[Glacies Manifesta]
The moment those words echoed into the air, a pair of glassy daggers flew from behind fear attacking Caroline's sword, turning it along with her into an icy statue, then disappeared.
Both of them, seeing Caroline's outcome, switched to offense, and the silent man's hand started producing a thick black smoke that turned later into a huge chopper that was totally stained with blood.
Victoria turned her head right and left, searching for the source while keeping her guard up.
"What was that?!!"
Fear also noticed that the aura from the daggers just now also affected the spider whips that were holding her captive, instantly turning them into ice.
'A chance?!!'
She used her pure physical strength to break free from the ice and landed perfectly on the ground, instantly covering her body with flames.
Victoria turned her head in fear, eyes full of anger.
"Shit, she actually broke free!"
A male's calm voice suddenly came from the front; a tall man with a well-built physique wearing a white winter coat was approaching them, catching all of their attention.
"That nigrum shit of yours can't possibly affect me."
"And who the hell are you?" Victoria asked
Fear looked at him carefully with wide eyes.
"Astrum?...What are you doing here?...No, wait. Why am I contacting all of you Avalor people today?"
Astrum moved steadily towards her. "You met someone else?"
Fear calmed her fire as he was getting closer. "Yup, the Alkana's heir was here with me a few moments ago; he took a written agreement before he moved." She gave him an awkward look, asking, "Don't tell me you want me to sign the same paper for you?"
"Why would I?"
"Well, knowing your people's old-fashioned ways and considering your position, I can't think of something else," she said.
"You forgot I have a home here, didn't you?" Astrum gave her a light tap on her forehead, softly saying, "Any action from me would be labeled as self-defense, and I wouldn't have to face any legal actions."
A realization suddenly hit her, 'Don't tell me...is this the reason why he got this house in the first place?'
She turned her head at him, "You old bastard."
Astrum looked at himself from the front and behind, then said,
"I am quite young, not to mention this face of mine... I don't think 23 years old is considered old, right?"
'Come to think of it, in the celestial tower, time flows three times slower than the world outside, so a year equals three if my math is right.' Astrum thought about it, and his expression unintentionally softened.
While Astrum was sad about his memory, for fear she only saw his expression as posing, so she gave him a look of disdain.
"Narcissistic bastard...are you trying to seduce me?"
"Shut up "
"Okay"
he turned his head toward the ice statue of Caroline,saying with a sarcastic tone,
"Welcome back"
-crack-
The pile of ice that was covering Caroline's body started cracking till she finally broke free from her restraints.
She started wiping the excess ice away as if she were wiping dust, totally unbothered.
"That was kind of refreshing," she said, then turned to Astrum, "as expected from the famous Shylah."
Astrum raised his hand that's covered with gloves.
"Compliment rejected."
Without any further delay, Astrum activated his eighth-circle magic, covering his entire body with ice.
"Using your armor from the start, huh..." Caroline said.
Astrum's voice echoed as the ice on his body turned into small flakes that started flying away.
"Can't help it when I see your shamelessness; I couldn't help but do the same."
His hair turned white and half black, long and straight to his knees, with a single black horn growing at the left corner of his forehead.
His previous casual clothes turned into a mix of white and black hanfu; his hands were covered with black armor-like claws,
and a black dragon head connected to five whip-like tails was resting on his left shoulder.
One hand behind his back while holding a white folding fan made of several layers of pointed blades
"Wow, that man never fails to surprise me, not even once," Fear said, thinking, 'I mean, only if you saw him transform before would you be able to recognize him ,since, apart from his eyes and ears, everything else changes, even his attractive soft aura.'
Victoria shouted as she felt excluded,
"This trick works with two,"
and her body was covered entirely with black smoke as quickly as she finished speaking.
Her eight circles centered her, surrounding her from head to toes; her face had four purple eyes; her hair turned into two buns tied up; and her previous kid-like physique turned into a mature, long-legged woman wearing a spiderweb-like skirt with six legs coming from the extra bone on her back.
"You motherfucker, don't talk as if I'm not here," Fear said and also released her Arma.
Her nine circles surrounded her, and flames swallowed her body, disclosing tight red armor with a fire lily engraved on her chest and a closed helmet that allows fire-like hair to burn out.
Two guns with a fire lily engraved on them were on her waist; she took one of them and pointed it at Victoria.
"A Pay back for what you did."
She pulled the trigger, and without a sound, a bullet of fire rushed toward Victoria.
-bang-
"You think a fucking fireball can stop me...dream on."
Using her extra six arms, she made a whip catching the fireball, aiming to turn it back at her.
"Take this."
"Fool,"
The masked man threw his chopper against the fire but it was burned to ashes
-fwish-
Fear snapped her fingers, and the fireball opened, turning into a fire lily that burned her whips and swallowed her whole with a loud bang.
Seeing the fire, Fear didn't feel a thing while Astrum and Caroline were intimidating each other using their mana. A silent fight had taken root while nobody could see.
The next second all you could see was their weapons against each other; the fight broke out silently as she attacked using her sword and he blocked it using his fan. The attacks from both sides were somewhat equal, whether it was the spreading of his cold aura to her body or the huge pressure from her powers on his body.
Both of them kept fighting, and all you could hear was the voice of the friction of steel.
As for Victoria, after the fire stopped, all she could see was a muscular man crouching on the ground with closed arms; the clothes on his back were clearly burned by the fire.
That scene took fear by surprise. "What the hell is that?"
The man on the ground opened his arms, and Victoria appeared totally unscathed; she turned at the mask on his head and pulled it, making his burned face appear clearly.
Victoria pointed at the fear, saying coldly,
"Rum 2.0, catch!"
"Grawl"
And just like a wild animal, he rushed toward fear at full speed, running on both hands and legs.
"What the fuck is that thing?...This will sure give me nightmares," Fear said and held her other gun as well.
"Shit! Too close."
Instead of firing at him, she decided to get physical, throwing one of her guns away, and with all the power she had, she punched his face using her fist, throwing him about ten meters away.
-bang-
"that was a close call...Huh!??"
Her happiness couldn't last long since Rum came from under the rubble,growling , his whole body covered with red lines, surrounded by a disgusting dark red aura; his muscles started to grow in size, increasing his build by about two more feet.
Fear raised her right hand in the air, and fire surrounded her other gun, burning it. Then the same fire started coming from her hand, forming the same gun; she placed them both back on her belt.
"This doesn't seem good..." she said.
Victoria looked at her all smugly,
"Of course it doesn't, at least for you...Rum 2.0 is a Renovabilis multiplicator; the more you hit him, the stronger he gets by absorbing your powers. Today you're going to die for sure."
Fear shook her head. "You're indeed a kid."
"What?"
"My name, Gloriosa, didn't come from nothing. Whether it's alive or dead, as long as I want to burn, then it must turn into ashes. It's not a choice but a rule," Fear said.
Victoria smiled ambiguously ,
"You're so confused lilia~"
"We will see" fear said
She jumped high into the sky and removed her helmet, showing her burning hair and golden eyes.
In less than a second the helmet turned into pure fire that circulated around her, growing more and more, burning the entire sky with its flames.
Fear closed her fist, and all the flames gathered around her hand as she sped toward Room 2.0 with full speed.
Victoria shouted at her impatiently, "No use; you can't destroy him. All you're going to do is make him stronger ...rum 2.0. Go get your meal."
She pointed at fear, and Rum2.0 jumped to take her punch head-on. In a second the sky lit with a burning fire lily, releasing a huge pressure on the ground; almost everyone on the island felt it.
Victoria instinctively covered her eyes while Caroline and Astrum were caught by the sight and stopped their own fight, staring at the sea of flames over their heads.
"Doesn't know how to hold back as usual," Caroline said.
"That's a terrifying sight indeed," Astrum said.
The fire didn't take a minute before shrinking in size, turning into a small fire lily that got attached to her head, forming It's in its original shape as a helmet.
After the fire was put out, the only person that landed on the ground was fear, while rum2.0 was nowhere to be seen.
Fear pointed at the stunned Victoria.
"You're next, lilia~"
"You!"
Victoria gritted her teeth from anger ,'that motherfucker how dare she imitate me?'.
Both Fear and Victoria wrapped themselves with their mana and rushed toward each other. Without any weapons in hand, they started a classic raw fight, clashing with their bodies.
At the same time, Caroline raised her sword, devouring it with her aura and releasing it all the way into the sky.
As a result, a red vortex opened in the sky, releasing skulls like phantoms that rushed toward him.
Astrum didn't panic or even flinch; he simply waved his fan, releasing a small tornado mage of ice that swallowed the skull phantoms, turning them to ice before it disappeared.
"The kid has some skills," Caroline said and removed her silver protection. From her expression, she seemed to be enjoying the cold breath.
She suddenly opened her eyes, looking at the clock tower far away and coldly said,
"This shit is over."
She slashed the ground under her, creating a cover from the wave of dust, then rushed toward Victoria, grabbing her from the collar.
"Keugh...what the fuck?"
"Time to leave."
"Wha-"
She couldn't finish her words when fear was about to bunch them; Caroline released her wings and rushed into the sky in time to avoid her.
"Don't even think about it." Fear held her gun and pointed it at Caroline. This time a rain of fire was released on them.
Caroline threw Victoria up in the sky, holding her sword vertically. The surge of mana opened an eye on the sword handle, releasing a huge wave of mana that controlled Fear's attack, directing it back at her.
"Here, for you."
"Shit! That was definitely a bad idea."
Seeing fear frozen in place Astrum hurried in front of her, throwing his fan into the air. All the metal blades got detached and surrounded them, making a shell of ice protecting them from the explosion.
[ACCODIT]
--fwesh-
-bang-
-boom-
After the mana effect was put down and Astrum no longer felt the heat from outside, he removed the ice shell back to its original form.
They looked up at the sky, and neither Victoria nor Caroline was anywhere around them.
Astrum removed his armor and then turned in fear with a clearly pissed expression. Fear gave him an annoyed look, crossing her arms as she removed her armor as well.
"What?...Why are you looking at me like that?",she asked
He stared at her with barrow eyes for a while lost in thoughts, then he finally asked her,
"Why did you suddenly freeze?"
Fear took a deep breath and then said, "Because there was no way I could've stopped that attack."
"It didn't feel that extreme when I stopped it," he said.
Fear patted his shoulder,
"That's because of your GLACIES FERREA; the icy steel magic you make is immune to fire regardless..."
She pointed at the ground that was still burning with fire. "When Caroline uses her OCULUS, it's not as simple as redirecting the attack."
"How?!"
"Simple, the OCULUS itself is a total of four circles. If it comes in contact with any kind of magic, the first circle does the controlling trick. As for the other three... with every passing circle, the original power multiplies six times the original force. After saying it like that, you can now imagine how much damage you stopped, right?" She said
Astrum paused for a minute, staring at the ground before he said,
"A cheat like that would make her invisible, but I don't think it's that simple."
Fear talked as she walked away from him.
"You're totally right...for this power to work It's limited by her magical circles; the opponent must be a circle higher or a circle lower or it's definitely not going to work, and considering the possibility of a higher purity bloodline then...".
"It's not as strong " he said and followed behind her with hands in his pockets, thinking,
'The purity of bloodline gives a puff in power, but that puff doesn't give magical circles, so a six-circle magician with high purity will do the job perfectly.'
"Don't be quick to judge," Fear said as she knelt down and fetched her cloth.
She said while removing the dust,
"Dominating in her realm and the one higher adding the one under; not to mention she is a veteran warrior herself. Then again, look at our circle of people... who is even in the sixth circle?"
"You have a point; even,I,see a sixth-circle magician as a loser," he said.
He turned his gaze at fear thinking,
'Judging by how well they knew each other , i don't exclude the possibility that both of them were holding back..'
"Interesting " he said
She turned her head at him,
"What did you say?"
He quickly averted his gaze away ,
"Said nothing "
She looked him upside down ,
"Oh, totally unbelievable but whatever "
Fear placed her's cloth back on, saying, "We need to get on the move now....Their retreat is a sign of bad luck; we need to hurry."
"Let's get on the move then," he said.
With that, both started walking towards the stadium.
Fear thought, 'There is no noise coming from there, so maybe everything is okay, but in such situations, silence usually is a bad sign. It's a rare chance to experience the real thing, but I hope the students will be okay...'
....
Back to Aries, after he left fear alone, he ran as fast as he could until he finally reached the dorms, but the place was noticeably quiet.
Aries frowned after walking for a long time and not meeting a single soul.
"What happened here exactly?!!"
He had a bad feeling, so instead of looking around, he decided to take a shortcut and jumped straight to Serenity's window.
He gave it a slight push, and it opened instantly.
"Scrape"
"That was easy…" he said and landed in the room.
"Guess her habit of leaving the windows open is still there." Looking around him, he didn't find serenity on her bed, so he turned to the bathroom but found it also open.
"No one is here as well. …"
He scratched his head, full of confusion.
"Where are the people?!?"
He sat on her bed and examined his surroundings carefully, seeing how neat her bed is. 'I guess she went out on her own, but where did she go?'
In the middle of his confusion, he spotted something moving in the trees outside.
"Finally some movement."
Excited, he jumped from the window and headed straight to the movement source. When he got closer, he approached the people carefully.
"Wait, this is..."
When he got closer, all he could see was a group of three students on the ground staring at the cafeteria; he approached them silently.
The moment he sat behind them, he said,
"Hellow!"
"Kyaaaa—" Fearing his voice might attract unwanted attention, the boy covered his mouth instantly.
Aries's sudden appearance surprised them greatly; he covered the mouths of the two girls and looked at the boy in the front.
"Long story short, I am not with them, but I am looking for my sister, Princess Voldemort. Have you seen her?"
The three of them nodded together. Only then did he let go of his hand.
"I am Kim; the two sweet girls are Lara and Lele."
"Hi~"
"How are you handsome?
"Not interested," he said bliuntly shutting them down.
"Keeping your distance huh...typical royal "Lele said but suddenly remembered something.
"Wrong...when did the princess have a brother?"
He looked at her with smiling eyes,
"Royal shit, better not to ask,"
The three of them nodded. Kim punched Lele who asked on her head, thinking,
'Even if you give me ten guts, I still won't prey on a royal; being alive is what matters.'
"So...do you know where my sister is?" he asked.
Kim pointed at the cafeteria ahead.
"I think she is inside....Most of the students that were still in the dorms were held captive in there, if she's still not there then she must be at the stadium."
"Got it."
[AVIS]
Aries didn't wait to hear anything else; he simply vanished right in front of their eyes.
"Where did he go?"
"Don't ask me ...I am glad he is away," Kim said.
Lara asked, "Why?"
"Imagine if something happened to him and we were to be held responsible...just imagining it gives me a fright," he said.
"Oh...just say you're a coward," Lele said.
"Iam, got a problem with me?"he said
Lele's jaws fell not finding words that could describe how she felt at the moment,
"U...uh....iam speechless "
He pointed at the other way opposite from the cafeteria,
"Then shut up and let's get the hell out of here"
"Okay"
Aries, after leaving them, was standing at the front door.
"Hope those inside don't disappoint me."
He walked normally into the cafeteria without a care, looking around him; the chairs and tables turned into a pile of scrap on both sides.
All the students were on the ground, surrounded by a barrier preventing them from using their magic, and about seven magicians in black were surrounding them.
A woman from them was totally pissed by how free he was walking around; she hurried towards him shouting, but right before she grabbed his shoulder, he removed his mask and chanted a single word.
"Hey you, what the hell are yo—"
[EVANESCET]
-fresh-
The next second, the woman turned into ashes without a trace. Aries didn't bother to even look at the ashes and simply removed the dust from his shoulder.
"Idiot"
He looked at the students inside the barrier carefully and didn't see serenity between them.
"This place is a total mess...but then again, my sister cannot be here those people are simply weak to hold her back" he said.
Looking carefully at the barrier surrounding the students, she noticed It's a weakness.
"A third-level barrier...for real?"
Aries chanted one word, breaking the entire barrier into pieces.
[Break]
-crack-
-bang-
"Couldn't you aim for something stronger at least?"