PHASE 75 - THE BEST SWORD IS THE SWORD THAT DOESN'T EXIST

I can feel the warmth of Tiara’s heart in this sword. Her affectionate smile, and her love from all the seven million timelines…

This is the materialization of the soul of the celestial maiden, the

As soon as I raised the glowing sword, silver wind swirled around its blade. The golden light faded, and I could no longer see the long sharp edge. Not even the hilt is visible, but I can feel its power. I can certainly touch and wield it.

“This is…”

I put the invisible sword in front of me. Even though I can’t see it, I can roughly estimate the length of the blade because of the swirling winds. It’s about five inches longer than a traditional katana.

I swung it left and right, and it can cut through the air with no problems at all. This sword that has no form and it is as light as a feather, but I can feel that the blade is as wide as a regular broadsword.

I heard the Outsider laugh out loud.

“Hahaha! Nonsense! This is utter nonsense! does not exist in all of the timelines in this universe, and yet you managed to pull out one! First, you willed yourself into existence against a timeframe deletion blaster… and now, you’re holding a sword that is a crystallization of love of the Brightmore Witch! You never fail to amaze me, Alaric Eisenhower!”

I looked at Tiara, who had her eyes closed while kneeling on the ground. She’s on a white magical circle, and silver balls of light are revolving around her unconscious body.

Meanwhile, the Celestial Time Fox was trembling with fear. With her instinct, she proceeded to run away from me, muttering telepathically.

“This can’t be! That… That is an anti-omnipotent weapon!”

Just when the gigantic fox reached her 200-meter mark, I swiped the unseeable sword in her direction. The silver wind followed, and it shackled the monster’s hands and tails, preventing her from further escaping!

“D-Damn you, Alaric Eisenhower!” The silver fox cried as she tried to struggle. But she cannot break free from the power of the mysterious sword!

I patted Tiara’s forehead softly as I murmured “I’ll be back for you.”

And then I turned back to the restrained fox, and chased her with my most powerful spell!

“!!!”

Everything became black at the moment, and countless moon streaks were formed. When the lights returned, I have already teleported in front of the Celestial Time Fox. My invisible sword unleashed 99 slashes in just a split-second! 

There are about a hundred slice wounds on the Eidolon. Tails, legs, paws, abdomen, neck, and face. I have severed twenty ligaments and thirty-three major veins. All of its body parts are heavily wounded, and is oozing dark blood! I even managed to strike one of her eyes out!

"Krah!"

Because of the swift and powerful attack, the Celestial Time Fox fell down for the first time. My last attack drained its energy that resulted in her weakening. And those wounds are no longer healing themselves.

Looks like the fox is no longer bragging about her “omnipotence.” Since I got this sword, I was now able to use non-Void Spells against this monster. Is this formless sword really an omnipotent slayer?

“Finish her!” The Outsider shouted.

I raised the invisible sword, aiming to bash this weapon to cut the Eidolon’s skull in half.

But then… the silver wind faded, and I can no longer feel that I’m holding something.

It seems like the sword has completely blinked out of existence…

“Hahaha!” The still helpless Celestial Time Fox laughed. “There’s still hatred in your heart! There’s no way you can wield the purest sword for more than thirty seconds!”

This fox can babble and be proud of herself, but still, she can’t get out of this situation. Even if the sword was gone, her wounds remained, unable to regenerate, rendering her paralyzed.

“Shut up!” I said with a mix of annoyance on my tone.

I pulled my watch as I materialized my katana, and then made a downward hack, planning to cut the fox away from her snout! But I didn’t hit anything, as if my blade passed through. It seems that I hit a cloud.

 "Darn!"

I nearly forgot that only Void Spells can hurt this monster. So I positioned my katana beside my chest, ready to cast , but then a soft hand covered my wrist.

“Rikkun…” It was Tiara. She's shaking her head. “Let me handle this… Please…”

She’s smiling, and staring at my eyes with pure kindness. I lowered my sword with respect to Tiara’s request. Whatever she had on her mind, I won’t oppose.

Tiara went in front of the remaining right eye of the paralyzed giant fox. She slowly reached out her hand and gently caressed the Eidolon’s fur.

“What-” The Celestial Time Fox was truly astounded by the chaste sympathy of the shrine maiden.

“Oh Celestial Time Fox who never knew love… I know what your heart truly believes… Those feelings...”

“Tiara…” The Eidolon muttered. “Why… Why are you doing this? I am an Eidolon… I am a demon… I have made you and your ascendants suffer because of my curse… and yet you…”

Tiara immediately sticks her ears on the silver fur as she closes her eyes and shared the intimate feeling of a hug. Golden particles of light danced around them as both of their bodies sparkled.

Slowly, the Celestial Time Fox’s wounds faded. But I don’t feel that I should be wary about that. I no longer feel any evil intent in the Eidolon’s aura.

I know Tiara will win this fight without having anybody hurt again.

“You never felt in love, not even once…” Tiara smiled as she continued to caress the fluffy fur. “That’s why I’m here. Please close your eyes, Miss Celestial Fox. And hear the warmth of my beating heart. Indulge yourself in the ocean of innocence and kindness and free yourself from the curse of hatred...”

The giant silver fox slowly closed its red eyes, and felt the heavy hard yet fast pumps on the pure maiden’s chest. As the Eidolon listens to the music of Tiara’s heart, her body started to fade.

“Miss Celestial Time Fox… I know that you have suffered more eternities than me and my predecessors… So now, I will free you from your seal…” Tiara whispered like a caring mother. “It’s time for you to go…”

“Tiara Hikari… You really are the purest maiden of them all…” The Celestial Fox said in a soft voice. “To think that you defeated me with love alone… It makes me feel glad that I have met you…”

Little by little, the Eidolon’s body started to crumble. The dust particles glowed and mixed with the wind. As this happens, Tiara started to hum a sad song with her soothing voice.

“Thank you… Tiara…” The Eidolon muttered.

The red skies suddenly faded, and the next thing we know is that we’re on a vast plain a few hundred meters outside the Brightmore town. It’s dawn-to-morning already, and the sun is finally rising up. The sunlight gave brightness to our hopeful faces.

Tiara reached out for the glowing dots of light and then held her chest as she cried with tears of joy and love. She knelt down on the ground and watched the golden particles fly into the cosmos.

“Farewell, oh Celestial Time Fox… You have been freed from your own curse.”

<>

I lent out my hand to Tiara, which she immediately took as I helped her stand. We both gave a bright smile at each other, and we chuckled as if we’re in perfect sync.

Now I know how much she loves me. I can tell just by having a hand-to-hand contact with her. That sparking sensation makes my heart aflutter.

“Thanks for saving me, Rikkun~” She cried.

“You did your best and never gave up on saving me, so it’s only natural for me to do the same…” I looked away and scratched the back of my head.

“E-Eh?” Tiara tilted her head. After a second, her whole face went red. “H-How did y-you know!? D-D-Did you peek at my m-m-memories!?”

“Yep~”

“...Auuuu….” Tiara puffed her strawberry cheeks. She’s so cute that I wanted to tease her!

I immediately gave her a head pat and asked a peculiar question. “By the way, how do your lips feel?”

“E….Eeeeeeeeeeh!?”

Tiara touched her red lips with the tip of her fingers. And then her jaws hanged, her eyes widened, and her ears unleashed some steam due to embarrassment. It was her first romantic kiss in all the timelines, so that made her a lot more flustered.

I made a soft chuckled and patted my pup once again. “Ahahaha! It’s just a joke!”

“Uguuuu… Rikkun, you’re such a bully…” Tiara bowed and lowered her defenses. She completely surrendered to the best head pat in the world.

Oh, I almost forgot. I have to give my thanks to the Outsider for helping me out once again.

But when I turned around, he is no longer there.

Instead, our van is already here. Macho Steel and even the whole Idol Club is with him! They all cheered and waved good morning at us.

“Tiara! Alaric! Let’s go now!”

“E-Everyone…” Tiara gave out tears as she saw her fellow Idols call out her name.

Suddenly, Tiara held my hand tightly and then pushed her face to me. “Let’s go, Rikkun!”

“Yeah!” I answered.

Holding hand-in-hand on the dawn of a beautiful sunrise, our faces were filled with hope and love as we ran towards the people who are waiting for us.