"Edith, no matter what, know that we will always love you."
Blood!
The viscosity of the liquid seeping through the shed used to hide her.
The stench of burning corpses.
All felt surreal, like plucked out of a nightmare and brought into reality; but this was indeed reality, her reality!
The intricate design in the form of a lightning bolt flying like an eagle — proudly declaring its presence over the pandemonium.
That was all Edith could see. In her hands, she felt like she had a fistful of blood. The worried faces of her parents as they shielded her, their only child, from the dangers lurking outside of their palace on that day.
Edith snapped — her screams? Silent.
Elephant watched as her head snapped forward and she staggered like a corpse; the aura she was emitting dying down.
But that was the calm before the storm.
< Do you want power? >
"Yes!"
< How much power do you desire? Reveal your heart to me. >
"Okay."
Elephant watched as Edith whispered, almost as if she was answering someone, or something that he could not see.
< Power is yours, my herald. >
Edith's eyes glazed over, the sclera turning obsidian as the influence of what was conversing with her consumed her.
Her implants produced more and more Neuro-Qi until the warning signs of overload and capacity being exceeded flared up.
Dark miasma-like substance crept to the surface from underneath her skin, using the pores as exits.
The substance formed another layer atop her skin, reaching her face and framing it in a helmet. Her shoulder blades let out black protrusions like wings, and the sword connected to her morphed into smaller ones that hovered behind her back.
Her nails turned to claws, her teeth to fangs, and her boots became high-heeled boots.
A broken crown graced the tip of her head.
Elephant, having a front-row seat to the metamorphosis, felt his stomach churn, the hairs on his neck standing up, and he knew one thing: should the metamorphosis reach completion, he would die.
With a quick burst of speed, he shot himself at Edith and threw a punch that sent out a lethal shockwave that cut through concrete with ease.
Digital pads formed in unity before Edith, and a forcefield appeared, bouncing the attack everywhere, destroying the already destroyed laboratory.
He then felt it.
The devilish presence that was embracing everything like a mother embracing her children.
Elephant couldn't describe what he was feeling, but the increasing feeling of dread was becoming too much for him to handle, and he decided to run.
He took one step... two steps... on the third, he felt nothing but air, and when he looked down, his foot was missing, sliced cleanly by an attack he couldn't see.
Elephant fell face-first on the ground and cried out in pain as he began bleeding profusely, unable to close the wound like he had done with the arm.
He looked at Edith with trembling eyes and scooted back. "Stay away!!!"
Edith's mouth stretched beyond humanly limit as she sneered while walking up to Elephant. "Go Away?" she questioned as she stepped on Elephant's other leg, the tip of her heel piercing through flesh and penetrating his bone.
Elephant cried out even more.
"Spare me, I beg you!!!" The once boastful persona gone, replaced by a man who stood at the face of death pleading for his life.
"Like your Sect did to my family?" Her glitching voice and pupil-less eyes painted a scene that burned itself in Elephant's mind.
"Please, I beg youuuu—"
Silence followed, and Elephant's head rolled to the side, blood staining the wall behind him.
Edith lowered her sword, and blood from her enemy dripped on the floor. She turned around, having felt the incoming presence, and slowly, methodically took steps and approached the outside.
---
"Be on your guard, something is off," Shengyuan warned.
Yuanchen raised an eyebrow at what Shengyuan was talking about but decided to shrug it off and focused on keeping up with Serena.
Serena turned to look behind her. "We will be there shortly."
And true to her word, they arrived at the outskirts where the laboratories and factories were located.
Both grimaced at the scene.
Bodies of the Snow-Peak military force on the ground, some decapitated, others had holes in their chests.
Serena composed herself. "Tend to the wounded, retrieve the bodies of the deceased," she commanded the remaining military personnel.
Her hands were balled to fists as she assessed the damage and how the force responded to her order. The ThunderGod Tribe had done it. She bit her lip; their eradication was imminent.
Yuanchen looked to the side and saw the mop of red hair coming from the destroyed laboratory. He was about to tell Serena when the silhouette in the distance glitched and appeared before him.
A boot struck his stomach, sending him flying away a considerable distance.
"Ugh, that hurts." Yuanchen cussed as he staggered to his feet.
He looked at Edith, and his lips thinned. From the glazed-over look she had, he knew she was not in control of herself and was about to warn Serena when Edith kicked the woman with so much force the air let out a boom.
"I told you, be on your guard."
Yuanchen's eyebrow twitched as Shengyuan talked.
"Would you shut it? I'm tryna focus," he blurted out.
Edith once again glitched from sight and appeared before Yuanchen; she delivered another kick to the latter, sending him flying into the forest, and she followed him.
Yuanchen rolled on the snow, getting grazed by the sticks on the ground, and came to a stop. He got to his feet and dusted his clothes. "This is getting annoying."
Edith landed a considerable distance before him and pointed her finger at him. "You Don't belong in this world."
A beam was fired from her finger, and it multiplied mid-air, trying to encroach upon Yuanchen.
Yuanchen dodged the attacks, using the trees as cover. In his mind, his thoughts were on what she had said.
He did not belong in this world?
Did she know about the person existing within him?
But that would be impossible for her to know.
Shengyuan, having a front seat to his thoughts, gave an analysis. "That's because there's another law in this world that is aware of my presence."
"Another Dao?"
"Yes."
"Could this Dao be the one that is controlling Edith? And how do I beat it?"
Shengyuan smirked. "I'm the true Heavenly Dao. You underestimate the power I gave you. Call upon Jinx."
Yuanchen nodded, and his focus returned to his current predicament, dodging the attacks that Edith was shooting his way, leveling the entire forest with each go.
Yuanchen skidded on the snow. "Jinx!" he declared, and the world glitched.
The administrator of the first layer of Null World appeared as commanded, and a small smile appeared on its face as it extended its hands and the trees began to reform.
A sword materialized per his thought, and Yuanchen held the blade. He took a breather and disappeared from sight through pure speed; he appeared before Edith and swung his sword down.
One of the multitude of weapons floating around Edith rotated and placed itself in the path of the sword.
The swords released a massive shockwave that sunk the ground beneath them.
And a beam came from Yuanchen's blind side, creating a blinding light.
"Shit!"