Chapter 36

Even though the battle had been going on for about ten minutes, my mind was still stuck in this 'prophecy' that Nashia kept talking about. Was it related to my mother's death? What is this prophecy and why is Nashia stopping it from happening? I have tons of questions that I want answers too, but their battle woke me up from my drowning thoughts.

After Nashia's power up, Vivian was losing. I could feel each strike Nashia does have a tremendous amount of power behind them. Even though it seemed that Vivian was beating Nashia because she was on the offense, Vivian was the one getting beat up from fatigue and Nashia's claws.

Vivian tried to dodge Nashia's claws that were aimed at her left ribs. However, Nashia's tail wrapped itself on Vivian's ankle. The claws reached her left side, leaving a gaping wound that almost exposed her heart. Almost was not the right word for it because I could see her beating heart.

Before Nashia could release another claw attack aimed at her heart, Vivian roared while she unleashed a powerful wave of holy magic around us, pushing Nashia away from her. As soon as Nashia was away from her, Vivian began to heal her wound. But she was so tired and had been using her mana for a while now that her healing was growing weaker.

I clicked my tongue while Nashia laughed at Vivian's struggle.

"What's wrong? You wanted me to come at you. So why are you the one struggling to stay alive?" Nashia mocked. Before Vivian could make a move, I charged forward at her.

Nashia flicked her wrist and countless blasts of demon magic were being hurled at me. I dodged the attacks and got behind Nashia. As I was about to swing my blade at her neck, her wings struck me face on, pushing me away from Nashia's back. Meanwhile, Vivian was fully healed and she got in front of Nashia. I saw hesitation and doubt clouding Nashia's eyes as she tried to predict Vivian's attack. Was she going to swing her weapon? Or was she going to blast another magic from up close? However, Vivian did neither.

She stopped in front of Nashia and smiled at her. Before Nashia could say a word or understood what was about to happen, my sword pierced through her back. I was planning to aim it at her heart, but her wings were blocking the way. I swung my sword upwards, cutting Nashia in half. She screamed in agony as blood squirted from her half body. Vivian unleashed a powerful magic attack from up close, blasting it on the face of Nashia. I don't know what kind of magic attack was that, but white flames burned her body, making the Queen of Hell scream from the pain she was experiencing.

Then, her scream of terror turned into laughter. The white flames turned into crimson flames. The flames reattached her half body until she was completely healed. She cracked her neck left and right while letting out a chuckle for our attempt.

"You seriously think that an easy attack could kill me?" Nashia asked, while still laughing like a maniac. "You gotta try better than that, girls."

If none of our attacks were working, then what else would work? I looked at Vivian and she looked at me. I knew what was going through our minds. If we want to kill each other, we have to deal with Nashia first. As much as I hated it, we had no other choice but to work together to defeat this demon in our sight.

Vivian stood tall. She summoned a holy sword in her hand. I mirrored her movements, summoning my own sword made from dark magic. Nashia didn't need a weapon. Her claws were sharp and heavy enough to be used as her weapon.

The two of us charged at Nashia, swinging our blades against the Queen of Hell. As our blades and her claws clashed at each other, the screeching sound of metal going against metal echoed throughout the tower, making the demons flinch from the sound. Each strike we unleashed made the floor tremble and the air heavy. I imbued mana to my sword and my body, making my raw strength heavy and stronger than before. Nashia struggled to parry my attacks due to the strong impact our blades left. Nashia let her guard down from Vivian for only a tiny bit fraction of a second, but that was all Vivian needed to lunge her holy blade at Nashia's side.

White flames didn't work earlier and knowing that she could turn the white flames into her own, Vivian decided to tighten her grip and deepen the sword at Nashia's flesh while her free hand unleashed a barrage of holy magic right in front of her face.

Meanwhile, I swung my blade faster and harder, cutting Nashia's claws and her whole arms before moving onto her side. A deep, gaping wound from my cuts were left on her body and blood squirted from them, covering me with her stenching blood. I lunged my sword at her heart since I was on Nashia's left side. As I deepened my blade to her insides, Nashia tried to push away from her. But Vivian covered us with holy magic, preventing us from being pushed back. We both knew this was the right moment to unleash a fury of magic attack.

Before Nashia could realize what happened, her head got separated from her torso. Both of our magic were combined and blasted the headless body of Nashia. In a blink of an eye, her body was gone while her head was still rolling away on the ground.

"Finally…" Vivian said, struggling to form words due to how tired she felt. "I need rest before I could kill you."

I chuckled at her words. "This vengeance would be boring if I kill you while you're tired. I would rather fight you in your full strength to make the end of my journey fun."

Just as we thought everything was over, Nashia quickly jumped on the battlefield with her half recovered body. Before we could make a move, she hurled a black, rusty sword at me. However, Vivian pushed me aside, the sword lunging into her instead.

Nashia laughed loudly at us. "Goodluck trying to save your aunt, little Ashe. I shall see you on the last floor of this tower!" Then she left. I tried to hit her with my own magic, but she flew so fast that my magic just hit the wall of the tower instead.

"Damn it!" I groaned loudly. I tried to use my mana to heal her, but it was no use. I was about to use a potion that I never got to use during the fight with Cecilia, but Vivian stopped me and shook her head.

"It's too late. This sword is no ordinary sword. This is a sword that destroys one's soul. No matter how strong they are, if a sword hits you or cuts you even a little, the soul will be corrupted until it is destroyed." Vivian said.

She was right. I could see her mana core slowly cracking, her life force disappearing faster. Vivian chuckled despite her condition and looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She muttered enough for me to hear.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for killing your mother, little Ashe." She said.

"Why… are you apologizing, you monster?" Fury and sadness overwhelmed me, but I kept my calm.

Vivian struggled to let a word out. "I knew it was wrong. But she wanted it to fulfill the prophecy." She finally said.

"What is this prophecy? What does it have to do with you betraying my mother?"

Vivian sighed. At that moment, I saw the sincerity of her smile. Her eyes were filled with sadness, yet relief was visible in her expression.

"Remember when I said anything happens for a reason?" I nodded. "Your mother's death… She planned it."

My eyes went wide. "What do you mean, Vivian? Tell me!" I roared.

Vivian was staring above as if she was reminiscing a memory… An event in her life that had happened which led us here to this day.

"Long ago…" She said. "Me and your mother stumbled upon a prophecy."