Chapter 325: Warm Feeling

[Void]

With the sound of explosion and sword clashing vibrated throughout the air, both Hibiki and Alda were having an intense sword fight between them

With a slash from Hibiki, rocks and dirt would get blasted away due to it's force, with an impact from Alda the ground would crack till it can't hold anymore

Alda was determined to kill Hibiki, while Hibiki was adamant to even hurt his friends whom he had once killed, after all such an event was traumatizing even for him

As Hibiki drew back his pace, Alda would always step it up a notch and kept attacking like there's no tomorrow, this clearly shows just how much hatred and grudge that Alda bores to Hibiki

With a charge Alda slashed down his two swords while immediately shooting out it's aura to suppress Hibiki's movement, on the other hand Hibiki would always placed his sword vertically aligned to his body and blocked it while having his whole body to support the impact

Upon collision the ground cracked and forming a crater before getting blasted away upon the intense pressure that Alda inputs in his attacks

With a shout Hibiki quickly pushes Alda away while stretching out his other hand and drew one electrified light orb

"Orb of light (maximum power)!!!"

With a throw Hibiki then directed such attack towards Alda while giving chase using his speed and cover it up with various attack to prevent Alda from escaping, of course knowing this Alda became furious as he then summoned a phantom to appear behind him as he casted a spell

"Sword God's entity!!!"

As his aura once more flickering due to the sudden power up, Alda then bursted out again as his drew up dust and wind around him while giving off a deadly vibe

Placing his hands unto the hilt of his sword, he then begun looking it up towards the attack as his eyes flickered with power

"Sword dance!!!"

Stepping it up Alda drew his sword as he slashed the orb of light causing it to explode and him taking damage while keeping the momentum to charge it out with the cover and attack Hibiki in an extremely unpredictable manner

Unexpectedly Hibiki was caught off guard as Alda moved l around him and attacked him in all direction leaving no room for a breather

Due to it Hibiki was left in his defensive state as he tried to endure the damage and Injuries that he would receive from Alda's attacks

As Alda slashed his legs, an stinging pain then got transmitted throughout his body which really shaken him up since Alda almost cuts his tendons, feeling that pain Hibiki then spreads out his wings and shooted out multiple light Ray's all over the place which destroyed their vicinity

Luckily Alda was able to get away from that range of attacks as he drew up his sword and slashed down causing his Mana to form of a wave and be directed towards Hibiki

"Sword wave!!!"

With an explosion once more, Hibiki then finally fell on his knees as he heaved heavily from all the injuries and intense battle he had

In fact compared to Raguel who have experience bon fighting and brawling, him on the other hand seemed to have been quite  untrained after all the months and days that he was in inactivity which even prolonged into more than a year of conscious imprisonment

Seeing Hibiki down on his knees while bleeding profusely, Alda then begin to walk around his diameter of sight as he placed his on sword above his shoulder while looking down at Hibiki

"How does it feel?"

"....."

"How does it feel to have someone you know hurt you?"

"....."

"Can't even answer? Fine... I'll answer it out for you even though you wouldn't admit it"

"....."

"It hurts isn't it? It seems like you've gone down a notch after the battle back on the Demon Continent... Where is the spark that you've shown that can destroy mountains and split the ground up? I would've really like to see that"

At that moment Hibiki tried to speak while spitting out blood the clogged his throat

"It's... Me Hibiki!"

"Hibiki? I know... I know that damned angel, Celestial being, winged race guy or whatsoever was annihilated in that war... In fact you a Hibiki that I recognized is back... But that doesn't change the fact that it is your own body that made me tremble in anger"

"... I..."

"I've... Imprinted your face in my mind, I couldn't help it... That face of yours that I saw that day was the most despised face I have ever seen... That face and image was the thing that killed Mia, I don't know how to revert my rage, all I can do is directed them to the only person I hated the most... But now his gone"

"... I've made you suffer so much... I'm sorry"

"Shut up..."

"Alda... If I can make it up somehow... If I can revert time to the way it is back then... I would've chosen to save Mia"

"Shut up!..."

"No matter how many times I revert time again back to the past, I would've still chosen you guys to be my companion's... That's how much you guys mean to me"

"I said shut up!!! Can't you understand that?"

"No... The day I've returned control over my body, the day I'm finally free... I have witnessed everything... Day and night it haunted me, the cries of the people I've killed, the wails of the family that was left behind, and the Expression of everybody that was tired of living... All of them were imprinted unto me"

"Shut up!!!"

At this moment Alda charged up towards Hibiki as he slashed down his sword and aimed at Hibiki's body

Seeing that Hibiki would have block it by now, but waved that thought away as he let Alda injure him once more, after all he can't afford to drew his sword towards them

With a slash metal and blood spilled all over as Alda's sword finally got drenched by Hibiki's blood

"You... Why didn't you block it? Why didn't you fight back!!!" Shouted Alda

Hearing that Hibiki gave him a smile as he said

"Injure me! Hit me! Stab me! I'll let you vent your frustration on me... I'm too tired of this charade"

As he said that Hibiki showed him his tired expression that he showed towards Kaido when the latter visited him in his cottage

"... You... fight back! Fight back I tell you!!! Fight back!!!... Cause if not then... My anger would be unjustified..." Said Alda as he felt shocked upon seeing Hibiki's tired Expression which he saw everyday during his adventurer days when a party member of a certain group of people would die cause of an accident

With a shout of frustration Alda held his sword and continued to pour down attacks on Hibiki thus creating more injuries all over his body, in fact he even directed to an attacks in his vital spots

Due to anger Alda slashed his sword towards Hibiki's face which left a cut on the latter's head near his eyes which then bleeds out and quite stunned him

Seeing that he then begun to back away as his motivation to attack finally crumbled down upon seeing the sorrowful, tired, depressed expression of Hibiki that showed how much he haven't tested even one bit due to the horror he witnessed

In fact unknown to him Hibiki haven't been sleeping well as at some times he would stay up awake all knight, sometimes he would only gets a one hour sleep, and sometimes he would cry while closing his eyes

The trauma and suffering he had witnessed during the days that Raguel controlled his body left Hibiki unto that state, in fact it was much better if he hadn't returned in control of his body at all

"I'm truly such a pitiful person... Your anger must have been amplified by the void, of course your anger wasn't misdirected, it's just that... It's lost its purpose... Please direct it to me"

At that moment Alda walked all over his area as he shouted and continued to slash the ground near him in frustration

"Why? Why? Why?... Why have you returned now? You could've... Ahhhhh!!!!" Shouted Alda in his rage and destroyed one section of the field

At that time Mia came from afar and finally stood in between the raging Alda and the injured Hibiki

Seeing her approaching Hibiki couldn't even look at her straight in the eyes as he quickly averted his gaze causing Mia to atleast confirmed that it was Hibiki

As for Alda seeing Mia approaching Hibiki, he couldn't help but tear up a little as he doesn't know how to vent his frustration anymore

"If I revived with the purpose of avenging my death and Mia's death while having you surrender... Then what was the purpose of it all if you just gave up just like that?... With that kind of expression your showing me,it made me feel like I'm not in any way better than Raguel... It disgust me to the bone" complained Alda as he dropped his sword and held his head up in frustration

As for Mia after glancing at Alda, she then directed her gaze towards Hibiki as she crouched down and tapped him in the head

But no matter she do, she can't even force Hibiki to look at her

"Hibiki... Your back aren't you? Your the Hibiki i know and not some imposter aren't you"

But upon hearing that Hibiki closed his eyes tightly as he felt nostalgic upon hearing Mia's voice and somehow remembered her tragic ending

At this moment Hibiki's voice cracked as he teared up

"Mia... I'm sorry... It's all my fault that you died, if only I was strong enough not to fall into greed and jealousy, if only I didn't feel Inferior, then by now we would still be that wonderful party that was all smiles and no worry... Why? Why? Did it go this way? I was meant to protect people and yet I killed those who defy me... I..."

At that thought Mia's expression suddenly softened as she stroke his hair that was losing it's brightness which also made Alda surprised by her actions

With the void energy she was revived, and her feelings of loss and defiance to death was amplified causing her to be angry towards the person called Raguel

But since Raguel was now gone and Hibiki have returned, it wasn't right at all to direct her anger towards a person who have to suffer the backlash of all Raguel have done, it would just put him into so much more depression later on and Mia doesn't want to be the person that was the reason for it's death

"Hibiki... It's not your fault, it's that Raguel's fault, you don't have to carry it's burden, only Raguel would carry it to his grave... You are you, Hibiki is Hibiki, Raguel is Raguel, the two of you are a different person, you don't have to worry yourself towards the sins of another"

Hearing that even Alda was surprised as he felt a sudden guilt from what Mia has said

"Mia... I'm sorry... I'm sorry!" Cried Hibiki

Seeing him tear up, Mia couldn't help but pity someone who have to burden it all, with an emotion that wasn't amplified by the void called sadness, Mia then came in and hugged Hibiki as the latter freely cried in her embrace

Of course Alda sniffed as he saw Hibiki's state but later on was then called by Mia

"Alda!"

"Yes?"

"It's enough isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean is it's enough, Raguel is gone, our purpose is also gone, it's time to rest" said Mia which then made Hibiki tremble as he said

"Are you guys..."

Noticing that Hibiki was trembling in fright, Mia then held unto his hands as she said

"It's okay! This time your kit simply gonna kill us, your gonna liberate us from being controlled, since I'm already dead then I should return to being dead... The dead couldn't live with the living, I'll miss you and Lily, but this will be my stop"

Upon hearing that Alda then went over as he asked

"Mia! Are you sure?"

In response Mia nodded as she was resolute on her decision

With that Mia pulled Hibiki up on his knees while placing his sword on his hand and taking a few steps away while spreading out her arms

"Hibiki... Please release me from this suffering"

Seeing that tears suddenly swelled up once again as Hibiki closed his eyes and stabbed Mia straight to her heart which cuts off all her connections to the void

With a satisfied expression Mia leaned over at Hibiki, causing the latter to catch her as she muttered in her dying breath

"Thank you... Hibiki... Take care of Lily for me..."

With that Mia once more died in Hibiki's hands as she turned to dust upon the consequence of being corroded by the void

Of course Hibiki once more cried due to this

As for Alda he then approached Hibiki as he said

"It's time for me to follow her, Hibiki! Beat up that Asuto guy's ass for me will you?"

While trembling and crying Hibiki nodded

With the help from Alda Hibiki them stabbed through Alda's heart thus cutting his connection to the void

In his last words Alda said

"I'm sorry for directing all my anger to you bro... Till we meet again..."

With that just like Mia, Alda then turned to dust as he followed her to the afterlife

With trembling hands Hibiki then dropped the sword as he fell on his knees and cried as he was thankful for both Mia and Alda's forgiveness

With all of that sorrow he was now going to direct his anger all towards Asuto but with last words  of parting

Hibiki mumbled something towards the dead

"Thank you"

[Raiding army left: 549,572]

[Enemies Left: 499,069,141]

[Time left before the awakening: 4 minutes left execution phase (frozen)]