Chapter 208 [Island Of Drath] [23] [Sypha Or...]
Chapter 208 [Island Of Drath] [23] [Sypha Or...]
Azariah\'s body trembled violently, his face contorted with anger, his voice echoing throughout the forest.
"Aww, you don\'t remember me?" Sypha asked, her voice gleaming with amusement. "That makes me sad, young master."
Aimar slowly crawled back, away from Aaliyah\'s dead body.
He blankly looked at the tall woman who strode towards them.
Sypha took out another knife and played with it, her cheerful voice echoed, "Well, including her, two died, and two more to go."
Azariah\'s face turned pale at her words, his body moved instinctively to stand in front of Aimar.
"...Who are you?" he growled at her, drawing his katana.
Aimar stood up as well, with Keegan tightening his grip on his sword.
Sypha tilted her head, her smile never wavering, "...We will talk properly later on, young master. For now, let me kill hi—."
Azariah\'s body blurred, and without a second thought, he prowled toward her, his katana sweeping across her face.
CLANG!!!
"...That\'s not very nice of you, young master," Sypha whispered, smiling, the blade of his katana trapped between her index finger and thumb.
The hair on his body stood up as he sidestepped to the left, avoiding her hand coming at him at abnormal speed.
Sypha loosened her grip on his sword with a smile as he propelled himself back away from her.
"We will play later, young maste—."
"WHO ARE YOU?!" Azariah yelled, his mind felt like it was collapsing at her words.
It\'s the first time he had seen her, but why does she act like she\'s known him for years?
That made no sense to him.
Sypha\'s body blurred, and before he knew it, Azariah was hurtling back into a nearby tree.
He choked on his own breath as his body crashed hard against the tree\'s surface.
Blood leaked from his forehead, sweeping down from his left eye, making everything look crimson.
His blurry gaze turned towards her as he noticed her prowling toward Aimar.
The runes on his body burned with a silvery hue as he propelled himself towards her.
Her outstretched hand aimed at Aimar\'s chest halted, she brought her hand close to her face, blocking Azariah\'s kick.
She slowly took a step back, her body moving like a ghost, yards away from her last position.
"Aimar, hey, are you alright?" Azariah whispered, keeping his eyes on Sypha.
"Y-yeah," he replied, suppressing his boiling emotions while taking out his spear, "...I will help."
"...Me too," Keegan also stepped forward, his body littered with cold sweat, but he remained firm, "...I will try my best to get behind her."
Azariah nodded gently, looking at Sypha, who kept smiling at him.
"You have grown so strong," she commented, her voice praising him earnestly as she slowly walked forward.
"...I remember the little you walking around the castle while grabbing the hem of my skirt."
Her words made Azariah\'s mind scream in pain.
No matter how much he tried to remember, he couldn\'t recall meeting her.
...Never.
Before he could think further, Sypha took a step forward.
Aimar clad his body in a gale of wind, his speed increasing.
Azariah\'s body glowed with a hue of silver as he prowled forward alongside Aimar.
CLANG!!!
The tip of Aimar\'s spear nearly touched her neck, while Azariah\'s katana was just inches away from her midsection.
But both their weapons hovered close to her as a blackish-red aura materialized, blocking them.
Their pupils dilated as her hand moved at an alarming rate.
Azariah tried to pull his arm back in time but couldn\'t.
A sharp pain rushed through his chest as he flew back like a broken kite, his katana flying in the opposite direction.
Balancing himself mid-air, he looked up to see Aimar\'s body hovering just in front of him.
Opening his arms wide, Azariah grabbed his body as they both collided with a huge boulder, cracks appearing on it.
"Huff...Huff..."
A dull, throbbing pain ached within his chest, numbing all the other pains.
Looking down, he noticed Aimar wasn\'t in good condition either.
A handprint was carved into his chest, his face contorted with pain, his eyes barely open.
"Why bother, young master?" Sypha said, her body still radiating the aura. "You always had me, so why bother saving that boy?"
Azariah grunted as he stood back on his feet.
"I don\'t know who you are," he snarled, glaring at her. "Don\'t fucking act like you\'re important to me."
Sypha blinked innocently before her eyes narrowed, a look of displeasure flashing across her face.
"...Well, we can always catch up," she mumbled to herself, her voice still chirping.
She observed him for a moment while Aimar slowly stood back up, only to fall down again.
Azariah felt his body instinctively wanting to get away from her gaze.
A knife rushed past him, aimed at Aimar.
Neplh!
A layer of ice emerged in front of Aimar, blocking the knife.
He knew Aimar wasn\'t in the right state of mind or condition to fight.
Crunching out all the mana he had left, Azariah started to walk toward her.
His body glowing brightly in a silver hue, a burning sensation numbing his body.
Touching his injured forehead, he stained his hands with his own blood.
Sypha\'s body blurred again.
Azariah yanked his hand, blood spilling into the air.
Neplh!
All the droplets turned into spikes of opaque ice, rushing toward her.
But they did little, her blackish-red aura protecting her entire body.
A shivering cold filled the entire area.
Azariah let out a misty breath as a pillar of ice appeared in her line of sight.
Sypha pivoted back to dodge it, but more and more pillars constantly emerged in front of her.
Azariah prowled toward her, touching the huge pillar in his way, making a purple mark on it.
His hands moved, the pillars levitating in the air.
He spun his body to gain momentum, throwing all the pillars toward her.
BOOM!!!
The forest trembled violently, everything within the pillar\'s path being destroyed, frozen.
Sypha leaped forward, one hand\'s fingers slowly curling up, her wrist twisted sharply.
A booming crack echoed as the pillars broke in her path.
The next instant, she kicked the remaining pillars away, and they crashed on either side of her. Her body vanished again.
The world around Azariah slowed down as a gale of wind rushed past him.
His brain screamed in pain as he extended his hand, the misty air around him solidifying into a huge hand that blocked Sypha\'s path.
She kicked the hand away, her body moving back in front of him.
"Huff...Huff..."
His ragged breathing echoed within the forest as he glared at her.
From what he had gathered, she was either a high Overlord or a peak Overlord.
Azariah bit his lip in frustration.
And Sypha couldn\'t help but smile at his anger-filled face.
"How much you\'ve changed, young master," she whispered softly, trying to touch his face, but Azariah stepped back.
She retracted her hand, her smile still lingering on her face.
Looking around, she asked curiously, "Is this the power you obtained from the World Tree?"
Azariah\'s pupils shrank, his body trembling as he looked at her. "W-what?"
"My lady told me about it," Sypha continued, her eyes moving past him to look at Aimar. "...It\'s really a nice ability, young master."
"W-who are you?" Azariah\'s voice trembled, something clicking in his mind. "...M-mother—"
Sypha smiled brightly, nodding her head.
But still, he couldn\'t recognize her.
He hadn\'t seen her. Not in his entire life nor in the game he had memories of.
"Are you curious?" Sypha asked, tilting her head. "...I will tell you if you let me kill him."
Azariah\'s face hardened as a spear of ice materialized in his hand.
Sypha\'s smile dropped as she looked at him. "...Why did you turn out like this? You used to accept all my words without complaining."
Azariah didn\'t let her words get to him.
Jerking his hand back, he thrust the spear at her face.
Sypha just tilted her head to seamlessly avoid it, stepping back.
Azariah stepped forward, blood dripping from his head, but before it fell to the ground, the drops turned into spears as he moved.
One by one, he picked them up, making a purple mark.
They levitated around him, and he willed them to spin like drills.
More and more spinning spears surrounded him as Sypha looked at him with amusement, dodging his frontal attack.
And when she propelled backward, Azariah let the spears go.
Tens of spinning spears rushed toward her at once.
The aura that had diminished around her returned, burning brighter than before, blocking all of them. Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn
They crumbled, and so did Azariah\'s hope of winning against her.
"Huff... Huff..."
Using the last spear, he supported his body as he glared at her.
"You are making me feel so proud," Sypha commented with a bright smile on her face. "...You\'ve grown so much."
Her words snapped the last sense of reasoning he had, and he couldn\'t help but ask once again, "...Who are you?"
Sypha smiled at his words, her lips parted as she gently asked, "...Are you still kind to others, young master?"
"...Huh?"
The spear supporting his body crumbled, and he fell down helplessly.
"W-what—w-who?"
Confusion filled Azariah\'s mind, thousands of thoughts rushing through it, his blank gaze fixed on her.
"Hmm? You might recognize me if I do this," Sypha whispered softly.
The structure of her face changed, her once beautiful features now turning ordinary, hair shifting to obsidian-black, and eyes from crimson to black, matching her hair.
Azariah\'s face broke into a smile, but that smile vanished almost immediately.
A single tear fell down, mixing with his own blood.
His lips parted, his trembling voice echoed, "A-aunt B-Belly?"
Wind rushed past her, Keegan appearing behind her, his sword moving toward her throat.
Her body twisted at an abnormal speed; in the next instant, her hand wrapped around his neck.
Crack!
With a resonating \'thud\', Keegan\'s body fell down, no life remaining in his eyes.
"Tch, what a waste," Sypha clicked her tongue in annoyance, gazing back at Azariah.
She slowly crouched down in front of him, her hand gently pinching his face.
"We will catch up soon," she chirped happily before standing up. "For now, let me take care of that girl who tried to replace me in your life."
She turned around and walked away.
All Azariah could do was watch her disappearing body.