“You promised, didn't you, Rin?” Celia pronounced in a lonely and sad voice.

It was unknown how she reached this place, in fact, she herself didn't know where she was. However, there was no doubt the real Rin was standing right in front of her.

Tattered clothes, blood, a mask covering the face, and a vibe very much different from the one she knew, yet, Celia knew for certain this was the person she was searching for. This was her beloved friend.

“You said you'd remain by my side,” The orange-haired teens continued completely oblivious of the ruined city that was their surrounding. “You said you'd be there, even if I forgot everything!”

Celia looked ahead, her expression tearing apart while somehow managing not to cry. Her soft red eyes bore into the mask Rin was wearing and pierced through it to see a similar pair of red eyes and a nasty wicked smile.

“So why?”

Without wanting to, a single ray of tears ran down the girl's cheek. She extended her hands, trying to reach a place she knew she couldn't. She used her feet to advance, to run, yet when it finally appeared like Rin was within her grasp, everything just instantly disappeared.

Leaving only Celia in a white and devoid space.

“Please....” The girl wished, her face contorting into despair. “Don't leave me alone...”

Unfortunately, her only answer was the lonely sight of Rin's house, so far away from the real person.

◇

“Not bad.” Ariel pronounced with an impressed tone. “For a mob, you aren't bad at all.”

Galia city was no more but the eerie silence of the place was still destroyed by that charming yet terrifying voice. The putrid scent of death loamed and entered the nostril of the few survivors. The warm ray of sunlight being their only comfort.

Hope remained, however, as the sole perpetrator, the self-proclaimed vampire queen, was now being 'check-mated.

Thanks to the singularity of nature, long branches of vine, thin and thick alike, reminding of tentacle were now wrapped tightly, so as to not let go, against the slender skin and clothes of the scarlet maiden that was Ariel. In short, she was restrained from head to toe, with only her pretty face peeking out a little.

“Why do you still sound so carefree.” Aurora, being the owner of the singularity, asked with batted breath while increasing the pressure of her singularity.

“You're losing, you know?” Abel, standing beside his wife, finished as if asking for reaffirmation himself.

The vampire only let out a small chuckle at that. With a curious expression on her face, she asked in return, “I wanted to ask, are you underestimating me?”

As if on cue, a dark and unsettling pressure instantly bore down inside the entirety of the Atlas family. Especially, Abel, who was the strongest of them all, had a bead of sweat forming on his forehead.

Ariel smirked before shifting her two pupils to the left.

Followed by Abel, who turned his entire head in the same direction.

Indeed, the sudden pressure didn't come from the scarlet vampire. It came from elsewhere and from someone else.

“I've been sensing this unsettling presence for a while now,” Ariel continued, still with a smile. “I thought this was your trump card or something,” She returned her eyes in front of her to look at the surprised expression Abel was wearing. “But I guess I was wrong.”

The vampire closed her eyes to focus on the unknown, intriguing presence. ‘If I'm not wrong, that's where my little pet is, right now.’ She thought, having pinpointed a certain location.

“Heehee,” Then, again, she laughed. “Now my curiosity is picked!”

Eagerness instantly filled her entire being and added another layer of pressure to the Atlas Family. Her scarlet red Aura expanded along with her grin as she continued to laugh.

“Just how much more interesting can this world become!?”

With a terrifying facility, Ariel destroyed and break through the prison of vines.

In her mind, one new objective was born. To encounter the human named Rin.

◇

“Wow~” Ursa expressed, her smile widening. “This pressure is no joke.”

Next to her, the holographic woman remained silent. However, her expression was everything except calm. Her eyes usually closed were now opened with extreme curiosity and surprise.

“...”

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“There's no way...” Rena spoke with disbelief all over her face. “There's no way that's my sister, right?”

Struggling to maintain her singularity on Rin, her two hands trembled despite herself with a shudder flowing down her spine. She took one step backward but failed to go beyond that.

‘Rin...’ Winter thought, with only her weak state to thank for not saying the name out loud.

Right now, she was greatly tempted to immediately retire her upgrade from Rin. In fact, if not for the pressure immobilizing her, she would have already done so. At this point, though, she highly doubted it'd do anything well.

“...” Lia remained silent, cursing her powerlessness.

Her opinion of Rin did change slightly because of the ominous Aura, but, more than anything, if she was stronger, she knew things wouldn't have gone to this extreme.

Raven was still laid bare on the ground, unconscious. Unbeknownst to anyone thought, a small flying robot tended to her injuries.

“You...!” Tenma couldn't even utter a word anymore.

His eyes, who were crushed, were unable to witness the current situation, yet, for him, things couldn't have been more vivid. The ominous pressure coming from his current opponent was enough to make him see his own death.

“Haha!” Rin let out a single chuckle at everyone's reaction.

She just stood there, still wearing her mask that covered her smile. Nothing changed about her, physically at least, yet no one could see her with the same eyes anymore.

“Isn't this just wonderful?” She said with a reverberating voice.

She couldn't help but widen her grin from the myriad of possibilities now offered to her. ‘It's almost sad that I don't have a stronger opponent to test this power on.’ The girl thought arrogantly.

Then, she extended her hand.

“—!” Tenma shuddered and stumbled on the ground.

“Too bad, isn't it?” Rin mocked, a strange halo covering her hand. “Well,” She grinned.

The root of the sixteen years old girl's hair slowly turned white as her true Aura manifested. With a single wish from her mind, Rin got ahold of one essential component of reality, and just like that, sentenced Tenma's death,

“Bye bye!”

Her hand shone and instantly the dragon disappeared—

*Sigh*

—or so Rin had hoped.

“Mm?” The girl let out, sensing an abnormality.

Her extended hand lowered lightly as a quizzical look made its way on her face. Nothing had happened even though she was certain she did something. And more than that, a feeling of being extremely out of place suddenly assaulted her.

Her head reflexively turned around and looked at her surrounding for anything out of the ordinary. And sure enough, one thing caught her attention. At first glance, she was still inside the ruined city that was Talia, except, everything had stopped moving.

The flame that burned brightly here and there remained completely still, rubble got stuck in mid-air, monster and humans alike paused all of their movements. It was as though, someone had stopped the flow of time.

“Was I too lenient in handling your case?”

Rin's eyes frowned as an unknown voice entered her ears. ‘Too close’—was her first impression before she returned her gaze ahead. Yet again, she couldn't help but change her expression into a surprised one.

“From the event of three years ago, I guess I should have expected this.”

Her mouth opened inadvertently despite the lack of any words and her ‘nano-mask’ returned to particle behind her ears. The words spoken by the new presence didn't even reach her mind.

“...What are you?”

In front of her floated an unknown being—No perhaps unknown is inappropriate since mythologies do mention the name of the being's race. Fairy. A tiny existence the size of a hand, although adopting human appearance dispose of two pairs of transparent wings that moved ceaselessly. In this case, it was a female Fairy.

Frankly, speaking, despite Rin's current twisted mentality, she would have yelped back if she hadn't encountered a living dragon moment prior. Humans displaying inhuman feat may have existed in her world, but inhuman species certainly didn't. And one who speaks at that.

“You can't maintain this situation for very long, so” The Fairy spoke with confusing words. “Listen carefully, Rin.”

Still unable to break through her initial stupor, the black-haired girl frowned even more. Nevertheless, her inability to raise further questions permitted her to concentrate on the words directed at her.

“You can't use this power.”

Frowning even further and further down, Rin clenched her hand and raised her voice at the tiny being—She tried at least. Adding surprise to her current state, the girl found herself not being able to move.

Like her surrounding, the flow of time seemed to escape her.

“As it is right now, the world can't deal against a loose end of your level.”

The Fairy didn't seem to care, however, and continued to speak with a concerning tone. Rin glared at the being but was forced to listen helplessly in silence.

“That's why I will ask you to regain your sanity.”

For one last time, the girl's eyes widened slightly, witnessing the sad smile of the being before her.

She watched as the tiny hand approached and touched her cheek. She felt warmth flowing through her and light entering her eyes.

Security. That was the best word describing Rin's current feeling. Like a baby being held by its parent, the black-haired girl felt a deep sense of security from being held by the little being. As ironic as it may have appeared.

Light continued filling her vision and soon enveloped her whole body.

“Next time...” The Fairy's voice grew dimmer and slowly faded away.

“...I hope we won't be enemies.”

A few seconds later, all warmth left Rin's body and the flow of time returned to its rightful place.

*Cough*

Brought to her knees, Rin's face was forced to look down on the ground and coughed an unhealthy amount of blood almost instantly. Not only her knees but also her hand followed to bring the girl on all four.

“Wh-what was I...?” She asked herself between her fit of blood.

All of her previously ominous Aura had disappeared from around her body, her scarlet red eyes returned to their blue sky color and all her hair returned to black. More than that, the semblance of insanity she had left as though it was never there.

“—Huh?!” Tenma expressed, sensing the sudden and abnormal change in the atmosphere.

On cue, Rin's head looked at him almost reflexively. Her ‘nano-mask’ was off so her face was completely bared in the open. And because of that, the bizarre crack all over her face could now be clearly seen.

Just like the nameless girl she had fought previously, her time was sold out. Her body was now paying the price of breaking her limit. Appearing like a vase, Rin was on the verge of breaking.

Yet, still similar to the nameless girl, she continued to move. “Right...”

Following her will, the ‘nano-mask’ followed her will and covered her face once again. On unsteady and unstable feet she stood up for what appeared to be the last time, her eyes never leaving Tenma.

She let out a final breath and stated, “I need to kill you.”

With everyone still left in stupor at the incomprehensible situation, Rin dashed ahead.

The sound barrier was broken easily.

The girl stood in front of the dragon with a never-before-seen speed.

She clenched her hand.

The crack continued to spread on her body.

And, with all her might, she punched the humanoid monster with a power far beyond her capabilities.