Path Of Blood - 54 Chapter 44

A Slightly chilly expression appeared in Aergia’s eyes as she observed the battle all around her.

Three of her Homunculus has already died, the device she implanted on Two and Three’s Heart exploded… while Four’s heartbeat has stopped.

She gripped her other arm, her nails dug into it until it bled.

She thought to herself,

‘Am I going to lose everything again!? How!? I’m not the weak little girl I used to be anymore!!!

How the fuck is this possible!’

She glared at Haruki, Then she looked at one as She has already transformed and clashing with Neo.

‘Goddamnit!! I need to end this quickly or sloth will take away my immortality…

I think it’s about time I summon him… He’s not quite tuned for battle but whatever…

as long as this mission isn’t considered a failure.’

Aergia felt nothing when her dolls died, surprisingly even after all that, After all the care and love she gave towards her dolls.

In the end she felt nothing? She lauded herself…

‘How in the hell am I so cold?’

She asked herself, All those troubles I went through… just to make a homunculus…

The feeling of pride as I saw my experiment succeed. The joy as I first saw my creations come to life.

And yet when they’re gone she doesn’t even know what to feel.

She doesn’t understand the feeling she has right now.

But it oddly feels familiar, all those years ago a nostalgic feeling, She kept hidden deep inside her heart, The feeling of desperation, loneliness, and regret.

She has long forgotten those emotions, because for her the only thing she required was the pursuit of power…

Yet she doesn’t understand why she kept wanting to hear the praises of someone or something, even when they’re just dolls…

She always wanted approval from someone…

So she just stared at the battlefield, staring beyond the abyss… No one knew what she’s really thinking.

The two clashed at great speeds, The ferocity of their battle was reaching it’s peak…

But the both of them seemed to be still holding back.

Yet One was enjoying their battle…

She used her spider claws to barrage Neo with a flurry of attacks.

Neo skillfully parried and traded blows with one.

But the Nuckelavee hands that were coming out of Ones back, prevented her to make a blow hard enough to defeat One.

“Hehehehehe, What is your name?”

Neo gave an elegant bow, (Neo Politan, about to be Neo Kazama…)

One furrowed her brows, “I feel like I see why you hide your strength now…

You rely too much on that man, Your life revolves around to only that man…

You think he’s some kind of savior god sent you? a helping hand away from…”

One spread her hands around pointing at different Grimm.

“Away from all this madness, You put him in an immortalized pedestal, thinking that he’s unbeatable…

But you get so scared once danger looms above him, thinking that when he disappeared… what then?

The meaning of your life gone, like an instant… is that it?”

One asked Neo, but she got no answer from her, just absolute silence as she gripped her weapon.

One felt Her sisters die one by one, She gripped her halberd, She was glaring at the direction of Aergia.

Then she calmly looked at Neo, She bellowed at Neo. All her bottled up anger…

“Give me a fucking break!! I’ve seen first hand what it does to you!! Blind devotion is not Love!! ”

Deep down she projected the faith and love of her sisters towards Aergia, on Neo’s love for Haruki.

“That’s fucking unsightly…

Do you really think his world revolves only around you?

He has so many women around him, do you really think he gives a damn about every one of you? that he doesn’t play favorites?

How can you say that love you have for him is real and not just dependency?

You’ve made him a part of your life far too long, now the thought of separating with him scares you…

Do you really think he feels the same way??

Ate you that stupid or are you blinded by your own complacency?”

Neo still silent as she dashed towards One, She spun her umbrella around like a ballerina, She was one with her weapon.

One used all of her limbs to even prevent Neo to get a strike in.

Neo was quick on her feet, One could barely follow her, Everytime that she strikes on which she thinks is Neo’s opening…

Her image shattered like glass.

“Yes!! That’s it!! A far cry from the person I fought before…

Did I strike a chord in your mind that I shouldn’t have??”

She stepped back because the pressure on Neo’s attacks were getting stronger. Faint lightning could be seen surrounding her strikes.

One grinned and taunted Neo even more.

“The inability to even make your own choices, without the reassurance of your lover…

Intense fear of abandonment, Like you can’t live without him…

Pessimism, making the other believe that you are unable to care for yourself…

Willingly accepting and tolerating abuse from them, just so they would reciprocate their love for you!?

What kind of Fantasy are you fucking living in!?”

One combined the Grimm limbs that were protruding from her back into one large Stinger that she could willingly control.

She swooped her stinger towards Neo, Neo immediately vaulted over the large thing. As she touched the surface a hand suddenly came out.

It grabbed her arm, One immediately took this chance to stab towards Neo.

As she came closer towards her Neo discharged electricity everywhere.

*Bzzzt!!! Bzzzzt!*

One was immobilized as Neo slammed her weapon covered in lightning.

One was flung away towards the Grimm.

The Grimm immediately charged towards Neo, but then the moon was suddenly covered by the dark clouds below it.

*Boom!*

A booming thunder suddenly struck down, towards Neo’s immediate area.

The Grimm were decimated, Her eyes exuded lightning, Her hands were covered in electricity as she was floating above the Carnage she created.

Sparks flew out, The Grimm surrounding her were all burnt into a crisp. Helpless against the power she just demonstrated.

One slowly stood up, as her Grimm limbs impaled the Grimm surrounding her.

“Hahahahahaha!!, I must’ve affected you a great deal to hit me with your Maiden powers…”

Now was smiling this time…

She was confident, she showed that her anger a while ago was just acting…

(I only pretended to be affected by your ramblings… I’ve long overcome this obstacle.

But having been through this crap… I noticed something, it takes one to know one am I right?)

One laughed, “Hahahahahahha although I admit I did compare you to my sisters devotion towards our mistress… that was why I was so pissed.”

Neo shook her head as she landed on the floor.

(That’s not what I meant, You cling to your sisters to justify your own reason to live. Your dependency towards them has made you a self-satisfied arrogant idiot, that failed to see your own hypocrisy.)

One scoffed as she readied her stance.

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black!!”

Neo then walked towards One slowly,

(Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’m not a hypocrite myself, I’ve been there before…

But the thing is, we must deal with it alone. The best we can hope for… The only silver lining in all of this… is when we breakthrough, we find a few familiar faces waiting on the other side.)

One laughed madly as she crossed blades with Neo, Neo created a sword made of flames that had electricity surrounding it.

They clashed, One spun her halberd and used her Spike to propell her upwards as she stabbed the ground, as she was in the air the large spike split into countless knuckelavee hands extending towards Neo.

Neo spun her blades as she created a barrier made of lightning. The hands were electrified One was sent toppling down.

As One dropped back down, she kicked the ground to charge towards Neo, She used the hands as distractions.

Neo saw through this as she just dodged the hands, and went straight to One.

They clashed blades once more, Now had a barrier of lightning while One used her Grimm limbs to Stave off damage from herself.

“Why can’t you see it!? When you come right down to it, at it’s core, beneath all this flowery words. You still rely on that man!!”

She said as she pushed Neo away.

Neo flew up in the air and stuck bolts of lightning towards her.

(Sure! I rely on him, But that doesn’t mean it is just reliance, it’s just a shoulder to lean on whenever I feel tired. besides I know my love for him is as real as it gets! I’ve spent most of my life with him!)

One tilted her head as she growled towards Neo.

“How do you know that it’s real?? Time!? Time doesn’t quantify anything! it just let’s you know you’re one more fucking minute closer towards death!!

how do we know that there’s meaning in all of this!? that were not just making the best of what comes at us, and that’s it?

Trying constantly to choose between two shitty options? Like what food to eat, what to drink… It’s all part of the same fucking blur!! Right!? Just out of focus enough to distract you from the mundanity of everyday life!?”

She said as she staved off Neo’s lightning strikes.

“A duty was shoved into me the minute I was reborn!! I wasn’t allowed to say no, a predetermined set of choices was laid upon me by monste- – , no… by beings of even greater power… and for what? their own fucking amusement!?

There is no grander plan thrust upon me by my creator, just be obedient and survive!!”

Neo was feeling the anger of one, She was forced to step back for one made a giant fist from the Grimm parts, and sent a punch towards her direction.

One continued, “This is the world we live in… People relying on each other’s mistakes to manipulate one another, use one another, even relate to one another. A warm messy circle… That’s fucked up don’t you think?”

Neo shook her head, (Being able to rely on someone is great… although I can’t deny that most use this to manipulate others… even finding the right person is equally taxing. But when you do you jump right in and you don’t look back.)

One smiled, “Easy for you to say, when you’re standing in my position right now… I wonder what you would feel?”

Neo spoke, “I did… I was there before, so jaded from the world, I was disillusioned from humanity’s own wretchedness. Even the people who were supposed to care and make me feel safe abandoned me…

Everyday I had to steal for food, it’s like I’m living in a fucking fishbowl Half of my life as far as I can remember I have been stealing, even when Roman took me in, I still had to steal… I look around. same shit, different day. The buildings, the people, even the sound. Always the same. I’m on a loop. And it won’t stop unless my life does. I was exhausted with this world. Until He came along and made me believe… to feel more human than any monster in existence…

He knew about my innate power and he still chose to believe in me…He never once feared me.

He even showed me a way to control that power, to make use of it or my benefit…

He’s that kind of man… He’s the man I fell in love with, so even if you tell me that this is just reliance towards him? So fucking be it! I’m marrying that man and I have plenty of fucking time to figure out and understand how a relationship works!”

Neo puffed her chest as she said it proudly.

She dispelled all the lightning that was surrounding her. One took this opportunity to attack Neo.

“And that was makes you weak! Your confidence towards that man can prove your folly, and shows your vulnerability!!”

Neo smirked towards her, She steadied her stance.

She used the very first move Haruki taught her, Gentle Fist.

It was the basis of senjutsu, gathering all the aura or energy around the world to a single point, then send out a devastating punch.

Since Neo was a maiden her dust and aura manipulation is second to none…

It was a move Haruki thought fitted her, Her smile was as gentle as her, but hidden deep within was unrivaled power.

One threw away her halberd as she tried to grab Neo with her arms and Kill herself along with her.

Neo swiftly dodged towards the side and gathered her aura towards one point.

She struck One on her chest area.

They crossed one another, One looked behind her with her eyes Open.

“I don’t use my maiden powers, not because of fear of people being afraid of me, it’s because I found something better…”

One coughed out blood as she knelt down, forcing herself to stand back up, but Neo’s gentle fist devastated the organs inside her, it also disrupted the Grimm negative aura inside her, as Neo injected her with vast amount of aura.

*Cough!!! “Don’t tell me that power is the fucking power of love or some shit…”

As One looked behind her she just saw Neo smiling.

*Splat* Her blood flowed from her mouth an Nose, dripping down to the ground…

*Cough!! “Damnit I really hate that smug smile of yours… Heh… Good talk… Good talk…”

She said as she fell to the ground, her last vestiges of life was snuffed out.

Neo looked towards Haruki’s Direction…

“Beat em up! Dum dum…”

The others arrived at Neo’s Location after a quick rest, Pyrrha was still looking glum but as she saw everyone safe she felt a little bit better.

Neo was sitting down on the rubble as she twirled her umbrella, seemingly uninjured.

Cinder thought to herself, This couple is truly a monster duo…

Ozpin was overlooking the battle as he appeared behind Qrow.

He was frowning as he saw the Carnage the sinners made…

They all observed his battle… Hoping that he could end this madness.