Chapter 44: The cost of Survival

Xerxes held Leiya, his eyes wide with disbelief. Conrad had just been murdered in the most gruesome way, and it made Xerxes realise that within this fallen kingdom, there were a few words that described it—harrowing, debilitating, and terrorising.

Amongst all the words that came to mind, the one that held the most precedence was 'loss'. First, Xerxes had caused the ones he had loved to experience loss, and now Xerxes was punished with that very same feeling.

It was as if he couldn't take his eyes off the sight he had just seen, as if staying still, trapped in time, would reverse or even dismiss what had just happened.

Leiya whispered a word that shook the permanence Xerxes was attempting to uphold in his head, "Dad?"

Looking at Leiya, Xerxes saw her mouth open, the words to formulate an expression of rage or grief stuck. She gnashed her teeth, grinding them as if sharpening her fangs to devour Yves for what he had just done.

"He killed him, Xerxes... Yves just killed my dad. THAT BASTARD KILLED HIM!" Leiya shrieked, sounding more monster than human. She pushed Xerxes aside and began stumbling forward, dragging her feet through the broken earth.

What could Xerxes say? He didn't blame her for wanting to kill him. After all this time, Xerxes wondered about a particular question he had asked Aemon: Would I ever want to kill someone, like how I wanted to kill monsters?

That answer was finally given to him. Not only did he want to kill him, he wanted to give him a punishment more severe than that. If he had the power, he pictured commanding the flames of the entire sun to melt Yves' flesh. He'd incinerate the blood in his veins, turn the air in his lungs to fire—then he would finally be given justice.

Though, life wasn't that simple. He couldn't, and he knew that. If Aemon was struggling, then what could Xerxes possibly do? He wanted more than anything to kill him, just like Leiya.

"Leiya… don't, please. You're going to die. I can't let that bastard take you."

Furrowing her eyebrows and screaming with rage, she spat, "What the hell would you know, Xerxes! You've never lost anything meaningful to you. You're just a kid who wants somewhere to belong, but how can you if you've never had anywhere!"

Jabbing a finger towards Yves, she continued, "I'm losing everything standing here, and I don't care if I die, because he's only going to take more! If you try to stop me, Xerxes, I'll never forgive you."

The words struck Xerxes harder than anything he could have ever anticipated. Maybe she was right. Maybe he didn't know what it was like to lose something on this scale. But despite that, he wasn't going to diminish Aemon's wishes. He wasn't going to let Leiya die.

Tears began streaming down Xerxes' face as he drew his blade. "Don't make me do this, Leiya. Don't make me fight you to keep you alive."

**

Aemon looked in horror as his son's life was mercilessly taken from him, the person Aemon was stripping away piece by piece. The joyous and cordial old man he had been began to disappear.

A cyclone of mana, fuelled by pure and uncharted hatred, began pouring from Aemon's body, eliminating any ounce of compassion he had held for his younger brother. He wasn't family anymore—he was simply an enemy whom he sought to kill.

"First Palm of Truth: Open," Aemon stated. The mana circulating around him and the binds of darkness that locked him in place began shedding, as more information was pouring through his mind.

Aemon now understood what he had to do to escape. By specifically increasing his mana output whilst disrupting Yves' concentration, he would break free.

That was exactly what he did. Yves grinned from ear to ear. "This is it, Aemon. Look, I'm making you more human—thank me. TELL ME YOU THANK ME FOR KILLING YOUR SON."

Aemon stood and looked at his hand, tears drifting upwards alongside the currents of mana that surged around him. Then, like a crack of lightning, Aemon appeared in front of Yves. Attempting to slash at him, Yves swung his sword, amplifying the ferocity with his shadows.

Aemon slid under the attack and pointed his index and middle finger upwards. The unrestrained danger Yves felt was palpable. Fire sprang from Aemon's fingers as a concentrated beam of pressurised water cut through Yves' sword, shattering it.

Using wind to lift himself up, Aemon used the momentum to strike an elbow right across Yves' jaw. Aemon then opened his palm. "Blinding Light." Fire began eradicating the shadows, blinding Yves and weakening him.

Then, Aemon amplified his body with all varieties of mana and expertise he had achieved through hundreds of years of living on the planet, and delivered a flurry of punches directly across Yves' body, causing blood to sprout from his mouth.

Knowing he couldn't let this last, Yves leapt back and created distance. Then, he placed his hand on the floor. "Puppeteer's Shroud." From his body, strings of thousands of shadows began painting the floor black as they travelled from mana beasts to humans in the Truth Kingdom, controlling each and every one of them.

Then, he clenched his hands. Hundreds, if not thousands, of humans and mana beasts began rushing towards Aemon.

Aemon looked around and saw the oncoming threat. He would have to kill the mana beasts whilst sparing the lives of all those he had come to protect. Exhaling, Aemon's eyes traced across the battlefield. He would kill the beasts and subdue the humans.

Activating the Second Palm, Aemon now gained extreme expertise in combat and understood how to effectively kill the beasts while keeping the humans alive. Though knowing how to do it was harder than actually doing it, he didn't have a choice.

Hundreds of beasts closed in on him as Aemon let out a battle cry and began slaughtering beast after beast. Citizens of the kingdom looked on in fear as Aemon rushed towards them, either knocking them out or using more force to render them harmless.

Yves then laughed as he mocked Aemon. "GOOD LUCK, BROTHER. I'LL TAKE MY FUN SOMEWHERE ELSE." He then dashed with incredible speed, and the people he was targeting were Xerxes and Leiya.

**

Xerxes spoke mentally to Airi. Airi, Aemon has his hands full. If I fight Leiya now, I won't be able to keep track of the battle. I need to keep her safe, damn it. I can't let Aemon worry about us, so I need to end this quickly.

Airi replied, Fusing with your body drained nearly all I had. I'm sorry, Xerxes, I can't help. I need to save the remnants of my power for the actual threat. I can sense your guilt, Xerxes. I'm so sorry. She repeated.

It wasn't her fault. Xerxes knew that. It wasn't anyone's fault. "If you go through with this, Leiya, you'll only be killing yourself. You saved me once. You taught me how to live again after everything was torn from me. Let me have the chance to help you."

His words were meaningless. Leiya generated water and formed it around her fists. Xerxes raised his blade, ready to parry as she dashed in and drove her fist forward. Xerxes tried to angle his blade, but he had forgotten one key thing.

She was wearing the earring, and in times of turmoil, it provided the user with even more power. Her speed and strength were considerably multiplied. Xerxes' eyes widened as the air left his lungs—and it wasn't done yet. That was only her fist. Following that, a second shockwave of power released from the water, propelling Xerxes back.

Xerxes clutched his stomach and began running in an arc to offset Leiya's footwork. When he found the opening, he went in. Jumping into the air, Xerxes raised his sword, imbuing it with flames, and used Conrad's sword style.

Landing a metre or two away, he flashed—with the aid of the Orion's Hunt style—behind Leiya, using his speed and agility. Then, he struck Leiya with the flat side of the blade against her back. She stumbled forward before generating an aerial whip of water that slashed across Xerxes' chest, causing blood to pour from the wound.

It was hard fighting when he had to hold back. Airi shouted, giving him no time to rest. A BEAST IS COMING! Xerxes looked over his shoulder and noticed seven beasts, their maws stained with blood.

Generating fire in his hands, Xerxes pivoted on his back foot and unleashed flames imbued with wind directly at the beasts charging at him like steeds, incinerating them all. But that was all the time Leiya needed to close in.

With water still hovering over her right hand, she threw a cross towards Xerxes' face. Knowing he wouldn't be able to evade, Xerxes pushed back the force of her punch with wind. Not only did it shake the water from her hand, but it also significantly reduced the potency of the attack.

Still, it didn't mean the punch didn't hurt like hell. Xerxes then dove forward and slammed his forehead against Leiya's nose. As she dropped to one knee, Xerxes pointed his sword forward.

If they hadn't known each other beforehand, how would the battle have turned out? Xerxes wondered. Would Leiya have killed him if she disregarded who he was? Would he have done the same? It didn't matter. This wasn't about a show of abilities. It wasn't about winning or losing—it was about survival.

"Leiya, I'm not going to fight you anymore. Don't make this hard for me. Please, let's just do as Aemon says. Let's just—"

Leiya's expression then turned to horror as she saw what was behind him. "XERXES! XERXES, MOVE!"

Xerxes quickly looked back as the man who had spawned like a nightmare loomed over him, watching his every move, hearing his every word. Ready to silence them, he muttered the word: "Decay."

Xerxes looked at Yves in horror. Mana rippled up his arm as he extended it. Though the mana couldn't be filtered through his soul core, Xerxes tried whatever he could to survive, attempting to draw it from the mana point on his hand and instantly expel it.

Tearing and burning his arm, unfiltered mana—raw mana—began streaming out of Xerxes' arm. It didn't feel like fire, water, wind, or earth. It was pure mana, so intense it practically tore the skin from Xerxes' arm and blackened it.

Yves, not expecting it, was blown back by an explosion of force that surpassed Tier 5 mana. As Yves crashed through the castle, debris rained from the sky, impossible to escape. 

But Xerxes' eyes almost rolled back, as he screamed in a pain that was so unique but searing, he felt as if his soul core was awakening once more.

However, that wasn't the case, Xerxes was just the first man to utilise raw mana willingly.