Things had changed drastically. Not that the Orc King was in the fight, this was going to be a horror fight. And worst of all, they didn’t even have the Lion King with them; he was out. But could they really do this? He didn’t know how strong either of them was to say, but at the same time, their bodies were almost broken, so could they take this fight?

"Aether..."

His eyes widened as he heard the Abyss’s voice. He frowned. Why did this randomly decide to talk? Hadn’t he said he wasn’t going to help? Going back on his word already.

"For once, listen to me, you are going to die if you take this fight. He isn’t someone you can take."

...

So this was what it was about again? His lack of ability... he gritted his teeth.

Why is it that people always look down on him? True, it had saved his life many times, but why was it the norm? Why was he seen as weak, as someone who couldn’t protect himself? He was more than capable of fighting and surviving.

So then why did everyone keep looking down on him?

...

’I’m not running-"

"A Reader Titan, that’s his class and rank... You have to understand, he is too strong for you."

Aether froze as he heard those words. A piece of his heart almost died those seconds... they had been this close to winning the war, and at the end, a Reader Titan showed up... just what was their luck?

The strongest he killed was a Reader Demon, which was still a high rank, but still pretty far below Titan, as you still had Devil until you reached the rank of the Orc King.

And even then, he had been brutally beaten... but at the same time, once it had turned dark, he had gotten the advantage, so maybe it wasn’t that bad... plus. He had both Kade and Lucien with him now, and this time, both could fight; even if they were exhausted, they weren’t going to stop either.

Aether glanced at Kade, then at Lucien, who seemed to be in agony, because they knew this wasn’t going to be an easy fight.

Then he dashed forward, Kade following from behind him.

Aether watched his movements, but the orc didn’t respond. He waited patiently, something none of the other orcs had done. This guy knew what he was doing; he wasn’t giving him an opportunity to use his movements.

’Then I will just have to make you..."

He raised Voidpiercer, starting a thrust, and stopping it, as the orc moved his arm to catch it, he smirked seeing this, as he stepped to the side as his arm flew past him... but then, he felt something come for his head, and with the back of his eye he saw his other hand coming for him.

’Shit.’ He had predicted this guy... he would be able to dodge right... that would have been the case normally, but the arm was too close... for the first time, his reflexes had been beaten, he didn’t have time to dodge now... he had seen it too late.

But before it could grab him, fire raged, as Kade slashed the orc’s arm, stopping, and letting him get away. If he had the time, he would have thanked the boy, but he didn’t; he quickly rotated. It wasn’t wise to stay so close together. Running behind him gave them a huge advantage, as he couldn’t attack both of them at the same time. Raising his blade, he tried attacking, but before he could. He heard Kade’s voice.

"Watch your feet!"

Aether instantly looked down and saw nothing, but from the side, he saw an axe coming from him... this guy... he was trying to sweep both of their feet in one spin attack. He quickly let his blade fall, before dashing back and towards the other side the axe had come from, as the orc was also turning around to face him with this attack.

’It seems he knows how to make attacks do more than just scare them.

As the giant turned, he saw flames rage from his back, which made him smirk, since it looked like Kade wasn’t letting him off; he was taking this fight seriously.

...

And yet the giant just endured, until he couldn’t slash anymore...

’Damn it.’ Aether, though, dashing forward to thrust his blade, but as the blade came to meet his chest, he suddenly felt a strong glare making him stop in one place... it was as if his whole body had been paralized all at once. But from what? Pain, no, that couldn’t be it, he had faced worse pain... it was something else... an ability... but the only one around...

’Damn it... just what type of ability did they give this guy?’

Seeing Aether paralyzed, the king quickly turned to Kade, catching him off guard, before grabbing him by the neck and strangling him. The boy tried to get out... but the grip of the orc was too strong.

Aether watched in terror as the Orc slowly strangulated Kade. Looking beyond him, he saw Lucien on the ground, with an Orc keeping his hands up in the air, so he couldn’t use his Will. Had they really left one of the alive?

...’ Shit!’ He cursed... he couldn’t fail, not again... he had to get his body to move, but how... it was too strong, he barely could breathe and blink, so how was he supposed to move under such attack.

’Damn it, I don’t care how... just move your useless body!’ He said, gritting his teeth with great force, as he pushed himself beyond his limit, he felt blood flow from his nose. As he tried, he tensed his muscles beyond their natural limit, but he just couldn’t get them to move.

How could an Echo ever resist the attack of a Titan?

...

Through sheer will.

The moment his foot moved, it felt as if shackles from all over his body had been cut, freeing him... but he didn’t care about that; he dashed forward, piercing the orc’s body with his blade.

...

What followed was a long silence... but once it was over, the orc threw Kade towards one of the walls. Luckily, the boy was able to catch himself, but he was in a terrible condition, no doubt in his mind that he was out of this fight.

And after that, the orc turned his head forward. Aether tried to pull his blade out, but the muscles inside held onto the blade; the blade was stuck...

Aether looked in horror as the orc grabbed his hand and blade, pulling it out, before slamming him on the hard ground with all his force... over and over again. He felt his bones breaking, one by one. Each time his body hit the ground, it was like a slow torturing method, one that resulted in a slow death.

But he wasn’t just going to stop with making him suffer just one type of attack.

The orc king grabbed his head, applying pressure against his cranium, making him bite down on his lip so he wouldn’t scream from the pain, the bite so deep he had eaten through many of the layers at the top.

He tried to find a way to loosen its grip, but the guy just wouldn’t waver; it wanted to crush his head... and it wasn’t going to stop.

With some of his last bits of strength, Aether chuckled, which surprised the orc, but didn’t stop him.

"Putting it all on red, I guess." A gamble, he was going to gamble everything.

Before the orc could break his skull and crush his head... his body became formless, sliding through the orc’s hands and body escaping through his back. The moment he gained back his form.

The pain instantly took over him... but he still had something to do. With the deep pain killing him from the inside, Aether twisted his body and delivered a deep thrust to the back of the head of the orc, with all the strength he had in his body... no longer after collapsing on the ground.

But as he fell to the ground, he felt another thud find the ground...

...

[You have killed a Reader Titan, Orc King]

...

...

...

The summit stood high at the top of the sky, way above the clouds, yet not high enough to reach the moon. You would have expected a great sight, but the very same clouds you wished to touch when you were below blocked your view.

But he has seen this sight too many times.

Aether looked around until he found Voidpiercer.

...’ I didn’t... die?’

Voidpiercer chuckled. "For a Child of Promise to die like this... fate didn’t have this end in store for you..."

It turned to face him. "Wake up, Aether. Your death shall not come at the hands of anyone else... than yourselves, at least, for the time you’re still human."

"W-What?" But before he could hear an answer.

He awakened.