Chapter 53 - Second Draft

“Liren!” Jack sputtered out, staring at him in delight. The Spatial Gauntlet in his hand shook slightly as he held it up, smiling, forgetting Arial was here for a split second.

Before he could say anything else, however, Arial spun around, sending out a ball of fire towards the entrance where Liren stood.

Jack immediately activated his Slowed State, his heart dropping for a split second. He slowed time to 1/24th speed, ready to save Liren if he needed to.

Liren stared at the ball of fire blasting his way with a snort, lightly waving his hand. Immediately, space seemed to curve, and the ball of fire twisted past him, exploding farther down the hallway.

Jack blinked, and then nodded. Liren could take care of himself.

“Who are you?! What the hell is going on?!” Arial’s voice was half threatening, half confused.

“Nothing that matters to you.” Liren smiled, and raised his hand and then hurled it to the left.

Arial looked at him for a split second, preparing to defend herself.

Unfortunately, attacks from the Space Clan were one of the most difficult things to defend against.

“What?!” Arial shrieked aloud as the space around her seemed to shift, and she was thrown brutally to the side, slamming into one of the pillars in the room. A miniature explosion of flames and magma went off as she collided, crashing down hard and then bouncing off. The Durastine walls had a few scratches, but remained undamaged otherwise.

“Arial!” Jack blinked, his heart dropping. He ran over to her, his body blurring as he appeared by her side, the Spatial Gauntlet clutched tightly in his right hand. Bale and Evan exchanged glances before moving to stand near Liren, turning to keep watching on the doorway.

“Jack?! What are you doing?!” Liren appeared next to Jack, running up next to him.

“She’s the enemy!”

Jack froze in place, blinking. He stayed in his Slowed State, trying to understand what he felt.

He had only known Arial a very brief time. He’d quite enjoyed talking to her, and their duel had ended up being pretty fun. As he got to know her on that boat ride, however brief, he’d realized that she reminded him a lot of Little Seven. She was outgoing, fun, and strongheaded. She had even risked herself to protect him when that meteor was falling earlier.

She was a regular person, just like him. Just like Little Seven.

“No… No Liren.” Jack said, his eyes turning to face his best friend.

“She’s just a person like you or me. It’s the leaders of this Clan, the one’s in charge, that are our enemy.” He shook his head as he continued,

“That is who we have to target, to force to acknowledge us. The common people, or the younger generations that aren’t in charge. They aren’t our true enemy.” Jack’s voice was confident, filled with a sudden feeling of peace.

After everything he had seen and experienced, he finally felt as if he understood himself fully.

On the ground, Arial groaned, the fire that surrounded her shifting slightly.

Liren gave Jack an odd look as he spoke. He then walked up next to Jack, shaking his head.

“No, Jack, she really is the enemy.” Liren turned and looked coldly down at the girl groaning on the ground.

“Stop faking. Get up.” His voice was emotionless.

“What? She clear-“ Jack began, but was cut off.

“I said,” Liren clenched his fists, and then stabbed out with two fingers, at the air in front of the girl.

“GET UP!” Abruptly, before even Jack could react, several spatial fractures ripped the air in front of Liren apart, stabbing into the body of the girl lying on the floor.

“Liren?! What are you doing!” Jack sputtered, jumping backwards.

“Sto…” Jack’s voice trailed off as he stared at the girl on the ground in shock.

Arial’s body had been cut into several pieces by the fracture. However, instead of blood and bones spurting out or becoming visible, streams of magma flowed out, reconnecting her injured form till she was fully healed.

Arial’s eyes flashed a deep red as she looked at Liren, getting to her feet. A heavy wash of heat grew around her as a red glow of magma began to roll off her body.

She had achieved the Formless Stage.

“How did you know? Who are you, and what are you doing here?!” Her eyes glared daggers at Liren, before turning and giving Jack an unfathomable look.

Liren smiled coldly.

“Didn’t I say stop faking?” Liren twirled his fingers, and then made an abrupt pulling motion.

“Ulp!” Arial blasted forward, gravity twisting in her area. Her eyes opened wide in shock before she caught herself, going on the offensive. As she was pulled towards Liren she formed a first on her hand, punching forward. A crackling ball of magma blasted out in front of her, bearing down on Liren. She rested her hand on her sword, preparing to unleash a strike.

Jack stepped back several times, staring at the fighting duo in consternation, trying to figure out a way to separate them. The overwhelming heat Arial was giving off singed his skin lightly through his Spirit.

Liren glanced at the ball of magma that was blasted towards him and then gave a small smile. He flicked his pinky.

Immediately, the path of the magma fist curved and twisted, shooting off to explode behind him, on one of the walls of the central chamber. Molten fire and rock melted down, the Durastine walls finally showing a reaction. The heat from Arial’s magma fist appeared to be extraordinary.

Liren made a cutting motion with his hand, and then twisted his fingers.

Immediately, Arial’s body seemed to freeze in midair, and then was forcibly pressed down. Arial struggled to move her arm and attack with her sword, and found that she was unable to.

Liren stepped forward, tutting,

“Your Spirit is far too weak, a classic example of someone growing into their power too soon. You cannot make full use of your capabilities, and you are far too slow. You don’t even have the ability to shatter my Spatial Barrier.” He shook his head. His voice, however, was incredibly cold.

“If you don’t stop faking, I am going to kill you.” Liren began to twist his fingers again. Immediately, the space where Arial was trapped. began to shiver, spatial fractures reappearing. She gazed at them fearlessly, and then spat at Liren. Or, well, she tried to spit. Her body was currently unable to move.

“I know, I know. You have achieved the Formless Stage, right? You must think you’re invincible.” Liren’s eyes became even colder, like an ocean of frozen ice.

“But I assure you… You most certainly are not.” He clenched his fist.

Immediately, the air around Arial seemed to explode with spatial fractures, deforming and trembling. Arial’s form disintegrated into its magma state, unable to form a complete person.

“Sure, you can reform no matter how many times I cut you down, and none of this will cause you even the slightest bit of pain. But what if I destroy the space around you itself?” A sheen of sweat began to cover Liren’s forehead as he spoke. He slowly raised his left hand into the air, making a sweeping motion. The spatial fractures around Arial disappeared, though she remained frozen in place.

WHOOSH

Another set of spatial fractures appeared. But these fractures were different than the previous ones. The normal spatial fractures Liren created were colorless and transparent, with just a few twitching and distorted lines.

These fractures were pure, utter black, and emanated a powerful aura of violent death. Liren’s hands trembled as he controlled them, slowly pulling them down towards Arial. Arial’s eyes widened with fear as she stared at them, feeling a very real feeling of death.

“Liren… Stop. We don’t need to kill her.” Jack finally spoke up, his eyes clear.

Liren didn’t turn to face Jack as he responded, his concentration fully on the girl before him. Controlling these types of fractures was excessively difficult, even for him. Even a fully fledged Space King would have a large amount of difficult manipulating Spatial Obliteration Fractures, let alone him.

“She’s seen our faces, and our abilities. At the least, she knows I’m a member of the Space Clan. If you let her walk free, you’ll be dooming yourself to be hunted down.”

Jack shook his head.

“I don’t care. It’s not right.” Jack’s mind was set, his voice steady. Before, he might have wavered, unsure what to do. But now... He shook his head.

Liren paused, the crackling black fracture stopping a few feet above the struggling girl.

“We can’t always do the right thing, Jack, if we want to win. The enemies we fight are far, far greater than us in number, and their strength has reached the peak.” Liren’s voice was odd, his tone strangely off as he responded.

“Then I will make it so that we can. We will right the wrongs we have suffered, and both you and I, and those we represent, will one day live proudly in the sunlight. But we will do so as men, not as monsters.” Jack said as he stepped forward, stopping next to Liren. He turned to look at Arial. Her body was frozen, but her eyes were open wide, staring between Jack and Liren.

“I’m sorry about all of this, Arial. I think we could’ve been friends in another life.” He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“…” Liren was silent for a moment.

“I wish it could be like that, Jack. But no man can defeat the enemies we face, enemies you don’t even know about.” Liren sighed.

“But a monster… a monster might.”

Liren motioned downward with his hand, jerking it.

The crackling black fracture slammed down towards Arial, giving off a deadly aura of destruction. Tears welled up in Arial’s eyes as she stared at her impending doom.

“NO!” Jack was well and truly shocked. He activated his Slowed Space fully, turning to charge at Liren and interrupt his strike. He hadn’t expected his best friend to completely ignore him, to actually kill Arial. Liren had always listened and compromised with Jack before, on the few missions they went on together.

Jack slammed into a barrier that surrounded Liren, protecting him. His eyes bulged as he punched at it, trying to fracture it to no avail. He then pulled out his sword, prepping himself to unleashed a strike.

Before he fully unsheathed his blade, however, an explosion of force rocked Jack backwards, even in slow motion. He felt himself fly into the air, tumbling backwards. He twisted his body as he flew through the air, looking around in surprise.

The area where Arial had been stuck had exploded in a mire of flames and magma, the spatial constraints restricting her collapsing. The magma and fire slammed up against an invisible barrier as it tried to cover the room, forcibly suppressed by Liren.

“Ah. You’ve finally stopped faking.” Liren’s voice cut through the air as Jack landed on the ground, rolling to his feet, his body sore from the impact. His Spirit had absorbed most of it, alongside Liren’s protective barrier.

As the magma and fire sloughed down the side of the invisible barrier, a figure was revealed. Covered in powerful red flames and dripping magma, a crown of crimson flames boiling above her long hair. Her eyes were filled with anger, and, what it looked like to Jack, oddly, self-hatred.

A figure where the very air around her seemed to distort and twist, giving off a sickening, unnatural feeling.

A feeling Jack recognized.

A feeling he got when he fought against Void Shocker.

“Look, Jack, at the girl you wanted to spare.” Liren’s voice was merciless,

“A girl who draws on the power of the Void.”