Chapter 40 - Reason to Fight [2]
—Zing!!!
Like a thunderous hailstorm, countless arrows of death rained down from the sky, leaving me no time to breathe, even for a moment.
—Voom!!!
Thanks to my <Heightened Senses>, I was able to react in time, observing, studying, deducting, and calculating where to go while conserving resources.
The spikes falling from above were deflected by angling my Ichor barrier just right.
The ominous liquid that splattered toward me was blocked by a thick sheet, thin enough to keep it out.
Arrows that were too powerful to deflect were neutralized with a wall that's stronger than before to avoid exhausting my Ichor supply.
The abilities I had acquired throughout this journey worked together in great synergy, as if everything had been built up to this moment.
The bullets I created helped me conserve both mana and time.
The Ichor was drawing on a different energy source that emanated from within me.
And <Heightened Senses> processed everything, using most of my mana but not all of it, making it perfect for someone like me who has barely any mana.
I was a walking efficiency tank, utilizing everything at my disposal to make things work.
Yet, despite my advantages, I was still human.
—BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Shoot, dodge, run, repeat—this cycle had been ongoing for so long that I was nearing my limit. My right hand felt like it was going to be ripped apart if I used Libera just a few more times.
My mana was also dwindling due to the number of times I had to create walls to stop the projectiles from hitting me.
“Pant…! This… this isn’t good…” I took several deep breaths.
After waiting for Camila, I had only managed to take down 14 Eldians, including the sirens, with this method.
“I should have worked on the stability of the gun…” I regretted not addressing one of its significant flaws, vowing to fix it as soon as Camila and I got out of here.
“Come on, hurry up, will you… Camellia!” I wiped the blood off my nose—a sign that my mana was running low.
“○○□■■○●□♤○●!!!” Unlike me, the Eldians who were relentlessly chasing me were still full of energy.
They had eventually figured out how this game of tag worked, splitting into groups to prevent me from escaping.
“Dammit, if that's how you want to play it, then so be it!” I gripped both of my guns tightly.
From this point on, it would be a battle of endurance against time, waiting for the right moment.
—Rubble Rubble…
“Come on, where is it, where is it…!” Camila searched inside a contraption that powered the teleportation circle, their only hope of escaping this place.
Arcadia’s safe house. The control room.
Although blocked by the Pylon’s core, the teleportation circle was still somehow operable.
The challenge was that casting the teleportation spell would take time, making it nearly impossible to escape unless there was a diversion to prevent Eldians from being alerted.
To activate the magic circle, every Arcadia student was given a high-grade teleportation rune, which could be further modified with coordinates when they stood on the teleportation circle.
This would lead them to an emergency refugee camp far outside the city, a safe distance from this place.
“Found it…!” Camila exclaimed, pulling something out of the cabinet while her hands trembled.
In a state of despair, this was the first time she felt such relief.
—Tinkle...
As Camila searched for the rune, a note fell to the floor.
“Big Sis…?” Camila picked up the note and quickly recognized the handwriting.
—Please come back safely, we're all waiting for you.
The last part of the note was somewhat messy, but they had taken the time to keep the rest neat and tidy.
It was clear who had written it just from the pristine handwriting.
These runes had been supplied by her older sister, Bellerose, the student council president of Arcadia.
Bellerose was a kind, charming sister who excelled in every aspect—the ideal candidate to lead Historia.
As memories of her childhood flashed before her eyes, Camila gently slid her finger over the rune.
They were so happy back then.
When she meets them again, will they still be the identical siblings they were in the past? Will she still be welcomed after changing so drastically?
Or perhaps… are they…
“B-Blurgh…!” Camila felt nauseous at the thought of being the only one left alive.
If she were to escape only to find out that no one is waiting for her... then it's better to end it all here—
—BLAM!
As if she needed to snap out of it, she punched a wall, breaking it in the process.
Being consumed by despair would only drag her down into the abyss.
For once... she wanted to lean towards hope and leave despair behind.
"Ugh..." Camila's fists began to bleed; she had unknowingly put too much strength into her punch.
“Stupid, stupid!” She winced and brushed her right hand, feeling the pain she inflicted on herself.
Camila felt an array of emotions; she felt silly, but at the same time, she was ecstatic.
“Ha, hahaha…! What am I even doing?” She laughed, and all the pressure she felt disappeared in an instant.
It would be disrespectful to fall into despair after everything she had been through.
Aria Cyth, the person who held her hand, radiated unwavering confidence.
Even if Aria was a slob, a cheeky brat, and always full of herself, what Camila truly admired was the trust Aria placed in her.
In return, Aria had asked her to place her trust in her as well, which Camila willingly accepted,
And a smile bloomed on her face, as if she intended to keep that trust close to her heart.
"Hehe." As she giggled to herself, Camila ran toward the exit without looking back. It was time for her to focus on the present rather than dwell on the past.
Because, unlike back then, she is no longer alone.
—BOOM!
In a literal sense.
“…Tch, of course it wasn’t going to be this easy.” Camila clicked her tongue.
—Stretch...!
Without delay, she equipped a pair of gauntlets made of a mysterious golden metal that Aria had crafted for her.
She had been content with the gauntlets she bought for herself, but after accepting Aria's modifications, they were far more comfortable and suited to her liking.
The more she witnessed Aria's abilities up close, the more incredible they seemed. It felt as though she possessed powers that should only belong to a god.
“○○□□♤○●…” An Eldia squirmed on the ground, attempting to regain its footing.
The Eldians had likely fallen from another floor, attracted by the noise from below.
“One… two… there are only two of you, huh?” Camila smiled, not fully realizing how Aria's attitude was beginning to affect her.
The Eldians varied greatly in size and appearance.
One was a crab-like creature with a snake's tail. Its structure was reminiscent of a scorpion but more akin to a griffin from myths.
This malformed, griffin-like creature had claws sharp enough that Camila was certain a hit would mean instant death.
The second creature was a giant eye with three pairs of black, scaly, feathered wings.
Unlike the first Eldian being, which was at least somewhat comprehensible, this one was bizarre in every sense.
Just one Eldian was enough to spell trouble for her, but having to face both of them...
She needed to grow stronger, and she needed to do it now.
—Clank Clank!!!
Against overwhelming odds, Camila showed no fear as she fiddled with her gauntlets.
Aria had told her that these gauntlets were made of a strong material; just the thought of what she could do with them was exhilarating.
For the longest time, Camila wasn’t fond of using magic.
People pressured her to choose <Telekinesis>, believing it was her best aptitude when she selected a Magic Art to use for life.
So she did, leaving her stuck with a Magic Art that she found inherently dull.
It was all about practice and learning how to fight from a distance with her abilities.
But… she didn’t want any of this.
If a mage were to be caught in close combat, they could be killed. If they ran out of mana, they would also face death.
Each virtue requires patience, something she wasn’t fond of, even if she had to acknowledge it.
What she truly desired was something different—a way to create the perfect fighting style...
One day, an idea struck her.
What if she approached magic as a close-range fighter, like an assassin? Perhaps even as a berserker, as ridiculous as that sounded?
She had come to this realization after watching her younger sister, Erina, play a certain game—how ferocious and free the characters were as they fought.
It was a fighting style that unleashed chaos, unbound and wild, like a beast breaking free.
If she decided to pursue this path, her reputation would plummet; even her father wouldn't allow such crude methods of fighting.
They called it a matter of preserving appearances.
But what about now? Would the same rule still apply?
In this broken world, there was no one left to judge her.
It had reverted to a primal state in which the strong ruled over the weak.
Living in such a world, she was a monster unable to show her true power.
Now that her life had changed, she had been given freedom—the freedom her older brother had always wanted for her.
In the far future, her name would be known as Camellia Historia,
The Crimson Beast.
—DING! BOOM!
She applied both mana-strengthening and <Telekinesis> to her legs, granting her explosive speed.
To exert far greater power than she possessed, she compressed her ability to manipulate objects, or in a literal sense, compressed mana to make it unleash devastating force.
Hence, her last trump card involved manipulating the atmosphere around her, exerting an extremely strong gravitational force that sent everything flying away.
It bordered on escaping the simple definition of <Telekinesis>, transforming into something more unique.
‘Incredible…’ she thought, surprised by her own abilities.
With her collar undone, she felt more unrestrained than ever, now able to use much more mana.
From this moment on, Camila was the strongest she had ever been—a new peak.
"DIE!" Camila swung her fist at the Eldia with fierce determination.
—BOOM!!!
Her strike was so powerful that she felt the shockwave from her own attack.
However, the Eldia was still superior in both power and speed, reacting in time to stop her strike with one of its claws.
—Crack…!
Yet, it wasn’t in vain; she managed to shatter its claw, breaking through its outer shell.
“○○●○□□♤!!!” Seeing her as a threat, the Eldia, which sported numerous bone wings, lunged at her with terrifying speed.
“HAAAH!!” Before the Eldia could crush her under its weight, she jumped to the ceiling, clinging to it and using it for cover.
Her target wasn’t the eyeball pursuing her, but the grotesque griffin she had initially aimed for.
The amount of mana she had left was running out as she focused on keeping the sirens immobilized.
Considering there were eight of them back then, she had only 25% of her mana remaining, given their resilience.
To conserve mana, she activated mana strengthening instantaneously only when she needed to move her muscles.
Little did she know that this technique was extraordinarily difficult to master, requiring years of practice and talent.
Yet, by being in a life-or-death situation, she managed to learn it in mere seconds.
“TAKE THIS!” Camila propelled herself forward towards the Eldia like a rocket, anticipating that they would attempt to block her advances with their claw-like arms.
—Crack!
"○○■○●□○●!!!" She executed her plan flawlessly, breaking the claw entirely.
In that moment, she was like a bullet, moving at the speed of sound and using everything she had to deliver a punishing blow.
Though she succeeded in damaging the claw, the Eldian wasted no time and lunged forward, extending its mouth wide in an attempt to swallow her whole.
The creature barely resembled a crab anymore; it looked more like an angler fish with a massive mouth spanning half its body.
“♤□○□○□□♤!!!” Meanwhile, the flying eyeball, which she had ignored twice already, shot feathers from its wings.
Both sides surrounded her, leaving her with two dreadful options: be decapitated or be pierced by countless holes in her body.
It was a predicament from which no one could escape—except for Camila.
“—I got you.” Camila gripped the Eldia's jaws.
—Clench!!!
And with the help of <Telekinesis> alongside her brute strength, she forced the Eldia's mouth open, lifted it without much effort, and used it as a shield against the incoming barrage of feathers.
—TING TING TING TING TING!!!
“●○□□○□□♤!!!” The Eldia screeched in pain as it was forced to hold its jaw apart, only to be pierced by sharp feathers from behind.
However, all this effort wasn’t enough to kill the Eldia; she needed to locate its core and destroy it to end the battle once and for all.
What she required was a finishing blow—something like Aria's weapon, Libera.
“My hands…” Camila looked at her trembling hands, overwhelmed by the effort it took to hold them together against the creature's strength.
Thanks to Aria's gauntlets, she could withstand the Eldia's teeth, but she had reached her limit.
—Cling!
As the three of them paused to catch their breath amid the relentless clash, the Eldians exchanged curious glances at Camila.
They observed her with caution after sustaining injuries from the fight.
"You two go first," she taunted, her eyes fixed on the critically injured Eldia.
While the malformed griffin's back was raked with thorns and it lost one of its claws, it still posed a significant threat.
Camila knew that if she were too slow, the Eldia would regenerate its limbs, leaving her in a difficult position if the battle turned into a test of endurance.
"No matter how I look at it, I'm at a disadvantage," she thought, clenching her fists tighter as she realized the gravity of her situation.
Finished with a small break, Camila bent down like a cheetah preparing to sprint. The ground beneath her cracked in response, and with a deafening sound, she launched herself forward.
If she wants to win this fight, then…
—Crack...! BOOM!!!
"I have to finish this quickly!" she exclaimed, maneuvering through the control room.
She utilized her kinetic bursts in rapid succession, darting toward the Eldians while evading their attacks.
In response to her reckless strategy, the two Eldians acted swiftly.
One opened its gaping mouth and unleashed toxins that melted everything in its path. The other followed up with a barrage of spikes launched from its feathers.
—BANG BANG VOOM VOOM!!!
Camila dodged the attacks and used her gauntlets to block incoming projectiles.
She took cover and swiftly maneuvered, utilizing her surroundings to her advantage.
Over and over again, she executed her hit-and-run tactics. The Eldians had already regenerated their wounds, and their supply of weapons was endless due to their incredible regenerative abilities.
But Camila was nearing her limit—no, she had already reached it.
It was only a matter of time before she would collapse and die here.
—Drip...!
Blood dripped from her forehead after a feather grazed her, and her hands felt numb, as if they had been severed.
Her head was hazy as desperation clawed at her mind, spiralling down into madness.
‘Is this how I'll die?' She asked herself.
It took her some time to realize that her life was flashing before her eyes.
‘Ah… how envious…’ She remembered the past, the times when she used to be so happy... and how much of a nuisance she was back then.
Her ignorant, spoiled behaviour—she felt jealous of how carefree she was, how oblivious she was to the harshness of the world.
‘If she were me right now, maybe she would have accepted this bitter end,’ Camila pondered.
But what about now, after everything she had been through?
For what reason does she fight for all this time?
That's right... in a world that has gone into ruin...
—Crack…!
"Khgh…!" In the nick of time, Camellia used the cluttered room to her advantage, coughing up blood from overexerting her mana.
I will burn brighter, radiant enough to become a shooting star.
"Checkmate… cough…!" Using up all her strength, she placed her gauntlets on the ground while remaining dangerously close to the Eldians.
It was a well-timed, risky plan. The Eldians were strangely attached, and she decided to exploit that.
Those who loved and cherished me would see how bright I shone.
"HaaaAAAHHH!" Camilla slammed her fist onto the ground, releasing an intense burst of mana, reminiscent of her earlier fight with Aria.
Those who hated me would witness my newfound resolve—not out of malice, but out of conviction.
—BOOOM!!!
The floor shattered, and Camilla, along with the two Eldians, fell from the safe house.
"○■○□○■!!!" The Eldian with wings was unharmed and now took flight after Camilla, as there was more space to maneuver.
But that was her intention; she didn’t want to kill the grotesque griffin this time but rather the one with the wings.
I shall burn brighter—brilliant enough to erase all despair from my heart.
—BOOM!
"HAHAHA!!!" Using the last bit of her mana, she stabilized a platform with <Telekinesis> and lifted a giant pillar with a sharp edge, ultimately impaling the flying Eldian by outpacing it.
—SHIKK!!
"□○■○○■…" In an instant, the Eldian disintegrated into ashes, leaving only one behind as they all fell to the ground.
"It's… not over yet…!" Camilla clenched her teeth, holding onto the pillar with all her might.
Her eyes and muscles screamed in pain, blood seeping from her body as she used her lifeforce as a substitute.
As she flipped around, slowing her fall, then accelerating toward the remaining Eldian...
She resolved to use her entire body as a last resort to pierce through the last Eldian.
Here, I hold on to the hope I desired, to show that, despite everything...
“EAT THIS!!!” Camilla used mana to strengthen her entire body as a final effort to strike the remaining Eldian.
She fell like a comet from the sky, destroying everything that stood in her way...
And pierced the Eldia, destroying its core.
—SHIK...!
I will never forget how you saved my life, my most precious person.
As her consciousness faded, she spotted a small figure in the distance.
The figure was tiny and cute, and she had enjoyed their companionship throughout the journey.
That same person had eyes that resembled her brother's, which could be a coincidence.
But if they were related in some way... then one day, she would tell her who she truly was.
“Haha... I can’t believe I’m relying on a little one like you,” she scoffed, closing her eyes and trusting that the girl would catch her.
This was what she had persevered for, what she had fought for.
It was to find a reason to live after all this time.
Now, it was finally time for her to rest.
