Sck jawed, Fumiko had no words for moments. Reality eventually smmed in the back of her head, pushing her forward. “No way! I killed you!”

  The new version of Glykeria had an almost inno her eyes and nothing like the child-like innoce of the nine-year-old. Uhe other, which had an almost hidden murderous i, she felt like she just wao be friends with Fumiko and was saddened knowing that she couldn’t. She uood the reality, but hoped for something different. It was the most plex version Fumiko met yet.

  Her body didn’t want to move on her. Her legs almost felt numb from the torture she put them through. “Damn, how many are you?! How many times do I have to kill you?”

  Glykeria k down at Fumiko’s side. She gazed up and down the length of her body. “You never killed me, but if you want to think of it like I don’t mind. This is just how my power works.”

  “Tch…” Fumiko felt ered. She khat Glykeria could do anything to her she wanted, but refrained from it. The new version made even less seo her, though the others had very little logic to them either. At the very least, they all seemed willing to fight. This o like she restrained herself from doing so.

  oint acifist?

  After everything that happened, Fumiko actually felt the most afraid in those moments of being examined. ‘I already tried to kill her several times, she may do the same to me. But I don’t know if she pns to, I ’t read her at all. She seems the most frightening of them all, that pcid expression.’

  Chapter 263 – Childish Resistance

  Glykeria snapped her fingers; a doll appeared o her. The same theme of on tinued for her, but it was different just like the others. For this version of the woman, the doll was the size of about a human baby and had an unnervingly close appearan the face of a real human. It looked almost like a horror prop as it clearly wasn’t real, but if you didn’t stare long it could easily have passed for real.

  “Paramonimos, if you will.”

  “Yes, as you and, Mistress.” The doll very politely bowed to the woman before floating away. It circled around Fumiko and grabbed her up by the tatters of her clothes. The weight of Fumiko’s body was too much for them to hold together. Tears increased across the tunitil the doll grabbed her by the back of nebsp; What was left of her tunic slid off her shoulders revealing her bra with only orap still holding together.

  Fumiko grimaced both from pain and embarrassment. She could do nothing to stop the woman. “What the hell do you want?” Her lips quivered a little as she tried to hold up her resolve.

  Looking up at Fumiko, the woman now adult, Fumiko still held the number one spot, Glykeria walked closer. She bent over pig up the scraps that remained of the tunibsp; it back to her for her modesty, Fumiko refused her. “You’re stubborn. A strong and willful spirit. However, it seems you’ve reached the limit your body will allow. Please surrender now and this will all be over.”

  “Surrender?” Narrowing her eyes with suspi, Fumiko had trouble believing it would be so simple. It seemed more likely that she would be killed. Especially with all of the havoc they caused throughout Atntis. “I find…that unlikely… You pn to kill me.”

  Poking her eyebrow up a little, the vilin seemed a little surprised by the rea. “I don’t want to kill you.”

  “I’m dead either way. If not by you, but by someone else. The blood on my hands is reason enough for someoo want to kill me.”

  “That’s a rather sad outlook on your life.” She actually seemed ready to cry for Fumiko. “You have to believe that there is still a bsp; You ’t give up just because the situation seems grim.”

  “Huh? Aren’t I the eo you? Should you really be saying such things?”

  “We might be on opposite sides, but that doesn’t meaill ’t reach for the same goal.”

  Her face tur as her disbelief increased. “I think you exceeded anyone I know for y.” Fumiko stared at her, seeing a smile on her fabsp; “I wasn’t plimenting you.”

  Fumiko reached behind herself and grabbed the doll, actually getting a grip on it thanks to its size. She pushed her fmes into it and ripped it off her nebsp; The support it provided dropped her back down to the ground. She tightened her hold on it hoping to either crush or burn it, but her happened. After a couple of seds, she threw it back at the feet of Glykeria.

  Slowly standing ba her feet, Fumiko worked up the most stoic expressioill had left in her. Her body screamed louder than her voice could grant words. The twitg in her face revealed the pairied to ceal. “You wao surrehen e for me. Earn your victory!” Still a rge unknown, she sort of hoped that the y would make her less of a threat as a fighter.

  “I see. You leave me no choice then. While I did not start this, I will end it. Rest assured of that.”

  “Let’s see what you’ve got!”

  “Para.”

  “Yes, Mistress.” The doll flew forward ramming its tiny fist deep inside Fumiko’s stomabsp; It tossed her back through the air. Blood sprayed in a trail of her wake.

  Fumiko felt lightheaded immediately. ‘Guess I was wrong…’ She ignored all her body’s pining and threw the staff into the earth. Multiple magic arrays expanded out over the area flooding everything in fmes, a river of fire. Fumiko nded in the fire that raced out to catch her, magic circles appeared on her feet and hands.

  She turned her head up to the distance where the vile Glykera stood along with the doll. Underh Fumiko, the fmes carried her along a wavy river back to her staff. She snatched it back up, surfing with one hand running on the river and her feet. ‘If my body doesn’t have any strength, my magic remains just as strong. I haven’t exhausted that yet!’

  Testing out the new doll, Fumiko fired off a quick succession of fireballs from her mobile position. All she saw was the lone doll. None of the others popped up as she had seen with the others. ‘She’s likely going to show the others soon. She’ll hem to pete with my magibsp; Yet, the doll deflected them with only its fists and even crushed the st one food measure.

  The dispy impressed Fumiko admittedly. ‘So she only he one. Is that it?’ Questioning the situation didn’t st for long. The doll charged forward. It easily crossed the distan a single sed that even Fumiko had a little trouble following it. Waves of fire rose up along her fnk to overwhelm it. But it puhrough pletely unhindered.

  Fumiko leapt back, switg the stream's dire to get her ahead of him. It still ected with her, but she mao dampen enough of the force that it only pushed her faster along the fire. However, it kept up the chase.

  Quick exges betweewo sparked along the fme’s flow. Fumiko clearly came out on the losing side of most of them, even though she mao stay in the fight through careful maneuvering. A battle of attrition remaitrition even if it looked like a stalemate. She couldn’t keep up forever with the doll. Even using her surfing teique to reduce the stress on her body, her arms couldn’t hold out.

  A new pn o be created if she stood any ce of turning her fortune around. ‘Damn…this is getting me nowhere and this doll is even more annoying than the hundreds I dealt with before. It feels like it’s getting even faster even though I’m pretty sure it’s just my body that’s slowing down.’

  Fire rose up in front of Fumiko. It tried to push back the doll, but like before nothing happened. None of her magic spells could do anything. Eveal vines failed to touch it.

  Nothing reached.

  ‘I ’t pete with this doll…’ Fumiko gnced over in the dista Glykeria. They were far away, nearly out of sight. The only idea she had left seemed like rehashing old ideas. ‘If you have multiple lives, then I just o keep burning until I exhaust all of your lives.’

  She worked to guide their fight back to Glykeria. Once she felt they were in range, she fired off a couple of spells at Glykeria to distract the doll. It bought the feint, while Fumiko slid around behind. ‘You’re just a normal human. You don’t have the same rea speed as your doll or me!’ She pletely flooded Glykeria in her fmes.

  However, the fmes suddenly went out as Glykeria sshed through them with her arm. “ing straight for me. You’re quite predictable.”

  “Is that so?!” Fumiko threw out a fireball straight at Glykeria’s face.

  A hand moved in to catch the spell and crushed it. “I’m not so defenseless as you seem to think I am.”

  “I see.” Fumiko looked down at her metal hand. ‘I need something different.’ Through the fight, she got a better feel of the new arm. The flow of magic through it became easier to uand. It respoo her will and and as she directed.

  Magic circles fshed all over the shiny surfabsp; Out of her palm, the metal extruded until it became rge enough for her to take hold. The moment her hand gripped the unformed molteal it jumped into the shape within her mind.

  A scimitar grew out of the mass. Carved through the length of the bde, magic imbued it with power. It had a different purpose from her staff. Red glowed in the lihat coursed through the metal.

  Fumiko drew back the sword and swung it down at Glykeria. It briefly fshed with fmes before it stopped suddenly. “What?!” Bare handed, Glykeria had halted the bde she specifically crafted to cut her. “The edge is supposed to be enhao be sharp enough to cut through anything!”

  “I guess you failed then.” The vilin closed her fio grip the bde. A quick twist snapped and crushed the bde. Shards of metal rained down in front as though fetti. It was pletely worthless. “This is where you fall.” She rammed her fist into Fumiko, crushing her ribs and soaking her blood on her hand.

  Gasping in surprise, Fumiko fell babsp; Her body pletely stopped funing. The fmes disappeared returning her arm to normal and the metal dislocated from her arm. Blood pooled up from the fist size wound in her abdomen. ‘I lost…I’m sorry, Yuki…’ Her eyes closed slowly, losing sight of the world.

  Glykeria materialized a new doll to rest on her hand. “Tend to her.” As ordered, it floated inning work on the tless injuries that Fumiko sustained during the fight. She stared down at her bloodied fist with a look of disappoi. “It didn’t o end like this. But I’ve pleted my assig.”

  Paramonimos floated over tht side. “What is your order, Mistress?”

  “Nothing. The others still have their battles to resolve. We wait to see their clusion. Then we’ll act.”

  “Uood, Mistress.”

  She looked back at Fumiko’s unscious body. Then she g her dition. Glykeria let out a soft sigh. Her tenance suddenly shifted with a ral expression taking over. “She pushed me this far. But I never used my Field and my other self remained hidden. I wonder if there’s someo there that will force me to get serious. All of these games only keep things so iing…”