Chapter 351 — This Is It

Across the battlefield, Elizabeth forced herself upright despite her missing arm, despite the agony radiating from her wounds. She grabbed her fallen sword with her remaining hand, her violet eyes blazing with determination.

A spare Aura potion appeared from her spatial ring. She drank it desperately, feeling the liquid energy flooding her system, restoring her reserves even as exhaustion weighed her down.

’He came for me.’

The thought burned through her consciousness.

’Damian came here knowing he might die...Came here without me even asking...’

She looked at Adrian’s unconscious form, at the battlefield littered with corpses, at Damian carving through enemies with movements that were growing slower by the second.

’And I just... gave up. Closed my eyes and waited for death like a coward.’

The shame was worse than the physical pain.

’No more... If he’s willing to die for me, the least I can do is die fighting beside him!’

Kuro’s wings spread wider, understanding her intent, his death energy creating a stronger barrier around Adrian while allowing Elizabeth room to move.

She stepped out from behind the raven’s protection, her sword raised, her one arm trembling from effort but holding steady.

’I can still fight. I can still–’

A masked B rank noticed her movement, his eyes gleaming behind his skull mask. The one-armed girl they’d come to kill.

He charged.

Elizabeth’s Tactical Foresight activated, showing her the attack pattern half a second before it happened. Her sword moved to intercept, lightning coating the blade, the purple Aura blazing bright.

"Thunder’s Edge!"

The blade caught the attacker’s throat, severing arteries, lightning cooking flesh. He collapsed gurgling.

Three more noticed her, seeing opportunity.

She gritted her teeth and engaged, her sword moving with precision born from years of brutal training, her skill predicting attacks, her weapon art techniques compensating for her missing arm.

But she was slower than normal... Weaker. Blood loss and exhaustion dragged at every movement.

A blade got through her defense, cutting deep into her thigh. She gasped but didn’t fall, her sword taking the attacker’s head in return.

’Keep moving! Don’t stop!’

Another attack came from her blind side. She tried to dodge but her injured leg buckled. The blade cut through her calf, severing muscle, dropping her to one knee.

’No... Not Like this... I can’t–’

A third enemy charged, his spear aimed at her heart, victory in his eyes.

But a crimson blur intercepted him.

Damian appeared between them, his axe severing the spear shaft, his follow-through removing the attacker’s head.

He stood over Elizabeth, blood pouring from dozens of wounds, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

"I.. told you to stay behind Kuro."

His voice carried no accusation, just tired acceptance.

Elizabeth looked up at him, saw the extent of his injuries, saw how his body trembled from exhaustion and pain.

’Why... Why are you doing this?’

"I.. can fight," she managed to say. "I can help."

"You’re going to get yourself killed."

Something broke loose in Elizabeth’s chest, pride, fear, resignation, she didn’t know which. Maybe all of them at once.

"Then we die together!"

Damian glanced back at her, his crimson eyes meeting her purple ones. Something passed between them. Understanding, acknowledgment and acceptance.

"Fine."

He turned back to face the approaching enemies.

"But try not to slow me down."

Despite everything, Elizabeth almost smiled.

She forced herself upright, her remaining leg barely supporting her weight, her sword raised. They stood back to back, two broken warriors surrounded by hundreds of enemies in a burning hellscape.

More masked figures charged.

****

They fought with desperate synchronicity.

Elizabeth’s Foresight showed Damian’s next move half a second before he made it. Damian’s Macro Vision predicted enemy attacks through their movements, allowing him to position himself to cover her blind spots.

His axe removed heads, her sword found throats. Together they carved through attackers with efficiency that transcended their injuries.

But the toll was mounting.

An enemy’s skill caught Damian’s left arm, the concentrated Aura blade severing it cleanly at the elbow. The limb fell, blood fountaining from the stump.

THUD

Damian didn’t slow down.

His Telekinesis grabbed the falling axe before it hit ground, wielding the weapon through mental force alone while his Self-Healing worked desperately to seal the stump.

He kept fighting, the axe floating beside him, striking with precision guided by his mind.

Elizabeth’s remaining leg took another cut, this one deeper, bone visible through torn flesh. She stumbled, caught herself with her sword, using the weapon as a crutch.

More enemies converged, seeing weakness.

Damian’s Domain pulsed, pressing down harder. Several fighters stumbled as illusions crashed over them, faces of people they’d wronged, voices of victims they’d tried to forget. Their reactions slowed and their strikes coming off-angle, their defensive positioning compromised.

His telekinetically-controlled axe swept through them, taking two heads, opening a third fighter’s chest.

Elizabeth’s sword flashed, her Tactical Foresight showing her the exact angle needed despite fighting from a compromised position.

One enemy fell with his hamstring severed, collapsing within Kuro’s range.

The raven tore out his throat.

They continued fighting, covering each other, Damian using his Domain and telekinesis to compensate for his missing arm, Elizabeth using her Foresight to predict attacks she could no longer physically avoid.

A hammer caught Damian’s right leg at the knee.

CRACK

The bone shattered, the leg bending at an unnatural angle. He collapsed forward, caught himself with his remaining arm, and kept fighting from the ground.

His telekinesis lifted his body slightly, taking weight off the destroyed leg, the axe still moving through the air like it had a mind of its own.

Elizabeth tried to cover him, her sword intercepting attacks, but an enemy’s blade caught her remaining leg at mid-thigh.

SLASH

The leg came off. She collapsed completely, both of them now on the ground, bleeding, dying by degrees.

’This is it... This is where we die... Just like my visions showed... I would have died anyway.’

She looked at Damian, saw him struggling to stay conscious, saw the determination burning in his eyes despite the impossible situation.