POV- Akeru
I blinked my eyes.
Blink
Blink
No matter how many times I blinked, the only thing I could see was darkness.
I was surprised that I hadn't panicked yet.
It didn't take me too long to realize the cause of my calmness.
'I am in a dream.'
As if the world itself acknowledged my realization, it started changing.
The darkness disappeared, and I found myself floating in air.
I felt more alive than at any point in my whole life.
An unholy amount of mana flowed through my entire body, an amount that I didn't think an individual could possess.
Humans weren't made to support this much mana in their bodies.
In fact, I suspect that even an elf might not be able to contain the amount of mana currently flowing in this body.
'Even if it's a dream, this feels too real. I guess the amount of mana I currently possess is the key giveaway that it's a dream.'
I looked at the ground and noted a color standing out.
Red.
The battlefield was bloodied with the blood of many individuals whom I couldn't recognize.
As far as my perception went, which was pretty huge compared to my usual range, I could easily say that more than 1000 people were dead.
However, my attention was taken away by a lone figure standing on that crimson battlefield.
The current state of the battlefield complemented her beauty.
I could easily tell who the figure was despite her slightly different appearance.
"Hehe, I didn't expect you to come here, Erza."
I found my mouth moving without my will.
'Wait, I just realized, but I can't control any part of my body. Also, this voice... it's mine, but at the same time it isn't, as if I had aged.'
I soon realized that I was just a spectator in my dream.
All the hopes of this dream being a lucid dream were vaporized in the air.
Every teenager at one point hopes to get a lucid dream... to fulfill certain desires.
"I wasn't also expecting you to become the boss... Let me put an end to this before you regret it any further. I promise you that I will kill that man." Killing intent flashed from Erza's entire being.
Mana was released from her whole body, covering kilometers of distance in a moment.
"It is all to create a better world, Erza."
Mana was released from my body; however, unlike Erza, whose mana zone had covered an area as far as the eye could see, my mana zone was barely covering my body.
"I would rather not live in such a world that you envision and would rather die trying to stop you." Erza's face hardened with resolve.
I was speechless.
What world?
What regrets?
Seeing Erza's mature appearance, I could only guess that she is at least one or two years older than the last time I saw her.
"Mana Zone: Second Amendment."
I instinctively felt danger when Erza activated her mana zone.
Despite not having any physical indications in my body, in my mind, I could easily guess which emotion was flowing through my body.
Fear.
I didn't want to believe this, but I could foresee what would happen if I fought her.
DEATH
It was not that I would have a low chance of survival.
No, that was not true.
I could instinctively feel that I had no chance of survival.
However ridiculous it may sound, the Erza I see could one-shot me.
That's the reason I didn't want to believe this.
It was too ridiculous to believe.
My current combat prowess surpasses most of the current captains of the Clover Kingdom.
In fact, I could even defeat the Middle-Ranking Devil that I fought half a year ago.
At least, in my humble opinion, I could.
That's just plain ridiculous.
"Impressive. A World-System Mana Zone? It seems that you have finally accomplished success in learning the Ultimate Magic of the Elves, though it seems that in the process of doing that, you lost something... something important." I felt my mouth move against my will.
"You have lost your lifespan, haven't you? That's why you shouldn't rush things. Look where it got you."
"It doesn't matter. As I said before, as long as I could stop you, I don't mind dying in the process." A gun materialized in Erza's hands, followed by a large amount of mana coating the weapon.
"How foolish. Though, it doesn't deny your current prowess. I believe that anyone below highest-ranking devils won't be your match."
'WAIT!!! What? This is just ridiculous.'
The dream was getting more and more ridiculous as seconds flowed by.
I was actually anticipating what next ridiculous thing would be said.
Maybe it would say that Mimosa could resurrect dead people next.
BANG
At one moment, I heard the sound, and in the next instant, I found the bullet penetrating my head.
It was quite a weird experience for me as I didn't feel any pain.
"Hahahahaah." I found my body- no, the future version of me- to be laughing at this.
Erza had gone all out from the start, and that was her best counter to Akeru.
"Space and Time. Both? The fact that you could do this is amazing. I believe that this is due to your mana zone. Also, curse magic, too? You really have gone all out with creating your mana zone, haven't you?"
I spoke nonchalantly, causing Erza's face to grimace on seeing this.
"Do you know why people prefer to keep their mana zone simple? It's due to the fact that not only are simple mana zones easy, but mainly due to the fact that if some fault happened in your complex mana zone, it would go beyond your entire control, creating an unpredictable result." It felt like a lecture was happening, not a battle.
"This is also the reason strong individuals like Mereoleona-san or even myself mostly use mana zones with only one or two aspects."
On hearing Mereonleona's name, Erza's face darkened.
"YOU really have the audacity to say her name after killing her."
'Huh?'
She fired multiple more bullets, each reflecting a different strategy, yet none dealt any real damage to her opponent.
For the next few minutes, I saw multiple things and weapons I had never seen before.
I felt like I was only barely stronger than Erza throughout the entire battle. However, I quickly realized that it was the same thing I do with Leopold or any other opponent I spar.
From the beginning, the future version of Akeru was playing with Erza.
"It's pointless. I have seen through your entire technique. Seeing that you have used your best tricks, let's end this."
In the next instant, I found my body standing in front of Erza; the latter had a resigned expression on her face.
"Do you have any regrets?"
"I have achieved my life's goal of having a deathmatch. Though it was fun, I know you were holding back. I guess my only regret is being unable to stop you."
"I see. Do you have any last words?"
"No... I have said everything that I wanted to say before. Though, if possible, kill me with your signature move, the one I am most familiar with."
"Very well."
Lightning materialized near me and it soon started phasing between red and green color.
"Vibratory Chaos."
Erza felt the lightning penetrating her entire body.
My eyes met Erza's.
The latter smiled as her organs were destroyed from within.
And just like that, she died.
I could feel my eyes moisten on seeing this scene.
A capable subordinate, a fellow food connoisseur, the person with whom I had spent a considerable chunk of time, a person I considered my friend, was gone.
My mind blanked at this scene.
I wanted to scream, but I found myself unable to.
I didn't really like the fact that I was caged inside this body throughout.
Erza's body started floating in front of me.
"The least I could do is give you a proper burial."
The surroundings blurred as I found myself in front of a gate.
It was the gate of a graveyard.
I entered it with Erza's body in tow.
'Huh? What?' I blinked as I looked at a grave with the name "Vanessa" on it.
***
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