POV: Aria Akari
As I contemplated on the correct course of action, Arthur's howl of pain brought me back to reality as I directed my focus to Wrath, who struck Arthur's abdomen with a decisive uppercut, causing Arthur to nearly lose consciousness as Wrath's body was marred with slashes from Arthur's sword, but unfortunately Arthur's final stand was for naught as Wrath finally broke free from Arthur's relentless onslaught and began brutalizing him before placing his hand onto Arthur's chest.
"Distortion!" Wrath uttered in discontent as he blasted a destructive force of gravity through Arthur's chest, causing him to spew out blood as the impact sent him flying backwards until he eventually tumbled across the ground, losing consciousness in the midst as I swallowed dryly, struggling to retain functionality over my own body as fear constricted my heart.
There was a moment of silence as the sky darkened, leaving just myself and Everett left as Wrath shifted his eyes towards us with a malicious grin of nightmares, causing Everett to tremble in fear as his breathing quickened, but despite the terror exuding from Wrath, I resolved myself with courage and stood in front of Everett as I raised my guard nervously, watching Wrath's every move with extreme caution as Pride remained still.
"I killed the boy shrouded in mystery and I've killed your strongest. Your only chance of survival has vanished and yet, you still have hope in winning?" Wrath asked with a wry smile as my breaths grew shallow while I felt my heart pound restlessly against my chest.
As Wrath began walking towards me, every advancing step siphoned the remaining of the little courage I had left as I nearly accepted my fate until I noticed Arthur struggling to pick himself up from the ground, causing Wrath to stop in place as he turned around to face Arthur, whose resilience left Pride astonished as Arthur gritted his teeth, enduring through the pain as he forced himself to stand, gathering his breath afterwards as he faced Wrath with a pertinacious light growing within his eyes.
Arthur!
"I told you, didn't I?" Arthur said coarsely with blood trickling from his mouth as Wrath remained silently, listening to Arthur's words intently.
"I'm going to become the strongest in the world."
"A mindless psychopath such as yourself will never defeat me." Arthur added with a weak grin as standing alone seemed unbearable for him.
"What's your name, boy?" Wrath asked with a smile creeping onto his face as he began walking towards Arthur, who activated his Aspect once more, releasing his Aspectual Force as it clashed defiantly against Wrath's.
"Arthur Kojiro." Arthur replied as he began walking towards Wrath until the two of them stood no further than a foot across from each other.
"Kayd Jurokyu." Wrath replied as there was a moment of silence until a breeze of wind blew through the forest, prompting them into action as Arthur tried to split Wrath's body into two with a single slash, however, there was too many unfavorable variables stacked against Arthur as Wrath's reflexes feigned superior, allowing him to smash his fist cleanly into Arthur's jaw, but to Wrath's consternation, his attack was completely nullified as his fist rested against Arthur's cheek while the light within Arthur's eyes shined brilliantly.
As Wrath's body tensed with confusion, Arthur clenched his jaw and gripped the handle of his sword with immense strength as he glared directly into Wrath's eyes.
"DIVERGENCE!" Arthur roared as he inflicted a lethal wound across Wrath's chest with a single slash, causing blood to spray into the air from Wrath's wound as he staggered backwards, clutching his chest with blood flowing from his mouth as Arthur rushed towards him, capitalizing on Wrath's moment of vulnerability as he intended to kill Wrath once and for all, but Arthur's wishes were unheard as his body surpassed its limits long ago.
Amidst his advancement towards Wrath, Arthur spewed out blood from the rebound of surpassing his exhaust limit, losing consciousness immediately as his body crashed sideways into the ground below from Wrath's previous attack.
No, I can't bear to watch this anymore!
"Even in your last moment, you still found a way to surpass your limits." Wrath said with a genuine smile of respect as he wiped the blood trickling from his mouth while approaching Arthur, who was unconscious with a battered body that miraculously sustained Wrath's violence.
Wrath sighed as he tried to pull Arthur's sword towards him, but despite Arthur being unconscious, the sword wouldn't budge from his grasp as Arthur's willpower prompted a grin from Wrath.
"What a powerful will." Wrath remarked as gravity began swelling around his hand as he looked down at Arthur with eyes void of any emotion, but before he could strike through Arthur's chest, I intervened and shot a beam of light towards him, forcing Wrath to respond as he deflected my beam with a simple pivot of his hand.
As Light gathered within the palm of my hand, I raised my hand towards him and tried to blast him once more with a beam of light, but to my dismay, Wrath suddenly appeared in front of me and grabbed my neck with crude strength, raising me into the air as he examined me with a curious gaze.
"I had my doubts earlier because of your pathetic Aspectual Force, but your golden aura and your previous attack just confirmed my suspicion." Wrath said as I clenched onto his arm tightly, desperately trying to free myself as breathing slowly became more difficult while Wrath narrowed his eyes.
"You're Joseph's granddaughter, aren't you? First Jett's son and now Joseph's granddaughter. I don't know why you two were sent to be killed by me, but escaping should have been your first priority instead of blindly challenging me. What were you thinking?" Wrath questioned, raising his brow in confusion as I gritted my teeth and glared directly into his eyes.
"I… I won't run away! As long as I'm alive, I won't let you harm anyone else!" I replied coarsely as there was a moment of silence until Wrath sighed, releasing his grasp from my neck as he smashed his fist into my abdomen with a gut-wrenching uppercut, causing me to spew out saliva as he grabbed my head and smashed his knee into my face, but as blood gushed from my nose, Wrath didn't spare me any mercy as he grabbed my face with his palm and slammed the back of my head into the ground below, burying it within a small crater.
As my consciousness slipped away from me, I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip and tried to retaliate, but his sheer power and size was too much for my willpower to handle as he placed himself on top of me, trapping my left arm beneath him as he began thrashing his fist into my face, his indifferent eyes gazing into my own as I struggled to defend myself with my remaining arm.
Helpless against the difference in strength, I was nothing more than a personal punching bag as Wrath's brute strength laid waste into my face.
I wanted to do nothing but cry as the pain only grew, but despite the hopeless situation, I refused to succumb to despair as I let out a war cry of desperation, placing my free hand onto his chest as I blasted a powerful ray of light through his chest, rupturing Wrath's organs as his face tensed with pain, blood trickling through the crevices of his tightened lips as I pushed him off of me and spaced myself away from him while he clutched his chest, coughing up blood with a knee onto the ground as I wiped off the excessive blood flowing from my bruised nose.
As Wrath stood from the ground, I raised my guard, waiting for him to rush towards me, but to my surprise, Wrath pivoted his hand and used his Aspect to pull me towards him as I began sliding forward across the ground, unable to resist the overwhelming attraction of his gravity as he planted his feet into the ground and with a single step, he arrived before me with gravity swelling around his fist as he struck my face, sending me crashing backwards into ground as he began stomping on my chest relentlessly, causing the earth to slowly cave in beneath me as I felt a few of my ribs crack from the sheer violence of his assault while a sinister grin crept onto his face.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Everett roared, incensed, yet terrified as he smashed his fist into Wrath's jaw, but despite his courageous action, it wasn't enough to cut the overwhelming difference in their strength as Wrath didn't budge an inch, shifting his eyes towards Everett as his grin widened in delight from Everett falling into despair.
"Do you know why all of your friends are going to die today?" Wrath asked as he placed his hand on the chest of Everett, who was trembling to an uncontrollable degree as he looked down at me with tears beginning to well.
"Aria-"
My name was the last word Everett muttered as Wrath blasted a destructive force of gravity through his chest, causing him to spew out blood with tears flowing from his eyes as I watched his body ragdoll across the open field and into the distant forest.
"EVERETT!" I cried out with a coarse tone, coughing up blood in the midst as tears of frustration began to well inside my eyes.
As I cursed at myself within, Wrath crouched over me and clenched my face with his hand, bringing my face closer to his own as our eyes locked.
"You're weak. You're a disgrace to your own blood. None of this would have happened today if you were anything more than a failure." Wrath added with a disappointed expression as he stood from the ground, raising me into the air once more as gravity swelled around his fist with the intention of impaling my torso.
He's right.
I'm weak.
I'm nothing but a failure who was unable to tap into their true potential, despite being blessed with a divine elemental Aspect.
We're all going to die here because of me.
Arthur, Sarah, Everett and Rai.
They're all going to die today because of me!
Tears began flowing down my face as I accepted the reality that today was going to be my last.
I'm sorry grandfather that I couldn't live up to your standards.
I'm sorry everyone for not being able to protect you.
I'm sorry mom for wasting the life you sacrificed your very own for-
As I despaired, a terrifying, yet, profound Aspectual Force suddenly appeared, inducing an unsettling sensation throughout my body as I closed my eyes, bracing myself for death, but as seconds passed, I opened my eyes to sound of crackling as I was being held in the arms of none other than Rai, whose effulgent eyes were laced with animosity as the ferocious tendrils of his surreal blue lightning crackled around his body.
Rai?