POV: Rai Shinsei
~ Minutes Prior ~
I'm a terrible person.
In a daze, I rested on my back, staring lifelessly into the cloudy morning sky until the unpleasant screams of Aria brought me to my senses, urging me to rise into a sitting position as I watched Aria suffer, unable to resist against the brutality of Wrath as amidst her torment, I assessed our dire situation.
Arthur has surpassed his limits long ago as he practically fought every member of the Cardinal Sins.
The chances of him arising again is impossible without a miracle.
Sarah is unconscious, but her lifeforce is fading fast along with Everett, who is either dead or on the verge of death and as for Aria, she's alone, fighting for her life while I'm watching helplessly from afar.
I'm the worst kind of scum.
Unable to collect my thoughts, Wrath didn't spare a second as he raised Aria into the air with the sole purpose of ending her life.
I had no doubt that if I were to remain useless for even another minute, Aria's life would be taken away from this world as I was no stranger to the emptiness dwelling within Wrath's eyes.
If I would have used my Aspect from the start, I could have prevented all of this and yet, the past is still haunting me.
"Rai, please don't blame yourself. You saved the lives of everyone here. Your power is a blessing, not a curse. Do you remember our promise?"
As Iris' words echoed within my mind, I picked myself up from the ground and closed my eyes, taking a moment to clear my head from all of my unnecessary worries as the soothing, cool breeze of the forest brushed across my wounds, arising an odd, yet comforting sensation that aided in easing my mind.
"Now make it into a reality so a tragedy such as this one will never arise again."
Iris, while your words may be true, I can't help but blame myself for everything as in the end, it's always my fault, although…
There's no time to falter.
I placed myself before you all and because of my selfishness, you all had to suffer.
Sarah, Everett and Arthur.
If any of you are unable to live on after today because of my reluctance in accepting my own reality, I'm truly sorry.
I won't ask for forgiveness nor will I make any excuses as I will atone for my sins through my actions alone.
This is all my fault, so if there's even the slightest chance that I can save you all, then at any cost, I'll make sure that you all will see tomorrow.
You have my word.
Resounding within my soul was none other than the spark of my Aspect as with a deep breath, I activated my Aspect and released my Aspectual force as my heart raced with a nostalgic sense of exhilaration.
My power is overflowing right now.
Upon tapping into my dormant Aspect, Wrath was the first to realize my existence as in the moment he averted his eyes away from Aria, I appeared before him with a graceful step and flicked my fist into his chin with a sharp, fluid motion, knocking him unconscious for only a second as I rescued Aria from his grasp while the sheer momentum of my speed carried me forward across the ground.
"Rai…?" Aria question with a soft, confused tone as I matched my gaze with her own, whose once coruscating eyes was now replaced with dread as her nose was fairly battered along with several bruises across her cheeks, provoking a heart-wrenching sense of guilt within me as gnawed my bottom lip out of regret.
She's reduced to this state because of me.
"Everything is going to be alright now. I'm going to end this fight so we can all go home." I reassured with a warm smile as I gently placed her against a tree before facing Wrath, who rubbed his chin with an ecstatic grin as I sharpened my gaze.
"You're alive!" Wrath shouted exuberantly as he crushed the earth below him by planting his feet into the ground, eager to rush towards me, but his joyous mood would be short lived as I suddenly appeared before him amidst flexing my hand.
"What in the-"
Unable to fathom my speed, Wrath was forced to endure a gut-wrenching strike into his abdomen as the impact sent him flying backwards through a thicket of trees, spewing out saliva in the midst as I grabbed my nearby sword that I had left within the earth and placed it back into my scabbard before laying my eyes upon Pride, who glared at me with a scowl.
"Your actions don't make any sense. Why would you hide your Aspect when your lives are at stake?" Pride questioned as he adjusted his gauntlets.
"I didn't think my power would be necessary in order to defeat you all, or rather…"
"I didn't think my power would be necessary in order to defeat Wrath as had Wrath been absent today, I would have defeated the rest of you without even using my Aspect." I answered nonchalantly, provoking Pride into activating his Aspect as he released his Aspectual Force towards me, which was negligible compared to my own as he sprinted towards me furiously with gray aura enveloping his gauntlets.
He possesses a Normal-Type Aspect, but what does his Aspect specialize in?
"YOUR ARROGANCE WILL BE THE END OF YOU!" Pride bellowed as upon arriving, he tried to land several punches into my face, but his attempt in landing an attack was as shallow as his threat, his rage forcing him to make the mistake of overextending his swing as I slipped under his arm and landed a sharp uppercut into his chin, knocking him unconscious for only a split-second as within that time, I followed up with a spinning back kick into his chest, sending him tumbling backwards until he landed against a tree stump.
As I began to approach Pride, a veil of gravity was suddenly placed upon me as the sheer pressure of the force it exuded caused me to buckle onto a knee, encouraging me to shift my focus towards Wrath, who emerged from within the distant forest with a satisfied grin.
"Raw strength that rivals my own and blue lightning that blesses you with the grace of speed. The only explanation for your bizarre existence is that you have the blood of a noble running through your veins, am I right?" Wrath questioned, striding towards me with confidence, despite the unfavorable condition of his body as I remained still within the veil of gravity, waiting to take advantage of his arrogance as he approached me.
"That's none of your concern." I answered indifferently as I forced myself to stand and with a swift, yet acrobatic motion, I landed an angled high kick into Wrath's jaw, disorienting his senses as upon landing, I spun my body, pivoting on my heel as I then jumped into the air with the intention of landing a spinning hook kick into his chin, but despite the disconcerting sensation of his brain rattling against his skull, Wrath was able to block my attack with his guard as the impact only sent him sliding sideways across the ground with startlement brewing within his expression.
"You're also able to move within my gravity without any repercussions?" Wrath asked, astonished by my feat as he tried to recover his balance, but I didn't give him a chance to retaliate as I closed the distance within a single step and landed a left hook into his liver, seizing his bodily functions as he buckled over while I followed up with a devastating acrobatic ax kick into the back of his head, sending him crashing face-first into the earth below as the impact buried his head underneath the rubble.
"It was a given since you're weaker than me." I replied as I felt an oppressing wave of bloodlust directed towards me, forcing me to answer Pride, who clenched his jaw in exasperation as I glanced at his chin, noticing it wasn't bruised anymore.
Where did his injury go-
With a preposterous boost of speed, Pride suddenly appeared before me as before his arrival, his legs had bursted apart from within as his own blood splattered across the ground and while his absurd injury disrupted my focus, I subconsciously had left my face vulnerable as I was unable to raise my guard in time.
What was that?
Taking advantage of my vulnerability, Pride struck his fist into my face as I used the momentum of the impact to glide backwards across the mossy carpet of the forest bedding in order to regain my footing.
So that's it.
Wiping off the blood trickling from my nose, I watched his legs emit a strange vapor-like steam as within moments, his legs were fully healed as if they never suffered an injury to begin with.
He's gained immense insight into Aspectual Restoration, allowing him to utilize the full potential of his muscles without any repercussions as in order for him to close the gap between us in terms of physical prowess is to destroy his muscles and rebuild them, strengthening them as well as increasing his overall raw power.
Although his way of using Aspectual Restoration is quite ingenious, his methods are far too risky.
Using Aspectual Restoration naturally expends an enormous amount of energy.
Of course, the more insight you gain, the less energy the technique consumes, but Pride hasn't achieved mastery in terms of Aspectual Restoration, meaning that every time he unnecessarily injures himself in order to boost his physical prowess, he's cutting into the energy reserves of his own Aspect.
In a battle of attrition, unless he's able to end the fight first, he's bound to lose against someone of his caliber as he'll be the first to reach his Exhaust Limit, resulting in his defeat.
Whether he had a deeper understanding of Aspectual Restoration or simply possessed more power, he wouldn't have to rely on a risky style of combat, although none of this really matters as compared to someone such as myself…
He never stood a chance to begin with.