“You’re making things difficult for yourself, Amayara,” Diana said, her eyes turning cold as she observed the sharp intent radiating from the blade.
Instantly, her skin became harder than diamond, a result of her Riantain Bloodline which granted her complete control over her body at an atomic level.
By manipulating her body’s properties, she had fortified it to perfection.
Her own skin was a battle suit, strong enough to withstand forces exceeding 80,000 metric tons, a protective shell for her body.
Though she wasn’t at her perfect ZENITH, her strength stats could be a weakness if she were a normal human.
However, the Riantain Bloodline pushed her body to another level, compensating for her strength stats.
…..
‘H-his Highness is alive,’ Alia’s mind swirled with emotions, standing there while witnessing the conversation between the two women—one with cascading blue hair and the other with straight black hair—both holding swords.
Five years.
A time that doesn’t seem like much once it passes, but the time it takes to pass can be more than anyone can endure with burdens on their shoulders.
drip
A lone tear trickled down her cheek, her eyes blinking as her mind remained in a trance, unable to believe what she had heard.
For five whole years, she had pushed herself relentlessly to become strong enough to kill those who had taken him away.
Her helplessness wasn’t just that Diana had used her family—her mother and unknown sister—against her; it was the grief of knowing that the man whom she loved would kill her mother and sister soon.
Was her choice of choosing a mother who left her at a young age with her aunt really worth it over a man who loved her with all his heart?
No, it wasn’t.
Since, it was clear that she could easily watch him pierce his sword through her sister’s heart.
Maybe two lives meant nothing for her betrayal, but what about hundreds or thousands?
It wasn’t an illusion but reality embedded in her memories, vivid enough to always scratch those wounds of seeing his cold amber eyes killing everyone close to her.
A distant future that was inevitable.
His hands would be tainted with the blood of her bloodline; this was the curse attached to the whole Tenebrial Bloodline.
Those words from that figure, who remained at the epitome of strength, still lingered in her very being, echoing again and again to remind her.
:: It is inevitable that one day his hands will be tainted with our bloodline. So choose wisely, Alia: him or the fate of the entire Tenebrial Bloodline ::
This was what was stated by the woman who personally met her. If there was a god, then she was sure he must have looked like her—the one, The Amrantha Tenebri.
It was the day when her choices would determine the future that awaited her.
Even before that, Diana had attempted to manipulate her multiple times by holding her mother hostage, but she never broke.
Her family, whom she never met, didn’t hold value against the man whom she loved.
However
At the cost of one person, the fate of the entire bloodline could have been secured.
The choice was tough, and she made it.
drip
Another tear trickled down as she remembered the day she had attempted to backstab him but stopped midway, his widened amber eyes filled with visible pain reflecting in her tears, left her feeling hollow.
She betrayed him, his trust, and placed her trust in the inevitable future.
Even then, instead of asking for a reason, the words that reached her ears were: Leave before my heart loses to my mind.
Thud
Instantly, her body fell to her knees in that cave’s rough ground, her trembling hand reaching forward, falling in eyesight, her eyes vividly recalling the blood oozing from her wound, drenching her hands.
She wanted to choose him, but her heart, unlike his, was weak.
She had tried to kill him to protect thousands, even knowing that he would have killed thousands to protect her.
Just as he did with Karina, he tried to protect her by waging a war against the Aidiac kingdom.
However, for Alia, her love wasn’t strong enough to outweigh the lives of so many people.
But, Diana’s words to let her have him after the battle were reassuring.
She believed Diana that after they would make him unconscious, both of them would take him away and then decide what to do.
Yet they underestimated the whole situation.
Edward went all out, Maria and even Olivia, Karina—all went after his life, causing him to retaliate.
In the end, she needed to live to see another day with him, so she too engaged in that battle.
Everything just happened.
Their plan of overwhelming him and injuring him to the point of unconsciousness shattered, leading to all of their deaths.
She regretted believing Diana. If she had never trusted her that day and had told everything to him.
Her helplessness and the reason for stabbing.
She would have never died at his hands with that cold gaze of his, looking at her with disgust and hatred.
“Haah… Haah,” gasping for breath as those memories assaulted her mind, Alia gritted her teeth, sapphire eyes filling with hatred towards the woman who destroyed her life.
Everything broke the moment Diana started playing with all their minds.
“Stop it, Amayara,” Alia interrupted Amayara, who was about to take a step with her sword in hand.
Slowly standing with killing intent surging inside her, looking at Diana, she stated, “Where is my Mother?”
With Diana’s words, it became clear that she and Amayara both had past life memories, which was not unexpected given Amayara’s movements in recent years.
Amayara and Bella, for the past two years, had been killing Flagbearers, at the behest of Karina Reinguard, under whose orders a whole small division of 500 men from Reinguards were acting as backup.
All this was enough for Alia to understand that she wasn’t alone in having memories.
And now, seeing Diana arrive here, everything became even more solid.
She knew Diana very well; there was no possibility for her to miss the chance to secure a backup in the form of her mother even before arriving here to kill her.
“Eh, isn’t your brain still working well?” Diana’s gaze never once left Amayara, and with a slight tilt, she looked at Alia, who stared back at her with gritted teeth.
tap tap
CRACKLE
“Diana, where is my Mother?” Alia firmly stated again. The ground beneath her instantly turned into crystalline solids, far stronger than normal ice, with small levitating sharp crystals materializing around her.
Around her body, four, five, seven—just one after many—solid crystals formed, aimed at the woman with blue hair, who looked back at her in amusement, with a visible grin possible.
“Lady Dalia is safe,” Diana’s lips parted, warm breath escaping before her expression shifted into a small arch, a grin accompanied by a mocking voice. “At least for now.”
SWISH
CLANK!
Instantly bringing her cane in front, Diana blocked the swiftly arrived sharp crystal shard at her face just a metre away. “Aren’t you strong too?”
Her eyes then met the metal-stick brought in her eyesight, looking at the still-trembling metal vibrating from the impact of a single shot from Alia.
Lifting her gaze to meet Alia’s, placing a finger on her lips to suggest, she proposed. “Ah, how about we make a deal again?” She slowly traced her finger down the soft curve of her lips, her eyes locked with Alia’s. “You can watch both me and Ryuk making love—”
SWISH
