Charlotte was taken aback to see Brandon "Kael?"
Standing on the disc, he turned to look at her. "Are you alright, Big Sis?"
*woosh*
Before Charlotte could answer, Azyrth dashed back into view, and she slowed to a hover.
"You..." she breathed with a trembling voice.
Charlotteās gaze flicked to Azyrthās face and saw a thin trickle of black blood running from her nose, dripping down her chin and freezing mid-fall in the frigid air.
The sight made Charlotteās eyes narrow sharplyā Kael managed to hurt her with just a kick? ...How?ā
āIs it because heās a male awakener...? No, no, thatās too shallow.ā
She connected the dots quickly āThis woman calls herself ādivine.ā Sheās more powerful than any Empyrean Iāve ever faced. Sheās operating on a completely different level.ā
āSo... this Goddess stuff is real?ā
Her eyes narrowed further āIf thatās the case... Kael as Rheanneās Herald...ā
Azyrth rubbed the blood from her nose with the back of her hand and muttered under her breath "That damn Rheanne..."
Charlotteās eyes flickered āSo I was right...ā
In the next moment, Azyrthās body shimmered, and black mist exploded outward in a violent pulse.
She split, and five perfect clones of herself formed in an instant.
Three dashed toward Brandon, moving so fast they left afterimages of black mist.
Two hurtled toward Charlotte and seeing them, Charlotte reacted instantly.
She raised her hand and unleashed a sweeping arc of green ether that shattered the air itself.
*SLEESH*
The two copies charging her slammed into the barrier and their bodies crumbled before dissolving into mist.
But the three heading for Brandon were faster.
He stepped onto the etheric disc, hopping between discs as they formed and vanished as quickly as he accelerated upward to meet them.
The first clone of Azyrth reached him with her claws slashing at his throat.
Brandon ducked and then countered with a silver-flame-infused punch to her stomach.
BOOM
The copy folded around the blow, and her body crumbled before exploding into black mist.
The second clone was already behind him, driving her fist toward his spine.
Brandon twisted mid-air and the ether disc reformed beneath his boot as he kicked backward, slamming his heel into her face with explosive force.
CRACK
Her head snapped back, and her body dissolved into mist before it could fall.
The third clone lunged straight at him.
Brandon met her head-on and silver flames surged along his arm as gravity compressed into a single, devastating point.
He punched straight through her chest, and his fist emerged from her back in a spray of black blood and mist as it burst apart into swirling shadows.
All five clones were gone in seconds.
Azyrth reformed into a single body once more, hovering a hundred meters away.
She touched her stomach where Brandonās punch had landed earlier, and black blood seeped from the wound, refusing to heal as quickly as before.
āThe Herald of Rheanne... with this mortal flesh and the limitations poised by this worldās consciousness, I canāt exert my full power.ā
āI canāt kill him in plain sight either, or else... I will be punished by the āDivine Courtā ā
Her gaze moved to Charlotte āIf she were alone, I could have finished her, but with him here...ā
Black mist poured out of her, forming a single clone of herself āI will keep him busy with my clone while I take care of her.ā
Without another word, Azyrth and her clone moved simultaneously.
The clone dashed toward Brandon, its body blurring into a streak of black mist.
Azyrth herself shot toward Charlotte and black wings unflurred behind her as her claws reached for Charlotteās throat.
The battlefield split in two.
Brandon met the clone head-on.
He stepped forward, and ether discs appeared beneath his boots. He hopped on one and then another, accelerating upward in a spiral, meeting the clone mid-air.
*sleesh* The clone swung a claw of black mist aimed at his throat.
Brandon ducked and the disc reformed beneath him as he countered with a straight right punch.
BOOM
The fist connected with the cloneās jaw and silver-blue flames exploded on impact.
The cloneās head snapped back, spraying black blood and her body hurled backward through the air like a cannonball.
*THOOM* It crashed into the snow-covered slop, cratering the mountainside, then burst out almost immediately.
Brandon didnāt let up.
He dashed forward as the ether disc shot him forward, launching him like a missile.
Brandon landed a clean hook to the cloneās ribs *CRUNCH* cracking her bones.
The clone staggered as even more black mist leaked from the wound and quickly retaliated with a knee to his stomach.
"Urgh-" Brandon grunted in pain but twisted mid-impact, grabbing the cloneās leg and
flinging
her upward.
He followed, hopping from ether disc to ether disc and closed the distance in seconds.
The clone steadied herself, and whip-like tendrils of black mist lashed out at them.
Brandon dodged with the help of ether discs and countered with a gravity-enhanced uppercut.
THOOM
His fist slammed into the cloneās chin, lifting her off her feet as silver-blue flames detonated on contact.
The cloneās head snapped back, and its body went limp for a split second before black mist surged, reforming the damage.
"Tch..." She clicked her tongue and slashed her claws toward his chest.
Brandon blocked it with his forearm and then drove his knee into her stomach, folding her in half.
He grabbed her by the throat before lifting her and then slamming her down into the snow.
The impact cratered the ground, and snow exploded outward in a white ring.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Charlotte twisted her body mid-air, narrowly dodging another claw strike from Azyrth.
The black talons sliced through the air where her throat had been a split second earlier, leaving a trail of dark mist that hissed and evaporated in the freezing wind.
Azyrthās massive black wings suddenly unfurled wider, and with a single powerful flap, dozens of dark projectiles shot forward like black lightning.
Charlotteās eyes narrowed and dashed upward in a burst of green light, dodging through the deadly projectiles.
She closed the distance in an instant and drove her fist straight into Azyrthās face.
THUD
The punch connected with devastating force, and Azyrthās head snapped back violently as she staggered several meters through the air.
Azyrth raised her hand, and a cold, terrifying smile spread across her face.
"This ends now."
In the next instant, Charlotteās body was frozen in time.
āShe froze my body in time lock again-ā
Charlotteās mind raced, but her body refused to obey and she couldnāt move a single muscle.
Azyrth appeared in front of her and raised her right hand.
Her claws extended as black mist swirled around her fingers.
Then she drove her hand straight through Charlotteās chest.
*sleesh*
The sound was sickeningly wet.
Azyrthās claws punched through skin, muscle, and bone.
Charlotteās ribcage shattered inward with a horrible crunch.
Her eyes widened in shock as the womanās hand closed around her beating heart.
Azyrthās fingers tightened.
*crack*
Charlotteās heart burst out of her ribcage in a spray of bright red blood.
Azyrth pulled her hand back slowly, and Charlotteās still-beating heart clutched in her blood-soaked fist.
Charlotteās lifeless body hung suspended in the frozen time for one final second before time resumed.
*thud* She fell.
Blood poured from the gaping hole in her chest, staining the pure white snow in a rapidly expanding crimson pool.
Her green eyes, which were once so full of love, stared blankly up at the sky.
Azyrth looked down at the heart still beating weakly in her hand.
With a cold, indifferent expression, she crushed it.
*crunch*
The heart burst in her grip as blood and flesh dripped between her fingers onto the snow.
Azyrth flicked her hand once, shaking off the gore, and spoke in a calm, almost bored voice.
"Iām sick of playing games."
The wind howled.
And Charlotte Fleurdys, the Empyrean, the protector, the big sister... lay motionless in the snow, a gaping hole where her heart once beat.
Dead.