Elaris's hands moved in opposite directions. In the middle of the motion the very air was pushed away from the front by a wave of ice moving toward Elithia. She stopped thinking for now about taking that item for herself and focused on dodging the attack. Jumping upward, Elaris's attack continued forward.
'She's fast'
Elaris looked up and saw her sister positioning herself to deliver a kick. Activating her magic once more, Elaris created an ice shield while Elithia launched her kick using earthquake magic. At the moment of impact, the boot wrapped in seismic energy collided with the shield, causing the ice to crack in several directions. The force of the tremor spread through the shield and the ground around it, lifting fragments of stone and ice. The shield resisted for a brief moment, but the pressure of the blow made Elaris slide backward as deep cracks opened across the frozen surface in front of her.
"Seismic Wave"
When Elithia touched the ground with her feet after landing from that strike, the earth beneath them began to tremble before a fissure opened across the entire area, making Elaris fall downward. Creating a platform of ice she positioned herself on top of it and saw Elithia approaching from behind with an ice dagger in her hand. Using the platform she launched herself behind Elithia and delivered a kick to the back of the elf queen's head.
'Wait that dagger'
Elaris recognized the dagger in Elithia's hand. That dagger was the same one that had been stabbed into her mother's chest. Seeing that her sister hesitated when she saw the dagger, Elithia took advantage and struck an ice spike into Elaris's ribs, sending the princess flying away.
'So innocent'
Elithia prepared to strike again, but an ice statue suddenly appeared right in front of her, resembling their mother. The statue's fist hit her face forcing her to step back while a bleeding Elaris stood up staring at the dagger. She remembered that her mother had a disappointed expression and so she had thought Malik had been the one who killed her, but that expression would not have been so painful if it had been only him.
'From what I remember he was supposed to kill her according to what Elithia mentioned… unless something went wrong'
Looking at her sister pulling the dagger from the chest of her statue with natural ease, Elaris opened her eyes wide. Her mother wanted to know who had killed her husband, if she had gone to confront Elithia before Malik went to kill her? If that were true…
'That means she killed her with her own hands?'
The ice around her began to lose control when a killing intent from the elf princess exploded wildly toward Elithia. Several blades made to kill someone were sent toward her sister, many of them aimed at vital points.
"AAAAAAARGH—ELITHIA!!!"
She let out a furious roar that made Elithia look toward her and the blades with slight surprise before returning to her cold expression and crossing her arms as the armor did its job of reflecting all that magic thrown at her, even though some cuts appeared in potentially vital areas.
"I didn't think you could release such a furious scream"
The beasts that had previously been almost destroyed by the armor reflecting their attacks returned to attack again, but now in a more monstrous form, with ice spikes growing from their bodies. Elithia raised her leg with earthquake magic spinning around it, kicking the head of the ice bear and then striking the ground immediately after, breaking it along with the two remaining creatures.
"Well it makes sense after everything I've done"
When she said that she showed no expression and immediately made her next move. Raising her leg once again she spun backward and aimed toward Elaris who had a furious look. Her leg seemed to carry an impossible weight as if the entire strength of the ground had been compressed into that single strike. The earthquake magic gathered around her boot making the air vibrate and small cracks appear on the ground even before the attack was launched.
"Pressure Accumulation"
With an explosive movement Elithia kicked the air toward Elaris. The pressure released turned into a shockwave that tore the ground apart as it advanced, throwing pieces of stone and ice along the way. The castle trembled with the force of the attack while the wave of destruction advanced directly toward the elf princess.
"Bestial Claw"
Elaris raised her arm and released a strike that split the attack coming toward her into five parts. The attack passed by her and with an impulse Elaris advanced leaving behind an explosion of mana. Reaching Elithia she aimed the claw of her right hand toward Elithia's heart. Seeing the danger the elf queen kicked her sister's arm using earthquake magic causing damage to the bone while Elaris's arm was forced upward.
Without retreating the elf princess pointed the claw of her left hand toward her opponent's throat. Elithia used Elaris's attack to spin and strike the princess's neck making her almost lose consciousness. Her opponent seemed out of control and that was excellent because it made things easier for her.
'Do you hate me that much—'
Before finishing the sentence her neck was bitten by Elaris who had grown ice fangs from her teeth. Blood sprayed everywhere as Elaris tore a piece from Elithia's neck. Even she was surprised by such brutality that didn't even seem like it came from an elf. Holding her neck she stepped back while Elaris fell to the ground and stood again with blood covering her lips.
"Why wouldn't I hate you when I just discovered that not only did you plan all of this, you dared to kill our mother with your own hands"
"What are you talking about?"
Elithia made a confused expression that truly seemed genuine, but when Elaris stood up with a laugh that sounded painful in a certain way, Elithia knew her sister had somehow discovered the truth.
"Hehe it seems my backup plan won't work… tell me how did you find out"
Elithia gave a small mocking smile, enough with the mask, it was time to show her true side to her sister. Elaris seemed calmer when Elithia revealed her true face. Letting out a mocking smile as well she looked at her sister as if she were looking at trash.
"I would never tell you idiot."