It was mere moments before Cypress drew his final breath.
Thick smoke filled with a metallic smell burned her lungs as she gasped for air. She was in the middle of the forest, far enough away that Ansel should not have been able to sense how much blood she had lost. Her clothes were torn, revealing deep gashes dripping blood down on the corpses of wildlife that littered the ground. Embers of the great tree floated gently above the ruined trees of the once beautifully lush forest that bordered the small town of Aldor.
"Why are you still doing this, Monika?" A pitying voice called out.
The voice belonged to the man she was fighting against. He stood far from Monika, holding a metal staff with a crystal glowing a menacing purple hue. He was tall and dressed in the same outfit as those who belonged to her association. The person was an old friend, a man whom she was tasked with killing with zero exceptions.
His face, a face that always wore a gentle smile regardless of the situation, was now replaced with unspeakable agony. The gentle blue eyes, which seemed so detached from the world, looked at her with loathing and fear. His appearance was that of a demon. Large obsidian-like horns protruded from his forehand, excreting ebon ooze from the tip. That ooze left a trail of smoke as it trailed down his flesh. While his outfit was left intact, the same could not be said about his body. The parts of his body not covered by the association outfit were blackened and distorted beyond recognition as the ebon veins stretched out like crazed webbing, violently pulsing.
"I'll again, you stubborn idiot. Why are you still doing this?"
It was a meaningless question that he knew the answer to. Monika was not the type to mindlessly follow orders if she did not want to. There was one reason she still stood against him, despite the calls of death beckoning her to succumb to her grave wounds. Monika made no attempt to respond as she locked her eyes with the man before her. She gripped the silver staff tightly in her hands and prepared herself to strike again.
"Man…" The man sighed as he looked at Monika's face. It was a pointless fight. Surely, Monika would have known this. They once stood on equal ground, but now the difference was night and day. He shifted his staff around in his hands. "Monika, just give it up." His voice showed his pain, but he refused to give in to the changes his body was going through. It was a small price to pay so long as he got what he desired.
The man touched a necklace around his neck. It glowed with an unholy purple light, similar to his staff. This light, the unnatural luminescence, was the source of his torment—OA Deadman's Wish. The man gave into the weapon's desire, that much Monika could easily tell. It felt as if the small silver skulls around his neck were glaring at her as the light faded. His face showed more pain than moments before, and he gripped his staff even tighter. Unlike Monika's weapon of choice, a smooth silver staff that appeared to be just a metal rod, his was more brutal. A long base stained with blood connected to a large purple crystal that was protected by four curved spikes that could inflict serious harm should they slam into someone. It was known as AA Dead Memories.
"I will not give up." Monika forced a voice as blood trailed down the corners of her mouth. The pain was unbearable, but the thought of him fighting Ansel was worse. "Lorick, I will defeat you here…even if I die here today." Unlike what her opponent might be thinking, she knew that this fight was one-sided and borderline pointless. But even if the odds were stacked against her, she still had two cards left to play.
While she looked for an opening, she could hear a voice call out to her. A familiar voice that had supported her throughout her life. She turned to gaze toward her staff. A desperate cry urging her to keep fighting filled her mind. With a smile, she turned back towards Lorick. With a deep breath, she zoned out the pain she felt and locked eyes with the man before her. Everything had gone wrong. A mission that lasted two weeks was drawing towards an end, with her death being the only outcome. She was filled with regret. She wanted to apologize for her bratty behavior that morning upon finding out Ansel had found a new girl who stuck to him. Monika wanted to see the face of the man who was her shining light despite being stuck in the pit of despair. But some debts simply cannot be repaid, leaving an unfillable void in her heart as he thought of the harm she'd inflict on his already broken soul. She smiled as Lorick let out an annoyed groan.
"Your stubbornness to keep on fighting me only proves that your obsession with a man who only sees you as a fool is unnatural."
"Call it what you will, Lorick," Monika shouted as adrenaline filled her veins. She could not die here. Ansel's heart would be torn to shreds if she did, so she'd have to rely on cowardly tricks to win the fight. "My burning desire to fight for his future is nothing but my devotion towards Ansel. He gave my meaningless life meaning, and I will not let that debt go unpaid. Just like how he saved me, I will save him. Therefore, I will not die till you are dead." Her second to last option, a move so cowardly that she refused to ever use it during a fight—her voice. It has the power to influence the behaviors of those who listen. It was not something simple as they obeyed her every command, but she could influence the emotions they felt. By feigning fear, she could end a fight without lifting a finger. Or, in this case, by showing confidence, she could keep Lorick from running away from the fight like he had before.
"How tiresome." Lorick gripped his weapon as an expression that mirrored Monika's lined his lips. "Once a child, always a child." Monika bit her lip at his comment. "You know, this is the first time that I had the luxury of hearing your beautiful voice. You conceal its potent, frightening ability behind that emotionless mask, terrified of its potential, correct? Or do you hide it because Ansel told you so? You are nothing more than a puppet to that man. You have no free will of your own. How can you turn a blind eye to the man responsible for the deaths of your friends, family, and neighbors without even a hint of hesitation?"
"So what? They had what was coming to them." Her firm response, which lacked any hint of fear or sadness, took Lorick aback. "Those wicked fiends used me for my powers. Once I refused to listen anymore, they sold me for my body. Ansel saved me just before I was violated by those men. The people who lived with me in that underground district deserved more than death. Ansel did them a favor by simply just killing them." Monika raised her staff towards Lorick. "You have the power to see the memories of the dead. Kill me, then learn for yourself that you are grasping at straws to pull me away from his side. If you cannot understand the truth of my words, then see into my mind!" A torrent of bitter words poured from Monika's lips as she charged forward, throwing caution to the wind.
Like Ansel, she relied on her inhuman strength and speed, but strength was her primary asset. She zipped across the battlefield, crushing the long-dead corpses of wolves underneath her feet. As she closed the distance between the two, she gripped her staff like a baseball bat and charged up a swing. She planted her foot just before Lorick and swung at him with all her might. A mighty roar of wind howled violently as Lorick's staff blocked her attack. His muscles flexed and expanded as he tried to absorb the impact that should have ripped his arms from their sockets.
However, the slender, petite girl was easily able to overpower him with her strength. Lorick used his staff to redirect her force towards the ground as he lept back. Monika sidestepped and dashed behind him with a graceful spin and swung her staff towards his head. Lorick barely avoided his head being flung off by crouching down below with all his weight. As the staff slammed into the ground, he spun it around and countered with a swift strike with the bottom of his staff. A shockwave of wind blew in front as Monika lept back to avoid the attack.
Lorick traced his finger over his necklace, and a shimmering light appeared. A sharp pain filled his mind as the memories of a wolf's life flashed through his mind. With a screeching howl, a wolf that had once been dead on the ground came to life and rushed toward Monika with its fangs bared. There was no hesitation as Monika swung her staff at the undead beast. Her staff slammed into the beast's stomach, sending it upwards. As the corpse flew, it inflated like a balloon until its flesh could no longer stretch, and it popped. Guts and ooze rained down. A large cluster fell together and formed a black mass that was promptly destroyed by Monika. Lorick furrowed his brow as she tried to get a read on Monika.
Cursed humans are born with extraordinary abilities that could overpower any normal person a hundred times over. Strength, speed, healing, and resilience are abilities that distinguish Cursed humans from both normal and Gifted individuals. Monika's speed is below Ansel's, but her strength is on another level from any other Cursed human within the City of Pandora. But throughout the City, she is known as the Glass Cannon rather than her proper title—Silver Mantra. Simply put, unlike other Cursed humans who can recover fast using the disgusting crimson veins that snake across their bodies, Monika could not. Her healing only activates when she receives a blow that would fatally kill her. This means that the only effective way of dealing with her is by pairing her up against someone with intense healing and resilience, like Lorick.
"Heh…" The odds were in his favor, but something felt off to Lorick. She glared intensely at him, failing to even acknowledge her wounds. She bore the eyes of the man who raised her. The eyes of a predator who drives her prey into a corner by reading their every move. As she caught her breath, Lorick noticed that his body was aching. He looked down to find his limbs torn open from overuse. Ebon ooze poured from his wounds to repair his body.
Lorick let out a low moan as he took a low stance to prepare for another attack. Her weapon—AA Angel's Cry, was a wildcard in more ways than one. Its origin is entirely unknown, with many believing that it was misclassified and should be an OA. Its power was imaginable, with the only limit being its host. One swing from a person is amplified by the weapon's ability to generate an explosive force strong enough to not only kill its target by the user should they be too weak to wield it.
Even a powerful weapon as such had its flaws. The first is its name. Whenever a person uses the weapon, they hear a screeching cry echo throughout their mind. The screams assaulted the wielder as they repeatedly shouted for them to drop them as they were not worthy. The second was the power required to use it. While any Gifted human could wield it, giving it an AA classification despite its powers, only two known people have used it without sustaining heavy injuries—Ansel and Monika.
"Lorick…" Monika muttered as she dashed towards him. Lorick braced himself for a strike by planting his feet into the ground, but to his surprise, Monika used her staff as a vaulting pole and flipped through the air. Upon landing, she slammed her staff into the ground, causing a blast of wind to send dust and debris everywhere.
Through the makeshift smoke screen, Monika could see a faint silhouette and lounged towards it. As she swung, the smoke screen was blown away by her attack, and the silhouette she saw was nothing more than the reanimated corpse of a wolf. As the wolf blew up into several pieces, she heard a voice cry out a warning to her. She heeded the warning instantly and turned to block her side with the staff as Lorick swung his weapon. While his attack was blocked, Lorick followed up with a high kick that connected with her chin, sending her reeling before he slammed his staff into her face. A horrid, crunching sound filled her mind as she was sent flying into a nearby tree.
The voice of her staff cried out. A loud ringing followed by a powerful gust of wind wrapped itself around the two. Trees, dirt, and rocks swirled around in a vortex of wind that imprisoned them as Monika stood back on her feet. Her eyes showed little signs of life as she stood back up. Her emotionless gaze was fixed on Lorick.
"You have got to be kidding me." Lorick failed to hide his annoyance as he watched the stubborn fool stand back up. It was evident that her body could not take anymore, yet here she stood, with a deathly gaze fixed on him. "You are nothing more than a walking corpse…" He lifts his staff up. "I'll turn you into one of my soldiers. That is the least I can do to applaud your tenacity—what…?" Lorick turned to look at the arm that should have been holding his staff. Upon seeing nothing but ebon ooze squirting out, he looked at Monika with a fearful expression.
In her hand was not a staff but a sword made with an illuminating silver blade. A small vortex of wind surrounded the blade. This was her final trump card—the sole reason she was given a Silver rank. She knew she lacked experience. She knew she was rash. She knew that her actions would only lead to disaster for everyone. But she could not die without seeing the death of the man standing before her.
"I am the Silver Mantra," Monika announced in an emotionless tone as Lorick scrambled to grab his staff from his severed arm. "In the name of the Silver Guardians of the city of Pandora, I dub thee a Silver Nightmare." With that declaration, she leaned forward, eyes locked on Lorick, and took a step. At that moment, Lorick felt his mind flood with fear as his body ached in intense pain.
A single step was all that was needed for the fight to come to an end. As the raging winds grew louder, a single sound was heard. The sound of something metal falling onto a rock.
"Heh…" Lorick stood in disbelief as he saw Monika's body fall into the dirt. "HAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Lorick approached her. "All that talk for what!? Running out of fuel at the finish line, how stupid can you get?" He raised this staff into the air. "I don't know why my vessel kept you alive this long, but I'm gonna put you out of your misery."
"C…coward…" In her dying breath, Monika muttered a word.
"Huh? Still got the energy to blab?" Lorick kicked Monika over to see her face.
"Lorick…how could you…lose…?"
"Lorick was a fool to begin with. His obsession with becoming a 'Silver Guardian' was so painfully embarrassing that it made me want to kill him myself. But I have to say, his fear of seeing the beauty in the gates of hell helped me take complete control of his body. So thank you."
"Who…are…you?"
"That's what I should be asking you, angel in human skin." Lorick, or the thing controlling his body, shrugged. "Hmm…I was used to being called 'Deadman's Wish,' so just call me Desimortis." He gave Monika a twisted smile as the ebon ooze poured from the wound in his arm and rapidly hardened into a long, transparent chrysalis. Inside, ebon ooze filled the chrysalis and quickly morphed into a new arm plated in exoskeleton-like shells with a blackish-purple hue. With his new arm, he picked up Monika by the neck. "You will make a great addition to my ranks. Just don't get yourself killed like the other pawns."