"You're Rara, right?" Neraxis asked, his guard fully raised.
Of course, he also turned on his fifth option, {Primordial Presence: Eyes of Time}.
Since it let him see three seconds into the future, it was a worthwhile thing to have on while he was in some strange world.
However, the person whom he assumed to be Rara had not said a word since earlier.
Yet just as he thought she might've been trying to process something, she vanished from sight.
But that was something that happened three seconds into the future, so before she could do that, he quickly stopped her.
Immediately, the image of her vanishing reverted itself, and she now stood still like earlier.
Nonetheless, he used this little bit of leeway to explain himself.
"Rara, I know you must be confused, however, I'm not here with bad intentions. In the real world, we're talking with your main body, and by 'we,' I mean Lana is there too."
The moment he finished those words, he once again saw Rara vanish and grab his neck.
However, instead of stopping her, Neraxis prepared himself.
Soon, she vanished for real, reappeared, and just as her hand was traveling toward his neck, Neraxis sidestepped.
Rara seemed surprised by that. But before she could readjust herself, Neraxis read her like a book and proceeded to deliver a full-power kick to her abdomen, sending her flying off into the distance.
"...?" Neraxis tilted his head, looking down at his foot which seemingly broke on impact.
Fucking hell, she's sturdy.
"Rara. I've turned you into a vampire and made it so we can even have this conversation in the first place. Us fighting here will do nothing but waste precious time we already don't have," Neraxis stated.
She glared at him and reached for her back before pulling out a katana twice the size of his body.
He was curious how that would even work, but, he had to deal with her being an idiot first.
Therefore, before she could finish her cool entrance, Neraxis used his domain and reappeared in front of her.
Rara seemed startled, but unlike last time, she was able to bring the katana down.
Neraxis frowned, scanning the visions. Every single outcome led to a grave injury, no matter if he evaded it or not, so he had no choice but to reposition himself back.
But that seemed to not stop Rara as she finished her swing, hitting the ground below.
He was confused at her antics, but in the next moment, he felt a pain in his chest, and as he looked down, he saw half of his upper body split open, revealing his heart and lungs, both sliced cleanly in two.
What the fuck? Neraxis thought and warily took a few steps back.
The injuries didn't take long to heal, however, the sheer fact that she was able to hit him made him question her abilities.
But it felt familiar, so after a few moments, Neraxis came up with one conclusion.
She cut time... probably a remnant of mine in the past, which somehow managed to hurt me.
Safe to say, whatever she did was dangerous, and if he wasn't careful, even he could die.
Nonetheless, Neraxis focused, and after several minutes, he found what he was looking for.
The connection with the Universe was especially strong with Rara, and if he could sever it here, then he wouldn't even need to search for her on some other world.
Therefore, despite the danger, he soon approached, and while she was in the middle of her inevitable katana swing, he tapped her head.
The moment he did, the thread that had been connected with her was immediately severed.
Despite that, she didn't snap out of it and finished her swing.
Neraxis braced himself since, according to his Eyes of Time, his head would be getting cut off.
And in just a few seconds, the katana fell, cut his head off, and before Rara could cause any more damage, he swiftly kicked her away and reattached his head.
"Okay, I think that's enough of the fun. Any more and I'll have no choice but to kill you," Neraxis stated coldly, scratching his neck.
Rara stared at him for a moment and muttered, "Is my sister really alive?"
"Yep..." Neraxis smirked. "She's more than alive, actually. Not only is she married, she has triplets on the way. I'm pretty sure she's going to go into labor any minute now—"
Before he could even finish his words, the Rara in front of him vanished, leaving Neraxis behind in this strange mind realm.
Nonetheless, he chuckled. I guess the two sisters are more alike than I thought.
On a side note, Neraxis turned to the side, just barely catching the fleeting figure of a particular person.
A tall and bulky man with an ugly blue dragon mask.
"The Sovereign of Pride, right?" Neraxis called out. "I'm surprised you've got your bullshit scattered around all the things I do. I wonder, are you obsessed with me or something?"
There was a moment of silence that was soon followed by a chuckle.
"You're too immature to understand, Neraxis Valen," the Sovereign of Pride said coldly and finally revealed himself. "I see the Eternal Sin isn't doing so well."
"No, he isn't." Neraxis shook his head calmly. "I'm going to have a busy week, but I'm sure you've already seen that too."
"Indeed." The Sovereign of Pride nodded. "You are lucky we higher beings have a longer waiting time. Otherwise, I'd have already descended and massacred you and your family like I had done in the past. I'm sure the rest of us Sovereigns feel the same."
Neraxis narrowed his eyes, approaching the Sovereign of Pride. "You've succeeded in the past. But this isn't the past anymore. The Eternal Sin made sure of that."
Before the Sovereign of Pride could speak, Neraxis continued. "You're strong. You're ambiguous. However, there's one thing you've missed. A week is a long time, a month even longer. By the time you arrive here, I'm going to be waiting with a red fucking carpet."
"Hmm..." the Sovereign of Pride hummed in amusement. "We'll just have to see, Neraxis Valen. You might not even be able to survive till the end of the week if the Eternal Sin makes his move. And from what I'm seeing, it is very likely. Nonetheless, I'll be sending you a few gifts very soon. I hope you'll enjoy them with your family."
"Yeah, I'll make sure to—" Neraxis stopped, his frown deepening. He disappeared...
And the moment he disappeared, so did Neraxis, as he was now finally back in the hospital room.
Lana was embracing Rara, and the two were both bawling their eyes out.
However, Evangeline was the only person who noticed something was off, so she approached and held his hand.