What had she just been told? What was this woman saying? She didn't understand—she couldn't understand, and she didn't want to.
The only thing she truly grasped was the definitive statement that the being before her had murdered her parents—the two people who had loved her and showered her with boundless affection.
Unforgivable. Unforgivable. Unforgivable.
What should she do? The fact that such a person existed here was absolutely intolerable. She couldn't stand that this woman was breathing in front of her. She couldn't stand the smile on her face. She could not forgive her very existence.
If that was the case, then she simply had to erase this erroneous existence from the world. Only then would her raging heart find any semblance of peace.
"Nng... ah... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Byune, who usually spoke only in single words, let out a cry like a roar.
It was a voice steeped in bottomless hatred and fury, tinged with a faint, sharp edge of sorrow.
Byune’s face, which rarely showed any change in expression, was now twisted with malice as she glared at Pri, who was lovingly stroking the orange-red and light-blue jewels.
But Pri didn't seem to care about Byune at all. A mocking smile played on her lips as she spoke.
"Oh, whatever is the matter? This is a long-awaited family reunion, isn't it? Don't be so cross; you should be showing more joy."
"Ah, ah, ah, ah... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
That final taunt from Pri’s mouth snapped the last thread of Byune’s restraint.
Daggers in both hands, she kicked off the floor and charged straight for Pri. She acted as if the dolls standing in her way were non-existent.
The dolls, however, had no intention of letting her pass. As Byune rushed toward their creator, they lashed out with their weapons from either side, wounding her as she ran.
Still, Byune did not stop. No—she could not stop.
Swing blades sliced her arms, legs, face, and torso; they struck her, gouged her. Yet even in such a state, she seemed to feel no pain. She simply ran toward Pri—toward the detestable woman flaunting the jewels crafted from her parents’ lives. She ran solely to sink her blades of hatred into her enemy’s heart.
She was far too far gone to realize that this was exactly what Pri had been waiting for.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
A spear thrust forward, piercing Byune’s flank.
But it didn't matter. If anything, by letting the enemy's weapon entangle in her own flesh, she had one less obstacle in her path.
Ignoring the agony, Byune sprinted across the floor. Normally, the sheer number of wounds she had sustained would have been enough to drop her. However, in her current state, her spirit had completely overridden her body. Her sense of pain was paralyzed, leaving only her drive to reach Pri.
"STOP HER! DO NOT LET HER REACH THE MASTER!"
One of the dolls shrieked. Arrows flew, while longswords and daggers were swung once more.
Despite the hole in her side, Byune batted them away, evaded, or simply let them strike her as she pressed on. Passing through the storm of steel, she finally closed the gap, her target directly before her eyes.
However, she found herself staring directly at Pri’s raised left hand.
"Let there be a Lightning Cage."
With those words, the large amethyst set into Pri’s bracelet glowed. The magic sealed within the jewel triggered instantly.
Lightning magic erupted. It was not a single bolt like the one used earlier, but a cage of crackling electricity that materialized exactly where Pri was looking...
"Kyaaah!"
A scream echoed through the room.
Byune’s eyes widened as she stared at the sight.
Just a split second before the Lightning Cage had fully formed, someone had appeared out of nowhere and shoved her aside. As a result, it was Vihera who was now trapped inside the cage, her body taking the brunt of countless electrical strikes.
"Ah... a... Aaaaaah..."
Byune stood frozen, unable to process what had happened. She reached out toward Vihera, who was being relentlessly charred by the unceasing lightning.
"Wh...at do you think... you're doing?" Vihera managed to choke out. Though her body was being seared, she had only screamed that once. She looked at Byune with a stern, pained gaze. "I thought... I told you... never to let... your blood boil... in the middle... of a fight!"
"Ah... aaah... Vi... Vihera..."
It was the first time in years she had spoken the name.
Vihera, however, had no strength to spare for a reply. Enduring the agony of the lightning, she concentrated every drop of her magic power into her gauntlets.
Responding to the surge, the claws produced by magic power grew longer and sharper.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Bathed in lightning, she forced her body to move, slashing through the Lightning Cage itself with claws that had extended to a full meter. With that same momentum, she swung her claws again, bisecting a doll that had been closing in to capture the dazed Byune.
"Haah, haah, haah..."
Gasping for breath, Vihera refused to collapse. She staggered over to Byune.
Because Pri’s goal was to take Byune alive, she hadn't dealt a fatal blow, though she certainly intended to deal enough damage to incapacitate her. Furthermore, Vihera’s armor was little more than the thin raiment of a dancer, save for her gauntlets and greaves. Even though her outfit was a magic item with surprising durability, it couldn't nullify the total damage of the lightning.
"Ah... a..."
"Honestly, get a... grip," Vihera said, leaning on Byune. "Since I saved you... you'd better... stay calm."
For some reason, Pri merely watched them, a mocking smile on her face. Even though they were vulnerable, she made no move to attack. She even signaled the dolls to hold back.
One look at her twisted expression made it clear that Pri wasn't acting out of mercy.
"Look, I'm fine... This woman killed your parents, didn't she? Then you need to be cold. Don't... let your emotions... blind you."
"Vihera."
The name came out slightly garbled, a consequence of Byune's long silence. Vihera simply smiled back.
"Fufu... Byune, you have to avenge them. I’m sorry... but it looks like I’m done for this round..."
Vihera’s wounds weren't fatal, but they were far from light. She pushed her own pain aside, reached into the pouch at Byune’s waist, and pulled out a potion. She poured it over the gash in Byune’s side—the most serious of the doll’s attacks.
Since it was a high-grade potion Byune had saved for emergencies, the flesh knit together before their eyes. Within seconds, it was as if the wound had never existed.
"There... now go. You're a young woman... you can't have wounds that leave permanent scars."
"Mm."
Byune nodded. Her usually stoic face was twisted with grief, and tears finally welled in the corners of her eyes.
Leaving Vihera sitting on the floor, Byune wiped her face and turned back to Pri. Her gaze was entirely different now. It was still intense, but the blind hatred had been replaced by a cold, sharp resolve.
"Nn!"
With a short grunt of determination, she kicked off the ground and charged again.
"Fufu. That gaze of pure hatred was beautiful, but those eyes are lovely, too. In your current state, you'll make an even more magnificent jewel than I expected."
Pri whispered this as she tapped her heel against the floor.
"Like the Wind."
The yellow jewel on Pri’s right anklet glowed. With a mere hop, she achieved an impossible distance, pulling far away from Byune’s reach.
Byune’s brow twitched in surprise, but she didn't stop. She was out of throwing needles, and the two daggers in her hands were her last weapons. Her light equipment, meant for agility, was now a double-edged sword.
Still, Byune pressed on. She didn't ignore the dolls this time; she parried and evaded their strikes as she closed the distance with Pri, focused on minimizing further damage.
"Fufu... honestly, you're such a handful... But it doesn't look like they're going to let me just sit here," Vihera muttered.
Several dolls were closing in on her. Ordinarily, they would have been no threat, but her situation was catastrophic. The Lightning Cage had left her body numb and trembling; precise movement was impossible, let alone combat. It was a miracle she had even managed to administer the potion to Byune.
"Even so... I can't afford to die in a place like this."
Staggering to her feet, she raised her gauntlets. She couldn't summon her magic claws through the numbness, but she refused to go down without a fight.
"WE WILL CAPTURE HER!"
Two spears were thrust toward her. Considering they were aiming for her torso, the dolls clearly didn't care if she was badly mangled, as long as she was alive.
"Flying Slash!"
A voice rang out. Simultaneously, something shattered, and Vihera felt a cool liquid drench her body. The numbness and the burns from the Lightning Cage began to vanish instantly.
"Rei...?"
She glanced toward the source of the voice. There was Rei, still locked in a fierce duel with Oricule. However, because he had turned his attention away to help her, Oricule was now beginning to push him back.
Seeing the glass shards on the floor, Vihera understood what had happened. She slammed her foot down, her strength restored.
"Honestly... breaking a potion container over my head to shower me with it. No one but you would think of something so ridiculous," she whispered to herself.
She looked down at the dolls, which were now backing away in caution at her sudden recovery. The woman standing before them was no longer the broken, charred mess of a moment ago.
Vihera had exhausted her magic power defending herself and Byune, but her physical wounds were gone and her stamina was high. Rei had sacrificed his own momentum and tactical advantage just to heal her. To a battle maniac like Vihera, such a gesture left a profound impression.
Thump.
Watching Rei parry Oricule’s rapier and swordbreaker with the blade and butt end of his Death Scythe, she felt a sudden, small throb in her chest.
(What is... this? I don't know. But I don't feel like I'll lose to these dolls anymore...)
A mysterious sensation blossomed within her—something warm. As she focused on it, a new surge of power welled up from her core.
"Not in the least!" she shouted.
She lunged forward, her fists and feet becoming a blur of destruction. Even without her magic claws or her greave-blades, she pulverized the dolls, tearing limbs from torsos with her bare hands.
As the dolls scrambled to surround her, something flew through the air out of nowhere.
It moved like a whip, its blade slicing through the dolls with surgical precision. It carved through a doll trying to flank Vihera and then cut down another charging toward Byune.
Vihera knew that weapon. She knew exactly who it belonged to.
She looked toward the entrance and shouted the name.
"Elena!"