I limped over to a boulder and laid down, watching Risa and her group fight Jeredal.

I took deep breaths to recover my stamina and waited till Jeredal was weakened.

As I watched the fight ensue, I noticed that Jeredal was struggling, mostly against Risa. Her movements were unpredictable and swift. She must've been trained perfectly by a master if she could move like that.

…well, I can't say I'm not surprised. She was always good at everything she did and she always made sure to excel at them, mostly sports.

It's a little embarrassing to say this but… I kind of looked up to her. A role model of how a human being should act. She is success while I, on the other hand, am failure.

I wonder… if I was like her in moral terms, would everything have been different? Would I be in this situation I was in? Would… would I have become normal just like her…?

No… even if I had followed in her footsteps and became a success like her, it would be totally different. Pff, I might not have even become a success. A normal businessman? Most likely. I don't know, I always blame my own misfortune for this.

There could be an alternate universe out there where I had befriended Risa at another point in time. I met her when we were kids and we've always been friends since then. There could be another reality where I'm successful and I was going out with her. Another could be that I was a delinquent, well, not that I am already one. There could even be another universe where I never meet her… or one where I never existed.

…man, all this thinking is messing with my mind. All that probably would never happen, though there could be a possibility. Good thing I stopped watching videos on multiverse theories.

While I had been lost in thought, I didn't notice how much time had passed and when I lifted my head, all I could do was stare in shock.

***

Meanwhile…

Kiyomi, Ravyn, Akane, and Katrina were struggling against Neia, the ice elf that had covered the fortress in ice and erected a newer one.

Kiyomi who wielded the ability to manipulate ice could not deal any decent damage to Neia. Why? It was because, unlike Kiyomi, Neia wielded complete control over the element of ice, being able to become one with ice. In other words, her entire being was ice and nothing else. She had lost her mortal body in exchange for complete control of ice. Even if she were to be shattered into pieces, she could produce frost out of thin air. If she had the energy and the power, she could cover the entire continent in ice, however, many interferences heavily limit that factor. This was her ability as an Arcane Mage.

Kiyomi wasn't the only one that had difficulties. Ravyn who used her divine abilities had all of her attacks reflected against her. As Divine Energy deriving from light, it is reflected off the surface of Neia's ice. Neia wasn't hurt once by Ravyn's divine powers, but her dark abilities did some, however not enough to put Neia into a corner.

Being swordswomen, Akane and Katrina were able to make Neia stumble, but Neia was also able to give them problems.

Neia was not only a Mage but an Assassin as well. Her movements being so sudden had almost caught the four off guard.

The four were currently catching their breath as Neia sat on top of the remains of what used to be the fortress after it had been demolished by Nero's earlier attack. Neia sat down while looking down and laughing at them.

"You four are formidable, but you can never contest against me. You are all simply too weak."

Akane looked at Kiyomi, Ravyn, and Katrina, noting their current state. She knew that if this continued, they would eventually lose.

Akane had more stamina than the rest of them so she was the only one standing tall. She looked around, noticing everyone else besides them was struggling with the troops that had emerged from within the giant hole in the fortress.

Knowing she was the only one left who had the energy to take Neia on, she shot forward.

"Hmm, so you are still able to stand."

Neia stood up and aimed her hand at Akane, a stream of ice shooting out from her palm. Akane swiftly evaded and swung her crimson sword downward, Neia barely managing to dodge the quick slash.

As Neia backflipped away, Akane turned.

"I will hold her off. Help the ones in need of help."

The three glanced at each other and nodded before splitting up.

"You think you alone can defeat me? You must be out of your mind. Are you really trying to meet death that quickly?"

Neia snickered as the ice began expanding around her. The ice spread across the ground, stripping the ground of friction, making the ice-covered floor nearly impossible to move on.

Akane stood her ground and performed Vacuum Slash, closing the distance between her and Neia. Noticing this, Neia sent ice blades towards Akane's direction.

Using Afterimage and Flash Step, she got closer to Neia while avoiding her ice blades.

As soon as she reached Neia, she swung her sword upwards, a trail of her own blood ascending from the tip of her blade.

'What? How did she-?' Neia would think to herself until she noticed the cut across Akane's arm and the trail of blood left by her as she had attempted to approach her.

Earlier, Akane had cut her own arm using her blade and scattered it across the ground. With this, Akane was able to utilize her blood manipulating abilities, one being Blood Eclipse, an arching upward slash that spills the user's blood on their opponent which then sinks into the body if it doesn't manage to strike the enemy.

Though she missed, her blood managed to make contact with Neia's body. But, her Blood Eclipse attack was useless.

"Idiot, you don't seem to know that my entirety is fused into ice!"

Neia created an ice dagger and swung at Akane. Akane ducked and jumped backward, taking in a deep breath.

She had already used mostly everything in her arsenal to fight Neia, but none of them seemed to work. She only had one more choice, however, this would cause her to release an overwhelming amount of bloodlust, a trait that is often sealed within a Dragon Oni.

After evading and countering Neia's barrage of seemingly endless ice, she was beginning to lose her footing and decided that she had no other choice.

"Any last words?" Neia said as her dagger inched closer to Akane's neck.

"Yeah..."

Suddenly, a fiery red aura burst out from Akane's body and blew Neia away. Neia slid across the floor before stopping herself. She lifted her head and noticed slight changes in Akane's appearance.

Her horns which were extended due to the sudden burst of energy was jagged backward. The side of her cheeks was covered in dragon scales, and her eyes were bright red, leaving a trail of light. Her sword however had received a significant change.

The hue of her sword was now a darker shade of red, the patterns on the handle had changed, and the dragon head on the guard was now decorated with glowing eyes, the same as Akane's.

What's more, red mist spilled across the floor as her fiery aura grew larger and larger, representing the gradual growth of her bloodlust.

Upon breathing in the red mist, Neia stumbled and puked blood.

"So you were hiding your true strength," Neia remarked as she formed another dagger in her free hand.

"No matter, I'll end your life."

"Not if I end you first," Akane responded with an eerie smirk across her face.

Seeing that smirk, a chill immediately went up Neia's spine. Even though she had sacrificed her mortal body for one that didn't have a spine, she could still feel it. That feeling being fear, something she has not experienced in years.

Akane took a step forward, instantly appearing in front of Neia. Neia didn't even blink and Akane had already closed the distance between them in a flash.

"D-d-don't get so cocky!" Neia yelled, swinging her daggers.

Akane weaved and hit Neia in the stomach with her handle before dealing a large slash across her stomach.

Neia grit her teeth as the wound closed up, then she slammed the ground, creating a dome of ice which trapped her and Akane but then, Akane's blade shined, the light blinding Neia.

Neia knew if she blinked, it would be over so when she was blinded, she tried her hardest not to close her burning eyes, but not even she could fight against the pain that was brought upon her eyes.

Closing her eyes, she fell directly into Akane's trap.

The aura around Akane quickly shifted towards her blade, covering it in crimson light. And then with a downward swing, a crescent-shaped slash was dealt upon Neia.

Seconds later, Neia began splitting in two. She could feel her body being separated and out of instinct, she shrieked in pain.

Neia jumped back, tears streaming down her cheek. She opened her mouth to speak until a horn blared.

That's when she fled, screaming her last words at Akane.

"If we meet again, I'll make you pay!"

Knowing she won, Akane dropped to her knees and took a heavy breath. Her horns retracted, returning to their normal states. The dragon scales disappeared, and her blade returned to normal.

"I should... really train with Muramasa Ryuu... if I'm ever going to use it again." Akane said to herself as she got up.

"Now then, I should go and help the others.

Recovering some of her strength, she turned to go help the other girls. But then there was another cry. The cry coming from the opposite direction. Immediately recognizing the cry, she turned, a worried expression appearing on her face.

"Nero."

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