Brutal Journey Of An Unfortunate Female Heroine 15 The Fall

"What's the matter Marie? All talk and no bite?" Lawrence was laughing on the sidelines. Marie didn't listen to Lawrence. She saw an opening and landed a heavy fist against one of the mutants, but it didn't explode. Instead it stumbled back a bit, teetering on it's feet while blood poured down it's belly before finally falling backwards. A huge fist indent was smushed into it's stomach.

Marie was shaking now. Her arms were tired, her legs sore, and there was a throbbing pain in her head. Her right eye bled more blood covering her eyesight. Unconsciously she rubbed the blood away and in that moment the mutants attacked again. Some threw their bodies at Marie while others punched at her. In a desperate attempt to fight back she tried to kick at the mutants but she was caught off balance. In the middle of her kick a sharp pain in her head caused Marie to falter and fall to the ground. The mutants pummeled her. Their fists wouldn't break her slyphir guard alone but there were tons of fists. .h.i.tting her from different angles. Soon her guard broke under the pressure and she was exposed to the full force of their steel fists.

From behind the mutants Lawrence watched with joy as he saw Marie fall. In his mind it was inaudible at how she screamed insults towards him but her screams of pain and despair made him giddy. It was like a fizzy electric flow inside his body. He couldn't help but feel ecstatic. He glanced over to Marie again and saw a pool of blood around her. In the next instant the mutants exploded away from Marie. A blast of slyphir flowed out from Marie.

"A last futile attempt huh!?" Lawrence was livid. His breathing quickened and he couldn't stop trembling. "Yes, this is how it should be!" Lawrence faced the slyphir explosion head on. He put his arms up in defense and braced himself for Marie's attack. The mutants closest to Marie dissolved into the air while the others were thrown away. Marie stood up, her hair a deathly white. The slyphir around her glowed and thrashed around, like a wild beast. Lawrence's slyphir guard broke and he was forced backwards. Marie stood still, her battered body barely being held together by her slyphir. The mutants had bitten into her arms and legs. One side of her chest looked broken while the rest was drenched in blood. Marie's face was blank and void of emotion, her eyes lifeless and dull. She turned around and looked at Lydis's body. With a flick of her finger Lydis's body was knocked from the ledge and fell into the river below.

"Hahaha! Have you gone crazy now? Or have you lost all reason with your ability to speak as well?" Lawrence couldn't help but feel even more attached to Marie now. He had loved her in the past but now, now she was something more than love. Marie looked over at Lawrence again and when she turned her head another gust of slyphir shot towards Lawrence. He raised his arms again and cuts appeared on the surface. Before he could react, Marie was in front of him in the next moment. She punched Lawrence in the stomach and he flew into the sky. Marie jumped after him and raised her leg and brought it down on his stomach again. Lawrence shot down from the sky and landed in a crater in the ground.

He struggled to get up but he managed to stand while leaning on a tree. He coughed up some blood that quickly stained his armor. Marie was walking towards him. The mutants that were still able to move went after Marie. She didn't even bother to dodge. The mutant's fists landed on Marie's slyphir guard but were repelled, never touching Marie directly. Marie continued to walk towards Lawrence calmly, unaffected by the batter mutants around her.

"This, is your fault." Marie's voice was ragged and dry but it still held her domineering pressure. Lawrence stood and faced Marie.

"Marie. In the end you lost everything, including your life. I know that this strong front right now is fake. You're just barely holding on. Or am I wrong?" Lawrence's mocking tone didn't effect Marie.

"I know. I know very well that I'm dying but, I'm going to take you with me." Marie punched Lawrence but he parried it. Marie's slyphir guard broke Lawrence's, causing his arm to be burned by it. Lawrence kicked towards Marie's head but she ducked and did a low wide swing with her legs. Lawrence jumped backwards and grabbed a handful of dirt, throwing it at Marie. She didn't dodge it but there was a mini slyphir bomb hidden inside of the dirt. It exploded against her slyphir guard, causing it to falter a little. Lawrence took this chance to get near Marie and he landed a blow on her side. She threw up more blood and fell to the floor. The radiant slyphir around her dimming.

"Come on!" Lawrence went in again. He kicked her side but Marie had rolled away. She got up on one elbow and used her embodiment weapons to throw blades at Lawrence. He jumped over them but they had thin wires attached and Marie pulled her gloves close and the blades came back. Stuck midair Lawrence tried to defend but a few blades managed to break past his guard and pierce into his body. The blades were jagged at the ends, making them more difficult to pull out. Lawrence fell on the floor his breathing suddenly becoming ragged.

"You… What is this?" He tried to reach for the blades but when he touched them it felt like all the nerves in his body were tearing apart, bit by bit, slowly and painfully.

"Shared body binding. Though it affects me too, this way I'll be able to bring you down with me." Marie's smug smile caused Lawrence to s.h.i.+ver in fear.

"You're a lunatic if you think I'll let you!" Lawrence tried to cut the strings but when he cut one, more would thread out from the cut ones and attach to his skin, digging into his nerves and veins.

Lawrence was frantic, he didn't know what to do. Marie watched as Lawrence was struggling against her threads. What he didn't know was that this was Marie's first time using shared body binding in an offensive way. Usually she would use it to share her concentrated slyphir and heal another person but, even if he did know the outcome wouldn't have been any different.

"Struggling is useless." Marie stood up and clenched her fists. The strings around Lawrence tightened, holding him in place.

"Let me go!" He tried to struggle but the strings cut into his face. On Marie's face he saw that a thin line of red cut through her face where he had been cut too. Realizing that Marie wasn't bluffing Lawrence tried to use the threads against Marie, twisting his body so that the threads on him would hit Marie where she was injured. He managed to injure his right face and the cut on Marie cut into her right face as well. Marie staggered but she didn't stop instead she used the last reserves of life left in her to dash in front of Lawrence. All he could see was the blur of Marie's white hair and then he saw her up close. Her fist had pierced through his chest, holding his heart in one hand. On Marie a hole around her heart punctured her chest at the same time she hit Lawrence.

"F-f*** this… body binding…" Lawrence lost consciousness and his limp body slipped off Marie's outstretched hand. Marie stood there, blood poured out of the hole in her chest. Her last thoughts were about Lydis, her husband and the promise she made to protect their home. Through sheer willpower Marie died while standing, never falling.

In later doc.u.ments it was said that when the enemy found Marie's body standing alone amongst the destruction of the surrounding area and the bloodied corpses of mutants and humans alike, they didn't dare to get close for hours, causing a delay in their invasion plans. In their eyes, even though they were the invader and the enemy, the soldiers there couldn't help but feel like entering the area was a taboo. The heavy weight of the scene moved the soldiers to leave Marie's body alone, only reporting that she had died with video footage. Though they were enemies but Marie's sacrifice had managed to move the soldiers there. Valiant and strong, Marie went into the records as the white haired Valkyrie who fell in battle defending her home and the people.