The air between Hikari and Lila crackled with tension, a palpable force that stirred the remnants of debris strewn across the shattered landscape. They stood together, poised and defiant, facing the dangerous presence of Aphrona.
Hikari, her fist tightly clenched, exuded an almost tangible energy, her aura flaring around her in violent waves of cyan light. The pulsing radiance wrapped around her like a living thing, sharp and intense, as if reflecting the storm that raged beneath her calm exterior. Her medium-length brown hair, usually tied neatly in a casual style, now seemed to move on its own, lifted by the invisible wind of her psychic energy. It cascaded in erratic waves, caught in the fury of her power. Her cyan eyes shimmered, twin orbs that burned with an almost unnatural glow, betraying the chaos roiling within her. The gaze of someone who had seen too much—someone teetering dangerously between control and destruction.
Her outfit was an odd mix of youthful rebellion and deadly readiness. The loose bow tied over her long-sleeve sweater seemed out of place against the dangerous strength of her presence, like a reminder of the normal life she was constantly pulled away from. The navy skirt, practical yet somehow frayed at the edges, swished with every movement, paired with baggy socks and sandals. A schoolgirl's simplicity contrasted with the raw power she commanded, hinting at a life that balanced precariously between the mundane and the extraordinary. Hikari's aura surged violently, kicking up the debris around her—broken pieces of stone and scattered leaves from the decimated buildings nearby whirling as if they too were caught in the energy of her inner turmoil.
Beside her, Lila stood unflinching, her stance as playful and energetic as ever. Her twin blades, shimmering with the faintest trace of psychic energy, rested in her hands, ready. Her bubblegum-pink hair, bright and unapologetically bold, tumbled in thick curls down her back, shifting like the wind as she moved. Her bright azure eyes sparkled with mischief, a mirror to her carefree nature, but there was a sharpness behind them—a calculating focus that spoke to her extraordinary intelligence. Beneath the laughter and the vibrant smile, Lila was a force to be reckoned with.
Her wardrobe was a chaotic explosion of color—playful patterns, frilly skirts, and soft fabrics that seemed to swirl and dance with her every step. But despite the lightheartedness of her appearance, there was no mistaking the strength of her psychic power. The golden, flame-like hues of her energy surrounded her, crackling and flickering in sharp bursts of pinks and oranges. A visual manifestation of her unpredictable and fierce nature. Though her outward demeanor spoke of joy and spontaneity, beneath it lay a mind that could outthink even the most seasoned of enemies. She was an exorcist and esper whose intuition and brilliance were as dangerous as any weapon, a strategist who could turn the tide of battle with a single, unexpected move.
And then there was Aphrona. The very air seemed to shift as she stood before them, a sadistic smile twisting her lips, taunting them from across the rubble-strewn battlefield. She was a vision of unsettling allure—her form impossibly symmetrical, too perfect, too soft, yet it exuded a faint air of something off, like a piece of art designed to please everyone but, in the end, satisfying no one.
Her porcelain skin gleamed in the dim light, smooth and flawless, yet as her form caught the right angle, cracks—delicate and shimmering like broken glass—could be seen just beneath the surface. It was as though something fragile and fractured lay just beneath her beautiful, unblemished exterior, a stark contrast to the unsettling aura she projected. Her long silver-lavender hair cascaded down her back in ripples, its color shifting like liquid mercury. It framed her heart-shaped face perfectly, the strands shimmering with every movement, almost alive, as if they were trying to escape her form entirely.
But it was her eyes that held them captive—radiant, haunting eyes that glowed faintly with an unsettling light, pulsing with every beat of her heart. They were the eyes of someone who had seen the world broken and twisted into something unrecognizable and was now enjoying the chaos from the comfort of her own carefully constructed illusion.
Her clothes were no less a part of her deception. She wore flowing silks and delicate laces, garments that seemed to breathe with a life of their own. Floral patterns shifted and changed with every passing moment, like the petals of a flower caught in an eternal, unending wind. The fabric clung and rippled in ways that suggested it was not entirely of this world. It revealed just enough of her form to spark desire, but distorted enough to leave the beholder unsure of what was real. It was a mirage—a trap for the senses, crafted to lure in and ensnare anyone who dared to look too closely.
Her smile, sweet like honey but poisoned with arsenic, curled at the edges, dripping with the satisfaction of a predator preparing to strike. Aphrona was a being of illusions, of manipulation—her every move calculated, every word dripping with malice. The battle between them was not just one of physical might, but of wills, of reality bending under the pressure of their combined powers.
Aphrona's voice drifted through the air like a whisper woven from silk, but there was something sharp underneath it, something that made the words feel more like a command than an invitation. "So… which one of you wants to dance with me first~?"
The moment the words left her lips, an unsettling hush fell over the battlefield. The air, thick with anticipation, seemed to vibrate with the intensity of her gaze. A shiver ran through the group. It was an invitation—yet it felt like a trap that could not be escaped.
Hikari's eyes hardened, narrowing with a fire that matched the storm building inside her. The cold steel of her resolve cut through the lingering unease. Without a word, she stepped forward. The air around her crackled, and she launched herself at Aphrona with a speed so sudden it was as though she had become nothing more than a cyan blur.
"I think it should be me," Hikari's voice was sharp, cutting through the tension like a blade.
Lila, ever the vigilant ally, reacted instantly, her blades flashing into her hands as she mirrored Hikari's movement. Together, they pressed forward, each poised for their own strike.
Aphrona's eyes gleamed with an unsettling anticipation. "Yesss… that's exactly what I want~," she purred. Her form shimmered, and with a grace that was both beautiful and unnatural, she morphed her left arm. Flesh twisted, stretched, and reformed into a grotesque, spiked whip that glistened with a sickening, organic sheen.
She swung it with a laugh, the whip cracking like thunder as it arced through the air, slamming into both Hikari and Lila with a brutal force. The sound was deafening, a wet, slapping noise followed by the sickening crunch of impact. Hikari was sent hurtling backward, but with a flick of her body, she caught herself mid-air and propelled herself forward again, her feet barely touching the ground as she shot toward Aphrona.
Lila, however, wasn't so fortunate. She skidded across the ground, her body leaving a trail of dust and grit in her wake. A guttural growl slipped from her lips as she scrambled to regain her footing, her eyes burning with determination. From her crouched position, she hurled one of her blades at Hikari.
Hikari caught the blade out of instinct, her fingers closing around the hilt with a silent snap. Without a second thought, she swung it toward Aphrona's mocking smile. The clash of metal on metal rang through the air, a sharp, biting sound that felt like nails on a chalkboard.
Aphrona's laugh echoed in the space between them, a honeyed sound laced with menace. "My, my~~ is that a crush I'm sensing~?"
Hikari's eyes flicked downward. What she saw made her gut twist in a sickening recognition. Aphrona had morphed her forearm, the skin now hardened into a grotesque shield made of bone and flesh, the jagged edges gleaming like shards of glass.
Hikari's lips pressed into a thin line. "Shapeshifting…?" Her voice was low, dangerous.
Aphrona's smile widened, a soft giggle escaping her throat. "That's right, darling. My power, Soul Sculptor… it allows me to shape bodies, minds, and souls as though they were nothing but clay." Her words were casual, as if discussing an art form rather than a nightmare. She parried Hikari's next strike effortlessly, before slapping her across the face with an elegance that made it feel like a caress. The blow sent Hikari stumbling back, a stinging burn blossoming across her cheek.
"What emerges," Aphrona purred, voice dripping with sadistic sweetness, "is never random. It is artistic subjugation~"
Hikari's hand pressed against her cheek, the skin already beginning to ripple with a grotesque, painful sensation as if it were attempting to reshape itself—twisting, pulling, molding. The morphing stopped just as quickly as it had begun, but the pain lingered, deep and insistent.
Aphrona tilted her head, her eyes glimmering with something almost predatory. "I see… You must have an extremely fast healing factor~"
Hikari's breath hitched, her mind scrambling to center itself, to push past the debilitating pain. There was a deep unease now, creeping beneath her thoughts—something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Her healing factor… it was active, yes, but not in the way she had expected. It was as if her body was trying to repair itself faster than it could handle, bending the laws of nature in a way that made her skin scream in protest. It was almost like her body was fighting against her, the very essence of who she was unraveling and then reweaving into something alien.
For a brief, horrified second, she felt a pull within herself—a hunger to just… stop, to surrender to the agony, to let the process unfold. It was almost… pleasurable. But no. She clenched her teeth and forced her body to obey. She wouldn't let Aphrona control her that way.
Lila launched forward at Mach 1, the air itself screaming in protest as a miniature sonic boom ruptured outward, a pressure blast rippling through the city like a shockwave of invisible shrapnel. Windows fractured. Streetlights bent and groaned. She was a golden-pink comet streaking through the ruins. Her hand snapped up instinctively, psychic energy ready to burst forth — but what erupted was something else entirely.
A searing light, molten and alive, tore free from her palm — a blaze of gold twisted with chaotic tongues of flame-like pink. It didn't just illuminate the air; it devoured it, warping the space around her fingers with a heatless inferno that moved like it had a mind of its own.
Aphrona's shriek split the atmosphere, manic with anticipation.
"YESSSSS! SHOW ME THAT APOSTLE POWER!" she howled, her body twisting in an instant.
Bones cracked and re-knitted with sickening speed as she morphed midair into a monstrous hawk, feathers tearing from bloodied pores, beak sprouting from a face that still half-resembled a human scream. She hurled herself at Lila like a meteor, feathers glistening with strands of something far too wet.
Lila tensed for the inevitable impact — but at the last heartbeat, Aphrona's form collapsed inward, the hawk shredding itself as she forced herself back into a humanoid shape. She crashed feet-first into Lila's chest with a thunderous, nauseating thump, driving the air from her lungs in one brutal blow.
"Not too baaaaaaad," Aphrona giggled, voice vibrating with something unhinged as she perched atop Lila like a grotesque throne. "But you can definitely do better~"
In a blink, Hikari — burning with rage — surged back toward them.
"Yessss, keep trying, just like that~" Aphrona sang sweetly, her movements flowing into another horrific metamorphosis. Her arm shuddered, splitting down the middle, muscle fibers unwinding into raw, writhing cords. The limb snapped outward, elongating into a jagged, flesh-wrapped blade, sickly wet and glinting under the broken city lights.
With a gleeful flick, she hurled the blade-arm forward — the weapon screeched as it cut through the air, stretching an unnatural thirty-five feet like it had no business obeying physics.
Hikari barely managed to twist aside, but not fast enough. The tip of the monstrous blade kissed her side, slicing open a ragged wound that burned and throbbed instantly. Blood spilled in pulsing gouts down her hip, the cut jagged and uneven like she'd been slashed by a wild beast instead of a clean edge.
Grunting through the pain, Hikari snapped her glare at Aphrona, her voice low and cutting.
"You're supposed to be part of that cult… the 'Sect of Her Shadows,' right? And you're what they call a 'Sin Archbishop'? Tch. We'll rip you all apart."
Aphrona's smile widened unnaturally, too many teeth flashing in the dark.
"Yesssss, that's the spirit," she hissed, voice vibrating with sick pleasure. "Exactly what I want to see — right before I start peeling the skin from your bones…"
She shivered with giddy anticipation, her body twitching like she could already feel the violence. Her thighs rubbed together in a sickening rhythm, her entire posture practically quivering with depraved hunger.
"And then~" Aphrona cooed, twisting her weight to press her heel harder into Lila's chest, making her gasp beneath her. "I'll kill this precious little girl you love so much~"
Her finger, long and skeletal, pointed straight at Lila's heaving form — as if marking her for death, as if savoring every last second before the feast began.
The air shuddered as Hikari's aura erupted with a renewed, volatile intensity, warping the atmosphere around her like a mirage teetering on the verge of collapse. The cyan glow in her eyes deepened into something almost unnatural, flickering like twin stars on the brink of supernova. A surge—not just of psychic energy, but something deeper, more primal—roared through her bloodstream, lightening her body and sharpening every nerve until she felt weightless, dangerously untethered from the earth itself.
Before the world could even catch up to her motion, Hikari became a living vector, a streak of cyan light bursting across the sky. With a thought sharpened to a blade, she seized Aphrona mid-air, invisible coils of telekinetic force snapping shut around her like the jaws of some unseen beast.
In the blink of an eye, Aphrona's body was slingshotted with bone-rattling violence across the skyline, hurtling through the reinforced glass and steel of a distant skyscraper. The collision detonated a localized shockwave, glass raining down like a storm of crystal shards while the building shuddered, its frame screeching under the catastrophic impact.
Hovering high above, encased in a seething, translucent bubble of psychic energy, Hikari's silhouette was a phantom against the chaotic skyline. Her hands, small yet trembling with cosmic force, clasped together—and with a grim finality, she tore them apart.
A low, awful groan rippled through the structure as its steel bones gave way. Support beams twisted and snapped like dry twigs under an unseen hand. The skyscraper's midsection sagged inward before the entire building crumpled, folding like a dying creature onto itself, a titanic bloom of dust and debris surging into the sky.
For a moment, Hikari merely floated, her expression unreadable beneath the unnatural gleam of her eyes. Then, almost languidly, she lifted one hand toward the heavens.
Dozens of crystalline shards—raw, condensed manifestations of pure psionic energy—materialized around her, orbiting her slender form like the fragments of some shattered god. With a flick of her wrist, they launched downward in a screaming volley, each shard carving through concrete and steel with surgical precision. Sparks bloomed in the ruins as the shards tore into the half-collapsed skyscraper, gutting it from within like molten knives through flesh.
Not yet satisfied, Hikari thrust both arms forward, palms spread wide. The earth answered her call.
The ground convulsed and tore itself open, vast segments of concrete and rebar ripping free like broken teeth. Fifteen colossal spikes, each at least seventy-five feet tall and jagged as the crowns of ruined mountains, surged upward in a brutal, unnatural harvest. Without hesitation, she seized the monolithic weapons telekinetically and hurled them toward the ruins of the skyscraper with the force of an artillery barrage.
Each spike landed with ground-shaking violence, pulverizing what remained of the structure and sending rippling shockwaves across the surrounding blocks. Windows shattered in nearby buildings. Car alarms screamed into the already deafening roar. Dust blotted out the stars.
Floating amidst the storm she had wrought, Hikari remained silent, breathing slow and measured, her aura writhing against the night's bruised sky. Beneath the deadly calm of her expression, however, something flickered—something dangerous and alive, a storm coiled deep in her blood, waiting for the next moment of chaos to tear free.
The weight of what she had done didn't press down on her as it might have once. That hesitation, that old fear of taking life, had long since been cauterized out of her. Gyo had seen to that. His brutal lesson, carved into her bones and mind during their merciless battle, whispered still in her ears:
Mercy in the supernatural world was just another word for suicide.
And now, when necessity called for violence, she answered not with hesitation—
—but with precision.
The atmosphere around them suddenly thickened, a weight pressing down on their very souls. The air, once alive with the hum of chaos and destruction, seemed to stutter, as if time itself was gasping for breath. Hikari and Lila froze in place, every instinct screaming that something dangerous, something far worse than they had anticipated, was drawing near. It wasn't just a presence—it was an overwhelming, suffocating force that gnawed at the very core of their vitality. This wasn't the typical aura of an enemy; it was the unmistakable aura of deprivation, the hunger of something far more sinister.
The moment the strange aura made its presence known, the world around them felt colder, emptier. Hikari's stomach twisted, and Lila's breath caught in her throat. It wasn't just the depletion of resources—it was the very evaporation of hope, the sense that everything they fought for could be snatched away without a second thought. It was a hunger that devoured not only the physical but the spiritual, a gnawing emptiness that left nothing behind but a desolate void.
From the shadows of this suffocating presence, a figure emerged. His appearance was anything but what they expected—his stark white hair fell gracefully to the nape of his neck, the delicate strands shimmering with an otherworldly sheen. His bangs hung low, casting a shadow over his face, making it nearly impossible to discern his expression. Yet there was something unsettling about the way his eyes gleamed—crimson, calculating, weighing everything in sight with terrifying precision.
His skin, pale as alabaster, seemed almost… devoid of life. It was as though the warmth of existence had been drained from him, leaving only a hollow shell behind, a mirror of the insatiable void within. His sharp, smart-casual attire was as pristine as his aura—an immaculate white that matched the sterility of his very being. He didn't just stand there—he loomed, radiating an invisible pressure that made the world around him seem insignificant.
And then, in that eerie silence, his voice pierced through, smooth yet filled with a venomous calmness.
"God, such destruction… Such a nuisance. You couldn't have done this in a more… quiet manner?"
Hikari didn't hesitate. Without a moment's thought, she twisted mid-air, focusing all her psychic energy into a blast and hurling it toward the man in white. But as the wave of power surged forward, it was repelled—bouncing off an unseen force that encased the man like a protective barrier. It was as though her attack had been swallowed by the very air itself, consumed by a presence that was far beyond her reach.
The figure in white didn't flinch. His eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a mocking smile.
"Hey," he began, his voice dripping with cold disdain. "Tell me—no, enlighten me, you pitiful excuse for a sentient being—who precisely taught you that it was acceptable, that it was permissible, that it was somehow justified to raise your hand against someone who has done nothing—absolutely nothing—to wrong you? Explain it to me, in detail, if you would, because I am fascinated—deeply, profoundly fascinated—by the sheer, staggering depths of your audacity. I need to understand. I need to comprehend what miserable, festering logic took root in that hollow little skull of yours to convince you that trampling over someone else's sovereignty, their dignity, their existence, was something you were entitled to do without cause, without reason, without even the pitiful excuse of righteous grievance.
Because you see, to me, to one who understands the immutable laws of possession, of dominion, of natural order, such behavior is not simply vile—it is sacrilege. It is a violation so profound it borders on existential heresy. What kind of malformed creature looks upon another, sees nothing owed, nothing taken, nothing transgressed—and still lashes out? What bottom-feeding, deranged, verminous existence do you lead that you believe yourself qualified to act so wantonly, so disgracefully, so disgustingly without provocation?
I have taken many things. I have laid waste to worlds. I have torn down civilizations and hollowed out souls, yes, but always with cause, always under the sacred tenet that what I take, I deserve. That which I seize, I rightfully claim through strength, will, and the sovereign right bestowed upon those fit to grasp it! It is the law of existence itself: the strong act by right, the weak suffer by nature! There is an order to it—a logic! But you—you—you are nothing but a thief of dignity, a parasite of order, a defiler who wounds not for necessity, not for justice, not for survival, but out of some sick, hollow impulse that even you cannot name!
It is disgusting. It is insulting. It is an affront to everything that gives structure to this wretched, decaying reality! You dare raise your hand in violence without first understanding the price of what you strike? Without first acknowledging the sovereignty of another's being? Without realizing the scale of the crime you commit when you presume, presume, to act against me without due cause?!
You offend me. You offend the very concept of existence. And for that—you will pay. You will pay not in death, for death is far too swift, far too kind. You will pay by being unmade—your soul hollowed, your will disassembled, your very existence reduced to famine and ash, a monument to your failure to understand the most basic, sacred truth of reality: that those who have not wronged you are not yours to touch!"
His words hung in the air, a slow, deliberate irritation that twisted deeper with every syllable. And just as quickly, his hand lifted. It was a gesture so casual, so almost nonchalant, that it seemed harmless. But the world didn't react in the way one would expect—it shuddered in response.
With a flick of his wrist, the air in front of him warped, bending unnaturally. A vertical slash of compressed air erupted in a devastating arc, a force of nature given form. It tore through the air with a bone-chilling speed, cutting through buildings, the earth, and everything in its path. The sheer force of it shattered structures, cracked the ground beneath, and left an endless scar of destruction in its wake. The slash continued on for miles, a streak of death that raced at an impossible speed.
Hikari reacted on instinct, her body twisting mid-air as she barely dodged the attack. The very air seemed to ripple and twist with an unnatural force as she narrowly avoided certain death.
The man in white, now standing calm amidst the chaos, didn't seem concerned in the least. He casually raised a hand, his eyes locked on the collapsing skyscraper where Aphrona was still located. He willed the very matter around the building to bend to his whims. As though reality itself was his puppet, the structure began to disassemble, the very particles separating before his will. With another flick of his hand, he sent Aphrona flying toward him, her body suspended mid-air, as if she were nothing more than a leaf caught in the wind.
Aphrona, flipping her hair with casual elegance, scowled as she landed near the man.
"I didn't need your help, Alcor," she muttered, her tone laced with annoyance.
Alcor's gaze never faltered. He looked at her as if she were little more than an afterthought, the corner of his lips curling in a slight smile.
"And trust me," he replied coolly, "If it weren't for her asking me to come collect you, I would've let you die in that building."
Aphrona blinked, her eyes flashing with frustration. "Well, that's just cruel."
Hikari, who had landed beside Lila, turned her focus to the man in white. "And you are…?"
Alcor's crimson eyes flickered with recognition, then amusement. He tilted his head slightly, as if savoring the moment.
"Ah, so it's true. Two apostles standing before me… Never thought I'd see the day," he mused aloud, as if speaking to himself. He took a deliberate step forward, his foot crashing into the ground with a sound that reverberated through the air. The earth beneath him cracked, the force of his movement sending chunks of debris and earth flying toward Hikari and Lila. The projectiles tore through the air like missiles, threatening to overwhelm them with sheer force.
With barely a second to react, both Hikari and Lila managed to dodge, the debris flying past them with barely a hair's breadth between them and certain death.
Alcor's voice cut through the air once more, smooth and unperturbed.
"My name is Alcor," he said, his tone becoming more deliberate, as though each word carried the weight of an empire. "I am the Sin Archbishop of Greed from the Sect of Her Shadows. But I also go by…"
He smiled then, and it wasn't a smile of kindness. It was the smile of something far more terrifying—a smile of ownership, of someone who knew their power was absolute.
"The Horseman of Famine."
The words echoed in the air, a warning and a declaration in one. And in that moment, a sense of dread filled the air. It wasn't just the force of his presence. It was the promise of everything he was. Destruction, famine, greed—he embodied it all, and worse still, he craved it.
To be continued…