All that remained was Chinatsu's faint, intermittent, blood-flecked, maniacal chuckle, sounding like the background music to this confrontation, making the scene especially eerie.
In the end, Ellen Mathers neither showed belief nor immediately denied him. She merely stated flatly, in her monotonous tone:
"Stupid... kindness."
It was unclear whether she was evaluating Shido's actions or defining his character.
But her lightsaber remained steadily pointed downward. Clearly, whether Shido was a coincidence or a conspiracy, it would not change her next course of action.
However, just as Shido was desperately using words and genuine emotion to try and divert Ellen Mathers' attention, hoping to buy a fleeting second for a chance that might not even exist—
"Clap!"
A dull, clear slapping sound abruptly and penetratingly interrupted Shido's unfinished words, instantly pulling Ellen Mathers' cold gaze back toward the pool of blood.
It was Chinatsu.
Her sole remaining left hand slammed down hard, fingers splayed, onto the cold, blood-soaked ground! Her arm trembled violently from the effort, knuckles protruding, veins bulging.
Following that, under Shido's suddenly constricted pupils and Ellen Mathers' gaze, which held the first genuine trace of astonishment, she actually used that arm for support, inch by inch, extremely slowly, with every movement accompanied by the faint sound of tearing muscle and grinding bone.
Yet, with a shocking, unyielding determination, she forcefully and tenaciously pushed her upper body up, lifting herself out of that pool of blood that symbolized death!
This seemingly simple action aggravated the most terrifying and fatal wound on her body.
From the cross-section of her diagonally severed torso, the blood that had been merely flowing slowly now surged out abruptly, almost spraying, like a torrent finally breaking through its last barrier!
Hot blood, carrying the last warmth of life! Blood splattered onto her own pale face, splashed onto Shido, and even more spread out beneath her in the dark red pool, creating a more intense, more tragic pattern.
Yet, she seemed completely oblivious to the agonizing pain and loss of life—enough to cause instant shock in anyone—and her gaze did not waver even slightly. From start to finish, she was locked onto the hovering Ellen Mathers, her eyes fiercely burning with endless rage!
She ignored Shido beside her, who had stretched out his hand but was frozen mid-air, unable to move due to extreme shock and terror.
She also ignored the irreversible collapse and disintegration of her own physical form.
Just as her forcibly supported upper body tottered, her bones groaned under the unbearable strain, and she was about to collapse again—
"Hiss! Hiss, hiss—!"
Several cold, metallic-gleaming iron wires and thick iron spikes materialized out of thin air, constructing themselves around her terrifying severed wound!
Like living vipers, they plunged violently into her flesh and bone, accompanied by a grating, bone-jarring sound, in a manner so crude it was almost cruel.
They forcefully dragged, stitched, and connected her torso, which had been nearly split in two!
This was a savage and cruel physical fixation, driven purely by the authority of the Herrscher of Reason, completely ignoring normal physiology and medical common sense, solely aimed at forcibly maintaining the broken shell in the shortest time possible!
The iron spikes were deeply embedded, even piercing her bones, while the iron wires tightly constricted and wrapped around her torso—which was almost cleaved in two—in a manner akin to binding cargo. Violating all biological instincts and causing immediate revulsion, they forcefully pulled, stitched, and connected her torso together!
Allowing her shattered body to stand once more upon the earth in a posture that defied all reason!
After standing firm, her body inevitably swayed slightly. From the massive wound crudely stitched by the iron spikes and wires,
Gushing blood continued to seep from the gaps between the metal and the flesh, dripping down the cold, rough wires and spikes, one drop after another, hitting the pool of blood on the ground with faint "drip, drop" sounds that were exceptionally clear in the silence.
But she, ultimately, remained standing.
She slowly raised her head. Her long blue hair, which had looked dry and lifeless from the lack of luster, now seemed to be stirred by her boiling rage, billowing wildly as if moved by an invisible wind!
Amidst her hair, her ice-blue eyes were like two pieces of burning ice; there was nothing in them but endless fury!
That anger was so pure, so fierce, it seemed capable of igniting the entire sky and incinerating the enemy before her.
She stared fiercely at Ellen Mathers, letting out a low, blood-flecked roar from deep within her throat, like a wounded beast:
"Ellen... Mathers...!!!"
Her voice was hoarse, yet carried a relentless, life-or-death resolve.
In this moment, she seemed to be nothing more than an avenger, pushed to the brink, burning everything she had left, just to deliver one final strike against her enemy.
Shido looked at the figure beside him, who seemed to have crawled back from hell, feeling her anger, which had almost materialized. He was frozen, unable to utter a single word.
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