LIGHTNOVELONLINE LXVI. Jade Dawn
Barr: AN EYE FOR AN EYE, VIRNO...!
Closing in on the group with relentless determination, Barr advanced with his blade poised to cleave them in two. It was now time for Virno to leap into action, ready to confront Barr once more, his heart set on emerging victorious this time.
Virno: An eye for an eye, Barr!
He leaps. As Barr's blade approaches him, Virno readies his own attack: an upward cut, with the aim of targeting what little was left of Barr's torso. With a swift motion, Virno swings his sword arm, but Barr disperses yet another cloud of smoke, obscuring his position. Within the dense haze, Barr moves with unnatural agility, his colossal blade slicing through the darkness and claiming more than just smoke in its path.
Barr: HAHAHAH! How will you be wielding your sword now?!
Virno felt immense pain, as he lost all sensation in his right hand - he couldn't so much as feel it anymore. Glancing down his arm, he witnessed the horrifying truth: his forearm was gone, cleanly severed and now plummeting to the ground, still clutching the blade as it drifted away from him, losing the green hue that had been imbued upon it.
Virno: NGHHH!
As blood gushed from the gaping wound like a fountain, Virno felt his heartbeat thunder in his chest, as if it were eager to break free. The surge of energy he had felt before was amplified, as the glow in his eyes began spreading to the skin around them, imprinting it with sigils of unknown origin.
Virno: Ventus, tibi praecipio...
The very air quivered as he uttered words in a language that was not his own. Infused with a commanding resonance, his voice reverberated through the skies, echoing with an otherworldly power. Stretching out his left arm towards Barr, it was clear something in Virno had shifted, his mere presence becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Virno: ... Sweepeth away yon clouds...
As the radiant sigils continued to spread across his arm, etching themselves into his skin with searing intensity, Virno's power surged. With a sudden burst of energy, a mighty gust of wind erupted from his open palm, instantly dispelling all of Barr's smoke.
Virno: ... Rend my foe in twain.
Bringing his fingers together, Virno holds his hand sideways, executing a swift cutting motion from top to bottom.
Virno: Fact ut impero!
Commanding an unstoppable gust, a razor-sharp wind strikes Barr's chest with the force of a guillottine at terminal velocity. It slices open his chest, severing several ribs and propelling him earthward in a tumultuous descent.
Virno: AGHHH...!
As the sigils gradually fade, Virno's voice returns to its normal cadence, leaving his left arm scarred from their fiery imprint. He could feel his arm ache terribly, even more than his freshly-severed right arm, though he knew he could not stop yet. He was now free-falling through the air, seconds away from crashing into the unforgiving ground, with his arm still bleeding profusely. Whatever price he had to pay, he was willing to.
Virno: No price can be worse than dying...
Greed: A dangerous assumption.
Greed had managed to invade his thoughts uninvited, as he used to back when the curse had first taken hold of him.
Virno: Greed... Can your power save me?
Greed: It just did. Do you think you spoke those words of your own volition...? Your voice carried with it my own will. In a time of desperate need, your fight or flight instinct did what it could to save you -- It relented agency to me.
Virno: Then save me again... Break my fall. Please!
Greed: Your legs will still pay a price.
Virno: I don't care... I can't die here. I just can't!
Greed: That much we can agree on... So, focus. Draw it out once more, as you just did. My voice shall command it.
Virno grits his teeth, his brow furrowing in determination as his eyes ignite once more. Sigils etch themselves onto the skin around his eyes once again, their luminous script spreading with newfound intensity, now racing down his legs.
Virno: Ventus, tibi praecipio...
He began another incantation, his voice regaining the powerful echo, not unlike the voice of a deity.
Virno: ... Grant unto me an unmarred descent.
The sigils begin glowing vividly, searing themselves onto his skin once more, this time adorning both of his legs. A sharp, searing pain courses through him as they take hold.
Virno: Fact ut impero!
An explosive burst of wind erupts from Virno's feet, slowing his descent and ensuring a safe landing on the ground. Yet, the moment his feet touch the grass, he crumples to his knees, overwhelmed by immense pain shooting through his legs. In agony, Virno couldn't muster the strength to stand.
Greed: You're not done yet. You must stand up.
With his body depleted of energy and his life force ebbing away with each passing moment, Virno finds himself unable to summon the strength to silence the insidious whispers of Greed, let alone rise to face the battle once more.
Greed: He comes. STAND.
Barr, now reduced to a shambling corpse, slowly walked his way towards Virno. By this point, his scarred arm and legs had grown numb from the intense pain. He couldn't move, couldn't talk... Couldn't think anymore. Consciousness began to escape him.
Barr: T-that was a nice try... But your time's up. It's coming back. I-I can't hold it back anymore...
From his wounded form, dark tar gushes forth in an unending torrent, staining the ground beneath him with its malevolent presence.
Barr: It was nice to see you one last time, Virno... See you in the next life...!
His voice became tainted with a demonic intonation once more, as the thick fluid rapidly healed his injuries, granting him enough mobility to verve consistently towards Virno. They had taken too long, for it seemed like Novilunium was regaining all of his strength.
Novilunium: S-so much pain...
Novilunium stretches out his arm, shooting a tentacle toward Virno's freshly severed arm. Surprisingly, the moment it made contact with it, the pain from his cut subsides, replaced by a soothing cold sensation.
Greed: Filth...! Do not let them sully you. STAND UP, VIRNO!
Yet their voices were but a blur inside his mind. He slowly lost his senses, drifting off into sleep.
Greed: Your torment follows you beyond the physical world, von Virtus. You're not escaping so easily...
Unconscious and defenseless, Novilunium approached Virno, at long last unimpeded to take him away. In the distance, the driver and Ballo had managed to land, yet there was naught they could do. Though Ballo's spell and the vehicle's shoddy suspension had cushioned their fall, the vehicle was now in an unrepairable state, with its fuel cell shattered and leaking energy. Holding an uncounscious Ballo in their arms, the driver couldn't help but grip tightly, as tears visibly ran down their one exposed eye as they witnessed the hopeless visage before them.
Driver: I'm sorry, Clavia... I'm sorry, Owl... I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry...