Chapter 388: Core Armor
To think he could have made such a mistake; he had completely forgotten that the Fallen had core attacks, so he had no chance of winning.
Core attacks were dangerous, really dangerous. They had the ability to stop your powers from working, not allowing your essence to travel, but also, if you were hit by a lot of it, your core could break... and lose your essence.
You would still have your Codex, but your body wouldn’t be able to produce any essence, so you won’t be able to use your abilities at all. He had been lucky...
But there was one thing: there were armors that specialized in Core attacks; they had existed a long time ago, so... this time, it won’t be the same. He wasn’t going to lose.
Lilith was wearing a black compression shirt with a grey dragon design starting from the left side of his stomach and traveling all the way to his hand. It was a Bearer rank, one that was pretty weak against everything else, but strong against soul attacks, exactly what he needed his armor to be like; he didn’t need that much protection against normal attacks.
When it came to pants, they were pretty loose, in the sense that they weren’t his size, but they did the work; they were white and had the same design on one of the legs. They were relics made from one of the best relic makers in the Blue Rose, and they had been specially designed to fight Cain...
That was why this time, he was so confident.
...
This time was the one; he could feel it... he wanted to win with all his life.
...
Walking over yet again to Cain’s house, he felt a smile growing on his face. If he beat him here, then he had a lot of time to prepare for the winter, time he absolutely needed, after all, with so many roles to fit, he only really had one done, that being support, with Aether.
"Come out, Cain," Lilith shouted with a smirk as he walked through the darkness, only to stop when a figure appeared in front of him.
Light washed over the fallen, revealing his whole figure... it had been a long time since he had seen all of him. Ever since the day they had first met, he had always been covered by the shadows.
A boy whose eyes were made to be evil, a red like hell, eternally burning like a rage that is never meant to be put out. Who knows what was going on inside them? What he knew was that they held a lot of hatred for the Blue Rose... which also meant for him.
His dark hair showed no emotion, like a dark hole with nothing to say, nothing to do.
And to think he would show up to a fight like this...
He wasn’t wearing a shirt, only some ripped-up pants. His stomach was filled with bruises and blood, new and dried; he looked like a mess with scars all over his body... it made him wonder, how many of them were from the torture from the Blue Rose, and how much of it was from living inside the Withered...
’Well, I guess most is from the torture; his wounds from the time he was a Reader had healed after ascension, and I doubt he could have gotten many after becoming a Seeker.’
Lilith’s marks started glowing as he prepared. "You know, this new clothing of mine, it has resistance to core attacks, so this won’t be as easy as before... I think it’s a good idea to go all out..."
Cain just stared, watching, before two pairs of horns appeared on his head, curled inside. "There he is, the last Devil," Lilith said, laughing. This was his manifestation; apparently, it was more of his type, instead of Sena’s or Aethers... while theirs were physical things they could manifest, his were the marks, before he couldn’t charge his attacks, which made them a lot weaker. It made his affinity a lot stronger, and Cain was the same; his manifestation was the horns, and they also helped their Affinity get stronger.
Ironic, since if you were to ask anyone which type of manifestation they would prefer, they would say the other one, where they could actually use it, as Aether did with his chains, and yet, the two strongest Vessels both have the other type...
"You know, I’ll tell you again, you don’t have to do this. Just come willing with me, and we can just get this over; we can both go home."
Cain didn’t respond instantly, which confused him. He couldn’t be considering him; he knew he would never, so then what was he thinking?
"You want to take me back to the place where the Abyss is?... Or is it that the Abyss was never there in the first place..."
The Fallen smirked widely; it was almost scary. "The Abyss, he’s in the Wonderland, isn’t he?"
Lilith was stunned; he would have never thought his words could get this twisted... and yet also be true. How had he figured it out? He had no idea... what he knew was that it was bad; it was going to be really hard to find him in the Wonderland, with how big it was... and he needed him as far away from Aether.
He put on a fake smile, trying to distract Cain. "What? Of course not. Do you think we would let him get stronger? You’re delusional."
Cain nodded, which confused Lilith even more. "I’m a lunatic, aren’t I? Or at least everyone from the Withered is for you Nobles... Whose fault do you think that is?"
...
"The Withered will prevail... the Third Rebellion will come."
...
...
’The Third Rebellion... would it be a good idea?’ Aether thought as he walked alongside Sena in the forest. The wind was as annoying as always, and the forest was just massive; it felt a lot bigger now on the inside than it was before.
’But... it would be impossible. Is another rebellion really the right thing to do? The other two went horribly... though maybe it was just because the time wasn’t right... What if it is the right thing... just not now. If I am able to produce an anchor that will help the people of the Withered get stronger and more unified, there could be a chance... But I will probably also need someone strong to help me with it. Someone with the same wish and mentality as me....’
Aether turned at Sena. "What do you think of the Withered?" Sena turned at him, more confused than ever, but also a bit disgusted. "Ew..."
’Should have definitely expected that; of course Sena would never want that. Neither would Lilith ever help me, and Iris was the Princess; no way she could go against her father, not for anyone... Damn it, and it would have been nice if I had a Vessel to help me...’
He chuckled. ’But who knows, there’s still another one he hasn’t met; maybe it will want to help me... doubt it.
...
Aether watched as the forest ended, leaving them up a small cliff.
Looking down, he saw a village.
The village stretched beneath them.
It wasn’t large, but it wasn’t like it needed to be big to have weight in the story; only a few dozen houses gathered together behind low wooden fences. Every building had been made from the same dark timber as the forest around it. ’Makes sense... why would they use any other wood when there’s a whole forest near them?’ The wood weathered until it had nearly turned black. Steep roofs covered in grey shingles leaned beneath the endless wind, while thin trails of smoke escaped from stone chimneys before vanishing into the heavy clouds overhead. ’They must have been well crafted to not fall from this wind... impressive.’
The streets were narrow, made from packed dirt instead of stone, with scattered leaves rolling across them every few seconds. Leaves that had come all the way from the forest; that was how bad the wind was. The wind never stopped. It rushed between the houses just as fiercely as it had through the forest, making hanging signs creak and loose shutters knock against wooden walls. Yet they still held...
People walked through the village as if none of it bothered them.
Some carried baskets, others chopped wood or repaired fences that the wind had worn down once again.
It looked peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
’How the hell... I get that after a while you get used to things, but still, have they really adapted to this wind? How, I mean, I can hardly stand it.’
But that wasn’t important; what was is that this might be important to the story, and they might find the location of the first guardian inside of it.
"Let’s go," Aether said to Sena before the girl tripped him and made him roll off the small cliff.