Elias felt the world slow beneath the weight of his perception, his mental strength concentrating just enough that numerous thoughts flashed through his mind in microseconds.
Most of his thoughts converged into one irrefutable conclusion.
'I can't dodge.'
His thinking may be fast, but that didn't mean that his body could keep up with his mind. The dagger was moving so fast that it seemed to cleave apart the air, its momentum causing it to blur as it left behind faint afterimages.
He couldn't dodge but...
'Pyre Weave.'
Now wasn't the time to hold back. If he was going to win, he had to go all out.
On his hand appeared the familiar threads flashing a burning red, hot against his hands as they rang out with a song like that of a violent rumble.
But he didn't stop there, speaking in the same breath.
'Sonic Skill: Melody of Ash Rain.'
It happened in an instant.
🎶 RAAAAA DAN DAN DAN! 🎵🎵
The ground beneath his feet turned molten hot, before the area around him reddened as the thick mat around him began to melt from the rapidly spreading heat, turning to boiling sludge.
Leona's eyes widened, her figure already skidding backwards as she tried to retreat, but...
It was already too late.
VOOM!
A pillar of bright red flames arose from the ground like bursting fireworks, swallowing her in their burning fury. Then the force blasted her backwards, causing her to crash into the opposite wall.
BOOM
Cracking his neck, Elias walked towards her direction, those scorching flames burning around him wherever he moved, surrounding him and forming a ring of fire.
With his dark eyes swirling like a depthless void, he finally stopped suppressing his ripples, casting his presence upon the world.
Before he reached her, Leona was already on her feet, her body burnt in many places.
Yet her eyes were still cold, almost as though the pain from the burning didn't exist. They brushed over the Weaves grasped in his hands warily, before being swallowed by defiant madness.
Unwilling to let her take the initiative again, Elias moved first.
He accelerated till he was just a blur of motion, and accelerated some more till the world had stopped moving around him.
Crimson moths of sparkling flames trailed behind him, the radiance of the cackling flames raging around him like a fiery tempest reflected against his dark eyes.
The beating of the song seemed to increase in rhythm, picking up pace by the second.
🎶 DRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 🎵🎵
In a breath, he was already meters away from her, the Weave in his hand burning so brightly before flames roared outward towards her direction, enveloping the area in a bright inferno.
But she was already long gone.
Looking upwards, Elias watched as she fell towards him with her dagger clenched with both hands, her face deranged.
As if she couldn't wait to put it in his skull.
He shot backwards, dodging narrowly as the weapon struck the ground instead.
BAM
The dagger shattered on impact, the metal breaking off into tiny metallic shrapnels as the impact rattled the room, rocks the size of boulders shooting out of the ground into the air, before crashing downwards and breaking off into tiny stones, forming a cloud of dust.
Elias moved immediately, his other hand clenched tight into a fist as he brought it to her face, the area around him burning like an inferno.
Surprisingly, she didn't try to escape the ring of flames; rather, she did the exact opposite.
She raised her hand, stopping his punch with one of her own.
BOOM BOOM BAM
Soon they had exchanged dozens of blows, then a dozen more...
Their speed seemed to leave behind faint distortions, their bodies blurring into afterimages.
Elias narrowed his eyes, watching as her skin burnt and blackened under the heat of the fire.
Yet the craze in her eyes only seemed to be ignited, as if the flames were adding fuel to her madness.
'She is totally nuts!'
Even Elias couldn't help but admit it to himself now. Why the hell won't she give up? She was going to die at this rate!
She seemed to realize that too, because soon she changed her tactics.
Jumping meters into the air away from the reach of the flames, the golden wire gauze wrapped around both her arms unwound, curling about in the air before shooting towards him like tentacles.
🎶 SSSSSSSSSSSSS 🎵🎵
They gave off a sound like that of the hissing of snakes, making Elias feel as though a thousand worms were crawling across his skin.
Sidestepping and moving fluidly between attacks, he did his best to dodge the onslaught, a trail of sweat sliding down his face from the frantic assault as they made to wrap around him.
'Dammit, I am going to be overwhelmed at this rate.'
This time, she stood at a distance away from the flames, strips of golden wire emanating from both her hands as she controlled them towards his direction.
However, her face was pale now, making Elias realize she couldn't keep the artifact active for long.
'But I doubt I will last longer. Shit!'
One of the wires slapped against him like a whip, blasting him in the opposite direction.
He shot backwards with the speed of a freight train...
BOOM BOOM BAM
Then blasted his way into the wall, crashing inwards before falling to the ground in a mess.
Standing shakily on his feet, he looked at the thick concentration of golden wires thrashing towards him, their momentum causing the air to whistle as they moved with incomprehensible speed.
Elias felt his mind slow again to the last few seconds.
He didn't know the ranking of the artifact, but it had to be pretty high to be capable of something like this. But yet no matter how powerful, all artifacts fall under one absolute rule.
They only function when they sing.
Now take that away from them...
His eyes narrowed, swirling like a void.
"Hollow Requiem."
For a moment, it felt as though the world had frozen over, as if something absolute was being rewritten.
It was an unnatural stillness, felt so palpably that it seemed to leave behind an empty and hollow impression upon the fabric of existence.
The song of the artifact stopped instantly, almost as though it had never existed as silence reigned supreme.
Elias felt the domain ripple around him, before spreading outward and covering Leona within its depths.
Her eyes widened, her face turning bloodless almost like she couldn't breathe.
The moment the golden wires fell uselessly to the ground, Elias finally made his move.
He deactivated the skill, arriving towards her face in the moment she stood frozen, his hand already thrust forward as he made to wrap his hand around her neck.
But just as it was within reach...
A greenish-yellow Resonance String appeared in front of her at the last moment, ringing with a sound like that of funeral bells.
🎵 DONG DONG DONG 🎶🎶
Elias felt as though he was caught in a trance, the world slowing to a crawl.
Hundreds of specter-like beings seemed to manifest into existence, surrounding him like a whirlwind of ghostly fog.
Their horrid, nightmarish voices tore through his mind.
"Give up."
"You will never win. Embrace your death."
"Feeling asleep forever, how sweet."
"Don't resist. Exhausting yourself will only make you die tired."
He gritted his teeth.
'As if!'
Letting his Weave appear in his hands again, he roared in his head, his voice carrying tyrannical will.
'Sonic Skill: Steady Tempo!'
The Weave rang with a sound like that of consistent drumbeats.
🎶 DUM DUM DUM 🎵🎵
The ghostly wraiths shrieked, the illusion dissolving as his eyes regained clarity.
In the same breath, he successfully clamped his hand around her neck...
And bashed her against the wall.
BAM
For the first time, a loud yelp escaped her lips, her eyes nearly rolling backwards towards her skull.
Looking at her body now charred and burnt while she looked like a pathetic mess, Elias released his hold, her body falling to the ground and her eyes shutting closed.
Sparing her a glance for a few seconds while half wondering what turned her to such a suicidal maniac, Elias finally turned to look at Henry, who was looking over with a frozen expression on his face.
Elias didn't even realize when he must have stood on his feet.
Turning away, he began to walk towards the door.
"Your Echo is gonna die if you keep standing there like an idi–"
Elias stopped, feeling his head throbbing slightly.
'Seems I will never escape the fate of being dumb.'
Almost at the door, Elias didn't spare a glance behind him, but Henry's shaken voice still cut across the room to reach him.
"We are having a meet-up tomorrow. Be on time."
Elias raised two fingers into the air, opening the door to step outside into the hallway.
'I better go grab a bite or two from the cafeteria. It should be time for lunch about now.'
He followed the arrow for a few minutes, walking through the gleaming hallways.
"Say, Nova, who is the most gorgeous person to ever exist."
[Beauty is relative, Elias Verdan.]
Elias rubbed his chin.
"So who do you consider as the most handsome?"
[...]
[You, Elias Verdan, are the most gorgeous, ravishing, and handsome young man to ever walk the Earth. Absolutely no one comes close!]
His lips curled into a grin.
"Hehehe... I think I am gonna like you!"