Primordial Conquest

Chapter 73: I'm Sorry for Living

ZING!

"Urk!" Arbus grumbled as he hurriedly dove to the side. A thin dark beam of destruction shot past him, narrowly missing his form.

It erased the raging wind and rain behind him, before fizzling out suddenly.

Now that all his injuries were gone, he could move freely once again. Unlike his opponent.

He stumbled forward and gritted his teeth in frustration as he realized there was nowhere for him to hide from her.

The crater's walls and floor were completely smooth, without a single protrusion marring their perfect surface.

He turned back to his would-be killer with rage and resentment coating his heart.

She was almost unrecognizable to him now.

Her rain-soaked white hair whipped across her face as her deep obsidian eyes glared at him with pure hatred.

"You... YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!" she bellowed.

"After everything... after everything I went through to save you! After everything we've been through together! You were going to kill me, just like that!" she screamed wildly as she staggered forward, awkwardly lashing out at him with another weakened beam of destruction.

Arbus stumbled sideways again, barely managing to avoid the attack.

He ran as fast as he could, trying his best to create distance between them.

"Ah!" Arora cried out in frustration and despair as she missed another shot. "Why? Why did you betray me? After everything!"

"I didn't even force you to come with me —and yet you still tried to kill me!"

She flew after Arbus as she felt the immense pain she had been trying her best to control ravage her body and soul even faster.

"You... you couldn't just let me live my life in peace! Why?"

Arbus said nothing as he kept running.

His heart thumped loudly against his chest.

After what felt like an eternity, a glint appeared in his emerald eyes as he spotted something in the distance.

It was the hunting knife he had originally planned to kill Arora with.

He quickened his pace as he ran over to retrieve it.

ZING!

Arbus screamed as he fell to the ground.

He felt a ray of destruction tear through his chest like a gunshot.

Drops of blood fell from his lips as he reached up to clutch his chest. His eyes widened slightly as he witnessed the process of his wound knitting itself together.

It hurt far more than he had expected.

He hadn't felt it the first time because of the mountain of pain his body was already in.

He clenched his fist in agony as he did his best to push through it.

He didn't understand this power that had been suddenly handed to him, but he didn't have time to question it now.

Several moments later, Arora caught up to him as she watched him rise to his feet completely unharmed.

"How are yo—"

"Because you're not her." Arbus said suddenly, interrupting her confusion.

"I tried to kill you because you're not Arora."

He turned to face her as he raised his hunting knife in her direction, the blade glinting in the dark light of the rain clouds above.

"You're not my Arora."

Silence stretched between them as the rain fell harder. Arora's brows twitched as her unstable psyche struggled to process his words.

Then she clenched her teeth in untamed rage.

"What?" she snapped.

Arbus remained unbothered by the immense killing intent crashing into him as he continued.

"My Arora is shy." he said, his voice trembling slightly. "A shy and nervous wreck who finds it so hard to express herself fully."

"My Arora is kind. A kind and loving girl who had a hard time taking the life of another creature."

Tears gathered and spilled from his eyes as his breathing became more ragged.

"My Arora is compassionate," he went on. "Someone who tries her hardest to see any situation from both sides, hoping to always fix everything."

"Someone who wanted to change this universe for the better, forever." he continued, his hand trembling visibly.

"She's someone who would never hurt others, even to her own detriment."

His gaze fell slightly.

"Despite the terrible life she's lived, and how many times she'd been broken down by it."

"She's a curious girl. Someone who enjoys nature and all its wonders, and always wanted to see more of it."

"At least she was."

"But she's dead now."

He locked eyes with her as his grip on the blade steadied.

"You're just a monster with fragments of her memories... wearing her skin."

"And I couldn't let a monster like you leave this planet and hurt countless innocent people."

"Not with those powers. Not with that face."

Thunder rumbled overhead as Arora stared blankly at Arbus for several long moments.

"How... dare you" she whispered, her voice barely carrying over the rain.

"How... DARE YOU!"

A moment later, she trembled visibly as her face contorted in seething hatred. Her body cried out in agony as her soul ignited once more.

In the next instant, Arbus's world exploded with pain.

"Ahhh!" he cried out in anguish as Arora slammed into him with her Interitus reactivated.

The blade in his grasp was instantly erased upon contact with her field.

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO KILL ME WITH SUCH A PATHETIC EXCUSE!"

"I'm not the same? How could I be after everything I've been through!"

"You don't understand me! You've never understood me!"

She shouted in fury as she pinned Arbus to the crater's walls, her Interitus grinding against him relentlessly.

"In the end, you're just a traitor!" she screamed, her voice laced with the pain she felt. "Just like everyone else, you tried to kill me under the guise of some righteous cause. I'm tired of it!"

Arbus screamed in agony as his regeneration struggled to keep up with the constant destruction. His skin, muscle, blood and bones were being erased over and over again from every part of his body pressing against the field.

Arora pressed harder against him, her weakened Interitus trying again and again to erase him completely.

She glared at his ruined and mangled body through the constant downpour, her own form shuddering violently as more pain tore through her from within.

"It seems like I was always meant to be alone after all."

Her eyes met his as tears fell down her face.

"Goodbye, Arbus."

ZING!!!!

The power of her Interitus suddenly surged to another level as Arora's entire being convulsed in pain.

"Ahh!!!!!"

Both of them screamed in agony as their the power of Destruction and the power over death fought desperately against each other.

But as time passed, the Interitus was growing weaker, while it seemed like Arbus's regeneration only grew stronger.

Just then, Arora's crazed eyes widened in shock as an emotion she thought had already disappeared from her existence suddenly resurfaced.

Fear.

She felt fear.

Her body froze in place as she felt the eyes of an unfathomable and overwhelming existence lock onto her.

It was as if the grim reaper had placed his scythe against her throat.

She immediately thought of the Primordial.

But the voice she heard moments later erased that notion.

(Such a spirited girl. Your very existence and skills are really quick Interesting.) The voice transmitted.

(Unfortunately... I can't let you fulfill your mission from that being.)

The cold and eerie voice seeped into her mind as she felt it disrupt her very psyche.

Arbus's unfocused gaze suddenly locked onto Arora as he realized that her attack and power had weakened significantly.

He felt himself healing faster as his body mended itself in seconds.

Arora had grown distracted, a fearful expression etched across her face.

He instinctively felt like this would be the only chance he had to stop her.

His heart tightened.

Here and now.

He couldn't hesitate anymore.

He glanced at the jagged and exposed bone of his arm that hadn't regenerated from being pressed against Interitus.

A somber breath escaped his lips.

SPLASH!

Arora was instantly pulled from the trance she had been pulled into as she felt Arbus's jagged bone break passed Interitus and stabbed into her neck with as much force as he could muster.

Her ability deactivated instantly.

Blood spilled from her throat like a crimson fountain as she staggered back, falling to her knees seconds later.

Her eyes met his dad gaze as she collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood as the liquid quickly began pooling beneath her.

Arora stared up into the darkened sky, watching as the rain continued to fall.

Suddenly, tears began streaming down her cheeks as she felt the cloud over her mind lift.

Whatever had mentally attacked her seemed to have done something to her damaged soul.

She remembered.

She remembered everything.

She remembered her life at the orphanage.

She remembered the time she had spent in this world.

She even remembered glimpses of her parents' faces.

Not only that.

Her emotions had come flooding back, as well.

"A-ah" she muttered, managing to force out a sound from her destroyed throat.

'No, no, no, no, no, no! NO!'

She rambled inwardly in horror as she realized what she had done.

'I killed them... all those people, I killed them all.'

She felt waves of pain, guilt, self-loathing, and anguish crash into her like a tidal wave.

It felt more intense than anything she had experienced in all of her battles combined.

She hated herself. She hated herself so much.

For what she had done to the people of Hai.

For what she had done to the commander who had only tried to help her while saving lives.

And especially... for what she had done to the person she loved the most, Arbus.

'Why.... Why did it all go so wrong? I just wanted... I just wanted to be happy' she thought in anguish.

Arbus slowly crawled over to her as his body continued to stitch itself together rapidly.

He wasn't going to make the same mistake as before. He knew he had to finish this quickly.

When he finally reached her, his eyes widened as he noticed the snow-white color of her hair begin to fade away, her natural brown shade slowly returning bit by bit.

The unnaturally obsidian appearance of her eyes began to fade as well.

Soon enough, she looked just like she had on that very first day they had met.

A hint of recognition seemed to appear in her bright orange eyes as she looked over at him.

A bright smile slowly spread across her features.

"Arbus."

Arbus's heart ached as he heard her speak his name in that tone.

He instinctively moved closer to her as tears began gathering in his eyes.

"Arora?...."

Her smile widened slightly as she did her best to speak despite her wound.

"I'm.... I'm sorry for all the pain, anguish, and suffering I've put you through."

"For only bringing more suffering into your life after everything you'd already been through."

".....I'm... I'm sorry for living, for a second time."

Arbus shook his head frantically.

"No, D-don't say that" he begged as he slowly took her hand into his own.

"P-please don't say that."

Arora shook her head in acceptance.

"It's... it's okay."

Her hand slowly left his as she placed it against his damp and cold face.

"If... I'm fortunate enough to be reborn as a new person in the future, despite everything I've done... then I hope to meet you again. My one... and... only... frie—"

The words that escaped her lips slowly came to a sudden stop.

"No... wait, don't..."

Arbus felt her hand leave his face as it fell to the ground lifelessly.

Once again, Arora's life.... had come to an end.