Instead of succumbing to despair, Tony saw an opportunity and shouted, "Now, Asti, shoot!"
Despite the excruciating pain in his shoulder that had drained all his energy, Asti stood up, grabbed his bow, and aimed at the area around Sonia. I can't miss—this is for our survival. My arrows will go where Tony wants them, he thought with determination.
Steady despite the rapid movements of the starfish, Asti fired ten arrows in quick succession without pause, each one guided by Tony's influence.
Seeing this, Tony, whose breathing grew louder and more labored, enveloped his body—except for his head—in black flames. He raised his hand toward the massive line of feathers targeting him from the sky. A dragon made of lightning slowly formed, growing larger and larger until it became colossal.
Darlius, stunned, watched the incredible power emanating from Tony. He had glimpsed it before, but this was beyond anything he could fathom.
When I unleash the Black Chaos, it materializes like a smaller but devastating cloud. This time, I need a line made entirely of Chaos, Tony thought. Dismissing his sword of fire and lightning, he gripped the black sword and swung it horizontally. A straight line of deep, writhing black formed at the tip of the blade, as if he were writing in the air.
Asti, watching in awe, saw a dragon of lightning form from Tony's right hand while his left traced a moving, pitch-black line. But what shocked him even more was Tony's sudden laughter.
"Haha! Haha! Haha!" Tony had realized: the Chaos he wielded wasn't true Chaos but something resembling it.
He had absorbed the water in the space of the black sword, revealing the true Chaos. The flames surrounding his body, previously calm, surged with intense heat.
The dragon above his hand was cloaked in black flames, coexisting perfectly with the lightning. The two lines of feathers, now within Tony's reach, hurtled toward him.
He launched the dragon into the sky. It opened its massive jaws, ready to swallow the line of feathers that entered its body.
Sonia, arrogantly thinking the fight was over, froze when she heard Tony's maniacal laughter.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! You probably think your feathers, formed from your aura, will pierce my dragon! If this were my old, false Chaos, yes, you would've won. But the true black fire doesn't burn—it devours!" he declared, his expression bordering on madness.
In the sky, inside the dragon's belly, the feathers—the very embodiment of Sonia's aura—were torn apart by lightning and consumed by the black fire.
Sonia immediately felt the destruction. She glared at Tony with a mix of seriousness and contempt.
"Ha… it's true, you're going to die… hahahahaha!" Tony laughed, completing the line of Chaos that shot toward Sonia.
She stopped and veered to the right to dodge, but a flaming arrow sped toward her head. At the last second, she evaded it, only for another arrow to swoop down and pierce her left leg.
"First target hit. Nine arrows remain under my control, and they'll burn you slowly," Tony said, noticing several drops of blood trickling from his nose.
Having exhausted her aura, Sonia could no longer fully protect herself. The heat of the fire began to sear her skin. She quickly yanked out the arrow before her insides could catch fire.
But Tony, relentless, directed the remaining arrows at her from multiple angles. Alerted by the heat they emitted, Sonia dodged one coming from above, another from her blind spot, and several more from behind and the sides. She evaded them all, keeping an eye on the line of Chaos closing in.
She estimated she had twenty seconds before the line reached her. Her aura devoured, exhausted but not yet defeated, she gritted her teeth in fury. She knew she couldn't win. She had to flee.
Suddenly, she halted, letting four arrows pierce her shoulders and thighs.
There were nine arrows, and four are now lodged in my body, she thought with resolve.
Despite the pain, she felt her muscles and joints ignite. She forced the fire to extinguish. As the remaining five arrows closed in, she grabbed two with her right hand and three with her left, crushing them before simultaneously ripping out the four arrows embedded in her body.
She turned and ran, slowed by her injuries. The line of Chaos drew dangerously closer.
"I'm not fast enough… This line will cut me down. With those arrows, he showed he can control things remotely," Sonia muttered.
She veered right and plunged into the hillside. Seeing this, Tony tried to speed up the line, but a violent vomiting of blood stopped him. His nose bled profusely.
Using true Chaos has such devastating side effects… After all, I'm only at the human realm, not immortal or beyond. My body is superhuman but has limits, Tony thought, his vision blurring.
Sonia, no longer seeing the starfish, rolled to extinguish the fire. To her horror, she realized the black line had shifted, following Tony's command.
Moving faster toward her, the line hunted her down. Sonia ran toward the edge of the targeted zone.
Ten meters…
Almost…
Five meters…
Come on, the end is right in front of me!
Three meters…
With the fear of death on her face, Sonia curled into a ball to protect her limbs, leaping toward freedom.
Zero.
The line of Chaos passed just behind her back. A single touch would have meant certain death.
Lying on the ground, too weak to move, she clenched her teeth so hard that blood seeped from her gums.
"You'll pay for this… For now, I'm too weak. Even if we fought again, I'd lose. I was at my peak, and so were you—nothing would change. But I swear, you who forced me to flee, I'll have my revenge!" Sonia declared, her face resolute, before collapsing from pain and exhaustion.
Psssssst… Psssssst… Breathing heavily, Tony knew he had little time before collapsing. He tried to reach the others.
Suddenly, the flames serving as his wings vanished. He plummeted toward the ground.
Asti, Darlius, and Aconé, unable to fly to catch him, stood helpless. Simone, meanwhile, seemed absent, no longer responding.
Feeling his body fall, Tony tried to react, but his body refused to obey. Every thought sent searing pain through his head.
Yet, despite the agony, he thought, Normally, even if I hit the ground, I won't die. But there must be other members of their group still alive. What I sent wasn't true Chaos, so they'll find me unconscious and kill me… Unthinkable, unacceptable! This is my body! Even if you're exhausted to the point of death, you must obey me! he screamed internally, intensifying his pain.
Suddenly, he noticed he was no longer falling but moving toward the others. Turning his head, he saw Dina and Hikiri.
"You… damn… bastard… only showing up… now…" Tony muttered before passing out.