Fate and the story of blood

Chapter 56: Unrivaled Ranker

It was oddly calm, the serene howling of wind sounding outside the opened window to the right of my room. Though it blew cold air, the fireplace across the room seemed to still emit heat from the still-burning kindling that was soon to expire once the last bit of red flames burned away its fuel. My hand was still reaching for the ceiling and as my head turned to see Amy in a white nightgown along with one of my arms missing, I was reminded of the day I met Amy back in that broken-down church in the forests of Garrison.

Suddenly, I was spiked with vivid memories of the dream I had, the dream of the goddess Ellicia speaking to me and granting me a supposed blessing that would help me in the endeavors of fighting off Eden and his army. The memories of the feeling I had back then upon opening the box started to drift out of my mind and without hesitation, I grabbed my blade by the nightstand and quickly bolted out of the room while it was still night. On bare feet, I ran across the hall, running past the confused guards who patrolled the palace at night and past the doors that awoke the sleeping occupants with my loud steps sprinting.

Running up the stairs and toward the top of the castle, I found myself back in the training grounds, the very place where I trained my blade and learned the difficult blood arts from Christan. Though this time, I wouldn't need any assistance for the feeling somehow still felt fresh in my conscious. I drew my blade, enveloping it in aura and a layer of my own blood; the seeping of ichor from my veins dizzied me yet I couldn't wait another second for myself to recover fully. Instead, I continued to drain it, up until the blade was covered in thick viscous blood that flowed out of my very body.

Shining under the moonlight, it reflected the blue rays of light that shone down, and swinging it forth, a feeling of release came into my mind. I charged my blade, allowing the power to form into what it guided me toward and while this happened, half a dozen people had already gathered at the doorway toward the training grounds wondering what I was doing this late; Christan and Gardenia especially curious as they thought what their companion was doing while in the middle recovering. My orange aura, gathered and formed upon the top of the blade, slowly gathering and finally reaching the peak form that sharpened into a perfectly shaped aura blade that covered it.

Next was the concentration I put in mind, the thought of allowing the feeling to take over instead of forcing it out, I did whatever I could and there it was, hiding within the recesses of my mind was it. Everyone watched as a sudden bright yellow glow formed on the tip of my blade, a power that resembled the strength of holy magic yet it didn't seem quite the same as them. It was much purer was what they thought, the purest form of yellow, one without the darker hint of yellow but instead one that came closer toward the blinding light of the sun. Gardenia and the others had their eyes stapled into the scene and noticing my left arm suddenly grow back at an astonishing speed, it was an indicator that something great was to occur right then and there.

As the clock ticked to halfway through after dark, the light glowed to illuminate the entire floor and brightened the skies with its blinding light. Before long, it was set, and as I plunged my blade forth into the skies, a beam of white light with hints of red shot toward the sky, one that resembled the tenth-tiered spell smite yet looked thinner and much less potent in both speed and strength. Though not imposing, the thoughts quickly ceased as once it reached the end of the light's reach, an explosion quickly filled the sky with a bang that was so loud, and with great pressure, the tree's leaves had its leaves be threatened to fly away from the impact. Following the initial impact, a series of explosions had the light shot out like a fireworks show, the power seemingly deriving from the hints of red within the white beam.

My breath was heavy and after that one attack, I was already brought to my knees with exhaustion despite almost a full day's rest. I expected great repercussions from it yet I never thought one move would bring me down a peg this far. I couldn't feel my feet and as my blade dropped toward the ground with the aura coming off with the release of my grip, I was immediately picked up by my Gardenia who had rushed forth as soon as the attack ended in the skies. A certainly great spectacle, yet being able to do it only once, it was but a card that almost seemed useless in practice. I looked toward the skies where my attack once was and as I was about to drift off into my unconscious domain once more, I saw the view of a great beast looming over me, a sight I didn't know if it was real or but a figment of my imagination...