Master Of Myths

"That is"

"A sacrifice huh"

"None shall harm my race"

An actual set of angel wings sprouted from her back, lifting her once more onto the sky so she could look down on the evil invaders with her glowing white eyes

By merely lifting her hand a dozen blots of light formed, brought down like divine judgment to wipe everything in their path

"Such absurd power, has she really awakened to some talent during battle"

"Come now Mia, you know that's highly unlikely, she is merely using her life force in exchange for it, every second using that form costs a price too huge to pay"

Others might only see a tremendous amount of light energy, YuJu however could see beyond that, a seamless type of energy rising from Sofia's body and creating a vortex in the sky

'What's her energy trying to do?'

He couldn't help but wonder since nothing of this sort rang any bells in his memory

"Holy Arch Spears!"

"She's even reciting skill names now! That's how you tell a true hero is born"

Sarcastic as Mia's comment was it didn't lessen the awing scene before them, seven spears the size of pillars stabbed into the earth, arches of light zapping between them like lightning, accurately annihilating every wraith that dared trek the path toward humanity's settlement

"How are the other fronts doing"

Seeing as this might take a few minutes YuJu decided to have Mia report the overall situation

"The main front is easily winning, our towers are not giving anything a chance to advance, if by some miracle a few managed to then they would promptly be dealt with inside the forest"

One might believe the wraiths would retreat or change their attack method with such large meaningless casualties, the truth was however that Kamiva had given an order to his army, forcing them to sacrifice themselves and cause enough chaos to lure YuJu out, and we all know how that ended

"Ellis is holding down her end with the help of the Witness while its minions were assisting Ika in covering the other side, the mist couldn't split to the back yet and they probably won't be able to before dispersing"

"As expected, then have-" Crack-

A loud shattering coming from the sky caught YuJu's eyes, rays of energy piercing down from it in an unsettling manner

"Someone is ascending? No, it's just a small crack"

Fixing his eyes on the small crack he noted it appearing mid the vortex, the timing and place was too coincidental earing a frown from him

'This isn't an ascendance, at the same time it's the same phenomenon as one, and it's in the middle of Sofia's siphoned energy

Think as he may YuJu couldn't come up with an explanation for the odd phenomenon, neither was he given the time to debate it as the valiant woman in the sky tore it with one last bolt before feather falling toward the ground

Both YuJu and Mia's figures disappeared from their place as they darted toward her, just in time for him to catch Sofia from the sky and lay her down

"Heee, haaaa"

Hard breaths were taken slowly by the burnt out woman, her chest heaving with tremendous difficulty, as if the lungs couldn't hold up any longer

In her eyes reflected the rays shining from the crack, representing a calling from the afterlife, for her time on this earth has come to an end

"....I…"

Tears welled up in Sofia's eyes, trickling down her cheeks ever so slowly while she tried to think of any last words

"...Would the wraiths…get to them..?"

"If you're asking whether or not you stopped the wraiths then I am afraid that's a no, it's not like a few seconds of you rampaging is going to end their trample, though it shouldn't be long before they are dispersed, I did kill their leader after all"

"..I'm glad…you did…can you…..stop these too.."

It was more begging than a request, sadly YuJu shook his head in refusal

"...but you want to….protect them too..don't you?..."

"Yes, that's why I am standing here, as I am far scarier than anything they have known all the wraiths will be too scared to venture through this immediate area, going through the other protected places instead"

Those words both relieved her and saddened her, relieved as her fellow humans would not be killed, sad because her efforts proved to be a meaningless show of stubbornness, if she had known his presence was just as good as her sacrificing everything she wouldn't have done it

"Is that really what you believe?"

"…?"

"I can see it, the regret in your eyes, do you really believe that if I told you, if you knew that I could protect this area myself, then you would have not sacrificed yourself?"

"...."

Of course yes, do you think I am a fool? Do you think I wanted to get sacrifice my life?

Was what she wanted to say but none of that came out because…it wasn't the truth

Yes, she sacrificed herself to protect her fellow humans, but was that it? No, she also did it because she couldn't take it any longer

How much longer could she endure the weight of all those lives on her shoulders, the agony and suffering of having to watch them die before her helpless eyes time and time again, no matter how strong she got, how powerful her allies became, there would always be deaths and sacrifices

Certainly compared to that endless suffering a heroic death seemed like a better option, at least she would be giving her very life to save them, what greater price could there be

"Your wrong"

As if reading her mind YuJu corrected her

"The greatest price is not dying, no matter how heroic it may sound"

He moved his gaze to look at the descending rays as well, eyes hidden from her

"It is to continue suffering, continue struggling, and keep on watching them sacrifice themselves one after the other so you, and only you can grow strong enough to accomplish the hopes and dreams all of you carry"

There seemed to be a crack in his voice, however small and unnoticeable as it may be

"In this world the greatest sacrifice is to live on with those burdens, knowing that every step you take has been paved by the blood of your friends, your family, your kin"

His chest heaved with every word, eyes now staring back at her with pain hidden under the aloof mask of apathy

"If you want to serve your race then live Sofia, suffer, and carry the burdens of your entire race until it becomes a mountain that crushes your very existence under its weight, only then can you truly call your sacrifice the greatest price"

"....how…."

Moved as she may be by this man's words she saw no hope in living after the price was paid, this was no simple method but one that gave up her own soul

"There is always hope, but a price comes with it, just as your power demands your soul I demand your unwavering loyalty"

"....I want to…protect the human…my race.."

"As do I, but to each their own methods, and mine is crueler than you could imagine, for I have seen what our future could be, and know one path to take ensuring the continuity of the race, a path corrupted beyond human means, but one we must walk if survival is to be guaranteed"

"....."

Sofia thought and thought but remained torn, which would be her choice, the easy escape of death, or the agonizing shackles of responsibility"

".....Live….I want to…live…"

"Then live you shall"

Raising his arms up in the air he pushed against the sky with his bare hands, halting the descent of the rays with minor struggle

"Mia"

"Yes Master"

Heading his unspoken command she moved forward toward her fallen friend, bending to sink her fangs into the dying body and revitalizing it with the new vampiric blood

Sofia's eyes turned red, her teeth sharpening into fangs, a new vitality surging within her blood, yet eyes remained a step away from death

"This is all I can do Master, her body is fixed but still isn't enough to keep her alive"

"I know, her very soul is being paid as the price, merely reviving the body won't do"

He tapped the ground with his foot promoting his shadow to morph into a hound, from it popped Anput and her iconic howl

"Awuu!"

"Anput, affix her soul into the vessel"

"Awu"

Without delay the little one got to work, using her Soul Imprisonment she bound the fleeting soul into the body, or she tried but the power coming from the slowly descending rays prevented it from successfully binding, initiating a strife that rended Sohpia's soul in traumatizing agony

"AhhAAHHHH!!!"

She screamed her lungs out and more, jolting from the pain at times and laying lifeless at others when her soul left the body briefly before returning to vent out the pain

Slowly but surely the rays seemed to win, and Sofia's eyes turned hollow of any life for some time now, an obvious sign of her death

"Now Anput!"

"Awuuuuuu!"

A beckoning howl rang across the land, commanding all the shadows to dim the light, strangle the air of holiness as the dead was to be summoned from the grave, back before crossing into the afterlife

"Huuu!"

Sofia's body jolted with a breath, falling back down lifeless, dead as she should be, but that wasn't the end, for a hand had emerged from her heart, dark as moonless sky yet twinkles of the stars shining and fading, a reminder of hope not lost

The hand held the body and brought itself up, dragging the rest of the body out from within as the rays above rang with wrathful jingles in demand of its payment, only to be held back by YuJu's unwavering defense

In the end the body managed to emerge fully, carrying four wings on its back, two white, two black, just like the eyes of this shadow entity

"Master"

She kneeled, and not to Anput, but to YuJu, referring to him with words that other shadows could not form

Cr-cra-Crack!!!

Unable to accept this blasphemy the sky opened up in order to smite this betrayer, yet before anything could be spat out the purple sky engulfed it, closing the unwilling crack and returning the sky to its previous calmness, every trace of energy erased from existence