The sky tore open like a wound.

  Blare rocketed toward Mount Fuji's coastline at Mach 4, her small frame cutting through the air like a bullet. The world blurred beneath her—cities reduced to streaks of light, mountains to shadows. Her single violet eye burned with manic focus, locked onto one thing and one thing only.

  Celeste's offspring.

  Above her, the rift widened. Pure white light spilled from the tear in reality, and with it came pressure—supernatural, suffocating, divine. The kind of presence that made mortals' knees buckle without understanding why.

  Celeste Vireya. The Grand Arbiter herself.

  Blare's grin widened, sharp and unhinged.

  "What's the matter, mortal!?" she screamed into the wind, her voice cracking with glee. "You don't want to see your precious offspring die!?"

  The words were swallowed by the sonic boom trailing behind her, but she didn't care. This was it. The hunt. The chase. The thrill.

  Behind her, Celeste descended from the rift like a falling star—platinum hair streaming, heterochromatic eyes blazing with celestial blue and infernal crimson. Her silver-and-black cloak billowed around her, and the cracked halo above her head pulsed with divine and demonic energy in equal measure.

  She didn't speak. She didn't need to.

  Her presence alone made the air scream.

  They tore through Japan like twin catastrophes.

  Blare led, weaving through skyscrapers with reckless precision. Glass shattered in her wake. Concrete cracked. The sonic booms from her passage set off car alarms across entire districts.

  Celeste followed, her gaze locked onto the blonde witch with the kind of focus reserved for existential threats. She didn't blink. Didn't falter. Every movement was calculated, efficient, inevitable.

  They blasted through Shinjuku—Blare threading between buildings, Celeste cutting straight through them. Civilians screamed and scattered as the two figures carved a path of destruction across the city.

  A businessman stumbled backward, phone clattering to the ground. "What the hell—"

  BOOM.

  The shockwave from Blare's passage knocked him flat. By the time he looked up, both figures were gone, leaving only shattered windows and the fading roar of displaced air.

  In Shibuya, a mother shielded her child as the two blurs screamed overhead. The little girl pointed upward, eyes wide.

  "Mama… are they angels?"

  The mother didn't answer. She just held her daughter tighter.

  They hit the subway system next.

  Blare dove into an open tunnel entrance, her body a streak of green and violet. The walls blurred past her—advertisements, graffiti, maintenance lights—all reduced to smears of color.

  Behind her, Celeste followed without hesitation. Her cloak flared as she descended, and the temperature in the tunnel dropped ten degrees in an instant.

  Passengers on the platform froze.

  One man dropped his coffee. Another grabbed his girlfriend's arm, pulling her back from the edge.

  "Did you see—"

  "Shut up and run."

  The two figures vanished into the darkness, their passage leaving only the faint scent of ozone and the lingering pressure of something wrong.

  They emerged in the mountains.

  Blare shot through a narrow canyon, her trajectory so precise she didn't even disturb the birds nesting in the cliffs. Celeste followed, her movements just as exact, just as relentless.

  The chase had been going on for minutes now. Minutes that felt like hours.

  And then—

  Blare saw her.

  Ten miles from Mount Fuji's coastline, slumped against a half-collapsed building, was a girl with honey-blonde hair streaked with electric blue.

  Lyra Vega.

  Blare's grin split her face. "THERE SHE IS!!!"

  She poured everything into one final burst of speed, Gungnir materializing in her hand as she closed the distance.

  Behind her, Celeste's eyes flared. She pushed harder, faster, but—

  Blare might actually make it there first.

  Sutaro felt it before he saw it.

  He was standing near the Sea of Japan, waiting for Alcor to resurface, when the pressure hit him like a freight train.

  Two presences. Massive. Hostile.

  And they were headed straight for Lyra.

  His chest tightened. His stomach dropped.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  No.

  His mind flashed to Akari. To finding her body. To being too late.

  Not again.

  "No…" His voice cracked. "I-I can't let them reach her…"

  His hands trembled. His breathing quickened.

  I'm not—

  "I WILL NOT LET ANYONE TAKE HER AWAY!"

  His Aura exploded.

  Turbo Form.

  His hair darkened to midnight black and ignited into swirling violet flames that moved with their own malevolent intelligence. His eyes became blazing violet stars. His glasses warped, shattered, reformed into jagged geometric shades that pulsed with eerie light.

  Shadowy black lightning crackled across his body like living armor.

  A phantom jaw mask materialized from condensed shadow and violet flame, expanding to cover his face.

  The ground beneath his feet cracked without him moving. Independent shadows detached from their sources and drifted toward him.

  He activated Hyper Acceleration.

  Mach 12.

  He became a purple streak of light, tearing across Japan in a blur of speed and fury. The world around him slowed to a crawl. Buildings, mountains, cities—all frozen in time as he moved faster than thought itself.

  Five minutes.

  That's all it took to reach them.

  Lyra's eyes fluttered open.

  Her vision swam. Her body felt heavy, unresponsive. The supernatural pressure radiating from Blare pinned her in place like a physical weight.

  She tried to move. Tried to summon her Aura.

  Nothing.

  Blare loomed over her, Gungnir raised high.

  "Sweet dreams, little star."

  The spear descended.

  CRACK.

  Sutaro's dropkick hit Blare square in the chest, launching her backward like a missile. She collided with Celeste mid-air, and the two tumbled through the sky in a tangle of limbs and energy.

  Celeste caught Blare, spun her around, and hurled her toward a distant city with enough force to shatter the sound barrier.

  Sutaro landed in front of Lyra, his Turbo Form still blazing. The jaw mask slowly dissolved, revealing his face—sharp, focused, and filled with something raw and desperate.

  "Babe…" His voice was softer now, almost fragile. "Are… are you okay?"

  Lyra's face flushed bright red.

  Static electricity danced across her skin—tiny, chaotic sparks flickering along her shoulders, collarbones, and fingertips. The air around her warmed noticeably, and the scent of ozone spiked.

  A low, purring electrical hum filled the space between them.

  Small corona discharges—tiny lightning wisps—arced between her fingertips and nearby metal objects in an erratic, fluttery pattern. It looked like she was surrounded by very shy fireflies made of electricity.

  "I…" She turned her head, eyes darting everywhere but his face. "Hmph! I-I guess I'm fine… but I could've saved myself… but, thank you…"

  Sutaro smiled—soft, genuine, relieved—and pulled her into a hug.

  "I'm just glad I was fast enough this time~"

  Lyra's hair stood on end from static electricity. She knew exactly what he meant by that.

  She relaxed into his arms, letting him pull her flush against him.

  "Yeah, yeah… whatever, you dummy."

  Blare crashed through multiple buildings until she landed in front of Juniko, Nami, and Lysandra. Debris rained down around her. Dust clouds billowed outward. She looked up through her one eye, and her gaze immediately locked onto Nami.

  Her eye narrowed.

  The distance between blare and Nami disappeared.

  One moment, Blare was on the ground. The next, she was standing directly in front of her, Gungnir already in motion.

  "You shall be a substitute."

  The words came out flat. Clinical. Like she was reading from a grocery list.

  Gungnir pierced Nami's gut.

  The spear sank deep. Blood spattered across the pavement. Nami's breath hitched, her eyes going wide as she looked down at the wound.

  Little embers began to emerge from the puncture. Bright yellow. Flickering like dying stars.

  Nami spat up blood. Her hands trembled as they hovered over the spear, not quite touching it, as if touching it would make it real.

  Celeste landed in front of them. Her eyes widened.

  Nami looked toward her. She smiled. Weak. Fading.

  "Celeste-Senpai…" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Tell my mother… I was the substitute… Whatever… that means…"

  Her body began to disperse. Slowly at first. Then faster. Bright yellow embers peeled away from her skin, drifting upward like reverse rain. Her fingers dissolved first. Then her arms. Her torso. Her face.

  She was still smiling when the last of her scattered into the sky.

  The embers hung in the air for a moment. Then they faded.

  Gone.

  Celeste stood frozen. Her fists clenched so hard her knuckles went white.

  Blare pulled Gungnir free. The spear gleamed, unstained. She turned toward Celeste, her expression unreadable.

  "You see, Grand Arbiter?" Blare's voice was calm. Too calm. "I may not have killed you, but I killed your subordinate's daughter. That counts for something, doesn't it?"

  Celeste's aura flared. The air around her ignited with divine and demonic energy, crackling and hissing like a live wire.

  "You may have." Her voice was low. Dangerous. "But guess what?"

  She dashed forward.

  Her fist connected with Blare's face. Once. Twice. Three times. Each hit landed with the force of a collapsing star. Blare's head snapped back with each impact. Blood sprayed from her nose. Her lip split.

  Celeste didn't stop. She kept hitting her. Over and over. Her knuckles split open. Blood mixed with blood.

  Blare stabbed Celeste with Gungnir.

  The spear pierced her side. Celeste gasped, her momentum faltering. Blare twisted the spear and threw her off.

  Celeste hit the ground hard. She rolled. Came up on one knee. Blood dripped from the wound in her side, but she didn't seem to notice.

  Blare straightened. She wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand. Her expression was still calm. Still detached.

  "I've had enough of you mortals." She raised Gungnir toward the rift in the sky. "But I'd rather not face the yokai hybrid of war and his two other clan members. So me and my sister shall take our leave."

  The rift began to close. Slowly. The edges folded in on themselves like a wound stitching shut. But it didn't close all the way. A small tear remained, hanging in the sky at an undisclosed location. A scar in reality.

  "SISTER!" Blare's voice echoed across the battlefield.

  Brutus appeared right next to her. She looked around, her golden eyes scanning the area. Her expression was petulant. Annoyed.

  "Did you manage to kill that pest?" Brutus asked. Her voice was high. Childish. Like she was asking if Blare had finished her chores.

  Blare shook her head. "No, sister. Instead, we will be taking our leave."

  "WHAT?" Brutus's eyes went wide. She stomped her foot. "Why? I wanted to take my revenge out on this mortal for punching me!"

  "And you will," Blare said. Her tone was patient. Like she was explaining something to a toddler. "But that will be another time."

  Brutus pouted. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't want it to be another time…" she mumbled. Her lower lip jutted out.

  "Well, we will be," Blare said. "So collect what's left of your archbishops, and I shall gather my cabal members."

  Brutus let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Ugh, fine." She opened her arms wide. Her voice rang out, clear and commanding. "I declare all my Sin Archbishops to return to Celestial Aetheris."

  And just like that, The Architect's Wrath activated and they were gone. Vanished. The air where they'd been standing shimmered for a moment, then settled.

  "I'll be waiting for you back home," Brutus said. “I declare myself in Celestial Aetheris.” She disappeared in a flash of white light.

  Blare turned toward Celeste. Their eyes locked. Celeste's heterochromatic gaze burned with fury. Blare's single violet eye was calm. Empty.

  "Remember," Blare said. Her voice was soft. Almost conversational. "Reality is an illusion. The universe is a hologram. Buy gold. Bye."

  She disappeared in a flash of white light.

  Celeste finally relaxed her body. She placed her head in her hands. Her shoulders sagged.

  "Shit…" Her voice cracked. "Sylvia is gonna be devastated."

  The battlefield was silent. The embers were gone. Nami was gone.

  All that remained was the weight of what had been lost.

  Created by Figures

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