The pain that could make the aloof Alfia yield was not from a monster's vicious attack, nor an open wound from a sword.
Even losing a part of her body in battle could not make this woman show a single trace of fear, could not make her beg for mercy either.
Except for the terminal illness she suffered from.
[Gif Blessing.]
The heavy damage this heaven-defying Skill inflicted on her body was not just severe, it also actively accumulated and compounded over time.
The pain Alfia endured had already far surpassed the realm of mortal imagination.
Due to her continuous heavy use of Magic, her physical condition had rapidly begun to deteriorate, resulting in a sharp sudden decline!
That said... just now, she could have easily used Satanas Verion to finish him off, yet she didn't.
"Cough."
Alfia coughed up a mouthful of blood.
But more than that, she was entirely concerned with the young man standing before her—or rather, the strange sword in his hand that had just been plunged directly into her body.
"Why... doesn't it hurt at all?"
Alfia curiously raised her trembling hand, gently stroking the smooth blade that emanated a faint warm glow.
The sharp edge didn't cut her fingers. Instead, it felt somewhat warm to her touch.
'This is?'
"Of course it doesn't hurt," Rayleigh said, his voice laced with exhaustion.
He fully released Senbonzakura's Bankai and quickly redirected his draining Reiatsu to supply Tenseiga.
"This sword is a blade of mercy. Of course it won't hurt."
As his voice fell, Rayleigh began to desperately pour his Reiatsu directly into Tenseiga.
And it wasn't a simple, brute-force infusion. He channeled his Reiatsu into Tenseiga in the precise form of Kaidō, seamlessly combining the powers of Tenseiga and Kaidō to unleash an even stronger, compounded healing ability.
Tenseiga bloomed with a blinding, pure white light!
Watching this intense process from the side, Erebus's eyes filled with genuine amazement.
'Ooh! What a truly brilliant radiance of the soul.'
Rayleigh gripped the sword tightly with both hands, accurately sensing Alfia's failing physical condition through the Reiatsu connection.
Then, he was shocked.
This wasn't a simple matter of her condition just being "bad," was it? How could a human still be alive in this deteriorating state?
Even if a person's physical heart was hanging loosely outside their body, or their brain was dragging uselessly on the ground, he wouldn't have voiced such a doubt.
And Alfia's true internal condition was far more severe than that.
'Was I really fighting a terminally ill woman like her just now?'
All those dangerous, life-threatening moments during their clash... Were they all effortlessly created at the hands of a critically ill girl teetering right on the final brink of life and death?
Rayleigh considered Alfia to be, without a single doubt, the strongest Adventurer alive.
He had never underestimated her.
But rather, he had infinitely overestimated this woman's physical strength. However, only now did he fully realize that her raw strength was far, far surpassed what he had ever imagined.
'Seriously, at her peak, she could probably destroy all of Orario entirely by herself, right?'
Just as the combined power of Kaidō and Tenseiga began to take a visible effect, Rayleigh's expression suddenly changed drastically.
He discovered that three violent clashing forces hidden deep within Alfia's soul had violently begun to repel his soothing spiritual power.
In an instant, Alfia's condition worsened by two or three times!
'This is...? Is this the heavy price of her Skill right?'
'Monster of Calamitous Talent'
'Talent = Calamity = Price.'
At first glance, this Skill was absurdly overpowered, almost like a cheat.
In reality, however, the Skill was strictly composed of two intertwined parts.
While providing unparalleled combat talent, it also exacted a corresponding, heavy price.
It was a genuine life-draining Skill, one that couldn't even be turned off voluntarily by the user.
Therefore, Alfia was constantly overdrawing her own life force just by existing.
Now, he, a total outsider, had intervened in this natural, decaying process with his own foreign power.
He was actively attempting to break the original rules set by the Falna, and was thus met with fierce, unyielding resistance from the Skill itself.
'What should I do?' Rayleigh began to panic.
At this close distance, Alfia could clearly see every rapid change in Rayleigh's expression.
She could even glimpse deep into Rayleigh's desperate heart through them.
'There it is again. That same expression again.'
"Young man, I truly thank you for your kindness. But there are some things in this broken world that are simply beyond our mortal control. If you cannot let this failure go, it may leave a great weakness in your heart in the future."
Alfia could feel Rayleigh's pure intentions, and at the exact same time, she could feel her own worsening condition.
Perhaps, her long painful journey would finally come to an end here.
The entire purpose of this "Necessary Evil" was to create a strong, new hero.
A hero strong enough to bear the future of Orario, and even the world itself
If that was truly the case, wasn't the young man standing before her a perfect candidate for it?
Next, as long as her inevitable death made the young man truly understand the harshness of reality and successfully eliminated the weakness in his heart, then all her sins and evils would have been worthwhile.
Sensing the subtle change in Alfia's resolve, Erebus also closed his eyes in silent approval.
'So this is your final choice, Alfia. Not bad... i also take a liking to this impressive young man. In that case, i permits it. Your choice...'
"Things beyond our control?" Rayleigh's grip on the sword tightened fiercely. "Yeah, I can't let it go. I'll never let it go. I will save you, just like I promised you last time."
That's right. He couldn't stop. He had to overwhelm the Skill's resistance in one massive go!
Make the healing speed completely surpass the side effects of the Price of her monster talent!
'Recover the tissue faster than the damage is dealt.'
Rayleigh completely released the output limiter on his remaining Reiatsu.
Crack.
Tenseiga's blade let out a crisp, sharp crack, and a visible fissure quickly appeared on its mirror-bright body.
"Ugh!" Alfia felt a scalding overwhelming energy swell within her frail body, and her muddled mind suddenly became clear.
She could actually feel her ravaged body and failing soul being rapidly repaired by a certain power.
'If only I had the power of my cheat-level wife, Orihime. I could just completely 'reject' Alfia's injuries and illness and heal her easily.'
'Push harder, Tenseiga!'
Zing!
The blade slowly transferred its own internal light directly into Alfia, completely enveloping her in a warm soothing glow, protecting her entirely like a fragile eggshell.
After doing all this, the single crack on Tenseiga's surface suddenly spread at once, instantly covering the entire length of the blade.
The Tenseiga of this moment looked exactly like shattered glass, looking as if it would break into a million pieces at the slightest touch.
"Well done, Tenseiga. You've worked incredibly hard," Rayleigh whispered softly.
Following Rayleigh's sincere words of gratitude, in the very next second, Tenseiga shattered completely with a loud crash.
The broken blade fragments turned into small wisps of glowing light and vanished into the air.
"Argghhh!" Alfia suddenly hugged herself, dropping to sit on the ruined ground with her legs tucked tightly under her.
She looked incredibly fragile right now.
Her shoulders trembled nonstop. From the intense phantom pain, cold sweat thoroughly drenched her beautiful white hair, causing strands to stick tightly to her skin.
Erebus spoke in deep astonishment, "Child of man, are you seriously planning to... that woman?"
Seeing that even his effort was not enough to cure her, Rayleigh grew anxious.
He was highly annoyed by Erebus's doubting question!
"Yeah, that's right! That's exactly what I plan to do!"
"It's completely impossible," Erebus stated with absolute certainty. "Even Hera herself was helpless against her failing condition. Even a Level 7 healer couldn't even alleviate her illness. Give up. Alfia is right. There are some tragic things in this world that are simply beyond our control. She! Will! Die! Right now, you are only torturing her further."
As he spoke, Erebus no longer hid the pity residing in his heart, his expression showing genuine regret and compassion.
This was the true complex nature of this God.
His love for the struggling children of the mortal world was completely genuine, yet he was also ruthless, for he was the specific type who could easily sacrifice the few for the sake of the many without a moment's hesitation.
Rayleigh was greedy.
Even more greedy than a God.
He wanted every single outcome to bend entirely to his will.
Tenseiga's power ultimately couldn't overwhelm the Skill's price. This stalemate wouldn't last much longer.
'One more step.'
'Just one final, desperate move.'
Rayleigh looked down at the suffering Alfia, his mind racing, desperately thinking of any possible way to fundamentally change this grim situation.
Then, an image flashed vividly through his mind.
It was a legendary scene from the world of Bleach, where fate beautifully intertwined with a certain orange-haired young man.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a world-famous masterpiece.
'Can I really do it...? I should be able to.'
Rayleigh still held Tenseiga's broken hilt tightly in his hand.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he poured his final remaining Reiatsu directly into this now-dead sword!
....
Gif Blessing (才禍代償ギフ・ブレッシング): A skill that was the manifestation of Alfia's incurable disease. In exchange for making her status be in the Limit Off state all the time, it made Alfia suffer from multiple abnormalities, such as poison, paralysis, and dysfunction at the same time when she entered combat.
Upon activation, it also caused Alfia's stats, stamina, and mind to continuously decrease semi-permanently.
The author described it as that it caused a 5% decrease in her health, mind, and all of her abilities "every turn".
As time passed, it weakened her at an accelerated rate
Although it couldn't be cured, eating a branch of a sacred tree from an elven forest, which possesses great magical power, improved her condition.