"That was close," said Aegis with its monotone voice.

Surprisingly, Gheele seemed to be somewhat at a disadvantage.

Hughes's flames melted his crystals while Relly decimated each and every bit of defenses he had left.

Caesar daringly stood in front of Gheele but was shoved back by him.

"Caesar!" yelled Gheele impatiently.

"Master, you cannot go on like this."

"Who dictates that? Do you dare say I'm no match for them?" asked Gheele as a giant clump of his orange crystals was vaporized, exposing him to Hughes's incoming flames.

Another barrier s.h.i.+elded him. Though it was not long before Gheele had to step aside, dodging the furious white flames breaking through his Aegis crystals.

Aya and Lily appeared behind him just when Caesar intervened.

Lily, distracted by Caesar in front of him, was forced into a one-on-one matchup. She took the brunt of Caesar's spear head-on, which crumbled after it made contact with her crystallized body.

Aya was lucky to pa.s.s by him and went straight for Gheele. Her blood-colored crystals clanged with Gheele's defense protecting his back.

"I haven't used this yet." Aya's crystals fractured and some form of blue wires sprang out frantically. It slipped by Gheele's orange crystals and punctured his neck.

"AARGH!" groaned Gheele.

His unsteady focus made way for Relly and Hughes to approach him without much resistance. The blue wires pulsated in violet and Gheele stumbled to his knee.

"What in the world..." He muttered in a crackling voice.

An orange icicle darted at Relly and it disintegrated from his plasma. The ocean-blue crystals on his palm disappeared after that.

"It seems even the formidable Gheele Folami is vulnerable in a battle of attrition," said Relly.

"You dare... put me at the same... ARGH!" Gheele's voice was restrained as the blue wires wrapped around his neck.

"Aya. Is that another 'mutation' of yours?" asked Relly, with his hands pointed at Gheele.

Aya stepped closer to Gheele while retracting her crystals back into her right arm. "Yes. This time, it produces that blue wires that can paralyze people if it touches their flesh."

Alicia moved towards Gheele. "Including that, she has three 'mutations' thus far. I can't believe it is quite effective in a situation like this."

Hughes formed his blade as it flickered in white flames, seemingly uninterested in joining the conversation.

Relly crouched to look at Gheele in the eyes. "But our objective only requires us to prevent him going to the frontline. But, after seeing him covering Neo Africa in that orange barrier, I don't think it makes any difference.

"I'll... make you suffer, slave," grunted Gheele.

"Perhaps we need to go back and regroup. Find a way to break through that barrier," said Alicia. "Then there's Ava, along with Bart at that side of the wall. I heard his scream a while ago."

Hughes proceeded to burn down the orange crystals crus.h.i.+ng Miranda and set her free.

Meanwhile, Caesar was occupied with Lily. Helping Gheele was not an option for him.

I sighed.

"Oh, well. Here goes."

I jumped from atop the wall and sent a few crimson tendrils towards Hughes and it anch.o.r.ed at his back. The tendrils pulled me violently towards him and then I clutched onto his s.h.i.+rt.

"What?!" He looked behind him and my right hand snapped at his forehead. Dark blue crystals cl.u.s.tered around it.

"I'm taking your Aegis," I said.

A mixture of red and blue light flashed instantly underneath my palm, as Alicia and Relly prepared their attacks.

"Bother someone else," I said to both of them.

An emerald sickle from my back elongated and cut the blue wires paralyzing Gheele. After attaining his freedom, he formed numerous orange icicles overhead. It plummeted and hit Aya, Relly, and Alicia simultaneously.

Hughes white blade attempted a quick slice at me but I cut his arm with an emerald blade.

"AAAARRRGGHH!"

I manifested two crimson scythes that sprang at his shoulders.

"I'm... taking yours," I muttered.

In a few seconds, a burning sensation flowed through my veins and I hissed from it. It was more painful than when I took Bart's Aegis.

Nonetheless, only a moment was required for me to finally stole what had been rightfully his. He crumbled to the ground as I leaped away from his body. My crimson scythe ended his life with a quick slit to his throat.

"This... power," I mumbled.

I felt a foreign feeling started to well up inside me. It took a while for me to actually recognized that it was an obsession.

It seeped further into my being, as my l.u.s.t for power heightened at the same time.

"AVA!" yelled Aya as she glared at me. Apparently, she had recovered from Gheele's a.s.sault back then. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO DADDY?!"

"I killed him."

"...What did you say?" Aya's expression quickly turned into confusion.

I took a quick scan of the surrounding.

Alicia and Relly were on the ground, while Caesar was fighting Lily by himself. Miranda, on the other hand, was unconscious. Gheele had taken a step back from the scene, recovering from Aya's attack.

Alexander was standing beside me, his eyes were on Aya.

"AVA!" shouted Aya.

She lunged at me and I did the same.

I formed a short, white blade from my palm and it spat white flames at her.

"What?" She dodged it and a crimson scythe from my back cut through the air. She s.h.i.+elded herself from it and manifested an Aegis claw. Small gaps started to open from its pores, releasing a spray of red powders.

I pointed my white blade towards Aya and the flames from it engulfed her claw. She then immediately cast away her claw.

"It's hot!" yelled Aya.

Seeing her distracted, two of my emerald scythes sliced her neck. She choked on it as that wound healed by itself.

"Trust me, Aya. I don't want to fight you. Please go away. You were never my enemy to begin with," I said.

She was glaring at me with her tearing eyes. "Why... you do this? I thought we are friends..."

"I do consider you as my friend. That's why I'm giving you the option to escape."

"Friends don't hurt each other!" said Aya. "And, your Aegis... you stole Mister Hughes's Aegis. How?!"

"I'm merely defending myself, Aya. My second specialty allowed me to do so. Please, escape while you still have the chance."

My eyes caught sight of Relly trying to stand back up.

Gheele laughed at all that was transpiring in front of him and struck Relly with an orange icicle, rendering him immobile. A cl.u.s.ter of crystals popped out from his body and soon, Relly was imprisoned in it.

Lily knocked Caesar to the side with her bare hands. "Relly!"

"Oh, I should take her with me as well," said Gheele.

He instructed the twin pillars of orange crystals to hit Lily. However, she shattered them in mere moments.

"Lily! Listen to me!" said Caesar.

"What?! Relly is..."

"Our enemy! Please understand, Lily! If you stop your a.s.saults, I promise you will not be harmed." He looked at Gheele.

"I don't mind," muttered Gheele casually.

"See,? Just listen to what I have to say. You want to take me back, right?"

Lily was silent. She undid her Full Aegis Form and shook her head.

"But, Relly is our leader, Caesar. I can't possibly..."

She was confused. Her yellow eyes darted between Relly and Caesar.

Suddenly, a cylindrical orange crystal struck her head from behind and she dropped to the ground.

Caesar turned his head towards Gheele.

"It had to be done. While I do honor your decision, I can't risk her wreaking havoc at my place," said Gheele.

Caesar bitterly nodded and approached Lily.

"Aya," I said.

She was sobbing in front of me. Seeing her like that made my heart twisted painfully.

"Daddy... Mommy. I love them. They hurt me but, I still love them. I only knew them both since I was five, Ava," said Aya.

I did not know how many times I kept comparing her to my past self. A child in a desperate need of a place to belong. She needed parental love. Unlike me, she accepted her fate. Alicia and Bart meant something more to her than just figures of a mother and father.

"Aya..."

I looked at Caesar and Gheele. They refused to meet me in the eyes, and I knew what that meant. I s.h.i.+fted back my gaze towards Aya.

"Please, run away right now. You can bring them with you," I suggested.

Aya wiped her tears. "And then what? I can't possibly escape..."

Caesar made a loud, meaningful sigh and walked to her. Gheele tilted his head at that.

"You see, Miss Aya, Gheele is making an exception here. Since you're the first one to ever touch him in a fight, he'll give you this chance," said Caesar.

Gheele let out a breath. "You can bring them back, but that pink slave and Relly must stay. They're the price you have to pay for invading my country."

"Why?" asked Aya to Gheele. "You're our enemy. We attacked you. We tried to invade Neo Africa..."

"That is true. My men died because they're weak. It's that simple. But, you must remember. No one. I mean no one, can penetrate the impregnable barrier protecting my Neo Africa. That's why that pink slave must stay. And that's also why I let you all come to my palace in the beginning. Your Great Corporate United is never a threat, to begin with."

Aya blinked. "That doesn't make sense. We killed your men in cold blood. Your barrier still..."

"As I said, they're weak. I admit their incompetence forced me to intervene myself. Anyway, I'll open a c.h.i.n.k at my barrier near the coast of Nigeria. The C.U's battles.h.i.+ps should be around there, waiting for an opportunity to strike. I'll even prepare a private jet for you," said Gheele.

Aya looked down. "Why... are you allowing me to escape?"

"It's because I said so. And also, I could dig up whatever information I want from Relly. In my Neo Africa, I set the rules. If anyone disobeys, they'll be punished. I'm giving you this chance while that thought still lingered in my mind. Do you accept it?"

Aya stared at Gheele and slowly nodded. "If Mommy will stay alive after this, then I don't mind. Both of them are not important to me. Only Mommy."

She glanced at me, her eyes were empty. "Are you satisfied with this, Ava?"

I raised my eyebrow.

Aya turned to face me and let out a deep breath.

"Are you happy now? Having come this far killing people, does it all mattered in the end? Did you achieve what you always wanted?" she asked.

"I'm here because I want my revenge on Alicia and Bart. I already did what I had to do to Bart. Even so, Alicia can wait. After all, I'm sure we'll all meet again," I said.

"And then you'll kill me, right? Just like you did to Daddy."

I frowned. "How did you come to that?"

"Isn't it obvious? Because of that one person you hold dear, you're willing to sacrifice other people's lives just because they had hurt him," said Aya.

"THEY HURT MY PAPA!"

Aya flinched from my tone.

"Everything, Aya. I will sacrifice everything if it means I can live with Papa. If it means I can live peacefully with him. If anyone hurts him, I'll make them pay. There's no one I love in this world more than Papa," I said.

Aya gazed down at the white tiles as a thin smile formed on her face. "It must be nice."

"Huh?"

"It must be nice to have someone you love like that. My love for Mommy and Daddy doesn't seem to compare to your love for Hope, Ava. That's why I'll always envy you."

I was silent.

My love for Hope only stemmed from my encounter with him.

"Aya..."

She looked at me. "Yes?"

"I'm sure if you were in my shoes, you'll love him too. So much. But, I wouldn't dare say I can endure what you've been through. Hope is someone that I believe, we both would love to be around. I can imagine that if we met him at the same time long ago, we would have competed for his affection," I said.

Aya smiled at my statement. "If you believe that, then I'm sure it will come to be the way you'd imagined. I've never known Hope before. But based on what you just said, Ava, it makes me curious."

I chuckled.

"If one day... if that one day comes, when all of this is over. Maybe we can all live happily. We can do what normal kids our age would do, like going to school and such."

Aya nodded.

My words were nothing but contradictory. I wanted to live with her, and yet I took away what was dear to Aya.

In the end, all I had done was purely for revenge. If killing Alicia would fill that gap in my heart, then I would do so without hesitation.

At that time, I was making an exception. Having killed Bart, doing so to Alicia was something I have to restrain myself.

Whatever I had to do, Alicia was someone who would die by my hands.

I watched as Aya walked over to Alicia's side and helped her get up. It saddened me that I would have to take away someone she loved in the future.

And by doing that, perhaps my bond with her would be broken.

In her own way, Aya viewed Alicia as someone who really cared for her.

And that was why I would free Aya from that cage of hers; away from that fake person of a mother.