"Balance Breaker!"
Tsunayoshi spoke the release, and the crimson gauntlet on his left hand burst into red light that wrapped his whole body. Scarlet armor plated over him; a pair of blood-red light wings unfurled from his back.
"Boost!"
A low voice rumbled from the armor, and his aura surged.
"Ready?"
Armor-clad, Tsunayoshi faced the trio across from him.
"Already ready!" Tiona was practically bouncing, barely holding herself back.
"Hold nothing back. We can handle the treatment after… I understand perfectly." Tione's eyes held not a flicker of doubt—only a dense fighting spirit. She liked Tsunayoshi, but an Amazon never held back in a formal duel. Because it was someone she liked, she had to go all out.
Riveria said nothing. Her gaze locked on Tsunayoshi, feeling the pressure he radiated—the way his power boiled and climbed. You can't treat him like an ordinary Level 2 anymore, she warned herself. Face him as an equal.
Her fingers tightened around her staff. "O wood spirits—"
Before the first stanza had left her lips, a streak of red flashed into her face. A fist filled her vision.
So fast!
A broad edge slammed between fist and face just in time—Tiona's great double-blade.
Clang!
The impact numbed Tiona's hands, but she held. "Like I'd let you land that so easily."
Riveria, screened by the first block, didn't slow her chant.
"…Grant my wish, raiment of the forest—"
Tiona's target vanished from before her. The sudden release of force pitched Tiona forward off balance. That red streak pivoted, chasing Riveria again—this time a touch slower, giving Tione her opening.
"Hup!"
Short twin blades crossed and caught that violence-packed punch, buying Riveria the seconds she needed.
"…I am Alf!"
"Veil Breath!"
Shimmering layers clothed Tione, stilling the tremor in her arms. Above, Tiona's great blade swept down. Tsunayoshi didn't try to force a clash—he slid back at once.
"Boost!"
The voice intoned again. Power spiked—and with it, speed. He stopped mid-retreat and blasted forward, threading through the sisters' guard to appear point-blank before Riveria. His fist planted in her abdomen at near zero distance. Crimson mana condensed into a sphere at the point of contact—
No hesitation. No restraint. The bullet of mana pierced straight through Riveria's body. The limp form toppled like a fragile doll.
"Riveria!"
Two voices howled from behind, their pure fighting will flaring even hotter. Tsunayoshi didn't need to turn to know both sisters' eyes had gone red. It didn't matter that this was a simulation with no deaths. An Amazon's emotions were simple, and the sight before them only hammered their nerves toward madness.
But they weren't the key.
A tongue of flame flickered in Tsunayoshi's eyes. The fallen Riveria—the hole in her belly—blurred into mist.
An illusion… When did it start?
He shifted his gaze. Flame filmed his pupils; with tempering, every hue sharpened at once. Within that view, an indigo fire burned vividly—a figure sprinting under cover of the mirage.
Found you.
But Tiona and Tione were furious.
He didn't need to look to feel steel about to kiss his neck: one great blade, two short ones.
His wings snapped wide.
Clang!
The light wings flared and knocked their joint strike aside for a heartbeat.
Boom!
Crimson fire flared along both the great edge and the twin knives. At once, cracks crawled across the scarlet wings—the Storm attribute gnawing them apart.
Their emotions spiked the Storm higher, huh?
And Riveria's mana… it's surging. She's ready.
Strong. So this is the pressure of a Level 6 with two Level 5s.
But—
"Boost!"
"Boost!!"
"Boost!!!"
Power tripled in a roaring cascade. Crimson mana ballooned and slammed outward like a membrane, violently prying the sisters' weapons away.
The instant he cleared space, Tsunayoshi lunged for Riveria's true position.
"Don't even think about it!"
His wings were snared mid-beat—the burst of speed hit a wall. Tione.
"Hee-hee—Tsunayoshi, you're not getting away!" Arms locked around his torso. Tiona.
The sudden, brutal strength dragged him down and pinned him.
What—?
A violent surge of magic pulsed ahead—Riveria's position.
"Riveria, wait—!"
Neither sister let go. They knew from his speed that if they loosened their grip, he'd slip the net. So they would not release him.
"Freeze the land and fill the sky with blizzards, the threefold winter— I am Alf!"
"Rapture: Fimbulwinter!"
Three torrents of snow sealed every path. The instant the spell detonated, the ground around Tsunayoshi glazed over; rime leapt and locked. Tsunayoshi—and the two Amazons anchoring him—were entombed together inside a thick world of ice.
Victory, but a brutal one.
(End of Chapter)
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