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The sky seemed to reflect destiny.
Dense clouds dragged themselves across the firmament, shrouding the sun like a mountain.
A pale, sickly light descended upon the ruined field, staining the world gray.
But at the center of that chaos, a single presence radiated brilliance. It was not warmth.
It was not hope.
It was raw, painful, suffocating energy—as if the universe were silently weeping.
Karmore.
The energy flowing from her body flickered like flaming mirages. Her eyes… rained blood.
Not tears. Not emotion.
It was as if her very essence was shattering from within.
And yet, she shone.
The mark on Tekio's back pulsed. It was not common pain—it was an ancient call, an echo from forgotten ages.
Yara, inside him, felt it first.
— Amara... — she murmured in a spiritual whisper. — She also has a mark. She is like you, Tekio. You and my sister are like...
Shattered mirrors.
Tekio gritted his teeth. His breath trembled, but his eyes were steady.
He nodded mentally.
— Then we will fight... as reflections of who we once were. And of who we can become.
Yara smiled in his mind.
— I believe in you. And in us.
Their auras unified like a celestial fusion. White rays enveloped Tekio.
Yara's energy and Tekio's soul created a unique frequency, a perfect dance.
Then, the scream.
Karmore screamed with her soul.
It was not a sound. It was an explosion.
As if all the voices of hell had erupted from her throat.
Ancestral pain. Trauma. Hatred.
The ground vibrated. The air tore.
She raised her head.
Her gaze pierced Tekio's soul.
And she disappeared.
She appeared in front of Tekio in a blink, a crimson blur.
A black lightning enveloped her like an inverted scythe.
The first strike came dry—and threw Tekio ten meters back, even with his aura active.
Before he hit the ground, Karmore was already there, like a phantom.
Punch. Elbow. Knee.
Tekio was forced on the defensive, blocking with his arms and channeling Yara's energy to reinforce his body.
With each blow, spiritual sparks flew.
The air became a storm.
Every impact seemed to split the reality around them.
— She's faster. Stronger. — Yara said, focused.
— She's no longer hesitating. She's fighting to kill.
Tekio lunged with lightning dancing at his feet.
He threw punches—and each punch carried memories.
One step forward: his training with Aisha.
Two steps: his desperation upon seeing Stella wounded.
A spin, a curved punch: Dan's smile, Mei's scream.
He was fighting with everything he had. Not for glory.
But because it was all that remained.
Karmore grunted, evading with monstrous ease.
— Did you think I was joking, Tekio?
She appeared behind him, striking his kidney.
— DID YOU THINK YOU COULD SAVE ME?!
Tekio rolled on the ground and stood up panting.
Blood streamed down his forehead, but he shouted:
— I WILL SAVE YOU!
— WE WILL! — Yara completed, her voice echoing with his.
Their synchronization peaked.
Their bodies and souls vibrated in unison.
And the blade emerged.
It was not made of metal. It was made of memories.
Of pure energy.
Of pain and faith.
The Ethereal Blade.
Tekio ran. The world slowed down.
Karmore charged. Their auras collided like two planets.
The blade cut through the air and split Karmore's defenses. A real, deep cut in her aura.
She fell, gasping.
It was the end. Tekio was over her. The blade pulsed.
He could kill.
End it.
Resolve it.
But… he did not.
The blade dissolved.
He held her. Tightly.
An embrace like a scream.
— I will not kill you.
I know you are in there.
I will bring you back.
The Amara you forgot.
The one who cried beside her sister.
The one who smiled under the blue sky.
You will smile again… for yourself.
Silence.
Karmore trembled. Her eyes closed.
For an instant... just one... Tekio felt.
Peace.
Everything fell silent, Karmore's aura vanished, she simply accepted.
Then she whispered:
— Shut up.
Her hands snapped against Tekio's ears with supernatural force.
BOOM.
Eardrums bursting.
Eternal ringing.
Blood flying.
Tekio screamed in pain.
Fell.
Yara vanished from his mind.
The connection broke.
And the massacre began.
Karmore pulled him by the neck.
Threw him to the ground.
Kicked his chest with violence.
Tekio's blood painted the earth.
— I BET YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE A HERO.
— BELIEVING IN A HAPPY ENDING, HUH?! — She screamed while kicking his face. His jaw cracked.
Tekio could barely move.
— THIS IS A WAR, YOU IDIOT, DIDN'T ANY SIF TELL YOU???
She attacked him without mercy.
— NO SWORD, NO SOUL, NO PRIDE, NO CONQUESTS, JUST A BOY ABOUT TO DIE...
She punched him.
Punched again.
And again.
His face swelled, his eyes almost shut.
— "I WILL SAVE YOU," YOU SAY.
DON'T BULLSHIT ME, BRAT.
With each word, an explosion.
With each blow, a wound that was not just physical.
— You're just another one. Another piece of trash full of hopes.
— I should laugh. But I can only... hate you.
She cried blood.
Her eyes burned in a blue that contrasted with the crimson streaming down.
Her soul... was being extinguished in a distorted energy.
Tekio lay, shattered.
And the sky, above them all, finally broke into small drops of rain, a drizzle.
As if the world wept for someone who didn't know if they wanted to be saved...
... or destroyed.
In another part of the devastated field, the confrontation was cruel.
Fenra and Jouki faced each other in a duel that tore the world around them apart. The sky, darkened by the dense energy emanating from both, seemed to weep as the clash dragged on. The advantage, however, was visible: Jouki was in full form, her energy intact and her movements precise, as if chaos were her natural home. Fenra, on the other hand, was already wounded, tired, and bleeding from the last battle.
Even so, she resisted.
Using the domains of the Soul Realm, Fenra slid between the layers of reality, appearing and disappearing amid distorted flashes, evading Jouki's lethal attacks. But her speed was no longer the same. Her perception faltered. Her muscles felt heavy.
And then… she failed.
— Got you. — Jouki murmured, with sadistic coldness in her eyes.
Fenra tried to escape, but it was too late.
The impact was brutal. Fenra's body collided with the cracked concrete, and her head exploded in blood upon impact. The world spun. Her vision darkened at the edges. Still, she could hear.
— Your technique is annoying… — Jouki said, walking calmly toward her. — …you, at your peak, would be a formidable adversary.
A pity to die like this.
But Fenra still had one card left.
With effort, she raised a trembling hand and activated her last spiritual bomb at point-blank range. The explosion was intense, swallowing both in a wave of violet energy.
Jouki staggered back, breathless for the first time. But Fenra, destroyed and swaying, had no time to recover.
A fist drove into her stomach. Another struck her face. A kick sent her crashing against a wall. The blows continued.
Punch.
Kick.
Dust.
Blood.
Fenra was dragged through the rubble like a ragdoll, each impact taking more of her essence. She could barely stay conscious. But she endured. Waited. She knew her end had come, and yet… she just wanted to fulfill her role one more time.
Jouki raised her hand. Her black flames ignited, spinning like hungry serpents around her fingers.
— Die. — she said. The word sounded like a final sentence.
In the last seconds, Fenra's life flashed before her eyes.
And she smiled.
"Thank you, everyone… they were few moments, but they were the best of my life."
"I know I was difficult. Complicated. I turned away, I turned my back… but you never gave up on me."
"Sorry I can't do more… but, at least, I'll help you from up there."
A tear, silent and pure, streamed from her eye.
Then, she saw.
A light.
But it was not the light of the end.
It was a blade.
A light tearing through the air, with divine speed and precision.
A dry sound. A thud.
And blood. So much blood.
Jouki's forearm fell to the ground, twisted and still.
For the first time, Jouki recoiled with wide eyes.
— I will make you regret ever being born. — said a voice laden with a fury that burned like the sun itself.
They both turned at the same time.
Stella walked through the dust and debris, her presence vibrating like a contained storm.
Her golden eyes shone with silent fury.
And in her hand, a divine sword emanated light as if carrying the very judgment of the heavens.
— Come on, kitty… scared? — Stella provoked, with a cold smile.
Jouki, even feeling the throbbing pain of her lost arm, laughed. A strange laugh, almost proud.
— Finally… you've learned to shine.
To be continued...
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