TBATE: War cry

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Arthur POV

Exiting through the other side of the portal, I started shaking, trembling at the memory of the intense pain I felt just moments ago while Sylvie's aether art was healing and reconstructing my broken body

The trip between two sides of a dimensional rift felt like months. And during all that time, even more than the pain of my body being destroyed and reconstructed, I was devastated from being so weak that my bond- Sylvie- had to sacrifice herself to save me

' If only I was a bit stronger... If only I could have handled the third stage, then Sylvie... '

I thought, grabbing a handful of the earth beneath me, digging my fingers into the ground with so much strength that I started bleeding beneath my nails. Tears started running down my face, clouding my vision as painful sobs escaped my mouth

But I didn't have the time to wail as I felt a danger right next to me. Jumping to the side, I barely avoided the claw that was about to split me in half. Pulling some mana out of my drained mana core, I created lightning tendrils around my fist and hit the gnome-like monster right in its belly, sending electricity through its body and burning it on the inside

As the monster fell, I took a moment to look around, only to find myself in a familiar room that was once again filled with hundreds of bloodthirsty corrupted monsters, with the S ranked one being the most intimidating one

' But how is it possible? I thought I already killed it! ' I thought as I wrapped myself in a thick, protective layer of mana

" Ughh" I heard a feminine voice say close to the location where I landed after coming here. Looking toward it, I saw a familiar girl with wheat blonde hair and intimidating onyx-black horns laying on the ground

It was Sylvie, I was sure of it, but something was different. She looked older. She was no longer like an eight years old girl, now she looked like she was thirteen, with her hair longer than before and some more feminine features forming on her body

Seeing her like this, I felt weird in my belly. It was as if I missed a major part of my daughter's life, as if she grew up without me seeing it

' Is this how mom and dad always felt? ' I thought, once again realizing just how bad son I am

Sylvie opened her eyes, her vision slowly focusing as she looked at me in surprise and relief

" Arthur?  Where are we...? " she started but looked behind her in panic, her eyes widening as an S-ranked corrupted beast's claws were about to cut through her flesh

Through our bond, I could feel that she was weak and that she couldn't defend herself against the upcoming attack. For an instant, I felt her fear reach me, and without even thinking about it, I entered the second stage of Sylvia's beast will, Realmheart, and activated burst step,  reaching Sylvie in an instant and cutting off the beast's arm effortlessly

I was ready for the pain that comes with using burst step, but it never came - I felt nothing from using it, not even sore muscles

' How... ? ' I thought, but I quickly brought my attention back to the monster that launched at us, calling for aid from others around him with his battle cry

' Sylvie, can you fight? '

' Yeah ' she answered and stood up while holding her head ' Sorry, I was still weak from the consequences of using that vivium art ' she added and formed dozens of mana spheres around her

' It's fine, let's just get this over with so we can go back to sanctuary '

I said and pulled out the Dawns ballad,  but strangely enough, it wasn't broken. It looked as good as new as if the fight with Jegrett or the one with Nico and Cadell never happened