After clashing blades, both Wolf and Mel stepped back, activating their Vision Fields before they each summoned a card.
Wolf furrowed his brow anxiously.
Her card… Why can't I read it? For some reason, despite Wolf's advanced Clairvoyance ability, he was unable to read any of the stats on Mel's card.
"Blackening." After activating her card ability, her hair, eyes, and armor began to change.
It's just like that night at the Ferrum Armory, Wolf recalled, as he witnessed Mel's hair darken to a night shade of black that also completely covered her armor and weapon.
Her eyes glowed an eerie crimson, giving her features similar to that of a monster.
Wolf stepped back hesitantly.
"Hyper Needle!" From his card, he shot the thin needle at Mel, who had no intention of evading the attack.
Instead, she stood there, silent and composed as she snatched the needle from the air just before it could reach her face.
She caught it!?
Mel, after breaking the needle in half, violently charged toward Wolf at a much higher speed than before.
Crap!
The amount of force she put into her swing doubled, her strength overwhelming Wolf as their blades clashed once more.
She's way stronger than before… Was it her card ability?
Mel deviously smirked as she applied even more force into her blade.
"What—!" The amount of strength appeared to inundate Wolf, as he was flung into the railing on the side of the street.
The collision caused the metal railing to bend behind his back.
Once he looked back up at his enemy, she was already charging at him again, aggressively thrusting her blade. However, Wolf was able to get up in time to evade her attack.
That was close.
Without letting him take a single moment to recover, Mel unleashed a flurry of attacks, deftly swinging her dark blade with excellent swordsmanship.
Wolf gripped the handle of his dagger tighter than ever, parrying each blow as he searched for the perfect chance to strike back.
Fighting the numbness in his wrist, he swung with all his might, deflecting her blade with a wide swing of his dagger.
There! After discovering an opening to attack, Wolf tried to charge in, however, Mel had already anticipated that he would attempt this.
She summoned another card as she weaved his attack while sinking her palm into his chest and pushing it forward.
"Gale Push!" A heavy force concentrated itself within the center of Mel's Palm.
"Agh!" Wolf was suddenly knocked into the air, loosening the strong grip he had on his dagger.
His back hit the ground as his dagger fell far behind him.
As Mel slowly crept toward her target, Wolf continued to lay on the ground, his chest burning in agony as he struggled to breathe.
"I must admit, I was quite surprised you were able to counter my attacks like that," Mel praised. "You certainly harbor a commendable degree of skill, however, you are still no match for a trained swordsman."
Wolf's hands began to twitch as he struggled to move his body, which seemed to have exhausted itself almost entirely.
I… I can't…
With the wind knocked out of his lungs, he wasn't able to form any more words.
Mel stood over him, pointing the end of her blade down at his face.
"It is a shame this fight has to come to an end so soon. I'm sure my master hadn't planned it this way either." With both hands, she lifted the handle of her sword over her head. "This is the end for you."
Wolf braced himself as Mel forced her hands down, closing the distance between the end of her blade and Wolf's chest.
But just before it could pierce him, she paused, noticing the sound of footsteps that were rapidly approaching.
"SURPRISE, BITCH!"
"WHAT!?"
Mel's attention was completely stolen by Snapper, who leapt into the air.
"Kek!"
He struck the dark princess with a fierce kick that sent her body gliding over the ground.
"Snapper…" Wolf quietly called to him while slowly regaining his breath, barely managing to sit himself up.
"Don't go dyin' on me yet, Wolf," he said, returning his dagger. He also handed him a small glass bottle with a green liquid glowing inside. "Drink this, it'll help with the pain."
"What is it?" Wolf asked while closely examining the container.
"It's a Vision Catalyst , or what I call a 'health elixir'. It's like liquefied Vision energy: it'll help your body regenerate quicker."
Upon devouring its contents, Wolf began to feel the immediate effects of the elixir.
It's really working, he thought to himself as he felt an instant relief from the pain in his chest.
As Mel began to pick herself up from the ground, Wolf's eyes widened. He seemed to have noticed a strange object glowing only a few meters behind her.
That's–!
He quickly turned to his comrade, hoping he wasn't hallucinating.
"Snapper... do you see it?"
"Yeah," he replied. "I see it."
Wolf rose slowly, the energy within him surging at an incredible rate.
"Do you think she's noticed it?"
"No, I don't think so. She hasn't looked back at it yet."
"Alright, we have to do everything we can to keep her away from it."
"Don't gotta tell me twice."
Snapper and Wolf took a fighting stance, focusing on the enemy ahead of them, who was now obscuring their path toward the ice hat.
…
<
"Where are you taking me?" Amber asked the blue orb, as she continued to follow it aimlessly.
It led her to a burial site within the park, where she treaded over the soil of the dead.
A graveyard? she thought, directing her gaze around the area as she moved past the stone epitaphs.
She reached a large mausoleum that bore a statue of a giant winged creature, leaning over the roof.
Creepy… Amber felt a cold shudder as she gazed at the stone statue with a similar appearance to a raven.
While refocusing on the graves, a feeling of bereavement crept inside of her as she pictured her mother's smiling face.
Then, it began to deteriorate as though her mind had purposely burned the image, reminding her to stay focused.
"Are you alright, child?" A sudden voice startled Amber out of her thoughts, causing her to retrieve her dagger from its sheath.
"Who are you?!" she asked, nervously searching around her, unable to find where the mysterious voice had just come from.
But the voice didn't reply.
Amber noticed that the fog surrounding her appeared to be thickening.
What's going on? In a state of confusion, she looked around for the blue light.
There! It began to glow from a close range, but seemed to distance itself as she approached it.
"Wait!" she cried, now running towards it. But once she finally reached the light, it had completely faded before her.
"What…?" Amber found herself unable to see anything but the gray fog that obscured her vision entirely.
"Amber." She heard the sound of her name echoing throughout the mist in a soft whisper.
"Who's there!?" she cried once more. "H-How do you know my name?"
"Please find me, Amber." The voice continued.
Where is it coming from? Amber asked herself, still turning her head in hopes of pinpointing the anonymous caller's location.
"Amber… Amber…" The voice continued to echo and repeat as though someone was now whispering to her from every direction.
In a state of panic, Amber attempted to summon her Birth card, but quickly discovered that she was unable to do so.
What's happening? She looked down, unable to locate the device previously attached to her waist. Where the hell is my CCU!?
"Amber." The voice was gradually getting louder and louder as though it were rising to a crescendo. "Amber..."
"No!" she began to cower in terror, covering her ears to try and block the sound.
"Amber!"
"Please stop."
"AMBER!"
"STOP IT!!!!"
The moment she screamed, the mist suddenly cleared.
"Amber?" A taller woman with fox ears and a tail crouched down beside Amber, whose head was still lowered in fear. "Are you alright?"
The woman carefully placed her hand upon Amber's shoulder.
That voice... Thinking the voice was somehow familiar, Amber slowly raised her head, completely dumbfounded by what she saw.
"M-Mom..."
Amber tightly wrapped her arms around her mother as tears rapidly gushed out of her eyes.
"How is this possible? I-I thought you were—"
"Shhhh." The woman gently stroked her daughter's hair. "It's alright, Amber, I'm right here."
Amber, who was trembling in her mother's arms, cried uncontrollably as though she had been holding in a lifetime of tears.
After a few minutes had passed, Amber's eyes had dried up.
"I'm so glad you're alive," she said to her mother, still holding on to her. "But, I've got so many questions."
"I will be sure to answer them all very soon, my dear." She stood up before pulling Amber to her feet. "First, I have something I want to show you. Please, come with me."
She smiled warmly, holding on to Amber's hand as she led her across the cemetery.
"Where are we going?" Amber asked her.
"You'll see," she answered joyfully.
Amber smiled to herself with a feeling of excitement beginning to flow through her.
They soon arrived at the same mausoleum she previously walked past.
Amber tilted her head in confusion.
"What are we doing here?"
"... It's a surprise," her mother replied, as she pushed open the gate entrance.
"Come on," she said. "It's waiting for you inside."
"Right, I'm coming..."
Just as Amber was about to enter the mausoleum, she stared at the empty roof, noticing something strange.
Wasn't there some kind of bird-looking statue on the roof earlier? she thought.
"Is there something wrong?" her mother asked.
"No, it's nothing," Amber replied, shaking her head.
It was probably just my imagination, she concluded.
It was somehow much colder inside the mausoleum than it was outside, and Amber found herself shivering uncontrollably.
"So cold," she whispered.
Amber's mother pointed toward the tomb that sat against the floor on the other end of the room.
"The thing I want to show you... It's in there."
"What is it?"
"If I told you that, then it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it?" she said teasingly.
"Seriously…" Amber grumbled.
Nevertheless, she began walking to the other side of the room, while her mother carefully shut the entrance behind her without making too much noise.
Amber's ears twitched as she reached the tomb. After cautiously pushing open the lid, she was shocked to discover the contents within.
This is…
Amber reached her arms out, grabbing what was inside. She stood up, holding what appeared to be a hat made of blue ice.
"Do you like it?" her mother asked her while remaining on the other side of the room.
Amber's bottom lip began to quiver as she opened her mouth.
"Can I ask you something, Mom?" she said, her voice shaking.
"Anything."
"Do you remember my fifth birthday?"
"Of course," Amber's mother smiled. "I remember it like it was just yesterday. We went to the market together to purchase some extra cake ingredients. After we got home, you begged to help in the kitchen, but by the time we finished baking the cake, you were too tired to even taste it.," she chuckled.
"The same thing also happened the next year," Amber smiled while reminiscing. "But do you remember why I was always so tired?"
"... It was your fourth birthday: I wanted to surprise you, so I visited the market much earlier that morning. But when I came back…"
She found her daughter crying outside on the porch.
Amber began to smile, grateful that her mother was able to remember these things the same way she did.
"I woke up before you got back, and when I realized you weren't there, I cried for hours because I thought you'd left me."
Since that day, Amber learned to go to sleep early so she could always wake up before her mother, so naturally she was always tired even during the day.
"When my next birthday came, we went out together instead, so I wouldn't be left alone again." Amber's smile began to fade.
She thought back to the moment of her fifth birthday, when she cried as her mother held her in her arms.
"Do you remember what I said that day, when you told me you were just trying to surprise me?"
Her mother smiled.
"You said: 'I hate surprises'."
From that moment on, her mother vowed never to surprise her child ever again.
But just now, she seemed to have broken that promise.
Amber shut her eyes. Once she opened them again, she saw that the ice hat, which previously rested in her hands, was replaced by a withered skull.
What…? She quickly turned around.
Her mother, previously standing on the other side of the room, had vanished. Replacing her was the large statue of the winged creature that once existed on the mausoleum roof.
Amber gazed at it in horror, dropping the skull that cracked against the floor and dissolved into a pile of dust.
"... M-mom?"
The creature spread its large wings, which spanned across the entire width of the mausoleum.
"Wake up, Amber!" It screeched in her mother's voice before darting across the room, impaling Amber's chest with its sharp beak.