Kiyuri and Rika found themselves standing in a vast, unfamiliar expanse.
The ground beneath their feet was cracked and dark, pulsing faintly with an eerie, sickly light. A heavy mist drifted low across the surface, coiling around them like something sentient—something watching.
Only a few paces away, Carmeine stood still and silent. Her eyes gleamed with something unnatural, something wrong.
"Where are we?" Kiyuri asked, her voice tense as her gaze swept across the endless void.
"I don't know," Rika replied, already sliding into a ready stance.
"Gabriella and Indra aren't with us anymore."
Kiyuri's fists clenched, her pulse thudding against her ears.
"Man… either that kid's crazy intelligent or his instincts are insane.
Somehow he knew we'd be separated, so he threw me to you… so you wouldn't be alone."
"So that's why he did that," Rika said quietly, realization dawning.
"But we aren't alone.
She's still here."
Her eyes locked on Carmeine.
Kiyuri followed, her gaze sharpening.
"Where are they?!" she demanded, voice fierce and echoing into the mist.
Before Carmeine could answer, a smooth, mocking voice slipped through the fog like a knife through silk.
"Aww, don't blame her too much," the voice drawled lazily.
"She was only following orders."
Kiyuri turned instantly.
"Who's there?!"
Carmeine dropped to one knee without hesitation, bowing her head low.
"My lord."
Footsteps echoed—measured, deliberate. From the mist emerged a tall figure, cloaked in an air of control and cruelty. His presence was overwhelming—refined yet lethal. His face was sharp, his eyes glinting with cold amusement and arrogant calm.
"Well done, Carmeine," the man said.
"Excellent results, as always. No wonder Hallel keeps you around."
Rika's breath caught. Her entire body stiffened.
"I know that face…" she whispered, her voice barely holding together.
"Killian!"
The figure smiled, dark and deadly.
In a burst of black smoke, Carmeine's form shifted. Her human disguise evaporated, revealing her true demonic form—horns curling from her forehead, limbs trailing with dark mist, her posture now proudly monstrous.
"Anything for you, my lord," she purred.
"I wasn't expecting Valkyries to be involved," Killian mused.
"The plan was to leave Indra alone… but I guess this works too, hmm?"
Kiyuri stared, disbelief bleeding into horror.
"Wait… you're… Killian?"
"That's right," Killian said smoothly.
"And if you know who I am, then you know the situation you're in."
Rika's voice trembled.
"We have to get out of here!"
"Right!" Kiyuri shouted, lifting her hands.
"Wormhole!"
A black portal split open above them, dragging at the space around it, pulling both girls toward escape. For a moment—hope surged.
But another portal snapped open just as quickly—violently ejecting them back down.
They landed hard on the same cracked earth.
"Wha… why isn't it working?!" Kiyuri gasped.
Killian stepped forward, calm and unhurried, his smile deepening.
"As long as I'm here…
you can't escape through your portals."
"How's that even possible?!" Rika cried.
Killian's voice darkened, resonating with unshakable power.
"Confused child. I am of the Divine. A Covenant."
Kiyuri staggered back, her eyes wide. Her voice cracked with fear.
"A… Covenant…"
"Kiyuri?" Rika called, panic rising.
Kiyuri's voice shook, barely more than a whisper.
"The Covenant are demons from legend… Angels cast from Heaven for turning against God. In power… compared to us… he's like a god!"
Killian let out a soft chuckle.
"I love the compliment. If it wasn't for Hallel hating your kind, I would've kept you alive. A power fitting to be one of my nuns."
Kiyuri straightened herself slowly. Her hands still trembled, but her voice was clear.
"I would never… work for you!" she shouted.
"I would rather die!"
Killian's smile was razor-sharp.
"I can make that happen."
Without warning, he surged forward—
a blur of black and crimson streaking through the mist.
The air cracked around him.
Killian moved like a divine executioner—his first strike carved a shockwave straight through the ground, ripping open the cracked surface and sending molten veins of energy spiking outward. Rika barely ducked under it, the blast searing past her cheek like a blade of heat.
His next movement was already there.
He vanished from sight—reappearing behind Kiyuri in less than a breath. She spun just in time, throwing up a spatial shield that shattered like glass under his palm strike, the force sending her hurtling back.
"Kiyuri!" Rika shouted, springing forward to intercept.
Killian pivoted between them, his coat whipping in the air as he brought his hand up again. A pulse of dark energy erupted from his palm—fast, silent, deadly.
Rika crossed her arms just in time, her elemental flame crest activating and shielding her in a burst of fire. The blast slammed into her barrier and detonated, throwing her backward in a trail of sparks.
Before she could hit the ground, a wormhole opened behind her—Kiyuri's doing—catching her mid-fall and slinging her upward like a slingshot.
Kiyuri reappeared beside her, hands glowing, portals forming in rapid succession around the battlefield.
Black rifts tore open the sky, swirling like whirlpools of reality, trying to trap Killian's movement.
But he didn't slow.
Killian moved through them like they weren't even there—phasing through dimensions with ease, his body leaving afterimages as he tore toward them again.
He kicked off the side of a floating portal mid-air, twisting into a spinning back-kick that collided with Kiyuri's gut.
She flew.
The impact left a crater where she landed, cracked earth webbing out beneath her.
Rika screamed, flames erupting around her as she charged forward. Her sword lit with burning crimson energy, she spun low, feinting left, then dove upward into a rising arc.
Her blade met his—
And Killian caught it with a single hand.
With a smirk, he twisted his wrist—ripping the weapon from her grip and slamming his knee into her stomach.
Rika choked out a cry, the air driven from her lungs.
"Kiyuri!" she called, tears burning at her eyes.
But Kiyuri was already back on her feet.
Blood trickled from her mouth. Her body trembled. But her hands were still moving—faster now, faster than before.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of portals bloomed around the space, layering over one another, some sharp-edged, some swirling, some collapsing in on themselves.
Killian paused, eyes narrowing.
Kiyuri's expression sharpened.
This was her domain now.
She snapped her fingers—
—and the battlefield exploded in chaos.
Portals fired blasts of condensed space energy, slicing the ground like beams of light. Some warped reality itself, disorienting vision and sound. Others launched solid matter—debris, stone, blades of condensed gravity—all converging on Killian at once.
He grinned.
And then he moved.
Killian danced through the storm, arms flowing like silk, dodging with perfect timing. He redirected space blades with his bare hands, shattered gravity beams with bursts of energy, and weaved between warps like he was stepping through raindrops.
But Kiyuri didn't stop.
With a final flourish, she threw a portal beneath Rika's feet.
"Go!" she shouted.
Rika vanished instantly.
She reappeared high above the ground, wind rushing past her as she tumbled toward a second portal flashing open below.
And then—
She hit the dirt.
The mist was gone.
The air was still.
Rika landed hard on the outskirts of Wyrdeer, where the spell markings had once stood.
Her body ached, her lungs heaved for breath.
She sat up fast—
Eyes wide. Heart hammering.
"NO!" she cried, tears falling down her face.
Her hands clenched the earth beneath her.
"Kiyuri…
Please make it out."