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"Sister..."
Antigonus frowned. "My influence over Salinger seems weaker than I thought."
He gazed at the illusory dream in the Mother of Heaven's hands. Within it, with his help, Salinger's movements began to slow, giving the Mother of Heaven several opportunities to attack and repeatedly inflict wounds on Death. At the same time, however, the aura of death was also corroding the Mother of Heaven, affecting her more and more severely. Her vitality plummeted, and her spirituality began draining away.
Antigonus frowned slightly. He looked at the back of his hand, then at his sister's profile. After saying this, he fell silent.
Only after two seconds did the Mother of Heaven answer him:
"No, Antigonus, you aren't weak at all. Your help has been very reliable."
Her voice was thick with exhaustion, and she spoke somewhat slowly, as though the battle in the dream was affecting her at the same time.
"Really? As long as I'm not a burden."
Antigonus's brow relaxed a little, but doubt and gravity remained on his face.
"Sister, are you confident you can kill Salinger? We might be able to seriously injure him, but we might not have the ability to kill him. Besides, the battlefield you've envisioned is right beside the River of Eternal Darkness, in Calderón in the Spirit World, an important city to both generations of Death..."
Two more seconds passed after he finished before the Mother of Heaven's voice came softly:
"...I don't know either, Antigonus."
"I don't know what I can accomplish, or whether I can defeat Death... but I do know that I have to do something. If I don't strike, he'll kill me. Even if I can only seriously injure him, that's enough. I can't remain prey with no ability to resist, like before."
Antigonus was silent