Chapter 73: Cross And Straw [22] So...Girlfriend?

As if they reached an unspoken agreement, both kicked off the ground and launched towards each other.

Unfortunately, Willow was faster; her dark blade covered in a shroud of flame, burning the air as it moved.

A gust of wind picked up behind her, and the next instant, she was in front of Leonidas. Her sword was a dark blur, whipping for his neck.

While he wasn’t as fast as her, Leonidas wasn’t far behind. He blocked with Blush, bones rattling under the harrowing force behind the strike, then struck back.

Flowers bloomed from the tip of his sword, jagged and twirling, like crimson lightning. They shot towards Willow, stabbing into the ground with startling ease.

He followed up with an uppercut, which Willow deftly dodged.

He ate her fist instead. The accursed black metal slammed into his nose, a fountain of blood staining his lips.

A twisted smile made its way on Leonidas’s face. He spat a mouthful of blood, the cracked ground stained slightly crimson. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Willow gave him no respite, sword flying forward all the same. Blush intercepted the blade before it could cut him in half.

Crimson flowers covered its rosy surface, shattering with each deflection. A torrent of silver lightning surged towards him, the air hissing as it moved.

What the—!

His flowers intercepted the wreathing chains of silver, a grim expression making way on his face.

Willow’s Mark was truly insidious. Not only was it unfairly strong, allowing her to use every Source Element with minimal strain, but the beast that had taken over her mind could use it with much better efficiency.

Willow had once told him that her Mark put incredible strain on her mind, but a pilgrim—supposedly a Superus or Vis ranked one—would have no difficulty absorbing that strain. Hell, the only reason it hadn’t willed Leonidas to death was probably because of Willow’s own body.

She was simply too weak... too fragile.

Leonidas hissed in pain as Smooth Criminal bit into his left and only arm, spraying the air with blood.

Fragile, my ass.

Willow didn’t escape unscathed either, blood dripping from her right eye, a gruesome scar marring their dark expanse. It was ironic, Willow had threatened to stab him in the eyes more times than he could count, and yet here she was, her left eye entirely useless.

Just as Leonidas wrapped himself in a mantle of ruby roses, their petals sticking out like sharp needles, Willow herself changed.

Her size turned towering, a staggering two meters, while her armor shifted across her body. It turned fluid, slithering over her face, covering it in a fearsome helmet of darkness.

Smooth Criminal turned into gas, wrapping around her. It all happened in an instant, and in the next, Willow was right in front of him, breaking the ground beneath.

The cave groaned, dust drifting from the ceiling. Willow’s hands, clasped together like a hammer, fell down hard over his head.

The black metal gauntlets met his sword, but it was useless. Her strength was far too great, like trying to move with a mountain on your head.

Blush clattered from his hands, useless in the moment he needed it most.

Pain ruptured in his head, skull cracked. He swayed with dizziness, body stooped over, when a knee caved in his face.

Silver flames burned somewhere behind Willow, but by that time, Leonidas was already gone.

He flew out of the collapsing cave, crashing into a tree with backbreaking force. A gasp of pain made its way out of his mouth, blood and spit darkening his crimson clothes.

The needle armor he had made...it only served as a deterrent. His body was punctured in a plethora of places, leaking the hateful liquid.

A second later, Willow came out of the very same cave, flying the same way as him. She disappeared somewhere in the dense forest of trees, flying too fast to track.

"Hahaha."

Slowly, Leonidas stood, feet wobbly and eyes squinted, a mixture of sweat and blood making it hard to see.

The Shroud of Sacrifice emerged from his skin in a tantalizingly long time, breaking his face before it reformed.

The cracked porcelain mask sat on his face without any harness, fused with his very skin. It bled spectral crimson light, a sight so haunting it would make any man run in fear.

Leonidas’s smile widened beneath the Shroud, a crazy grin splitting his cheeks. He laughed again, more unrestrained, and started walking where Willow had gone.

Leonidas didn’t spare Savior a single glance, dismissing her with a casual wave of his hand. The Infernal Knight was in far too bad a shape, her body breaking down with every step.

No doubt she would die before he even made his way back to Willow. Finding Willow was hardly a difficult task, for she had been kind enough to mark the path for him.

Following the trail of fallen trees and shattered ground, Leonidas found himself standing in front of a black throne, its surface a glossy black that resembled the trees around them.

"Heh, this reminds me of the first time I met you, what a darned creature you are. Can you speak?"

The pilgrim nodded, a twisted smile on its face. If corruption had a smile, Leonidas would imagine it to look like that. Especially on Willow’s face...it looked beautiful, but deadly. Like a double-edged blade.

"Then speak you darned beast, and give me back my friend."

The pilgrim pointed at itself...at Willow, and spoke in a raspy voice.

"Girl...?"

"Yeah, she’s a girl, you damned nitwit, you’re in her body, and you can’t tell that much."

"So...girlfriend?"

Willow burst into deranged laughter, seeing Leonidas’s expression twist with horror, while he ground his teeth.

"...you darned beast."

The pilgrim howled even louder, a sound so corrupted that the trees around them recoiled in danger, the clearing widening. And this time, it wasn’t Leonidas hallucinating.

"She feels nothing but pity for you, small human. If only you knew she would kill you the moment you helped her achieve her goal."

Leonidas knew it was trying to get into his head, to make him unstable, he knew yet he still asked.

"And why in the seven heavens should I trust the words of a monster, a beast born in the throes of corruption?"

Willow smiled, a smile so large the skin lining at the corners of her lips ripped, deep, bleeding tears extending toward her ears.

She, or rather it, pointed at her head and spoke in a disgruntled voice. "Because I have read her mind, have seen her memories, lived her traumas, and faced her insecurities. I know her better than she knows herself."

Leonidas felt shivers up his spine, cold sweat dripping down his cheeks. He was scared, frightened, petrified, terrified, whatever the words were.

He wished for nothing more than to run away, run and never look back...but he couldn’t do that now, could he?

So, gritting his teeth and steeling his mind the best he could, Leonidas stepped forward, while simultaneously increasing his Insenium output.

"Heh, you almost got me. The only reason you’re even talking is that you’re trying to take over my mind, isn’t it? Well, let me tell you something."

He stepped forward and jabbed a finger straight into the demonic helmet covering her head.

"The moment you peer into my mind will be the moment you will come to regret your existence, the moment an emotionless monster like you will feel fear so vast, so profound, your very existence will be consumed by it.

You’ll live with your head ducked, with scars so deep nothing could fix them."

Willow snarled, and at that exact moment, a timer went off in his head.

Done!

Her hand whipped out, so close that Leonidas could feel something touch his mask, but it never made it towards him.

Just before Willow’s fists could collide, Leonidas activated everything he had accumulated in her body.

[No Will], gathered over the duration of their long battle and conversation, struck with everything, the accumulated effects too great for Willow’s body to bear.

He had bet on his power, and his bet paid out.

His arm coiled tightly, so tight that steam burst from his boiling blood, and he punched. Just a single punch, one that carried all his frustration, all his anger and hatred, and more importantly, all his will, enhanced by [Free Will]

The impact detonated with a deafening crack. Under the synchronized weight of [No Will] and [Free Will], Willow’s gaseous darkness hardened, fractured, and shattered like brittle porcelain. Her armor dented and cracked.

The backlash launched her backward, her towering silhouette plowing through the clearing and snapping the glossy black trees like twigs.

The pilgrim shrieked a distorted, fragmented curse, but the sheer velocity of her flight choked the sound right out of her throat.

Leonidas didn’t wait to see her land. Turning on his heel, he pushed his legs to their absolute limit and ran in the opposite direction.

He ran and ran.