He needed to leave this place and escape this man, at any cost.
[ Damn, He is even more shameless than me O_o ]
'....'
"Fine, you can leave this place, but you only have five minutes," Ryuk finally stated, his senses turning towards a direction where a woman levitated in the air, her chest rapidly rising and falling, evident of her body pushing itself beyond limits.
"Y-you will n-not kill me?" Edward's mind couldn't trust this man but felt satisfied for his stupidity in letting him leave alive from here.
For Edward: If you get the chance, crush your enemy completely to cut the bus even before it can threaten you.
But seeing how this man was letting him leave only pointed towards the naivety and stupidity of him, 'Act all arrogant you want this time, Ryuk, next time you will beg for death.'
"Only four minutes remaining," Ryuk calmly stated, mentally keeping tabs on Esme's deteriorating condition with each passing moment.
'Damn it,' Edward gritted his teeth, swiftly standing himself, only to see the huge land where several Abernathy members were vanishing into thin air, 'Useless fuckers!'
SWISH
Without looking at them, Edward rushed towards the battleship, his eyes fixed on the ship as it abruptly moved.
"Don't forget to take it back."
SHSS!
"UGHH!" Edward felt his whole body turning numb the moment, accompanied by that voice, felt a sharp bite on his back, where the clothes were torn in a footprint shape—caused by Regina.
CLNNKK!
TING!
Already arrived at the battleship, the door opened with him falling down on the ground, hands pulling his lying body as he crawled in, with visible rage in his eyes.
"Insects, pull me inside!" He shouted at the Savants who came forward to rescue him, causing them to pull him inside with the gates finally closing.
ZWOOOOO
It wasn't even more than two minutes, the whole humongous battleship's engines roared as its body slowly levitated in the air, leaving the ground.
"Regina, tell me the coordinates of the place where goblins live," Ryuk said, looking at the turning ship, its size still far vivid while turning towards the sky.
SWISH
Regina materialized beside him, calmly informing, "Latitude: 35°N to 55°N, Longitude: 90°E to 120°E."
'System, destroy the ship the moment it arrives in that place,' Ryuk commanded, his body turning transparent, evident of it being his afterimage.
.....
" Haah....Haa.." Breathing heavily, Esme tried to keep her eyes open, her heart thumping enough to crash down her chest, 'Not now...'
Her mind was in a haze, knowing that she still needed to push more. The ship hadn't left yet, if not in a fight, then she needed to accomplish the task she was assigned.
"....I am s..orry," her lips murmured with a saddened voice, finally feeling her heart not able to keep up producing enough energy, her eyes finally succumbing to darkness.
SWISH
A figure arrived beneath her with open arms, letting her falling body, like a wingless bird, fall into his embrace.
[ Appearing like a white fairy falling into the clutches of a demon ]
'....' Ignoring the words of the system, Ryuk turned his gaze towards the woman in his embrace, also feeling slightly tired himself, with a smile saying, "You did great, Esme."