Outside the Verlyn Campus, the sound of a cart's wheels creaked echoingly across the field, signaling that it had arrived at its destination. Carol and Saria stepped out of the cart, gesturing for the driver to quickly move along.

  As both girls caught a glimpse of the fires consuming Verlyn, especially the massive, red magic circle looming above, the tension around them escalated. Carol gritted her teeth in frustration, while Saria widened her eyes in horror. Without a second thought, Carol rushed forward, leaving Saria behind.

  "C-Carol..! Wai-"

  Before Saria could finish calling out, someone landed heavily in front of Carol. The impact was so strong that a thick cloud of dust erupted from the ground, sending stone debris flying alongside a violent gust of wind. Caught in the blast, Carol was hurled backward, yet she managed to stand her ground beside Saria, shielding her face from the debris. Saria did the same, covering her face with her arms.

  "Ha! You think you can pass here, brat?" a woman's voice, brimming with malice, echoed through the smoke. She then punched the air with a single, devastating strike; the sheer force generated a shockwave that cleared the dust completely. In that moment, the figure of a woman was revealed. She wore long white pants and a messy white shirt, with a violet coat draped loosely over her shoulders. Her violet hair was unkempt, a messy fringe obscuring one of her eyes.

  Noticing the unfamiliar figure, Carol hardened her expression. She lowered her arm from her face and slowly pulled out her wand.

  "Saria, pull your wand out and prepare for a battle," Carol demanded. She fully drew her wand, morphing it into her signature violet sword. "It seems like that women doesn't want us to help Aria."

  "Aria, huh?" the woman snorted in disgust. "Don't you dare say that pitiful, faker name in front of me, brat!" she then clenched her bare fists tightly, swinging her arms as she entered her battle stance. "Her name is Elinira, and she's my own anchor to get away from that hellish place, got it?!"

  Hearing such statement, Carol let out a deep sigh of annoyance. "Can't you just shut your damn mouth, you pesky old women?!"

  As soon as she finished speaking, she gripped her sword tightly and rushed toward the woman, ready to swing.

  Saria, watching from behind in a panic, pulled out her wand and morphed it into her bastard sword. Without hesitation, she, too, charged forward to attack the woman.

  Back at the front gate of the Verlyn Campus, Aria’s anger slowly escalated. She pointed the edge of her broadsword at Kent, who wore a calm expression and a slight grin, as if her threat were a triviality to him.

  "It seems like your rebellious attitude still hasn't changed at all, darling," Kent said calmly. "But I suppose I should've expected that, knowing what you've endured in the Inferno's Manor."

  "Why did you come here, bastard? And how the hell do you know where I am?" Aria asked with pure hatred, her two-handed grip tightening against the sword's hilt.

  Hearing her questions, Kent chuckled in amusement. "Let's just say... we paid a visit to your 'Ignis Holder's territory' and talked to your so-called 'father' that you used to lie to society for over a years."

  As soon as she heard his reasoning, Aria’s eyes widened in horror. Shortly after, her face hardened with utmost rage. "What did you just do to him? Tell me!!"

  Upon hearing the level of her fury, Kent let out a slight sigh. "Your fake father, or should I say, the old butler of our house, has just received his proper rest. You should be happy for him, you know?"

  Unable to hold back her emotions any longer, Aria rushed forward, pulling her broadsword back over her shoulder. "You bastard!!"

  She swung her sword with all the speed she could muster, only for the girl with the claw-like gauntlets to appear once again to defend Kent. Their forces clashed, creating an echoing clang between Aria’s blade and the surface of the girl’s gauntlet.

  "W-why do you attack Sir Kent, B-big Sis Elinira?" the girl asked in confusion. "A-aren't you supposed to be a daughter for S-sir Kent?"

  "Don't just barge into our family issues, you damn forsaken girl!" Aria exclaimed with uncontrollable rage. "And don't you call me your big sis! Your appearance is nothing like what my little sister actually was!"

  Hearing such piercing words, a profound sadness consumed the girl's heart. "S-sir Kent... am I... really not a good daughter if Big Sis Elinira doesn't even want to acknowledge me?"

  "Oh, of course not, sweetie," Kent replied, trying to reassure her. "Remember the philosophy of the Ignis Holder?"

  "T-that power is absolute?" the girl answered, still holding her ground against Aria, who was desperately trying to push her sword forward. "C-can I really do that?"

  "Believe in yourself," Kent stated, offering his twisted motivation. "After all, you're my apprentice—an apprentice to one of the Witchers. Surely you wouldn't disappoint me, right Eliya?"

  Hearing Kent's words, the girl called Eliya fell into a deep thought, but it wasn't long before she broke the silence. "S-sorry for this, Big Sis Elinira..!"

  With a sudden burst of strength, Eliya gripped the body of Aria’s sword and threw her into the air. The force caught Aria off-guard, causing her to drop her defense. Eliya followed up with a kick to Aria’s stomach, making her cough up saliva as she was hurled toward the campus buildings. Thankfully, Aria managed to regain her footing; she thrust her sword into the ground to halt her momentum before slamming into a wall, ending up on one knee.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Didn't stopped there, Eliya swung both arms wide, summoning a cluster of chains behind her. With a sharp motion, she swung her arms toward Aria, showcasing the surface of her gauntlets. As a result, the chains rushed forward, following Eliya’s direct command to strike.

  (Those chains... Is she's the Sealers?!) Aria thought, bewildered by the situation.

  As the chains closed to her, a set of footsteps echoed beside her. A figure leaped and landed directly in front of her, morphing his wand into a claymore and channeling fire into the blade. With a single-handed swing, he released a volley of flames that burned the incoming chains into ashes.

  "Oh?" Kent’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. "To think a lecturer would protect my daughter... You must had quite an adventure gaining such support and friends, haven't you, Elinira?"

  "What are you..?" Aria raised her head toward the man in front of her. As she caught a glimpse of his familiar face, she whispered his name in relief. "Sir Grey..?"

  Hearing his name, Grey snorted with suppressed anger. He swung his claymore and pointed the tip at Kent with one hand. "Whoever you are, I hope you have a better explanation for what you've done to this campus."

  Meanwhile, at the front gate of Verlyn, Rein was pushed back as the blonde girl with the side-tail broke their clash, swinging her sword violently against his lance. As he regained his footing by thrusting his lance into the ground, Revir appeared behind him—a sign that he, too, had been hurled away by his own opponent. He had only managed to stop his momentum through the immense strength in his legs. In that moment, the two of them stood back-to-back, each facing down their respective foes.

  "It seems like you had a bad time there, huh?" Rein said with an intense, worried expression, his focus locked entirely on the blonde girl in front of him. "Is the citizen safe? Also, where's Noire?"

  "He lost his conscious. But thankfully, most of the citizen managed to evacuate safely," Revir stated, still holding on his own smile while gripping his halberd tightly with two hands. A sweat of nervous fall from his forehead, watching such menace from the dark, blue sporting hair man casually clenched one of his hand with calm expression.

  As both of their opponents walked toward them, they suddenly stopped mid-track, their gazes catching one another.

  "Oh! Are you joining for the fun too?" The blonde girl asked excitedly toward the man.

  Hearing the girl’s question, the man snorted in disappointment. "Of course not. Remember what we came here for?"

  "Yeah, yeah. Its about Big sis Elinira. Not that I really care though," the girl replied with a shrug. "As long as our master, the witcher, brought us alongside them, doesn't it mean that there's a fun everywhere?"

  The man sighed deeply, his disappointment escalating after hearing her childish statement.

  "Nonetheless, there's a business we need to clean up," the man entered his own battle stance, readying up his sharp knuckles. "For they're Big sis's friends, we just have to see how capable they are in a fight."

  With that, both the girl and the man charged forward, each readying up their weapon. Revir and Rein prepared their respective weapons as well, giving a tension around them escalated at its peak.

  However, just as the enemies were about to close in, two figures erupted from a shadow pool in front of Rein and Revir. Through it, Mary appeared, clashing against the man with her staff, while Mira intercepted the girl, blocking her strike with both of her knives on his two hands.

  The blonde girl’s eyes widened in surprise, while the man’s expression hardened in slight frustration at the sudden interference.

  "Miss Mary..?" Revir mumbled to himself, his eyes widening in surprise.

  "Mira..?" Rein mumbled to himself as well, his tone full of shock.

  Taking advantage of the opening, both Mary and Mira broke their respective clashes and delivered powerful kicks to the stomachs of their opponents. The force sent both the man and the girl hurling backward, away from Revir and Rein.

  "Hope we're not too late. There's some of the citizen around here in need to evacuate," Mary stated, her expression hardened as she watched the man in front of her, who spat saliva onto the ground as if the blow were nothing to him.

  In the field behind Verlyn Campus, the woman in the red kimono remained, looking around with no patience whatsoever. As Erika watched the woman from a distance, she snorted in excitement. Resting her hand against the hilt of her katana, she began to walk toward the stranger.

  "What manner of prize do you seek? Or is it a soul you hunt for in these shadows?" Erika asked as she approached. She came to a halt once the distance between them was close enough, a way for her to strike freely in case of a fight break out.

  In that moment, the woman in the red kimono shifted her focus toward Erika, answering her questions. "I... want to find where she is."

  "Pray, what manner of soul do you seek with such fervor, even to the point of bearing steel?" Erika asked once more, her presence pressing down on the woman with increasing intensity.

  "She's my big sis. Her name is Aria, Aria von Ignis," the woman answered.

  (Aria... the girl who walks beside my sister and names herself a rival? A bold claim for one of such common stock,) Erika thought, her expression hardening as she processed the name.

  "You know? It's been quite a long while since I see her face. And I still remember her teaching towards me," the woman stated. She looked down at the ground, her fingers brushing idly against the hilt of her katana.

  "Truly? Pray, what strange wisdom has she whispered in thy ear?"

  "Its more like a moral study," the woman stopped her idling and gripped the hilt tightly. "Big sis Aria said that if there's an unknown figure trying to do something to you..."

  The moment the woman spoke, she drew her red katana and vanished with unbelievable speed. She reappeared instantly in front of Erika, sending a chill down Erika's spine as the woman prepared to swing.

  "... either you run, or you stall them long enough if they're very wish is to fight," the woman in the red kimono finished, delivering a swift, lethal strike.

  Despite the suddenness, Erika managed to draw her own katana in time, using the length of the blade to catch the impact. Through it, a loud, metallic clang rang out through the field. However, even with the block, Erika was shocked to find herself easily hurled backward by the woman's immense physical force.

  Though the power was unexpected, Erika regained her footing mid-air. Her mechanical wings flared wide from her back, catching the atmosphere to stabilize her flight before she descended gracefully back to the ground.

  Once her feet touched the earth, her focus snapped forward, but the woman in the red kimono was gone. Only a glitching, distorted silhouette remained where she had stood.

  "A hollow victory," Erika mumbled to herself, a tone of pure disappointment lingering in her voice. "Yet, if a single blow from her could force me to this point, then I suppose she is a foe worthy of my blade."