Before Catemid could crush the heart, the invisible string connecting the tree and Flint tightened and the tree exploded.
"It's working." Kashime lurched forward.
The heart disappeared from the angel's hand and reappeared inside Flint's chest, beating again. The damage had been transferred to the tree.
As Catemid was about to strike Kashime, her hand never connected with Kashime's neck. It simply stopped.
Kashime grabbed Flint's collar and dragged him away from the angel.
"You okay?" She let go of him, her gaze never leaving the angel.
"Yeah, I am fine." He straightened himself, staying beside Kashime. Kashime's cosmic outline was still glowing; the space around her felt like a wall of loops.
It's a problem. I don't have mastery over the white outline.
Catemid tried to reach them, but she was sent back every time she tried.
"Impressive. You can use the cosmic outline effectively." The angel materialized feathers. "Let's see if you can still manage this when a lot of things try to enter."
Catemid released the feathers toward them. The feathers were sent back, but they kept trying to re-enter the marked area.
"That's a problem. Flint, do something." Kashime's mind was being overloaded, yet she was trying her best to keep maintaining the loop.
Flint released sound waves, though the angel dodged them effortlessly.
The amount of feathers rapidly increased.
Suddenly, Kashime's ears and nose began to bleed, making her lose control. The outline stopped glowing. The feathers were close to hitting them when a strong blow arrived, throwing them all away.
Divine of Love, Lavanya, had made her presence known.
"I am here. Run if you want." Lavanya turned to Kashime and Flint. They both nodded and pushed themselves toward Heavenly Kaatoumo.
"What is a Divine doing here?" The angel's fists tightened, her expression turning serious.
"Well, every Divine is assigned to protect a world. I was assigned here by Fate." Lavanya's hand slid to her waist.
"Like I care." Catemid struck forward. Her right fist aimed at Lavanya's face, but Lavanya blocked it.
Catemid launched her left fist. Lavanya grabbed that too.
She's strong.
The angel swung her left leg, aiming at Lavanya's waist, though Lavanya was already behind the angel.
Catemid moved, swinging behind to land a kick, but a portal opened, then another up in the sky where the leg was coming from.
Lavanya jumped, grabbing the leg and pulling Catemid out of the portal. She threw her into a tree. Catemid crashed into it, then stood.
"Using portals offensively. How interesting."
"I could just send you to White Spirit. She will take care of you, but you are dying now." Lavanya lunged forward, slamming a punch into the tree. Catemid had moved herself aside, but the tree turned to dust. The impact was enough to vaporize multiple trees before it, and it did exactly that. The ground was not cracked; it looked as if it had never been there.
"I am tired of this cat-and-rat game." Lavanya did not strike again. She lurched back.
Why did she not strike? I will.
Catemid pushed toward Lavanya.
"If you love me." Lavanya's voice came, sweet and soft. Catemid's body paused immediately.
"Please, sacrifice yourself for me. You love me, don't you?" Lavanya clutched both hands to her chest, her expression almost on the verge of crying. None of it was real.
"I do love you."
Catemid's pupils turned heart-shaped, but the colour stayed black; it did not change.
It works on the same gender too. Surprisingly.
Internally, Lavanya's expression remained indifferent.
"Then please die in my place. I don't want to die." Lavanya's right foot moved forward.
"I will be pleased to." Catemid smiled, completely under control.
She pierced her own palm through her own neck.
"Happy?"
Blood poured out of her neck. She felt pain but did not stop. She slashed her own neck with her own hand. Her head fell, then her body fell.
"Quite easy." Lavanya turned toward the cities again, her gaze mocking.
At the academy, the giant serpent was there, its eyes bound by chains that had come out of thin air. Denu was standing on the roof, his honey-brown outline glowing.
"Do it!" Denu commanded.
The lights who had green outlines all forged massively large ice, fire, and wooden spikes.
Ice dripped from the ice spikes, freezing the roof, while the fire spikes were melting the ice spikes. Before the wooden spikes could catch fire, they all released the spikes onto the giant serpent.
The impact was too much. The atmosphere shook. Smoke clouded everyone's vision, and when it cleared, the giant serpent had not even gotten a scratch.
"Is there any way to kill the giant serpent? Anyone know?!" Denu did not move among the lights. His honey-brown outline glowed. The chains had blocked the giant serpent's eyes, and somehow it was not burning the chains. Was it smart? Did it only burn things that were alive?
Divine of Love stood by Niheart, staring at the giant serpent, both hands placed on her waist.
She sighed, then formed a fist and launched it toward the giant serpent. As the punch's impact connected with the flow of time, the sky cleared. The giant serpent turned to dust, falling from the sky like a rain of dust. Niheart's leaves vaporized. It looked like an old, dry massive tree, though they began to regrow immediately. Earth might have been destroyed if she had wanted it to be.
Lavanya looked at her palm. A pink heart appeared, and she let it go toward Niheart. It moved slowly through the air, duplicating itself with every second. As it connected with Niheart, the leaves began to grow even faster.
"I should go back to the others."
A portal erupted on the surface and she vanished with it as it closed.
Akarum, Flint, Kashime, and Asami were standing in the courtyard. Akarum's body was frozen as he stared at the beheaded bodies. He seemed unable to move, as if moving would trigger a jump-scare and he would have to see more of it.
"It feels familiar." Asami's eyelids fell, not fully, and memories flooded her mind memories she thought she had forgotten.
"What should we do? Stay here?" Kashime asked.