Hikari's breath caught as she identified the spell: BLACK MAGIC RANK V: DAMNATION. Where WRATH OF SOL scattered devastation across the battlefield, this magic condensed darkness into pure gravitational force, designed to crush both body and spirit. Her expertise only confirmed what her instincts screamed: between this and the suppression spell already binding her, she stood no chance.

  A streak of blue light—Yi Tong's answering spell—sliced through the sky, colliding with Bruno's darkness.

  BLUE MAGIC RANK V: NULL

  The dull blue glow acclimated the bck smudge, washing away the darkness like dirt in water.

  A sharp click of Bruno's tongue cut through the air. The Bck Archangel turned to study the schorly prince emerging from the tent, his scowl shifting to a satisfied smirk as he watched Yi Tong struggle beneath White Magic's crushing radiance.

  "So the mighty wimp is here to save this motley crew." Bruno's voice dripped sarcasm. "How honored am I to greet the Dragon Scion."

  "The pleasure is mine," Yi Tong measured each word, fighting against the oppressive force. His gaze swept over the spies and agents he'd just saved before settling back on Bruno. "Though I can't say the same for our associates."

  "They didn't tell you I was here?"

  Vain opened her mouth for a furious retort, but Yi Tong's sharp gnce silenced her.

  "As a matter of fact, no." The prince's eyes tracked the bck knights slowly encircling them. "But perhaps it's time we discussed business. Shall we settle this amicably?”

  "I think I have the leverage here, bookworm."

  "And you can't have anyone leaking news of these semi-immortal human weapons under your employment," the Dragon Scion added.

  "That too."

  "It's a shame it has to come to this."

  Those were Yi Tong's final words before Su struck. Contrary to her bold appearance, the girl couldn't be less crafty. She milked every drop of distraction her brother had obtained and sneaked behind Bruno to deliver an Aura-infused cut with her razor-sharp chakrams. The entire sequence pyed out in a blur of speed; even Nuan would have been impressed by this decisive surprise attack.

  But Bruno wasn't an Archangel for nothing. He caught the girl by her hand, which provided him with a perfect counter-attack vector. He flipped her over his shoulder and smmed her into the ground with bone-shattering force. Saliva gushed from her mouth; bones rattled in her frame; senses scattered in her skull—all before an Aura-infused boot to her ribs bsted her headfirst into the dirt behind her brother.

  The ruthless man prepared another spell to finish the battle.

  BLACK MAGIC RANK II: SLAUGHTER

  Bck mass gathered at Bruno's finger and fired forth to finish off Su, but an unlikely savior intervened: Hikari, who raised her finger and fired a spell of her own.

  BLACK MAGIC RANK II: SLAUGHTER

  The two spheres of Bck Mana collided mid-air, shattering each other in a burst of dark energy.

  Yi Tong, seizing his opportunity, moved to support.

  BLUE MAGIC RANK IV: OCEAN

  A wave summoned by blue light roared forth, rushing to sweep its target off his feet. But the First Prince wasn't finished.

  BLUE MAGIC RANK III: FREEZE

  Bruno grunted at his immobilized footing, but a shadow passing over the sun caught his eye. He grudgingly drew his sword, lifting the bde to block Hikari as she descended like an anvil, her impact shattering the ice beneath them.

  Yi Tong tore his attention from those two trading blows to bck-armored knights fnking their position, each swing of their swords and fists turned another temporary ally into a smear of blood. He gritted his teeth and summoned waves to split the battlefield. Meanwhile, Su picked herself off the ground and rushed to help, saving an ally from an overhead blow before delivering a decapitating cut to a bck knight.

  But nothing could match the duel between Hikari and Bruno. Cut off from their allies' support, the two warriors cshed freely.

  Bruno's footwork relentlessly pressed forward. He swung his bde thrice in a flurry, each strike pushing his advantage.

  Hikari deflected one blow with her combat knives and wove past the other two swings. The light grounding her from the sky had dulled her speed. Her roll proved too slow to evade the facial kick which sent her sprawling. She gasped for breath, flipping to her feet to evade a following overhead blow smashing the earth like a sledgehammer. Through dust and thundering crunch, she detected an opening but chose to forgo a riposte; instead she ducked beneath a mighty backhand to nd a slice on her opponent's wrist.

  Bruno grunted at the pain and pulled back, reopening neutral space between them. He observed his bleeding arm and healed the injury with a spell.

  "Okay, you're putting up way too much of a fight for someone under SANCTION. I'll have to crush you seriously."

  The white-haired girl nearly groaned; it had already taken everything to keep up. The sight of Bruno producing a wicked double-headed axe in pce of his ceremonial sword only worsened her morale.

  Therefrom she barely noticed the blur. The maiden leaned back; an edge that nearly split her skull whistled an inch from her eyes. Teeth gritted in fear, she tried to counter, but her opponent's free hand came forward, cloaked in darkness.

  Bruno's fist, wreathed in SLAUGHTER, nearly opened a hole in Hikari's torso. Only her Aura-imbued bdes saved her, though they shattered from the impact.

  But the following cleave of his axe was different. She slid her feet back in time, but not far enough. The clean metal edge bit into her shoulder and dragged down in a spray of blood and pain. Eyes widening, lips biting back agony, she tried to reposition—but her body wouldn't move, caught in an immobilizing dark spell.

  BLACK MAGIC RANK IV: PUPPETRY

  Bruno, knowing his scheme had worked brilliantly, moved to finish his enemy with a decapitating cut.

  But in that blink between life and death, as her existence hung by a thread, Hikari shut her eyes and screeched. Lifetimes of smiles and happy memories flowed and poured into the only spell that could save her.

  "SMITE!"

  Immense White Mana answered her call, funneling into an incandescent orb of destruction. It burned before the Archangel and burst, spraying forth a shining column, striking him like an ocean current. Strands of light pushed against him, burning his skin as his Aura struggled to resist. When the blinding radiance faded, Bruno had been forced back, his skin smoking. He shook his head in a daze and witnessed something which defied belief.

  Hikari Seyfert, tiny knife in hand, charged straight at the man who'd just tanked an annihition spell point-bnk.

  It might have been inspiring, but the Bck Archangel wasn't his red counterpart who rewarded such idiocy. He lifted his axe to split this foolish girl in half.

  Her knife fshed toward his face. A desperate gambit Bruno dismissed with a casual flick of his wrist.

  But a circlet of binding spell, flung past him in his dazed state, curved back like a boomerang. It sliced through the air and locked his axe-wielding arm overhead.

  Bleeding from her shoulder, teeth gritted as she pushed past every limit she'd known, Hikari Seyfert closed the distance. Her tiny fist clenched with Bck Mana, filled to bursting with the same technique which had shattered her weapons. She gathered every ounce of strength her battered body could muster and threw her punch.

  BLACK MAGIC RANK II: SLAUGHTER

  The strike, backed by a killing spell, physical amplification, and raw Aura, crashed into the Bck Archangel. The force bruised Hikari's arm and shredded her sleeve to ribbons. Air exploded from the energy dispcement, sending Montgomery's commander flying backward, his torso torn and bleeding from the lethal combination. He crashed onto his back before the entire battlefield.

  Vain, still wrestling with the inhuman knights, stared at the miracle girl who'd colpsed to her knees. She wanted to feel grateful, but this result defied reason.

  "How is this possible?" She gaped, turning to Clooney. "Who is she?"

  "I've only heard rumors, but I believe she's one of the Searcher Association's secret S-Css operatives," he answered, voice thick with awe. "I never believed it until now, but Eleanor supposedly has a secret unit trained for confidential missions. She must be one of them."

  Hikari, still nursing her injured shoulder, heard Clooney's expnation and mentally snorted. Her eyes gzed over. In truth, there was no such unit—only her, constantly who kept doing all of Amy’s insane requests.

  But any brief respite she could possibly gain is immediately shattered by the next sentence spoken by a man with a bloody hole in his stomach.

  "I underestimated you. Very well, you bitch has earned my full attention."

  The ground exploded with light, creating a mushroom cloud of dust visible to kilometers away, much to Hikari's sunken-eyed chagrin.