The daughter of Goranio and Airi Fuloreen and a goddess of the world, Shiro Fuloreen.

The former ruler of all, Devi Bloodfire.

The former competitor of the throne, Tequi Tensetsu.

All three charged towards their enemy with everything they had.

The man that stood before them was a former god, who had now declared war on all life that did not kneel to his command, Nero Virtuoso.

Unlike the three, Nero did not have the slightest bit of fatigue.

However, this did not stop them as they moved.

Rushing towards him from both sides like they did before, Shiro and Devi readied their swords as they struck at his own. With a quick wave of his arm, he parried the attacks with a heavy strike.

This worked in Shiro’s favor, as she then used her flexible body to bend under the blade and rise up close to Nero in order to slash him again. With a vicious look stretched along his face, he thrusted his hand like a spear towards Shiro’s chest. Before it could connect, Tequi moved beside Shiro and struck his arm with a powerful tsuki styled punch. A wall formed between Shiro and Nero after a quick stomp from his boot. Using the same part of her body, Shiro shattered through the ice with her foot and struck his abdomen. Jumping up behind him, Devi kicked his back with a roundhouse kick. Shiro then followed through with an elbow to the gut and Tequi used her fingers to strike a pressure point in his right arm, which would have struck the two had she not done anything about it.

Another kick was sent to his back by Devi, now with a spin applied to it. Tequi focused on punching his abdomen from the left, allowing for Shiro to change her position in the air over to his neck. The side of her hand struck Nero’s neck with a quick chop, which was then followed by a kick to the head. In the midst of doing so, something had bothered Shiro. It was not as though Nero was not focused on countering them, but rather his face looked annoyed more than it was in pain. On top of this, there was another detail on his body that seemed odd. The skin underneath the rip in his clothing.

Shiro: [That’s weird. I guess it’s just the angle I’m at, so it kinda makes it look like nothing's there. His clothes must have shifted.]

Continuing with their combination, Tequi charged forward and used both arms in a cross chop to strike at him again. Nero staggered back a step, only to raise an arm and form a fierce ball of matōki in his right hand. Before he could throw it, an arrow pierced through his arm and a second to the palm of his hand.

Nero: [Tch. So it’s still in use then.]

Tequi: [Of course it is! Did you think we were gonna let up now?]

Two punches were sent to his back and hip from Devi behind him. Shiro followed in close tandem and provided an axe kick to the arm that had been damaged. To finish off their current page within the combination, Tequi thrusted a palm into the opposite shoulder.

Nero’s irritation was starting to grow, and another boot was lifted in order to spread more ice out. As he struck the ground, a small amount of ice started to build but was quickly cut off by a boot that formed a wave of fire from behind. Turning his eye over his shoulder, he looked at the smiling figure whose courage shined through her appearance.

Devi: [Unfortunately for you, that will not be allowed either.]

Nero tightened the grip of his sword and moved it towards Devi. Handcuffs of electricity were snapped to his wrists, causing the momentum in his attack to be lost.

Shiro: [Oh no you don’t!]

His face turned to Shiro. It was a fury unlike any she had seen before. A horrifying white was presented by his pupil while his vicious fangs leaked white smoke from inside of his body.

Nero: [ENOUGH!]

The cuffs were snapped in an instant. With his free hand, Nero made a lunge towards Shiro’s throat. A lunge she could not avoid in time. With a tight grip, he held Shiro up by the neck as she tried to desperately claw at his hand with her fingers.

Shiro: [Ghhk!... Ack!...]

Tequi: [Shiro!]

Devi: [Damn it!]

Tequi and Devi attempted to charge at Nero again, but the large greatsword was held close to Shiro’s waist.

Nero: [MOVE AND SHE’LL BE CUT IN TWO!]

Their movement grinded to a halt as they followed his command. Nero changed his view to Shiro, before gripping tightly on his blade again and reeling it back.

Tequi: [SHIRO!]

Devi: [We won’t make it in time!]

It was clear what his shout was trying to do. It was not a command, but instead a tactic to scare them. Regardless of what they did, the results would still be the same. He still intended to cleave her in half. No matter how hard they ran at him, it would not make a single difference.

Shiro was terrified as the blade drew close. Death was approaching at the hands of someone she once trusted. Everything she had loved would soon disappear with her death. There wasn’t a single thing she could do against the powerful hand gripping her neck.

The sword was inches away. Tequi and Devi were close but not nearly close enough to stop it. Not even Tequi’s arrows could reach their target in time.

As the sword touched Shiro’s body, Nero… stopped.

He looked down at his blade. His breathing was rough as he watched the smallest drop of blood move across it. He gnashed his teeth together as he tried to move his blade again, but it wouldn’t budge.

With a quick turn, he provided a sweeping kick to the two behind them, launching them several feet back. As they rolled across the ground, Nero looked towards Shiro who he continued to choke. Noticing that Devi and Tequi had started to stand back up, he threw Shiro at their bodies to knock them down again.

Following their second tumble, the two royal figures quickly grabbed Shiro and moved her back as an incoming wave of ice was headed right towards them. Shiro kept her hands against her throat as she continued to cough.

Shiro: [Ghak! Ahak!]

Tequi: [Are you alright, Shiro?]

Shiro: [Y-Yeah, I’m fine… Being choked for that long didn’t exactly feel too good though… On top of that, I’m a little confused…]

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Her somber eyes looked towards Nero behind the wave of ice. She did not understand why she had survived. Perhaps she could no longer understand him as a whole. Beside her, the azure woman placed a hand on Shiro’s back.

Devi: [Can you still fight?]

Shiro: [Not for much longer… Tempest is almost out of time…]

Devi: [In that case, it would be best that we finish things now.]

Tequi: [We’ve landed a few hits already! He has to be a bit tired by now!]

Shiro shook her head as she regained her resolve. The three formed another charge, with Shiro taking the lead. Thanks to the help of Tequi’s arrows, the ice was shattered to bits, allowing them to rush in from the front. As Shiro closed the distance between her and Nero, she struck the ground with a foot and flipped in the air, over his body. While he was distracted, Devi struck from the front with her palm while Shiro used her speed to kick him as hard as she could in the back. This time, a pained reaction could be seen riddled across his face from the kick.

With Tequi sliding in from the side, she used both hands to strike the pressure points along Nero’s arms and legs. His defenses now weakened, Tequi gave a quick shout to her comrades.

Tequi: [Now!]

Flying in from behind, Shiro reeled her left leg back as she approached. At the exact same time, Devi spun in place and reeled the opposite back. Tequi lowered her head as the two attacks drew close. A perfect combination kick was formed as the two struck Nero’s abdomen with a loud thud.

Shiro and Devi: [Tequi!]

Tequi: [Time for the setup!]

In the middle of where the two had kicked, Tequi thrusted a palm forward and sent Nero flying into the air.

Shiro, Devi and Tequi: [NOW!]

A synchronized attack was then formed by the three. Shiro jumped into the air and covered the right as she used Tempest to release an immense projectile slash of electricity at Nero. Devi performed the same with her fire but from the left, allowing for zero chances for a dodge. However, the air was still a problem within this attack. That area was exactly what Tequi targeted, as she sent all thirty of her arrows plummeting down at mach speeds to pierce him. A wild combination was created as all three attacks met in the middle, with the matōki and elements reacting negatively with each other and resulting in the eruption that followed. An explosion that made every other attack that had played out within the war seem like mere child's play.

Tequi: [Vivi-Roro-Tete Blast! Woah!]

Before Tequi could point at the attack and celebrate like she had wanted, a massive gust of wind blew past them from the same move. Each held their arms against their heads as they resisted the pressure of the relentless gale.

The effects of the attack lasted much longer than Shiro’s Great Raijin Wrath or Sol’s Sun Glazed Mirror. The smoke refused to disperse, the wind did not yield. Their combined attack was proof of how strong each of them were on their own. A goddess and two royal families had teamed up and created a move that was completely unrivaled.

After nearly a minute, the wind ceased its endless pushing against the three and allowed them to speak with each other.

Tequi: [Woo! We actually managed to use it! I was kinda worried that we didn’t have the same thought process going, but you two proved me wrong!]

Shiro: [Haha! That was all you, Tete!]

Tequi: [Oh, stop! You flatter me too much, Roro! Alright! As per Devi’s request, I’ll check on him and see how he’s doing! Hopefully he’s injured enough to the point where he won’t fight back.]

Tequi passed the two women to her sides as she moved closer to Nero’s own position. She made sure not to draw too close to him and thus only added a few steps between her allies as she went to check. Allowing Tempest to disappear, Shiro placed her hands on her knees to support her tired body.

Shiro: [We hit him with it, right? I know there weren't many ways he could have gone but…]

Shiro looked up to Devi and received a calm smile in return.

Devi: [I’m certain that it did. Our coordination was impeccable, and the attack itself had a great deal of power etched into it from the beginning.]

Shiro: [Yeah, I guess you’re right… I was just a little nervous though. I hope we can bring him back to his senses. After some jail time, of course.]

Tequi: [Alright, Alright! Ladies! Gimme some silence so I can check!]

Shiro: [Ah! Sorry! Go ahead.]

With a cute smile, Tequi nodded and faced the same direction as the clouds of smoke. Even if the wind had stopped, the plume from the attack still remained.

Tequi: [Let’s see…In his current state–]

Ba-bump.

This was the first sound that rang out in Tequi’s mind.

She could already tell that it was a heartbeat, yet the sound horrified her beyond repair for a different reason altogether.

The location of the heartbeat….

… was not the crater in front of them.

With her entire body trembling, Tequi whispered her next words with fear clawing at her voice.

Tequi: [That doesn’t make any sense…]

Noticing her sudden change, Devi raised a blood red eyebrow as she called out to her.

Devi: [Tequi? What happened?]

Tequi: [This… This shouldn’t be possible at all… We attacked from all sides… H-How did…]

Shiro could tell that Tequi was nervous from her body movement and voice. In a soft tone, she attempted to speak with her.

Shiro: [Tete? Is he there?]

Tequi looked at the smoke in sheer horror.

The next sense had arrived. Location.

The heartbeat from before was not close to the three. She had yet to decipher who it belonged to.

However, there was something to be said about the ability to sense one’s presence.

The presence far stronger than the rest would be detected first.

Even if she could not sense the signature yet, the heart of the strongest could be heard before the rest.

Her trembling words echoed out to Shiro like a nightmare becoming a reality.

Tequi: [He’s… He’s not there anymore…]

Shiro’s eyes were washed over by a wave of sadness and horror.

Shiro: [W-What…? Do you mean he’s dead…?]

Tequi: [No… He’s alive…]

It was coming.

Tequi: [But that spot… right in front of us… He isn’t there anymore…]

The next step, signature, had almost caught up to her.

Devi uncrossed her arms and placed a hand against the hilt of her sheathed blade in shock.

Devi: [He isn’t there?! How?!]

Tequi: [I don’t know… For some reason, he moved from that spot… But I don’t know where–]

A sound comparable to a rough violin played out to her.

It had arrived. Nero’s presence.

Without warning. Without a moment of hesitation.

Tequi created the same archer stance she had done before and allowed her bow to form. The fury of desperation was visible within her eyes.

The scene that had occurred next was that of one in slow motion to Shiro Fuloreen.

Both her and Devi watched as Tequi started to turn around. With her right hand, she held her bow. With her left, she held the string. Pulling back as hard as she could, they watched as she loaded another forty shots at once.

The person who was closest to Tequi’s own ability to sense between the three was that of Shiro.

At that moment, her matōki sensing had finally caught up to her.

She now understood why Tequi was terrified and matched the same horror on her face.

Nero was not in front of them.

He had somehow moved behind them.

Shiro turned to face her opponent. Devi noticed her action and followed suit, preparing to draw her blade.

The slowness of it all reminded Shiro of something she had read about when she was just a teen. An almost slow motion feeling that the brain provides before death.

At the time, it had only felt like an idea many had created regarding the process of death.

However, in the present, it felt far too real.

Turning more and more, each of them turned a full 180 degrees before being met with a terrifying figure.

A man whose cape fluttered in the wind. A sword placed into the ground, with his gloved hands placed atop the hilt. The worst of all however, was the nonexistent damage on his body.

The slow motion was then ceased briefly as Tequi was ready to fire.

Before she could do so, Nero picked up his sword and bolted towards them in the blink of an eye.

Before the arrows could be shot…

…Tequi’s right arm was cleaved off, into the air.

The sluggish movements in time had returned.

A tremendous amount of blood sprayed out into the air.

Nero was now in front of them, crouched below Tequi after swinging his sword.

Shiro and Devi could only watch in horror as the injury was formed.

But that did not stop Tequi.

A great sense of urgency flowed through her veins.

Using her other hand, she quickly picked up the bow before it could fall and attempted to use her teeth to draw the bow back.

Before her teeth could reach it, another quick movement was made in less than a second.

With two fingers jutted out, Nero suddenly rose in an instant…

…and gouged Tequi’s throat out.

A large clump of blood was spat out from her mouth as she fell to the ground.

Slamming her right foot forward, Devi attempted to release her sword to attack Nero.

Just as it was released however, it was stopped by the greatsword that had opposed it many times before.

A sudden split in the ground was made, along with a deep cut to her right foot.

As the two attempted to clash, with Nero having the advantage in power, Shiro looked down to her ally with pure horror across her eyes.

She watched as Tequi placed her left hand against her throat, constantly squirming in pain.

A desperation to live was visible in her eyes.

She tried harder and harder to somehow stop the bleeding with her hand.

She attempted to use matōki to cauterize her throat, but it refused to show.

Several seconds of agonizing pain flowed through Tequi’s body.

Bloody tears started to roll across her eyes as she tried her hardest.

But eventually, her strength was lost.

Her left hand fell limb to the side.

Her right continued to bleed without a hand to call its own.

And Tequi’s eyes… lost all signs of life.

Shiro looked on in horror as the friend she had only met recently faded away before her eyes.

5:30.

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