"Kill her! Now!"
The cobalt blue dragon growled at her half-human, half-beast son, urging him to end the final battle in Hyne's magic return ritual.
Her knees could not hold her light weight steady. She cradled her left elbow, which he had broken earlier. The fact that she could still move her left fingers proved his mercy, which even she considered unnecessary. She was clearly not his wife, nor was he her deceased lover. They belonged to two different worlds. He had a daughter and a wife—an image of her to return to—while she had the whole world to save. His happiness weighed against her sacrifice. Suddenly, she found relief in the thought that in mere minutes, regardless of what Hyne intended to do with her world, his world would be safe.
What was that? Had she given up her mission?
She had tried her best every single day until this day, calculating with every magic spell cast. She didn't need to look at her junction to know how many spells she had left: 80 Ultimas—she was no Black Mage like Elutia to cast them effectively; 2 Holy spells—her most used offensive magic; 0 Thundagas—all gone after he smashed Quezacotl and Hyne erased Thunder from Earth; 50 Flares and 100 Meteors—their elemental spells she dared not use on him and his dragon mother.
She was puzzled by Hyne's arrangement. Even if they all died here, lighting up their corresponding magic runes, Ultima would remain. What would happen to Earth if all good magic was gone, except for the dark one that could wipe out an entire village, just like Elutia had done?
Perhaps he had the same question, as she sensed hesitation in his eyes. However, knowing what she knew about him, for he was the mirror of her lover in his world after all, he shouldn't show her more mercy than a few last kind words.
"I'm sorry..." he murmured, his voice barely audible.
"It's alright," she replied, trying to straighten her knees and adopt the stance her lover had taught her back in Garden, which felt like a distant memory after just two years.
"I know what you're trying to do. It's noble. But I can't let that happen."
"Conservation of magic," she nodded. "You have to protect your world."
"In yours, what happened to us?"
His light frown made her smile. He was not the type to chitchat with his soon victim, and she was happy to be an exception.
"He forced me to kill him and became my GF. I lost him when fighting my sister."
"Of course, Elutia," he snorted. "Quite a handful in your world, I suppose. She lives with us in Fisherman's Horizon."
"That's wonderful…"
"Figure that info warms your heart a bit."
"It really does, thank you," she smiled. "Now I can go in peace. Take my life... for I owe you one."
"I won't let my guard down just because you say that."
He drew a pair of pointed blades she had never seen her lover use before. Judging by his low HP and the blood rushing to his eyes, she involuntarily smiled, recalling an old memory.
"Sensei, what's your Limit Break?"
"You don't want to know."
"Why?"
"If I ever have to use it, you must be dead."
She dropped Red Scorpion to the ground. It would be futile to keep him at bay with this toy. Wrapping her lasso around her broken left forearm and hanging it around her neck, she positioned her hands at the same level for amplified Telekinesis.
"I'm ready..." she said, peace in her voice and a teardrop in her eyes, grateful that his figure would be the last thing she saw in this world. "Show me your Limit Break."
He obliged.
"Hell's Dance..."
Into Hyne's sanctuary's darkness, he disappeared. She hoped to rely on the sound of his blades cutting through the air, but the thin air in space offered no help. It wasn't until his blade was just an inch from her neck that she realized the danger. She pushed, but felt no resistance as usual. He vanished, then reappeared in an instant, repeating attacks after her weakened senses.
Soon, she lost track of his blades as he closed in on her. His left hand pressed against her back, pushing her chest toward his blade, which pierced through her spacesuit and reached her flesh with ease. Defenseless, she used Telekinesis to push it away one last time—a move he would not be fooled by at this point. He coldly released his grip on the controlled blade, then retrieved another from his back sheath and stabbed her deeply this time.
And once more to her heart, just as Garden's best assassin usually did.
She dropped to the ground, knees first, followed by her broken elbow. Time seemed frozen in front of her burgundy eyes, now covered in another hue of red, fixated to the marble battle ground filled with her blood. Her space suit no longer white. She imagined herself a pure white rose turning red at her last moment.
Instead of kicking her body as he usually would do with his dying preys, he leaned down and carefully arranged her torso, allowing her to look up at the endless space above that was supposed to filled with stars if she could see them. He also spared her head, letting her die in one piece. She moved her lower lip to show him her gratitude, waiting for Hyne to use her battered body to draw all Holy spells from Earth.
With only Flare and Meteor left, her mission was 95% complete.