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"What else? I want to fight you, Mirai," Louis said. "We'll spar. It will help us both grow stronger so we can defeat the great evil threatening our home."
"…!" Mirai's eyes widened. "I see… I suppose I'll help."
"What's wrong? You don't like fighting?" Louis asked.
"I… well, I don't," Mirai sighed. "But that's not really it… I'm worried I might hurt you."
"…?!" Louis's face twisted with clear irritation. "What? You dare imply you're stronger than me? That you could harm me?!"
"N-No, of course not…" she muttered awkwardly.
This was a Mirai who hadn't even started the main story of the game. Supposedly, she was Level 1 with no awakened Spiral. All her power came naturally from her body and soul due to her mysterious origins as a Reincarnation.
"Then let's go," Louis said.
They moved to the same floor where Louis had once seen his father spar with Mirai. There was a vast space resembling a wasteland, complete with a sun and sky. This was a special area known as a Containment Realm—a pocket dimension, some more lifelike than others.
"Oh, this place. I'm quite familiar with it," Mirai said, standing ready without any weapons.
"No weapon?" Louis asked, sheathing his sword. "I guess we can fight with our fists. It's all the same. If I can't use Sword Aura without a sword, I can't call myself a true Swordsman."
"Sword Aura without a sword?" Mirai tilted her head. "I'm not very familiar with these terms. What does that mean?"
"It means this," Louis said. He raised his hand as his Mana Aura surged, growing sharper until it took on a silver hue. It materialized around his hand, extending into an ethereal blade of shimmering silver. "This, Mirai, is Sword Aura."
SLASH!
"…!"
Before Mirai could react, Louis attacked mercilessly, swinging his hand forward and cutting through the air. Despite his earlier kindness, he remained the same inside. If she couldn't survive even this basic strike, she might as well die.
"Hmph!"
Mirai crossed her arms to block. A black-and-red aura flared around her like flames, enveloping her body and protecting her from the attack.
"Hoh, you blocked a sharp Sword Aura strike with your bare arms. You're tougher than you look."
"I did?" Mirai looked surprised at herself. "I did!"
"Don't worry, there's more where that came from!" Louis rushed forward, swinging both arms and unleashing a flurry of sword energy attacks that split the ground.
"Ahhh!"
Mirai panicked as the strikes came from every direction. Her arms were incredibly durable despite their slender appearance. With her flame-like aura wrapped around her, she endured the barrage with her bare body.
"Not bad! How about this?!"
Louis tested her limits, summoning a long spear of Ashen Frost and thrusting it forward. Mirai's red eyes widened as she dodged, sensing the attack carried the force of a Dragon's Fang.
BOOOM!
The explosive strike carved a massive hole through the mountain behind her, obliterating the forest in its path and leaving Mirai stunned.
"The difference between Tier 9 and 8 is like heaven and earth," Louis said. "It's impressive what I can do now… But I believe this isn't even my full potential. So, Mirai, will you be my punching bag… or a proper rival I can spar with? I wonder!"
Louis smiled wickedly and charged. Mirai didn't want to hurt him, but she was pushed back against the mountain. The ground trembled under Louis's blend of Sword Aura strikes and Dragon Fang Spearmanship.
This combination made his onslaught overwhelmingly fierce. Mirai had sparred with Gustaf and Helena many times, but she had never faced such a terrifying barrage.
"Is this the power of surface dwellers?!"
Her heart raced faster. A twitchy smile formed on her lips as her eyes gleamed with fascination. Her long black hair ignited into flames, and demonic red tattoos spread across her pale skin.
"T-Then…! I'll put in a bit more effort!"
She closed her eyes as if afraid of the consequences and unleashed her power. A massive, almost nuclear explosion of energy erupted from her body.
"Kuuaaaagh?!"
Louis was caught in the blast—not an attack, but Mirai channeling a tenth of her original power all at once.
BOOOM!
"T-This is ridiculous! Agh! Is this what my father has been fighting?!"
Louis groaned, shielding himself with Ashen Frost. He tumbled across the wasteland, crashing into a stone pillar and toppling it.
"A-Ah! Prince Louis!"
Mirai panicked and ran toward him. From within the gray ice coffin, Louis emerged—slightly burned but otherwise unharmed. He had formed a complete barrier of his power, enhancing it by combining it with Iron Body. He discovered he could channel effects like Ashen Frost even when they weren't part of his physical body.
"I'm fine," Louis said, glaring at her with glowing golden eyes. "I want more. Show me everything you've got, Mirai! Unleash your inner demon. I want to face you…! I want to face my fears!"
"Your fears?" Mirai looked confused.
"Do it!" Louis demanded.
"Ahhh! Y-Yes!" Mirai panicked, closing her eyes and channeling more power. She pointed her hands at him. "H-HYAAA!"
RUMBLE!
"Ugh?!"
A flash of crimson red and black shadows surged from her hands, unleashing a gigantic beam of demonic and chaotic energy that struck Louis' head-on.
His eyes widened as he coughed blood and was sent flying before he could defend himself.
He collapsed on the ground, gasping for air, half-dead.
"A-Ahhh! Agh…! Damn it! Is the power gap this vast?! All my efforts…! Have they amounted to nothing yet?! How many times must I die to reach her level?!"
Louis clenched his teeth and stood. Mirai slowly approached.
"Are you okay? We don't have to do this!"
"Shut up!"
Louis rose, injecting himself with three Fantasium Syringes and downing three Tonics. His wounds healed, and his Aura surged.
"Gravewalker… Necromancer… Pugilist!"
His Incarnation and the two fragments emerged behind him, rapidly overlapping with his body and surprising Mirai.
"When I was on the verge of death, I discovered something interesting… Let's try that again."
"Ah!"
FLAAASH!
A pillar of white light erupted from Louis's body as he merged with his Incarnation and the two fragments. His pale skin turned dark gray, metallic scales covered his arms, and skeletal dragon wings sprouted from his back.
"Yes… this is it."
"Woah! You can transform!"
"Yeah, you too, don't you?"
"…!"
"Come on now, transform… or I won't be responsible if you die!"
RUMBLE!
Consumed by the Madness of his three Spirals, Louis charged at Mirai, clashing with everything he had. His hands fused with the Pugilist's metallic fists, and the Gravewalker's draconic claws now channeled his Sword Aura—each claw a deadly blade.
"Aaagh!"
Mirai cried in pain as her arms suffered sharp, deep wounds. Her eyes widened as Louis roared, his gentle facade completely gone. He revealed the malice hidden beneath his mask of kindness.
She hadn't been sure before, but now she felt it clearly—she was fighting someone destined to be her antagonist, her villain.
"Fight me, Mirai!"
Louis roared. His long tail swung toward her, infused with Ki and Mana, unleashing Dragon Fang Spearmanship techniques that struck her dozens of times before slamming her into the ground with a powerful kick to her face.
BOOOM!
"Soul Sacrifice!"
He dove down, summoning the soul of the murdered soldier and infusing it into his metallic claws. Ghostly flames coursed through his arms as the soul agonized and faded.
"Can you take this, Mirai?! CAN YOU?!"
"HAAAAAHHH!"
Mirai screamed as her power erupted like a volcano. The world around Louis trembled, twisted, and warped. His eyes widened as his claws plunged into the immense sea of flames surging from her body.
Her skin turned completely red, black horns grew from her forehead, her hair became dark red and black flames, and enormous pitch-black demonic wings sprouted from her back.
"PRINCE LOUIS! THIS IS MY TRUE FORM! DID YOU WANT TO SEE IT SO BADLY?! HERE IT IS, Y-YOU…! YOU IMPUDENT MAN!"
"Hahaha…! HAHAHAHAH!"
Louis laughed as he clashed against her. His claws began to melt and burn, his arms crumbling, his body cracking and nearing death.
"Ah! No!"
Mirai's eyes widened as reason flooded back. She froze for a single, crucial moment.
And that was all Louis needed.
"Death-Sense."
His Fantasy Heart unleashed its power. Mirai realized Louis wasn't stopping. His death was… delayed.
This was the ability of the Hollow Spiral of the Ashen Wyrm.
Tier 8: Graveborn.
Death-Sense allowed him to detect death itself and evade it to an extent. More importantly, it could postpone death for a few minutes based on his maximum Fantasium reserves.
Even as his body crumbled, Louis's claws dug deeper into Mirai's arms, ripping through muscle and bone. Her eyes widened in shock.
"A-Ahhh! AAAAHHH!"
Mirai screamed in agony. She struck Louis's head, blowing half of it away. Yet he kept moving, attacking with unrelenting fury.
Who was the true demon here—him or her?
"Ashen Sword Graveyard."
Drawing on her despair, Louis summoned dozens of Ashen Swords. They pierced Mirai's body, pushing her to the brink.
As she screamed, rage consumed her. She punched and kicked him, then unleashed her full strength in a devastating explosion that hurled him downward.
"Kuaaaaagh!"
BOOOMMM!!!
The wastelands shook. The scientists monitoring the fight panicked and called for a powerful Esper to intervene, but no one dared approach the two monstrous Sinners.
Gustaf arrived on the scene. He found his son dying on the ground and Mirai standing over him in her demonic form, hands drenched in Louis's blood.
"M-Mirai! What are you doing?!"
"I-I can explain! He asked me to fight, and… we got carried away…! A-Ah, I didn't know he'd be like this! I thought… he was stronger…"
"Louis…!"
Gustaf rushed to his son, only to witness something utterly shocking.
Louis opened his eyes despite half his head missing. He pulled ten tonics from his shadow storage and began drinking them.
His face regenerated, along with some arms and legs, formed from pure Fantasium thanks to his transformation.
It wasn't quite enough, however.
Then something even more astonishing occurred—something Louis himself hadn't anticipated.
A black arm slithered from his shadow, reaching toward his body and infusing it with dark energy.
Slowly, his entire body regenerated fully before Death-Sense could expire.
The arm grew weaker, drying out from black to gray. Its eye shifted from red to blue.
"What the hell is this thing?" Louis muttered, staring at the hand before him. He ignored the drama unfolding with Mirai and his father's furious, worried expression.
He could have survived without it, but it had accelerated his recovery considerably. Memories stirred briefly. He recalled this type of hand from his previous regressions—the ones that had attacked him in the river of light and darkness.
"Right…"
When regressing and falling into that river, one of those hands had briefly revealed itself inside his soul before vanishing.
"How is this possible? Did that bitch send this when I died? How is this thing…! Should I kill it?!"
"Louis!"
Gustaf's roar snapped him back to reality. Louis realized he was completely naked, just as he had entered the world. Mirai covered her face, though he caught her peeking through her fingers.
"What the hell are you doing?! I allowed Mirai to become your friend, but this is too far! Fighting to the death? What is wrong with you?"
"We were sparring, right, Mirai?"
"A-Ah, yes…"
"In the end, I was the only one in danger. Mirai's fine, as you can see. Look—all her wounds regenerated on their own."
"Ah… Uwah! My clothes are gone too!"
"You think that excuses your behavior?"
"Yes, it does. Because to face what's coming, Father, I need power. Training with my knights isn't enough. I have to push myself to the absolute limit—through life-and-death battles—or I won't grow. Mirai, the little monster you've raised, is exactly the sparring partner I need!"
"E-Eh? I'm honored, but don't you think we went too far?"
"Nonsense! We'll spar like this tomorrow, and the day after—for weeks, months!"
"Uwaah! But won't you get hurt?"
"Don't worry about me."
"Louis, do you think I'll allow this? And Mirai, why aren't you angry with him?" Gustaf demanded, genuinely furious.
"W-Why would I be mad? I only feel sorry," Mirai said, confused.
"Ugh… these two… you can't be serious," Gustaf sighed. "Whatever the case, it's over. I won't let you meet again."
"Father, I need to grow stronger. Why won't you understand?!" Louis demanded.
"Louis, your obsession with power is meaningless! What do you even plan to accomplish once you have it?!" Gustaf shot back angrily. "Power only corrupts! Look at humanity now! Catastrophes weren't enough—now that people wield power, they've become savages, abandoning any unity we once had! Is this what you want?"
"Only with strength can I prevent this Kingdom from falling into ruin!" Louis countered. "All I see in you is a man terrified of his own power—and of his son's! A pathetic man who hides in a lab, futilely searching for a cure for his wife instead of using his power to seek one in the world! That's all I see when I look at you, Father!"
"Louis…! You…! You understand nothing…!" Gustaf roared. "You're as clueless as ever! It's as if you never grew up past ten years old—the moment you couldn't become a dragon, your maturity froze! You're still a child!"
"If I were still a child, would I push myself to these lengths to grow stronger?!" Louis grabbed his father's shirt, glaring furiously. "Are you saying my efforts are worthless?! That only YOU can save Mother?!"
"Nngh…!" Gustaf clenched his teeth, eyes flashing with fear before realization struck. "…Enough."
He pushed Louis away, sighing deeply, readjusting his glasses, shaking his head, and turning to leave.
"…Do whatever you want, Louis."
"Come back! I'm not done talking!"
Louis ran after him, stopping him and forcing him to turn around.
But Louis's furious expression faltered when he saw his father's face.
His father was silently crying.
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