Damien and Sebastian only battled in the starry sky for a series of minutes before their confrontation ended, however, the impact of their battle rattled the entirety of Calypto, bringing mass attention to the flashing scenery that momentarily appeared in the sky.
Among these people was a certain woman, her eyes glowing golden with feral and bloodthirsty energy.
Though, her attention only remained on the sky for a moment.
Murky black shadows surrounded her and bloomed into beautiful yet deadly lotuses. The sea below her feet was corrupted by these shadows and used as a vessel to transport them further across the world.
The destroyed Vineyard Continent could only contain a mere portion of these shadows. They spread further and further, congregating into a straight path that connected the ruined continent to another, the Willow Continent that was closest to it.
Zara's body turned into a blur. Her figure traveled along the massive shadow and became one with it, traversing the continents in a mere few minutes rather than the hours it would've taken otherwise.
And upon touching ground, she didn't waste a single second.
The shadows extending into the ocean retracted into her body, and a new domain spread around her current position.
She could sense their presence.
Millions, billions of Nox beings with varying power levels. While most of them were still mindless, several tens of thousands of them were above 4th class.
Zara's unstable mind didn't even bother comprehending the consequences of her actions.
Tens of thousands of kilometers were immediately covered in inky blackness.
And as Zara pressed her hand down…
BOOOOOOOM!
The earth below crumpled like paper. Any Lesser Nox within her range was smashed along with it, becoming nothing more than sustenance for her growth.
But these Lesser Nox weren't nearly enough.
They didn't have the memories she desired, they didn't have the power she desired.
What she wanted could only be found through those with intelligence.
She moved towards the weakest presence she could sense. It was a Higher Nox surrounded by ten others near his level, all still within the ranges of low-level 4th class.
Xiu!
Her figure shot out like an arrow, immense speed and precision lacing her movements. She coated her claws in a layer of mana to empower them as she sliced out ferociously.
Shing!
Her first target's head flew into the sky with a single swipe of her hand. The ten others followed soon after, unable to even speak a word before they died.
There was a world somewhere deep in the Abyss, a world teeming with Nox, and a world that birthed them into existence.
Zara could now feel its existence. She could feel a slight connection with that place, allowing her to better access the fragmented memories polluting her mind.
Her figure flew through the Willow Continent with increased fervor. Her domain expanded with every Nox she devoured, slowly growing to cover a large portion of the continent's surface.
Despite how rapidly her power was increasing, however, Zara's situation was worse than ever before.
Within her spiritual world, a raging battle that far exceeded the scale of her slaughter in the Real Plane was taking place.
Memory fragments were like fragments of glass. They were beautiful and perhaps even extremely important, but they were dangerous all the same.
The chaos in Zara's mind turned these glass fragments into deadly weapons and mobilized them. A terrifying tornado of memory fragments flew through Zara's spiritual world and tore it apart, opening cracks for Nox Mana to invade.
The current sight of the spiritual world was tragic. Inky black mana and distorted memories flew about without rhyme or reason, utterly corrupting Zara's mind.
And as this damage became more severe, her actions in the Real Plane became more reckless and brutal.
She stood in combat with Higher Nox that far exceeded her usual power level, but she wasn't even conscious of what her body was doing.
It was hell.
Zara stood hidden in an isolated corner of the spiritual world, grasping at any sense of order she could find. Her avatar was like a flickering flame, but one with endless determination behind it.
Still, her head hurt.
Every time a new batch of memories appeared, they'd join the swirling tornado and aid it in breaking apart her defenses.
And it wasn't like she could focus on the tornado and stop it.
After all, she was actively dealing with the mental shock of receiving these fragmented memories as they tried to destroy her.
'Control…difficult…but…key…'
Zara's thought process was broken, but she could still comprehend the situation.
The growth of the tornado was both a blessing and a curse to her.
If she could stop it, she'd gain control over the fragments and their current combined state would aid her in chronologically ordering them.
However, if she failed…
'Failure…not…option…'
Zara's illusory figure gritted her teeth hard enough that they would bleed if she was physical. She closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling her connection with the surrounding space.
'This…my…domain…!'
VOOM!
A wave of power spread through the spiritual world.
The tornado was briefly disrupted. Its chaotic swirl slowed heavily as the repelling force of Zara's power impacted it.
Zara spread her awareness and spread her mana. She spread everything she had, allowing her existence to latch onto reality and maintain itself.
Before she tried to combat the tornado, she first needed to secure the safety of her ego.
Unlike Damien's spiritual world, Zara's was bathed in darkness. It was a darkness darker than black and darker than the abyss.
However, she also had her own spiritual continent.
Zara flashed through the spiritual world with everything she had. She used her spiritual intent like vines, uncaring of how much damage she did to her mind with her actions.
Did it matter if she broke?
She would break either way.
All that mattered was that she won this battle before she did.
Eventually, she arrived at her destination.
Just in time for the tornado to resume its cycle.
WHOOOSH!
"Mmgh…!"
Chaotic winds swirled through the spiritual world and struck Zara. Her already illusory figure faded even more.
But she held onto her mind. She placed her hands and knees on the spiritual continent below and dug her spiritual intent into its surface.
'Control…finally…'
Zara's mind suddenly became somewhat clear. In the center of the spiritual continent, she saw a single spark of light.
'That is…my lifeline…'
That spark of light was what called her to the spiritual continent in the first place, and it would be her only source of security while she fought against the tornado.
'I will…survive.'
She firmed her resolve. She had no plans of dying in this place. Not before she answered the questions that had plagued her mind for so long, and not before she met Damien again.
'Please…stay safe.'
Spiritual intent congregated on the continent and grew into a massive halo.
Under Zara's control, the continent began to move…
…straight towards the center of the tornado.
Controlling the tornado from the outside was impossible. Even trying to consciously control the stream of memories entering her head was currently impossible.
However, if she was in the eye of the tornado, perhaps she'd have a chance.
It was a gamble with her life on the line, but Zara wasn't hesitant at all to take it.
Because either way, her life was on the line.
And as she'd learned from a certain crazed genius…
Wasn't it better to die on your own terms, regardless of the circumstance?
