A few monts prior.
"What do you think happened to Julien...?"
The question ca from out of nowhere. It was sothing that each was curious about, but didn’t dare voice out. The relationship between the three had changed over the years. With Aoife busy handling her duties, and the two taking care of their territories, they didn’t have as much ti to talk with each other.
"It’s obvious that he’s changed. Do you think he’s the sa person that we know?"
Aoife’s question pulled the group into a brief silence.
"...."
Evelyn slowed to a stop, the heavy scent of iron and dust clinging to the air, mingling with the faint warmth of the sun filtering in. She took in the surroundings with a cautious glance before giving a small shake of her head.
"No, I don’t think so."
Evelyn had long understood that Julien carried his own secrets. The boy she had known in their youth was not the sa as the man she had co to know later.
Aoife was also of the sa opinion. She too knew about the fact that the Julien that she knew wasn’t the ’real’ Julien.
That was why she clung to the hope that it really wasn’t him.
And yet—
Thinking about the possibility that it was truly him, Aoife felt her chest ache. She really wanted to be wrong. After all, despite all of their differences, he was a person that had helped her grow.
He was soone that she truly trusted.
’Please let be wrong.’
The sa was true for Kiera as she didn’t say a word, her gaze silently locked towards the distance.
She too... hoped it was all fake, or so sort of sche.
"Hm?" Aoife suddenly stopped, looking up as her eyes narrowed. "I can feel fluctuations coming from the distance," she muttered, her hair fluttering in the wind as her gaze lingered over a certain building.
Her heart raced as she turned and looked to her sides.
A pair of familiar figures appeared.
They too stared into the distance with certain frowns.
"I can feel it too."
"...I think Leon managed to find Julien. They should be in the middle of a fight."
The fluctuations were wild, and they could reach all the way towards where they were. Aoife turned her attention behind her, right where her soldiers appeared. There were quite a few of them, each stronger than the other.
The issue, however, lay in the fact that there were many of them.
’At the rate that we’re moving, we won’t be able to make it towards where Leon is.’
Aoife had full faith in Leon’s abilities. However, she also understood Julien’s abilities. He wasn’t soone that they could simply dismiss, even if they wanted to. In fact, the last ti that she rembered, Julien was stronger than Leon.
The gap wasn’t wide before, but it had started to widen after a while.
Aoife wasn’t exactly sure of Leon’s current strength, as he had been missing for quite so ti, but if there was one thing that she was aware of, it was Julien’s current strength. He had caused quite a lot of stir within the Empire over the past couple of years.
She wasn’t sure, but Aoife had a feeling that Julien was currently at least Tier 8.
Having seen Leon beforehand, she didn’t think he’d be able to last for too long against Julien.
"We should hurry up and help him."
Aoife ca to a decision rather quickly as she turned back to look at her army.
"Try to keep up. I’ll be going first."
Stomping her foot onto the ground, her body shot in the direction of where she felt the fluctuations.
"Wait, where are you going so fast?"
"Aofie!?"
Startled, Kiera and Evelyn hesitated for just a beat, a fraction slower than Aoife, before breaking into a dash toward the sa source of the fluctuations.
As they did, a heavy tension filled the group.
*
BOOOM—!
A distant building disintegrated, and from within its ruins erged a particular figure.
The world ca to a sudden stop.
Their eyes t, and Julien instantly sensed an overwhelming weight pressing down on his body.
"I... finally found you!"
A screeching voice reverberated through the air, and the sky turned a scarlet color.
The pressure that bore down on Julien increased, and she soon appeared before his eyes.
Adorned with flowing, fiery red locks cascading down her back, her hair danced in the sunlight, displaying hues of crimson, copper, and gold, as if flas had been artfully woven into the fibers of her hair.
But it was her eyes that truly attracted Julien’s attention. Gleaming like golden orbs, they possess a depth and brilliance that seed to reflect the distant sun.
"Is that all you have to say to ?"
Her gaze contained a little sothing. It looked like disappointnt and sadness. Perhaps... a little sothing else.
"H—"
Julien’s mouth had just parted open when all of a sudden, the sky, which had previously dyed red, turned a purplish hue, and lightning began to crackle down from the sky.
Cracka! Cracka!
It tore at everything beneath, destroying the buildings and infrastructure with an unstoppable might.
In a matter of monts, the clouds ruptured, unveiling the silhouette of a woman. Her vibrant purple hair swayed gracefully through the expanse of the sky, while her piercing gaze, brimming with an overwhelming sense of animosity, fixated upon .
Cracka! Cracka!
The sky continued to be ravaged by relentless lightning, intensifying the pressure that oppressed every inch of my being. The force was so formidable that Julien could feel it with every inch of his body.
Yet, inexplicably, the individual I was presently "possessing" displayed unwavering stubbornness. Julien’s bones cracked, and he started to have a harder ti standing still under the pressure.
The fight against Leon had consud a lot of his energy.
Yet.
As if what he was experiencing ant nothing.
He remained standing where he was.
"So... you’re finally here too."
His voice carried through the air, reaching the woman with lustrous, purple hair suspended in mid-air.
He wasn’t all that familiar with Aoife, but her...?
He knew her quite well, and seeing how far she had grown and seeing her current strength, he couldn’t help but feel sothing stir within him.
The lightning surrounding Evelyn crackled with increased intensity, while her gaze seethed with amplified hatred. However, she remained immobile, as if she couldn’t move at all.
That was when Julien’s lips curled, and the world underwent another change.
From Red to Purple... to Black.
Abruptly, darkness engulfed his sight, causing the distant city to vanish entirely. The sky dissipated, and everything in my surroundings vanished, leaving only the two won ahead of him.
’Domain...?’
Erging from the depths of the inky abyss, a figure took shape in the distance. Her eyes, a vivid shade of crimson, radiated with an intense luminosity that pierced through the darkness, unveiling a cascade of snowy white hair flowing down her shoulders.
She too...
Looked at him with nothing but hatred.
Feeling all the hatred directed his way, Julien felt his chest stir, not from fear but from excitent.
’They sure must’ve relied on you quite a lot for them to look at like this.’
It was amusing to so extent. Seeing how much they seed to care about the ’person’ that had taken over his body.
His chest stirred further.
It almost...
Made him want to destroy everything that ’he’ had built up.
As such—
"How long has it been since we’ve last been together?"
His mouth parted, his voice coming out clean and crisp. It sounded oddly calm despite the situation he was in.
None of the girls spoke. They just stared at him with the sa expressions on their faces.
Julien’s lips curled further.
"I like those expressions."
The more they acted like this, the more joy he felt.
Soon, his hand reached forward all of a sudden, and the black chalice from before materialized in his hands. Feeling its coarse texture, he took a deep breath. He hadn’t originally planned on consuming the liquid until later, but given the current situation, he had no choice but to do so.
It’d be the only way for him to get out of the situation.
Rumble—! Rumble—!
The appearance of the chalice seed to have triggered sothing as the world suddenly started to quake fiercely.
The girls’ expressions changed dramatically, and the pressure that bore down on him intensified.
Yet, despite it all, Julien remained where he was.
"S-stop!"
Aoife, Evelyn, and Kiera didn’t know exactly what was going on, but from the wild fluctuations coming from the Chalice, they understood that it was an artifact of extre value. They couldn’t allow him to consu whatever was inside.
"Fuck, stop this bastard!"
Strings of curses flew his way, but the only response was a slight raise of the cup.
"Nooo!"
As the chalice approached his lips, his reflection stared back at him.
Rumble—! Rumble—!
The world around him seed to completely crumble. Before Julien knew it, the three girls were already upon him. Coming from all sides.
Their power sent shivers down his spine.
But despite it all. He remained where he was, feeling a slight curl at the end of my lips as the chalice drew to his mouth and he took a sip.
But just as the initial drops of the liquid touched his lips—
Pfttt—!
"——!?"
A sharp pain invaded his mind, forcing him into a freezing halt.
Julien’s hand grew numb as his head slowly lowered. It was there that he caught sight of a certain sword.
It passed right through his chest.
Drip... Drip...
Red stained the top of the sword, dropping in faint droplets as blood seeped out from the corner of Julien’s mouth.
Slowly, my head turned, and it was there that he caught a glimpse of two dull grey eyes staring back at him.
"Right. I forgot about you."
There was no way Leon would die so easily.
"Ha-ha."
A strained laugh escaped Julien’s lips. Despite the situation he was in, he didn’t panic. He had already drunk the contents of the liquid. He was sure that whatever injury he had sustained, it would heal imdiately.
But—
Huh...?
It was in that mont that Julien realized sothing.
Leon...
He wasn’t staring at him.
He was staring elsewhere. Not only that, but looking around, he could feel the world around him had co to a sudden standstill.
What’s... Wha...
"Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to make it quick."
Leon’s voice echoed quietly within the silence that suddenly took over.
Unlike before, Leon felt it.
Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!
The loud beat of his own heart.
He felt a terrifying premonition, and as he slowly turned his head, his expression changed as a certain figure appeared to stand behind him, watching the two of them.
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