Lucid floated in an endless dark void. Time stretched within that moment. He thought of everything that had transpired. How a single plan of stealing a small blueprint led him to this. A terrorist attack. You could not make it up. But alas, it was true. It was real.
He thought of Alice. He had managed to briefly meet her. The way he had swayed her, manipulated her needs to benefit him directly. Now she was gone. That brief moment where she hung behind him, supporting him, felt so warm. It felt real.
He muttered in the void while floating.
"I hate her. She's so childish. Annoying. She acts like a saint, but she is so..."
He muttered under his breath. He clapped his own cheek.
'Why did I think of her? She was only temporary. She was a tool to be used, something to be used then thrown away. Her feelings, I did not care for her. Especially how she wanted me to submit to her, to devote my being to her. She even took control of my emotions. Who was she, of all people?'
'But why do I care?'
The question came back again.
"To get revenge, obviously."
Another voice answered his thoughts. A perfect imitation of his own.
"To get revenge? To whom? Toward the ones that betrayed you?"
"The ones that betrayed me."
"Why?"
"Well, I fought hard and they shut the door on me. Left me to be..."
Memories resurfaced. A door being shut. Him getting dragged away and torn by some beast. He gritted his teeth.
"If you want revenge, why are you accompanying an individual and helping another divinity toward its resurrection? Then why are you helping people?"
"Who says I am helping people?"
"You are. Did you not help your little group?"
Lucid looked down into the darkness.
"You betrayed them, did you not? So what makes you, or rather what gives you the right to pursue vengeance toward them, especially when you betrayed another group of yours here in another world?"
"Enough! Who the hell are you?"
He turned to look at the source of the voice. He saw a string. Golden string.
"Me? Well, I am you, Lucid. And you are me."
He did not buy it. Why would he? It was the same golden thread he saw when he had died the previous time. But he did not die this time. What was this thing?
Before he could reach for it, the world crashed down on itself. The void collapsed as the voice carried one final question.
"What do you want the most?"
"What?"
Before he could answer, he was dragged up into existence. He fell down, his limbs flailing as he hit the ground with a thud.
He raised his head. He saw two figures on the ground. Two painfully familiar figures. Frederick and Ayame. And another on the tree. Another with its sword raised. 'What had I wanted in that moment ever since this twisted journey? Surely it had to be more than revenge.'
Before he could answer himself, he took a step. One foot in front of the other. It became an awkward stagger, an awkward walk as his hands swayed slightly. Then he ran toward this source of destruction, this source of divinity, this source of true power.
He spoke aloud, breathless.
"I want to... I want to prove that I am not a coward. That I am capable. That they could rely on me. That... that..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Ayame noticed. Her eyes lit up. She yelled.
"Run, Lucid! Run away!"
Lucid saw his companion turn. He was a bloody mess. Fredrick looked back, face contorted in horror.
"Run, you idiot!"
Lucid briefly faltered. The menacing figure that had its sword withdrawn raised it up. He saw the princess. One from the memories of that girl he inherited. All of it clashed down together. The princess was going to die.
He broke into a desperate run. One foot in front of the other.
'I admit that I am scared.'
He held back tears. He held back the scared feeling deep within his heart.
'But I promise. This time, it will be different.'
He reached forward with his hand. A stupid gesture. A stupid thing.
The silver-clad figure turned its head toward him with frightening speed. For a moment, the sword hung in the air, then twisted. The arc moved toward him.
Ayame yelled. Fredrick yelled.
His hand was enveloped by blue light.
'Huh? My left hand is burning...'
He looked confused.
'Why is it not healing?'
His hand was gone. The flame threatened to crawl up his neck.
The worst part was the figure did not even swing its sword. It was only the excess embers, the aura of the sword that did that. 'How will the attack actually look like,' he thought.
But he did not care. He had to go. He had to reach the princess. He had to close this rift. He had something that could fix this. He could not quite grasp his hand at it, but he knew he could fix this.
He twisted. He summoned a chain. He threw it toward the head. It shattered into bits of pieces of sharp gleaming shards. The sword still hung atop the paladin's head, not moving, preparing some charged attack.
Lucid summoned two more chains. They were useless as they shattered as soon as they entered the vicinity. But one went through.
He pulled and hauled himself past her in such speed. Before an explosion of blue light and flames resonated behind him, they passed each other. A moment of eyes crossing each other.
The figure twisted in superhuman speed. Swung its sword.
Lucid summoned the Pierced Spine and parried it. The weapon shattered upon impact.
He laughed out of disbelief. His arm healed slowly. He dodged to the right, but he was caught by an invisible slash that lopped off his healed arm.
Just as that happened, Lucid feinted. "Maximum output!"
"Divine Wrath!"
He punched. The figure blocked with their sword. A slight crack could be seen, but it was not enough. It launched Lucid back as it swung the sword again.
Lucid, in that moment in the air floating, looked down. They were preparing another attack.
He gritted his teeth. He summoned another chain. A spear. He wrapped the chain at the end of the spear, winding it. He used the momentum to counter while gripping with both of his hands to control. He swung it.
It was useless. The paladin cut the spear. But not the chain.
"Yes!" Lucid yelled.
It wrapped around the tree bark. He launched himself, hopping through the air.
A cut in the air sliced Lucid's shoulder. His arms separated from his body. He winced, but it was almost done. He was heading toward the princess. She needed to be touched. A single touch. That was all he needed to gain access to her soulscape or whatever it was.
The paladin spoke, voice formal and absolute.
"What dost thou hope to gain out of this? Surrender. I do not wish to kill thee."
As she saw what Lucid was doing, they immediately reacted. It cut Lucid in half. His legs flew uselessly to the other side. He fell down with his upper torso.
Fredrick yelled. Ayame yelled. It looked like he had been cut in two.
But Lucid laughed inside his head.
'That's almost the second time someone has done that today. I wonder how much the stab counter is.'
He thought grimly. He reached forward with the stump of his arm. Blood trailing. White light flickering weakly, trying to regenerate.
He touched the princess.
Everything went white.