Nehze

"This is why I use Slaughterer. It is a mercy for the enemy... but you already know this.", Vania reaches for the twinblade.

Vel floats into a mid-air spin like a siren in water. Her whole body arches into a near circle. She drifts slowly for a moment before coming full circle with a swift downward kick.

The realm sinks a the point of impact and spirals like a vortex.

"Quit using cheap tricks.", Vania narrows her eyes, letting out a soft exhale.

The space snaps back into place as if nothing happened.

"I cannot make them lethal, otherwise I would.", Vel's feet touch the ground.

"Really putting the 'Fallen' into 'Fallen One'.", Vania spins Slaughterer between her fingers.

"Ha ha.", Vel smiles, her teeth peeking behind her parted lips.

As "Black Hole" heals Vel, she grazes Vania with her touch, infusing some of its essence into her: 10% of its power.

Vania can feel time fray all over her body.

Vel's hand swings her head low, dragging the woman across the ground.

Vania tries to swing Slaughterer but gets flinged toward the sky. She twists into the air, only to find Vel right above her.

Vania flicks her wrist swiftly for a quick swing, but instead catches Vel's axe kick. Slaughterer is hurled away by the heel.

Vel's fingers wrap around Vania's neck before throwing her.

As she soars through the air, Vania's body makes the space crack against it. She hits the ground with a shatter on impact.

Vania pushes herself up, skin visibly bruised. "Still being carried by reality manipulation?", she smirks and spits some blood.

Vel stands up from nothing, sitting cross-legged on thin air. "Of course. You know that I am physically outmatched.", she nods shamelessly.

"...Indeed. I knew it. You are quite the actress, dearest. I noticed the lack of Disruption.", Vel smiles faintly.

"...Still sharp as always, beloved. I have to admit, this is nothing. You have fallen from grace.", Vania sighs before standing up.

"I told you, I am ages past-", Vel's words cut off when she warps away.

Vania spins Slaughterer with her left hand, slashing herself in the process. She dashes and slowly swings the twinblade upwards at the same time.

Vel tilts her head and flicks her fingers ar the air.

As Vania prepares to bring the blade into an arch, her vision cracks like a mirror and falls into bits like shards of glass. She closes her eyes and shakes her head quickly before opening her eyelids.

The pieces of reality piece themselves back as if they never broke.

Vel's core shines a blinding flash.

When the two women open their eyes, they find themselves in a white void.

"If I did not know any better I would have said that this is heaven. Graceful as always.", Vania nods.

Vel gently closes her eyes and puts on a tender smile. "Kneel.", her voice sounds like that of a mother putting her child to sleep.

Vania's eyes widen, instantly obeying.

Vel appears beside her, putting her hand on the woman's shoulder. "This will not do. I am not one to be fooled by you.", she taps it rhythmically.

"...", Vania stands completely still, producing only the quiet sound of breathing.

"I am quite an old lady!", Vel chuckles.

"And that is the point. I have seen you at maximum output before. Now I want to see the price for your youth.", Vania smiles.

"...Very well. I will initiate another simulation.", Vel taps her core. "Shall you be in peak condition? You are still hideous from that lord, and your arm will take a while to grow back.", her finger hovers above it.

"No, I can manage.", Vania shakes her head.

"But this severely squanders your fighting capabilities.", Vel responds.

"As I stated, do not worry yourself.", Vania raises her hand.

"Promise me this, darling... if I ever get too tired, stop me.", Vel raises her gaze.

"I will.", a Vania with shorter hair and smoother skin meets it.

"If I ever give up, kill me.", Vel raises her hand.

"Yes.", Vania nods.

"And if I ever wish for it to end, prevent it.", Vel's hand lands on Vania's cheek like a leaf guided by the wind.

"You have my word.", Vania smiles, her own hand gripping it with a gentle stroke.

"Thank you. You are free to leave. I have upheld my promise. I have not given up on you.", Vel's eyes move around on Vania's face as if looking for something.

"Indeed, you have.", Vania's hand falls slowly.

"Is that so?", Vania asks surprised.

"Either it lied, or my core really is that much weaker.", Vel closes her eyes.

"You have lived for so long. Things do tend to weaken over time.", Vania gives her a familiar smile.

"Indeed. I have seen numerous civilizations rise and fall. It kept me alive all this time...", Vel's words get interrupted by a quick inhale.

"You mean that what I saw... wasn't real?", Aku's fists clench.

"Yes, I just ran a simulation, a system maintenance check, if you will.", Vel nods.

"...", an audible, ragged breath leaves Aku's mouth.

"You see, in the distant past, before this world even existed, that would have been child's play, something I could have done on a whim... but I never did.", a bright smile shows up on Vel's lips.

"Because you love this world.", Vania's voice softens.

"What is the meaning of this?", Vania asks.

"Yes." Vel drifts besides her.

"YOU!", Aku growls as he turns to lunge at Vel.

Vania's expression turns straight. "Enough.", she grabs Aku by his trunk like neck. Her fingers dig into it for a proper grip.

"I'm... sorry.", Aku feels his throat get slowly crushed under the pressure.

"What is this outrageous behaviour?!", Vania's voice cracks.

"The experience he went through may have been... traumatic.", Vel crosses her arms.

Vania glances at her before turning back to Aku. "I'll keep my eyes on you.", she lets go of him.

The Aku staggers and kneels. "Forgive me, master.", his fist touches the ground and his head lowers.

"Wrong person. My beloved is the one wronged.", Vania looks down at him.

Aku's body stiffens as he gets up. "I am deeply sorry for the trouble I have caused you.", he kneels in front of Vel.

The domain gives out under the pressure. It crumbles like a tower of cards.

The shards fall on Aku and Exequious like snowflakes, except fast and frayed, not slow and graceful.

Aku's vision splits and freezes. His body falls but his mind remains stuck.

Exequious breaks like a chain before vanishing under the shining shards.

In another plane.

Vel raises her right leg, creating a perfectly vertical axis with her two inferior limbs. Her heel bends inwards, pointed towards the impact zone.

Vel's right arm floats besides her body while the left one bends inwards above her head, the elbow almost touching her kicking leg.

Vel's body is arched, forming an increasingly smaller angle with the right leg.

The axe kick descends, shattering layers of reality along its path like fragile panes of glass. When her heel touches the ground, the plane trembles.

Vel lifts her leg once more, the shattered space halting beneath her feet.

Time itself reverberates along with the kick. The sound of shattered glass fractures the plane like a mirror.

Vel touches down with her heel. A boom like two planets colliding roars under her body.

Again, she lifts her leg and brings it down like a guillotine, severing the plane in half. A white ray peeks through the split in the horizon.

The foot rises like that of a ballerina and plummets like a dying star collapsing. Shards of transparent glass blankets the space below the invisible floor.

As Vel's leg rises for the fifth time, her core convulses violently and the plane quakes. The world seems to hang silent for a moment.

Vel brings her leg down like a bolt of lightning meant to pierce through the earth. Her core bursts into shards when her heel pounds the floor.

An impenetrable cube of darkness engulfs the two, a labyrinth spanning tens of kilometers with Aku in the middle.

The beast's aura of darkness expands, his body hardens, and instinct takes over.

Vel is put in a corner.

"Use light.", the domain pleads.

"Futile.", Vel doesn't bother to look around, surrounded by pitch blackness.

Aku breaks free from the domain's core in the middle. His body twitches all over like a glitch, nothing more than a pair of red eyes visible in the darkness.

Vel doesn't bother with the plea, causing the surrounding darkness to alert Aku of her whereabouts.

The labyrinth quakes as Aku smashes through walls like a wrecking ball. The sound of destroyed infrastructure echoes throughout the domain.

As he prepares to strike, panes of transparent but shiny glass drop from above.

Aku and Exequious are pushed into the ground. His legs bend and his body lowers before getting fully pinned.

Patches of matrix appear all around the numerous, thin shards, an endless stream of space opening up in the floor.

Vel's core spins rapidly, changing the landscape into the vast expanse of space.

Comets fall down around the two, imploding into localized collapse points upon impact with the invisible ground.

Vel's core spins audibly, a deep, reverberating, mechanic hum exuding from it. The rings surrounding the glass exterior orbit the glowing center.

Aku slams the floor as he stands up, fueling his cursed energy.

A black sigil appears under Vel, dragging her into a pool of darkness.

"Kneel!", he growls, voice distorted like a drowned gurgle.

"Hmm, I don't think I will.", Vel floats a few centimeters off the geound.

Aku's Ubiquitous Behestment domain is bombarded by comets from the outside.

Vel lifts her leg at a perfect 180° angle. Her upper body tilts horizontally, parallel with the abyssal floor.

Aku twitches like a glitch and sprints at her. Exequious rattles as it extends.

Vel's heel descends, the air breaking like glass under the pressure. It strikes the floor and nearly hits Aku too, if not for a timely dodge on his part.

Ubiquitous Behestment cracks under the axe kick before shattering completely, already shaking from the comets.

"I've had enough!", Aku snarls. He crouches, touching the ground with both hands.

Aku staggers, the darkness around his body steadying, only to jut out like a violent cloud.

Vel watches the still fog. A sound of distorted silence pierces the silence shortly before a miniature black hole slowly emerges.

Exequious uncoils out of the dark cloud like a planetary rings of chains.

"Quite the predicament...", Vel brings a finger up to her mouth as the links scatter around.

Aku grabs her head and slams the woman onto the ground, causing a shockwave.

Exequious wraps around Vel and hoists her into the air for a collision with the orb. She doesn't resist, letting the black hole strike her core.

The void around them fills up with bright light for less than a second.

Vel appears in front of Aku when the flash is over, black hole gone and her core brighter. She blinks out of existence right before Exequious tightens its grasp.

"Look up~", Vel appears in the same exact place, brushing the chains away.

"You heard her. Don't let me down." Vel smiles emptily.

"I'm going to enjoy this.", Aku growls. Exequious wraps around him, shredding his skin for a surge in output.

"Halt.", Vel punches Aku, freezing his charge dead in its tracks.

The whip sword continues without him momentarily, trying to wrap around the woman.

Vel tilts her head, still wearing that empty smile. She stretches her arm and clenches her fist.

The void around the two of them flies by, the direction indiscernible. They get transported to another plane, an Abridged Existence.

The two stand face to face in an endless space of mixing colors.

Vel's core clicks, linking itself to Aku's soul. It starts to spin, at first slow but accelerating.

Aku's cursed energy surges as his soul gets torn bit by bit. He lets out a choked, gurgled groan. His cursed energy surges due to the unbereable pain.

The seconds pass by like a clock counting down.

Vel's core revs like an engine, trying to chew threw the mountain of cursed energy.

A wormhole pulls them back after what feels like an eternity, the space rushing by once more.

Aku circles the woman, just a blur while Exequious unleashes unrelenting strikes that whip the air like a multitude of tentacles.

Aku steps forth, carving through the void with his claw.

"A stay at the luxurious resort `The Still Realm`! It is on the house.", Vel claps.

"We're broke.", Aku says with disappointment in his eyes.

"Worry not for I am the owner. It's my innate domain after all.", Vel turns to them and spreads her arms.

The landscape changes into the seaside, their feet sinking into sand as the sound of waves fills the salty air.

"Something more mundane or secluded should do.", Vania looks around.

"Very well, dearest.", Vel snaps her fingers, the environment turning into a cabin in the forest.

The three get surrounded by vegetation and pines, a waterfall dropping into a river nearby.

"Very nice.", Vania smiles.

"I have a request, if you do not mind.", Vel floats next to Vania.

"Anything.", Vania nods.

"I wish to test Aku. He is intriguing.", Vel lowers her tone into something more serious.

"Is that so?", Vania turns towardz the beast. "Put up a good performance!", she shouts at the distant figure.

"I'll be leaving now.", Qwin heads towards the door.

"Not yet. You have to work on your temper, forgot?", Piffle walks besides him.

"I'm fine.", Qwin shakes his head.

"Were you also fine when you arrived here?", Dalv nods upwards.

"You're a disgrace to rulers.", Sukuna crosses his arms.

"As if you're one to speak.", Qwin looks over his shoulder.

"That's enough. You're not going anywhere, son.", Sen steps in front of him.

"Now tell me, since you've piqued my interest, how did you make Vania fumble so desperately? If I saw correctly, she was practically shaking, which is unnatural.", Gojo lets out an amused laugh.

"That woman saw what a god is.", Qwin smirks.

"See this? We have to fix it. Your narcisism has to go.", Piffle paces back and forth.

"I'm right, nothing more. Is the truth hard to swallow?", Qwin narrows his eyes.

"I had to intervene, master. That blindfold would've ended you.", Aku settles her down.

"Ah, yes, good. My performance should have been sufficient to deter a search.", Vania wobbles a bit.

"You lost, darling.", Vel lets out a soft giggle.

"But did I die, beloved?", Vania steadies herself before looking at her.

"No, you lived... thanks to me.", Vel tilts her head and smiles.

"No matter. Either outcome would have been favorable.", Vania shrugs.

"Why did you underestimate him? You ignored your own advice.", Vel brings a hand up to her chin.

"No, I just got ahead of myself. Anyone can be reckless.", Vania shakes her head.

"Well then, there is always a next time.", Vel smiles from ear to ear, her fingers curling.

"He lived?", Vania narrows her eyes.

"No, he got salvaged.", Vel responds.

"Mhm. He is useless scrap, a ticking bomb.", Vania dismisses.

"Alright. Shall we go on a vacation?", Vel inquires.

"Please do so. Are puppies allowed aboard, by the way?", Vania tilts her head with narrowed eyes.

"Things can be arranged.", Vel nods slowly.