The metallic butterfly hairpin floated in the air, glowing brightly with a warm blue light. Cassius and Suyin stared with confusion, and the former believed it was the latter's doing. Thus, the calamity raised a fist to strike it away, and it pulsed with mana.
"No matter what tricks you have, everything breaks before me," said Cassius as he raised his fist and slammed it into the hairpin. A resounding impact occurred, but the blue light was unbreakable, and the fist stopped a few inches from the hairpin. "This is…?"
Cassius was shocked beyond words as this ordinary object could withstand his entire attack. It was insulting that an object with so little mana could render him helpless, and rage soon took over. He turned toward Suyin with a scowl.
"What trickery is this, human?!"
Suyin had no answer, and she stared at her hairpin with confusion. It was a keepsake from her mother, which she had brought with her across the Great Blood Ocean. Babo was the one to give her this hairpin after a long time of keeping it.
"If this is a mere distraction, then it won't work," Cassius said after realizing that the hairpin was floating there without attacking him. Thus, he resumed extracting the sin from Arthur's body.
"No, stop!" shouted Suyin with despair as she saw him try to strike Arthur again. But, this time, a change occurred. The hairpin buzzed again before it flew toward her, stabbing her in the heart. Her shock was immense as she looked down at the long hairpin piercing her chest. Even Cassius turned around with confusion, wondering what the hell was happening. "Wh…y?" asked Suyin.
"Because you are ready now," a voice in her mind answered. After that, Suyin fell to the ground, lifeless. Blood trickled down from the hairpin as Cassius stared at her with disinterest.
"In the end, she chose to kill herself?" said Cassius with a bored expression. "I expected more from the woman that this man protected, but it turns out she's just an ant too. So, again, I am the last one standing."
Cassius stared around the valley, which had turned into a wasteland. The mountains formed an arch over it, shielding half of it from the sun. In his hand was the anomaly, and he was about to end it.
"The Sin of Wrath needs to leave this body, and this is key," said Cassius as he ripped the shirt off Arthur's body, revealing the black circle that formed the center of lightning. "This has been a disappointing fight, Arthur Silvera."
The Sin of Pride drew a circle with his fingers to command the sin out of this human body. Then, the white ring rested on his palm before he swung it at the creator's abdomen.
His arm swung through the air, but nothing struck Arthur Silvera. Cassius frowned before his eyes shifted toward his arm to find it was gone. Then, after a few seconds, something fell on the ground far away.
Cassius stared at his arm with confusion, which had been severed out of his body. Then, he looked around to find out who did, but no one was there. What was left of his arm couldn't bleed because he had no blood, to begin with.
"Show yourself!" shouted Cassius before realizing that the woman from earlier was gone. Then, a droplet of blood fell on his shoulder, compelling him to raise his head.
Perception was the deadly flaw of the Sin of Pride, who couldn't see past himself. Thus, he failed to sense that someone else had arrived, and she looked similar to the woman from earlier.
Suyin stared down at the calamity, holding onto Arthur with his remaining arm. Her eyes were glowing blue while two ethereal wings stretched from her back. Each wingspan was at least four meters, making her body look small in comparison. As for the wound from earlier, a flower bloomed in its place.
"Is this your real power?!" shouted Cassius with a scowl, but the woman didn't answer. Instead, she raised the long sword in her hand, which looked like a giant needle.
"I remember now," said Suyin as her eyes studied the unusual sword. "This is the hairpin my mother gave me, which her mother gave her. I have always been someone else."
Cassius stared at the woman with rage as she ignored him. However, there was something amiss. This woman was different from before, but she still lacked mana! Even her ethereal wings were created from blue energy.
"Are you a spirit contractor?" asked Cassius as his arm flew again toward him. His arm attached itself to his body before the two started to merge. "You might be fast, but can you handle the lack of air!"
Cassius wanted to rob her of the air around her, but the woman disappeared. She reappeared in front of him, moving with a relaxed pace. Even while watching her raise her unusual sword and slash through his other arm, Cassius could not move.
Then, the arm that was holding Arthur Silvera was slashed apart, and the man fell. Suyin hugged him in time before flying away and placing him on the ground. After a few seconds, Cassius could move again.
Pain shot through his arm, even though no blood came out. His other arm fell as well after he failed to attach it. As he fell to his knees with two severed arms, Cassius felt humiliated and enraged.
"What is going on? Who are you, exactly?" asked Cassius with fear as he stared at the blue energy leaking from his arms. He couldn't reattach them because of this, which confused him.
"Your sin is not pride, Eternal Ruler Cassius," said Suyin as she placed Arthur on the ground. "Your sin is vanity. Even facing death, you fail to recognize it."
"Even facing death, you fail to recognize it?" muttered Cassius as if he hallucinated. He gulped down and stared at Suyin again, looking at her with a newfound light. "Those words, I heard them before. However, it shouldn't be possible."
"What is not possible, mortal?" Suyin smiled before floating closer toward him. Cassius stood up and took a step back.
"An astral being shouldn't be capable of entering this realm!" said Cassius with fear. "Even when this world was whole, you couldn't descend to it!"
"Times have changed, Sin of Pride," said Suyin with a smile as she raised her thin sword. "Stand there, and let death seize what it desires."
"Killing me would break the oath you took!" said Cassius as he stared at his arms. "Even directly attacking a human is going against your oath!"
"You are no human, Cassius," said Suyin as she flew toward him and stabbed his chest. "You became an astral being, too, remember?"
"I am still…!" shouted Cassius, but the strike sent him flying. He crashed into the mountain he controlled earlier before coming out from the other side. The almighty Eternal Ruler rolled on the ground, swallowing dirt and grass before he stopped.
Standing far away was Suyin, who still had her sword raised. Then, she lowered it down before taking a deep breath as sweat rolled down her face. The flower on her chest had six petals, but three had fallen already.
"I have three more attacks," said Suyin as she stared at her chest with slight worry and then back at the calamity. "I must take Arthur out of here before that happens."
"Times have changed indeed!" roared Cassius before he flew toward the sky. There was a hole in his chest that couldn't close, but he seemed fine. The mountain rose with him, morphing into a humanoid giant. "I have spent the last thousand years training, Queen of Souls!"
Cassius had no arms, and his chest was pierced, but he seemed fine. Instead of falling, he formed a giant from the terrain around them. In a few seconds, the giant was completed and started striking at the two of them.
"Let's see how you can win against a soulless giant, then!" shouted Cassius before the giant raised its fist. Then, it punched toward Suyin and Arthur, still on the ground.
Suyin stared at the giant with a frown before raising her sword again. Blue energy gathered on her sword as another petal flew from the flower toward the blade. Then, it dissolved.
"Wanderer souls of the afterworld, heed my call," whispered Suyin into her sword. "Gather before your queen, and use your strength in my name, Morana."
The petal dissolved into the sword, and Suyin pierced toward the sky. A blinding light shot from the blade toward the cosmos, opening a giant portal in the sky. Then, the cries of thousands of souls could be heard in the valley.
Cassius stared at the scene with fear and watched the souls enter this world. Each of them screamed of regrets and lingering for life, but all listened to the commands of their queen. They were here to serve Morana, The Souls Reaper.