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Chapter 39 - Phantom Skin

Milan helped Keres up, steadying him on his uninjured foot.

He couldn't possibly put the other one to use. But at least Crescencia had set the broken bone back into place—albeit forcefully.

Knowing Keres, it was only a matter of time until the broken foot fully healed itself. But even still Milan felt a tug at her conscience.

"I'm so sorry I pushed you," she said. "I swear it wasn't intentional. I—my hand just—"

"It's fine." Keres interjected. "I get it."

A short silence followed.

"I'm sorry she hurt you like this," Milan said again, frustration flickering across her face. "It's my fault for not getting here in time."

"It's all good. Could've been much worse." Keres replied. "Oh and that attack just now… it was badass." A smirk played on his face as he said.

Milan responded with a faint grin. But deep down she knew Crescencia wouldn't be down for long. 

"Rolan!" She called out, peering forward, searching for the teenage archer.

"Right here." came his voice from right behind her.

"What? How long have you been—" Her jaw nearly dropped. But when she spotted the smug look on his face—the lifted brow that undeniably said, 'I've been here the whole time,' she kept quiet and sighed. "I guess it's not that important."

"We don't have much time," she resumed. "You have to get lord Keres away from here. Now!"

Keres' eyes widened.

"Wait, wh-what about you? What on earth do you—" He stopped as he felt it: a chilling flash of heat as Crescencia's figure emerged from the cloud of dust and smoke.

"No one is going anywhere," she pronounced, interlocking her fingers and stretching her arms overhead until her joints cracked.

Milan's attack had charred the better parts of her coat. So she shed it, revealing a short-sleeved undershirt, white as snow.

As Milan heard the thuds of those heavy boots pressing into the earth, she clung to the blind hope that Crescencia had at least taken some damage.

However, the clearer the Silver Slayer's frame became, the more apparent it was that she was unharmed.

The mountain range stretched endlessly, an expanse of immovable rocks, piercing the sky. The atmosphere was so chilly, she could feel the frozen shrubs and loose gravel underneath her soles. Nothing flammable—she thought.

A terrible day to be a fire user.

This is the real world, there is no survival without the resolve for sacrifice—a thought rang in her head as Crescencia stepped forward, inducing a threatening pause in the air.

She realized then how naive she'd been to think she could walk this path without dipping her hands in blood.

Milan inhaled. A pathetic "I'll hold her off," diversion strategy wouldn't cut it. She had to give everything, laying all their lives on the line. This was an impossibly gigantic wall she needed to overcome.

"Change of plans," her calm voice broke the stillness, eyes locked on Crescencia. "Lord Keres stays with me."

Rolan gave a tense nod, uneasiness coursing through his body.

"And the moment I give a signal," a pause hung on her lips, tight with suspense.

But then she turned to Rolan, her expression unreadable.

"Run away."

Keres' muscles stiffened. But before he could even draw a breath—

BOOM!

The ground exploded beneath them. And suddenly, it wasn't there anymore.

Both of Keres' legs flailed nervously, kicking at obstacles of cold air and empty space, leaving him no choice but to cling tight onto Milan.

Her purple hair whipped in the breeze and her fingers ignited.

Blasts of fire surged beneath her boots, propelling them higher and higher into the sky, further away from Rolan as the archer fled to safety.

And in a flash—

[Prana Control: Twin Star Fireworks]

A jet of red hot flame roared into life, splitting and then shaping into fierce dragons as they coiled down towards Crescencia.

The Silver Slayer narrowed her eyes.

"So that's how you wanna play it," she muttered, cracking her neck with a sharp tilt.

One moment she was there and the next—she flickered away like a wisp of smoke.

The fiery dragons slammed into a boulder with a deafening blast, reducing it to molten rubble.

But Milan was just getting started.

Bolts of blazing inferno rained down like meteor fire, sending merciless vibrations through the mountain pass.

Crescencia vanished again. And then again.

Trails of her Silver hair popped in and out in blurry flashes while the more defined red and gold blazes pounded the earth as if drops of hell were falling from the sky.

At first, it looked like a raw, brute force attempt meant to overwhelm.

But the longer it went on, the more Milan's onslaught evolved. Faster, sharper and more anticipatory, every dragon coiled down to cut off escape.

Crescencia flashed a grin.

"I'd love to play a bit more but—" she vanished again, narrowly slipping past a flame dragon that singed the ends of her Silver hair.

As she reappeared, a pair of flame beasts hissed through the air, milliseconds away from devouring everything.

"I've got you now!" Milan stated.

But as the attack closed in, she felt a sudden chill creep down her spine. The tables were about to turn.

"Rupture."

And with a faint twitch of Crescencia's finger, it happened.

Something ripped through the flames in a blur of impossible speed, dispersing lethal tremors through the mountain range as it erupted skywards.

Milan's senses screamed. She didn't spot a thing but her body moved on reflex.

She killed the flames shooting from beneath her soles. And almost instantly, a shockwave grazed her left ear, claiming loose strands of her hair.

Tiny droplets of blood dripped down her neck, cold against skin now flush with adrenaline.

A visceral jolt ran through her mind and body. She wasn't having fun. Half a second too late and her head would've tumbled.

She curled protectively around Keres. But as the force of impact crashed them against the brutal earth, the teenager ricocheted out of her arms, rolling across the jagged floor.

He let out a wet cough, air knocked out of his lungs for an instant.

One moment they had launched skywards, Milan's inferno raining down like teardrops from the sun. And the next, they had come crashing down.

He tried to register what had happened.

But just as he slowly pushed himself up, heat flickered beside him.

A familiar presence.

"We had an agreement," Crescencia nagged, tugging his ear like a scolding older sister. "Your words, remember? No take-backs. And you lost."

"Damn it!" Keres hissed, chewing on his lower lip.

"Unless you can make this more fun," she glanced at Milan, brushing imaginary dust off her shoulder, "I don't see the point in dragging out a battle I'm always going to win."

Milan's face distorted.

A few meters away, she slowly forced herself up, one hand heating up with rising prana.

But in a flash, Crescencia appeared, extinguishing her fingers with a crushing stomp.

CRACK!

A violent sound—bone, earth or both? It was hard to tell.

However Milan didn't scream.

She clenched her jaw and braced her other hand to the floor. Then, she spun fast, legs cleaving through wind like flaming fan blades.

Crescencia leapt back, forced to give distance, and Milan landed firmly beside Keres.

"You're always going to win?" The young noblewoman sneered. "Funny. I was just starting to feel the same way."

She repeatedly craned her mangled fingers until they were straight.

At the same time, Crescencia glanced down at her boot—now burning. She let out a high-pitched gasp and quickly smothered it in nearby snow, hissing from the cold.

"Aahh! My new designer boots!" she shrieked. "This is why I don't like flame users. Do you have any idea how expensive these were?"

Tears welled in her eyes as she yanked off the scorched boot, inspecting the damage like a grieving mother.

Meanwhile, Milan narrowed her eyes.

"…Strange." She blurted unknowingly.

Keres had never felt this powerless before. Even with the Seventh Dimension activated, he could barely track what had just unfolded.

He felt like a helpless toddler in the middle of a raging sea. No oars, no paddle, just clinging to the sides of a splintering boat and praying for his dear life.

So pathetic, damn it! He cussed at himself.

He dug his fingernails into his forehead, forcefully pulling down until blood began dribbling down his face.

But just as he began to sink in a whirlpool of self loathing, Milan yanked his arm, forcing him behind her.

With eyes locked on Crescencia, she spoke in a steady voice.

"Please stay behind me… no matter what happens."

It wasn't much but that feeling of support, knowing that someone had his back washed his soul with relief.

That was when he finally felt it. The pulsing warmth that wrapped itself around Milan's whole body, vibrating faintly with life.

"Milan what's this thing… around you?" He asked, brows lifted.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It feels really light… kinda squishy too but I think it's what protected me when I fell earlier."

"Oh," She blinked twice. "You mean my Skin?"

Keres tilted his head, confused.

"It's called Chakra Skin. The most fundamental defense skill in Dell-style combat," she explained. "I extended mine to you with a little of my chakra before, you know—"

Keres rubbed his chin in thought.

"Does that mean everyone uses it?"

Milan nodded.

"Then… why isn't she?" He pointed across the pass to Crescencia, who knelt grieving over her scorched designer boot.

Milan's brows lifted.

"Are you sure of this?"

"I broke my leg kicking her," he paused for emphasis. "And yeah, it felt like smashing into an iron meteor. But I'm sure she didn't use Chakra Skin."

"…As I thought..." Milan muttered.

Chakra Skin is the final layer of defense, often used to protect not only the body but also clothing and gear from getting easily destroyed by opposing attacks.

Prana-based attacks were a different story but, Milan's blazing spin just now was fueled by her Absoluteness 9 chakra.

Crescencia undoubtedly was a 10. Meaning attacks of lower absoluteness would have no effect on her—if she had used chakra skin.

Is she looking down on me?—Milan wondered. But no… that couldn't explain it.

Crescencia cared for her boots too much to not be cautious in a fight with a flame user.

Moreover—

"This is why I don't like flame users. Do you have any idea how expensive these were?" she had said with raw frustration in her voice.

Right, today wasn't the first time.

For whatever reason...

The Silver Slayer never used Chakra Skin.

If so, then Milan's attacks were more than sufficient. They only needed to land at least once.

She just needed to get close enough.

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