Manifest War: The Weapons Within

Carmen elegantly dodged their strike and after doing a few swift backflips, she aimed her palm at one of them, sending him flying back. Caleb followed up with an attack of his own, firing off bolts of ice shards from the tip of his rapier. The assailant sidestepped them and retaliated by tossing knives at Caleb with incredible speed.

Caleb leapt out of the way and Carmen dove down from the sky at the same time, sneak attacking the man. Her kick landed and vigorously knocked him to the ground.

Caleb and Carmen were perfectly in sync. Their movements and attacks were so precise and comparable, as though they were performing an intricate ballroom dance. It felt like the duo had fought together in a past life with how in tune they were with each other. One of the robed men got off the ground and quickly tossed more knives their way.

She thrust her Manifest forward to use its gravity ability, trying to block the attack. However, upon doing so, a sharp pain shot throughout her entire body. It was as though she were zapped by an invisible lightning strike. Carmen immediately dropped to her knees and began screaming loudly, gripping her chest in severe pain. Void energy pulsed out of her with immense force, knocking Caleb and the two assailants back.

Everyone present looked on as Carmen glowed dark purple, feeling her energy rapidly increase.

“Hey, what’s wrong!?” Caleb yelled out, desperately trying to get her attention.

She gave him no response, just louder screams of deep suffering. Thankfully, in that same moment, her original group arrived at the scene. Sarah, Rivell, and Asiah were riding atop Vera, frantically looking for Carmen.

Vera skidded to a stop and roared loudly, sending chills down the mysterious men’s spines. The assailants quickly stood and darted away, vanishing at a rapid pace. The three got down from Vera’s back and rushed over to Caleb.

“What’s going on here!?” Asiah asked, looking intently at Caleb for answers.

“I-I don’t know. We were fighting some strange men and she suddenly started losing her mind. I think she’s in a lot of pain.” Caleb quickly replied, getting to his feet.

Asiah turned her attention over to Carmen and the air around them started getting heavy as they felt the astronomical amount of Core Energy bleeding out of her.

Back at Castle de Belouis, Azhane and Zalthia were having a conversation with Jonn Ravenfell and his wife.

“I believe we will be able to handle whate-.”

Azhane paused mid sentence and suddenly looked over to the window. Zalthia turned her head as well and sensed the immense amount of void based energy surging in the city. They glanced at each other and nodded.

“I’m sorry Jonn, but we must cut this conversation short. Please excuse us.” She said, setting down her champagne glass.

“Ah, sure.” He replied, looking slightly confused.

Azhane placed her hand on Zalthia’s shoulder and the two vanished in a blink.

“Really wish I had that ability.” He commented with an impressed expression, while his wife chuckled at the reaction.

As the two landed around the corner of where they felt the surge of energy, Azhane gently touched her chest. The long, flowy dress she was wearing disappeared off of her body and instantly swapped with a more fitting outfit. It was all black with purple accents threaded throughout. Her top was asymmetrical, having one long left sleeve/glove and the center exposed a fair bit of cleavage.

The tall, high-heeled boots blended with her black leggings and on her back was a split cape that hung just below her knees. Zalthia took out her scythe and the duo sprinted to the scene, not wanting to waste any more time. They arrived and saw Carmen crying out in pain, bleeding void energy everywhere.

“Carmen!! Can you hear us!?” Azhane yelled out with great concern.

Once again, no response came from her. Moments later, the whole area began to crumble and shift under massive invisible weight. It spread out further into the city, shattering windows, snapping trees, breaking the ground, and causing stalls to fall apart.

Citizens attending the festival fled in every direction as mass destruction started to take place all around them. Absolute chaos broke out and people screamed for help, trying to dodge falling debris and crumbling buildings. Zalthia turned to Azhane with great urgency.

“Move her to a different location before she destroys the whole city!!” She exclaimed, wanting her to act quickly.

Azhane nodded and aimed her hand at the group. Everyone was warped to an empty field a couple miles outside of the city. The decision was made just in time because in that exact moment, Carmen exploded with power. Everyone except Azhane, Zalthia, and Asiah got sent flying back by the shockwave.

They stood there in awe as Carmen began floating off the ground with her eyes closed. Her silver hair looked weightless as it flowed in the wind and slowly she tilted her head forward, opening her eyes. They were completely white, socket to socket, and soulless. Carmen gripped her Manifest and aimed it upwards in an elegant fashion.

The three gazed up with great worry, not sure how to approach her. Asiah and Vera stepped forward slightly as she called up to Carmen.

“Hey! Carmen it’s okay! It’s safe now!” Asiah yelled, trying to reassure her about the current situation. Carmen slowly fixed her gaze onto Asiah and in an instant, she appeared behind Asiah.

'HUH?!!?'

They were all astounded by her sudden burst of speed.

Carmen raised her arm and slashed at Asiah with her Manifest. The attack connected, sending her and Vera careening off the ground and into the nearby wooded area. Her swing was effortless and yet, the blow defeated a Sapphire Class Vesta while leaving a wake of massive destruction along the path, fully destroying the ground and surrounding trees.

Azhane and Zalthia immediately dashed out of the way, trying their damndest to not get caught off guard. Zalthia then split into ten different copies of herself and she commanded them to subdue Carmen. The ethereal clones rapidly rushed towards her, their scythes in hand, and one by one they were dispatched by Carmen. She easily sidestepped their attacks while countering with slashes of her own, piercing them in the chest with her rapier.

Zalthia leapt in and dive kicked Carmen, hitting her in the stomach with substantial force. Carmen was knocked to the ground and before Zalthia could get closer, she immediately dashed forward while rapidly stabbing at the air.

“Come on Carmen!! Snap out of it you brat!!!” Zalthia angrily yelled, dodging the swift volley of attacks.

Carmen landed a piercing hit. Her rapier cut through Zalthia’s scarlet robes, slashing her shoulder and sending blood into the air.

Zalthia swung her scythe in retaliation, knocking Carmen backwards. Zalthia landed and knelt down, scowling at her little sister as she gripped her bleeding shoulder, now incredibly irritated by her behavior. Before Zalthia could fully gather herself, Carmen was already back on the offensive.

Her Core Energy increased yet again, becoming incredibly more unstable with each passing second. Veins forcefully popped out of her head as she bolted forward with incredible speed. Mere moments before she reached Zalthia, Azhane teleported in between them.

Her right arm was extended outward, and it suddenly got enveloped by a thin plated, black, and metallic looking gauntlet. It covered her entire arm like a sleeve, all the way up to the shoulder. It was Azhane’s Manifest, The Grasp of Nihility.

As she stood there, twelve ethereal swords of varying sizes spawned from the void and playfully circled around her. She then aimed her arm towards Carmen and the two disappeared from the field. Carmen, in her berserker state, looked around in shock, confused by the location. The place was completely empty, dark, and cold. There wasn’t a soul in sight for miles, only a smooth and flat floor that extended into darkness.

Light started to flood in from above, causing her to look up at the sky. Carmen saw hundreds of thousands of different sized swords materializing out of the void, their purple hue quickly lighting up the whole area. In the midst of them all was Azhane, her arms fully stretched out. She glared down with her smoldering red eyes, glowing with judgment.

“You can’t cause any more destruction in this space, dear sister.” She said softly.

No response came from Carmen, only a blank fearful stare as she gazed up at the impossible number of weapons in the sky.

“Sorry if this hurts, but... I need to calm you down.”

As soon as the words left Azhane’s mouth, the swords fell down with incredible velocity and power. The torrential downpour of blades collided with Carmen and they brutally exploded on impact. The onslaught was ruthless and swift, not holding much back as far as lethality goes. However, like a passing shower, the attack ended just as fast as it began.

Once the dust settled, Carmen laid there completely unconscious and unable to fight. Azhane floated back down to the ground and stood in front of Carmen’s still body. She sighed and they quickly warped back to the exact same spot from before, only this time, Carmen was fully subdued and no longer a threat. Sarah, Rivell, and Caleb stood up from the ground with confused looks on their faces.

“Wait, what happened??! They disappeared for all of five seconds. How did Carmen end up looking like that??” Sarah asked, not understanding what just occurred. Suddenly, a deep voice boomed from behind them.

“You all just witnessed Azhane Belouis’ Manifest, The Grasp of Nihility.”

The three turned around and saw Jonn Ravenfell walking up to them.

“It grants the ability to transport her opponent to an empty dimensional plane. Inside, Queen Azhane can fight at full power without worrying about her surroundings. The assault will not end until you die or lose the will to continue. Now, as for the specifics of what she does inside of that plane? That, I don’t know. However, I can imagine it isn’t anything pleasant.” Jonn said with a cautious tone while looking over at Carmen’s severely bruised and cut body.

“Woah… But, it was so fast. There’s no way that much damage can be done in such a short time.” Sarah’s interest was fully piqued at this moment.

“Time moves differently within that plane. Even though minutes can pass by inside, only a few seconds go by here in the real world. You could be under her assault for hours and yet it’ll only seem like a few short minutes to us in Alaira. Truly terrifying.” He responded, crossing his arms and looking intently at his Calamity Class colleague.

Everyone stared at Azhane in amazement, fully realizing just how strong she really was.

“Father, what are you doing here though?” Caleb asked curiously.

“I noticed the commotion going on at the festival and sensed great energy surging outside the city. I figured I should check things out, but it seems as though they handled things fairly swiftly.”

King Ravenfell looked over as Zalthia got to her feet and Carmen slowly opened her eyes. Carmen saw Azhane standing over her with a fairly irritated expression.

“Huh, why am I all the way out here? What happened?” She asked while sitting up, gripping her stomach and grimacing from all the cuts on her body.

Zalthia glared at Carmen, feeling ready to scold her for what she did. Just before she yelled out, Azhane swiftly held her hand up, signaling to keep quiet.

“Carmen... We need to talk.” She said with a serious tone.

Sarah helped Carmen to her feet and Azhane aimed her palm at the group, teleporting them back to the castle. Her and Zalthia stepped away briefly with Jonn, having a separate conversation with him.

Carmen took a seat in the hall while looking saddened, wondering what she had done wrong. Caleb noticed her expression and so he walked over, asking if she was alright. Carmen nodded yes, but she was nervously shaking.

“Hey, everything’ll be fine. Okay?”

Caleb gently placed his hand on top of hers and smiled. Carmen looked into his eyes, appreciating the warm gesture. She returned the smile and placed her free hand onto his as they stared at each other.

“You ready to go, my son?” Jonn loudly asked, walking towards them and interrupting the moment.

Caleb quickly removed his hands and stood up, blushing with embarrassment.

“Y-yes sir. I'm ready.”

'Wait.. My son?? Is he the crown prince of Melspire?'

Carmen chuckled at his reaction until she suddenly came to this realization. Caleb smiled and bowed his head before taking his leave with the King and Queen of Melspire. Zalthia, having now calmed down, approached Carmen.

“Alright, let’s have a little chat.”

Carmen gulped at Zalthia’s cold tone and slowly stood up, following her into a room. The doors closed and their lengthy conversation began.