The sound of a faucet dripping against stone echoed throughout the locker room at eleven fifty-five in the morning.
Leaning over the sink with her hands placed on either side, her hair matted and wet, Camilla Buckley stared at her reflection without any emotion.
Her eyes were dull and lifeless, dark bags tearing at her smooth skin that once glistened like crystal.
As she stood motionless, she slowly retracted her right hand, digging it into her pocket to reveal her weapon.
Its white cloth hilt was embedded with unknown fragments of wood, its surface hard to the touch and difficult to grip.
The blade itself sparkled like the heavens themselves, a never-ending cascade of starlight echoing from within its curved tip.
This was no mere forgery by a blacksmith nor some ancient artifact found within the Vault of Nautilus, as Orion Cosmoti had done.
It was the last will and testament granted to her upon the death of Cedar Belvedere, the very same weapon he had slain thousands with, now within her grasp.
Such a turn of fate was almost ironic; the tool used to decimate her homeland and her people was now her own to use.
Yet as she stared at its splendor, she simply sighed, the world around her fading as she listened to the voice within.
There was no dragon emblem etched into its surface, the mystical words coming from its consciousness, something completely separate and unique.
"You ask me for guidance after so long?"
Her teacher's voice came out fluid but with a slight hiccup after each word, his presence weak due to a reason the woman didn't understand.
"I listened to your advice to venture into the Sea of Dreams and find Grimstall, yet you still haven't told me why."
There was no kindness or respect as she spat out the sentence to the man speaking through the dagger.
"The situation is complicated and far beyond the knowledge that can be passed through the barrier. I've told you that if you bring me the heart of a—"
Camilla cut him off, finishing his own reply for him with increased levels of sass.
"The 'Heart of a God' is required as per usual? Then we are yet again at a stalemate."
Closing her eyes and feeling her long strands of brown hair fall in front of her face, she exhaled hard, waiting for a response.
"Then you shall ask no more."
His voice faded off, the dagger falling silent once again and leaving the woman alone with her reflection.
Camilla's cheek twitched for a moment before her fist shot out, slamming through the concrete wall and sending a shockwave throughout the building's foundation.
"That useless old bastard…"
Disregarding the hole in the wall, she spun around quickly, sheathing her weapon and walking through the locker room towards the door outside into the stadium.
He shouldn't have forfeited… I would've happily given him my title of Queen if he so wished.
Cracking a small smile, the Marshal walked forward, the bright arena lights coming into view as the air of the desert enveloped her nose.
…
Aaron listened from the small changing room he had been shoved into as Masaru Kurogane bowed his head and resigned from the match.
The audience was silent as he walked from the colosseum floor, the true weight of his earlier actions leaving a permanent stain on each onlooker's soul.
They knew he had done wrong, and they knew that his forfeit was atonement for his sins regardless of his intent.
Nevertheless, as the servants scurried around fitting the boy in all sorts of magical gear provided by the Oceanic Association and the Hunters' Guild, he knew internally that he was the cause of such resignation.
If I hadn't exposed my weapon to the Kings, then he wouldn't have to guide their attention back to him…
Sighing hard, he felt a belt wrap tightly around his now healed hip, a slight pinch of pain streaking across his face.
"Ouch…"
The maid who had tightened the strap paled and immediately adjusted it to fit his preferences, the boy himself frowning as she did.
They're scared of me…
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he groaned and took a step forward, away from the people dressing him.
"That will be all. You may all leave."
Waving his hand to the men and women in the room, they quickly obeyed the command, hurrying outside the door before his hand could fall limp at his side.
Good… I need all the time I can get to prepare for this—
His vision bobbed, his mind instantly fuzzing as his legs collapsed underneath him.
Aaron's head collided with the side of the table, his consciousness waning, and a severe shock of pain engulfed his chest.
N-Now!?
Sweat streamed down his torso, his eyes watering profusely, and his breathing becoming unstable.
The world around him began to fade into darkness, the smell of death filling the boy's nose as he fainted into quietness.
That was the fate of a man blighted by the Naelith's contract, a deal so unforgiving and vile that none had ever survived.
Another year of his life had been eaten away in a flash, a total of twenty-three years removed from his future.
At a continued rate, one could expect his death upon the first day of January, otherwise known as the date of Abyssal Convergence.
…
"G… A…"
"Go… Aar…"
"Go, Aaron!"
His mind shot awake, the scene around him completely different from when he had fallen asleep.
Instead of lying on the floor half dead, he now stood proud in the center of the arena, the pink-haired girl in front of him frowning in confusion.
Where the hell… How the…
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"
The booming speaker threw him off guard, every fiber in his body screaming out to run from the situation.
"YOUR TOP RANKED ROOKIE HUNTER! AARON GRIMSTALL!"
As the blond boy heard the words, he could hardly believe it; the sudden knot of fear in his chest unwound at once.
How did I get here?
Searching deep in his mind, he heard the counter begin to tick downward to the beginning of the fight, the sword in his sheath pulsing rapidly.
It couldn't have been sleepwalking or anything of that sort, so what could've…
A cold chill settled over his body as he stared forward, the sight of a tiny, turquoise creature performing an almost comical dance behind Akari.
That damned—
"ZERO!!!"
Before he could even react, a bullet was centimeters from his throat, his hand streaking upward in a backfist.
CRACK!
Flesh popped, and blood erupted from his fist as the shot lodged itself in his left wrist, the deafening echo of three more bullets quickly ringing out.
Digging his feet into the soil and forcing his leg into action, he launched upward faster than the eye could track, the sword sheathed quickly coming into reality.
『Edge of Tomorrow』
Slamming down with all the force he had left in his arms, he felt the three bullets collide with his metallic leg, each leaving a dent the size of a hair.
Akari, on the other hand, felt an immense wave of unstoppable force phase into existence, her eyes expanding wide.
Reaching into her white armor, she slashed outward with a cleverly concealed knife that was strapped to her hip.
A rush of cherry blossoms flashed into the world, meeting the burst of water in a head-on collision.
Aaron's body fell to the soil before the two forces cancelled each other out, a sudden blitz from the blue-eyed girl catching him off guard.
Her right hand attempted to tear into his neck, his own sword that had been shrunken into shortsword form, slashing in front of her own attack.
Sparks flew as the two mana-infused blades clashed in the very center of the arena, a roar from the crowd erupting throughout the stadium.
Not wasting a second of the close proximity, the pink-haired girl clenched her left fist into a ball, punching it forward into the boy's solar plexus.
His eyes bulged as the wind left his chest, his leg spinning upward as he crushed the metallic limb against his friend's hip.
Akari's body flew backwards faster than she could react, her breath ragged, yet still as fierce as ever as she faced the blond boy calmly.
"You've looked better, Aaron. Your eyes look so…"
She paused, furrowing her brow as if actually surprised for a moment as she noticed horrifically dark bags under the boy's eyes.
"Sad…"
Her compassion was a mistake, the turquoise-eyed boy's body appearing behind her and slashing against her pistol-wielding arm.
Unable to react completely, she streaked her right hand in front of her left to protect it, her foot kicking backwards as she attempted to duck.
Grinning as he dug his metal foot into her shin, he slammed his elbow straight across her face while simultaneously positioning himself for a choke.
She, of course, wouldn't let such an action take place; her own teeth biting down on the boy's forearm and drawing immediate blood.
The sudden burst of pain made Aaron loosen his grip ever so slightly, his reaction a fatal flaw that the girl would seek to exploit.
Following his example, she thrusted her left elbow backwards, feeling its bony surface connect with the exact spot he had earlier injured.
His eyes bulged as he recoiled backwards in shock, his sword morphing into a broadsword yet again as he stared at the girl.
She, however, seemed saddened as she watched him back away in retreat, his increasingly pale complexion and unusually weak aura making her worried.
"Aaron…"
He cut her off before she could say anything further.
"Focus on yourself instead of your opponent. This is a tournament, not the slums of Strava."
His harsh, cold words lashed the cherry-haired girl hard, her eyes turning downward towards the sandy floor.
"Perhaps you're right…"
The two opponents circled each other in a dance of violence, their stances ready to pounce at any moment.
High above in the crystalline blue skies, a single cloud appeared from nowhere, its gray surface beginning to move closer and closer to the sun as time went on.
Tick tock… Tick tock…
The match clock continued loudly echoing across the empty streets of Blackport Ridge, and each and every person tuned in and listened to the broadcast quietly.
Everyone across the world was the same; the unprecedented event now live for all to hear, an unparalleled show for the ones lucky enough to watch it in the arena.
The fight had just begun, their duel a challenge for who would take the top spot of the tournament.
But more importantly, it would decide who would enter the Vault of Nautilus first and select their unimaginable reward before any other could interfere.