With all the clones out of the way, Clair sprinted toward Cain at full speed. She coursed the through the mist and within twenty seconds she found him—on his knees, her sword firmly planted in his shoulder.
Slowly, he looked up at her. A smile was still on his face, but his eyes carried a tinge of sadness.
Then— To Clair's surprise, his hand flicked upward. She tried to react, but it was too late. Suddenly, another clone appeared—this one ten times the size of the ones before.
"Wha—?!"
Suddenly, the massive clone's foot rose to the air. Clair tried to avoid it, but there was no time. The shadow loomed over her, before firmly coming down.
Clair barely managed to throw up her shield before the weight slammed into her, sending a shockwave through the ground. A deafening boom rang out as the ground cracked beneath Clair's feet, dirt and debris flew in every direction.
"GRAHHH!" Clair's scream tore through the air as she held her shield up, her legs trembling leaving her barely standing.
"Hah… good luck… surviving… that." Cain panted from the side, blood dripped down his body, staining his already filthy clothes.
"ARRHHH!" Clair's arms felt like they were being set ablaze. Sweat ran down her face, mixing with the blood on her chin.
"ARGHH! AHHHH!" Her shield then began to grow—just slightly—but her vision blurred, she tried to hold on but before she knew it everything went black.
Clair woke up in a pure white void.
She briefly looked around before muttering, "Oh, I'm here."
"Yes, nice to see you." A voice echoed behind her.
Clair calmly turned. "Ah, hello, Kelly."
In front of her stood a shadowy tree, its black branches swaying ever so slightly—despite there being no wind.
"Ah, how I love hearing that. You named me well…"
Clair scratched the back of her head. "When are you gonna get over that? I named you ages ago."
The branches aggressively shook side to side. "Maybe for you, but we've only met a handful of times—five, maybe? I don't remember anything between visits, so you might as well have named me yesterday."
"Yeah, yeah." Clair sighed. "Anyway I need power."
"Power? How much?" Kelly asked.
"As much as I can handle."
Kelly went silent for a moment before shifting, taking on Clair's form—albeit shadowy and featureless. She approached and patted Clair on the head.
"You're lucky, you know that?"
Clair nodded.
"Then leave it to me…"
—
Clair's eyes flashed open. No time had passed, there she was still holding her ground against the behemoth. But now—now she had some energy to spare.
"RAHHHHHHH!"
Blood burst from her arms and legs as she roared, summoning every last ounce of her strength. Cain watched, stunned. With one final push, she repelled the giant's foot, sending the massive clone crashing backward—right onto Cain.
The moment it touched him, the clone burst into a heavy mist cloud of mist. The cloud soon cleared revealing Cain, still on his knees utterly defeated…
(And thus, Rion's adventure continues…)