Aerith then laughed again, but just as she was about to continue speaking, the air in the room suddenly became heavy, and then, several ghost-like things appeared in the room, crazily circling around them.
Seeing them appear, a trace of panic flashed across Aerith's face. Immediately after, she began to struggle, wanting to pull her hand out of Aiden's palm.
But how could Aiden let her get what she wished for, instead, he held on even tighter.
"Aiden, quickly let go, they will hurt you." Aerith said in panic. She of course knew what these things were. Whispers, a special kind of existence controlled by Sephiroth, used to maintain fate from changing.
However, she really couldn't figure out why they would appear here at this moment.
'If they really wanted to stop it, why didn't you appear when the Mako Reactor collapsed?' Looking at the Whispers spinning around them, Aerith was full of confusion in her heart.
But now wasn't the time to think about that, Aerith began to struggle again, because as long as she broke free, Whispers might not cling to Aiden.
"Let go already! Aiden!" Aerith was already speaking with a crying tone.
"I won't let go. If they're coming for you, then I'll face them together with you." Aiden gave her a slight smile, then suddenly picked her up, rushed through the Whispers, slammed open the door, and ran out.
And at the moment they rushed out, those Whispers also flew out with them. Nearly formless and intangible, they passed through walls and followed closely behind.
'They really are sticking close!' Looking at the Whispers behind, Aiden frowned deeply. Then he wrapped one arm around Aerith's waist and pulled out a revolver with the other, Kelly's Phantom Revolver, and while running, he turned sideways and pulled the trigger toward the Whispers.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Aiden emptied all the bullets in the chamber in one breath, and under the enhancement of psychic power, an equal number of psychic energy waves shot toward the Whispers.
Whispers were not physical entities. The bullets passed through them and had no effect at all.
But psychic energy was different. As a powerful energy, it had an extraordinary destructive force against the special existence of Whispers.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Sounds like bursting bubbles rang out in succession. Those Whispers were actually blasted into pieces by the waves of psychic energy.
"Aiden…" Aerith looked at Aiden in shock. It was the first time she had seen someone who could harm Whispers.
"Your man's skills are strong." Seeing the Whispers turn into a gray foggy mist, Aiden put Aerith down but still tightly held her hand.
But just as he finished speaking, the gray mist reformed again, turning back into ghostly shapes.
However, although they recovered, their sizes had clearly become smaller. After all, they were also a type of spiritual or energy being, and could not be without losses.
'They're really tough to deal with!' Aiden's gaze turned sharp. Then he twisted his hand, the revolver disappeared, twisted again, and a reloaded revolver appeared in his hand.
With the system space's rapid reload skill, he could reload at an unbelievable speed.
"Come on again!" With a fully loaded chamber, Aiden was full of confidence. Seeing those Whispers floating in mid-air without moving, he shouted and provoked them.
But those Whispers remained motionless, seemingly very wary of him.
"Could it be they're afraid?" Aerith saw that the Whispers were not moving for a long time and felt a bit relieved.
"Maybe." Aiden was a little unsure.
But soon, the two realized they had guessed wrong. Because at this moment, more Whispers appeared around them, densely packed, no less than twenty, and still increasing.
This time Aiden finally let go of Aerith's hand, not because he chickened out, but because with so many of them, relying on a single gun alone would be impossible to handle.
However, when Aiden let go, Aerith was secretly happy, because as long as he wasn't too close to her, those Whispers might not cling to Aiden.
"Can you still see them?" Aerith asked hopefully. She wished Aiden would say they had disappeared.
But to her disappointment, Aiden shook his head. "I can still see them."
"How is that possible?" Aerith was shocked.
And at that moment, the now sufficient number of Whispers began a new round of attack, drifting unpredictably toward the two of them, no, toward Aiden.
"Run quickly, Aiden!" Aerith panicked and urged Aiden to leave while placing her hands in front of her chest, preparing to cast magic to stop them.
But before her spell was ready, Aiden had already rushed out. He was wielding two identical revolvers and charged into the midst of the Whispers.
"No!" Aerith also rushed forward, but then she heard Aiden shout, "Crouch down!"
Almost instinctively trusting Aiden without question, Aerith crouched down, and then saw Aiden strike a pose with both hands crossed in front of his chest.
'This move, it's my first time using it in real combat!'
Aiden chanted something under his breath, then suddenly pulled the triggers in all directions.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Amid the fierce gunfire, countless bullets shot out in all directions, accompanied by a dense barrage of psychic energy waves.
Seeing this scene, Aerith covered her mouth in shock, her eyes sparkling with stars. At this moment, she even forgot the threat of the Whispers. In her mind, only one word remained. 'Cool!'
Yes, Aiden fired in all directions with an extremely cool posture, his movements carrying a trace of elegance, almost looking like a dance.
And what he was using now was the skill of the female ranger, Gun Dance.
Psychic energy waves shot out in all directions. The Whispers near Aiden were all blasted into gray fog. Since he had fired so many bullets, the psychic energy waves that missed hit surrounding buildings, causing booming explosions.
Fortunately, their location was beside an abandoned church, and the nearby buildings were also deserted. No one lived there, or else this wild shooting spree would have caused unknown casualties.
The Gun Dance lasted for nearly half a minute. When Aiden stopped firing, the area within dozens of meters was completely covered in gray mist, as if trapped in a cage of fog.
"Amazing, Aiden!" Seeing Aiden stylishly blow away the Whispers, Aerith cheered and rushed forward to hug him.
But Aiden's eyes narrowed. He saw someone standing on the top of a distant building. Although it was far away, he could feel the other's scorching gaze.
'Could it be him…? No way, if he were looking for someone, he should've gone to find Cloud first.' Seeing that person, Aiden vaguely guessed his identity, after all, Whispers were only controlled by one person.
But he wasn't certain. After thinking for a moment, he turned and pulled Aerith into the church.
———
In fact, there were people near the church. For example, in a house that had been blasted into ruins by psychic energy, a young man with orange-red hair lay on the floor.
This man was a member of the Turks, Reno.
"This guy… so strong!" Reno was drenched in cold sweat, he was scared.
As one of Aerith's protectors, it was his turn to be on duty tonight. He thought it would be like every other peaceful night, so he went to his usual place to rest. But in his drowsiness, he suddenly heard intense gunfire.
So he got up to see what was going on, only to see a barrel-thick energy ball flying at the house where he was resting.
If he hadn't been agile and instantly dove to the ground, he would have been blown to pieces by the wild psychic energy, just like his room.
Even so, he was hit by falling bricks and nearly buried.
"This guy, what the hell is he doing in the middle of the night? Is he trying to show off his strength in front of Aerith?" Reno muttered, brushing the dust off his body while getting up. He couldn't see the Whispers, so he could only speculate with his own logic.
At that moment, Aiden had already taken Aerith and run deeper into the church.
Reno was confused, but seeing they had run far off, he followed them while pulling out a communicator to report to his superior.
———
Inside the church, Aiden shielded Aerith behind him, warily staring at the person who suddenly appeared before him.
That person was wrapped in an old-fashioned robe. Because he wore a large hood, his appearance couldn't be seen, but Aiden had a familiar feeling, as if he had seen him not long ago.
"Don't bother thinking, we have met. It was a month ago." That person seemed able to see Aiden's thoughts and spoke first when Aiden looked pensive.
"A month ago?" Aiden was stunned. Then his pupils shrank sharply. He finally remembered.
A month ago, just after he came to this world and rescued Marlene, he had indeed seen someone in such a robe pass by on the street. He thought it was some church believer at the time.
'No wonder I found him familiar,' Aiden thought.
"You must be thinking: 'No wonder he looks familiar,' right?" the robed man asked.
Aiden nodded, "That's right."
"Hahaha, actually I thought you looked familiar too. I never expected that the person I had been looking for, the one who disrupted fate, I actually saw a month ago." The robed man laughed loudly. "And yet I stupidly kept searching all this time, searching so many people."
At this moment, Aerith asked behind him, "Who are you really?"
"Who am I?" The robed man seemed stunned, then burst out laughing, "You already have the answer in your heart, so why ask me? Or are you thinking that by pretending not to know, you can escape your fate?"
As soon as he said this, Aerith's face instantly turned pale, and her eyes filled with panic and worry.
"Why? Why won't you give up? It clearly could have been changed!" Then Aerith clenched her fists and shouted with all her strength.
"Change? That's not so easy. Because this is the fate of you and me." The robed man muttered, then raised his hand toward the sky. In an instant, a massive number of Whispers appeared in the church.
There were now so many Whispers that they couldn't be counted. Aerith, seeing them, trembled and tightly hugged Aiden's arm.
Aiden was surprised too, but calmed himself and patted Aerith's hand to comfort her.
Just as he turned his gaze back toward the robed man, somehow, at an unknown time, the figure had transformed into a nearly two-meter tall man with waist-length white hair.
And he, was the man among men, the alpha among alphas…
"Sephiroth." Aiden pronounced his name, word by word.
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