The attacker burst above the young girl, ready to strike with his axe coated in electrical energy.
Atela dodged his assault with terrifying fluidity, completely catching the boy off guard.
"Such speed… and that level of agility…"
He quickly found a first answer when he noticed the red halo above the girl's head.
"Is she… an angel?!"
Without wasting a second, he resumed his relentless attacks on Atela, who dodged each one effortlessly, like a feather carried by the wind, without the slightest hint of worry in her blazing gaze.
"Maelle… how long can he keep this up?"
The boy followed with a charged attack, releasing a golden flash that tore up chunks of earth and stone.
Atela got through it without much difficulty.
Vane used the debris still suspended in the air as a springboard to launch himself at her with another charged strike.
"I absolutely must not let her spread her wings… otherwise—"
His attack came down as expected…
But in his eyes, filled with both shock and deep fear, he saw in disbelief that his attack had been stopped with a single hand by the girl.
She gave him a killing look, like a silent warning.
"Given his physical capabilities, he'll last no more than five minutes."
With Maelle's answer finally received, Atela decided to end things quickly.
Vane saw cracks appear in his hands under the pressure, unable to properly regulate the impact as he retrieved his axe.
"That's impossible… she blocked my attack without using Chaos…"
At that moment, he understood the abyssal gap between them.
The person standing before him… was on a completely different level.
—I'll have to go all in.
He unleashed his aura to its peak, like a tornado of energy spreading a magnetic force all around him, which seemed to catch Atela's attention as she slightly parted her lips.
Vane prepared to pour everything he had into this attack. He brought his hands together, his energy gathering at their point of contact.
Atela smiled despite herself, thinking that things were finally about to get interesting.
—THUNDER RESIN.
The attack was unleashed as a devastating beam of electrical energy.
Atela slightly raised her hand and took the attack head-on in a massive explosion of energy.
Vane dropped to one knee, out of breath, sweat pouring down from exhaustion.
He thought he had won. He thought he had defeated her.
But unfortunately for him, the amused voice of the one he believed he had beaten echoed as the dust cleared in a surge of red lightning.
—That's the problem with power tied to lightning.
Her silhouette formed within the smoke before revealing itself, a smile on her lips, electricity crackling in her hand, while Vane couldn't believe his eyes.
—This kind of ability only affects those who aren't connected to it… not someone of the same element—especially when they're far more powerful.
Atela stepped out of the flames and smoke without a single scratch. Vane fully realized that no matter what he could have done against her, it would have been useless.
He was facing someone against whom victory wasn't even conceivable.
—You are a—
Atela punched him in the head, knocking him out. His eyes went blank as his body collapsed to the ground, while she casually dusted off her hands.
—Anyway, I've got other things to do.
She resumed walking as if nothing had happened, moving along the rocky path, eyes fixed on the horizon, continuing to think about what she would do next.
"Noa…"
She recalled the moment he collapsed after the fight during their first encounter in the selection. To her, everything Noa had risked just to defeat Tomaru had been pointless.
"He could have just tried to hold him off a bit longer. If he had done that, we would've won since the score was 2 to 3. So why go that far?"
Maelle asked her if she was truly angry at him just because he wanted to win at all costs.
Atela replied that it wasn't his desire to win that bothered her, but the fact that he risked his own life as if it had no value.
"He said he wanted to kill the monarchs of Hades at any cost… and I saw it in his eyes, that determination. But he's ready to throw his life away just for a victory, when his goal hasn't even been touched yet."
She simply couldn't understand how he worked.
Maelle then asked if she had ever questioned him about why he truly wanted to kill Hades.
"Think about it… he revealed his entire objective: to destroy the monarch of humans. But he never told you why he wanted to kill him. Maybe that will give you answers."
Atela admitted that it made more sense that way, but she also felt a bit guilty for confronting him so directly earlier.
"I think I should ask him his real motivations in person."
She stopped walking, looking at the sky behind her, where a flock of black crows was flying. Her face revealed a far more unsettling fear.
"Who… who could be releasing such an aura?"
The horizon ahead began to change color, as if a dark blue filter was covering the world, while the pressure of that individual's aura started spreading across the surroundings.
Her own aura activated in response to the threat of that chaotic energy, and she was overwhelmed by a sense of déjà vu.
—This energy… it feels like—
The horrifying face with long straight hair, a permanently stitched smile held by black threads, and glowing green eyes resurfaced in her mind.
She tightened her aura behind her back and deployed her crimson-feathered wings.
—I need to be sure.
With a single flap of her wings, she propelled herself at an incredible speed, leaving behind a shockwave that sent rocks flying, cracked the ground, and tore out roots and grass.
She tore through the sky like a bullet locked onto its target.
"The chances of it actually being that man are very low. I advise you not to get any closer."
Despite that, she landed violently in a treeless area from where the suffocating aura originated.
She lifted her head, her face wavering between doubt, concern, and fear.
—Who are you?
In front of her, sitting on a rock, Lifa wore a smile. His aura, with abyssal blue hues, rose around his body, forming a skull above him.
—I knew you'd manage to defeat Amandora… but not that you'd find me this quickly.
Lifa said with open arms, claiming he only wanted to talk.
But Atela was already losing patience and immediately released her aura, just as imposing as Lifa's—but far more ominous.
She raised her hand, pointing two fingers at him with a slow and precise motion, her eyes shining like the core of a red star.
—I asked you a question. So answer me. Who are you?
Lifa's smile vanished for a moment, replaced by a neutral expression in the face of that angelic presence.
Then it returned, tinged with satisfaction.
Meanwhile, on our protagonist's side, as he walked alongside Ranta and Kobra, Noa suddenly stopped, matching his pace with his companions, then calmly placed his hand on Weaver.
—You felt it too.
He whispered to his blade, as the crows in the sky seemed to flee in the opposite direction of the source of that suffocating energy, while the atmosphere, though seemingly normal, had suddenly become ominous.
—Yes, I feel it too.
Weaver responded, reminded of the patriarch's energy when he had saved Atela and Noa in the devastated undergrounds of the Eastern Empire—but especially of that mysterious creature made of flesh and bone that had targeted them.
—This chaos reminds me of the creature we defeated, the patriarch and I, in the Empire.
But Noa added that it also resembled the energy of the one responsible for that monster's imprisonment.
—I can't say for certain that that strange man was part of Celestia, but if I'm sensing this energy… I never thought they'd keep tracking us even inside the Kingdom of Garion.
Weaver told him not to jump to conclusions, and that this aura wasn't identical to the one they had encountered before.
—But given their similarities, either they share blood, or it's pure coincidence, or—
Noa knew they could expect anything from them, especially if shadows of Celestia had infiltrated the selection.
A name came back to him.
"Vandale."
That name had been spoken by Patriarch David before leaving the Empire, and it potentially had a direct link to Hades—and to himself. His calm face revealed nothing of the intense determination driving him.
—If I can find him, I might finally get answers to my questions.
Weaver reminded him that nothing was certain yet, and unlike Hades, he had never seen him. Even with a description, finding him would be difficult.
—Noa.
He looked up at Ranta's serious call, who had also stopped walking. Kobra kept his hands in his pockets, but his sharp gaze and aura seemed ready to react.
—What if we go straight to the point?
Soni was leaning against a tree, surrounded by numerous impact marks that seemed caused by powerful blows. He never once took his eyes off the enraged lion before them.
"This makes things easier for me."
Noa drew Weaver with a firm and precise motion. His eyes shone like blue moonlight in a deep night, and his face was set—like someone who didn't want to waste time.
—WAIT, KID! THAT GUY IS ON A LEVEL FAR ABOVE YOURS!
Noa prepared to attack, his gaze as cold as that of a black wolf in the dark. Then he replied to Weaver:
—Do you really think that's enough to stop me?