Crack! The horrific, visceral sound of bones being crushed echoed through the air.
"Arsia?!" Aris screamed in horror, but it was already too late.
In an instant, the scene had unfolded. All of their eyes widened in shock as they faced Morione.
"Ah —! Oh —?!!" Arsia, the head of the academy, was reduced to a mere shell of herself in a split second, her scream cut short by the brutality of the attack.
"How...?!" Even Erina, who usually had good situational awareness and reaction speed, swung her sword in a desperate attempt to retaliate, but...
"She's gone...?" By the time Erina had reacted, Morione had already disappeared, and when Erina regained her senses, she was merely swinging her sword at thin air.
"Your attacks are now clearly visible to me..." Morione reappeared, maintaining a safe distance, casually adjusting her axe and adopting a confident stance.
"Revelation Heal." This brief respite allowed Luceria to cast a high-level healing spell to treat Arsia.
"Ancient God... Just now, I could have easily ended you. Hundreds of futures where you die helplessly flashed before my eyes." Morione's voice was filled with intimidation as she lifted her axe again.
However, Luceria remained silent, troubled. She had a faint idea of the situation. The unimaginable speed Morione had displayed when targeting Arsia was a clear indication that if Morione had chosen differently, there would only have been four of them left standing. Morione's attitude was a show of self-indulgence, a way of demonstrating that even if she gave her opponents a chance, she could annihilate them at any moment.
"I'll give you one last chance..." Morione then presented them with what seemed like a final act of mercy, an arrogant proposition, as she aimed her axe at them.
"Leave now and never return. Leave Harold behind." She warned them to depart for the sake of her own future, and for the future where she is protected and smiled upon by her love. Morione had intentionally given them time, displaying her overwhelming power as a way to implicitly coerce them. But...
"No... I refuse." Erina firmly rejected Morione's offer, gripping her sword with unwavering resolve. "The meaning of my life lies with him... So, a life without Harold... I'd rather die fighting!"
Their threats were utterly insufficient to intimidate them. Bound by their twisted convictions, the girls would not have succumbed to any threat.
"I, too, have sought true love throughout an eternity... After enduring such agony to finally find it, give it up? That's laughable." Luceria stepped forward boldly, her chest puffed out with conviction. Mariaka, Aris, and Arsia seemed to share the same stance.
"If it weren't for Harold, I would've trembled in darkness till my end."
"Harold risked his life to save me... Now it's my turn."
"He pulled me out of a life worse than death, one filled with humiliation and persecution..."
"I have to help my brother... There's a reason for that..."
Each of them, fueled by their individual reasons and bolstered by confidence in the face of threats, prepared once again for battle.
Crack!
Morione, though initially gnashing her teeth in rage at their defiance, strangely enough, soon smiles. "Alright... If that's the fate you choose, I'll gladly put an end to it."
She lowers her posture again after hearing their determination. "I've foreseen all your attacks... 10 seconds, 1 minute, 1 hour, even beyond that... I've already perceived every move you'll make against me."
Whoosh!
Almost instantly, Morione vanishes with such speed that she seems to disappear from sight and then...
"Kuhk?!" Erina suddenly flies backward in pain.
Thud!
Her body crashes against a wall, instilling a sense of extreme urgency in everyone.
"Ice Inn-"
"Ice Inn Burst? I already know that." Before Arsia could complete her spell, Morione predicts the attack and counters it preemptively. "Kuh!" Barely reacting in time, Luceria managed to shield herself from a lethal blow, but like a baseball, she was sent soaring in a straight line. The Goddess of Destiny, Morione, had started off the battle advantageously by incapacitating two of them swiftly.
"Ugh! Hah!" Miru tried to emit light again in an attempt to do something, but it was futile. The all-knowing Morione, moving at an unseen speed, dodged the laser, causing only the ceiling of the sacred temple to crumble.
"Time's byproduct! You are the weakest!" Morione exclaimed as she kicked Miru, who, though dazed, managed to endure the attack and cling to consciousness.
"Yikes!" Miru tried to counterattack with her sharp claws, but it was to no avail.
"Stop!" Morione punched Miru in the face and quickly spun around, swinging her axe towards Luceria.
"Shick! Thud!" The sounds of impact echoed almost simultaneously, indicating the swiftness of the attack.
"Grant me strength... Kuhk!" In a dire situation, where four of their main forces were already subdued, Mariaka and Aris, who needed to chant spells, were practically helpless. Morione anticipated even their silent incantations, interrupting them before they could finish.
"Aaaaah...!!" Just when it seemed all was lost, Erina burst from the wall, attacking with the utmost speed her human limits allowed.
"Ting! Ting! Ting!" Her relentless assault was befitting of a warrior, but despite her ferociousness, not a single strike effectively landed on Morione, who easily deflected all of Erina's attacks.
"No matter how fast you attack, it's useless! As long as I can foresee everything, none of your attacks will get through!" Morione confidently declared, but then her expression contorted for the first time.
"Slash!" "Ugh?!" Erina finally managed to land a hit, marking the first time Morione sustained damage in what felt like an eternity. "Indeed, a warrior can even twist fate... I'm surprised." Morione comments, observing the shallow cut on her side inflicted by Erina's sword, which, fortunately, had not drawn blood.
"But it's still weak." Ting! She swings her divine axe vertically, and although Erina blocks the attack, it's clear that she's struggling.
"Ugh...! Kuh!" Erina's relentless but seemingly futile attacks continue, causing unimaginable fatigue in her hands from the constant recoil.
Crack! While Erina managed to block the first attack, Morione, still brimming with energy, delivers a second blow that Erina couldn't withstand. This time, not only her sword but also Erina's bones shatter, rendering further movement likely impossible.
"Sigh..." In a swift and decisive battle, all those opposing Morione now lay defeated and scattered across the temple.
"This is your destiny... You cannot stop me." With a sigh mixed with various emotions, Morione looks up at the damaged ceiling, concluding that the battle has ended and the opponents have been defeated. No one responds to Morione's declaration, as no one could withstand the storm of her power.
Thud! Leaving her axe behind, Morione slowly walks toward the stairs.
"Harold... Because of me, you'll live like a bird trapped in a cage forever... I'm sorry..." She picks up Harold again, apologizing sincerely, harboring secrets he will never know and forever remain ignorant of.
"But... I promise you a life of peace and happiness, so tranquil and content that you might never recall your previous life." With this bittersweet vow of deceit, Morione begins to ascend the stairs.
"Wait..." Suddenly, a solemn voice interrupts from behind.
"Stop." Luceria, somehow managing to stand up again, confronts Morione.
"Ancient Goddess... I knew you weren't knocked out, but you should have stayed down." Despite her defiant stance, Luceria's condition is dire – her body is marred with wounds, and blood continuously seeps from her mouth, making it miraculous she's even standing. "If my power were fully intact, you wouldn't dare to look me in the eye." Morione's expression is oddly relaxed, a light smile playing on her face.
"Playing some evil god's trick, are you? But it's best if you stop now." Luceria, placing Harold down, turns to face Morione.
"If you were truly in your divine state, perhaps, but relying on just a pendant in your spirit form, you pose no threat to me." Morione confidently asserts her superiority, ready to handle anything Luceria might attempt.
"I see all of your destinies. I know exactly what you'll do and can counter it perfectly. Unless you're a god like me, there's nothing about you that I can't foresee." She picks up her axe again, preparing to finish things once and for all.
"So whatever you're planning, it's best to give up. You can't beat me."
"I know, even at my strongest, I can't match you unless I'm a god." Surprisingly, Luceria speaks with unexpected confidence, which slightly unsettles Morione.
"Hmph... Empty bravado... This time for real―" Morione prepares to leap into action, still smiling confidently.
"But if it were another god..." Luceria retorts.
"What? Ugh...!" Suddenly, an incredibly bright light bursts from outside the temple, akin to the powerful, flowing energy of the sun – intense, warm, and sometimes scorchingly hot.
"It's been a while, Morione. Is this our first meeting since the Night of Destruction?" A woman's voice emanates from the light, causing Morione to widen her eyes in realization that something has gone awry.
"How dare you covet another's chosen... I cannot forgive this." A woman steps out from the sun-like radiance, her dazzling golden hair and aura exuding an overwhelming presence.
Unbeknownst to all, Luceria had made a deal before they arrived at Morione's temple. With Erina's help, they had secured the support of a powerful ally, known only to Erina. This mysterious figure was none other than... "I've come to reclaim what's mine." The true master of Harold, a tragic goddess long forgotten and left in solitude.
"Be prepared, for today, a star of destiny will fall..." Eleona.
Her fingertips harold the end of an era controlled by fate.