Tbate-The Reincarnates

The Prison Called Remorse

"T-that can't, no, it's impossible. There's no way..."

"Me being... Nico?" Elijah coughed as he separated my fingers enough to speak. "If you reincarnated into this world, Grey, why is it impossible for anyone else too?"

The hand currently wrapped around Nico, no, Elijah, was shaking uncontrollably. I squeezed harder. I didn't want him to talk. I wanted to deny everything. I couldn't stand what he was about to say.

My grip around the black-haired traitor's neck loosened and Elijah took advantage of the moment perfectly, breaking free and punching me square in the jaw with a hellfire-covered fist.

I stiffened and the world that had been spinning from the toxin in Elijah's spell suddenly came back into focus.

"You think I didn't know that deep down you had feelings for Cecilia? Cecilia liked you for a while too, but she gave up because you kept your distance emotionally since you found out I had feelings for her."

"Stop," I whispered, anger igniting the mana inside me. The runes spread across my pulsing body as I concentrated on gathering strength.

"And even when I told you everything I found out about Lady Vera, you turned your back on your best friend for that bitch," he spoke with indescribable rage, black flames spreading from his hands. "And as if that wasn't enough, you killed her! You killed Cecilia in front of me!"

At this moment I released a blast of ice right in Nico's face.

From the shoulder up, Nico was frozen for a second until a black flame began to melt the ice. Still, I managed to break free of its grip and send an arc of lightning at my disoriented foe.

Nico landed on the ground, a mushroom of dust covering the area he'd landed on.

I turned my attention to the crater to see a large mana fluctuation from where Nico had landed.

He was preparing a spell a powerful one but it wasn't aimed at me.

A concentrated beam of hellfire barely thicker than the width of a wrist pierced through the cloud of dust and debris.

Squeezing mana from my core, I countered with a swirling barrier of etheric wind. While ice would have been a better choice to effectively negate Nico's attack, the toll of sustaining the Realmheart for so long was becoming more and more evident.

Sparks of hellfire that had managed to make their way through my wind barrier burned across my skin like acid, while even my regenerative abilities were hurting me, as if my body was begging me to stop hurting myself.

He withdrew his concentrated spell and exploded forward. However, despite the bad state of my body, my reflexes were much faster than he thought.

I pivoted and launched myself, facing Nico.

"Let go!" He roared as he thrashed around, trying to escape my grasp, tiny embers of hellfire igniting Elijah's entire body.

Nico suddenly stopped trying to break free. His shoulders shook as he gritted his teeth before yelling, "You owe me Grey. You owe me for killing Cecilia!"

"So that's how it is? Cecilia died so you have to kill my family to get even?" I spat. "I didn't mean to kill Cecilia, but even if I had, she wouldn't want it, Nico!"

"Don't worry, I'll ask her directly."

Taken aback, I didn't respond. However, I saw the mana fluctuate in Nico's hand as he conjured another black spike from the ground.

I spun quickly, using Elijah as a shield against his own spell. He was able to stop the thorn from piercing both of us.

A guttural scream of frustration ripped from his throat as he desperately tried to break free of my grip.

It took less than a second for me to feel Makima's presence approaching.

Makima landed deftly on the ground as if he had just stepped off the sidewalk. His stride was slow but confident, each step demanding her attention.

I made sure to position myself between Makima and my allies behind me as I took note of the rising tension.

"We're wasting time here Nico, let's go."

"Which?!"

"You made it clear to me that you would beat Leywin, but you were blinded by fury and you weren't so determined to get revenge on your old friend, maybe you would have won." Makima said, his face a mask of indifference and poise.

"I can still win."

"No matter it's my fault I shouldn't have taken your spoon." The indifference Makima displayed when he disregarded my presence festered like an itchy wound until I wasn't able to hold it any longer.

"Goodbye Leywin." Makima hissed, a chill running down my spine as she waved her hand. A dark wave of fire erupted from her hand, engulfing me and everything behind me.

Mana swirled around me, shielding me from the hellish fire that ignited even the air and paved ground.

From Tessia Eralith's point of view

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as a familiar force filled my room, the atmosphere seemed to have drastically changed. My body immediately tensed, as if signaling my brain that there was danger nearby.

I immediately turned my head towards the entryway to my room where a horned figure dressed in black stood.

"Caera?"