Chapter 62: Equally assured destruction
Arora's empty gaze swept over the devastation around her for several moments as she carefully readjusted herself.
She felt confused and disoriented.
After all, she had just assimilated her memories from her last day on Earth. Every brutal and soul-burning moment of it.
Outwardly, she stood tall and calm, like the very symbol of serenity. Inwardly though, her mind was in utter chaos.
She was Arora.
Or was she?
Was she a different version of Arora than the one that had originally reincarnated into this world?
She had the experiences of both of her vastly different selves.
One shaped by the friendship, care and love she had found in her second life.
The other shaped by the utter despair she had been thrown into from the moment she was born, till the moment of her death.
She wasn't sure which experience defined the current her anymore.
Before her reincarnation, she had wanted to destroy everything. She had wanted to bring the world to nothing for turning its back against her and everyone she even slightly cared about.
For allowing her to be born just to suffer over and over.
In fact, she was sure she still did.
But, at the same time, she wasn't sure if she still felt the same way.
Her mind was filled with contradictions and paradoxes.
She didn't know what she wanted anymore. She was consumed by hatred, and at the same time, was rational enough to know that she shouldn't give into it.
She didn't know what to do anymore.
Her hand slowly went up to her hair in puzzlement as she noticed the white highlights now coating it. She tilted her head in confusion at the phenomena.
After a while, her gaze landed on something peculiar.
She went over and picked it up gently.
It was a bracelet, Arbus's bracelet.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
A pulse of destruction had erupted from her moments ago when she had received all her memories in full.
This bracelet had been taken from her by Dorian earlier. It was at the very center of the blast. And yet, it was undamaged.
A thought suddenly came to her. She remembered Arbus telling her about the bracelet being made and enchanted by his mother — Angel, the Princess of Tarok.
'Seems like I underestimated just how powerful she really was,' she thought.
She gently caressed the bracelet as memories of her time with Arbus flashed through her mind. How he made her feel like a normal girl for the first time in her life. How he always made her smile with his stupid jokes and snarkiness. All the things he had taught her. All the wonderful things and places he had showed her... All the places he had promised to show her.
"Arbus," she muttered, her voice strained. "What should I do?"
"It... It's a Human!!! It's really a Human!!!" A voice suddenly came from above the crater.
Arora slowly turned toward it, her eyes narrowing as she saw hundreds, no, thousands of figures watching her from above. Most were towering adult Tarokians sporting weapons of all kinds. The others were Mornans and creatures she knew nothing about, still here from the competition.
'They're scared' she thought as she noticed the frightful expressions on their faces.
She glanced around her briefly, understanding why they would be.
She had just wiped out several houses in one fell swoop.
She had also killed Dorian, Beck, and Grug in the attack. She was sure there were other casualties as well.
Strangely enough though... she felt nothing.
She didn't feel any guilt, regret or shame about what she had done.
She also didn't feel any pride, joy or fulfillment because of it.
It had simply happened, and there was nothing to do besides move on from it. An unintentional accident she couldn't control.
She was sure her old self would have felt the same way about killing the three Tarokians. But she would also have been crushed by guilt over the innocents caught in the blast. On the other hand, the version of her just before death would have felt a fleeting sense of victory at making others experience her pain.
She was both of them, and at the same time neither.
Finally, her gaze sharpened as she placed the bracelet into her dark sweater. She was surprised she still had these clothes at first, then guessed she'd instinctively protected them from her own blast.
She turned to her audience shortly after.
"Citizens and visitors of Tarok," she called out, her voice carrying across the crater. "I am not here to fight you. I am Arora, a human reincarnated into your world."
"I do not wish to harm you. I am not like the humans you have encountered or heard of before. For now, I simply wish to be left alone."
She remained silent for several moments as the crowd watched her with stunned expressions.
A moment later, most of them turned to flee.
"Ahhhh! It's a Reincarnator, a real Reincarnator!" Some of the Mornans screamed in terror as they fled.
The Tarokians that remained gazed at Arora with tense expressions as they drew their weapons. They made sure all the children and visitors evacuated from the area.
Eventually, all that was left were hundreds of full-fledged Tarokian warriors that were going to defend their home at all costs.
"Surrender peacefully, and we'll hand you over to the Renegades to decide your fate!" One of the larger Tarokians shouted.
'How troublesome' she thought with a frown.
"Like I said before, we don't have to be enem-"
Arora's eyes suddenly widened in shock as she felt the pressure from a spear moments away from blowing her head apart.
It had been launched with such force that despite her abilities awakening more after she regained her memories, she couldn't react at all.
Rage bubbled inside her as her eyes switched colors in an instant.
The dim orange color of her iris switched with the deep black of her pupils.
A moment later the spear struck, sending her crashing into the crater walls.
"Thank goodness, I made it in time" an old Tarokian said through ragged breaths, his hand outstretched in a throwing motion.
"E-elder!!" Some of the Tarokians bellowed in joy.
He had noticed the blast from kilometers away and immediately ran here at full speed despite his aching bones.
When he had arrived, he saw the crowd fleeing the scene in fear, and the warriors standing around the crater. He pushed past them and spotted the figure in the center.
A young girl that resembled the one he had seen not too long ago. The only difference was that she no longer looked like a Mornan.
He had suspected something was off with her from the start but had simply dismissed it as paranoia. Now it turned out that he had been correct, even underestimating the danger she posed.
He took in the devastation and the scarce remains of Tarokians who were only partially caught in the blast as he gritted his teeth in rage and self-hatred.
He had ignored his powerful senses and it had cost so many innocents their lives.
He couldn't make that mistake again, despite her just being a child.
He had quickly taken his spear from his back and tossed it at her, with the full force of an ex-Renegade Captain.
The old Tarokian elder watched solemnly as the human girl was sent flying.
'Her head had probably exploded into countless pieces when my spear hit' he thought somberly.
It wouldn't be the first time.
But he certainly hoped it would be the last.
He sighed deeply as he scanned the crowd of celebrating warriors, a smile appearing on his weathered face.
But then, his eyes widened as he noticed movement from the crater.
Arora slowly floated up, her body aching from the force of the impact she had just experienced.
It seemed like she still had a lot to learn about her ability.
She had managed to activate The Interitus a moment before the spear had struck her.
It had completely destroyed the spear, but couldn't eliminate the kinetic energy behind the attack.
She studied her aching body for a few more moments, then looked up at the place the spear had come from.
She locked eyes with the shocked Tarokian elder for a few seconds.
"I do not want to fight. I do not want to hurt you. I do not want enemies..." she said loudly, her voice strangely cold and distant.
ZING!!!
The crowd of Tarokian warriors stared in shock at the direction Arora was facing. The upper half of the Tarokian elder who had been standing there a second ago suddenly vanished.
Not only that.
The few Tarokians that had been standing just behind him had been erased partly as well.
Arora brought her finger down as she turned to the crowd of warriors.
"...But if you attack. If you bear ill will towards me. Or even an ounce of killing intent. If you see me as your enemy."
"Then I will kill you." She said coldly.
"I will kill all my enemies with no remorse."
"Never again, will I be the one taken by surprise. Never again will I be the victim!" she said, her voice rising slowly with each word.
"....If you seek my destruction, then you shall face your own instead."
Arora had finally decided.
She didn't care whether her enemy was the despicable humans she hated so much now. Or a Mornan. Or a Tarokian. or whatever else.
It didn't matter to her anymore. She viewed them all equally.
She would accept both versions of herself fully.
She would live her life to the fullest with no restraint.
But if someone, anyone, from any species, came after her. Then she would destroy them instead, until she was satisfied.
"Am I Understood?"
The crowd of Tarokian warriors remained silenl for a moment, paralyzed by the display of power they had just witnessed.
But a second later...
Chaos ensued.