Dream Realm. No-Man's Woods.
Illuminated by the flames, the creatures rushed toward Candida.
Exhausted, the angel swung her arms and transformed her wrists into elongated blades. This was taking too long. Every movement, every transformation – even a small one – brought her pain.
The first creature reached her. Before its wide maw could tear off her head, the angel dove under the monster's belly and immediately severed its legs, which were longer than the beast's entire torso. Ignoring the pained roars, she hoisted its carcass onto her shoulders, but her legs immediately buckled. Gritting her teeth, Candida straightened up and, with difficulty, hurled Veridicus's spawn into the hovering fire.
Within seconds, the monster caught fire and crashed back to the ground, spreading the all-consuming flame and causing chaos among its ranks.
– Enough screaming… – she muttered and closed her eyes, hiding herself from the sight.
But she couldn't keep her eyes shut for long. The sound of pounding footsteps reached her ears. At the last moment, she jerked her head back and made a quick retreat.
As soon as she opened her shocked eyes, she saw the blade of a rusty axe flying centimeters from her face.
She swung her own blade, severing the creature's arms, then leaped back. An unexpected numbness seized her body.
"Something's wrong…" – Candida thought.
Struggling to dodge the creatures' attacks, she tried to create a third eye – one that would constantly watch the rider on the alicorn.
The moment the skin on her forehead began to split, making room for the future eye, an agonizing sensation paralyzed her body for an instant. Seeing enemies closing in from the darkness, she canceled the creation of the third eye.
– Damn it! Something's wrong with me. My body should have healed already! Especially the wings…
And then realization struck. Keeping a safe distance from the enemies, Candida looked at her wounded wings and gasped in shock.
"Bastard… How dare he?!" – she thought.
Her wings were tainted by Aletheia – the energy of the Aletherions. The force opposite to her own spread through her body, affecting the flow of her Irida, blocking it.
Unnatural emotions flooded over her in a wave.
In her rage, she ignored all the pain of transformation and turned her blades back into wrists. Baring her teeth, Candida grabbed the base of her wings and, with a sickening crunch of bone and cartilage, tore them off, throwing the blackening flesh into the flames.
Relief washed over her in a wave. With unprecedented ease, Candida grew a new pair of wings – now gray, like ash – and soared into the air.
***
– Damnable thing… – Veridicus snarled.
All this time, while the creatures he had created were distracting Candida, Veridicus had been desperately trying to find a way to destroy the spear. But every attempt ended in abject failure.
Uncertain, he glanced at the spear and its emanating flames, and thought:
– What if…
The Void. What if he opened a spatial rift and threw the spear in there? It would undoubtedly be destroyed. But it was unknown whether the fire would die out if its source vanished from reality, or whether the blaze would continue to burn.
Veridicus's entire body tensed. With careful movements, he grabbed the air in his iron grip, but he didn't stop there. Instead, his fingers went deeper.
Plunging his fingers into the very canvas of the Dream Realm, piercing the barrier that protected this reality from the destructive influence of the Void, he created a tiny breach.
– This… isn't enough. The spear won't fit through this hole… – Veridicus muttered and applied even more force
Lost in concentration, Veridicus did not sense Candida's aura hurtling toward him through the darkness of his barrier.
– Aletherion scum!
Before he could react, Candida slammed into him at full speed. With horror in his heart, Veridicus watched as the rift he had created with such difficulty snapped shut.
Shifting his gaze, he stared at Candida's furious face. Wrapping her legs around his torso, the angel – lost in blind madness – pounded his armor with her fists, covered in spiked gauntlets.
"That fucking idiot! She's going to kill us all!"
His vision darted from side to side before fixing on Lucius. The boy was needed alive. At the last moment, he ordered the monsters surrounding the sleeping teenager to protect him with their own bodies.
As soon as he was sure of Lucius's survival, Candida struck him in the face, cracking his helmet.
– Vile bastard, I'll make you choke on your own energy–
Not letting her finish, Veridicus grabbed Candida by the wing and forced both of them to freeze in space. Spinning in the air, he hurled her toward the ground with all his strength, then teleported to the spot where she landed.
An immeasurable rage overtook the knight standing over the battered angel lying on the ground. But before he could finish her off, the entire world around them began to creak.
Without a second thought, Veridicus spun around and thrust his hands forward, weaving all manner of spatial distortions and barriers. All to survive the blast – as the collapsing boundaries of reality closed in, trying to seal the hole.
With a fear unbefitting his race, he stared at the hole, which was millimeters from closing. The moment he could process it, all the darkness of his barrier vanished.
The world turned white.
No. It was not only white. The entire existing color spectrum, mixed into an imperceptible porridge, burst forth as a brilliant beam in all directions.
When the shockwave hit the first layers of Veridicus's defenses, it shattered dozens of invisible barriers without issue.
When the wave hit the second layer – the spatial distortions – Veridicus's shell began to fall apart. Like a spiderweb, cracks spread across his armor, revealing the black mist beneath.
Falling to one knee, Veridicus continued to hold his defenses, redirecting the shockwave's energy in other directions.
Thirty-two milliseconds. It lasted thirty-two milliseconds. And he counted every single one of them.
When the shockwave passed thm and burst out of Veridicus's barrier, spreading who knew how far across the rest of the Dream Realm, Veridicus finally let his arms fall to his sides and lowered his head. A trembling sigh escaped from his chest.
– We survived
***
– Argh!
A hoarse cough tore from Candida's throat, and black vomit poured from her mouth. The last traces of Aletheia's poison were leaving her.
With difficulty, she rose onto all fours. Or rather, more accurately… Candida stood three-limbed, leaning on her knees and one elbow. The blast that Veridicus had so desperately shielded them from had not spared her.
– What… What the hell happened?.. – Candida asked, completely unaware of the catastrophe that had just nearly destroyed them all. The catastrophe that she herself had caused.
Groaning heavily, Candida rose to her feet and looked around at the pervasive chaos, her mind clouded. But then she felt a sharp pain deep in her chest.
The puppet was dead. The core of the puppet, the fragment of Candida's own soul, was destroyed.
Rage. Pure anger covered her clouded mind with a black, impenetrable veil
Enraged, she saw Veridicus – exhausted and vulnerable – kneeling. A demonic smile split her face as malicious intent pointed her toward her target.
She folded her wings behind her back and kicked him with all her might. Her body lost its balance after the kick, but she remained standing, fueled by hatred.
– How does it feel now, scum? Not so strong anymore, huh?!
A hoarse laugh escaped Candida's lips, and she rushed toward the battered knight.
– Arrogant girl.
Without realizing it, Candida ran into something sharp. This was not a direct attack.
A trap.
Three. Four. Six blades. Invisible spears hovered in the air, waiting for their victim. Six blades pierced her body – not fatally, but enough to immobilize her.
Candida opened her mouth to say something, but the unexpected movement of the blades deeper inside made her choke on a scream of pain.
– Not another word… I've had enough.
Veridicus rose. His armor, shattered only a moment ago, began to pull itself back together. Through the cracks in his helmet, a crimson light blazed.
– You… Σκύλα! Нікчемная тварь!
The voice did not come from him. It was not even a voice. An overwhelming, distorted roar came from all directions.
– I despise… No. I HαTE your entire rαce! Я НЕНΑВИΞУ ВСΘ ТВОЮ РАСУ!
Along with these words, Veridicus's fingers twitched like a puppeteer controlling marionettes. In the next instant, the spears began to move in different directions, tearing Candida's flesh.
– Stop! Please! – she screamed in pain, struggling against the torture.
– Χαχ? So now you beg for mercγ? Σε ποщадe? О пощаде? Отчаянная мольба? ΑΥΤΟΚΑΤΑΣΤΡΟΦΉ!
At his command, one of the spears pierced through her body and, accelerating, plunged into the base of her ash-colored wings, piercing both.
– You, dαmned mαdwoman, don't deserve αn eαsy end! Ты, проклятая ςγмасшедшая, не заслγжиβаешь λёгкого концα!
Overcome with pain, Candida extended her remaining arm, summoning her own spear back to her.
But that was exactly what Veridicus wanted.
As soon as the Spear of White Flame appeared, leaving a fresh trail behind it, Veridicus severed Candida's second arm. A sadistic sense of satisfaction overtook him as he listened to her screams.
– αnd now… – With an iron grip, he took her head in both hands. – Dispel this cursed weapon.
Wanting to "motivate" Candida toward obedience, he made the spear in her wings move back and forth.
Unable to endure the torment, Candida surrendered. The lying spear of fire dissolved into sparks of light that poured into her chest.
As soon as that happened, Veridicus stopped the torture. The invisible spears vanished, and Candida – grievously wounded, deprived of both hands – collapsed to the ground
Exhilarated, Veridicus turned and fixed his sharp gaze on the burning sky.
His theory had been correct. With the source of the blaze gone, the flame threatening the universe began to die out. In an instant, the white streaks tearing through space vanished, leaving behind a spatial vacuum that filled almost immediately.
– Magnificent…
The words slipped out almost effortlessly, as if this was exactly what he was meant to say. A weight fell from his shoulders, and he turned around.
He had dealt with one of two threats. The spear was destroyed. However, its mistress could always create it anew.
He could not allow that.
Regaining his composure, the knight turned back to his hostage. He spoke just three words. Three words that plunged her into horror.
– Partly, it's personal.
With those words, he lifted her by the throat.
A new form of pain pierced Candida. Her entire being, her essence, seemed to catch fire with something foreign, yet already familiar.
Veridicus was filling her with Aletheia.
And as Candida convulsed in agony, Veridicus went further. Swinging his arm, he plunged his palm into her chest. The attack was not merely physical. It had a different purpose.
The moment his hand seized something deep inside Candida, the angel literally melted in his merciless grip.
When the Somnisian fell to the ground in the form of a dull puddle with eyes, a withered, cracked sphere – missing certain fragments – appeared in Veridicus's hand.
It was the core of Candida's soul.
– No!.. Please… – a voice, weak as a whisper, came from the puddle. Weak shapes, resembling human hands, grew from the puddle, reached toward the core, and fell back.
But Veridicus did not care. In truth, if he had a face instead of a helmet, he would undoubtedly be smiling.
– You are stupid, young, and immature. You have no understanding of your own actions. You, without even realizing it, threatened the universe. Somnisians like you should not exist.
Uttering these words, Veridicus squeezed the core harder until it burst, shattering into thousands of fragments.
The puddle that had once been Candida immediately stopped moving. With a casual gesture, Veridicus waved his open palm, scattering the fragments.
Calm, he felt a gaze upon him.
– So, you've already woken up. That's good. We have a long conversa–
He stopped mid-sentence. Candida… was still alive. The puddle that had been her body had already dissolved, but her consciousness had survived, divided among the thousands of fragments of her soul.
"Even after death, this bitch causes problems."
Not wanting to waste a single moment on her, Veridicus used a random teleportation on every fragment simultaneously.
"So be it. Good luck putting yourself back together from practically nothing."
– Why…
Lucius's voice was weak, his face devoid of emotion. He looked as though his feelings had completely numbed.
– What do you mean, "Why?", boy? – Veridicus replied.
In response, Lucius raised his head and looked directly into the crimson sparks beneath the visor of his helmet.
– Why did you wake me up?