~Chapter 43: Eve VS Aren~

Since yesterday, Elsa joined the gang in defeating Wally. They get along pretty well however... Elsword and Elsa were avoiding each other. The weather had been dark and gloomy which didn't help the red headed siblings at all. It was already morning, but there was no morning sun greeting them. There were only clouds and fog. Eve softly moved Chung's bangs from his face and kissed his forehead. She silently slipped out of their bed and crept out of the cabin.

Moby and Remy silently joined her as she walked into the woods. She stared at various herbs that could be useful to injuries. Everything was peaceful until...

"Particle Ray!"

Eve concentrated on her fingertips, firing off beams with a green aura surrounding her. However, black claw made of shadows appeared and swiped downwards, slamming Eve into a tree. Eve's golden eyes glared at the person who attacked her, slipping her glasses on with data forming.

'Aren Haan of Fahrmann. Older brother of Ara Haan. Disappeared when he saved Feita along with Elsa of the Red Knights and... Echo of the Alchemists. Weapon of choice is a blade.'

Aren came out of the shadows and his dull eyes pierced into Eve's golden ones. He pushed on his heels, charging towards Eve and slashed his blade several times. Eve dodged them and Moby and Remy tried to lessen the damage. The shadows from his blade soon formed together and created an arm. The shadow arm attacked Eve.

Eve quickly created a light aura around her, converting her energy into phontons, creating a plasma dummy in her place as she retreated backwards. The shadow arm missed Eve completely and the dummy exploded as Aren made contact with it. Eve was invisible to the eye for a moment. Eve activated Amplify, a red aura surrounded her and generated a rotating Electron Triangle.

"Sweep Rolling!"

Aren was tackled by the Electron Triangle, locking him in one place. He was held there until Eve released her control on the Electron Triangle, pushing him away. Eve was finally visible to the eye, and she had already prepared for another attack. She drew an amount of energy, creating a force field in front of her, firing a large beam towards Aren.

"Giga Stream!"

Unbeknownst to Eve, a magic circle in front of Eve, a shadow clone of him appeared and slashed Eve several times. Eve coughed out blood as she was pushed back. Aren walked towards her with a dull look on his face.

"Reverse Gravity."

Another magic circle was forming under Aren's feet and Eve. The shadows from the magic circle launched Eve up into the air violently. Eve was completely vulnerable to the violent shockwave when Aren stabbed his blade into the ground. Eve was slammed into the ground as she was swept away by a shadow claw.

Moby and Remy recovered from the attack and immediately tried to help their mistress. Eve stood while holding her arm, glaring at Aren. Eve raised an arm and launched an Electron Ball. It was slowly growing in size, and it slammed itself into Aren. The small explosion from the attack pushed Aren away slightly.

"Mega Electron Ball. Phonton Flare."

Eve dashed in front of Aren and smacked him with Moby before releasing a sudden burst of energy. This caused Aren to be blinded by the light from the burst of energy. Eve immediately launched her assault of attacks.

"Energetic Heart! Particle Ray! Energy Needles!"

Electron wings appeared on her back as she focused on her fingertips, firing many beams of particles. Aren took the full blow as Eve created several electric spears. This caused the electric spears to attack Aren from behind Eve as she charged herself up for another attack. Eve pushed herself, Moby, and Remy, attacking Aren with all of their strength before Eve created an even larger force field.

"Giga Stream! Generate Black Hole!"

All concentrated energy that Eve had gathered in a matter of time was unleashed. Aren was pushed against the hard bark of a tree. Streams of red liquid rolled down his head as his vision was starting to get blurry. Eve panted heavily as she focused on Aren. She raised her hand, summoning ancient weapons. A black hole was created, pulling Aren in, damaging him even further.

The explosion pushed both sides away. Eve was starting to lose consciousness as she struggled to keep herself awake. Aren pushed himself up and walked in front of Eve. At that moment, Eve lost consciousness, holding onto Chung's ring and Aren's blade was pointing against Eve's delicate neck. Aren, at that point, couldn't understand why inside him was holding him back from killing Eve.

His blade shook violently as he pulled it back from Eve's neck. Aren stabbed the blade into a tree's rough bark and walked away, defying the orders that was given to him. Eve's unconscious form was left in the woods alone as Aren disappeared into the fog.

"Eve!"

"Answer us if you can hear us!"

The gang had been wide awake a few hours since Eve's battle. Chung was worried out of his mind as he feared that Eve had been injured and he couldn't protect her from the danger. Elsword and Elsa finally talked to each other and worked together to find Eve.

The gang was split in groups. Raven and Rena. Aisha and Ara. Elsword and Elsa. And the prince of Hamel decided to work alone. Raven and Rena were in the woods, the exact place where Eve's battle was held. Raven and Rena studied the gashes, craters, and marks from the attacks.

Rena was already worried out of her mind for Eve, and now she's starting to worry for the prince of Hamel. Rena desperately called out Eve's name, running around the area, looking for her. Raven called out Eve's name as he looked around areas that could be used to hide. Rena suddenly tripped over something which seemed like a body.

"Eve!"

Rena stared at Eve in shock as her body was covered in dirt and dry blood. Moby and Remy were weakening as they tried to give Eve some support. Suddenly, Chung and the others appeared. Apparently, the routes they took were all leading to the woods. Chung's cerulean eyes widened as he stared at Eve. He rushed over to Eve and embraced her body.

'Eve... What happened...? Hey.. Didn't you say that we're going to be together forever? Answer me... Eve, I'm not going to forgive you if you leave me alone in this world. If you do... I'll follow you and definitely teach you a lesson. Eve... You better keep your promises with me. I want to have a family with you. And then... We'll still be together in the next life, the one after that, and it'll continue on forever... I love you, that's why... Live!'

Tears from Chung's cerulean eyes rolled down and splattered against the Eve's eyelids, cheeks, and lips. Eve's fingers began to move as golden eyes slowly opened. Eve's mouth began to curl upwards at the edges, her hand slowly caressed Chung's cheek.

"Chung... I'll definitely keep my promises, so.. Don't worry too much. Also... Y-You're so... S-Sly... I also want to have a family with you... I'll be together with you forever and ever.. I'll live for only you.. I.. I love you.."

Eve smiled softly as she wrapped her arms around him. Eve breathed in Chung's scent of sweat and faint scent of lilies. Chung sighed in relief as Eve was alive and was currently hugging him.

Rena smiled as a tear rolled down. She was worried for nothing as Chung and Eve's promises was what kept them alive and together. Raven wrapped his arms around Rena as Elsword and Aisha stared at each other before looking away. Elsa stared at the surroundings before staring at Eve's injuries. She came to one conclusion, the one who injured Eve to this point. At the same time, Ara was starting to suspect her own brother of Eve's injuries.

'Aren... Is it really you who injured Eve..?'

~Author's Note~

Woohoo! :D I finished this chapter and finally, Aren appears! :3 I took some of his used attacks in Halls of Water. Anyways... Nothing to say, except I've been assaulting innocent monsters in Ruben, Elder, Bethma, and Altera.

Oh yes... I'm still happy about my D rank on both my Code Nemesis and Shooting Guardian. :3 I never got any higher than a E rank. I suck at PvP.. XD And... I'm running out of K-Ching! O; No more K-Ching means no more fruits for my pet! o;

Here are my replies to meh awesome reviewers~

Kat Neko983: Well, too bad you must wait. Since Aren battled against Eve, Elsword and Elsa's relationship is going to be continued onto next chapter. And... Don't die! O;

Orithia WindBell: Lol! Aww, thanks for waiting! And that's okay. I'll consider you Hospes, but I'll reply to your reviews using your Username. Plus... It's fun typing it out. :3 Elsword is just in denial. After the clone, he couldn't trust another Elsa. XP Aisha will wake him up eventually and pay back the things he's done for her. :)

Yukiriyuu Acchan: Lol! *pats your head* That's alright! I'm not going to be mad at something like that. :) I'm glad you can accept my reasons for the classes. I love those pairings as well! Deadly Chaser x Code Nemesis, Infinity Sword x Elemental Master, Reckless Fist x Grand Archer are my favorites. And as you already know, Deadly Chaser x Code Nemesis is my all-time favorite. :3

Guest: He's just in denial. He'll get over it eventually and accept that his sister is in front of him.

Sweet Trickster: Yup, its going down at a rapid speed. That's right! It'll make them stronger. :) And yes, assassins.. Assassins that eventually fall in love with each other while killing innocent lives before having doubts in their occupation. Aww, it confused you? You don't have to re-read it since there's no clue. XP Don't worry, I'm better now, so I can continue on writing!

AsianAlex: No worries. :3 Glaive's true self was revealed by RubyCrusade. XD I go for the advanced classes for more credits. XD Aww, you want me to write a one shot for you? I'll be honored to do so for you~ Once I'm done with the other one shots in line. XD Yes, Rena not smiling is like Chung x Eve never happening. Don't worry, it was only temporarily.

RubyCrusade: Yes, because of you, I became a supporter for Elsa x Aren. XD You're so happy that you let Elsword off for being a dummy? XD You're welcome! *takes cupcake and gives you a slice of cake* :3

WitchOfMadness: Aww, that's alright! You can review anytime you want. :) I'm busy with exams too. Anyways, yes... We all feel bad for naive Elsword.

Konjiki No Yami: I'm all better now! No more sniffly nose and now I can update again! :) Thanks! And yes... Poor Elsword.

NekoYinChan: Aye! Deadly Chaser x Code Nemesis! :3 I like the Dark Holy Priest costumes the best, so I'm trying to get all of them for my characters. I hope you feel better!

Icebella: Oh my goodness.. Everyone is getting sick. O; Gore.. Very well. :) Emo Elsword... XD And thank you, I'm feeling much better!

Annihilator-Doomed-Eva: Thanks for your compliments! It's a school story, but mainly fighting. XD

An0n Author: Damn.. Such good guesses. I'll let everyone know which ones are the closest to the plot I have in mind. A, B, C, and E! Well, you have an awesome imagination and quick thinking. :3 The future is near for them.

Rosamanelle: XD You didn't even notice? Goodness. XD You're not the smartest, but you have potential. There. XD Don't argue back. Aye! There's another chapter already! Everyone's feeling bad for those certain people.. Wally deserves to be executed.

SeouLee: Dang... Calm down. XD Wally is a jerk. He deserves more than a simple punch. Well, Aisha is connected because of Elsa... Hmm, what do you think? The answer is not in this chapter, so... You might have to wait for a while. There might be a chance of death for Aisha because of this connection...

Thanks for reading!

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