The world was pitch black when Vivi exited her smithy.

A violent tempest of wisps spun around her. Power surged in her veins. Hundreds of void wisps clouded her senses. Her home street of litter and disgust was now merely a mental map of ether. She could feel each crack in the cobblestone, each bit of mold growing within the walls of her neighbors, all from the ambient ether.

People no longer had faces—she merely felt weak ethereal auras. They were running into alleys, terrified. Junkies and drunkards. Vivi's neighbors.

She could also map out the elevation changes—the subtle tilt of the city itself that separated the drunkards from the aristocrats. Far more ether came from above, with richer people and richer infrastructure.

Vivi entered the highway, walking at a calm pace, Abyss Destroyer in hand.

Immediately, her surroundings turned to chaos. People ran for their lives. Down and up and into alleys, wherever there was room to run. Carriages were abandoned, and camels took to panic, fighting against their reins.

Vivi's posture wasn't hostile. She wasn't trying to kill anyone. She was just hated here. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she worked, the city would hate her.

She did not belong here.

Vivi sensed a few weapons, too. Three guardsmen. Two were weaklings with barely any ether, and one was a maxed out weakling with an outside-carved runesword. The man stayed on the highway, in Vivi's path with his sword up. He slowly stepped backwards and to the side.

Then the man dropped his runesword and sprinted for the alleys, and the highway became empty.

Vivi slashed at the fallen sword as she walked past. The blade snapped like a twig. The tip of her sword cut into the ground, crush runes taking effect and shattering the path. Cracks appeared through the width of the highway's two lanes, buildings trembling as the foundations were affected.

In distant streets, she sensed stronger ethereal presences. Maxed out guards, some that had clearly reached an elevation or two. They all felt like weaklings. Nothing around her was regarded as a true threat to her life. Anything she wanted destroyed could be utterly crushed to bits.

The streets leading to the market square slowly revealed themselves. Half a mile away, her senses were so clear she could already map out the square itself. A lot of ether was present within. She continued walking.

A quarter mile away from the square, she felt the audience—ethereal figures flocking within, all weak, holding up their silly cheer signs, celebrating whoever was on the platform. She could already map out the location of each guard in every corner, every possible danger that could try to kill her if she entered. Nothing seemed dangerous. The one strong aura of the sword tester was missing.

She was really close now. Atop the platform, Vivi sensed a short man, and a taller man holding a stick-like device with a light amount of ether. The man seemed to be speaking into the device.

It was the announcer. He lifted a metallic object. Some sort of cup with handles.

A trophy. For the winner of the runesmithing competition.

Vivi's head flickered, a wave of heat flaring through her veins. Void ether pushed through Abyss Destroyer's runes. The blade blinked like a second heart. The void realm regarded it as the most dangerous object Vivi had ever touched. It was hungry. Ready to destroy, to spread venerium's rot to everything that this awful city stood for.

The announcer handed the trophy to the small man beside it. The small man held it high.

Vivi's aura blew up like an ether surge as she dashed, force springing from her feet. In seconds, she had entered the square and bridged the gap from low split to middle split, where she dashed again, her abyssal figure flying straight to the platform.

She slashed wide, cutting the platform horizontally in half. Abyss Destroyer crushed its foundation, and the exquisite platform of richness crumbled by the crush runes, venerium's rot poisoning the destroyed particles.

The occupants atop lost their foothold, falling to the ground, where they crashed into a pool of venerium-poisoned rubble.

In an instant, the square went from cheery to utter panic. People in the audience screamed. Void ether blocked the sounds, of course, but Vivi could feel the light amounts of ether from their screeching mouths—and she felt the guards, whose auras switched from bored to terrified for their lives in an instant.

Vivi dashed for the judges' table, now vacant, and destroyed it with a clean slash. Then she dashed for the organizers' canopy, filled with the competition's staff. She grabbed hold of one of the poles, ripping it from the ground, tossing it aside, where it crashed against a streetside building. The tarp of the canopy collapsed on top of the people underneath.

Vivi lifted Abyss Destroyer high overhead, pushing a hundred void ether through its runes. She cast the sword, all of her hatred fueling her swing, down at the ground itself.

A shockwave erupted, her hair flaring, and the paved ground of the market square exploded, the damages spanning nearly the whole square, as if a quake had hit, venerium's rot extruding from each crack within.

Her consciousness flickered. The blackness of the void grew still, stronger, more powerful, as it made its way from her body to her consciousness itself.

But the void was powerful. And Shivenar still stood.

Vanhalla, Vivi thought. Vanhalla is next. Then it's the palace, and Zack's home, and his father's home, and—

A new presence arrived in the square.

Vivi turned to it, her sword held ready. The tremendous aura dashed across the square with speeds that easily matched Vivi's. It dashed for the now-collapsed platform and grabbed the two people writhing in the venerium-poisoned rubble, pulling them to safety.

Then it faced Vivi with a confident step. A campfire of wisps pushed out from the figure's core. It had a ponytail of long hair, a runesword enhanced with a weapon enhancement skill, and a flawless, perfect posture of an expert swordsman.

Anthony Ailman.

"Gain… Ether…" a vague voice was whispering in her head, barely audible. So quiet it could barely be called a voice. It was more like an instinct. Or a command, similar to hunger but more potent, telling her to kill whatever had ether.

Right there, in front of her, was her target.

Bastard! Vivi thought, charging him.

His figure did the same, sword first, and at speeds multitudes faster than anything she'd faced before.

She slashed wide with Abyss Destroyer. Suddenly, Anthony's ethereal presence disappeared, only to reappear on her right, his sword aimed at her face.

Only the miraculous instincts of the void realm helped her lean back in time. The tip of his sword missed her head by an inch. She ducked, dodging the follow-up swipe, and countered in the figure's direction.

He jumped back, dodging, and reassessed the situation.

Vivi's consciousness flickered. The whispering voices were there again. Two voices—one commanding her to gain ether, and the other whispering weakly, as if trying to get her attention.

More wisps flooded in from the void core. She hadn't called those wisps. The doors were merely open. The void core was an uncontrollable waterfall, and her body was the lake beneath.

She charged at the ethereal figure, slashing wide.

The figure dodged. It knew Vivi's sword was stronger. It was afraid, only dodging, not letting Vivi make contact. It ducked underneath, leaned to the side, or jumped back; anything but touching Vivi's sword.

Weakling! Vivi yelled in her thoughts. She aimed her next slash at the figure's sword. The outside-carved piece of junk. With the help of void ether, one slash was all she'd need. She—

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Suddenly, the figure's sword disappeared. His aura did not jump backwards; it dashed forward, toward her. His hands formed a fist, burning with thousands upon thousands of ether.

The fist hit Vivi in the stomach. Explosive knockback threw her against a streetside wooden building, where she crashed right through the, flying through the building's interior and through the back door—leaving a gaping hole of splinters in the building. She continued into the next street over, before finally crashing into a set of double doors.

The doors burst open, and Vivi tumbled on the floor, the first impact leaving a dent in the hard stone. She took control of the momentum and landed on her feet, the manoeuvre supported by more void ether rapidly pouring in.

She found herself in a large warehouse full of storage containers, but vacant of people.

The aura of her opponent charged her a fraction of a second later. Vivi went into stance, and more void ether flowed into her.

She could barely think. Her sense of self slipped away, replaced by pure hatred, pure power, the tools for destroying this cursed city, and the uncontrollable thirst for ether.

She needed to kill this man right now.

The figure's dash was followed by a slash of his sword. A committed slash; he believed Vivi was off-guard.

Vivi swung back with miraculous speed, thousands of void ether burning within her and her sword.

Their swords made contact.

The flimsy outside-carved sword blinked, surviving only because of the figure's high-tier weapon enhancement skill. Wisps burst to the air, as if a spirit blade had cracked. The sword instantly lost over half of its effectiveness.

Vivi swung with her left hand for a sneaky blow, pushing wisps to her hands for a claw-swipe.

Except, her hand did not turn to claws.

The figure had already dodged, sword ready to block. Even if her blow had shot forth, he wouldn't have died.

Vivi paused. Momentarily, her thoughts returned.

She was fighting Anthony Ailman.

The same man who had called Blossom a masterpiece. Who gave Vivi a hundred points in the competition.

Why was she fighting him?

Void ether blinked within her head again. The darkness tried to eat the thoughts she'd just had, as if to take them away from her memory. Something was wrong.

"Vivi, listen to me!" a weak voice was yelling at her. "You idiot, listen to me! It's turning you to a monster! Stop your void core! Force it shut!"

Oh. Oh no.

The void ether fought Lucius's voice, pushing it away. Vivi was alone again. If she could still be called Vivi. Her consciousness was slipping away. The void ether pulled at her thoughts, eating her memories, trying to take away everything that made her Vivi.

She tried to shut the wide-open doors of the void-core. It wouldn't budge.

And Anthony Ailman was dashing for her.

She raised Abyss Destroyer just in time, though her block was flimsy, and her stance was nonexistent, distracted and with a late-reaction. The sword flung off of her arms, and she lost her footing, stumbling backwards.

Another swing followed instantly after, Anthony's ethereal blade crashing from overhead.

Vivi fell on her back and held out her arm and reached into spatial storage, summoning Blossom for the block.

Blades collided, Anthony's ethereal blade blinking as he landed a hit. Vivi pushed with all her strength, stopping Anthony's blade.

Blossom felt awful. It was a mere tool Vivi could use to kill. Where was the Abyss Destroyer?

Anthony paused, seeing her sword.

He stared at Vivi. He recognized the sword.

Something was screaming in her head. Loudly, crying, wailing, shouting, every term of the word.

It was Vivi. She was the one screaming. Her body writhed on the ground, fighting the urge to kill Anthony. She didn't want to fight. She didn't want to kill him. Oh, god, she's made a huge mistake.

Anthony had a defensive stance, studying her as she lay on the ground.

More void ether kept flowing. The wisps attacked her consciousness itself.

No! Vivi screamed. Get away!

Vivi sensed something wet on her face. She was crying. Though she did not see him, she faced Anthony's eyes, utter desperation filling her head. She crawled backwards desperately, afraid for her life, terrified of losing herself. She tried to push the void core shut with force. It wasn't working. More void ether escaped from the core.

No, no, no! Get away from my head!

Blossom suddenly disappeared from her hands, back into spatial storage. That made her void senses angry. Abyss Destroyer was still somewhere. She had to find it—to drive it through Anthony's chest, to kill him and devour him for ether.

No! Vivi cried, writhing on the ground. Stop! Stop!

"Vivi!" Lucius shouted. "Look for ether! Regular ether!"

She heard him. His voice was vague, but understandable. Vivi clung to his orders, searching for regular wisps of ether. Within the mess of void ether, lone live wisps attempted to fit in, but were pushed aside.

Vivi could suddenly feel her heart thumping. She reached for the ether, trying to grab onto them.

Lucius! she yelled.

"Vivi? You can hear me?"

More wisps!

He did, pushing all of the wisps he had into her body. It wasn't enough. More void ether kept flowing, the core still wide open. Live ether was pushed aside, kicked around within the stampede of void wisps.

Lucius burned his reserves, forcing more wisps into her body. A fraction of clarity returned to her head. Now Lucius's presence was the one to waver, as the ether within his reserves dwindled below a thousand.

He needs more! Vivi thought. She pushed ether into Lucius's core from her own reserves. She didn't count the wisps; she just transferred as much as she could, pushing it all to Lucius's reserves.

He burned the ether immediately.

Finally, the live ether began to match the void wisps.

The sensations that followed were nothing short of terrifying. A storm clashed in her body, void ether and burned scarlet wisps clashing for control like hellfire and ice trapped in a jar.

She tried to force the void core shut, surrounding it with live ether, as if building a dam on a waterfall. For a moment, it worked. The void ether still attempted to eat her, pouncing at the coating of live ether, attempting to break out. The void core wasn't shut. It was merely contained.

Her body still writhed in pain on the ground, while Anthony stood in shock.

It's not enough! Vivi realized. Lucius's scarlet wisps dimmed out quickly. The dam around the void core was strong, but it was quick to diminish. She needed more ether.

She transferred another thousand of her wisps to Lucius and more, until…

Her core ran out. She had no more ether to transfer.

And it still wasn't enough. The void wisps were like razor blades cutting at the scarlet wisps. The pressure of the void core threatened to break out. Not only that, the void wisps still within her body attacked Lucius's ether. The scarlet wisps received pressure from both sides, from inside the void core, and from outside, where void ether still clouded Vivi's senses.

No! she shouted. Stop! Please! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!

Her consciousness was already slipping. If the void core broke loose again, breaking the dam, she'd lose herself. She'd fully turn into a monster in an instant.

She couldn't do anything. She screamed; she tried to channel the scarlet wisps with her poor zero-elevation skills in a desperate hope to offer the live ether more strength. It wasn't working. Her thoughts slipped away, the void ether pushed through, and—

Suddenly, more wisps appeared in her core, transferred from outside.

Anthony's hand pressed tight just below her neck. He grimaced, and suddenly, a jolt shot through his hand, into Vivi's body. Active ether followed, shaped by him, and then pushed into Vivi's body.

The ether felt foreign in her body. The wisps were not hers, and she gained no power from them.

But the void wisps hated them. A battle now began with Anthony's wisps and the void ether in her body. His wisps were far stronger than hers, fighting for control over her body.

And she now had more wisps in her own reserves. Anthony gave her over ten thousand. She transferred them all to Lucius, who promptly burned into her veins.

The void ether in her body dwindled. Some dimmed out, dying, others leaked to the air around her—violently, grazing Anthony's skin. If not for a coating of ether around him, he would have died just by being near her.

Anthony pushed more of his ether to her body. Lucius burned more scarlet wisps. He reformed the dam, fully locking in the void ether. "Now, Vivi!" he shouted. "Shut it!"

She pushed with all she had, the weight of her entire consciousness, pushing at the void core, forcing it shut. It still resisted, attempting to break loose, to force more void ether into her body.

But finally, it was running out of power. Vivi gave one last push, and the void core fell shut.

Senses began to return. Her ears rang painfully loud, her nose was filled with scents she couldn't describe, and her eyes saw bright colors, though the world was so blurry, she could not make out anything at all.

Her heart was thumping a million times a minute. Her head pumped her with so many emotions she could have exploded from them alone. Every part of her body begged for dear life, desperately calling for help.

Her skin was dangerously pale, and her limbs had lost size. The void ether had not only tried to take her head, but her body as well, fully turning her to a monster. She trembled uncontrollably, sharp pain flaring all over her body.

She broke into tears. Shame, regret, and fear flooded her. "I'm sorry!" she cried, uncertain if her words could be understood. "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…"

The sensations were just too overwhelming. The pain, the regret, the extreme fear she'd felt just moments ago—the awful feeling of losing herself. Never in her life had Vivi felt something so extreme.

Lucius hugged her from behind, his paws warmly on her back, spirit nose on her nape. "It's okay now," he said softly. "We lived."

"Keep your aura active, Vivian," Anthony told her. He embraced her body, Vivi's face buried on his shoulder. "You might collapse if you lose ether now."

Lucius did so, shaping ether into her body, keeping her nearly at the five thousand maximum.

He saved me, Vivi thought. He stopped me from destroying the city.

The thought made Vivi cry even harder. If not for Anthony, she would have still been a rampaging monster. Void ether would have devoured her, turning into the worst being of her nightmares.

She'd tried to kill him in her fit of void-fueled rage.

Because of him, she could still think. She was still alive. Vivi continued her desperate flurry of apologies through her tears, clinging to his shoulder. He did not push her away.

Behind them, people rushed into the warehouse. Guardsmen. Clearly strong ones, at least of the first elevation.

"Storm Devourer!" they called.

"It's okay now," Anthony said calmly. "The monster is dead. I defeated it."

The guards were shaken for a moment, then they looked relieved. They slowly stepped forward and Vivi with Lucius on her back. "Who is this?" they asked.

"I don't know," Anthony said. "I saved her from the monster."

The guards' wore pained expressions. They didn't seem to recognize her. During her transformation, void ether had made her so hideous, nobody had recognized her. They'd merely seen a monster. And the guards didn't seem to recognize her now either, after the void ether made her this frail.

Anthony stood and lifted Vivi's hand. He faced the guards and said, "She requires immediate care. I will bring her to safety. Go tend to the wounded!"

The guards saluted. "Yes!"

With that, Anthony carried her away, and Vivi soon lost consciousness.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.