Chapter 238: Aestrea Against The World (XV)

“Cecilia…”

Her name escaped from my mouth, tasting bitter on my tongue.

She was just as I remembered… except that now, I actually knew that she wasn’t being kind to me, but dangerous.

Snow-white hair flowed down her back in long, silky waves, catching the light like polished silver. It glistened like fresh frost, pure and cold.

But what truly froze me were her familiar eyes… the same glowing crimson as mine… from before.

They shimmered with something almost… amused… and maybe hungry.

Her face hadn’t changed at all, still beautiful, but not in a warm, heavenly way as I had thought before.

Her beauty was the kind that made you stare too long, until you forgot to breathe.

Sharp cheekbones, soft lips painted a faint plum-red, and lashes so long they brushed the edge of her temples.

She looked like a goddess carved from porcelain and temptation.

And her body… she didn’t even try to hide it.

The black latex suit hugged her like a second skin, sculpting every curve with perfect precision.

Her waist was small, tight enough to grip in one hand, but her hips flared wide, shamelessly.

Her thighs were thick, powerful. Her chest… large, bouncing slightly with each slow step she took, the glossy material barely containing them.

Her nipples pressed lightly against the fabric, perked from the cold, or maybe something else.

The suit was decorated with small silver lines, markings that pulsed faintly like veins of moonlight, and from her neck down to her navel, it was unzipped just enough to show deep cleavage and the curve of her stomach, teasing what lay beneath.

But the thing that struck me the most…

Was the lotus flower.

A single dark-purple bloom, pinned behind her right ear.

That flower.

The one I had given her.

Years ago.

When I thought she was my big sister.

And then, she stopped just a few meters away, her hands behind her back. Her expression was soft, almost tender.

Like I was something she’d missed.

“Asta~” she whispered my nickname again, tilting her head slightly.

Her smile was calm, gentle.

But her eyes… they were full of madness.

“…I missed you.”

.

.

.

.

.

The moment her voice slid past her lips, Aestrea’s eyes hardened.

His expression didn’t change, but something inside him snapped.

He didn’t say anything at first.

Just moved.

He dropped both James and Derek straight into the snow with a heavy thud, their bodies rolling a little before coming to a stop.

Then, his hand rose.

No anger on his face, just the same coldness as before.

“Die.”

His voice was flat, emotionless.

A small glowing orb of light suddenly appeared in his palm.

Dense like compressed starlight, and shortly after, it spun slowly, humming with a sound that made the air tremble.

Fsshhh!

It suddenly shot forward in a straight line, slicing through the wind.

Cecilia didn’t wait. Her smile twitched for a second, and then she quickly moved, twisting her body just in time while leaning her head to the side.

The orb flew past her cheek.

BOOOM!

It exploded behind her with a muffled roar, blasting up snow and ice like a white wave.

The ground shook, and a deep hole opened where the blast hit.

However, before Aestrea could throw another…

Fwip!

A black ribbon flashed through the smoke, slicing the air like a whip. It wrapped around the light and pulled it off-course just a little, enough to stop the next blow.

Kagetaro appeared up high, standing on a branch like it was solid ground. One leg rested behind the other, easy and loose.

He clapped, smiling.

“Touchy~,” he sang.

“My, my. That’s no way to greet your sister.”

Aestrea didn’t look at him, because Cecilia was already moving.

She ran forward, fast and quietly, her feet barely touching the snow. She moved like wind, almost floating.

Fwoo~

Both her hands glowed with sharp, tight energy.

She swung low, aiming a punch straight to Aestrea’s ribs.

But at that moment, his arm shifted just in time.

CRACK!

Her punch slammed into the back of his wrist. The sound was sharp, like ice breaking under heavy boots.

He slid back a little in the snow, but stayed on his feet. And then, before she could pull away, his other hand flew up… too fast for her to react.

SMACK!

An open-palm strike hit her face like a slab of iron. Her head snapped to the side, and her whole body flew back like a doll thrown too hard.

She slammed into a tree.

CRRKKK!

The trunk split from the hit. But she didn’t stop; she kept flying, crashing through two more trees.

WHAM! WHAM!

Then she hit the ground with a hard crunch, sliding through the snow and carving a long trail in the frost.

Snow burst up around her.

“Agh…”

She groaned once, but she didn’t get up.

But Aestrea wasn’t going to stop there…

He lowered his hand slowly.

Then…

He murmured.

“Moonlit Ice Lotus Sword Art…”

His eyes lit up, glowing faint blue.

『 Fifth Move! (✦ Thousand Lotus Guillottine ✦) 』

A sharp breeze blew past.

And then…

FWOOOOOOOM!

His body vanished.

What followed was impossible to track.

SHHHHH—SHIK!

SHAKK!

SHIKK-SHIK!

A thousand silver-blue slashes tore through the air like a storm of blades.

The whole forest shook, the snow exploded in every direction, trees falling one after another like brittle sticks.

Long, deep cuts, over a hundred meters wide and deeper than the eye could see, carved into the earth. Like giant claws had raked through the world.

Kagetaro’s laughter stopped mid-sound.

Cecilia gasped, but it was too late.

Their bodies were slashed apart.

SHIK!

SHAKK!

SHIKK!

Over, and over again.

Blades sliced through them so fast, their limbs didn’t even fall apart right away. But suddenly, they crumbled.

Chunks of their bodies hit the ground, broken and bloody. Torn into dozens of sharp pieces.

The air was filled with the hiss of Aestrae’s mana.

Then silence.

Only the wind and the crackle of ice reforming.

Aestrea stood in the middle of the destruction, his coat fluttering in the wind.

He didn’t blink or speak, as if awaiting something.

And then…

Drip… drip…

A black of liquid oozed from the chunks on the ground.

It hissed.

It bubbled.

Szzzz…szzzkk…

The pieces melted into oily black sludge. The dark goo slithered and crawled, like it had a mind of its own.

It moved fast, gathering, twisting, curling into shape.

SPLAT!

The black liquid suddenly slammed together, right in front of him.

And there they stood… both of them were intact.

Kagetaro grinned, upside down now, hanging from nothing.

Cecilia wiped her lips slowly with the back of her hand, smirking.

Aestrea’s face didn’t change.

“I knew it…”

He clicked his tongue.

“This is going to be harder than I expected…”

But suddenly, Cecilia raised her hand, causing his eyes to narrow, as his hand shot in a ball of strong mana.

But then… the world around him seemed to have stopped as the snowflakes paused mid-fall, suspended as if even gravity hesitated.

Aestrea narrowed his eyes even more.

Her fingers opened slowly, as though she were lifting something fragile… or pulling a string no one else could see.

And then, her eyes glowed, not crimson like the color of her eyes, but a deep burning violet shade.

The world twisted.

“—?!”

Aestrea’s breath caught in his throat as his vision blurred, his knees staggering slightly in the snow.

The cold vanished, the sound of the wind died… as if the whole world had turned quiet.

And then…

“Astra~”

A voice reached his ears.

His heart almost froze.

It was her voice, not the woman from before. Not Cecilia from the Dark Order, but that soft, loving voice that he knew as a big sister.

He blinked.

And when his eyes opened again…

He was standing on a green hill.

The sky was clear blue. There was no snow, no wind, no marks of battle, just bright sunlight and gentle grass waving with the breeze.

He looked down.

Small hands… a small body.

No longer the man he was now, but the boy he’d once been.

No armor, no power, no rage.

Just Astra, the child.

And there, a few steps away—

“Sis!” the boy version of him shouted, his voice full of light.

He ran.

Tiny feet kicked up grass, and he flung himself forward.

The one waiting for him was Cecilia.

But not the woman in black latex.

This version wore a soft white dress, her hair tied loosely, and a sweet smile on her face as she knelt with open arms.

She caught him easily, hugging him tight against her chest, lifting him and spinning slowly in a circle.

“Haha~ you’re getting heavier,” she laughed gently, holding him close.

Aestrea stood frozen, watching the scene like a ghost outside of time.

His chest ached.

His throat tightened.

Because he remembered this.

This moment.

It was real.

That hill, the warmth, the feel of her hand patting his head.

Back when he truly believed she was his older sister.

Back when her smile made him feel safe.

Back when he didn’t know her eyes hid monsters.

And then, the image flickered.

He turned slightly.

There she was.

The real now-Cecilia.

Standing beside him, wearing her latex suit, arms crossed under her chest.

Watching the memory with the same soft smile.

“Good times, right?” she whispered.

Aestrea didn’t answer.

His jaw clenched.

“Do you remember how tightly you used to hug me?” she asked gently. “Back then, you thought I was your whole world.”

The scene in front of him played again, his younger self burying his face in her neck, laughing, kicking his legs as she held him higher.

And again, Aestrea said nothing.

Because he did remember.

Every touch, and every single word.

He remembered begging her not to leave, crying when she vanished for weeks, smiling when she brought him sweets from town.

“You wanted to marry me once, didn’t you?” she continued softly, stepping a little closer.

She leaned near, her breath brushing his ear.

“You told me you’d grow up strong… strong enough to protect me forever.”

Her voice lowered.

“Did you really think I forgot?”

Aestrea slowly turned to face her.

“…You’re not her anymore,” he said quietly.

Cecilia tilted her head.

“Maybe not.” She touched the flower behind her ear gently.

“But this… you gave it to me.”

He glanced at the lotus.

His voice dropped lower.

“I gave it to her. Not to a monster hiding in her skin.”

His voice caused her to stay silent for a few moments.

But she quickly reacted.

“Tsk.” Her smile sharpened.

“You say that, but your heart still reacts, doesn’t it?”

She touched his chest with a single finger, right above where his heart would be.

“Even now… It’s beating so loud.”

Thump, thump, thump!

He didn’t move.

But then…

SHHKK!

Suddenly, the false world shattered.

Like glass breaking.

And the cold returned.

So did the snow, and the sharp sting of wind.

Cecilia’s finger was still on his chest, but now her smile was darker. The gentle glow in her eyes had returned to that dangerous violet.

They were face to face again, in the forest that had been torn apart.

The illusion was gone.

But the feeling it left behind…

Still clung to him.

“You used to love me, Astra~” she whispered. “And deep down… I think part of you still does.”

Her finger trailed slowly down his chest, drawing a line in the air.

“…Doesn’t that make this fun?”

CRACK!

To her words, Aestrea’s palm snapped forward, hitting her wrist and knocking her hand aside.

“You’re right,” he muttered coldly, his hair blowing in the wind as snow curled around his feet.

“It does make it fun.”

“But only because now… I get to destroy you properly.”

“Then let’s make it beautiful, little brother~”

She laughed, and then, both of them moved.

As fast as the speed of light.

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