"Of course Galadra asked me for help too. How could she not?" Nicola glanced back at me, frowning a bit. She looked annoyed but still answered, "Anyone can see my skills are more reliable than your amateur tricks!"

Damn! This cheat player had the nerve to be so cocky? I almost got mad hearing that. I'm not bad either, and I just leveled up! Can't this idiot see?

And Galadra, that trickster! Turns out she didn't just ask me for help. I felt touched by her "sincerity" and came all this way to face Michelle head-on. If I knew earlier—

Well, I'd probably still agree. I had to come to find Reed anyway. Wonder if Nicola will try to chop Adrian again when she sees him. Maybe she's calmed down by now?

"We meet again, Michelle!" With a big enemy in front, Nicola couldn't say much else. She turned back, staring at the fire angel who'd moved away. Her words seemed a bit angry. "So you're still alive. Too bad that nuke didn't blow you up!"

"Hah! That little bomb was nowhere near enough to kill me! Liana, I knew you were hiding nearby. I had to push you to show yourself!"

Enemies meeting made things tense. Michelle wasn't scared at all. She quickly brought out her weapon. She looked around carefully before asking:

"What now? Getting your future self to back you up again? Let me warn you, I've trained hard this past year. That won't work anymore!"

"I don't need my future self. I'm enough to deal with you now!"

That sounded like big talk, but I still doubted Nicola's words. I stepped forward with my Water Abyss Sword and said:

"Let's attack together, just to be safe!"

No matter what, Michelle was a full-power Fire Angel. Nicola clearly wasn't quite there yet.

"Get lost! You'll just slow me down!"

I almost coughed up blood hearing that. She just wouldn't accept my help. She pushed me away, grabbed her Condensation Sword, and charged at the target.

Even though Nicola was much stronger now, barely keeping up with Michelle's pace, anyone could see the gap in power and skill between them.

The time-stop skill kept popping up in the fight, making it look all choppy. One moment they'd be on my left, next second they'd appear behind me. No way to tell how they moved.

But for sure, even Nicola's new time powers weren't much use against an enemy at this level.

"I'll admit you've improved a lot! But you're still no match for me. Since your future self showed up before, are you planning to have her clean up for you again?"

After a while, the two finally separated. Michelle looked unhurt and asked with a frown. She cared more about the future Nicola than the current one.

"Are you deaf? I said I don't need her help! I can kill you myself now!"

Nicola wiped blood from her face. She'd taken quite a beating but stubbornly refused to give up, angrily declaring.

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"Bring it on! You asked for it!"

Michelle grinned nastily and charged with her sword.

Really? They're going to keep fighting? I didn't expect Nicola to be so overconfident. I got worried but had no chance to stop them. Just as they clashed again, a blinding white light suddenly covered everything from above.

The night sky had been cloudy with low visibility. But somehow, a huge amount of light gathered overhead!

Thick, bright light beams pierced the clouds and rained down. Each one hit a monster fighting the angel army. Hundreds of beams fired at once! It was an amazing sight, like a miracle. It was so bright everyone could barely keep their eyes open.

"It's the Forbidden Spell! Reed did it!"

I recognized these light beams. They were the "Lost Paradise Shockwave" I'd used many times before! But using this high-level magic on such a big scale could only be done with the Forbidden Spell!

"Who's messing things up from behind?!"

This big change made the two fighting Element Angels pause. Even Michelle almost got hit by surprise. She dodged just in time, but her monster army was wiped out in an instant. Shocked and angry, she quickly spotted the huge robot on the ground behind her and exploded with rage.

"So you were just keeping me busy on purpose!"

Looks like she finally figured it out. Midas absorbs lots of elements while charging up. If not for distracting her, I wouldn't have fought her so long knowing I couldn't win. Of course, Nicola showing up was a surprise!

"Stop her! Reed and Cyra are in there!"

Michelle had no time to waste on us now. Seeing her rush towards Midas, I quickly called to Nicola who was much closer.

"I'm your opponent! Don't run!"

Seeing her enemy "running away", Nicola chased after her. She also raised her Condensation Sword and sent a Wind Slash flying at Michelle.

"Damn you..."

The Wind Slash got there first. Michelle dodged it with a slight move, but it slowed down her dive. Furious, she had to turn back to face Nicola's challenge.

"Get out of my way!"

The Condensation Sword and Hephaestus Sword clashed a few times. Finding an opening, Michelle forced Nicola back with a fiery sword strike, then kicked her hard, sending her flying. She turned again, raising her arm to unleash her signature flame slash at Midas.

"Don't forget about me!"

Luckily, I made it just in time. I gripped the Water Abyss Sword with both hands and stabbed down from above. I bet she won't have time to slowly evaporate my weapon this time!

"You..."

As expected, Michelle had used all her strength in the last attack and couldn't react in time. In danger, she could only dodge my sword, losing her aim.

The leftover flame slash hit the ground near Midas, causing a huge explosion. Rocks flew everywhere and dust filled the air. I had no idea how Reed and the others were doing.

"Feliciana, you keep ruining my plans! Think I won't kill you because of our past?"

Suddenly Michelle's hate-filled voice came from behind me. I felt my hair stand on end. It felt like the closest I'd ever been to death.

"Ssss—"

As if in slow motion, I saw the red sword tip barely graze my throat. I felt a slight pain in my neck, but could still breathe fine. Luckily the cut wasn't deep.

Thanks to Adrian rushing over when he heard the commotion. He jumped in and saved me at the last second. But he couldn't fly, so we quickly fell to the ground together.

"Run! Michelle's coming!"

But now wasn't the time to relax. A red light chased us from the sky! Her target was me, so I quickly pushed Adrian away, telling him to leave.

"Don't talk nonsense at a time like this!"

But Adrian wouldn't listen. He stood in front of me, took out his bow and nocked an "explosion" arrow, about to shoot at Michelle. But right then, something unexpected happened again...

Smoke suddenly rolled in from all directions, quickly surrounding Adrian and me. Strangely, it wasn't dust from the explosion or just forest mist.

It came fast and left fast! When the smoke cleared, we were still standing there. But Michelle, who'd been diving at us from the sky, had mysteriously vanished!

At that moment, everything around us became eerily quiet. We couldn't hear any sounds. Looking up at the sky, we couldn't see the white lights from the angel army anymore. It seemed like everyone else had disappeared from this world.

"What happened?"

We felt like we'd been cut off from the original world. Adrian hadn't fired his arrow yet. He stood there holding his bow, seeming scared by this weird scene. The situation filled us with a strange fear.

"Uh, it should be fine..."

Suddenly a message came to my ears. No, more like into my brain—it was Galadra's voice! After hearing what she said, I let out a big sigh of relief and sat down hard on the ground.

"It's the Cycle of Rebirth. The Cycle of Rebirth has finally come!"