Chapter 248: Together (05): Mia’s Side
Thanks to Lana and Lily, I was able to see for myself just how different the effects of entering Beast Mode can be for each race.
However, there are differences even within the sa race.
Normally, these differences aren’t as obvious, but...
Mia: "Ough..."
When it ca to you and , Mom, the difference was like night and day.
Instead of narrowing the gap in our physical ability, you only pushed
farther behind.
You were always able to reach deeper into your Beastification than any other without losing your mind completely, but as an undead...
Since there isn’t much of a mind left to lose, you might’ve gone even beyond your limits.
Your strength was so great that your next punch sent
flying away from the castle, demolishing a building on the street that had nothing to do with our fight.
The distance between us should’ve been more than a hundred feet, and yet, you closed it in an instant.
My resistance and regenerative abilities had increased, but I felt you chipping away at my guard with each one of your strikes.
The people around us, soldiers who didn’t know better, tried to interfere, but you dealt with them while still focusing on fighting .
Sword, shields, spears, and arrows... You only spared them a second before pressuring
again.
Wherever we went, a trail of corpses was left behind.
Brave n who stood no chance against you...
Still, if it were just a matter of strength, I could handle it.
The real problem was the side effects of your Beast Mode.
Mana started to naturally pour out of your body as you lost control over your magic, coating you in a thin layer of ice.
Your fur was laced with ice, every hair strand on your body becoming like a thin ice needle.
Combined with its already steel-like properties, this natural armor was as strong as the one you were wearing, but not only did it make you even harder to damage, your hits now slowed
down, slowly freezing .
I knew that eventually I would be stuck in place, covered in so much ice that I wouldn’t be able to move, but my only choice for avoiding this was to run and hide until the effects were over.
However, you wouldn’t make it easy for , due to your enhanced instincts, my breathing would be a dead giveaway no matter where I chose to hide, and even if sohow I could stop it, there was no way you’d ever lose track of a scent so familiar to you.
My Gift also didn’t favor this approach.
If the tir ran out, my stats would decrease too much for
to take even a hit from you without falling on the spot.
The only choice I had was to face you head-on, hoping to hit you enough to end the battle before you ended .
But if that wasn’t hard enough, there was also the snow.
That strange ability you only showed to , and only when we fought in our Beast Modes.
It didn’t provide you with any power, and on contact, it never hurt .
Since thinking in this state was hard, I never figured out its purpose.
But it was there.
Stronger than ever before, so much snow fell that before long, the streets we had reached for the first ti were already covered in it.
Mia: "...Run!"
Ellie: "...Hm? E-Eh???"
From above the walls, the poor girl noticed us coming from a mile away, but that didn’t give her enough ti to get out of the way.
The blows we exchanged while running through the city caused the wall to fall, and I couldn’t even afford to glance back to see if Ellie was okay.
As the snow continued to fall, slowly, my vision was filled with its whiteness.
The blood we shared, pouring out of our bodies, wasn’t enough to paint it, and in one of the streets, the cold beca a little too comfortable.
Mia: "Agh... Ah..."
I struggled as much as I could.
But you were too relentless.
My strength was fading, and I couldn’t take your arms from my neck.
The snow kept falling.
The whiteness kept taking over.
??????: "Yo!"
...?
Miwen...?
No.
The movents were similar. He seed to be as much of an idiot.
But the scent was different.
And the attitude...
That guy would never show a smile upon seeing
in this state.
Mia: "Who are you...?"
??????: "Are you sure this is what’s important right now?"
Right...
Mia: "What happened?"
??????: "Well... A lot? You’re on the brink of death, Missy."
Mia: "I see..."
So I wasn’t strong enough...
Mia: "..."
The world was white.
Nothing existed there, just
and him.
Even though I hated the idea of being seen by him, I couldn’t contain my tears.
??????: "Oh, boy... Can you not? I’m not good with tragic things. I prefer happy endings, you know?"
Mia: "..."
??????: "Hmm... Tell you what, missy. Things weren’t supposed to be this way."
Mia: "...?"
??????: "Since they ddled, I think no one will bat an eye if I throw in a little magic here, so... Do you want
to send you back with a little gift?"
Mia: "I was warned not to make deals with demons."
??????: "Aha... Ahaha! You think I’m a demon? Dear..."
Mia: "It doesn’t matter what you are. There’s no point in winning against her if it’s not with my own strength."
??????: "If that’s the case, why did you search for strength elsewhere, then?"
To win against you, Mom, I tried everything I could.
I practiced against the strongest in Miwen’s Kingdom, people that even you might’ve lost against.
I asked Miwen to show
the techniques of his world’s best, and I did everything in my power to learn their moves.
I even searched for soldiers in Evretis and Terith’s armies who had at least one move similar to yours, all so I could beco used to dealing with them.
I focused on my own technique, too. Strengthened my style, received tips from others regarding my weaknesses.
But the result didn’t change.
Mia: "Because I wasn’t strong enough on my own."
??????: "Wrong."
Mia: "Huh!?"
??????: "Sorry, even if you can lie to yourself, it will never work on . I see it all. And I understand. You didn’t want to kill her. You were afraid. I get it. Only the lowest scum could enjoy hurting their own family."
Mia: "That’s not-"
??????: "Did you lose on purpose?"
Mia: "It’s not-"
??????: "Did you want to die? Because if so, I can-"
Mia: "THAT’S NOT IT!"
Every small thing that infuriated
about Miwen was exponentially worse on him.
Mia: "Huff... Hah... I don’t want to die! I don’t want to lose!"
...
Mia: "Not to anyone!"
...
Mia: "But especially not to her!"
??????: "Heh... I like the attitude. Sha it’s too late now."
Mia: "It’s not! You said... I was on the brink, right? Then... I can still win."
??????: "It’s almost impossible now."
Mia: "I don’t care! I will win. I will defeat her. I’ll beco strong. I’ll never feel this way again."
??????: "So close-"
Mia: "I won’t let anyone feel this way. I swear. As long as I’m alive... Miwen, my friends, and my people... I won’t let anyone feel hurt. I’ll be strong enough to protect them from everything and anything. I swear on my na. I swear as-"
[The Mark Of The Beast Lord recognizes your will, Beast Queen Of The Snow White Wolves.
You have earned the unique variation of The Mark Of The Beast Lord:
White Queen Of The Snow Hunt.]
...
[White Queen Of The Snow Hunt
This user has awakened to-]
Mia: "I said I didn’t want any power from you. You can take that back."
??????: "You should leave your beast mode. It’s tireso for
when you get so many things wrong."
Mia: "What did you-"
??????: "I didn’t do anything. I was lying, even if I wanted, I couldn’t. The Endless wouldn’t allow "
Mia: "Then how do you explain this?"
??????: "It should be obvious. You ca so close to your death that you couldn’t maintain your limitations anymore. All the strength you unconsciously locked when trying to reach her has been released."
...?
Mia: "Then... If this was going to happen anyway, what are you doing here?"
??????: "Hm? I just thought it would be a good opportunity to talk. I don’t get too many chances nowadays... Oh, also... Since he couldn’t be here for you... But that doesn’t an I want to see any more tears. Save them for him."
Mia: "Hahaha... You are a cretin!"
??????: "Nah. I’m just very passionate~"
When I saw him for what he was, sothing about his laugh...
Maybe his gestures...
It felt so oddly familiar.
Even a little comfortable.
Mia: "Wait, I’ve seen you before. You were-"
When I opened my eyes again, it was like the world was moving in slow motion.
But I could still feel your tightening grip on my neck, Mother.
My hands had given up the fight, and my legs couldn’t reach the ground.
All I could do to survive was use my head.
More specifically, my fangs.
Biting into your arm was hard. I felt the ice needles piercing the inside of my mouth, but at least, I managed to take your hand off.
Off from my neck, off from your arm.
Due to the way your Gift worked, hurting you only made you stronger.
Perhaps as an undead, it was always working at full power since you couldn’t be in a worse state than dead, but I think that by taking that hand off you, you actually beca a little stronger.
It’s surprising how good of an undead you were.
But in any case, your right arm loosened its grip enough for
to breathe just a little bit.
Thanks to the air I got, I managed to kick you away.
I was still feeling a little dizzy though...
Too much blood had poured out of , and for so reason, my head was a ss.
I felt like I was forgetting sothing important, but whenever I tried to think about it, all I could recall was an imnse, unending white.
If I focused on it too much, a painful headache would hit , so I decided to leave it for later.
Claire: "Ugh... It’s freezing here..."
Serves you right...
Licia: "I know... It’s so nice..."
Claire: "What about it is nice!?"
Licia: "Hm... It feels like the snow is hugging ?"
I was surprised to see that I wasn’t the only one thinking that.
But nothing shocked
more than the realization of what the snow truly ant.
You were always lying, Mom.
I think I got a little of this from you, but seriously, you shouldn’t have lied about the snow.
If I knew from the beginning that it was mine and not yours, I might have learned how to control it better.
I’m sure you feared I might get overconfident and do sothing stupid, but that was a little too much, even for you.
Or perhaps...
You feared I’d surpass you?
Hehe...
You might think it’s presumptuous of
to say this, but you struggled to destroy even a single snowflake.
I understand that it was hard to do when your strength was being slowly drained while your movents slowed down, but that was just the beginning, you know?
My Beast Mode had reverted almost entirely, so those effects were much weaker than they should be.
Mia: "...Interesting."
I was feeling refreshed.
In part because of the falling snow, but also...
A new line appeared in my Gift.
Before, I would receive a percentage boost to my stats equal to my level for hitting soone.
This triggered the "Battle state
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