The Sword and The Shadow

I Absolutely Hate that Fellow!

"No! Annie! Run! Quick, go! Don't care about me!" Leguna cried as he looked at the icy-blue Annelotte, "Leave place, please! I beg you! Go! I don't want this!"

Click! Click! Click!

Leguna could feel the chains around his neck loosen. The impetus in his body could already circulate according to his will. However, the seal still hadn't completely unlocked. He was only at the 5th stratum of power and couldn't shatter the chains yet, let alone escape.

"Darn, darn, darn! Move!" Leguna squirmed and struggled like a desperate wild dog, but the chains were frustratingly tough. Darn it! Move!

"You take hits surprisingly well, for a magus," Alfreid said at the sight of Annelotte being able to maintain flight despite losing so much blood. A sinister smile surfaced on his face. He bowed elegantly and whispered, "Go!"

Wham! The second Photon Bomb struck her square once more.

"Ugh… Agh… Aaaah! Aaaaaaah!" Leguna shrieked uncontrollably. He saw as a blue object fell from the skies onto the ground and shattering upon impact. The breeze blew the fine shards away as they sparkled beautifully like diamond powder in the sun.

Despite the unparalleled beauty of such a sight, it was the most terrifying thing Leguna had ever seen in his life. The shards weren't diamond powder, but part of Annelotte's leg!

"No… no! Nooooo!" he roared from the depths of his soul.

Annelotte was still floating in the air despite losing the parts of her body underneath her waist from the blast. Had she not used Host of Glacier to suspend her biological functions, she would've long died. But now, even after half of her had been reduced to powder, she remained in the air with her damaged arms wide open, blocking Leguna behind her.

"Move! Move for me! Aaaaaah!" His eyes turned bloodshot as he surged his impetus like a madman in an attempt to regain his power. However, the accursed chains still bound him tightly, limiting his power and mobility. Even though he was now as powerful as a mid-order assassin, it still wasn't enough.

"These darned chains!" he cursed. He bit the chains furiously and ground his teeth together.

His weak teeth shattered and he lost two to three of them in an instant. The tooth shards flowed out of his mouth with his blood, but he didn't care and used his sensitive gums and what remained of his teeth to continue his biting. Pain no longer mattered, nothing did, apart from her. All he wanted to do was to break free from the chains and take the crippled Annelotte with him and leave.

This can't be happening! We said we're going to leave together and stay together for good after leaving here! This can't be happening!

"AaaaaaaAAAAHHHHH!" he yelled like a dying wolf.

[I know you crave power,] an abyssal voice rang in his mind. It wasn't Nidhogg's voice. [You want to save her.]

[Yes! Power! Give me power! I'm willing to pay any price! I'm still far too weak!]

[You've never been weak. The power has always been within you. You just weren't willing to face it and let it free.]

[How do I release it? Tell me! Tell me now!] Countless unintelligible sounds rang through his mind and didn't make any sense to him. However, he managed to pick up on one important phrase: under the Sacred Light.

However, it wasn't enough! Far from it! If that was supposed to be an incantation, there should be something else! However, he couldn't remember what it was. What could he do?

"Annie!" he roared on the brink of insanity.

She slowly turned back as if she heard his yell. In another ten seconds, his seal would be broken. But Alfreid's third bomb was coursing towards her already. She knew that she wouldn't be able to achieve the perfect ending at the very end.

I guess it's the first time I've been driven to such haggard lengths, she thought at the sight of her incomplete body. There were still many things she couldn't remember clearly, but now, she came to realize why she didn't make any memory backups of Leguna.

She had been aware of the fact that that fellow would be sticking to her like gum for the rest of her life. If that was the case, were their past memories really that important? No. There would be many more opportunities to make even better and more precious memories together. Wouldn't it be better to leave the limited memories she could back up about the people that could grow distant and forget her? She might lose her connection with them completely if she forgot about them, but he was different. He would always be by her side, so it was fine to forget their past. As long as they were together, no forgotten memory was important!

As long… as they were together.

She could no longer remember whether she did promise Leguna she would stay with him, but she trusted that even if such a promise wasn't made, their feelings were mutual. However, she could no longer play her part in that arrangement. In the end, she still couldn't stay with him. That idiot would live a hard life after she left, wouldn't he? He was always so reckless, short-sighted, and straight-laced. Without her by his side, he would definitely be used and tricked by others.

She realized she couldn't completely leave him be just yet. Will he feel lonely without me around? Will he miss me? Will he do something extreme because of what happened today?

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. She felt her mind fill up with memories about Leguna, not those from back then, but those they made after.

Look, so many beautiful memories were made after all, she thought. Her gaze met with his and she opened her mouth to whisper something, before she smiled.

Leguna watched with despair as the Photon Bomb slowly encroached. He couldn't hear what she was trying to say at all with all the noise around. He tried all he could to engrave the smile into his mind so that he could use it as a source of energy and motivation to continue his unending fight.

I wonder if this counts as a confession… Under normal circumstances, her face would've reddened like a tomato. Leguna would definitely be able to guess what she had said based on her expression. Fortunately, she had used Host of Glacier, making it so that he wouldn't be able to tell.

Looks like this really ended as Lisana warned. It's too bad I only acknowledged these feelings at the very end, she thought with a smile, before her stubborn streak acted up again. No, it can't be! What's so good about that fellow anyway? I absolutely hate him!

Shatter!