Gate Guardian - Song of the Frozen Soul 324 FAREWELL

A swift breeze blew upon the remaining living grasses in these plains, or what once it ought to be. The landscape has been completely changed into a distorted field. There are craters and canals all around, some wildfires are raging, and there are lots of cracks in this earth. It's good that we have been fighting here in Yami, or else we would have destroyed the nearby town in the Earth Realm.

"I will never kill you, Tiara…"

Rikkun's answer is a straight-up instinct in which he did not even try to think about.

"I will save you, and bring you back. Even if the world turns against you, I will be by your side… The same goes even if you turn against yourself."

Suddenly, Rikkun dematerialized the cybernetic gauntlets on his left hand. He pulled something from his pocket and equipped it on the said arm. It was a red fingerless glove that contains a drawing of a magical circle.

u003cNexus Sealu003e. That is the seal that failed to contain the evil inside me. It can only seal the Curse of Necross, but not the Curse of the Brightmore Witch, the Evil God Cores, nor the Sins of Aeternos. However, I can feel that I should be wary of that glove. 

That is Rikkun's final resort in saving me.

I gritted my teeth. I want to finish this battle as fast as I can. I want to kill him right now so that he will not suffer from this fight any longer. And then I will just revive him once I sing the u003cSong of Salvationu003e.

"u003cAethernusu003e," Rikkun muttered as the Aether Armor reconstructed on his body once again. 

The Aether Armor now has this long red cloak wrapped in its left arm, signaling that the u003cNexus Sealu003e glove has finally been combined with his armor. I didn't feel any boost in power with his upgraded form, but I know I should evade any of his incoming attacks. 

I… I need to get rid of that seal off him! If I get touched by that, it might be all over for me!

"u003cDivine Shenlong Driveu003e!!!" I gracefully spun around, making my white dress spread out like a spinning fully-bloomed flower, as I charged energy with my right fist. I unleashed the golden light I charged for a short amount of time and it transformed into a train-sized dragon!

"u003cGod Fragment: Mercury, Ra, Thoru003e!!!" Rikkun buffed his body with lightning, flames, and wings. He rushed forward, straight to the giant golden dragon as he cast another spell! "u003cMoonlight Boostu003e!!!"

Everything went dark, and I saw a silver streak spiraling around the golden dragon I unleashed. Rikkun did not just evade my attack, he used it as a bridge to get close to me!

"u003cDivine Jakiro Twinfistu003e!!!" I shouted, and my fists were coated in dragon-heads that are made of pure divinity. With these dragon fists, I made a swift right hook as soon as Rikkun entered my attack range.

"u003cGod Fragment: Hephaestus, Marsu003e!!!" Rikkun magically forged giant buster swords from each of his hands and parried my dragon fist with the flat part of his blade. And then he made a counterattack, making a swift slash aiming for my left arm!

"Haaah!" I quickly reacted by punching off the sword that is about to hit me. I also made a counter-counterattack by unleashing an uppercut! "Sei!"

"Oryah!" Rikkun deflected my fists once again as he slides his buster sword just below my wrist. Then he followed a counter-counter-counterattack with a downward slash! "Hyaaaah!"

Our fists and swords clashed, making powerful shockwaves around. Space and time ripped in this dimension that distorted the earth once more. The skies have been shattered, the rocks started floating in the absence of gravity, and the air started burning due to excessive friction. Lava geysers started spraying around in this place, and there are countless thunderstorms as if this is the end of the world.

u003cu003e

Our exchanges of blows took a lot of hours that I'm not even counting anymore. Each attack does not only contain a hundred percent of our strength, but also the individual willpower of us lovers. Nobody wasted their breath. Nobody had a chance to utter a word nor cast a spell as a single distraction would prove fatal.

"Hyaaaah!"

I managed to get a critical hit when I landed a swift jab straight to Rikkun's face. His liger helmet cracked, but I'm not finished yet! I spun around like a ballerina and pointed both of my palms to his face!

"u003cDivine Bahamut Burstu003e!!!" A giant blue blaster rushed to his face. Because of the impact, I was pushed upward in the air.

"u003cGod Fragment: Mars, Mercury, Zeusu003e!!!" Rikkun's back spawned a pile of swords that launched like missiles. Each of them has wings and a lightning buff, and due to their speed, I was not able to block or evade the swords. It just stabbed random parts of my body.

I somersaulted and gained distance to catch my breath. I looked at my body which was impaled by the swords. For some reason, I don't feel pain anymore even though the swords have stabbed my arms, legs, midriff, and shoulders. I noticed that none of them hit a fatal spot and the swords immediately converted themselves into golden dust.

Rikkun stood up, his face smoking. A couple of seconds later and the smoke faded, revealing his armorless head. I have completely obliterated his helmet and now his head will be his Achilles' heel in this fight.

"Rikkun…" I showed him the wound in my arm that is starting to regenerate. "You can't kill me if you keep on holding back."

"You idiot pup, you are wrong again." Rikkun smiled. "I'm not going to kill you… and I didn't hold back! u003cGod Fragment: Thor, Vishnu, Eireneu003e!!!"

Suddenly, the golden dust that was the residue of the swords unleashed electricity that struck my body! The ground also spawned tentacle vines that restrained my movement, and my fists and feet are now sealed with a small spherical barrier!

"Fueh!?" I cried out loud. I tried to struggle, but the combined paralyzing effect of the lightning, constraints of the vines, and the sealing barriers on my fists rendered me helpless!

"Now is my chance!" Rikkun blasted forward in full throttle. He is using all the God Fragments at his disposal just to get to me fast. With his crimson-cloaked hand, he showed me the golden glowing seal on his palm. "u003cAeternos Nexus Seal: Activateu003e!!!"

Rikkun's whole body was covered with platinum light. He's surging with impossible faster-than-light speed, destroying the spacial barrier on the way. 

"I'LL BRING YOU BACK, TIARAAAA!!!" Rikkun cried.

Tears flowed from my eyes. Rikkun is not going to stop until he has fully purified me. I have to let him save me. I have to get back… to his warm embrace!

Suddenly… time stopped on my perception. Everything is like a black-and-white gamma picture. A voice inside my head echoed.

KILL KILL KILL

KILL HIM!

YOU MUST KILL HIM SO THAT YOU CAN ATONE FOR YOUR SINS

No! I don't want to do this! I don't want to kill Rikkun! Stop!

A white light flashed right before my eyes.

u003cu003e

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in white nothingness. I can feel the warm embrace of my love. His hand is gently caressing my head like petting a dog. His cheek is pressed against mine, and I can feel the wet tears coming out from his eyes.

"R...Rikkun…" I muttered.

"Thank god, Tiara... You're safe... You're free now." Rikkun said.

I felt and listened to the beating of our hearts. My head feels light, and my body feels great. I don't have any single speck of envy, lust, gluttony, pride, wrath, sloth, and greed in me. All I can feel… is love and happiness.

"Y-Yes… Thank you, Rikkun…" I cried as I reciprocated the hug he's giving me.

Suddenly, the feeling of joy I just regained immediately melted like lava. I noticed that something is wrong, as I am feeling a wet slimy substance on my right hand.

I slowly raised my right arm, and I saw… blood.

"R-Rikkun…"

"Don't think... about it... All that matters... is that you're free now." Rikkun's voice cracked all the way.

Rikkun's grip to my body has loosened, and I managed to make a few distances by slowly stepping back. There, I saw the most horrifying thing I have ever seen and done to any of the timelines.

RIkkun's chest has this big hole. His heart is missing, and his lungs are severely damaged. And all of it… was my fault.

"Rikkun!" My tears sprinkled around. I was about to jump to my love but he blocked me with his hand.

"I'm… okay… A fatal wound… is not enough… to stop me…" Rikkun smiled like a charming prince. However, blood continuously flowed from the edges of his mouth, making me sadder than ever.

Suddenly, the white nothingness dimension was immediately corrupted with darkness. A voice that was all familiar to me echoed inside our heads. It was the voice of the curses I have absorbed: the collective unconscious of the Evil God Cores, Necross, and the Curse of the Brightmore Witch.

"HOW DARE YOU REMOVE ME FROM MY PHYSICAL VESSEL, AETERNOS!!!"

Rikkun stood up while maintaining a smile on his face. His platinum armor clanked as he went forward and confronted the formless ultimate evil.

"I have won, Sin Universe… You can no longer possess anyone anymore. Not Tiara. Not me. Not everyone else."

"YOU MERE MORTAL SHALL FACE MY WRATH FOR ALL ETERNITY!!!"

Suddenly, hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, trillions of dimensional Dark Gates opened around us. All of it became the portals for the entrance of all Eidolons from all space, time, and universes. There are so many of them that they surpass the number of stars in the entire existence.

All their red eyes glowed with hatred towards both of us. All of them are planning to kill us, to get their revenge.

Suddenly, I felt a hand grabbing my wrist. It was Rikkun. He smiled at me and then he opened a Gate.

"I love you, Tiara. Please keep on living a happy life for me… Farewell."

"Eh!?"

All of a sudden, Rikkun pushed me towards the Gate and a white blinding flash exploded right in front of my eyes.

Chapter end