Chapter 3: A Sprawling Conflict
March 14th, 2026
Harith's glitchy arm sparked and flashed with streaks of green and blue electricity.
It had almost become normal for him now.
As he looked down at the ground, he suddenly felt a cool breeze brush against his face—far colder than it should have been.
He looked up.
Standing there, leaning against the school gate, was Nadiana.
Her gaze was so sharp and intense it almost made Harith slip down on the floor.
(I hate every bit of him.)
Nadiana muttered to herself, her heart filling with darkness and disgust the moment her eyes landed on Harith.
"Oh? What's up, lady?"
Harith smirked cockily, giving Nadiana a quick up-and-down glance.
"If you want a signature… Mr. Harith Khraba is a little busy, you know."
He kept the same smug grin.
"But… if you want the smoke—"
Tch!
A sharp sound burst from his arm as electricity flared again, glowing a healthy light blue.
"I've got all kinds of smoke within me."
(Damn! I'm starting to get the hang of my abilities… I even said a noble-worthy line.)
While Harith was still busy being proud of himself, he glanced back at Nadiana—
Only to see a small frozen dagger flying straight toward him.
Harith panicked and hurriedly dodged to the side.
(Sheesh… that was close.)
Suddenly, without warning, the right side of his neck began to freeze, turning pale blue.
Harith immediately clutched his neck and dropped to one knee.
"Damn it! What did you do?!"
He pulled his hand away a second later.
The cold was unbearable.
Even the skin on his palm had begun turning blue from touching it.
(This girl… she's not normal. She definitely has some kind of ability like mine.)
Nadiana slowly began walking toward the kneeling Harith.
"Dead or alive."
She muttered the words quietly beneath her breath.
A tense silence filled the space between them.
One knelt on the ground in pain.
The other watched with a cold, slippery glare.
Then Nadiana moved first.
She threw three frozen daggers in quick succession.
Harith rolled backward just in time and quickly scrambled to his feet.
"Look at your neck."
She pointed a glowing blue sword toward him.
The blade shone with an icy brilliance, so cold that even the air around it seemed to shimmer. For a moment, Harith found himself staring at it, mesmerized.
Then he shook himself and looked at his neck.
It had already turned into a frozen, stiff chunk of flesh.
"All I have to do now," she said coldly, "is slash it… and your head will come off clean."
She dashed forward, gripping the sword tightly.
The blade froze the ground beneath it as she ran.
She swung the sword at Harith.
Even the wind created by the swing looked faintly blue from the intense cold.
Harith dodged.
Then dodged again.
And again.
His face gradually grew pale and blue from the freezing air surrounding the blade.
"You're good at dodging," Nadiana admitted.
"But who said I needed my sword to finish you?"
Suddenly, she lunged forward and reached for the frozen part of his neck.
But Harith grabbed her wrist just in time.
His grip tightened.
Electricity surged from his body into hers.
Nadiana's eyes widened.
She quickly tried to grab his neck with her other hand—
But Harith caught that wrist too.
His eyes were almost completely white now.
Thin layers of electricity flickered across them.
The ground beneath his feet cracked from the power surging through him.
Electric currents flowed violently into Nadiana's body.
He shoved her wrists away roughly.
Then he clenched his fist.
Nadiana stood frozen in place, her body twitching violently from the electricity.
Harith pulled his arm back as lightning gathered around his fist.
"Sparking… FIST!"
He drove his electrified punch straight into Nadiana's face.
For a brief moment, she didn't move.
Her body trembled violently as the electricity coursed through her.
Then suddenly—
She was blasted backward.
The force of the punch sent her flying as if reality itself had glitched.
"Well… if you thought you could kill me on the first day I got my powers…"
Harith's eyes turned completely white.
His voice echoed strangely, distorted and powerful.
"That's a bold claim."
"And a wrong one."
Nadiana slammed violently into the wall behind her.
The impact crushed the concrete and left a massive crater.
The sound echoed like someone slamming their palm against a giant drum.
She slid down to the ground as dust and powdered cement filled the air.
Weakly, she looked up at Harith through one half-closed eye.
Her face was bruised and damaged from the blow.
And for the first time—
There was a hint of terror in her eyes.
Especially after hearing the strange distortion in his voice.
Most of the students had already gone to class.
But the few who had skipped their lessons saw what had just happened.
The moment they realized Nadiana had been thrown into a wall like that—
They ran.
Some scrambled over the school gates in pure panic.
(Ugh… this won't work. Physical confrontation won't work.)
Nadiana slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out a perfect icy sphere, glowing a deep blue.
(This should hurt him… even if it doesn't kill him. At the very least, it'll show him who he's dealing with.)
She tossed the sphere into the air.
It floated there.
Suspended.
At that moment, another girl appeared nearby.
She wore a thick red knitted sweater and a long skirt. Her brown hair was tied into a side ponytail.
She had been one of the students who escaped class earlier.
Hearing the commotion, she looked toward the courtyard.
And saw Harith kneeling there, panting from exhaustion.
(That was… way too close. The ice on my neck is fading, but it's really slow…)
"Harith!"
The girl shouted as she ran toward him.
"Yo, Amina!"
But suddenly—
The sky above them darkened.
And then it began.
Sharp shards of ice started raining down.
Harith's eyes widened as he looked up.
"Amina, WAIT!"
He reached out helplessly.
He thought she was about to run straight into the deadly rain.
But Amina was still beneath the school's roof.
She looked upward as the storm began.
The sound was horrifying.
Like thousands of shards of glass shattering against the ground.
It was deafening.
Amina gasped.
She quickly formed a blue shield—darker than Nadiana's ice.
With all her strength, she hurled it toward Harith.
"Take this, Harith! Cover yourself!"
But it was too late.
The icy rain struck him again and again.
Each shard pierced into his body like a blade.
Harith collapsed to the ground.
Blood spread across his clothes as consciousness slipped away.
The shield flew toward him.
But in his state, there was no way he could catch it.
Until—
A transparent glitching hand suddenly emerged from his arm.
It flickered with green and purple pixels.
The strange hand caught the shield mid-air.
(This kid… not bad.)
The entity's voice echoed faintly from within him.
(That's the only reason I saved him. He has potential.)
(Until then… kid.)
Harith, unconscious, heard nothing.
"Harith!!"
Amina screamed in terror.
She was about to run to him—
But then she noticed something strange.
The shield hovering near him wasn't being held by Harith.
"What… is that?"
She squinted.
Then shook her head.
"It doesn't matter!"
She quickly formed another shield around herself and ran toward him.
The barrier blocked the falling shards perfectly.
Reaching him, she lifted Harith into her arms—bridal style.
"Ugh… Harith, you idiot."
She sighed.
"Making me carry you like this…"
Her voice softened slightly.
"But don't worry."
"I know someone who can help you."
Harith remained completely unconscious.
His expression looked almost lifeless.
Blood covered his torso where the shards had pierced through.
⸻
(Hahaha… perfect.)
Nadiana watched from behind a large broken rock.
(I destroyed him with that attack.)
(I don't care about his little friend.)
(He was the only target.)
She allowed herself a faint smile.
She believed she had won the battle.
But the real question remained—
Was it truly over?
Or had the real conflict only just begun?