Usurping the Universe

"My lady, she refuses to heed my instructions and instead expresses her unrestrained desire for the sword. I can not tolerate such impudence any longer. Forgive me, my lady, but I ask to be relieved of my duties."

"Yes, I understand your plight dear, she can be quite wilful. My sincerest appreciation for your previous assistance, Madame Shar. You are dismissed."

A young Dahlia glared at her mother with furious eyes, not sparing a glance at her former tutor. The anger in Dahlia's maroon orbs swirled with unrelenting intensity, clashing the apathy that the elegantly dressed woman opposite her effortlessly exuded.

"Dahlia, I recall I warned you that you should not speak of your senseless ambition again, did I not?" 

Thalia's glinting golden locks carefully framed her delicate facial features as she regarded her stubborn, immature daughter, a replica of herself.

"Yet you dared to disregard my words once again." Thalia's tone was sharp, no longer cold and unfeeling.

"Since you adamantly refuse to regard my words, discarding etiquette, painting and the arts that a noble lady should pursue, I will naturally give way. You will master the sword, far more than any male heir can comprehend. Either that or you lose your inheritance trying. Anything less than perfection will always be unacceptable, do you hear me?" Despite her harsh words, the stunning lady smiled as she spoke.

"Yes mother, I will not fail you." 

How could she? Her mother had never failed her even once, and the young girl wanted to repay the favour.

°°°

Her senses flared, and everything within her shrank inwardly, succumbing to the lingering aura of the menacing entity. She could not form cohesive thoughts. Instead, her mind was a jumbled mess. Everything pressed down on her, intensifying the submerging pressure that she could not possibly resist. Trapped in this timeless trance of terror, Dahlia drowned in blissful resignation, surrendering to the swarm of pessimistic emotions that swirled through her frail mind.

After many years of endless struggle, she would meet her end at the hands of a beast so formidable. It was a worthy death. It was good enough. Such thoughts swirled in her mind, justifying her weakness.

'I'm only human.' 

But just as she had this thought, a familiar figure flashed in her shambled mind, a woman who radiated refined grace even as the years took its toll on her. Thalia Ansfrid was such a woman. Her mother was a rare breed. Everything she did mocked societal norms. Thalia never knew failure, even though countless thorns riddled her path to success. Thalia was perfection, the epitome of perfection that Dahlia strived to imitate. 

Thoughts of her mother stirred inside her mind, granting her the momentary clarity she desperately needed. Dahlia strained herself in every way she knew, desperately struggling against the unknown force to reclaim hold of her body. Its grasp on her weakened as she persisted in her attempts, and the moment Dahlia fully opened her eyes, she gasped for air. Waves of mental exhaustion hit her, but it was nothing concerning.

"You took too long. I had to wait for like five whole minutes!" Isaiah scolded a blank-faced Elijah as both of them walked through a gigantic hole that led to a dark corridor.

"Wait!" Dahlia called out to the twins, who stopped moving and turned to her.

"Oh? You're awake, impressive." Elijah looked genuinely surprised, causing Dahlia to feel somewhat insulted, but she briefly brushed aside the feeling before frantically waving to the horror-stricken statues behind her.

"Are we just going to leave them?" She knew how difficult it was to escape that trancelike state, not to mention how potentially traumatizing it was, and she was certain some would not wake on their own.

"Alex left us for a reason. We're better off following her footsteps." Dahlia considered Elijah's words seriously, knowing he was likely right. Alex was scarily accurate with both her actions and thoughts. So far, she had been nothing but dependable. 

"We should get going. She's likely waiting. She can't kill anyone without us." Elijah resumed his steps with Isaiah in tow.

Dahlia, still conflicted, looked at her frozen companions but soon made her choice. Dahlia chased after them, realising they were not likely to wait.

°°° 

It did not take her too long to immobilise all of those present. They were sluggish, predictable, and confused. Her overwhelming speed, strength and precision allowed her to outmanoeuvre them with her arms and feet. 

She controlled her strength and speed to avoid killing them, leading to a few miscalculations that required her to hit an opponent more than once as rectification. By the time they had finally realised they needed to team up to defeat the common enemy, Alex had already memorised their positions and weapons. Using her enhanced hearing, Alex could predict where attacks would come from and skillfully evade them.

With her all her targets unconscious, Alex carefully contemplated her next actions. She had anticipated at least one of her team members would arrive here by now and they would finish the job, but she lost faith in that theory. No one had arrived. She had also considered waiting for the beast to kill them for her. However, she was not sure if it would insta-kill her as well. The last option was to kill them herself, but she opposed that idea. Achievements were still a priority. 

Almost as if telling her time was running out, she heard the faint but booming steps of the terror-inducing beast from the direction of the tunnel she had emerged from. It was a puzzling discovery as there were no connected entry points.

'I can test how effective this thing is at least,' Alex pondered while holding an unassuming miniature thunderbolt carving. 

"Aaaaalex!! You're heartless." Alex could see the running Isaiah and his fake, wronged expression from afar. She was glad and slightly disappointed that she would not witness the effects of the thunderbolt.

"Why were you so slow? You're a weakling." 

Isaiah's face turned sour. Alex was more brutal than she appeared, not mincing her words even slightly. Isaiah had discovered this side of her first-hand after an error he made during their sixth match, unknowingly exposing himself to a world of insults.

No longer in the mood, Isaiah ignored her and killed the unconscious adolescents swiftly, and then Dahlia and Elijah joined him a bit later.

°°°

Alex was immensely relieved when she saw all her teammates functioning after their traumatizing encounter with that monstrous creature. She delighted in the unexpected gain of 5000 spirit shards instead of the expected 3000.

[ You have achieved complete victory over the opposing team and have received 3000 shards.]

[ You did not exceed the time limit and have received an additional 2000 shards.

[ Would you like to invade another match in an hour? This will be your last activity for this stage if you choose to participate.]

Alex only had an hour to convince her teammates to willingly re-encounter the horrific beast. She groaned internally at the thought.