Shock… Anger… Fear… these emotions filled me as I looked down at Alysia’s lifeless head. It wasn’t too late. We could have done… something. She killed herself just like that. After everything we had been through, she had thrown her life away.
“You bastard! You’ll die for this!”
“You’re the one who will die!” I shrieked.
With her dead, I held nothing back. I leaped to my legs and attacked him at full force. I slashed rapidly with attack after attack. My tattoos began to glow as power filled me. I began to use special abilities. Mana flowed through me, and I used Quick Attack. Then I used True Strike. I attacked with reckless abandon, and Nova’s cocky expression quickly turned to fear.
“Die! Die!” I screamed, my blade striking faster and faster.
He was retreating, but I didn’t care. I’d cut him down, and then I’d cut Aberis down as well. Alysia had given everything for me. This was all I had left. He let out a scream, trying to use his abilities, but he was quickly accumulating more and more wounds. As for me, I was unstoppable now. They would all die. Even Aberis started to look alarmed. Xin was getting ready to jump in and defend her new master. I decided that once I killed Nova, I would use Return. Then, I would bring an army directly into the Ost Republic and lay waste to it. I no longer cared. There clearly could be no peace as long as the demon lord was on the throne. I had to kill him while he was still weak.
Nova stumbled back to the ground. He was looking up at me with terror. It was exactly the kind of terror I wanted to see. I raised my sword and our eyes met. At that moment, the tattoos flickered out. Extreme weakness and exhaustion overtook me. All of my abilities shut off, and I barely managed to keep from collapsing to the ground unconscious. Xin leaped forward and struck me. I went flying. I didn’t understand what happened, and for a moment I blacked out.
My shoulder struck the sword in the ground, it cut into the flesh, nearly severing my arm. My sword was gone, flying off somewhere. I desperately tried to stand, but I found myself no longer able to. I just managed to raise my head, only to see that hateful Aberis walking cautiously toward me while Xin helped the embarrassed Nova up.
“It looks like you’re out of energy,” Aberis said, and then laughed. “Looks like your soul didn’t return to you when she died, huh?”
I wanted to deny it, but he was right. After Alysia died, my soul was still gone. I had drained all the mana still in my blessings and initiated my skills. I suppose I could call it something like overdrafting. If done in conjunction with a soul, it was a way to expand my power to execute amazing feats. Without it, it was enough to allow me to fight, but only for a brief period. Now, those blessings were as empty as my soul.
“I’ve been denied your soul.” Demon Lord Aberis said bitterly. “But, so have you. Alysia is dead, destroyed by the ancient soul reaving sword, and so was your soul. It’s game over.”