Chapter 354 — The Sacrifice
6 min read ·
Bella watched through failing vision, her mind still working despite her body’s collapse.
’His attention is entirely on the baldy... Completely focused... This is... the only moment...’
She’d been waiting, watching and looking for the single instant when Jormund’s guard lowered, when his concentration was elsewhere.
And now, with Vash engaging him fully, with both S ranks moving at speeds that demanded total focus...
The moment had arrived.
Memories flooded through her consciousness.
Her brother’s smile when Elizabeth was born, his pride when Adrian showed talent, his gentle nature that seemed impossible for someone raised in the cutthroat world of Imperial families.
Then his death.
The "accident" that everyone knew wasn’t an accident. The branch families circling like vultures, the internal strife that made every day a battle for survival.
She’d raised Elizabeth and Adrian as her own after that, protected them from assassins, from poison, from the thousand ways the Murdock Branches tried to eliminate inconvenient heirs.
’I’ve done my best... But they need more time... More support... Father is busy with greater matters... If I die here, they’ll be alone...’
She looked at Elizabeth’s face through tears and blood.
’I’m sorry, Lizzy... I’m sorry I can’t watch you grow... Can’t see you achieve the greatness you were meant for... Can’t protect you anymore...’
Then her eyes found Damian’s broken form beside her niece.
’But... at least you found a good friend... Someone who’ll change the world... Someone worth dying for...’
Her lips curved into a smile despite the agony consuming her.
’Take care of them, Damian Valcor... Take care of my babies...’
She activated the forbidden skill.
"Mind Shattering Lance."
Every point of her Will stat ignited, converting into pure mental energy. Almost all her Will burned instantly, her consciousness itself becoming fuel, converting into a single concentrated attack that existed only to destroy minds.
The cost was her life.
Her very soul.
But she’d made peace with that the instant she decided.
****
Vash and Jormund clashed again, their fight happening in fractions of seconds.
BOOM
Vash’s fist enhanced with skill, his strength multiplying.
BOOM
Jormund’s fire skill creating blades of concentrated heat.
BOOM
They moved faster, the exchanges becoming impossible to follow even for S ranks.
And in that microsecond when Jormund’s full attention was on blocking Vash’s assault, when his guard was committed elsewhere–
Bella’s mental lance struck.
Invisible, intangible and crossing the distance in less than time could be measured.
It punched through Jormund’s mental defenses like they were paper, all the concentrated Will invading his consciousness like a spear through his mind.
CRACK
His Domain flickered, his concentration shattering and flames wavering.
’W-what–’
Vash saw the opening.
Saw Jormund’s guard drop for a fraction of a second.
And that was enough.
His fist, enhanced with every skill he knew, every skill he’d mastered, every ounce of his S rank strength, drove forward with speed that tore reality.
BOOOOOOOM
The impact caught Jormund’s stomach, punching through his Aura defense, through his physical enhancement, through flesh and bone.
Vash’s hand emerged from Jormund’s back, holding his heart.
But Jormund wasn’t finished.
Even dying, even with his heart destroyed, S rank vitality kept him alive for precious seconds.
His flames concentrated into a single point.
His hand thrust forward, fingers rigid, heat concentrated into a blade sharper than any metal.
SSSHHHHUNK
The fire-blade punched through Vash’s stomach, through his enhanced flesh, creating a hole where his heart should be.
Both S ranks stood frozen, each holding pieces of the other.
****
Bella didn’t see the end of the fight.
She’d already begun the second part of her plan.
Her Aura core ignited from within, power spiraling out of control, her body becoming a bomb.
Vermont’s aged eyes widened as he understood.
"MISS BELLA, NO!"
She looked at the four S ranks who’d been fighting them, saw them preparing to capitalize on Vermont’s exhaustion.
Then she looked back at Vermont, at Elizabeth, at Damian and at Adrian.
Her lips moved, forming words.
"Lizzy... I’m sorry."
Her Aura exploded outward, grabbing Vermont with invisible force, throwing him backward toward Elizabeth and Damian with strength born from her final moments.
Vermont saw the look in her eyes.
The acceptance, the resignation and the love.
He understood.
"NO!"
His scream tore from his throat as his body flew through the air, unable to stop the momentum, unable to reach her.
She smiled at him.
Then rushed toward the four S ranks.
****
Everything happened in less than a second.
Bella’s words.
Vermont’s scream.
And the explosion.
Damian and Elizabeth, barely conscious under Kuro’s protection, heard only fragments through the chaos.
"Lizzy... I’m sorry."
"NO!"
BOOOOOOOM
****
The Aura core detonation created a sphere of pure destruction, Bella’s accumulated power releasing all at once in an explosion that dwarfed everything else on the battlefield.
The four S ranks were caught at ground zero, their Aura reinforcement barely enough to survive, bodies hurled backward with catastrophic injuries, bones shattered, organs ruptured.
The shockwave rolled across the battlefield, flattening everything, creating a crater where Bella had been standing.
Jormund’s Domain had collapsed entirely when his mind was attacked, the Inferno Citadel vanishing like it had never existed, the one-way seal breaking.
The orange flames burning the world disappeared, leaving only the ashen ground as the witness.
****
In the sudden silence, two figures stood in the distance.
Vash, holding Jormund’s severed head in one hand, his other hand pressed against the massive hole in his stomach where his heart used to be.
Jormund’s body lay at his feet, torn apart, life gone.
The four S ranks were limping away, too injured to continue fighting, blood trailing behind them as they fled into the darkness.
The Domain was gone and the reinforcements would arrive soon.
Vermont lay against the ground near Damian and Elizabeth, having caught himself after Bella threw him, his aged body barely functional.
He stared at the crater where Bella had been.
Nothing remained.
Not even ashes.
Just scorched earth and the memory of her smile.
Tears streamed down his weathered face, mixing with blood from his wounds.
"Bella..."
His voice broke.
"Bella, you... you..."
He couldn’t finish.
Elizabeth saw the crater through Kuro’s protective barrier, saw Vermont’s face, saw the devastation, understood what had happened.
"Aunt Bella..."
Her voice cracked, tears streaming down her face despite everything else, despite her own injuries, despite barely clinging to consciousness.
"No... No no no..."
The grief hit her like a physical blow, her body shaking with sobs.
Damian’s eyes opened slightly, awareness flickering, seeing the crater, understanding.
’She sacrificed herself...’
His remaining hand clenched despite having no strength left.