Chương 79: CHAPTER 78 – Infinite

Smoke and flashes burst from the gash in the wall, shaking the furnishings of Lexa's gigantic dining hall. The chandelier swung frantically in every direction, as if dodging the rocky darts hurled through the air. The table split open, carved by a long blade of ice. Gripped at the hilt, David's hand was bloodied, its palm stripped of flesh. His eyes turned to ice, vibrating. The air distorted, birthing a colossal column of rock, torn apart immediately after by a beam of blood.

"The finest muse I could have asked for!" He smiled, splitting the earth in two along with the table, catching sight of the sinuous figure before him. Eve, slender and tall, wielded Maliard's chain, dripping with blood mixed with frost. Her footsteps made no sound, nor did the lit lights of the room cast her shadow on the ground. Long black claws swayed on her fingers, reflecting crimson glints.

"I won't take long…" She smiled, slamming the purplish iron tips against the floor. With a grin, the two stared each other down, then vanished. Gashes populated the red wall, ice crystals shattered the floor, and a rain of blood stained the entire hall. David laughed, seizing the claws embedded in his flank. Eve licked her bloodied lips, heedless of the clot of blood driven into her chest. They broke apart, floating for an instant in the air." Salve!"

Eve struck him full in the chest, aiming her luminous palm at his face. David smiled before being swallowed by the explosion. The blaze surged to the ceiling, blackening it. A silhouette emerged from the smoke, clinging to the gears beyond the palisade. Ice spread across the mechanical iron, locking it with a thunderous screech. David rose to his feet, lit by reddish refractions. Hanging from the ceiling by crimson trellises, Eve stared at him, grinning, wetting her canines with her long tongue.

David adjusted his shoulder, covering it with rock. He smiled, staring at the dangling beast before himself. He tightened the grip around the rocky hilt.

"I can't kill her like this… It'll take more." David brought the cutting, freezing edge to his wrist. The flesh was incised, carved by the ice. The woman smiled, vanishing and beginning to batter David's figure with slashes. Blood slid down his feet, falling into the void below. Heavy blocks of iron were severed, along with the gargantuan arms of rock that emerged from the air.

The distortions darted rapidly, veering and shifting as they birthed storms of ice and rocky limbs, each time slashed with greater precision.

"I like it when the prey fights. It tenderises the flesh." Eve appeared atop one of the falling gears, seated cross-legged on the metal while holding the chains above her head. David did not deign to look at her, staring fixedly ahead and laughing.

"I'll wipe that smile off your face…" The metal was dented by a great force. Eve flew through the air, aiming straight for his heart and head with that black arm of hers. It was then that David turned, meeting her gaze and finally tearing his wrist completely open. The air turned freezing, and a grim fog wrapped everything the eye could seize." SEHNSUCHT!" An incredible blue glow enveloped the hall, devouring the red light and completely blinding any spectator.

In a few moments, that light contracted, becoming a crystalline sphere suspended above the table. A soft light, emerging from within the clouds, caressed her bloodied face. A faint breeze wound its way through the mist, unveiling the scene: gigantic columns of rock overlooking a frozen sea, dozens of wrecks, and a grand forest dark as night. Everything was cold and pervaded by a sense of vastness, enough to make even a protagonist a spectator.

The woman looked around, stroking the haze, which grew ever denser as she moved. The dark sky and the veiled glow of the sun seemed like a hidden eye, ever watching in its stealth.

"This isn't the first time I've seen this place, David, though it's far more refined than last time." Eve smiled, making the chain vibrate in her dark hand. From the tallest pillar, seated on a throne of frost, her prey smiled. The hat had vanished, and now the woman carved on David's chest seemed almost to caress the harp's strings.

"Perhaps your brain is playing tricks on you, because we've never met." The man laughed, rising and letting the entire seat crumble behind him, blending into the breeze. Her long white hair danced luminously, occasionally reflecting the faint glow in the mist.

"I'll tell you instead that with the passing of strange years… Even time can die. Your perception, compared to mine, is no different from that of an infant fresh from the maternal womb." A shiver accompanied that damnably ringing and bewitching voice. David shook his head, raising his closed hand to the sky. Eve watched him attentively, resting her chin on the back of her hands and using the blood on her arms as support.

"This is my domain, the supreme manifestation of the Infinite. Everything here is under my power, including your Frequency!" David brought his hand down, and suddenly the earth seemed to roar, splitting open and vomiting gigantic blades of ice and rock. Eve was struck, yet only a thin cut on the flank resulted. Gracefully, she slid among the blades, cutting them all in half. David laughed, continuing to issue commands to earth and ice, like a conductor to his violins and trumpets.

The pillars collapsed, reassembling as lances and striking the ground. Roots shot out of the smoke, sharp as spears. Destruction raged, along with the sharp hiss of the air.

"It doesn't matter how strong that relic is… Even she can't completely neutralise the frequency you emit!" A gigantic forest, all built upon a monolith of white rock, emerged behind her, so tall it pierced the sky. With a snap of his fingers, a swarm of white lightning burned the rock and wood into a torch. The man turned, grinning with pride at his masterpiece.

"Your precision has definitely improved, and your ascension doesn't seem so slowed like it was once, but the flaw is always the same." David's pillar, along with his left arm, was severed by a crimson blade. He spun around sharply, staring at the beautiful red drape girding Eve's white skin. Her smile revealed glistening fangs, perennially malign. Clutched in her grip, his arm.

"You're an artist. You must always appreciate what you create!" She lunged at him, striking his chest full-on with her heel. David's body shattered the burning column, in a swarm of sparks that plunged into the tenebrous forest. He sprang back up, driving his bloodied palm into the ground. Immediately the trees obeyed him, twisting and reaching never-before-seen heights to seize her. The beast slipped through their crowns, heedless of the countless points driven into her flesh.

Her claws and his blue blade clashed, generating a freezing reddish mist. The plants froze and died as the blood condensed on the bark of the dark trees. One slash after another, the mist continued to gain ground.

"Fight, artist! Fight until everything on your canvas is stained red!" Eve's stature loomed over him, pushing him toward the ground. Ruinous furrows formed beneath his soles, and his hands began to lose strength. David stomped the ground, opening a gigantic chasm. Trees, mud, and foliage slid into its dark interior. In a few moments, a viper of organic material sank its fangs into her, slithering up to the clouds. David followed, creating a second blade and beginning to run along its back.

Ice spread behind him in two clean lines, while strands of blood tore through the serpent's innards.

"DAVIDDDDD!!!" Eve's resounding laugh echoed through the eternal space as he continued his assault, aiming at the woman wrapped in blood and mud. The two forces clashed again, completely unravelling the creature and opening a gash among the clouds. His blades pushed her back, halting her siege only for a few moments. A rain of slashes continued to loom over him, slicing away thin strips of skin and ice.

"Gotcha…" The plants coiled around her thighs, squeezing tight enough to block her for a single second. David's blade crashed down on her, driving straight into her neck and freezing the skin. He smiled, continuing to strike the wound with that sharp ice, until he noticed the blade could no longer be pulled free.

"Do you still have to realize that you are facing…" The blade shattered between his fingers, corrupted by a black substance. Her neck, once lolling, now held again above her shoulders and devoid of any trace of wound. In a flash of fury, David swung the other sword, but it was reduced to ashes before even grazing Eve's skin. Without realising it, he was lifted into the air. Her face turned dark as night, leaving only her red pupils to colour it as the clouds wrapped the viper.

"... Is far beyond your comprehension." Without further words, the frequency in the environment dimmed, then erupted straight at David. The serpent vanished, torn apart by the shockwave. The earth was levelled, as if a hammer had crashed down upon it. Blocks of earth exploded upward, crashing ruinously back to the ground moments later. David found himself in darkness, buried by rubble and aching." Monster…" With a gesture of his hand, the obstruction vanished, allowing the clouds to return to his view.

Through the hole torn open between the clouds, the remains of leaves and mud could be glimpsed being ripped apart by the current.

"Where is she?!" In that precise instant, David realised he could no longer perceive Eve's F requency. A tremendously violent impact lifted dust behind him, immediately followed by a laugh. David didn't have time to turn before his throat was seized and he was dragged into the thicket. His back struck the ground and trees repeatedly, shattering the gigantic wooden columns and splitting the earth, while she laughed. Eve's grip grew stronger, continuing to hurl him wherever she could.

Eve released him, letting him fall to the ground. His body had no time to adjust to that moment of emptiness before the frequency in the environment was immediately distorted. The entire forest, along with him, was swept away by a blast of air comparable only to the bombs that ruined the archipelago. The earth split open, and the trees were ripped away by a ruinous wind. The cloud advanced disastrously until it emerged toward the sea of ice.

A swarm of debris rose into the air, with David seated atop one piece, filthy with blood and mud yet still with glinting eyes.

"Your ability is something terribly unique and complex to analyse… The first time I saw it, I thought I could lose, you know?" Behind him, atop the remains of a heavy oak, Eve sat. The iron chain still gripped in her hand. David turned to stare at her, as ice sharpened along his fingers." Sehnsucht is an idealised manifestation of the infinite contained within your core.

Using the Frequency in the environment, you open gateways, but in extreme cases you can directly use large amounts of it to generate a stable access to trap the victim inside. Unlike a zone of influence, it's not automatic and is nearly unbreachable from the outside." Eve explained, licking the drops of blood with the tip of her tongue, smiling.

"A shame it doesn't weaken enemies too. After all, this place exists somewhere, am I right?" David's face paled as he met her blood-red gaze. In a few seconds, the debris still in flight was completely torn apart by the wind. Eve flew free, twirling with her drape like wings, while being chased by him. David grabbed her in mid-air, slamming her against the frozen sea.

"What are you?!" He shouted, pressing her face deeper and deeper into the icy mantle. The woman laughed and laughed, slowly rising and letting the red glow of her eyes emerge from beyond his frozen fingers.

"A being that once devoured a god, boy." David's arm was ripped apart by an eruption of blood and black lightning, followed by an immediate strike of the chains to his stomach. He slid across the ice, spitting blood and scratching the surface with his nails. His eyes darted, furious, toward the figure before him, smeared with red. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"If you know my ability so well, then you should know why staying still isn't a great choice." With a violent stomp, he shattered the ice, creating circular cracks on its surface. Eve smiled, stretching out her hand, when suddenly two gigantic wrecks closed upon her like jaws. Wood and canvas rose into the sky as the two masses continued to press against one another.

"See that you don't give up now, demon! THE SHOW IS ONLY JUST BEGUN!" With a clap of his hands, all the carcasses of ships still trapped in the ice lifted, hurling themselves at her. The swarm of refuse bombarded the area incessantly for interminable minutes. Dust of rotten wood and ice fused into a dark spiral turned toward the sky. A gigantic claw of blood emerged from the blanket, covered in a thick armour black as tar, rippling over the liquid skin. David laughed, thrusting his hands forward.

The ice split open, constructing hundreds of thin blue lances. The limb was impaled, along with its owner, still mantled by the fog. The storm of crystalline points continued relentlessly, and David, his eyes brighter than ever, showed no sign of ceasing to command his kingdom.

"You get too carried away…" A dart of blood and Frequency pierced his shoulder, trailing a red stripe behind him. Suddenly a shadow appeared at David's side, piercing his neck and torso with a blade dark and glittering with tar. Eve, however, did not change expression. David's body began to shatter into many small clumps of snow, maintaining that grim smile. Eve returned it before being dragged down into the ice.

"So you did learn something." Eve smiled as her torso was trapped in the frost. David appeared behind her, the sun at his back, projecting a majestic shadow. A violent kick sent Eve flying, making her bounce repeatedly against the thick, cold floor. David appeared before her as soon as she tried to rise, striking her violently in the chest. A shard of ice pierced her stomach, leaving a hole in its wake.

David did not dampen his smile, continuing to beat her using the remains of the ships, wrapped around him like armour. With a laugh, Eve swathed him in her blood, lifting him tight in a gigantic hand and slamming him to the ground. The red fingers smeared the ice, but by now all traces of David had vanished.

"Here you're exposed…" A tremendously violent gust of wind shredded the crimson limb, revealing its owner. Eve and David stared at each other before the sky turned dark and began to pour. The rain on her face was cutting, at times taking flesh with it. In a single instant, the sky turned an intense blue, immediately followed by a celestial roar.

"You are mine!" A flood of lightning crashed down from the leaden sky, striking the woman in that crystalline glow. The ice evaporated immediately, wrapping everything around them in a dense, cold fog. In what little he could see, only a deep, dark streak of ice. David made to draw a sigh when everything around him became crystalline.

"This body's not bad, is it?" On a single pillar stood the figure of Eve, devoid of drape, with all her wounded body exposed. Her skin had transformed into a thick, scaled armour of black and red plates, covering even most of her face. She moved the arm where Lachesi had taken root, slowly letting her carapace crumble away. David's face trembled for an instant, losing its smile.

"What's the matter? Are you afraid of ghosts?" Eve smiled, drawing closer and leaving a haze of dark debris behind her. The dark arm, the cursed relic, shone with purplish light for an instant.

"I imagine this is a race against time for you… This boy's friends must surely be trying to break the gate that allows this place to materialise. After all, this is only a region of Hel, am I right?" The flash of fiery arrogance, of disgusting joy, filled her severe gaze. David realised that in her eyes, he was nothing more than nourishment.

"From the outside, this whole dimension is nothing but a sphere of condensed energy. You're no common Meta. The realm of that filthy amoeba recognised you as an Omen, a portent. But don't think this place accepts you, no no no… There are far worse monsters that dominate these lands." The scars on her chest darkened, clustering at the centre until a skull could be glimpsed, wrapped in skeletal wings.

"So it's true. You too have the Omen's brand." David murmured, yet unable to control himself enough not to be heard. Eve burst out laughing, stroking the grim tattoo.

"I told you already, didn't I? I am far beyond your comprehension. And you wrong... This is not a mere brand, it's the real deal." Immediately, it seemed as if the whole world turned black and began to rain blood. The very presence of that foreign body disgusted Hel, just like a parasite. David stared at her, drawing ever closer, and decided to act. He burst out laughing, clutching his stomach with one hand and his hair with the other.

"Have you finally lost your mind?!" Eve exclaimed joyfully, almost skipping, never losing that predatory aura. David stared at her in total silence, pointing a finger downward.

"This is a region of the netherworld we call Hel … So there must be something below, and I'm pretty sure they don't like you at all!" The sea split open sharply, separating into two gigantic blocks of ice. Eve cast her gaze downward, glimpsing a howling abyss, inhabited by screams and remorse. The black took on different hues the deeper one's gaze sank into it. The woman smiled before plunging into the chasm and being sealed. The ice plates closed with a crash, abandoning David to the freezing breeze.

"Damn it…" The man sighed, clutching his chest forcefully. With every breath, drops of blood and dark fluid slid onto the ice, turning into rock or wood. He knelt, trying to keep his legs solid, soft and swollen beneath his threadbare clothes. His skin was covered in ice and rock, desperately connected to regenerate his organs and hold the flesh together. The tattoo on his chest pulsed at intervals, slowly shrinking." She's not dead… Once I close the access, everything will be forcibly vomited out."

David rose, walking slowly toward the forest. The entire hill had collapsed, forming a gigantic tongue of mud and organic material of various colours. He recovered, quickening his pace slightly to reach the epicentre of his realm. A vibration, then a tremor, and finally a quake battered the icy mirror beneath his feet. The blood in his veins seemed to stop flowing for a few moments, despite his heart still beating. A crackling, growing louder and louder, began to surpass the sighing of the wind.

David turned, noting with horror the spiderweb of cracks spreading. A laugh rose from those thin fractures, echoing balefully in the dead air. The crackling became a roar. A gigantic blanket of icy plates lifted into the sky, veiling the blue mirror with a veil of deformed, ever-changing shadows. At the centre of the crater, pale and wrapped in blood, Eve's hands clenched around a purplish chain.

David stared at her in total silence, feeling an instinct take possession of his body, something so deeply buried in human nature that not even contact with Hel had managed to alter it: preservation. His entire body was begging him to run away.

"It seems…" She took the first step, vanishing among the rubble. David felt blood erupt from his skin and a discharge pierce his senses.

"…Not even eternity can contain me for that long." He tried to turn, being brutally hurled away by the impact of the purplish chains, covered in a thick armour of blood. He slammed into the mud and rock, feeling his joints snap. Moments later, Eve appeared above him, blotting out the sun's light. She lifted him by the throat, hoisting him and throwing him again with the staff. Even in the air, the sequence of blows did not cease; on the contrary, it only grew more intense.

"Your power is great, and yet it cannot oppose me!" The chain snapped after the umpteenth impact, releasing a rain of metallic splinters. David was slowly losing his sight. With an effort, he grabbed her face, wrapping it in a colossal spiral of ice. Before she could free herself, David clenched his fist and hurled her to the ground. The sky opened, and a gigantic bolt devoured the earth below. David smiled, baring gums dripping with drool and blood. Another bolt fell.

"I'll continue until Sehnsucht collapses! Judging by Maliard Turner's state, Ascan must have dealt him a low blow! All I have left is to pin her there!" The screams mingled with the thunderous booms, echoing through the infinite space. One after another, the lances of electricity crashed from the sky, painting blazing streaks in the air. David laughed, vomiting blood and insults, until something changed. A black light slowly began to devour the ground, the mist, and even the lightning.

The sky's light stopped, almost fossilised, remaining static like a column of pure energy. The black colour began to dilute, creating a circumference with purplish edges. At the centre, Eve aimed her dark arm directly at him. David realised he had lost, that he had failed to calculate the most important thing: Lachesi.

"This world will collapse when the bolt leaves the barrel of this weapon, and it won't stop there…" Eve smiled, reflecting her grin in the light. A trace of black light seemed to form, aiming straight for his heart." I can't stop her… I can't…" In that moment of desperation, David had an idea. With all the Frequency he had left, he stretched his hands to the sky, almost grasping it. The celestial dome bent like a sheet, crashing down onto the earth. In that moment, Lachesi opened fire.

The great bubble in the dining hall erupted, shattering the gears and sweeping away all furnishings. Heavy blocks of condensed frequency fell to the ground, shattering. Eve found herself on the table, bloodied and burned on the face.

"Collapsing the portal before Lachesi could pierce it? This is madness!" Eve laughed and laughed, turning her gaze toward David, supported by two figures. One was a man with a burned lab coat and shattered glasses; the other, a young Angel Meris, with white skin wrapped in black sludge.

"Let's get out of here…" David murmured, clutching his mutilated hand to the boy's shoulder, himself wounded. The two stared at her, nodding to one another. Eve smiled, quickly rising to her feet, despite the ever-expanding scars on her arm. Her canines caressed her lips.

"The shadows are in position. We can go now." Murmured Angel, as a slimy black lake began to spread beneath their soles. Eve stared at them, now seething with rage, grinding and clashing her teeth. David raised his hand in a desperate attempt to stop her. A lance of ice pierced her calf, only to be immediately shattered.

"Do you think that after all these years I'd stop here? Without even killing anyone? No… This night will be a massacre without equal!" Her laugh echoed through the darkness, freezing the skin of anyone unlucky enough to hear it. The shadows began to coil around the trio in the instant she leaped upon them. Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed, catching both her and Changeant by surprise. Wrapped in the floating rubble, a woman with blonde hair stained with purple.

Her knuckles were covered in metal and sparkling with electricity. Her suit was torn, revealing a muscular, iron-hard abdomen. Her green eyes glittered, devoid of terror.

"Monica Net?! Really?!" Ascan stared at her as she landed on the ground, completely shattering what remained of the table. The muscles in her arms contracted as she took position without a single word. Eve stared at her intently, smiling, approaching slightly.

"From my memories, you should be the commander… I recall you were definitely capable!" The moment her tongue stopped clicking against her palate, a lightning-fast blow took off a small lock of her hair. Immediately, the monster smiled and returned the favour. Monica flew against the wall, shattering it. She sprang back up instantly, totally unharmed, but with a small spark in her eyes.

"Angel, Ascan, we can't win like this. Take that white-haired woman away. I'll see to keeping Monica occupied until you return." David murmured, exchanging a strong glance with Ascan. The scientist nodded, rummaging through the few intact pockets left until he extracted a small vial. The greenish liquid inside vibrated under the reddish light.

"A single dose, David. It won't have the same effect it had on Roman, but it should bring your core back to stabilising." The leader nodded, uncorking the vial and pouring the dense liquid down his throat. The icy glow of his eyes returned to shine. Meanwhile, Monica and Eve continued to exchange ferocious blows, heedless of the shadows at their feet.

"Now, go!" David launched himself at Monica, gripping a heavy blade of thick ice. The frozen block crashed down upon her, shattering against her shoulders while the vampire continued to laugh and flail her arms. The darkness coiled around Eve's legs and then her fingers, and right after, an explosion engulfed her. In the smoke, Angel and Ascan threw themselves into the shadows, making her sink completely. Now only the two commanders remained to fight.