The cool breeze caresses the lake and I tighten my grip around my instrument as my eyes narrow onto Selena.

I’m not an idiot, I know, even without accounting for that Tobias guy, that I cannot win against both Silas, and Selena FullCastle, especially if the dean has no intention to help.

‘Still, I’d rather die than to bow my head like this.’

That’s how I’ve always lived, and that’s why I have this scar.

Responding to my hostility, Selena unsheathes her instruments, and crosses them in front of her with a practiced grace.

I hear Orion’s anxious voice resound near her, agitated. “Selena!” He shouts.

“Relax” Silas reassures him. “Despite how she looks, my sister is quite… reasonable.”

‘If I can’t win, then I’ll at least-’

Before I can even finish my thought, Selena swings both instruments, and my head is severed.

Imperceptibly, the corner of her mouth curves upward. “Even I can fall prey to your illusions… fascinating.”

In the next instant, ten of me surround her, all with a violin bow in hand, ready to slash through her skin. She swings the black sharpsong once, a shining arc of darkness slicing through all ten heads, yet still, I do not perish, because none of them were the real me.

Materializing from thin air, I appear below her, my bow pointed at the base of her jaw. Still, Selena is unfazed, and with a speed that defies reason, she kicks me away, her foot slamming into my chest.

I tumble away from the impact, and take a second to regain my breath. “The third stage sure is different!!”

Again, I activate my ability, but Selena, unimpressed, raises both sharpsongs. Her voice is soft but deadly. “Thousand-Edge Annihilation.”

Instantly, everything around her becomes a death zone. I’m not even within her reach, but her strikes threaten to hit me from every angle. Evading countless times, I manage to inch closer, but it’s not enough. A single misstep costs me dearly; one strike tears into my left arm, nearly rendering it unusable. The only reason it’s still attached is because I instinctually twisted my body at the last moment.

I pant heavily as I leap backward, hoping to gain distance, but my hope at a moment of respite is quickly shattered. Matching me, the death zone follows, and the sphere of slashes around her expands. It envelops me faster than I can blink, and I feel submerged, drowned in an ocean of slashes with no openings. This might have spelled despair for anyone else, but not me. I’m not out of options yet.

My concentration is as high as it could be, and still evading the attacks, I bow the strings secured to my forearm.

‘Yes… an ocean would be nice.’

A soft song courses through the air. “...Illusory realm: Void of the deep!”

As if through teleportation, Selena and I are thrown into the endless depth of the sea, in total darkness. She is aware that this is but an illusion, and I know won’t be able to keep her in it for long. But still, because her mind, even if for just a moment, believes that she is under water, her attacks slow down. Knowing that my abilities have an effect on her fills me with fervor, and I seize the opportunity to rush her as her attacks slow down.

When I’m upon her, the fight turns close quarter. Her skill with the sharpsong, against mine with the violin bow. We clash again and again, sending sparks flying throughout the darkness of the sea I’ve created. I’m certain that her field of view, if not completely blocked, is at least narrowed, and yet she is outmatching me with close to no difficulty.

‘Damn… she’s good…!!’

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

Selena whispers a few words amidst our confrontation. “Truly splendid… but that’s quite enough Maestro Lauren Flake.”

A distant voice breaks through the darkness. “Sister, remember not to kill her.”

Selena’s eyebrow twitches with frustration. Then, in a way I can’t quite track, slipping past my defense, the sharpsong as blue as the sky approaches me at a frightening speed, and I have no choice but to abandon the offensive to block it. I’ve already planned my next counterattack, but unexpectedly, the blow is so heavy that I am instead sent crashing into the ice, a small incision on my stomach.

I look down at the wound.

“I’m sure I parried that attack…but oh well… no time to figure it out!’

Before I can stand up, however, the tip of her instrument is already at my throat. “I hope you won’t make another foolish decision.” She says, calmly

It seems she has yet to understand that intimidation tactics will not work on me. Being faced with imminent death, I grin. “Sorry to disappoint you…” I then channel pureflow to my arms to push myself away and simultaneously prepare my next counter-attack.

“Illusory rea-”

Much faster than I can gain distance, the tip of her sharpsong comes into contact with my throat, and I completely lose control of my body.

I go limp, all of my strength waning.

Again, the dean’s voice resonates, hypocritical; If he really cared, he’d help. “Selena!! What did you do!?!” he shouts.

Selena is already walking away from me when his outcry reaches her ears. With grace, she sheathes her instrument, and heads for the portal. Her stride is so calm and unhurried that you’d never think she was just fighting.

“Calm yourself. I’ve simply cut the connection between her brain and the rest of her body. It would have killed her if she was an ordinary person, but she’ll have recovered in a few days.”

Does she really think that’s enough to stop me?

‘I’m not nearly done, Selena FullCastle…!!’

Slowly, awkwardly, my limbs move, pushing me upright. They may have been disconnected from my brain, but still, they move.

Selena stops in her tracks, a deliberate turn of her head. “...Pureflow puppetry.”

Silas whistles, clapping his hands. “Impressive! That’s advanced, even for the third stage. What an instructor you have, Orion!”

Silas’ praise does not make me happy in the slightest. I’d curse him out if I had strength to spare, but I do not have that luxury unfortunately.

I place the violin bow atop the strings on my forearm, and slowly play a song. Then, with pureflow, I force my vocal cords to vibrate, and I move every muscle of my jaw manually. My speech is broken, and difficult to understand, but I’m sure the meaning is well conveyed. “I….llu…so..ry… rea..lm…Cham…ber…of…stars!”

The scene shifts to outer space, stars blooming into view. Selena finds herself short of breath, and she stumbles. No matter how mighty she is, even she’d need a second to acclimate if she could no longer tell up from down, nor right from left.

Pureflow puppetry, just as Silas noted, is an extremely advanced skill that I have not yet fully mastered. Despite its difficulty, and enormous flow consumption, however, its uses are limited. Hence, this is an undesirable and unpopular technique for many [enlightened].

‘On the surface at least…!’

Taking advantage of Selena’s moment of disorientation, I gather up every last drop of flow, and with a flick of my wrist, I throw my bow toward her, aimed straight for her heart.

She steadies herself quickly, too quickly honestly, that monster. Then, she pierces through my bow with surgical precision, severing it in half. Unfortunately for her though, it dissolves into nothingness. She understands rapidly that the real throw could be coming from anywhere. She hastily scans her surroundings, and for the first time, her expression seems to harden. She frowns, and her lips part. “Thousan-”

“T…oo…la…te!!”

Selena whips her head toward me, only to understand why her sharpsong refuses to move.

Where the bow had been cut, I appear, her instrument piercing through my chest. I had planned to willingly take this attack from the start. Most wrongly believe that pureflow can only enhance or control skeletal muscle, muscle attached to bone, but that is far from the truth. Pureflow can command all muscles.

‘Didn’t see that coming did you…!!’

In terms of sheer skill, battle IQ, pureflow mastery, and [melody] proficiency, Selena has me beat. There is one thing I surpass her in, however… and that is madness. Making her believe she had slashed through an illusion, I used my own instrument as bait to immobilize her, at the cost of a hole through my chest. That might sound suicidal, but it is in fact a calculated risk. Using pureflow puppetry, I force my heart to keep beating, and I command my blood vessels to return to their original positions, stalling my death.

With both hands, I grab her wrist, madness flickering in my eyes.

Selena’s cold gaze lands on me and she raises her other instrument. “Interesting, but unfortunately for you, I am a dual wielder.”

My loss seems imminent, but before she can bring it down, the bow which I had thrown earlier whistles through the air. She must be wondering how that’s possible, but she has no time to dwell on it. I know she hears it, but I also know that she cannot see it.

I notice her preparing some sort of attack, but she’s once again far too late. In the next moment, the bow pierces through me, and it pierces through her without giving her the chance to react. The initial throw aimed for her heart strikes true, and a small hole appears on her chest, dying her suit of pure white crimson.

The illusory realm comes undone, and I slide off the blade of her sharpsong. I hit the ground with a thud, blood leaking from my chest.

Despite my wound, I grin as a patch of blood spreads around the puncture on Selena’s chest, mirroring my own injury.

Disregarding the gaping hole, she looks down at me with indifference. “That isn’t nearly enough to kill me, I’m sure you’re aware.”

Using the last of my strength, I force myself to speak, a smirk on my lips. “Fi…gures…Still.. I…got..you!”

‘That’s a draw in my book…not my fault she’s a monster!’

A glint of acknowledgment glimmers in her eyes, and Selena reciprocates my grin. “Indeed…I’ll need to revise my evaluation of you…”

The last of my energy dries out, and the last thing I hear is Silas’ slithery voice. “I told you to be careful sister….” He lets out an exasperated sigh. “Tobias, fetch Kayn. Have him heal this woman. She cannot die no matter what, understood?”

“Yes, my Lord.” Tobias replies with a nod.

Not even having the strength to grit my teeth, I faint.