Chapter 143 - The Beasts End
When these sword slashes got closer to Vord's back, he only gritted his teeth and morphed his back into something similar to a bear and braced for impact while thinking.
'You think I will stop wasting time to change directions so you can fight me in the air? I am not a fool, like that knight.'
Sofiya also noticed Vord's escape attempt, and not wishing to drag this fight more than her endurance allowed, she began to move for the Bearman while the red ball slowly began losing energy and collapsing.
Climbing fast using the [Sky Walk], she saw Aerius and Tomas attempt to slow Vord down and could only thank in her heart for their support. Seeing their effort made her give more from herself and get closer to Vord.
"This is enough boys, don't get closer to us. I will finish this beast once and for all."
Tomas turned his head to see that Sofiya saw moving past them, and he stopped sending his sword slashes, while Aerius, whose face looked tired, slowed his flying speed.
"Hah, I think I will soon dropdown. My wings and back hurt so much from all the tension I had to endure." committed Aerius, seeing Sofiya off.
"Sigh, you aren't the only one. I have 2 ribs broken from the first impact I took. However, not now. We still have to watch out for big sister and help her when she is in danger." replied Tomas, with a tired tone.
"No, Tomas, you don't understand. She is the danger. Can't you see that she is like Vlad? She weirdly used that blood vial compared to you."
Tomas could only nod his head, acknowledging what Aerius said. He, too, felt the intensity of Sofiya's movements.
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Vord, who suddenly felt that no attack would come, retracted his bear morph on his back and continued advancing outside the building. He was confident in his escape until he felt a strong presence at his back, together with the winds and the voice of a woman saying coldly.
"I thought you wanted to kill me badly. Have you changed your mind? Weren't you invincible some minutes ago?"
With that comment, a strong kick came to his sides, sending him flying, crashing into the walls of the building.
When he landed on the strong walls of the building that imprinted him there, he saw Sofiya arrive toward him, prepared with a rapier thrust.
A bestial instinct alerted him, and he pushed himself off from where he was, falling on the distant ground of the floor that was intact.
Sofiya was a step closer from piercing Vord's heart with her rapier, only stabbing the hard rocks like they were flesh. Turning her head toward the falling Bearman, she also jumped from where she was on the wall, not giving his enemy any chance to recover.
As she jumped, she felt a stinging pain around her entire body, along with the blurriness of her vision, that slowly returned, but the pain in her body remained.
"What is wrong with me? I thought I was fine for the duration of 30 minutes."
*** Mistress, don't panic. It seems your body isn't used to this type of strain. The power of the Lord isn't something normal humans should use so casually. However, you should hurry because the Lord didn't tell me of such possibilities. ***
'Damn, I feel cheated right now. This makes me want my own devil powers. It really feels weird. When I have time, I will start adventuring for my own experiences and maybe find a devil fruit.'
*** Mistress, do you want me to tell this to the Lord when I return to him? ***
'Shut it. Who told you to enter my head and listen to my thoughts.'
Silence ensued in her mind, and while falling after Vord, she did a flying pierce that connected with Vord, who roared in pain.
"Tsk missed his heart. Well, this will slow him down."
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Vord tried to stabilize his landing, but he was late because of the attack done by Sofiya. He morphed his body into a large bear while falling, but his speed increased even more once he did that, making him seem like a falling meteor.
"FUCK! WHY HAVEN'T I THOUGHT OF THAT!" roared Vord before releasing a wounded cry when crashing on the lower floor ground.
The crash power almost collapsed this floor, too, leaving only two more floors before getting to the lowest floor.
Vord looked up from where he crashed and saw Sofiya fall in his direction while her sword began giving off some red aura that now felt more menacing than ever.
He tried to move his body, but he didn't seem to have a response from his limbs.
"They broke? How? Did this fight really tire me so much that my endurance dropped so low? Haha, will I die like this?"
Saying that his eyes turned bloodshot, and the morphing began increasing, growing larger and larger in size before he turned into a monstrosity that released a lot of green and red aura around his body.
The beast tried to raise on its feet, and after doing a shaking roar, he began getting up to meet the falling Sofiya.
When he was up, the veins around his body gushed out, but this didn't matter for him as he tensed his fist, ready for the last strike.
Sofiya also used his last bits of energy when seeing that Vord was ready to give his last in this exchange. In the process of strengthening her last attack, the pain inside her body increased even more.
The sound of bones breaking and muscles fibers tearing was something echoing in this building.
'This isn't enough. My attack will fail with this small power. More! I need to go home alive! I finally have someone precious in my life.'
As she thought that while grasping what power she had left in her body, feeling numb from the pain constantly assaulting her, she gazed at Vord, who was covered in a green, red aura, that was moving for his fist and the last attempt to gather the power inside her seeming petite body, a new wave of energy began flooding her power.
Her heart began beating harder and more alerted, pushing more blood into her circulatory system.
With this enforcement, she struck after Vord sent out his punch while roaring to the skies.
"[Ursoc Rage]!"
Meanwhile, Sofiya, who was pushing ahead with her strike, only called for herself.
[Silent Moon]
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The initial contact she had with the giant fist with her rapier, she felt all her body shaking in every single cell of her tissues. Yet, this didn't defeat Sofiya, who was numb of pain by now, as she pushed her rapier, tearing the skin of the Bearman.
With each advancement Sofiya made toward Vord's chest while tearing on his fist flesh, she also felt the force brought by Vord.
Roaring in pain and madness, Vord felt his defeat was imminent, and in desperation, he used [Roaring Cacophony], sending a soundwave to blast Sofiya away from him.
When the soundwave got to Sofiya, she took that strike head-on entirely, while her ears began bleeding and her crimson hair was dancing in the wind created by the wave.
"DIE, WOMAN! HOW CAN YOUR SMALL BUILT SURVIVE A HEAD-ON CACOPHONY AND MY SHATTERING STRIKE!?" roared Vord, questioning Sofiya in his madness when seeing that not even the soundwave could blast Sofiya.
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Saying that Sofiya couldn't feel anything or hear anything. She was only focused on piercing Vord's heart, while anything else didn't exist for her.
As she was pushing past the gigantic hand of the Bearman, she vomited a mouthful of black blood before her vision started to blur again.
'A little bit more. Don't give up now, my body!'
Passing past, Vord hand and barely seeing his chest, she pushed ahead with the only target in mind, Vord's beating heart.
"NOOOOO! I WILL NOT DIE. URSOC IS WITH ME. I CAN'T DIE NOW!" roared Vord, seeing Sofiya approach his chest after piercing his hand and passing ahead.
Sofiya, in the blurriness of her vision, noticed that Vord began to morph into a smaller version to avoid the killing blow, a point where she also changed her trajectory, targeting lower.
Just like a shooting star, she at last pierced Vord's heart, and along the way creating a strong shockwave from the still remaining energy in her sword.
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Once she landed on the monstrous body of Vord, she let go of her rapier and closed her eyes, no longer able to do anything.
The collapsing floor with all the debris accumulated from the upper floor began to shake and collapse, dropping to the lower floors like it was a gate to another world.
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Aerius and Tomas, who watched Sofiya from a close distance, ready to act at any time, saw the floor's collapse and the now dropping bodies of the monstrous cave bear, along with Sofiya's delicate body.
The monstrous body of dead Vord quickly crashed on the last floor, creating a bit opening toward the basement of the building, creating a small quake in the process that had all the kids in the cages drop on the floor scared shitless.
"The bad guy has come for us!" cried out a kid when noticing Vord's monstrous body as it stood there motionless.
"That monster, it isn't moving. Does this mean the good guys have won?" asked a young kid, getting closer to the cage bars to have a closer look at Vord.
Then many other kids done the same. They noticed from where the opening to the upper floor the body of a woman with crimson hair fall to the ground.
"Ahhhh, this is the big sister from before!" cried out a little girl when she noticed Sofiya falling to the ground.
However, before Sofiya even landed on the ground, the kids saw Aerius move swiftly, and Tomas who picked her from her fall, holding her carefully in his arms.
"It feels like every single bone in her body has broke. Land softly on the ground, Aerius. I really don't wish to make sister Sofiya's wounds bigger than they are."
"Hah, hah. Buddy, I think I am done too. You are on your own after I land. I need to sleep." replied Aerius, who was struggling to breathe.
After he landed on the ground, he moved a bit more on his four legs before slowly turning into the shape of a small call, his initial form, to later snore profoundly.
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The kids went silent when seeing Tomas full of blood and wounds, Sofiya, whose body too was covered in blood, and Aerius, who they saw, turn from a lion back to a cat form.
The crimson-haired girl from the cage opened the cage door and exited out, quickly arrived at Tomas, along with other older kids, where she later asked.
"How can we help you?"
"Sigh, if you can bring some cleaner clothes from the ones I killed. Also, can you arrange some of the tables so I can put her down? Right, don't forget to pick that cat from the ground and let him sleep." said Tomas in an exhausted tone while looking at Sofiya.
"What about the monster? Is he dead?"
Tomas nodded his head while looking at the crimson-haired girl in front of him before turning his head and noticing how Vord's monstrous body changed into a human form, along with a green-red energy light exiting his body, moving toward the skies, before no longer being noticeable by Tomas.
"So this is what happens after Devil Fruit users die. I better tell big brother everything that happened today."
Saying that, he looked at Sofiya's sleeping expression and could only sigh when thinking of how wounded she was.
After some minutes, the older kids arranged some boxes they thought could substitute a table, at which Tomas walked, settling down Sofiya. On another box was resting Aerius, who was sleeping deeply, as if he was hibernating.
The kids looked at him, but mainly at Sofiya and Aerius. Getting closer to them, they were stopped by the older ones from disturbing them.
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Tomas took a seat on the ground beside Sofiya and took a dial snail from his pocket.
"Are you still there, friend, or did you got killed by the shockwaves and impact?" asked Tomas while holding the snail, turning it to look inside the shell.
Slowly after saying that, the snail's head began propping up from its shell to meet Tomas' eyes. He looked around himself and breathed at ease, knowing there was no longer any danger, and moved his lower tentacles to touch Tomas's hand.
"Good, you are still fine. I thought you wouldn't survive the first crash I took. It's all good now. Let's call for some help." ended Tomas, saying while meeting the eyes of the snail, who nodded his head tacitly, understanding what he wanted to do.
Then after forming a number on the snail dialing mechanism, he waited for the call to be picked.
"Brother Robert, how are you faring on your zone?" asked Tomas immediately when he heard the call being picked.
"Sigh, don't mention it, Tomas. I am in a safe location, looking after uncle Vem, Gif, and Ramoth, who have been heavily wounded. I also got some broken bones in the process. These Dark Union fanatics aren't easy to deal with at all. What about you? Have you guys took over the Royal Fortress?" questioned Robert, while his voice seemed tired.
"I wish to know the answer to this question too, brother. Right now, I am on the side-line after fighting against a damned monster. An Ancient Zoan fruit user with the powers of a monstrous bear. Big sister Sofiya is heavily wounded, Aerius also is sleeping after flying and fighting this monster. I am weak, brother, I couldn't even protect big sister properly." ended Tomas saying with a pained and depressed voice.
"Wait, sister Sofiya was with you? Ahh, you'll explain what happened with you after everything is over. Tell me, did big sister took the vials of blood from big brother?"
"Yes, both of the vials." replied Tomas to Robert's question.
"That's good. You should breathe at ease because big brother is watching over Sofiya as we speak right now. As long as his blood is still in her heart, she will be alive and heal slowly."
"What? Really? How do you know about this?" asked Tomas with a surprised voice, doing a sudden movement of his midsection that moved his broken ribs, making him deliver a long hiss sound.
"Argh, those are from broken ribs. Well, big brother Vlad told me about this ability when he conceived it. In the short term, he is sharing some of the concentrated blood that he created after a long time, and while we are in his range, he can manipulate that exact blood. To either create an armour, strengthen our weapons, or in the most extreme cases give us the [Enhancement] ability that he can use." explained Robert from the other line of the dial.
"I think I understand what happened to big sister. Thanks, brother, for explaining to me. Otherwise, I would be worrying myself to death with how heavily wounded sister Sofiya is."
"You won your fight, then take it easy, especially after fighting an Ancient Zoan user. Those fruits are quite rare in the world, closely up there with the Mythical type and the Logia type. I only heard stories when I was taught by my old teacher, but the users of those fruits are always strong people, rulers of their territory."
"I see, brother Robert, did you got any news about big brother? He should be fine if we still got to use his ability, right?"
"No news from him. I just got the underground camp set by the guild leaders of Dawn City. The old man is fighting against the leaders of the Dark Union, while big brother is fighting the leader of the rebels. With their end, things would collapse as well and grant us the win."
"Let's hope so. Anyway, I will end the call since I have some kids. I need to talk and find out about their story and how I can help them." said Tomas, preparing to end the call with Robert after finding the answers to his questions.
"Take care, Tomas. Don't lower your guard even when you are tired." said Robert before ending the call.
Placing the snail back in the safety of his pocket, Tomas looked up toward the opening in the roof and could only think about the situation outside with Vlad and the rest.
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Meanwhile, while he was thinking that, in a large throne room that looked to be consumed by blood, a tall man wearing the clothes a noble in the 15th century would wear, with long flowing white hair and crimson eyes fought against a blonde man surrounded by a pulsing green armour that was emanated putrid smell.
The expression of the white-haired man seemed to be pale and with blood around his mouth, which had the blonde man wearing the putrid green armour on his body, said disdainfully.
"Something is wrong, little prince? Your face turned pained and weakened. Did something happen while we were fighting?"
As he said that, he waved his arm, and a large wave of green mist was blown in the white-haired man's direction, for which he morphed the blood around himself in a body-size crimson shield.
Blocking that green mist wave that corroded and decayed the blood shield, he thought to himself after hearing a childish voice in his mind.
*** Lord, the Mistress, is fine, along with the other three. ***
'I know Khorne. I felt all her pain. I just had to increase my connection with her heart and give her more power. I also had to awaken her healing cells, so I don't lose her since she is in a dangerous location.'
'Now, let's focus on our fight since everyone dear to me is safe.'
Thinking that he heard another voice that sounded cold and detached running in his mind.
[Fool, now you are weakened because you gave them your blood powers. You better don't beg me to help you, or you'll regret it. This person keeps trying to kill you from inside, so be careful of that nasty miasma around him.]
' Hah, you think I haven't noticed? So many blood cells in my body got destroyed by this bastard that I can't even tell you the number. Still, I should be fine. I still got many cards up my sleeves.'
Finishing his small conversation in his mind, he canceled his [Blood Aegis], and with a cold, sinister gaze, he pushed his Will upon Lacilet Vestios.
A dark-crimson shockwave exited his body and blasted apart the green mist wave approaching him, moving menacingly for the blonde man.
"Tsk, again with your damned Conqueror's! Haven't you learned your lesson, young prince? While you have this ability, it is still not powerful enough to defeat my Will."
"Vestios, you think too much of yourself. What will can a backstabber have to even desire to become a king and rule over people? A nobody like you who is the dog of others? Hah, collapse under my Will peasant!" declared Vlad while intensifying his Conqueror's, that shock the entire Throne Room destroying what was left of the windows still on the frames.
Feeling pushed by Vlad's will, Lacilet Vestios gritted his teeth and surrounded himself in a cloud composed of dark green miasma. Slowly he went past the waves blasting on his miasma cloud, and with a hateful tone and sinister gazing, he said to Vlad.
"VERMILION BASTARD, YOUR FATHER WASN'T EVEN ABLE TO LIFT A FINGER AGAINST ME! YOU THINK YOU CAN DO SOMETHING YOUR PRODIGY OF FATHER COULDN'T ACHIEVE AND ACTUALLY TRYING TO KILL ME!"
"SO WHAT IF YOU HAVE THAT CURSED ABILITY! I AM STRONGER THAN THESE DAMNED PRIVILEGED BASTARDS WHO WERE BLESSED BY THE GODS TO GET THAT ABILITY!"
As Vestios ended saying that, the sinister green armour on his body intensified, shining brighter, and with each step, he pushed past the strong waves of Conqueror's Haki coming from Vlad.
Hearing what Vestios had to say, Vlad started laughing coldly and quickly increased the intensity of his Will to his pinnacle. His face turned sinister while he was laughing, and at a visible rate, he began resembling his former self, the Impaler, more while fighting against Vestios.
"Haha, what a funny fool. My will was tested by so many catastrophic challenges that you, a nobody who ruled a small piece of land in peace, couldn't understand. You wish to challenge my will? What a funny joke. Rats trying to raise against humans! Then come, let's see if you can approach me."
With that said, the rocks, blood, and everything in the throne room started flying around while the entire palace was shaking from his unleashed will.
