Reborn as an Extra Chapter 651: I will not retreat Again... Part-10.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
Prior to engaging in combat, he displayed courtesy to convince Lia that a melee fight was imminent, then verbally declared his grasp of her power and intent to deploy deceptions.
His goal was to lead Lia and Kai to assume Rahn would replicate the prior feinting with sand arrows, viewing even the mud as an element of the scheme designed to mislead Lia into perceiving the strike as mere trickery.
Yet in truth, it was all deception!
His genuine assault brewed high overhead in the heavens, requiring only Lia's total fixation on him while disregarding everything surrounding!
Thus, her foresight power locked onto a single mark—himself—and to evade Kai's detection, he employed his pseudo-legendary ability to conceal the strike's aura entirely!
Had Kai received ample mana from Lia, he might have sensed it in advance, but under present conditions, that proved impossible.
To put it plainly, Rahn had utterly misled Lia, ensnaring her in a meticulously laid trap without her slightest awareness!
A colossal blade forged from thick water elementals plummeted from above like a shooting star, slamming directly onto Rahn and unleashing a tremendous blast.
The sand crystallized under the extreme force and heat generated by this enormous mass hurtling into the earth at breakneck velocity!
The terrain split wide, unleashing a violent quake that rippled outward, utterly demolishing the spirit magic barrier shielding the Temple of Nature!
Vast quantities of rubble hurtled everywhere as a colossal pit formed.
Certain fragments soared so distant they battered the Temple of Nature's exterior barriers at multiple spots.
After enduring countless broad-scale barrages, the human and demon forces lay eradicated, with any lingering survivors perishing in this onslaught!
The quake's ferocity tore the earth in numerous spots, birthing fresh valleys instantaneously within mere heartbeats!
Once the dust and rubble finally calmed, catastrophic ruin had reshaped the whole terrain, altering the region's contours anew!
"Hufff... haa... huff... cough!... cough!!... huff..."
At the crater's heart, Lia sprawled prone upon the soil, drained, shattered, and hemorrhaging profusely.
Her left facial half was scorched raw and oozing blood; her right arm lay fractured and twisted into grotesque shapes, while both legs bore pulverized bones.
Hundreds of minor and major gashes marred her form, with blood gushing ceaselessly from each.
Blood-smeared face and sole remaining eye beheld the heavens with a vacant stare from Lia.
The metallic tang of blood filled her mouth, provoking relentless coughs as she choked on it.
[Lia... please summon a weaker form of me; I-I will at least be able to bring out a healing potion...]
[P-please Lia... you have a bright future ahead; don’t let it all go to waste... please... I beg you Lia, please don’t die...]
Kai’s frantic voice echoed within her thoughts, yet exhaustion rendered her incapable of twitching a digit, much less acting.
Sinister footfalls echoed, and a recognizable voice pierced Lia’s hearing once more.
"You actually survived!?... I have to acknowledge it; you are the most tenacious being I have ever seen in my life Lia Silver. You are a true warrior."
Through her blurred vision, Lia regarded the demon, realizing Rahn had endured the strike despite standing as its primary focus.
Noting her look, Rahn surveyed his frame riddled with gaping injuries and declared,
"Don’t worry, I suffered fatal damage too; my internal organs have all been destroyed and I will also die off soon..."
"It’s just that the attack that hit me was my own so I am faring much better than you... but yeah, I am not too far from death’s door myself..."
Gazing upon Lia as her life force ebbed, Rahn shook his head while lifting his blade.
"It’s a pity that a fearless warrior like you had to end up like this..."
"You shouldn’t have gotten involved with the fairies in the first place; you wouldn’t have ended up like this if you had retreated on time..."
"A pity..."
Lia stayed mute briefly upon hearing Rahn, then uttered,
"I.. cough! Couldn’t have... huff... retreated... after all, I promised myself... to not hesitate and... Huff... not retreat ever again... from my decision..."
[Even now you say that... you... sigh...]
Kai found himself speechless; Lia’s resolve held firm to the last, leaving him powerless against her commands.
At her words, Rahn shook his head and said,
"No matter the ambition, after death, it all becomes useless... sigh... let me end your suffering and send you to afterlife with less pain..."
Though Rahn poised to deliver her end, Lia no longer heeded it.
Life's vignettes flashed before her like phantoms, resurfacing a self-sworn vow within her thoughts.
Time seemed to decelerate, Rahn’s descending blade crawling to near stillness, as if frozen mid-swing.
Maybe a deathbed hallucination, but Lia scarcely noted it.
All her consciousness and scant vitality converged on a singular notion then.
A notion, a recollection of her self-made oath.
That recollection, that vow, reignited in her psyche after Rahn uttered ’retreat’ before her.
It felt as though the S-rank dungeon had maneuvered Lia to this pivotal juncture in ’Time and Fate’ to assay her resolve and compel a fateful choice.