They all stared in disbelief. Then Aefia moved, reaching her hand up to the bridge between her eyes.
"Really? Did you do it?" Nada asked, folding her arms.
Both Sasha and Aefia—this time—turned their shocked gazes at her.
What the fuck?! Yo—chill! That was so harsh! Aefia thought.
What got into her...? Sasha asked herself.
Then she let out a sigh. "Since it is your first try, congratulations. It is impressive you could do that. Now... Use your Ultimate. Not your special skill."
Helio looked baffled, and heartbroken. "Wha..." Then reluctantly turned back around to face the auctioneer—and froze.
His skill had hit the auctioneer's wing, leaving her grunting in pain, and left a massive damage on her health bar. A motivated smile surfaced on his face.
If I had known I had the potential... I would have done this ages ago!
He raised his hand a second time, but then paused when he realized he wasn't charged enough.
He let out a solemn sigh, about to turn around to say he needed to accumulate some energy—
A hand slammed onto his shoulder, transferring energy straight into his veins almost instantly. His charge collecting rapidly.
A short while later, Aefia's hand dropped. Her shoulders slumping forward as she clenched at her heart. Her hand coming away slightly wet with blood. She coughed into her fist, then straightened up to shove him.
"The first one was good. All you have to do now is to concentrate more of your power and... Hopefully that is your ultimate." She whispered, wiping the corner if her lips with the back of her hand.
She took steps back, then raised her hand a second time—summoning a barrier over where the other candidates were.
"You three just deal with the auctioneer. I am managing the others... In the meantime," she said, turning her gaze up to the sky where the moon was still moving. "There is only so much distance left..."
Helio didn't waste another second. His gaze followed the line of attack, dodging as much as he could. Then leapt up to reach the auctioneer's height with his blade clenched tightly at his side.
He gritted his teeth, swinging his blade diagonally upwards while concentrating his energy to the tips of his fingers.
This time, the sparks were a bright, pale, yellow.
"A Thousand Plasma Spheres..." He muttered under his breath. His green eyes brightening to a golden colour.
In the sky, many stars started to flicker. Then, the light rays all violently fell over the auctioneer.
She screamed in pain—her sanity bar blanked out.
Helio struck his sword at her, which got blocked as expected. He fell backwards onto the ground, astonished for a second by his own magic.
His feet touched ground, stumbling back a few steps as he stayed at his own hands in shock and horror.
Like Nada, his clothing and appearance changed too.
His veins were illuminated with pulse of golden light travelling through his visible veins. He was clad in white and gold, and in the reflection of the water-like surface beneath his feet, he saw that at his forehead was a thin mark of a sun and its rays shooting up and down. A halo rested upon his forehead, hovering an inch from touching his hair.
"Wait... So is my second element... Solar powers?" He muttered absent-mindedly, then clenched his hands tightly into fist. Partially due to joy, and partially due to the exhaustion creeping into him but the need to fight catching up almost instantly.
This isn't going to work out... My powers have shown a progress and I might as well help them out.
His eyes flew to the readers, staring to see if the others were watching.
Aefia was the only one who shot him a thumbs up, a faint smile at her face. "Look at yourself, learning. Now go rest. That was enough."
Her eyes then immediately flew to the auctioneer, whose screeches were so loud, nearly no one could hear it.
Her wings wrapped around herself, as she transformed again.
"But what about the rest of you?" He asked, stepping forward.
Aefia didn't answer, running off to some place which seemed like only she knew.
He turned back towards the auctioneer—who had managed to heal by changing forms, back and forth—lifting his sword up.
In the corner of his vision, he spotted Sasha already pulling that hand sign again. Her form changing to match her element.
Her teeth gritted, and she grunted as she directly all of her strength at the auctioneer.
"All Nerves..."
The auctioneer froze up instantly, gasping as even when breath locked up in her throat.
"My body! ... It feels like intense gravity is pulling me down and crushing me!"
Beside the woman, multiple daggers hovered—then fell upon her.
Most left only minor grazes, others left large lacerations. Her health bar dipped, nearly empty.
And at this point, everyone was tired. Too tired to even notice the moon still falling upon them. All of them took safe steps back.
The auctioneer's body finally moved, as she clenched her head tightly. "What is going on?! Why isn't any method working?! I have been trying everything!"
Her sharp nails frantically gripped her shirt, pulling a few strands off as she screamed a second time... Then stopped.
She looked down. And the sanity bar bounced up by ten percent.
"Where is... The experiment?!" She frantically looked around. "Where did she run off to?!"
Nada looked curiously at both Sasha and Helio. Then at the other candidates—they were gone.
"She used the blind spot to move the others!" Sasha gasped, trying to catch her breath.
Everything fell silent.
"Should you even be saying that?! In front of the very person who is after her and can't even stand her?!" Helio shouted, pointing at the auctioneer. Then pointed upwards. "And be worried about something else!"
At that, the woman looked up. A smirk settling onto she face.
She lifted her hand to the moon a second time, clenching it tightly and pulling it faster down at them.
Because it was a fantasy domain... The moon wasn't going to break out of gravitational force and turn into a ring.
So it meant... Whoever was left in this domain, would have to take the damage of the moon falling over them... And leaving them injured—or dead... Alongside the boss of this dungoen.
"All of you! Run!" Nada shouted, taking off in a sprint as her form from the Ultimate slowly dissolved.
Sasha and Helio followed along, their forms too dissapearing.
Above, its craters slowly became more detailed and more visible.
Nada looked over her shoulder one last time, her eyes widening in fear and horror.
Swish!
A figure zoomed right past her, grazing her shoulder before skidding to a halt. Blood droplets followed the path, of wherever her footsteps went.
All three of them stopped, looking behind them.
Aefia held a her hand towards the sky, which turned red without a single cloud.
She was heaving, when arms covered in blood and cuts, a gash at her forehead and her blade bloody at her left hand. Her right hand fought to keep the barrier up—before she dropped the sword and reached both hands up.
Her teeth gritting as she watched the auctioneer laugh in amusement at her struggle.
This sick bastard!
"Where the hell were you?!" Sasha shouted over, having finally caught her breath.
"Dancing! Can't you see?!" Aefia shouted back, without turning around. "You fucking idiot! You left that man unconscious! You were supposed to kill him!"
"I wasn't aware! Alright?!"
"Well at least now you are! At the price of my blood!" She shouted, tilting her chin up as her hand and legs trembled, until she fell on one knee.
The skin at her arms started to crack, as if she were porcelain doll. Her wound and flesh at the injury turned from red to a deep purplish-blue, stars flickering in the same order as in space.
The more she tried to hold the barrier up, the more her skin cracked—reaching until her face. The skin at her fingers till her elbows slowly crumpled to show more of pattern.
"And what are you doing right now?!" Helio asked, stepping forward a bit. "You can't stop a moon!"
Aefia pushed harder against the barrier. "I can't! But I..."
She slammed her mouth shut, her eyes flashing a red colour the same shade as garnets. Her left pupil was glowing golden.
With a final shove, she let go of the barrier—taking steps back while panting for breath. In the sky, the moon stopped as if frozen in time.
The auctioneer looked down, staring down with a glare at her.
"Is that all you could do?" She asked, folding her arms. "You merely stopped it... I can send it flying right back at you. Afterall... This is my domain."
Aefia grinned up at her, her red eyes flashing in a smug look. "Yeah... Then why can't you prevent it from damage?"
The woman narrowed her eyes, raising am eyebrow. "What...?"
Aefia slowly straightened herself, casting a permanent barrier around the others as she took stumbling steps forward.
She pointed her finger at the moon. "If you loved to use the moon as a weapon... Then watch closely to what I do next."
The auctioneer laughed. "What can a mere child like you do—"
Boom!
She glanced up in curiousity, only to freeze completely as she watched the moon explode outward from within its molten core.
"Wha—" she looked back down.
"Surprise dumb bitch!" Aefia said from behind her with her blade reached out towards her neck.
She dodged backwards, skidding backwards on the ground as she instantly raised a hand to fire a range of attacks at once.
Aefia didn't even need to dodge them. They all froze in air, and dissipated into ash.
Her hair was noticeably longer, a few locks golden and another few locks red. At the edges, were stars that glittered against the silky black backdrop.
Both her hands were clenching swords that were twin to each other. White with the main blade a gradient of ultramarine blue and deep violet, the tips facing backwards and an inch away from touching the ground.
"Lucky for you... I haven't even touched my ultimates." Aefia calmly stated.
The auctioneer stumbled back. She stared in disbelief when her eyes caught the sight of the subtle glitches of the domain in the air and at the corners. Her teeth caught at her bottom lip.
Damn it! My only weapon is being destroyed!
Before she could make another move, Aefia dropped both the blades—coming to a dead halt as she clasped her hands together.
"I will make one thing clear here... My team has already dealt the greater damage. I am only going to lead the final strike and end the battle here. I have no other wishes to pursue a fight with you." Aefia quietly replied.
When she opened her hand again, a deck of cards rested against her hand. She extended exactly thirteen at the direction of the woman.
Confused, she did.
Aefia smirked, the other cards dissapearing again. Between her middle finger and her index, she held the chosen card—its edge pointing at the direction of the auctioneer.
She slowly brought it up into the air, turning to face the sky. A red cape and white cape fluttered behind her.
"Ace of Spades."
The sky behind her violently tore, the space backdrop appearing again. From within, a large hand—the exact same as Aefia's—reached out.
The auctioneer gasped violently, slowly reaching a hand towards her own head as she let out a shriek.
The mere frequency of the attack itself is killing me inside out! What kind of a beast is the facility raising?! She... Is a living hazard!
The hand slowly reached out towards the extended card. It flicked it with its index and middle finger... The entire thing shrivelled into dust.
The glitches around the domain intensified, and the auctioneer let out a pained shriek that echoed like a death whistle. And Aefia showed no remorse.
***********************
First draft: 17.11.2025
Rewritten: 27.10.2026