My Fate System - Chapter 166

Her figure was grace itself, her long blond hair, almost white, dancing behind her. Swords made her bleed, but the wounds disappeared as if fearing to taint her body.

Thousands of soldiers, thousands of monsters, and they couldn’t take her down. She was called the Immortal Saint because of her divine skill, regeneration.

Nikolai stared at her back as she sat on the ground. Her body was shaking, and it was hard to say that she could activate her innate skill in such a short time.

“You are having difficulties with using your skill because your mastery is lacking,” Nikolai explained. “You must be a novice, or even below that. I need you to use your skills believing that it would heal his body.”

BOOM!

An explosion occurred in the sky, and it shook the world. The princess flinched and tried to look upward, but Nikolai grabbed her head and directed it toward the corpse.

“I cannot bring him back if it takes too long,” Nikolai explained. “You can either do it now or never.”

“I… need more time…” she said, but Nikolai knew they had no such luxury. He was hesitant about the matter because of the trauma the princess would live with if she failed. However, this was better than not trying.

“You can’t have more time. Listen,” he let go of her head and crouched beside her. The princess looked at his eyes. “I believe in you. I truly do. The world can mock you for your ideals, belittle your strength, and call you useless. However, I know that you are stronger than anyone. You can do this if you try. I have an unwavering belief in you.”

It was inaccurate to say he believed in her but knew her future. However, the princess did not know that. His confidence in her abilities seemed to shake her core, but she began to calm down.

“I can’t believe in myself,” she said. “So, can I trust your words?”

“You can. Trust me on this. I never lie, and you should know that. You can do this, and I know that better than anyone.”

“I will try,” the princess nodded and closed her eyes. “Please, don’t leave me, Lucas. I need you here. I need you by my side.”

“Listen to my voice,” Nikolai whispered in her ears. “Guide the mana toward your consciousness until you feel like you can move it. Then, dive deeper into your sea of consciousness. There you will find your true self.”

“I can see…” she muttered, unexpectedly, “a tree. There is a tree.”

“Are you sure?” Nikolai frowned, and the princess nodded. This was a terrifying genius if she managed to dive into her consciousness while retaining control over her body.

A dark emotion overtook his head, and it was envy. Nikolai had to train for months before mastering this technique, but this genius could do it after simple guidance. This was the difference between them.

“The tree… is glowing. It is calling for me,” the princess panicked, and Nikolai shook off the darkness within him. “What do I do?”

“Use mana to exchange the tree, and it will give you its powers in return. Then, use your consciousness to bring out the powers from within your soul and use it on Lucas.”

“I understand,” she muttered before her body started glowing. Nikolai could only watch and wait as she tried to summon more of her powers. This awakening needed years of practice because mana was easier to control but to use one’s will to control the world requires desperation that changes it.

The princess was glowing, but it was not enough. Her face darkened as she kept trying, but she kept failing. Finally, after trying several times, the princess started coughing blood.

“I failed,” she was tearing up while wiping away the blood. “I can’t make the power listen to me. I used all of my mana, but it was not enough.”

“Drink this,” Nikolai handed her a mana-restore, and she gulped it down readily. “Now, try again. Imagine a world without Lucas and try again. Imagine a world with him and try again. This will be the last time you can save him, so don’t mess it up.”

The princess was shaking but nodded anyway. Then, the world shook again, and Nikolai glanced upward. The Gates of Celestia was closing, but he had a role to play if he wanted to save Lucas.

“This is the last time, Maria,” he turned to the princess who closed her eyes. “Please, prove that I don’t kill anyone who gets close to me.”

His words came out without him noticing it. Nikolai accepted that fact a long time ago, but it seems that he still had hopes that he could fit into this world.

The princess did not glow anymore, but there was a change in her aura. Nikolai could feel a nauseating stench leaving her body, and he realized it was divinity. A smile appeared on his face as he realized that his time had come.

“I need to do this before the princess awakens,” he took a few steps toward the corpse, and he could see that Lucas had indeed left this world. However, he can feel it. His soul has yet to leave.

Nikolai opened his mouth, and his fangs shone in the light. Then, as he crouched beside Lucas, he revealed his neck before biting into it. There was a feeling of disharmony as he tried to devour the soul of his friend and a sense of euphoria because this soul was more powerful than he had ever tasted.

The Curse of The Banished was craving food, but Nikolai knew that he could not devour his friend’s soul. So, as he raised his head to the sky, the ethereal matter left Lucas’s body and gathered in his hand.

[You have extracted a living soul.]

Nikolai grinned as he read the notification. It seems that he did not need to devour the soul but could just extract it. At that moment, Maria opened her eyes, and divinity exploded from her body.

“What are you doing?” her hair flew upward as the power of life brimmed in her body. Nikolai turned toward her with a smile before pushing the corpse toward her.

“Heal it so I can return his soul to his body,” he said, and Maria looked at him with suspicious eyes. Nikolai could feel that she changed after summoning her powers, and maybe this change was the reason behind the title Ruthless Saint.

The fight above stopped as the aura of divinity appeared in the princess. The two fighting figures glared at the scene with confusion.

“My… offering…!”

Vyxas was wrathful because he did not receive the offering that contained a Divine Fragment. Lilith and the Queen were confused because no one foresaw that the useless pacifist princess had the willpower to be a candidate.

“I will trust you,” Saint Maria walked toward the corpse and placed her hands on him. “Live for me, Lucas.”

Her power exploded from her body, gentle and healing. Nikolai felt like his body was rejecting this power because of the banishment, but it was not holy in any way, only divine.

The change appeared in Lucas almost instantly. The wounds began to close, and his heart began to regenerate. His pale skin returned to a healthy rosy shade. However, he was still not breathing, and there was no life within him.

“This is my role now,” Nikolai said as he walked closer and crouched beside the princess. “This will also be my farewell gift, princess.”

“What are you saying?” she was confused.

“I will leave after this, and I hope we never meet again. If we do, then we will kill each other. I know so,” he smiled before pushing the soul into the body. “Let’s hope this works.”

Light exploded from within Lucas’s body as the soul remerged with the healthy corpse. The world rejected the reversal, but Nikolai used his darkness to shield them.

“You are…” the princess looked at the dark dome around them, “a dark being?” she asked with shock.

“I always have been,” he smiled. “You will kill me the next time that we meet, princess. Until then, don’t get yourself killed. Can I ask you for one last favor?”

“What is it?” she frowned.

“Please, tell Lucas I am sorry.”

After saying his farewell, Nikolai slipped into the darkness, leaving the princess. The dark dome began to crack as light exploded around them to blind the world.

When the light died down, Maria was able to see again. She looked around her, and they were still in the pond, with her retainer gone. A groan leaked from the corpse in front of her, and it made her flinch.

“Lucas?” she threw herself at him, and the man groaned again. “You are alive… This is not a dream, right? Please tell me you are alive,” she started crying.

“You are… alive too…” Lucas smiled. “His plan worked, after all,” he said knowingly, almost with relief. Maria had so many questions, but a shout from above startled her.

“You dare deceive me?” the shout was hoarse, and it came from none other than Miss Aya she knew. Maria looked upward, and she could see darkness running across the sky atop the celestial hand, straight toward the Gates of Celestia.