The distance between them collapsed again, not in a straight line or predictable arc, but in a series of violent distortions that tore through space as if it were nothing more than fragile fabric stretched too thin.
Seele's figure flickered in and out of existence, her body phasing through one point only to reappear at another, while Veliona mirrored her in a way that was both familiar and deeply wrong. Where Seele's movements retained a sense of control, even under pressure, Veliona's carried a chaotic fluidity that made her feel less like a person and more like a force that had forgotten the concept of restraint.
Their battle did not resemble a traditional clash.
There were no prolonged exchanges, no steady rhythm of attack and defense that could be followed or anticipated. Instead, it was a relentless sequence of near misses, warped trajectories, and impossibly tight evasions where the slightest miscalculation would result in immediate death. Seele's scythe carved through the air again and again, each swing calculated not to connect, but to control space, to deny Veliona the angles she needed to close in directly.
Veliona laughed as she slipped past another strike, her body bending in a way that defied natural motion before snapping forward, fingers outstretched.
"Too slow! Sorry, sorry, too slow!"
Her hand cut through the space where Seele had been a fraction of a second earlier, the air distorting as if something fundamental had been severed. Seele reappeared behind her, scythe already in motion, the blade sweeping toward Veliona's back with lethal precision.
It passed through nothing.
Veliona had already moved, her form warping upward, then downward, then sideways in a sequence that had no consistent pattern. She did not react to Seele's attacks in the traditional sense. She avoided them before they became threats, her Ascended instinct guiding her away from any trajectory that would lead to her end.
Seele clicked her tongue softly, her breathing steady but growing heavier as the fight dragged on.
She could feel it.
The difference.
Veliona was not just faster or stronger. She was untouchable in a way that invalidated conventional combat. Every strike Seele made was already accounted for before it began, every angle she tried to exploit already closed off by an instinct that operated beyond conscious thought.
At the same time, Veliona's attacks grew sharper.
Her fingers lashed out again, this time grazing the edge of Seele's sleeve as she twisted away. The contact was brief, almost insignificant, but the result was immediate. The fabric unraveled into nothing, erased cleanly along an invisible line that extended just a fraction further than it should have.
Seele's eyes narrowed.
She could not afford even a single mistake.
Their movement accelerated further, the battlefield around them becoming a blur of fractured stone and scattered debris as they tore across it at speeds that left behind afterimages. Each warp consumed Essence, each shift through space drawing from reserves that were already being strained by the constant need to avoid death.
Veliona, however, showed no sign of slowing.
If anything, she seemed to grow more erratic, her laughter rising and falling in uneven bursts as her attacks became more frequent, more aggressive.
"Why are you running? Sorry! Stay still!"
Seele did not respond, her focus narrowing further as she pushed her body to its limits. She warped again, appearing above Veliona this time, her scythe descending in a vertical arc aimed directly at her head.
Veliona tilted her body slightly.
The blade passed by harmlessly.
Her hand shot upward in the same motion, fingers slicing toward Seele's torso. Seele twisted mid-air, forcing her body into a position that allowed the attack to pass just beside her, though she felt the faintest brush of something cold graze her side.
Pain followed a heartbeat later.
A thin line opened across her ribs, blood spilling out as her body reacted to the delayed consequence of Veliona's touch. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to ignore it as she warped again, putting distance between them.
Her Ascended Ability activated immediately, the wound beginning to close, but it was slower than it should have been.
Not because of the injury itself.
But because of what caused it.
Veliona tilted her head, watching the process with interest, her dark eyes gleaming with that crimson sheen.
"Oh… that doesn't work well, does it? Sorry…"
Seele steadied her breathing, her grip tightening around her scythe as she reassessed.
Her healing was being undermined.
Not directly negated, but weakened enough that it could not keep up if the damage accumulated too quickly. That meant her margin for error was shrinking with every exchange.
She moved again, refusing to give Veliona time to press the advantage.
This time, she did not aim to strike.
She aimed to test.
Her scythe cut through multiple trajectories in rapid succession, each swing following a slightly different angle, a slightly different timing, forcing Veliona to respond repeatedly rather than rely on a single instinctive dodge.
For a brief moment, it worked.
Veliona's movements stuttered, just slightly, her body adjusting to the increased complexity of the attacks.
Seele saw the opening.
She stepped in.
Her scythe curved upward, the blade aimed at Veliona's neck—
Veliona's hand moved.
It did not block the attack.
It touched it.
Her fingers brushed against the edge of the scythe, tracing something that only she could see.
The weapon shattered.
Not explosively, not dramatically, but quietly, as if it had simply ceased to exist along the line her fingers had followed. The blade dissolved from the point of contact outward, breaking apart into nothingness as the structure that held it together was erased completely.
[Your Mem%(!@*$&!#&*%]
[...Erased.]
Seele's eyes widened.
For the first time, her movement faltered.
Veliona's grin widened.
"I got you! Sorry, I got you!"
Her hand shot forward.
Seele reacted on instinct, warping backward as the attack tore through the space where her chest had been. Even so, she felt it catch her shoulder, the impact sending her spinning as a chunk of her flesh vanished along a clean, invisible line.
She hit the ground hard, rolling to absorb the force before forcing herself back to her feet.
Her scythe was gone.
Her breathing grew heavier now, each inhale carrying a strain that had not been there before. The fight had crossed a threshold, shifting from a desperate struggle into something far more one-sided.
Veliona did not rush her immediately.
She stood there, swaying slightly, her wings fluttering in uneven motions as she watched Seele with something that resembled curiosity.
"I won… sorry, I'm sorry, I won!"
Seele did not respond.
Her hand pressed against her side, her Dormant Ability activating as she forced Rebirth Residue into the wound, accelerating the healing process. The lines of life became visible in her vision, threads that connected and defined existence, and she grasped at them, forcing her body to repair itself faster.
But it was not enough.
Not against what Veliona could do.
Veliona tilted her head again, then raised her hand.
Her index finger extended.
She aimed.
For a moment, even Seele saw it.
The point.
Where the lines intersected.
Where everything ended.
Her body tried to move.
There was nothing left to fuel it.
For a fraction of a second, something like resignation flickered through her.
Then, Bronya cut between them.
She did not arrive with hesitation, nor with a plan that allowed for careful execution. She simply moved, placing herself between Veliona and Seele in a single, decisive action that carried no regard for her own safety.
Her hands shot forward, grabbing Veliona's wrists just as the attack came.
The contact was imperfect.
The trajectory shifted slightly.
The strike did not land where it was meant to.
Even so, the force behind it remained.
Bronya's arms trembled immediately, the strain visible in the way her posture faltered under the pressure. She shouted, her voice sharp despite the effort it took to hold Veliona in place:
"Seele! Stop thinking… and just do it!"
Seele froze.
For a moment, her mind stalled, caught between instinct and hesitation.
Then she felt it.
Something coiled around her fingers.
A presence that was both foreign and familiar.
She looked down.
A black serpentine scythe had formed in her grasp, its surface shifting subtly as if alive, its shape echoing something she had once wielded, yet fundamentally different in nature.
She did not question it.
She moved.
Veliona's fingers traced along Bronya's arms, her expression still twisted into that same manic grin as she followed the lines only she could see.
Blood sprayed.
Bronya's arms separated cleanly from her body, falling away as the force binding Veliona vanished.
In that same instant, Seele closed the distance.
Her scythe moved in a single, decisive arc.
It cut through Bronya.
Cleanly.
Her body split apart as the blade continued its path without pause, its momentum carrying forward into Veliona.
The tip pierced her heart.
Time seemed to fracture.
For a brief moment, everything held still.
Then the Spell spoke.
[You have slain an Awakened human, Daughter of Deception.]
[You have received a Memory.]
[You have slain a Fallen Beast, Final Destination.]
[You have received an Attribute.]
Veliona's body convulsed, her expression flickering between confusion and something that might have been relief before it shattered completely. From her back, blood erupted outward in a violent spray, accompanied by a swarm of red moths that burst into existence before coalescing into a single mass.
That mass surged forward.
It entered Seele's chest.
Seele staggered, her grip loosening as the scythe trembled in her hands. Her gaze shifted slowly, first to Veliona, then to Bronya, her expression empty in a way that defied immediate comprehension.
Then she turned.
Sunny stood in the distance.
A weak smile formed on her lips.
She stepped forward, unsteady, her hand pressing against her abdomen as she struggled to keep herself together, both literally and figuratively.
The scythe slipped from her grasp, slithering across her arm before transferring seamlessly into Sunny's, its form collapsing back into the familiar tattoo that marked Serpent's presence.
Sunny's gaze wavered.
He looked at Bronya.
Then at Veliona.
Then back at Seele.
"…Sorry."
The word came out weakly, stripped of its usual sharpness.
Seele let out a broken sound, something between a laugh and a sob.
"I've had enough apologies for today… besides, you were right."
She reached him just as her legs gave out, and he stepped forward instinctively, catching her before she could fall completely. Her body was still trying to heal, her intestines pulling back into place as her Dormant Ability forced them together through sheer will.
She placed a hand on his shoulder.
The Spell responded.
[You have received a Memory.]
"From Bronya… I won't die, so you don't, either. Neither of us are heroes, right?"
Sunny exhaled slowly as he lowered her to the ground, watching as her wounds continued to close.
"No… we aren't, are we?"
He smiled, though it carried no real warmth.
The Memory manifested.
A silver chain appeared around his neck, its pendant shaped like a serpent with moth wings and a snowflake resting upon its head. He stared at it for a moment, then turned.
Cocolia had arrived.
Her spears crackled with Destruction, the air around her warping under the pressure of her presence.
Sunny's gaze hardened.
"Let's dance, Nanook."
He removed the chain, holding it briefly before letting it fall into his shadow.
His first shadow — Gloomy.
Something shifted.
His eyes began to radiate a golden hue.
Gold burned within them, an endless rage rising to the surface as he faced her once more.
"Let me show you… your Destruction."