"Ayaka, don't be rash!"
Seeing the change in Kamisato Ayaka, Kamisato Ayato called out anxiously. The next second, a brilliant trail of mixed purple and blue light flashed, instantly slicing through the necks of several Fatui soldiers.
Fast, too fast!
Those Fatui soldiers had no time to react at all. The next moment, they felt the world before their eyes flip upside down, even seeing their own bodies still wielding weapons.
Kamisato Ayaka tightly gripped the Electro Element Vision in her hand, which was emitting a dazzling purple light, feeling the numbness and searing heat transmitting to her palm.
Ultimate speed was the wish that had been noticed by the gods in Aoba's heart at the very last moment.
Kamisato Ayaka had never felt her body so light, nor had she ever felt time flow so slowly.
Before, Aoba had relied on this extreme speed to charge into hell without hesitation; now, she was using this speed to send all the enemies down to accompany him.
Kamisato Ayaka held her breath and focused her mind, slowly sheathing her tachi at her waist. Time seemed to come to a complete standstill at this moment, and the terrified or furious expressions on the faces of the surrounding enemies all flashed before Kamisato Ayaka's eyes.
The next instant, an astonishing blade light erupted from Kamisato Ayaka's body. The numerous enemies, located dozens of meters away from her, froze all their movements in a flash, then their bodies fell apart inch by inch as if a butcher were disassembling an ox.
Everyone present felt the pressure on their bodies suddenly lighten. Only then did they realize that nearly one-third of the enemies they were facing had died from this single strike by Kamisato Ayaka. They were shocked to their cores, and then obvious joy spread across their faces.
"Long live Milady!"
"Milady is too strong!"
"Hahaha, let's counterattack with Milady and avenge our brothers!"
-
Kamisato Ayaka paid no attention to the gradually rising cheers behind her. The hand gripping her tachi trembled slightly, as if shaking off non-existent blood from the blade. Then, she began walking toward Kujou Ittou one step at a time.
The stunningly beautiful smile remained on Kamisato Ayaka's face, but the people in front of her had no time to admire her beauty. They felt an increasingly terrifying killing intent emanating from her, vast as an abyss and deep as the sea.
At this moment, Kamisato Ayaka appeared before them like a demon from hell!
Kamisato Ayaka stepped over the gradually vanishing remains on the ground, passed Kujou Sara, whose eyes showed obvious shock and worry, and continued walking toward Kujou Ittou, each step firm and steady.
Kujou Sara snapped back to her senses and turned to look at Kamisato Ayaka's back. After a moment of thought, she took a deep breath.
"I'll go deal with the others. I'll leave this to you."
"Yes, please."
Kamisato Ayaka hummed softly in agreement, her movements not pausing for a moment.
Kujou Sara turned her head to look at the ice coffin on the ground and sighed gently, her heart full of self-blame and regret.
However, Kujou Sara quickly recovered her composure. She then transformed into a streak of crimson lightning, darting swiftly across the battlefield, once again relieving the pressure everyone faced and even vaguely gaining the upper hand.
Meanwhile, Kamisato Ayaka's extremely cold gaze remained locked onto Kujou Ittou, never wavering for a single second.
"Stop her!"
"Speed is useless! Her stamina is limited! Use area-of-effect weapons!"
The playful and indifferent expressions on Kujou Ittou and Kamisato Ichiman's faces had vanished as they retreated in panic.
The samurai and Fatui soldiers tasked with protecting them were the strongest among their ranks, yet facing the smiling Kamisato Ayaka as she walked slowly toward them, they felt utterly powerless.
Water and ice erupted, Electro and Cryo Cicin flew through the air, Debt Collectors vanished and reappeared with blades hidden in their hands, Geochanters combined their power to erect a massive Geo shield against Kamisato Ayaka's next attack, and Pyrosnipers aimed their rifles at Kamisato Ayaka's head, slowly pulling the triggers.
For a moment, various Elemental Powers were unleashed at once, dyeing the sky in a brilliant array of colors.
Against the Fatui soldiers' combined assault, even a Fatui new recruit instructor would have been knocked to the ground. However, Kamisato Ayaka's figure merely flickered a few times, her movements so slight that she effortlessly dodged all the attacks.
The next second, under the horrified gazes of everyone, Kamisato Ayaka slowly raised her sword and pointed it horizontally at them.
"Aoba, we can go even faster, right?"
After dropping this line, Kamisato Ayaka's body moved again. Almost in an instant, her figure vanished from everyone's sight. This time, they only saw a faint afterimage before the world before their eyes went black.
As everyone who had been blocking her path fell, Kamisato Ayaka's body paused slightly. The next moment, countless tiny cracks split open on her skin, and a massive amount of blood gushed out, turning Kamisato Ayaka into a blood-soaked person in an instant. Yet, Kamisato Ayaka's gaze remained calm, and even the smile on her face became more harmonious than before.
"Ayaka!"
After seeing this scene, Kamisato Ayato's heart ached so much he almost suffocated.
Although he was very surprised that Kamisato Ayaka had mastered Electro Elemental Power and her strength had increased significantly, no matter how strong she became, she was still his most beloved younger sister. Seeing the scene now, his heart broke.
Kamisato Ayato wanted to call Kamisato Ayaka back, telling her not to continue forcing herself, as her body would not be able to hold up, but Kamisato Ayato also knew that she would not listen to him.
At this moment, Kamisato Ayato wished so much that Kamisato Ayaka could have a good cry in his arms; her current state broke his heart completely.
Kamisato Ayato watched the retreating back of Kujou Ittou, who was trying to escape, and a surge of immense rage welled up within him. In his fury, he continued to seethe for a long time.
He couldn't help it; his body was completely exhausted, with absolutely nothing left. He had yet to even fully digest the gains from his previous breakthrough past his limits.
Just then, Kamisato Ayaka tapped her foot lightly. In an instant, she moved like a ghost, crossing the distance to Kujou Ittou and Kamisato Ichiman, and blocked their path.
"This is impossible! How can you use two types of Elemental Power?!"
Realizing he couldn't escape, Kujou Ittou roared at Kamisato Ayaka, his tone even tinged with a hint of jealousy.
"Someone as excellent as I am still hasn't mastered even a single Elemental Power. How can you master two, and be so powerful!"
"Biased God! This corrupt world should have been destroyed long ago!"
"Is that your reason for colluding with the Fatui?"
Kamisato Ayaka looked at him and spoke softly.
Beside her, Kamisato Ichiman was already trembling all over with fear, unable to even speak.
"So what if I did!"
Kujou Ittou spat out venomously.
"A world this unfair has no right to even exist!"
"Are you done talking?"
"If you are, then it's time to go down and join him."
The moment Kamisato Ayaka finished speaking, a dazzling flash of blade light reappeared.
"Wait..."
Kujou Ittou had just raised his hand, but his movement, along with the horrified expression on Kamisato Ichiman's face beside him, froze instantly. Immediately after, his body burst into countless chunks of flesh, and crimson blood stained the ground in a blinding color.
Kamisato Ayaka once again flicked her wrist holding the tachi, shaking the blood droplets off the blade before slowly sheathing it.
As the tachi slid into its scabbard with a soft "click," Kamisato Ayaka's legs gave way, and her body collapsed to one side.
This time, Kamisato Ayaka, lying on the ground, wore an expression of extreme sorrow. Tears gushed out like a broken dam as she looked at the place where Kujou Ittou and Kamisato Ichiman had died.
Just then, the figure of a Debt Collector suddenly appeared above Kamisato Ayaka, his body suspended in midair, the cold blade in his hand aimed directly at her fragile neck.
"Ayaka, look out!"
Seeing this scene, the relief and joy on everyone's faces vanished, replaced by intense fury and deep terror!
"Milady!"
"Ayaka, get out of the way!"
Paimon let out a startled cry, then shut her eyes tight, unable to bear the sight of what would come next.
Kujou Sara fired two arrows at her maximum speed, the projectiles shrieking through the air as they aimed directly for the Debt Collector's weapon and the center of his back.
But it was already too late. Though Kujou Sara's attack was swift, the Debt Collector had appeared far too close.
"No!"
Kamisato Ayato's eyes widened, his pupils turning crimson.
Once again, he was forced to watch helplessly as his sister faced mortal danger, unable to protect her!
The intense remorse allowed Kamisato Ayato to recapture that feeling of breaking his own limits. He recklessly pushed his body to the absolute brink, then raised his hand and swung a devastating strike. A blade of light formed from a massive amount of Hydro Elemental Power soared toward the Debt Collector, carrying the momentum to destroy everything in its path.
Yet, the moment Kamisato Ayato swung his blade, he knew he wouldn't make it in time. A trace of despair flickered in his eyes, for he dared not imagine what a world without Kamisato Ayaka would be like.
"Ayaka!"
Kamisato Ayato let out a final, furious roar, while the Debt Collector's blade was already about to pierce Kamisato Ayaka's neck.
Kamisato Ayaka naturally sensed the life-and-death crisis she faced, but her body was in terrible condition at this moment. She had just forced out a power she couldn't control at her current stage, and the price was the tearing injuries across her muscles.
Kamisato Ayaka desperately tried to dodge the attack. Her life had been saved by Aoba sacrificing himself, so it no longer belonged entirely to her. She couldn't give up on it so easily.
However, the moment she relaxed, her body seemed to lose all control. No matter how hard Kamisato Ayaka tried, she couldn't move an inch.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out very close to her. Kamisato Ayaka stared at the crimson blade before her eyes, a slight chill running through her body.
Then, a blood-red scythe completely shattered the blade in the Debt Collector's hand and gently knocked it aside.
At the same time, a figure holding a blood-red scythe spun with it, creating a crimson arc of light beside Arlecchino that deflected Kujou Sara's two arrows. She then raised her left hand and thrust forward with a palm strike. Blood-red energy rapidly condensed in her palm, colliding head-on with the devastating strike Kamisato Ayato had swung. After a brief standoff, the blade of light shattered into two pieces!
Everyone present was so shocked by this scene that they were speechless. The strength the opponent displayed was simply too terrifying, a completely overwhelming power.
If she wished, she could tear them all to pieces in an extremely short amount of time!
However, it seemed she had no hostile intent for now, as she had even intervened to save Kamisato Ayaka.
Seeing Kamisato Ayaka out of danger, Kamisato Ayato finally breathed a sigh of relief. Because he had previously squeezed out the last bit of his body's strength, he almost collapsed directly to the ground. Fortunately, the samurai beside him noticed in time and hurried forward to support him.
"Traveler, this woman looks a bit familiar..."
Paimon thought carefully for a long while, and then her face suddenly showed a look of shock.
"Isn't this the person at the top of Fontaine's wanted list?!"
"The Fourth Fatui Harbinger, The Knave, Arlecchino!"
After hearing Paimon's words, Lumine finally remembered who the other person was.
"Whose subordinates are you?"
"Hasn't the Fatui already stopped sending personnel to Inazuma?"
Arlecchino looked at the Debt Collector she had sent flying, frowned, and questioned the other Fatui soldiers.
However, those Fatui soldiers showed no intention of speaking and continued to fight.
"Hmph!"
Arlecchino, being ignored, snorted coldly in dissatisfaction, then directly swung her blood-red scythe, tearing the Debt Collector who had suddenly appeared beside her into pieces.
"A [Heroic Spirit]?"
Seeing the Debt Collector's body turn into shattered light and gradually dissipate in the air, Arlecchino couldn't help but frown tightly again, and then slowly uncurled.
It seemed her deduction was correct, Persephone was indeed here in Inazuma!
Obviously, these Fatui soldiers had all been controlled by the other party. Thinking of this, Arlecchino prepared to take action.
For Arlecchino, only the children of the [House of the Hearth] could make her heart soften a little, and she remembered all of those children's faces. There were no familiar faces among the Fatui soldiers present.
As long as they were unfamiliar, they definitely weren't her people, and could be dealt with as she pleased.
After realizing this, Arlecchino no longer held back. Blood-red silk threads shot from her body to every corner of the battlefield, and blood-red remnant wings gradually extended from behind her. Instantly, Arlecchino's entire person exuded an eerie aura.
A terrifying bloodlust erupted from Arlecchino's body, and she gradually flew into the air, like a high and mighty demon god, her aura becoming more and more alarming.
Arlecchino raised her hand and pulled, and countless blood-red threads instantly tightened, binding the Fatui soldiers and members of the two Commissions who were fighting so tightly that they could hardly move.
Then Arlecchino slowly raised her hand and gently snapped her fingers.
The next second, countless blood-red threads tightened, and a powerful force completely crushed the bodies of all the bound people!
In just an instant, this brutal battle came to an end.
"Gulp!"
This was the sound of someone swallowing their saliva.