– Frey Starlight's POV –
I felt dizzy.
The roar of the towering demon before me echoed in my ears .. a creature that had swallowed Princess Sansa, who was now trapped somewhere deep inside it.
Blood poured down my body from countless cuts .. the lingering damage of those invisible slicing attacks.
That blood mixed with the sweat that drenched my skin, clinging to me after the brutal fight I'd just endured.
Only a few minutes remained before Blood Form faded. And once it did… I'd be completely powerless.
"Can I really win…?"
I asked myself.
Oliver Khan had placed his final bet on me.
He chose to sacrifice himself instead of me.
That meant I had no choice .. I had to give it everything I had. Or we were both as good as dead.
I took a deep breath, gathering every last drop of aura I could summon, and stepped forward .. slowly, painfully .. into the demon's cutting field.
"Let's do this!!"
My voice was barely a whisper compared to the deafening roars the demon let out as it hurled shadowy tendrils and razor-sharp slashes at me.
I couldn't even see the slicing waves ..there was no avoiding them.
But I kept going, resisting everything else as I inched closer, one step at a time.
My body was being shredded rapidly.
The slashes grew stronger the closer I got .. but I refused to stop.
Fighting back the nausea rising in my throat, I screamed—
"SANSA!!!"
Swinging my blades with everything I had, I tried to push back the shadows as I shouted again:
"Is this really what you want?!"
BOOM!
Explosions rocked the battlefield, but I kept moving forward.
"Is this how you want it all to end?!"
I needed her to resist.
Somehow… I had to pull her out of the despair she'd drowned in.
"You weren't the one who killed them, damn it—it was HIM! the fuckin demon!"
I pressed on, even as attacks rained from every direction, slicing through my flesh without mercy.
"And even if you did kill them .. who cares?! I've killed far more than you, and here I'm still standing! To hell with them all! Just fight back! Live!!"
I started shouting whatever bullshit came to mind.
I was someone still struggling to find a reason to live ... so I was in no position to bring hope to others.
Especially when I was so close to losing it myself.
But I had to say something.
Because Sansa was still in there.
Somewhere deep inside, she was listening to my pathetic rambling.
The demon's refusal to attack me directly .. that was proof enough.
After he injured Oliver so badly with that last strike… I saw the hesitation in his movements.
He tried to hide it well—but not from my Hawk Eyes.
Sansa was still inside… but her presence was faint.
The number of attacks pouring down on me was absurd .. it was like standing in the middle of a hurricane.
One that shattered my body again and again.
The demon attacked from afar, never moving an inch ..
Which meant this was my only chance to end it.
So I made a reckless decision.
I dove straight into the heart of the cutting field. As I got within a few meters of it, the slicing intensified.
I cloaked myself in aura, forming a barrier to endure it .. but suddenly, I collapsed.
My face hit the dirt.
Blades rained down on me from above ..
And that's when I realized…
My right leg was gone.
It was still standing in the place I'd just leapt from.
That slash had severed it clean off.
A devastating surge of pain shot through my mind, nearly overwhelming me.
I clenched my teeth, cursing, forcing myself to rise.
My entire body had become a bloody slab of flesh .. laid bare on the demon's chopping block.
Blood Form was the only reason I was still alive.
And it could end at any moment.
That disgusting demon stood before me, grinning.
But in those crimson eyes…
I saw something.
Regret…?
Sadness?
Frustration?
Despair?
I didn't know what it was.
But I knew .. that was Sansa.
I was sure of it.
"Accept yourself… goddamn it!!"
I staggered forward, channeling every last drop of aura into my left leg.
"And if you can't do it... then I'll accept you instead."
So fight ..
Fight like I'm fighting now, as I hurl myself straight into hell.
I slammed my only foot into the ground, shattering it beneath me as I launched myself toward Sansa at full speed.
I flew ..
Crashing into the demon.
He wrapped his arms around me instantly, trying to crush me.
But in return ...
I drove Dark Sister straight into the demon's body, taking a deep breath and praying I'd survive what came next.
The black hands were moments away from crushing my skull ..
But before they could ..
I unleashed the sacred power Uriel had given me.
That aura ignited violently, and I whispered with a strained voice:
"Ignition."
Like a flood…
Dark Sister lit up, glowing brilliantly, forcing the shadows back and flooding the area with light .. And then it detonated inside the demon's body.
The nuclear ignition erupted, unleashing an infinite surge of holy aura into the heart of the monster.
The demon let out a bloodcurdling scream as the devastating explosion fired a blinding beam into the sky.
I saw his body begin to crack and split apart, the holy light wrapping around Sansa ... shielding her from harm.
The ignition released a brutal shockwave that tore through my body .. And I hoped, desperately, that it had been enough to destroy the bastard.
But it wasn't.
The demon survived.
His body was riddled with holy fractures, severely damaged…
But he was still clinging to Sansa, refusing to let her go.
My consciousness was slipping ..
The demon was still alive, and the tendrils were rising again, aiming to rip me apart.
I was going to lose.
Even the ignition… hadn't been enough.
It would all be for nothing.
That thought, mixed with unbearable pain, made me spit blood in fury.
"Like hell I'm letting it end like this!"
I bit down the agony, refusing to pass out.
Then, with the last of my strength, I drove Balerion into the demon's body, right beside Dark Sister.
With everything I had ..
With the last sound my shattered throat could produce ..
With a broken body and depleted aura lines—
I screamed:
"IGNITION!!"
One ignition was enough to destroy me already .. But here I was, unleashing a second.
More.
I dug deeper, tapping into the black ocean of aura inside me ..
And released another nuclear ignition into the cursed demon.
The monster howled ..
Screaming in agony as the explosion consumed everything, erasing the entire battlefield.
Its filthy, black body disintegrated before my eyes, vanishing piece by piece into white light.
I saw nothing but radiance—followed by a deafening silence that shattered my hearing.
But in the midst of it all ..
I saw her.
Sansa's body falling from above, the cocoon of shadows around her finally torn apart.
I didn't know if she had survived… or died.
But I had given it everything.
My body was torn to shreds ..inside and outside after triggering ignition twice.
And finally…
I collapsed, unconscious.
Everything went black, marking the end of my desperate battle…
Against the Fallen Princess.