"Round two," Mio chirped, her voice light and airy, carrying a playful malice that didn't match the devastation around them.
"Don't die too quickly, okay?"
"Heh, I don't plan to," Ruby countered.
She didn't wait for an invitation. Charging forward, Ruby raised her weapon in a blur of motion, but just as the killing blow was set to land, Mio vanished into a shimmer of displaced air. She reappeared a heartbeat later directly behind Ruby's exposed back.
Ruby didn't panic. With a mechanical clack-shift, her weapon collapsed into its firearm configuration. She spun, the muzzle pressing against Mio's surprised face, and pulled the trigger. The concussive blast sent Mio staggering back, smoke curling from her singed hair.
"Nice hit," Mio muttered, a dark smirk tugging at her lips. She raised a hand, condensing raw mana into a jagged bolt of energy. "Try this!"
The blast tore through the air, but Ruby was already gone. Utilizing a burst of spatial movement, she materialized above Mio, using the momentum of her descent to drive her weapon downward.
The impact cratered the earth, pinning Mio into the dirt. Ruby followed up immediately, her weapon roaring as it unleashed a point-blank discharge into the dust cloud.
Watching from the sidelines, my blood boiled. "I need to help, too!"
I summoned my halberd, the weight of the polearm familiar in my grip, and lunged toward the epicenter of the crater.
"That was very good," Mio's voice drifted from the settling dust, her eyes locked onto Ruby above her. I reached her first, my blade high but she didn't even look at me. With a casual, fluid motion, she spun, her boot connecting with my ribs with the force of a falling star.
The world blurred. I slammed into a massive oak tree, the wood splintering behind me as the air was forced from my lungs.
"Don't disturb my fun," Mio spat, her gaze finally flickering to me with cold disdain. "I've had enough of you."
Before she could finish me off, Ruby was there again, knocking Mio back with a fierce strike before unleashing a barrage of laser fire. Mio danced through the beams, her movements a blur of impossible grace.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted.
In a flash of light, her weapon reconfigured, molding itself into the heavy, golden gauntlets.
"Wow... now that's interesting," Mio laughed.
Ruby closed the distance in an instant. A flurry of haymakers and hooks rained down on Mio, each blow echoing like a thunderclap. With a final, guttural shout, Ruby landed a roundhouse kick that sent Mio hurtling back into the earth for the second time.
"Weiss!" Ruby cried out. The gauntlets dissolved, extending into a pristine, elegant rapier.
"How fun!" Mio screamed, her excitement reaching a fever pitch. She summoned a blade of her own, the two of them colliding in a symphony of clashing steel. Neither gave an inch; the air between them hissed with the friction of their exchange.
I groaned, clutching my side. Every breath felt like swallowing broken glass. I need to help her... but the pain...
Then, a realization struck. My fingers brushed the ground, tracing the invisible ley lines of the world. "Wait... I can reverse time to heal my own wounds."
I focused every ounce of my remaining mana into my palm. A glowing magic circle manifested, its geometric runes humming with power. Slowly, the circle began to rotate counter-clockwise. A strange, cool sensation washed over me as the internal bleeding ceased and the bones in my chest knit themselves back together.
BOOM!
A massive explosion rocked the battlefield as Mio and Ruby's powers hit a stalemate. In the distance, I spotted the silhouette of the Anti-Spirit Team—they were closing in on the chaos.
"I have to move," I hissed, forcing myself up.
I blinked through space, appearing in the center of the crater. Without a word, I unleashed a blinding curtain of danmaku thousands of glowing projectiles flooding the area to mask our escape. I lunged forward, grabbing Ruby's shoulder just as her strength flickered.
"We're leaving!"
With a final tug on the fabric of reality, I teleported us miles away from the scorched clearing.
The forest was quiet here, save for the sound of Ruby's ragged breathing. As soon as we hit the grass, her spirit form flickered and died, her heavy armor vanishing into mist. She collapsed forward.
"Ruby!" I caught her before she hit the ground, pulling her small, exhausted frame into my lap.
"Rest now," I whispered, holding her tightly as the adrenaline began to fade. "You've done enough."
As I sat there in the silence, a glowing blue interface flickered into existence before my eyes, hovering in the dim light of the trees.
[ Survive a Goddess
Reward: Template Unlocked — Yukari Yakumo]
A slow, tired smirk spread across my face. The power of the Boundary shifted in my veins, cold and limitless.
"I guess I have a chance now."
A/n: miss me?