Volume 4—Chapter 96: Achieving Sequence
Run… well, I am not afraid, but I value my life more than anything right now.
“Stop running, will you? Irana!” Ariana’s voice resounded through the hall.
She had been chasing me for quite a while; the heat she carried could be felt on my back every time I slowed down. But this wouldn’t last long. I just needed everything to align the way I wanted it to. Once that happened, everything could finally be over.
This building is abandoned, its corridors silent except for the sound of my boots striking the floor. To an outsider, I must have looked like I was running in panic, aimlessly running from one hallway to another. But in truth… every turn, every direction, every frozen mark I left behind, it all had purpose.
“You can stop chasing me now…” I said, glancing over my shoulder.
Frost spread from my hand in an instant, crawling along the walls and sealing the path behind me in solid ice. But just as quickly, flames erupted, shattering the frozen barrier into steam.
Her power burned through mine with ease. But that was fine. That was part of the plan.
It seemed Ariana hadn’t realised what I was doing yet.
Then I stopped. The sequence I’d been chasing was finally in place.
“Finally… willing to talk now?” Ariana taunted.
The wall beside her shattered. A small figure tumbled through the gap and landed awkwardly on the floor. He might be tiny, but he looked useful.
“Aneki’s little sister… are you alright?” he called.
Arthur Yvonne. Onee-chan’s follower. What does she call it? The naughty kids? Definitely need a new name.
“This is getting out of hand… but no matter, I can…” Arthur started, and then something slammed into him and sent him flying back through the hole he had come from.
“I just wanted to talk… but if you want to fight, so be it,” Ariana said, flames igniting in her hands.
There we go… finally.
I took a deep breath, readied my stance, and faced her head-on.
Last time we fought, the building is burning… but now….
I took a deep breath and raised my hand. The air between us turned cold, sharp enough to sting the skin.
“So, we’re doing this for real now?”
I didn’t answer. My eyes glanced around the room, tracing the spots I had shot earlier. The bullets of ice were still lodged in the walls and pipes above. Perfect.
I snapped my fingers.
The shards shattered, and at once, bursts of water erupted from the ceiling, cascading down like sudden rain. The once-dry hallway turned wet in seconds. I could see the confusion on Ariana’s face… good.
“That’s new,” she said, stepping back as the water spread under her feet.
I touched the ground, freezing the thin layer of water around me into solid ice. “Let’s see how your flames handle this.”
Ariana laughed, her palm igniting. “You really think that’s enough to stop me?”
She threw a wave of fire toward me. The flame roared, but the instant it touched the misty air, it fizzled, steam bursting between us. My ice and her fire clashed, filling the room with white haze.
“Not bad,” she said through the smoke. “You’ve learned a few tricks.”
Tricks, huh? Maybe. I just turn the environment to my advantage.
I sent a spike of ice straight through the steam. She dodged, but I wasn’t aiming for her. The spike hit the floor behind her, cracking open another pipe. More water spilt out, spreading across the floor.
She didn’t realise it yet, but she was standing in my territory now.
The steam began to clear, revealing Ariana standing firm, flames dancing along her arms. The water on the floor hissed and bubbled, the air thick with heat. I was ready to attack again, but then…
A flash of blue light crashed through the wall.
“Arthur?!”
He landed beside me, one knee on the floor, his gauntlets sparking with energy. “I’m not letting you face her alone, Aneki’s little sister.”
Before I could say anything, he was already moving. In a blur, he dashed forward, punching through Ariana’s guard. The impact shook the room, sending her staggering back.
“You picked the wrong target, fire girl!” Arthur shouted.
For a moment, I thought maybe… maybe this would be it, finally, could arrest her. But then, the air twisted. A sharp metallic scent filled my nose.
“What the…”
From behind Ariana, something slithered out of the shadows. A dark red tendril, glistening wet. Blood.
It moved too fast.
“Arthur, move!” I screamed.
He turned, but it was too late. The blood tentacle coiled around him, dragging him backwards into the wall. There wasn’t even time to react. He was pulled through, like the concrete had turned liquid, and then… he was gone.
The sound of dripping blood echoed in the silence that followed.
“Arthur!!” My voice cracked.
But there was no answer. Only Ariana was standing there, her expression unreadable, her flames flickering low.
“Looks like your friend met Yukari first,” she said quietly.
My fists clenched. The temperature dropped again. The floor beneath us froze solid.
This fight wasn’t over.
I could barely hear my own breath over the sound of ice cracking and fire roaring. Every time I struck, Ariana countered, and every time she advanced, I froze the ground beneath her feet. The room had become a disaster zone, walls melting and refreezing with each exchange.
“You really don’t know when to stop!” she shouted, her flames surging higher.
“I could say the same to you!” I launched another volley of ice shards, sharper and faster than before. The water from the broken pipes made everything slippery and unpredictable, but that worked in my favour. The cold responded to me, bending to my will, forming spikes that chased her like hunting beasts.
Ariana spun midair, propelling herself with bursts of flame. The heat burned away the mist, her silhouette cutting through it like a blade. She landed just in front of me, her fist wreathed in fire.
For a moment, our eyes met… Then we both struck.
Her flame collided with my frost. The blast shook the entire floor, a shockwave tearing through the walls.
Then suddenly, everything shifted.
The ground trembled violently, more than from our clash. The rumbling grew deeper, spreading across the entire building. I lost my footing, the ice cracking beneath me. Ariana stumbled too, glancing around.
“An earthquake? Now?” I muttered.
Chunks of concrete began falling from the ceiling. Windows shattered. The sound was deafening.
Ariana steadied herself, flames dimming. For the first time since this fight started, she looked as confused as I was.
“Did you do this?” she shouted over the noise.
“Do I look like I can shake the whole city?!” I yelled back.
A massive fissure split the floor between us, separating our positions. The vibrations didn’t stop. They grew worse, more chaotic, almost unnatural.
This wasn’t a normal quake.
From somewhere far below, a faint light pulsed through the cracks in the floor.
Ariana looked down, her expression hardening. “Irana… we should stop. Something’s wrong.”
I didn’t respond. I could feel it too. A power, vast and suffocating, appears.
“Dimensional crack… opening?” I muttered, feeling the vibration echo through my chest.
“Probably,” Ariana replied, her flames flickering unsteadily. “There’s no time for a petty fight now.”
Her tone was serious, and for once, I agreed. The entire building was shaking, the walls groaning under pressure from something unseen. I turned toward the shattered window, trying to make sense of the strange light spilling through the cracks in the sky.
Then, I saw it.
A shadow moved across the clouds, graceful and calm despite the chaos. A figure floating, radiant, and unmistakable.
My breath caught in my throat. My pulse stopped for a heartbeat.
“Onee-chan…?” I whispered.
She was there, hovering in the air above the academy, wrapped in a violet glow that rippled like a living storm. The same light that poured from the cracks below now surrounded her, bending the air around her form.
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