Chapter 223

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> *Do you think it's too late for you?*
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*- Seraphina asks John an armor-piercing question*

This is the 223rd chapter of *unORDINARY.*

## Summary

Arlo and Remi look at the ability-restored Seraphina with awe, wondering how she regained her ability so quickly. Seraphina stares down a petrified Zeke and orders him to leave. The terrified “Godslayer” willingly obliges, unwilling to be anywhere near John and Seraphina.

John remarks that the return of Seraphina’s ability was timed rather conveniently. Seraphina asks him to clarify, and he tells her to drop her act of innocence. John tells Seraphina that he believes that the authorities helped her regain her abilities, and she hid them from him in order to eventually ambush him. Seraphina coldly asks John whether that was really what he thought, and begins to tell him that she risked a lot to regain her ability. John ferociously lashes out, telling her that he isn’t interested in hearing her tale. He orders her to leave so he can finish off Arlo and Remi. Seraphina boldly refuses.

Internally John confirms his suspicions of Seraphina secretly supporting the Royals. Seraphina tells Arlo and Remi to leave. Remi starts to protest, but Arlo stops her, telling her that Seraphina most likely had a plan, and they would only hold her back. A reluctant Remi relents, but John has other ideas. He sends a volley of Electrical Swords at Arlo and Remi, but Seraphina stops time and smashes the swords apart one by one, allowing Arlo and Remi to escape. This deals tremendous damage to her arms however, and she thinks that it has been a while since she took this much damage. This doesn’t end up fazing her, as she rewinds time to heal her arms.

The now furious John tells Seraphina that if she really wants to fight him so badly, then he will crush her as well. Thus saying, he summons his barrier and electric vines, and fires the electrical vines at Seraphina. As the vines approach her, Seraphina is reminded of her talk with Claire, where Claire said that John responded only to power and violence. Therefore, Seraphina grudgingly decides to match John in strength. She stops time to dodge the vines and punches John’s barrier, creating small cracks in it. Both John and Seraphina take serious damage as a result of this.

Seraphina pleads that John listens to her, as all she wanted to do was talk. John bitterly tells Seraphina that after everything, she still turned on him. He tells her that he has nothing to say to her, and fires more electrical vines. Seraphina dodges this attack once again, via her ability. She tells John that she is standing right before him, but he refused to accept her help. She slams his barrier hard, telling him that he put up so many mental walls, that it was impossible to help him by any other way except force. Seraphina’s hand is ablaze with pain from attempting to break the barrier, but she simply heals it by rewinding time, and punches the barrier once more.

John screams at Seraphina, telling her to shut up, and grows electrical spikes from his barrier towards Seraphina. Seraphina narrowly avoids this almost lethal attack. She suddenly feels dizzy, and her vision becomes blurry. She has flashbacks of Leilah asking her if she really wanted the treatment. She stays strong however, and heals her broken arm. John thunders at Seraphina, telling her she doesn’t know what is right for him, since she teamed up with Arlo and Remi to attack him. Seraphina pauses and tells John that ever since they met, John has just been receding further and further into his corner of misery, and now that he has nowhere to hide, he is lashing out at everyone else. She desperately tells John that nobody else is fighting him, he is the one fighting himself.

John refuses to accept this, and shouts, telling Seraphina to shut up again. He fires a new volley of electrical daggers at Seraphina at extremely high speeds. Seraphina stops time, charges up to the barrier, and kicks it with all her might. She asks John how long he will keep denying himself. She pleads John to open his eyes, telling him that things have changed for the better, and he need not go on his painful and lonely path any more. A silenced John reflects on how Blyke, Arlo and Remi tried to undo their past mistakes, but coldly wonders why they were allowed to move on at all, while he was stuck in this eternal cycle.

He screams loudly, telling Seraphina that he doesn’t care whether things have changed, since the Royals can never fathom to make up for their mistakes. He summons up a helical swirl of electrical vines. Seraphina asks him why the Royals cannot make up for their mistakes. John replies that they have failed, they have proven that they are monsters. Seraphina pauses, now fully understanding John’s mentality, and asks John if that is how he feels about himself. She asks him if he thinks that his mistakes are too grave to repent. John explodes, firing the vines at Seraphina. Seraphina stops time again, and dodges all the attacks.

Seraphina begs John to take down his barrier so they can settle the situation peacefully. John does not relent however,  and continues to attack Seraphina with the Electrical Vines. He tells himself that no matter what he does, nothing will ever make up for what he has done. Desperately trying to silence the pain and suffering in his head, he wraps the vines around his barrier, reinforcing it, all the while clutching his head in pain, finally breaking under the immense amount of built-up guilt and self-hatred, as Seraphina watches in horror. Within moments, John is concealed behind his electrical vine-reinforced barrier. Seraphina tries to stop him, but begins to feel the combined pain of the treatment and the titanic battle she just had with John. She desperately calls out his name.

## Appearing Abilities

* Time Manipulation
* Aura Manipulation
* Phase Shift
* Vine Conjure (copied)
* Barrier (copied)
* Lightning (copied)