Annie gripped the hilt of her practice sword so tightly her knuckles turned white. Across from her, Caspian watched with a steady gaze, his posture relaxed but alert. "Don't push yourself too far, Annie," he cautioned, his voice low.
Annie didn't answer. She charged.
She moved with surprising speed, her blade whistling through the air as she aimed directly for his throat. Caspian reacted instantly, catching the flat of the blade with his palm and pivoting into a sharp roundhouse kick. Annie didn't panic. She released the sword, dropping low and using both hands to vault off the ground. In one fluid motion, her right leg lashed out, catching Caspian squarely in the cheek.
The impact snapped Caspian's head back. Surprised, his grip on the blade loosened. Annie seized the opening, snatching the sword mid-air and driving it toward his jaw. She was relentless, leaving him no room to breathe, no gap to counter. Caspian barely managed to dance back, dodging the flurry of strikes by a hair's breadth.
Annie straightened up, her chest heaving, her eyes locked onto him. Caspian touched his cheek, his fingers coming away stained with a thin smear of blood. He looked at the red on his fingertips and smiled.
"Wow," he chuckled, a smirk playing on his lips. "You never told me you were a martial arts expert." Then, his gaze darkened, and his voice dropped an octave, vibrating with a new intensity. "Let's get serious."
Caspian reached out his right hand, gesturing toward the edge of the training grounds. From the distance, a silver blur streaked through the air, whistling as it flew straight into his open palm. It was his sword, summoned from across the field.
Annie blinked, stepping back instinctively. "Wait... how did he do that?"
Lyla, watching from the sidelines with crossed arms, spoke up. "His sword flew off while I was fighting him earlier. He just called it back."
Caspian gave a playful shrug and a lopsided grin. "Actually, I'm not that great with swords. I give up!" He let the weapon drop, the tension vanishing instantly. "By the way... let's *not* get serious. Your sister is terrifyingly strong, Lyla."
Lyla stared at him, her expression flat. "Coward," she muttered softly.
Caspian just scratched the back of his head. "Come on, you know I'm only good with guns."
Lyla didn't respond. She stepped forward, her heavy scythe trailing behind her. She stopped a short distance from Annie, the atmosphere around her shifting until the air felt heavy and cold. "You're facing me next," Lyla said.
Lyla dropped into a low, predatory stance. Her left leg stretched far to the side, her right leg anchored forward. She held the scythe behind her back, one hand gripping the very end of the pole, the other positioned near the curve of the massive blade. When she raised her head, her eyes were glowing a predatory, incandescent red.
Rin tugged on Akira's sleeve, her voice trembling. "Uhh... is this still training?"
Without a word, Akira scooped Rin up and moved them a vast distance away, sensing the sudden spike in pressure.
"Uhh, sis?" Annie started, her voice wavering.
In a split second, Lyla vanished.
She reappeared behind Annie in the exact same stance, but the world seemed to lag behind her movement. The ground around them was suddenly carved into six deep fissures. Dust erupted into the air, exploding outward as if the very atmosphere was unstable, buckling under the weight of Lyla's dark, demonic energy. Seven consecutive shockwaves of demonic pressure spiraled around Lyla before expanding outward like a tidal wave.
Nova stepped in instantly, her hand glowing as she neutralized the expanding shockwave before it could level the area. Lyla stood straight, her gaze cold as she looked back at Annie. Annie was frozen, her sword held desperately in front of her face in a futile attempt to guard herself.
Before Annie could even process what was happening, her vision tilted. She felt a strange, painless disconnection. Her upper body seemed to slide away from her lower half. Her eyes widened in pure, primal terror.
*What happened?* she thought, the world fading to black. *Am I... dead?*
***
[Few hours later]
*Where am I?*
Annie's eyes fluttered open. The ceiling was familiar, but her mind was a fog. She looked up and saw Nova leaning over her, a gentle, knowing smile on her face. Annie bolted upright, gasping. Everyone was there—Lyla, Rin, Akira—all watching her with varying degrees of concern and relief.
Annie's eyes landed on her sister. "Hey! What the hell was that?!" she screamed, her voice cracking.
Lyla, who had been sitting nearby, stood up calmly. "Calm down. It was intentional. We had to forge your body with spiritual energy."
Annie turned to Nova, looking for an explanation. Nova just tilted her head. "Come on, Annie. I thought you were the smart one. You should have figured it out."
Annie could feel a strange, new power surging through her veins, a warmth she hadn't felt before, but her anger hadn't faded. "What does being smart have to do with this? I COULD HAVE DIED!"
Nova stood up, her presence suddenly commanding. "As long as I am here, none of you will die. Not on my watch."
Lyla smiled, her eyes softening. "Everyone, go back inside. I want to talk to my sister alone."
No one argued. The authority in Lyla's voice was absolute. Only Nova remained for a moment before following the others.
Lyla sat beside Annie. "Sis, if we told you, 'Hey Annie, we need to kill you so you can control spiritual energy,' you would have been terrified. You would have spent weeks brainstorming another way to avoid the pain."
"So?" Annie asked, still looking confused and shaken.
Nova's voice drifted back as she leaned against the doorway. "You see, when I first entered Leo, he was mortally wounded. My energy wasn't at its peak then—not because I couldn't produce it, but because I didn't want to kill the humans around me. That small spark of energy didn't kill Leo; it forged with his cells to heal him. After he stabilized, I slowly increased the output, step by step, letting his body adapt to the pressure. No human can survive direct spiritual energy without days of agony. We had to recreate that 'near-death' state for you to force the energy to bond with your soul."
Annie took a long, shaky breath. "Okay... I understand. But that was still way too intense."
Lyla reached out, pulling her sister into a tight hug. "You really think I would kill you? Especially with the weapon you built for me, after everything you've done?"
Annie rested her head on Lyla's shoulder, the tension finally leaving her body. "No," she whispered.
Lyla pulled back and smiled, the bond between them stronger than ever.
***
[Base 130]
Haruto's breath came in ragged, heavy gasps. Around him lay a literal mountain of corpses—eight hundred demons and beasts, including two high-ranking Upper Beasts, all slain by his hand alone.
Behind the barricades, his men watched in awe. "No wonder he's the 3rd Commander," one whispered to another. "He actually lives up to the title."
Haruto wiped the blood from his brow, intending to head back for a bath and some much-needed sleep. But a voice stopped him cold.
"Hello. Wow... you're actually pretty strong."
Haruto spun around. Standing amidst the carnage was a lone female figure. She looked delicate, almost out of place, but the aura radiating from her was suffocating—far more terrifying than any of the high-rank beasts he had just slaughtered.
The girl tilted her head, a cold smile touching her lips. "Too bad you have to die now."
Haruto gripped his weapon, his knuckles white. "Who are you?"
"I don't give my name to those who aren't on my level," she replied airily. "But if you need a title... I am the 6th Harbinger."
Haruto's blood ran cold. He turned to his men, his voice a roar. "CONTACT EVERY BASE! NOW!"
Before the words could even leave his lips, the 6th Harbinger was behind him. She placed a slender hand on his shoulder, leaning in close to his ear. Her voice was a chilling whisper.
"Die."
To be continued...