Talulah kept running, using the building's interior to break Chen's line of sight and search for openings.
But—
Chixiao's aura tore the air apart, split steel, cleaved through flame.
Chen swung again and again, sword aura bursting toward Talulah.
Jump. Roll. Parry—still blown away.
Talulah slammed into the ground, sprang up without pause, and ducked another strike.
She hadn't expected her sister—whom she hadn't seen in years—to be this strong.
She was being suppressed so completely she couldn't even mount a real counterattack.
"Calm down, Talulah. Calm down. Remember what you're here to do."
"Stop Lungmen from moving. Free the people controlled by Rhodes Island."
She ran, thinking hard, eyes fixed on the figure in the center who kept slashing at her.
"Everyone fought their way to get me here. I refuse to fail."
Her gaze snapped away from Chen, to the gigantic machine behind her.
That was the target.
A colossal reactor that powered Lungmen's movement.
Talulah's mind flashed with a plan.
She shifted her steps and charged straight at Chen.
Fire gathered in her palm.
Before the next sword aura arrived, she hurled the flame.
A blaze hot enough to melt steel met Chixiao's aura—and was ripped apart instantly.
But… it was enough.
Talulah skimmed past the sword aura and closed in.
Her greatsword slammed into Chixiao.
And in that moment Talulah realized—
Chen's strength was small.
She was almost instantly able to press Chen down.
Something was wrong.
Chen's body… could not match her skill.
It was like her technique had reached the peak, but her physical frame was unchanged from years ago.
But then Talulah felt the pressure vanish as Chen slipped away—next came a sharp pain at her waist.
She was kicked flying and crashed to the floor.
Chen raised her sword to finish it—but suddenly froze.
Like two commands inside her had collided.
"So that's it." Talulah climbed back up, smiling.
"One order is to guard the reactor—let no one touch it. The second is to defeat any intruder."
"When those two orders clash, what does a controlled puppet do?"
Talulah stood before the roaring machine, staring at Chen's stalled blade.
"The answer is exactly what you're doing now, Little Chen. Also—you really need to stop kicking people."
As she spoke, fire surged in Talulah's hands. Heat rolled outward.
Chen snapped out of the stutter and rushed her.
Too late.
Talulah clenched her flames, spun, and drove them into the reactor.
—
BOOM!
Explosions chained together.
BOOM BOOM BOOM.
Lungmen shook violently.
Across the battlefield, Reunion fighters saw the pillar of fire and grinned.
Their leader had done it.
"It worked!" FrostNova smiled inside an ice-sealed street.
But the smile vanished almost immediately.
Yes—she felt the city stop moving.
But the controlled people… were still controlled.
FrostNova looked around at the crowd closing in on her.
The city had halted, yet the puppets remained puppets.
She inhaled, exhaled white mist, and looked toward Rhodes Island.
"Now it's up to you…"
She was about to freeze them again when—
Heavy footsteps and furious shouts surged from afar.
—
The towering structure had become a burning ruin.
Talulah crawled from collapsed debris, filthy, singed, nearly charcoal-black.
"Ah… I almost died." She panted.
The blast had gone off too close. She had planned to retreat to safety first, but situations changed too fast.
Lucky she survived.
"Wait—Little Chen!"
Talulah's relief snapped into panic.
But her worry eased quickly.
A sword aura cleaved through rubble like tofu, revealing the figure beneath.
Chen walked out step by step, eyes locked on Talulah, aura sharper than ever.
"…What now?" Talulah sweated.
Her sword had vanished in the explosion.
Bare-handed, exhausted, barely able to stand—how was she supposed to face a puppet that no longer needed to guard, only to kill?
Run?
She wanted to.
But her body was so drained that even walking was hard, much less sprinting.
Chen raised her sword and swung down without hesitation.
—
Clang!
Two figures burst through the ruins.
One drew a sword at the very instant Chixiao fell.
Chixiao aura ×2.
The colliding auras detonated into a gale so strong Talulah couldn't open her eyes.
When she did—two people stood between her and Chen.
One was Kevin, looking back at her.
"Leave the rest to us."
Talulah turned to the other.
Her uncle.
Wei Yenwu.
He didn't look at her, only at Chen.
Talulah breathed in.
"Long time no see."
"…Long time no see. You've grown."
"Heh. You're out of words, huh? Fine. Listen, Wei Yenwu—our last job is to wait."
"Wait for my comrades to save this world…"
—
In front of Rhodes Island, all the operators stood in rigid lines, empty-eyed, staring at three figures approaching.
At the head, Amiya's numb face fixed on only one person.
The trio stopped.
Only one stepped forward.
"Priestess… let's talk."
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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