PHASE 99 - FIGHT BETWEEN LOVERS

“Tiara… don’t do this… please.” The love of my life begged.

“I’m sorry, Rikkun. I have to.” I said with a straight face. “You already know me. I don’t change my mind. So just let me sing…”

I clasped my hand once again and started to sing. My voice echoed around the Yami dimension telepathically, and I can hear weak tremors on this earth.

“I won’t let you!” Rikkun cried as he made his first move. Rikkun dashed forward with blinding speed.

I already know that he will do everything to prevent me from singing the so I immediately made a step back and charged my right fists with golden prana!

“!!!” I unleashed the force I charged within a short amount of time. A golden dragon with the size of a compact car burst forward and clashed with Rikkun. Rikkun blocked by stepping his brakes and raising his arms.

The golden dragon blasted upon impact. There was an explosion, and when the smoke faded, Rikkun revealed himself, fully unfazed. His armor on his right arm suffered a tiny scratch, which means my attacks work on his Aether Armor.

Only somebody who is connected to the Frozen Soul can hurt and I am a perfect match for it.

But… This form won’t do. I will not be able to defeat my love if I stay on my current power level. So I backflipped three times to gain some distance in case things went south. With a short amount of time, I gathered enough divine energy towards my heart to activate my upgraded form: the .

I am equipped with the same eastern goddess robe. The only thing different now that I’m a Cursed Guardian is that the flames on the tips of my dress are now black instead of golden orange. I also had all of my ten shapeshifting wings colored black that is as dark as the night skies. I do look like a fallen angel in this state.

“I’m sorry if I have to do this, Tiara!” Rikkun cried. “!!!”

Threatened, Rikkun decided to be a little bit serious. He spread out his right arm, pointing to me, and then black ooze spawned from the gaps of his fingers. The black ooze quickly shaped itself into tentacles that have hellish demonic hands.

“!!!” I cried as I unleashed tens of thousands of punches, leaving afterimages at the same time. With my swift and furious punches, I shattered down the tentacle-hands all at once, leaving smoke as residue on my fists.

“!!!” Rikkun’s hands created an astral hammer buffed with electricity. His hammer also has this kind of wings that is similar to a dove. As Rikkun crouched, he muttered another spell to execute a swift attack! “!!!”

Darkness dominated the area, and all I saw was a silver streak swiftly going towards me. Using my divine instinct, I skipped and waltzed away from the silver streak’s way. I heard a loud crash, signaling that Rikkun has hit something but not me. When the light came back, I saw my love just an inch away from me, his hammer stuck on the ground. There is now a huge crater on our battlefield.

That was close! series spells are all so quick, and it is built to counter me who always focuses on power and not speed!

But...

Rikkun missed his attack… because he chose it to be that way.

<>

Seeing this swift hammer attack made me recall some of my memories with the man I love. Back when I was training him the basic , he asked me why.

(“Hey, Tiara… Why are you teaching me the secret sword spell of the Kozukata Shrine?”)

(“I… I want you to use it against me…”)

(“Wha-Why!?”)

(“You said that I’ll become a Cursed Guardian and torment you… so… I want you to kill me before that happens…”)

<>

“Stupid pup… I will not kill you…” Rikkun cried as if he just saw my flashback. “...I’ll bring you back to me!”

Rikkun made another attack as he twisted his body, preparing for a full-force smash towards me. Aiming for my head, he swiftly turned around with his hammer.

In the nick of time, I was able to bend my body and evade his hammer attack. As I arched my body, I saw my own tears flying. That’s strange. I don’t remember crying at this battle, but it seems that my eyes are wet.

I flew back a few meters and touched the ground. I wiped the tears away from my face. It seems that my emotions are going haywire at this point, as I don’t know my own feelings either. My heart is like a soda can that is bubbling inside, ready to explode.

“!!!” I pointed my hands at the platinum knight, and ten blue blasters surged towards him.

“!!!” Rikkun repeated the same gesture, but instead of counterattacking, he focused on creating an energy shield.

The blue blaster splashed around when it clashed with the divine barrier that Rikkun has created. As I thought, multiplying my spell’s strength by tenfold is not enough to pierce his barrier. I need to do better if I need to beat Rikkun!

Suddenly, the tension dropped. He removed the shield he made in the last second duration of the blaster, letting his body get hit by my . A part of his shoulder armor was burnt, but it is not enough to make a considerable damage.

“Tiara, let’s stop this…” Rikkun said as he dematerialized his lightning hammer.

“No. I’m sorry, Rikkun. With determination, I refuse to give up!”

Black rays shattered the skies and engulfed my body. Evil divine prana sunk unto every inch of my existence, making me able to awaken my ultimate power as the vessel of countless God Fragments. With the Curse of Aeternos inside me, I was able to awaken my once again.

A black lotus ornament spawned at the back of my hair, and my ten black tails are now coated with rainbow aura. This otherworldly divine power I have is able to channel all the curse inside my body, and I was able to use the Evil God Cores stored in me at once.

“You really are a stubborn puppy, you know that!?”

Rikkun clicked his tongue before getting serious once again. He immediately materialized his mechanical liger-like helmet to cover his head. He must be wary now that I’m going with all my might. He’s not even sure in himself that he’s going to survive this fight.

“!!!” I blasted forward, teleporting towards Rikkun in an instant. When I’m already at his arm’s length, I charged my right fist with dark void energy that shaped my hand into a gigantic dragon’s claw! “!!!”

An explosion was made, and rocks flew around the area. Rikkun was barely hit with that attack, but the shockwave was able to push him back. A large canal blasted into existence, and I saw Rikkun at the end of it.

I made actual progress during my last assault. I managed to chip out the armor protecting his left arm. is nothing but an ordinary armor at this point as I can now remove it with ease.

“!!!” Rikkun unleashed giant snowflake boomerangs from each of his hands. While it flew in midair, Rikkun made another absurd thing that strengthened his attack! “!!!”

The two ripped the timeline and multiplied into hundreds. It all surrounded me and each of those shurikens unleashed ice needles that are aimed at my position!

“!!!” I pumped my fists, and an astral spiked shell protected me from the ice needles. It took about ten seconds until the dry out of projectiles and vanished into thin air.

“Damn…Tiara…” Rikkun muttered.

Our exchanges of spells are well-matched. Every time he attacks, I counter it. Every time I attack, he counters it. This will be a long fight and we seriously don’t know who will win.

If brute force won’t work, then I have to break his spirit first. I have to make an emotional and mental attack so that his willpower and moral will be lowered, making him weak enough to defeat.

“Hey, Rikkun. Don’t you remember what I told you two years ago? During that previous timeline when you accused me of being a tormentor and making you live for the rest of your life as a severed head?”

“Just stop this, Tiara. Please.” Rikkun begged once again, not paying any attention to my speech.

I have no choice. I have to make him remember what I said during that time. I held my heart and made a soft sigh, and then echoed the wishes inside my heart back in that day.

“...Rikkun… If my fate is to become hurt, I would be happy to embrace it. I don’t have any regrets in this life. My heart is already full of colorful memories with you, so… If I happen to become the enemy… Please don’t hesitate to kill me.”