Roselle continued to ascend toward the dark moon of Arlysa. Alan’s sharp gaze locked onto the dark mage.

  "We have to stop her before that spell fully activates!" he barked while already dashing forward.

  But before he could close the distance, Sylra appeared in front of him.

  "Tch—!" Alan barely had time to react before Sylra’s fist whipped toward him. Her punches came in a blistering barrage that began forcing Alan back.

  He grunted while blocking some, but a few clipped his ribs and shoulder and sent sharp jolts of pain through him.

  "You got a date with me, pretty boy," Sylra sneered.

  Alan clicked his tongue. "Not my type, sweetheart."

  Meanwhile, Risebelle had already moved past them.

  "You’re not finishing that spell!"

  She raised her arms, and in an instant, a powerful Aqua Whirlwind roared to life around her.

  Water spiraled violently and created tempest with razor-sharp edges that rushed toward Arlysa.

  Arlysa’s dark eyes flashed. A barrier of dark energy erupted around her just before the raging vortex could reach her.

  The Aqua Whirlwind slammed into it, but the dark shield held strong.

  Risebelle’s mind raced.

  'Fine. Let's see how you like this—'

  She channeled her Ice Magic into the spinning torrent. The already-powerful whirlwind suddenly turned into a raging blizzard. A tidal wave of frost surged outward that consumed the entire shield.

  The entire area exploded with ice, encasing Arlysa in a thick, dome-like prison of frozen darkness.

  For a brief moment, everything was silent.

  Then, a massive surge of dark energy still pulsed from inside the dome.

  Risebelle growled. ‘Damn it! It wasn’t enough to stop the spell…’

  But she wasn’t done yet.

  Risebelle jumped onto the frozen dome, pulling out her medium-sized cannon. She fired a powerful blast of compressed water energy straight down at the ice.

  The force of the blast propelled her high into the air, sending her rocketing upward toward Roselle.

  Risebelle's fingers inched close to her sister’s hand. With a burst of effort, she managed to grab onto it. The intense heat radiating from Roselle's body caused the ice around Risebelle to melt rapidly.

  Roselle, noticing Risebelle’s icy hair returning to it’s blue shade looked concerned. "Risebelle, you're melting!"

  The duo started their descent to the ground from the air.

  "Never mind that, Roselle, gather a fireball!" Risebelle exclaimed.

  Roselle nodded and focused her energy to create a fiery sphere of power between her hands. She aimed for the ice dome where Arlysa was trapped. Roselle hurled the fireball with precision, and it struck the dome with explosive force that sent fiery shards in all directions.

  Risebelle gritted her teeth as she and Roselle plummeted toward the battlefield below.

  "Keep going!" she urged. "The fire will slow our descent!"

  Roselle whipped up another blazing sphere of fire between her palms. She hurled it downward, striking the ground below with an explosive burst of flames and kept it going like a long beam.

  The roaring blaze surged and created an updraft of heat that slowed their fall, cushioning their landing.

  Risebelle staggered as they touched down. Her usual cold sensation was… fading. Her fingers trembled. The icy mist that usually surrounded them was gone. ‘Tch— im all burned out…’

  Meanwhile—

  A flurry of blows echoed through the battlefield as Alan and Sylra exchanged rapid strikes.

  Alan ducked under a hook and countered with a swift kick which Sylra barely dodged.Her eyes burned with frustration.

  "What were you talking about earlier?!" she demanded while again.

  Alan blocked her strike with his forearm and slid back. "*You’re gonna have to be more specific, sweetheart—you gotta lotta baggage."

  Sylra growled. "Don’t play dumb, Alan! Was it true? About what Arlysa was preparing me for?!"

  Alan smirked.

  "Oh? So, you do feel it, huh?"

  Sylra’s body tensed.

  That doubt. That nervousness when Alan called out Arlysa earlier—

  It had hit something deep inside her.

  Sylra snapped her hands forward. Jagged rocks shot from the ground toward Alan like stone lances.

  But a flash of fire erased them before they could even reach him. Sylra’s eyes widened in shock. Alan blasted forward with a fiery streak. His kick came fast. Sylra barely managed to raise her forearm to meet his shin. The sheer force sent tremors through her bones.

  She had fought Alan before, but this felt different to her.For a split second, Her vision blurred.The battlefield vanished and suddenly—She saw herself. A younger version of herself—a teenager with fists clenched breathing heavy. Her hair was shorter, her attire was rougher. In front of her—Arlysa. The same Arlysa, but younger.

  Sylra, the teen thrust her fist forward. It collided with Arlysa’s dark barrier. The impact rippled—but the shield didn’t break.

  "Too weak," Arlysa said with impatience. “Try again."

  Sylra gritted her teeth. "Alright, fine—let’s see how you like this!"

  She slammed her foot down and small rocks burst up from the ground that swirled around her. They shot forward and pelted Arlysa’s barrier from all angles.

  CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!

  The dark energy flickered, trembled—

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  And shattered.

  Sylra’s eyes lit up.

  "Aha! I did it!"

  For exactly one second, she basked in her victory.

  Then—

  ZAP!

  A bolt of dark energy slammed into her chest.

  "AGH—!" Sylra flew backward and hit the dirt hard. Dust kicked up around her and she coughed. "What the hell, Arlysa!? You didn’t say you were gonna do that!"

  Arlysa crossed her arms. "And I didn’t say I wasn’t going to blast you either."

  Sylra scowled. "That’s not fair!"

  "It’s reality." Arlysa’s voice was unyielding. "You break through an enemy’s defense, and what—do you stop to celebrate? You think they’ll let you?"

  Sylra went silent.

  Arlysa stepped closer and looked down at her. "Expect the unexpected. Be ready for retaliation the second you think you've won. Learn to see in the dark when there is no light. To act before danger finds you."

  Her violet eyes gleamed coldly. "Or else you'll never survive in a real battle."

  Sylra snapped back to the present—Arlysa’s words still rang in her head."Expect the unexpected. Learn to see in the dark when there is no light."

  Her fists clenched. What was Arlysa thinking all this time?

  Just then, She felt pain as Alan's fist slammed into her side.

  "Guh—!"

  He followed up by spinning his knee and driving it into her stomach. Sylra doubled over—then a final, brutal kick sent her skidding backward.

  She panted, “Damn it! I let myself get distracted!”

  Alan rolled his shoulders. "You’re not focusing on me anymore," he noted almost amused. "And rightfully so."

  Sylra glared while breathing hard.

  Alan tilted his head. "You wanna know what Arlysa is hiding from you, don’t you?"

  The way he said it was not as a question in Sylra’s mind, but a face. She was growing desperate deep down. “Tell me!”

  Meanwhile,

  Roselle and Risebelle made their way towards Runebelle. Roselle shook her hands and extinguished the lingering flames around them.

  Runebelle pointed ahead. "Look."

  Arlysa stood in the wreckage. Her violet eyes were cast downward. She wasn’t moving. Wasn’t preparing another spell. Wasn’t even reacting.

  The three sisters exchanged glances.

  Risebelle narrowed her eyes. "She’s just standing there. That spell probably took a lot out of her, but still—"

  Runebelle hesitated. "Maybe… she’s given up?"

  Roselle and Risebelle both gave her the exact same deadpan look.

  Then Risebelle scoffed. "Yeah, right."

  Arlysa exhaled sharply. Her violet eyes flickered up for just a second. "Two Extreme Magic spells in one day…" she muttered.”And those blasted creations survived both."

  Her hands clenched into fists.

  "I am running low on magic. But by no means does that mean I'm out of options."

  Her breath was steady. She lifted her gaze from the ground. "I still have more than enough left to take you down."

  Roselle, Risebelle, and Runebelle tensed.

  A ripple of dark energy pulsed outward from Arlysa’s body. She lifted her staff with a tremble.

  “Advanced Magic—Malevolence.”

  The spell slithered through the battlefield like a shadow. It moved past the sisters, past Alan, past the scorched ground until—

  Sylra flinched.

  A cold weight coiled around her mind. Her breath hitched as something shifted inside her thoughts. A memory resurfaced, but not as it once was. It twisted, warped—made sharper, darker.

  Thalindra.

  Her sister’s lifeless body falling withb soaking into the ground. The cause?

  Roselle who had just fired the cannon with an evil smirk on her face.

  Sylra’s breathing grew ragged. Her muscles tightened. The battlefield faded. Logic blurred. The only thing left was rage.

  "You—" Her voice was hoarse but venomous.

  Alan noticed the shift immediately, but before he could react—

  CRACK.

  Sylra launched a counter-kick fueled by blackened rocks that exploded upon impact. Alan grunted while being blasted backward across the dirt.

  Alan coughed and managed to make it up to his knees. His usual smirk was replaced with a frown. "...Well, shit."

  Sylra’s fists clenched so tightly they shook. Dark magic crackled around her body like an unstable storm. Her once-focused eyes now burned with a singular, all-consuming hatred.

  Roselle.

  Sylra surged forward like a bullet. “SHE HAS TO DIE…NOW!”

  Her fist rocketed toward Roselle, but in a blur, Runebelle stepped in.

  Her twin guns flicked up effortlessly and aimed directly at Sylra’s incoming blow. She fired.

  The enchanted bullets should have slowed Sylra. Should have.

  Instead, Sylra’s fist tore straight through the first shot. The second bullet grazed her shoulder but she didn’t even flinch.

  Runebelle’s eyes widened.

  Runebelle barely managed to twist her arms up in time as Sylra’s reinforced punch slammed into her guard. The sheer force of the impact sent a violent shockwave outward and split the ground beneath them.

  Runebelle skidded back. Her arms ached. “Even though I transformed…she’s keeping up…”

  Sylra grinned darkly. "You think you can stop me, little doll?"

  Runebelle gritted her teeth.

  Runebelle switched from her small guns to her massive needle while darting forward. She blinked in and out of sight with rapid movement.

  She reappeared behind Sylra and lunged at Sylra, but she smirked..

  Sylra’s hand slammed into the earth while evading Runebelle’s attack by a hair.

  FWUMP.

  The ground Runebelle’s feet trekked across shifted into a swirling mass of quicksand.

  "Oh no—"

  Runebelle’s momentum betrayed her and her foot sank.

  Sylra was already gone.

  She surged past Runebelle like a phantom with sights locked on Roselle once more.

  BOOM.

  A cannon blast roared through the battlefield.

  Risebelle stood firm with her medium-sized cannon smoking from the unleashed shot.

  Direct hit, or so it seemed. Sylra tore right through it.

  “Out of my damn way!”

  Before Risebelle could react, Sylra gripped her by the collar and slammed her into the dirt with a sickening crunch. Afterwards, she hauled Risebelle back up and flung her at Runebelle.

  Still stuck in the quicksand, Runebelle’s dropped her massive needle and stretched her arms out.

  "Gotcha!"

  She caught Risebelle but the sheer force of the throw sent them both tumbling deep into the shifting pit.

  Sylra didn’t even turn back.

  Her focus was on Roselle.

  Roselle’s flames flickered.

  Her body tensed as Sylra stormed toward her with dark energy crackling around her fists.

  Then, a system message flashed in her mind:

  [System Warning]

  Runebelle’s Elemental Fusion – Time Remaining: 2 Minutes.

  Roselle lifted her hands and gathered the searing heat into her palms—

  “Fine,” she muttered under her breath. “Let’s make this count!”

  And then, she charged forward.

  Sylra formed massive rocks above Roselle. Her rocks weren’t that big and dark before, nor were they summoned that fast. Roselle’s eyes widened at the sheer force behind Sylra’s power.

  With a burst of yellow lightning, she shot to the side and narrowly avoided the crashing boulders. She countered Sylra with heat blasts aimed directly for her.

  But Sylra sidestepped the flames effortlessly. Before Roselle could react, Sylra was upon her.

  A vice-like grip closed around Roselle’s neck.

  She gasped with her flames sputtering as Sylra loomed over her. Sylra’s fingers tightened around Roselle’s neck and lifted her slightly off the ground.

  Roselle gasped and kicked her legs against the crushing grip. Sparks of yellow lightning crackled around her body, but Sylra’s hold didn’t get any lighter

  “Kintovar’s creation,” Sylra growled with fury. “The one who took away Thalindra… is finally in my hands!”

  A manic grin spread across Sylra’s face as her grip tightened further. “You’ve taken so many lives. And Thalindra—" her eyes darkened. "For every soul you’ve stolen, and for Thalindra—"

  Her voice rose to a furious scream.

  “THIS IS MY REVEENNGE!!!!

  Roselle’s vision blurred. The world around her was replaced by fragments of her past.

  Mages encircling her with eyes filled with contempt. Their spells crashed down upon her, leaving her with no choice but to retaliate with her massive cannon fire.

  Then, Thalindra.

  The battle played out in her mind like a cursed memory stuck on repeat. The way Thalindra’s magic sealed every possible escape. The way Roselle, desperate and cornered struck back with everything she had. The moment Thalindra fell.

  Roselle’s breath shuddered. Sylra’s grip was suffocating, but her thoughts ran deeper.

  ‘If it were one of my own sisters, wouldn’t I be the one losing control? Wouldn’t I be the one swearing revenge?’

  Her vision blurred, and Thalindra’s final moments replayed in her mind.

  ‘Did I ever have the right to survive after that?’

  Sylra’s fingers dug into her throat, and the burning in Roselle’s lungs grew unbearable. But it wasn’t just the pain of suffocation—it was the weight of the question pressing down on her soul.

  ‘Is it okay to just… let go?’

  ‘Would it be better...if I just disappeared?’

  Sylra’s grip tightened further, but now, Roselle stopped struggling.

  [System Message]

  Lifeforce: 20% (Critical)

  Recommendation: Immediate evasive action required. Escape the force applied to vital areas and initiate a tactical retreat. Engaging in direct combat at current state carries a high risk of destruction.

  WARNING: Life functions deteriorating. Combat efficiency dropped by 75%.

  Additional Recommendation: Override emotional instability. Prioritize survival. Execute escape maneuver.

  "Maybe this is what I deserve."

  Project Mage