---
The roar of the Troll Champion tore through the air: thick, bubbling, enraged. It wasn't just a sound, but a physical force - something that punched into their chests and rattled the forest itself. And then it struck.
A gigantic fist as wide as a boulder, full of pulsing muscle, crashed toward Michibiki.
"Move!"
Yukio shouted, his voice cracking.
But Michibiki was already gone.
She blurred upward with a single step, leaping clean over the sweeping blow. The Troll's fist smashed into the earth behind her, carving out a crater in the solid earth with violent force. Dirt and shattered roots blasted upward like shrapnel.
Kaede whistled despite herself.
"Yeah, no normal mage moves like that."
Michibiki didn't respond. She used the Troll's massive arm like a staircase, sprinting up its forearm at blinding speed. Each step she took left a faint trail of white light behind her.
Her hands shone with building mana, a swirl of blue and gold hues.
"SACRED ARTS: AURORA REVERSAL STRIKE!"
Her fist landed with the crashing sound of thunder against stone. The Troll's head jerked violently to the side, its jaw snapping half-open.
Before it could recover, Michibiki twisted in mid-air, raising one leg high. Golden light laced around her foot like a burning comet.
"SACRED ARTS: HEAVENLY ARC FALL!!"
Her heel crashed down on the Troll's skull. A shockwave pulsed outward, snapping branches off of nearby trees. The monster staggered, its half-regenerated skull compressing under the strike.
Kaede's eyes widened.
"Holy crap! She's beating its head in like it's a practice dummy!"
Yukio grinned weakly, still trying to process the sheer velocity and power.
"…I'm about 100% sure she's not even trying yet."
But even with its skull fractured, the Troll refused to fall.
Before Michibiki landed, the Troll lunged with terrifying speed, faster than a creature its size had any right to move. Its remaining massive hand swiped toward her like a falling wall.
Kaede gasped.
"Biki! Look out!"
Michibiki had flickered out of existence for a blink, then reappeared ten feet away, landing nimbly on her feet. She dusted off her robes, expression annoyingly calm.
"That was close,"
She muttered, shaking her head.
"You'll need to try harder than that."
"Pretty sure it is trying!"
Yukio yelled back.
The Troll turned to attack again-but Kaede was already behind it.
Empowered by Yukio's sacrifice and the Wheel's blessing, she sprinted forward with a grin full of bloodlust and joy. She swung her hammer with a roar.
"SHATTERPOINT IMPACT!!"
The moment the hammer connected, a horrifying crunch rang out through the forest, a sound that made Yukio flinch and Michibiki raise one brow in impressed approval.
The Troll's spine bent unnaturally, snapping into two distinct segments before slowly stitching itself back together with wet, unpleasant sounds.
Kaede landed, panting, her grip tightened.
"…Okay. That was disgusting."
Yet she still cracked a grin as the Troll twisted towards her like some enraged beast reborn.
"Round two?"
The Troll responded with a roar, winding back a punch that would flatten a building.
But before it could strike, space warped.
A rippling circle of jade-gold materialized between Kaede and the blow. Suddenly, amidst a resounding hum, the Wheel of Providence appeared.
CLANG!
The fist of the Troll crashed against it, but the Wheel didn't move.
Kaede stumbled back from the shockwave.
"H-Hey! Nice save, Yuki-boy!"
Yukio shouted, his voice cracking,
"I didn't even control it!! It did that itself!"
The Wheel shoved hard, forcing the Troll's attack back. The monster recoiled backward, off balance. Then the Wheel whirred like an oversize, godly buzzsaw and dove into the Troll's chest.
Golden runes carved spirals of light into the Troll's flesh as the creature howled, clawing at the Wheel in a panic.
Kaede saw her chance.
"Biki! Now!"
Michibiki nodded and jumped in the same moment Kaede did. They charged from opposite sides toward the writhing creature,
But the Troll wasn't done.
With a final surge of brute strength, the monster tore the Wheel out of its chest and flung it away across the clearing. It crashed through a number of trees, finally coming to a stop upright, still spinning lightly as if dazed.
"HEY!"
Yukio yelled.
"That's rude!"
But the Troll was already moving again, faster than even Kaede expected.
Its purple-glowing eyes locked onto her.
"Kaede!"
Yukio shouted.
She turned, too late.
BAAM!!
The punch caught her with enough force to send her bouncing across the ground like a rock skipping water, leaves and dirt flying in every direction.
"KA!"
Yukio's voice cracked painfully.
"Kaede!!"
But she rolled to a stop and, despite a bleeding forehead and bruised ribs, forced herself up.
"Y... Yeah! I'm… good!"
Then she winced hard.
"Okay, not good good, but… not dead!"
The Troll spun again, this time in the direction of Michibiki.
She had already leapt, golden light trailing around her like ribbons. She aimed a crushing punch at the Troll's exposed back,
But the Troll read her movement and swung around with eerie precision.
They collided.
The shockwave ripped new cracks across the battlefield, sending debris flying. Yukio shielded his face, barely staying upright.
Michibiki skidded back, her sandals kicking up dust.
"Persistent brute…"
She muttered, irritation brewing.
Then-she inhaled.
Yukio felt his chest tighten.
Kaede looked over, her eyes widening.
"Oh… she's doing a thing again."
The golden aura around Michibiki didn't flare outward,
It compressed.
Condensed.
Pulled sharply back into her body, like a vacuum of energy.
Her face went taut with strain.
Even her breathing became shallow.
"You two,"
She whispered soft,
"stay back."
"Wait, what are you?!"
Yukio started.
"First Celestial Seal:"
Her voice deepened, resonant.
"DAWN UNBOUND!"
Light exploded outward.
The forest shuddered.
It was as if the sky flinched.
Yukio was thrown onto his hands and knees, the breath knocked from his lungs. Kaede staggered, unable to hold her footing.
"What... what NOW?!"
Kaede shouted over the rising hum.
Michibiki stood at the center of a swirling pillar of white light, her silhouette aglow. Sparkles shards of brilliant motes floated around her, falling like stardust.
And when she opened her eyes,
They were pure white, divine.
A transparent window flickered beside her.
---
[System Window]
************ CATACLYSM PROTOCOL – 1% AWAKENING
---
A voice followed
Not Michibiki's voice.
It was a voice so ancient, so absolute, it seemed the trees themselves stooped under the weight of it.
"First Decree:"
The sky cracked open.
"SANCTIFIED DESCENT."
Clouds spiraled into a massive vortex.
Golden light poured through the spiral like a sunbeam turned violent.
And then
A huge hand appeared within it.
Kaede's jaw slackened.
Yukio felt his heart stop.
The Troll Champion could only stare.
The golden hand fell like a falling star,
And he clutched the Troll around:
There was only one moment of complete stillness.
Then
BOOOOOM!!
A wave of blinding light blasted outward.
Trees bent, leaves vaporized.
Dust lifted in a massive ring.
After the brilliance finally faded, there was silence on the battlefield.
Where the Troll once stood…
Was a gigantic, perfectly-shaped golden palm print scorched into the earth.
Kaede stared, pointing weakly.
"M... Michibiki… what… what ARE you…?"
Michibiki's glow faded as her power resealed itself.
Her expression softened, almost sheepish.
"…Overkill,"
She admitted.
The sky slowly stitched itself closed, the light fading. Birds cautiously returned to branches far, far away.
Yukio gazed at the palm mark for several tense seconds before his knees buckled.
"Finally…"
He exhaled, more tired than he'd ever been.
"We can go… home…"
He fainted mid-sentence, slumping gently onto his side.
Michibiki let out a tired breath and released her remaining aura.
She took calm steps to his side and nudged him with her foot.
"You see how much effort I put in for you?"
Her tone was flat but warm.
"You better appreciate it when you wake up."
Kaede ran over, still shaking.
She was bleeding slightly from a cut on her forehead and had dirt covering her armor.
"That was INSANE! Michibiki, are you like… a Grandmaster-level mage? Or a,"
Michibiki held one glowing hand up.
"Light Magic: Hallowed Restoration."
Warm light bathed Kaede, mending her bruises and cuts in a matter of seconds.
"Questions later,"
Michibiki murmured.
"Let's just get him home."
It floated over, hovered a moment beside Yukio as if checking on him, flickered once and dissolved in a small burst of jade light.
Almost… fondly.
Michibiki raised an eyebrow.
"So sentient after all,"
She mused.
Kaede blinked.
"Wait, what?"
"Later,"
She sighed again.
She lifted Yukio onto her back with surprising gentleness.
"Let's go."
---
Far Away
In the Shadowed Fortress Across the continent, night fell upon a fortress buried deep in rugged cliffs.
Torches danced along black stone walls; inside, a cavernous hall was cast in an eerie, sourceless light of blue. Along the walls were glass tanks, each filled with odd shapes: limbs, organs, incomplete beasts suspended in arcane fluid. One woman stood alone in front of one of the larger containment cages, peering at a hulking creature within. She was tall, her silhouette graceful, the lines of her robe lending emphasis to a subtly curving figure.
She moved in a poised, elegant way, her twisted horns glinting faintly.
She lifted a stylus to jot notes, but froze.
"…"
Her fingers trembled. A sharp jolt shot through her like a broken link snapping. The stylus slipped from her grasp and clattered to the floor. She breathed softly. Then smiled. Slowly. Darkly. A smile that didn't belong on a human face.
"So,"
she whispered, her tone smooth like velvet yet laced with undercurrents of malice.
"…someone killed one of my creations."
Her eyes were glowing faintly, crimson and amused.
"The Troll Champion was never meant to fall so easily."
She tilted her head, the motion almost playful.
"This cannot be allowed."