MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 854: Memory

Aura Nova stood upon the surface of a moon with a serene smile curving her lips as she watched the battle rampaging across the vast expanse of the Galaxy. This was the first time she had ever left her Dusk Planet for a meeting that spanned the entire Galactic domain, yet it had erupted into something as chaotic and magnificent as this. For as long as she could remember, she had always been stronger, overpowered, even than all. It was one of the reasons she looked forward to meeting with Anthony, Lucian, and Aaaninja.

They were the three individuals who could challenge her in the truest sense, the only ones capable of pushing her beyond her limit in a way that felt thrilling. Although Charles himself was talented, to Aura Nova, Charles could not even spar with her unless he summoned the Spirit King, an act that always consumed half of his lifespan.

’Beautiful,’ she thought with quiet delight as she continued to watch without moving. Although Akira wasn’t sitting or lying on her head as usual, Aura Nova had no doubt that her cat was perfectly fine. After all, how many beings as special and peculiar as Akira existed in this Galaxy?

As she casually raised a hand to create popcorn using her ability, a blur of motion sliced into her field of vision, slamming violently into the lunar surface beneath her. The moon shook with a heavy tremor, sinking inwards as lunar dust and debris skyrocketed into the cosmic sky.

Aura Nova sighed softly, her show having been abruptly interrupted. ’It seems I can no longer watch,’ she mused silently. For as much as she loved fighting, she loved observing battles just as deeply. It was the reason she hadn’t rushed into the ongoing conflict like everyone else and had chosen instead to watch it from afar.

Aura Nova’s sky-blue eyes shifted slightly to where the new enemy was supposed to be lurking, but the entity was no longer there. Instead, all that filled her vision was a claw tearing toward her face with a vicious, glittering arc. Yet Aura Nova did not panic. Her center of gravity simply shifted ever so slightly, her shoulder, foot, and waist sliding just enough for the claw to tear past her with destructive force.

She could feel the claw shredding through the cosmic air where her head had been mere milliseconds ago. She could hear the cosmic wind screaming in her ears as it tore past her side. Without missing even a fraction of a moment, blue light flashed in her hands and a pair of short swords materialized within her grasp. She did not pause, she did not hesitate, she retaliated with lethal force and blinding speed.

Her right short sword streaked toward the enemy’s chest, the opening before her wide and undefended. But the creature was anything but slow. Its foot shifted with an unnatural bend, twisting its form in an impossible motion as it blurred backward, coming to a stop a few meters away from Aura Nova.

The being stood seven feet tall, its entire form white as spectral ash, with numerous eyes covering its elongated arms. Glittering, razor-sharp claws extended from the ends of those twisted limbs.

Aura Nova did not panic as the monster dodged. In fact, she felt a flicker of excitement. She was genuinely pleased that the abomination before her was capable of avoiding her strike, it meant this encounter would not devolve into a one-shot battle. In a chilling instant, she vanished from sight. One moment she was meters away; the next, she stood before the creature, her twin short swords screaming forward in a crossed slash aimed at its neck.

The eyes on its arms glowed with eerie brilliance as the creature mirrored Aura Nova’s movements in real time. Its claws sliced forward in a mirrored cross attack. With a dreadful impact, claws met blades in a shower of orange sparks. The moon beneath them sank inwards, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface before it shattered completely, leaving both combatants plummeting into the expanse of the Galaxy.

Neither stopped even as they fell. Their forms twisted into streaks of motion, one pure white, the other sky-blue, as they leapt from one lunar fragment to another, attacking each other like two natural-born enemies destined to clash.

The next moment, they landed atop a comet streaking through the void.

’It’s copying my technique and attack pattern,’ Aura Nova observed, her smile never fading. Usually she was the one replicating others’ abilities or skills, not the reverse. Yet despite the abomination matching her movements and attacks, she felt no fear. She welcomed the challenge.

’It must be its eyes,’ she thought, her smile shifting into a playful grin. Instantly, her speed skyrocketed, the force behind her attacks increasing abruptly. Her twin short swords tore toward one of the elongated arms, aiming directly for the cluster of eyes embedded upon it.

The abomination attempted to twist away, but even with the predictive power of its many eyes, it was useless. Aura Nova’s blades flashed, countless streaks of silver ripping through the cosmic air as she shredded the eyes on one arm into minced fragments.

The white creature blurred backward, attempting desperately to put distance between itself and Aura Nova. The remaining eyes on its other elongated arm flared with white light. Aura Nova instantly felt a wave of unknown energy crash into her mind. Her surroundings distorted, morphing into a vision depicting moments of profound sadness, one of her weakest memories and moments.

But Aura did not react to this false reality. She recognized the illusion instantly. She simply stared at the version of herself trapped within the fabricated memory. Her mind drifted back to that moment for a brief second before she shook her head.

’It seems the eyes on its arms do not possess just one ability,’ Aura Nova reflected. ’They can mirror movements... and now illusions as well.’ Her sky-blue eyes shifted toward the abomination, which was rocketing toward her, fully convinced she was ensnared in its illusion.

Initially, Aura had intended to enjoy herself with her first opponent in this Planetary-level battle. But through its illusion, it had brushed against a memory she had not permitted it to touch, a memory she never wanted revisited.

The twin short swords vanished from her hands, and her form blurred away fully, disappearing from the illusion’s influence. She reappeared directly before the abomination, whose elongated arm had already begun regenerating. The creature could not even react. Aura Nova’s speed had entered a tier it could not hope to perceive, let alone match, even with its numerous eyeballs.

Aura’s hand clamped around its face, halting the creature mid-charge. Then, with the force akin to a star collapsing, she slammed it into the comet beneath their feet. A galactic boom thundered outward in a violent shockwave. The sound of bones breaking echoed through the void, but Aura was not finished.

Reality flickered for a moment, the surroundings dissolving. A massive star now floated behind the abomination. Without hesitation, Aura Nova slammed the creature’s head into it again with apocalyptic force, its skull battering against stellar energy. The abomination could not even scream, Aura’s hand remained clamped over its mouth.

Reality flickered again, this time near the blazing surface of a sun. She slammed its head once more, the sickening sound of flesh and bone parting echoing through the sun’s radiant glow. With one final distortion of reality, they appeared upon the surface of a distant planet.

The abomination lay sprawled across the planetary surface as Aura Nova gazed down upon it. Before it could blink or recover from the unimaginable torment it had endured in mere seconds, her foot descended from above, slamming into its head with titanic force. Its entire skull vanished instantly, reduced to nothing but black blood, crushed bone, and shredded flesh.

Aura Nova’s face was now colder than frozen starlight. The abomination beneath her boot had touched upon a memory she had never granted it permission to access, a memory that should have remained sealed forever.