All Chapters of The Least Common Denominator: Chapter 271 - Chapter 280
499 chapters
Interlude XXIII: Arya III
Arya was never one for vengeance. Living a carefree life with her one true love was the only thing that she had wanted in her admittedly short life. And while that dream was no longer possible due to her own regrettable mistakes, she at least had something to replace it with to keep herself from going insane with grief. "Step away from the two of them, Branch. You're in Imperial territory, which means I'm well within my right to execute you." Yes... While she had gotten sidetracked with a brief visit to the capital, the former Prime thanked the gods that she had managed to catch up to her Lady Eul. The rage she felt when she had learned that her two wards had gotten themselves in a fight against a Branch of all people made her almost lost her grip on her own blood; her non-functioning heart almost succeeding in completing a whole beat as her anger made it impossible for her no
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Checkpoint V
The Kingdom of Vaio. While smaller than its neighbor and rival, Numenor, it can still boast the fact that they had the superior system in terms of utilizing Essence. It wasn't that hard, really. After all, it was a part of the kingdom's curriculum on the Vaion Academy for students as young as seven years old, and they can graduate as a fully-fledged Fleur so long as they can pass the graduation exam. And for those that didn't pass, they can still apply to become a Feuille so long as their grades weren't abysmally bad. That way, every citizen with the capability to harness the power of Essence had a chance to contribute to the well-being of their humble kingdom. Such is the way of the Vaio. A way that was threatened by the Numenorian Empire's reckless invasion. "What an eyesore..." For Jeanne-Franciose de la Aristote, the war was something of a wast
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LIII.I Radian
How long has it been since this wild journey of mine started in this fucked up world? Four years? Five? I had completely lost count of it all alongside my own age the longer I tried to live on for the sake of my sister. Then again, me losing track of my own age at least made it easier for me to delude myself that I was still young. Already, I could feel the existential crisis that age gave me back in the old world; the fact that we're all going to die one way or another putting a damper on my already sour mood as I tried my best to navigate Livia's safe house without getting lost again.   "Where the fuck was it again?"   Well, at the very least, I could still remember that it had already been a week since that disastrous run-in with that plant Num named Tourniquet. And while I knew that wasn't her real name, it was still fun for me to say that word over and over
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LIII.II Radian
A gentle knock on the door threatened to make me fall out of my chair as I quickly ran my mind to whoever the fuck it could even be. This was a safe house in the middle of nowhere. Nobody should know where it was unless some random mook inadvertently stumbled upon it after somehow getting taking a path that led to a place with no civilization in it whatsoever.   Were we tailed? It was certainly possible. There were still a ton of French soldiers unaccounted for. And based on Tourniquet's claims, they managed to relocate while we were busy fighting for our lives. It was wholly a possibility that they spotted this house while they were moving and only now were they trying to investigate.   *KNOCK KNOCK*   Oh fuck...   Grabbing the Firebrand, I made my way towards the door, my min
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LIII.III Radian
I spoke too soon.   "What do you mean you loved my mother?!"   "It's exactly that, Sweetie~ I don't mince my words for smart people. Especially you~"   It doesn't make any damn sense! Why would that equate to loving me?! And on top of that, if she loved Mother, then why the fuck would she try to kill her?!   "Then why did you kill her then?!" I shouted at the top of my voice, my face getting hotter the longer this farce of a discussion went on. "If you loved Mother, then why did you execute her and laughed it up as you did it?!"   "I already told my reasons, Crimson~" the blue-bitch cooed, but I could tell that her earlier mirth was gone. "I couldn't simply disobey orders. And my idiot of a brother would tattle on me as soon as I turned on him~"
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LIV.I Trajectory
The lesson of forgiveness was something I've been constantly coming across ever since I started my journey as a media consumer. In the old world, stories of revenge and forgiveness were a nonstop slog of crying, hatred, and the inevitable conclusion of burying a part of yourself to do the final act of vindication. While I, myself, never really subscribed to such beliefs, I do agree that the act of revenge was something that could irrevocably change a person depending on the retribution they wished to enact on those that wronged them. The constant burning desire for revenge was something that was just liable to make you burn some bridges among other things that you might've cared about. Then again, I did subscribe to such a belief back when my parents got brutally murdered in front of me.
LIV.II Trajectory
With a practiced swing, I delivered a sideways slash towards Arya. With the former Prime still sitting on her chair made of water, her body profile was still long as it was taller. Even if I didn't hit, I would still clip her water chair or even possibly nick her if she didn't even bother to move. My blade flew true towards my target; my attack soaring through the air with a whistle as it hurtled towards the still relaxing Prime that wouldn't even bother to move away. Was she seriously not gonna do anything? Was she pulling another 'stab me to death' stunt again? I had a small inkling that she was partly suicidal, but I never thought she would be this brazen about it! Without even thinking it, I found myself slowing my blade just a tad bit just to- "Don't hesitate, Sweetie~" What? *SPLASH!*<
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LIV.III Trajectory
Never in my professional career had I seen someone smile away at a fatal wound in their chest. Granted, Arya wasn't the picture-perfect image of mental stability, and I did cause the wound in the first place, but holy shit was it jarring to look at the mangled heap of glistening flesh that was the apparent wound sticking out of the older woman's chest. And to think that she just said that her heart hadn't fully healed somehow?! "E-explain," I found myself stuttering as I resisted the urge to go right up to her chest and examine the wound. "Weelll... I'm pretty sure I haven't had a pulse since you stabbed me~" the bluenette casually reminisced, a finger on her cheek as she seemingly looked up the ceiling. "And the only reason I'm alive is because I'm manually controlling the liquids inside my body~" ...If my jaw wasn't o
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LIV.IV Trajectory
"You know you can always touch me, right?~" Ignoring my patient's flirtatious actions, I honed in on the jarring gash that was adorning the center of her chest. It wasn't really the best place for it, but it wasn't like I had any other choice other than to let the thought of not doing something about it fester in my head. As much as I wouldn't like to admit it, my sensibilities as a healthcare professional still had some sway over my plebian personality. "Shut up and let me work." Looking at the wound in much closer detail, the earlier glance didn't do the damn thing justice in showing just how fucked it was from a medical standpoint. Despite being years old, the gash still looked like it was made just yesterday; with bits of flesh still glistening with visceral fluid as it hovered on the outskirts of the not-so-small incision still present in her
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LIV.V Trajectory
I don't even know how I'm supposed to begin. In spite of the poor lighting, Arya's ruined anatomy was painfully clear for me to see. A hollow cavity greeted me as opposed to something that might even be classified as heart muscle; a pool of blood flowing in an orderly cyclone in the middle of all the empty mess. I had told her to stop circulation at all toward her heart, but I guess this was still technically correct, in a sense. "S-sis..." Livia whispered. "How..." "I don't know either," I shook my head as I inferred her question. "It's exactly as she said; she's manually circulating her blood throughout her body." It was a marvel to look at, to be quite honest. With Arya's heart having been reduced to a shred of its former self, blood predictably pooled into the cavity that once occupied the vital organ. Such a thing
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