[Night On The Streets]
Kyrren staggered slightly as he walked down the dark and quiet street, humming a nonsensical tune. He was contentedly clutching a six-pack.
He rounded a corner and stopped dead.
Luna was walking quickly, her face streaked with dried tears.
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be knocked out at the safe house?" Kyrren slurred, then blinked, focusing on her hand. "Wait, why is your hand glowing? Is that your Arc Seal glowing?"
Luna's Arc Seal pulsed with a faint gold light. She ignored him and kept walking.
Before Kyrren could comment further, a devastating flash of a curved silver blade cut through with immense speed, aiming for Luna's head.
Kyrren reacted instantly, throwing the six-pack away and shoving Luna violently out of the trajectory. And the blade only grazed her shoulder, leaving a stinging cut.
"Gosh. I swore I was going for the head."
Luna spun, her eyes locking onto the figure now standing a few meters away, Elena.
Luna felt a cold wave of dread.[Something's wrong here.] she thought.
Elena's presence was an overwhelming force of mana.
Kyrren's humor evaporated. His eyes wide. "What the hell? How did she suddenly get this insane mana?"
Elena smiled, walking slowly and savoring the moment. "You both look adorable when you're confused."
Kyrren didn't waste another moment on talk. He recreated the beer bottle in his hand into a sleek pistol. And fired a rapid succession of bullets at Elena's head.
Elena moved with contemptuous ease, deflecting each bullet with a blinding swing of one blade. Then she shot forward, closing the distance instantly. She swung her foot, executing a crushing kick before Kyrren could finish recreating another weapon.
"Huh?" Kyrren said, before he was sent crashing into a wall, the impact shaking the ground and burying him under rubble.
Luna's fists instantly ignited with flames. She swung a devastating, wide-arc punch at Elena but Elena blocked it effortlessly with one blade. Elena then swung back, aiming to slice Luna's arm.
Luna caught her wrist, then caught the second wrist as Elena swung the other.
And they were locked in a brutal struggle. Elena smiled and exerted crushing force. The pressure cratered the concrete beneath Luna's feet, forcing her to her knees. Luna roared, pushing back against the impossible strength, refusing to fall completely.
Elena started kicking her, merciless blows to Luna's stomach and ribs. Luna gasped, blood frothing from her mouth with each impact.
Suddenly, from the rubble, Kyrren shot forward. He swung war hammer with terrifying force. And Elena was forced to break the struggle, back-flipping high above them to open distance as the hammer pulverized the spot where she had been standing.
Kyrren turned to Luna, his face grave. "We need to find a way to run. There's no winning against her now."
Luna wiped the blood from her chin, her eyes blazing with defiance. "I'm never running from this bitch."
Multiple fire spheres instantly appeared beside her and shot forward in a dense volley. Elena blocked the first and the subsequent explosions engulfed her.
Luna ignited her legs and flash-stepped forward, not waiting for the smoke to clear. She was in front of Elena before the blast dissipated and landed a fiery fist on the guts. Elena only smiled mid-impact and jumped back.
Luna shot forward again but Elena dodged the hand, landed a sharp knee to Luna's guts, then grabbed her by the hair and threw her violently aside.
Kyrren immediately recreated the hammer into a heavy machine gun and rained down a stream of bullets.
Elena shot forward, closing the distance and deflecting the bullets with both blades, each deflection perfectly timed to protect her body.
When she reached Kyrren, she went for a quick slash. The machine gun instantly turned into a katana and he blocked the blow just in time, jumping back.
Elena closed the distance while he was mid-jump, trying to stab him in the guts but Luna was there and she grabbed Elena from the back.
Elena turned, trying to shake her off and Kyrren with nothing else available, went for a headbutt. It didn't do much but it drew a bead of blood from Elena's forehead.
Furious, Elena caught Luna and threw her hard at Kyrren and they crashed together.
Luna groaned. "You seriously headbutted her?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time!" Kyrren retorted, disentangling himself.
DING!
A blinding light erupted around Kyrren.
[ARCANE GAME INITIATION PROTOCOL]
[CANDIDATE: KYRREN SHAUN]
[THE ARCANE GAME HEREBY INVITES YOU TO BECOME (2/3) PARTICIPANTS IN THE CITY OF BRENFORD.]
[CONFIRM PARTICIPATION]
[ACCEPT] [DECLINE]
"What the...?" Kyrren exclaimed, utterly baffled.
Then, Elena suddenly gasped, her body going rigid. Dark purple light began to emanate from her chest and tearing her apart. She stumbled back, losing her grip on her blades, which clattered to the ground.
"What is going on?" she shrieked, looking at her crackling hands.
Luna slowly stood up, with a fierce and almost proud look on her face. "The Game has chosen Candidates worthy of becoming Participants, Elena." she said, her voice shaking but calm. "And you weren't worthy. That's all."
"No, no! It can't!" Elena screamed, panic overriding her malice. "The Instructors gave me the Relic! I'm supposed to be a Participant! Why am I fading?!"
"It should be obvious by now that you were played, idiot." Luna retorted.
Elena flashed forward, attempting one last desperate punch. "You little b..."
Right before Luna's throat, her body was completely torn apart by the dark light and she vanished into nothingness. The only proof she was ever there were the shimmering black daggers left on the ground.
Luna fell onto her buttocks, swallowing hard and her body shaking from the near-death experience. She sighed heavily.
Kyrren looked at the spot where Elena had been. "You know, were very lucky that she wasn't taking this too serious or else we would be dead by now."
He then noticed the insistent glowing on his own hand. "Hey, look." he said, holding it out to Luna. "My hand is glowing too."
Luna slowly shook her head.