When Anna broke the stone in her hands, a wave of energy was unleashed, spreading across the entire city of Ozryn from its center.

All the technology became unusable wherever this energy passed, from a simple flashlight to an orbital beam canon with which spaceships were equipped. The impact was such that space itself shook, causing visible ripples in the air.

The night skies, already covered with menacing clouds, were disturbed by this powerful force.

Suddenly, the apparent calm of the sky turned into a tumultuous commotion. Clouds, previously motionless, began to move erratically. A dull rumble sounded, announcing the imminent arrival of the storm. Raindrops began to fall, covering the entire city.

Spatial rifts began to form throughout the city. Dark, swirling tears appeared in the fabric of reality, releasing chaotic and unsettling energy. The rifts were widening rapidly, letting out terrifying crystal beasts that surged from the other side as if something was pulling them.

"Attention, residents of Ozryn, this is an emergency announcement. Please pay immediate attention and follow directions to ensure your safety. Spatial rifts have opened across the city, causing crystal beasts to invade.

Find a safe shelter as soon as possible! The authorities are mobilizing all available resources to contain this threat. Do not fight the crystal beasts. Your safety is our top priority. Keep calm and listen for updates."

A powerful voice echoed throughout the city, sounding the death knell for the impending emergency. An ominous rumble mingled with the shrill announce, creating an eerie cacophony. The inhabitants, seized with panic, began to flee, desperately seeking shelter in the reigning chaos, their faces marked with fear and confusion.

Sharp claws, gleaming fangs, and demonic eyes filled with malevolence revealed themselves through the rifts. The once peaceful and bustling streets of Ozryn turned into scenes of chaos and destruction as these bloodthirsty beasts swept through the city.

Screams of terror and the sounds of fighting echoed in all directions. The panicked inhabitants tried to take refuge, but the beasts emerging from the rifts pursued them relentlessly. Houses were destroyed, stalls overturned, and the streets were filled with debris and dust.

***

"Tsk. And to say I thought using that little girl to kill you would be a good idea."

"A… Anna. What did you do?!"

"Humans are really stupid creatures. You still try to argue with me even when you see me kill all these people."

Anna burst into eerie laughter, releasing a sound that echoed with unsettling coldness in the car. Her laughter was filled with disdain and satisfaction as she watched Kieran. Her body began to undergo unsettling changes. Her skin slowly transformed, taking on a bright pale blue hue that emitted a cold, crystalline glow reminiscent of a living ice crystal.

Anna's facial features also changed, her eyes widened to an almond shape, accentuated by an abyssal black iris that seemed to absorb all light.

The changes in Anna's appearance came as a shock to Kieran, who couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes.

"You're a Vral..." his voice held resentment and anger that only increased each time Elora's frozen body entered his field of vision.

It was then that the emergency announcement was heard. The sound of explosions, the cries of citizens, and the roar of beasts. The smile on Anna's face grew even wider when she heard them.

"Looks like everything's going well. I still have some time left since I've already eliminated my target. I can afford to play with you."

'She eliminated her target? What is she talking about?'

Kieran's eyes sharpened, and his whole body transformed in an instant. He rushed towards Anna ignoring his wounds with his double-bladed sword.

Anna moved slowly and gracefully, giving off a silent murderous aura.

The spear in her hands seemed to move slowly compared to Kieran's attack, which came dangerously close to her. Yet before the first blade could reach her, the spear easily stopped the attack by deflecting the blade's trajectory, causing it to lose some of its power.

A low explosion rocked the entire car as the two weapons made contact, shattering all the windows and derailing the train, stopping it in place.

Kieran's muscles bulged. The giant's transformation ability had transferred into his arms. The strength he could display was immense, even though his double-bladed sword was not perfect to fight with. Such an attack threatened the Mutated Ice Cloud Lion, yet Anna wasn't even bothered. Her appearance was still dignified, and that smirk revealed her disdain for him.

Kieran pulled the first blade towards him while his other hand pushed the second blade, causing it to rise upwards. Attacking Anna from a different angle.

Anna took a step back, dodging the second blade. Her arm moved quickly, and the spear in her hand shot forward.

Kieran did not seek to take back the blade that moved vertically upwardly. Instead, he continued the movement of the blade, tilting his wrists in a different direction. He turned the two blades in front of him, making them spin, forming a shield that stopped Anna’s ice spear.

The weight behind the spear pushed him several steps back, but he didn't flinch and rushed forward again. His left hand let go the hilt of his double-bladed sword as he thrust forward.

Anna deftly turned to the side, dodging Kieran's forward thrust. Her ice spear moved in a smooth, precise motion, slicing through the air as it swung downward, aiming at Kieran's vulnerable flank.

A wall of earth formed between Kieran and the spear that was about to injure him, stopping it for long enough for him to take advantage of the opportunity. He took another step forward, holding his double-bladed sword in both hands again and twirling it around him.

The wind whistled around him as he forced the blades of his weapon into unpredictable trajectories.

Anna watched Kieran's movements with slight interest, her smirk unabated. She seemed almost amused by his effort in trying to reach her.

She recoiled gracefully from the furious assault of Kieran's blades, her enigmatic legs movements defying all logic. Despite the intensity of his attacks, none managed to scratch the slightest bit of her skin. Anna was as elusive as a ghost, dodging every blow with disconcerting ease.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

With a deft hand, she raised her spear, stopping Kieran's onslaught. A flash of sparks shot through the air when the two weapons made contact, briefly illuminating the darkness of the car.

Kieran felt his arms tremble from the impact. He couldn't understand Anna's movements or how she could fight with so much strength that overwhelmed him despite the fact that he should possess a greater amount of crystal essence than her, who had just reached Silver rank.

Anna looked into his amber eyes, which seemed to be restless, "Do you wonder why I'm stronger than you?" her voice sounded cheerful as if the whole situation amused her, "I will show you."

A spear of ice suddenly appeared behind her, which shot through the air, not aiming at Kieran. Watching the path the spear took through the air, Kieran's gaze darkened.

The crystal essence exploded from his body as he managed to push Anna back a few steps. He moved quickly, using the earth elemental particles as fast as he could to form a wall around a small figure that was frozen.

The ice spear smashed against the earthen wall, failing to pierce it. A laugh echoed in the silent car.

"You're really stupid. You're luring me away from her, and you're not using your fire ability. Don't you understand? She's already dead, and yet you're wasting your time protecting a useless piece of frozen meat."

"I'm going to kill you," uttered Kieran in a weak, hoarse voice.

The killing intent that he had been trying to suppress for the past few days resurfaced, causing Anna to stop breathing for an instant. Her eyes revealed a trace of shock for the first time since this fight began.

She didn't look like it, but she didn't take Kieran's attacks lightly. She used her movement technique to gain an advantage over him. She had been with him for over a week, observing his abilities and techniques, but this was the first time Kieran's killing intent was turned on her.

"I should have killed you on this island when I had the chance like I did with Holden in those tunnels," she said coldly.

Kieran didn't have time to process the information contained in her words when an ice crystal emerged in the middle of Anna's forehead, resembling a gem that adorned her forehead. The atmosphere around her suddenly changed, and an invisible pressure fell on him.

"A double awakened..." whispered Kieran in disbelief.

"Empress of Ice!"

The air seemed to freeze in an instant, as if time had momentarily stopped. From Anna's outstretched hands, layer after layer of ice materialized, rapidly expanding in all directions and shattering everything in its path.

In Kieran's vision, the world seemed to be locked in ice. His heart was pounding in his chest as the icy wave approached.

"Earth Shattering!"

The world was split in two. A golden blue color and an icy blue color trying to take over one another.

Everything around the two seemed to disappear. The dead passengers who were locked in the ice, everything that made up the magnetic train, and the rails on which it moved were reduced to nothing.

Kieran's heart sank when he saw the small figure enveloped in ice disappear in front of him. His eyes turned red as he felt his whole body burning with rage.

"ANNA!!" his voice, full of hatred and pain, echoed.

Following their attacks, a massive ice structure, cleaved in two by a sword, appeared in the center of Ozryn, drawing the attention of nearby crystal beasts and cultivators.

The ice structure caused the temperature of the area to drop, freezing the raindrops. Snowflakes falling from the sky disturbed Kieran's vision as he scoured the area looking for Anna. Finding no trace of her, he deployed his crystal sense but again found no trace of her.

Suddenly, a gust of icy wind swept through the area, pushing the snowflakes away. Kieran felt a presence approaching him, but it was already too late. Anna leaped out of the darkness, her eyes glinting with a murderous glow. Her arms swooped down with lightning speed, spinning her ice spear in a deadly trajectory.

Kieran created a wall of earth at the last moment while swinging his double-bladed sword to stop the spear, knowing that the wall wouldn't hold this time.

As if to meet his expectations, the earthen wall crumbled, and the two weapons clashed, pushing the two back several steps.

Ten blades of fire appeared behind Kieran, no longer holding back his use of his fire ability. He created a barrage of attacks on Anna which countered with ice attacks.

The two reacted at the same time, their feet pushing off the ground, rushing at each other with their weapons raised.

Their attacks collided with increasing intensity, creating shock waves that spread throughout the area. Anna begins to feel a stifling heat that prevents her from breathing properly while numerous wounds appeared on Kieran's body as well as burns on his two hands from the frost, which tried to invade him little by little.

As Kieran and Anna exchanged hundreds of blows, the crystal beasts near them began to converge on their position, drawn by the confrontation between the two.

A crystal sense went through their bodies, making them stop for half a second, turning their gaze from each other toward where the crystal sense came from.

"It's time to stop playing with you. Goodbye, Kieran."

A wall of ice separated the two. Anna backed up quickly before turning around to go toward the crystal sense they had just felt.

"Come back here!"

Kieran's loud voice came from behind as he chased after her with all his might. The giant's transformation had already been transferred to his legs to improve its speed. He blasted fireballs in his back to help him get even closer to her one second earlier, even if that meant burning itself to do it.

*roar*

A loud roar silenced all sounds in the area. A strong presence made it feel like the whole area had become its territory.

"You should pay more attention to this guy than me," Anna's voice still had that tone of disdain as she dodged all the attacks Kieran sent her.

She moved through the destroyed streets as if she knew them by heart, not making a single superfluous movement, slowly distancing Kieran. An amulet appeared in her hand as she suddenly turned a corner.

Following quickly after her, Kieran was greeted by a huge fist that filled his entire vision. He quickly crossed his arms in front of him while raising a wall of earth.

He felt the bones of his arms broken like twigs, and his whole body was thrown away, ending in a building.

*cough*

Kieran spat out several mouthfuls of blood as he lifted his bruised body. His arms were twisted at odd angles, but he could feel his bones already starting to snap back into place slowly.

*Roar!!*

Peering through the hole in the wall of the building that had been made by his body passing through, he found no trace of Anna. Instead, he saw a giant monkey-like crystal beast thumping its chest while roaring.

Its immense size, easily reaching six meters in height, while its muscular body covered with dark fur gives the impression of immeasurable brute force.

The monkey was enveloped in intense flames that danced and swirled all around it. The flames seemed to emanate from its own body, lighting up the dark, destroyed streets with a glowing light.

The falling rain couldn't even reach it, turning to steam before it made contact with it.

Around it were devastated streets, bearing witness to the chaos and destruction caused by its passing. Ruined buildings, strewn debris, and overturned cars filled the once-thriving cityscape. Wounded, frightened civilians and rescuers rush frantically, seeking refuge and assistance in this nightmarish scene.

"Help me!"

"Help!"

"Please save my daughter!!"

"I have money! Save me!!!"

The scene seemed straight out of a nightmare, and yet what scared Kieran the most about what he saw was the crystal essence he sensed from the monkey, which was equivalent to the one the Director of Ozryn Academy had displayed the last time he saw him.

"I... I have to help them."

With his body shaking, Kieran took a step forward. He never considered himself a hero of justice, but he didn't want to see people die in front of him either.

"Stop! You can't do anything against that monkey to help them even if you weren't hurt, let alone now with your body in this state," said Runihoril in his mind.

"I..."

Kieran turned around, biting his lip, going deeper into the building to find another exit. The cries of pain from the citizens could be heard behind him as the giant monkey grabbed them and shredded their bodies before swallowing them like a common piece of meat.

Not looking back for a moment. He used his brainwaves to access his aurora collar when his face suddenly darkened.

"Why can't I use my aurora collar?"

Focusing on his spiritual world, he forced his crystal essence to move to the spatial gem on his neck to access it on his own.

Pulling out one potion after another, he quickly recovered from his injuries while running as far away as he could from the fire monkey.

The loss of the aurora collar had caused panic in his mind. The vision of injured citizens in the street and the loss of the aurora collar made him realize the situation in which the whole city was. It was not just the train and its surrounding that were attacked.

"I have to get home quickly! Mom, Dad, Ryan... Please be safe!!"