I didn’t know why, but sothing about her had completely changed.
The way she moved with her being swift, sharp, and precise—wasn’t like the woman I’d faced before. Every step she took carried weight, and her blows landed with force that seed far stronger than before. And that regeneration... it wasn’t just fast, it was terrifying. Flesh nding in an instant, wounds closing as if they’d never been inflicted.
It was like sothing inside her had broken—no, snapped apart.
"You seem... very different from before. It’s not like... you’re human anymore," I muttered, my voice low, almost swallowed by the tension in the air. My fingers twitched, pulling invisible lines of power. Strings shot out, hundreds of them, swaying and lashing like a storm of blades around her as I swept my hands in wide arcs.
And yet—she brushed them aside. Effortlessly.
No... so of the strings did connect. I could hear the wet, sickening squelches of flesh tearing. I saw the faint spray of blood against the air. But her face didn’t even flinch. It was like pain didn’t exist for her anymore. She didn’t care if her body was being torn apart. She didn’t care if she lived... or if she died.
"Even a wild beast still thinks of self-preservation," I sneered, lips curling into a sharp smirk.
She was strong, I had to give her that. But strength alone isn’t everything. She lacked precision and she lacked grace. Her movents were wild, uncontrolled, and unpredictable. That chaos gave her montum, but at the sa ti, it left her open. And unpredictability, no matter how sharp, couldn’t outweigh inevitability.
Because here, in this space I had already woven my strings into, there was no advantage she could claim. There was no escape.
There was no escape from death itself.
I was born from the power of our mother, Lilith. Her essence flowed in my veins as well as in my very being. And with that power, there was no one—no one—who could ever hope to defeat ... unless they too carried Mother’s blood.
But this woman? She was nothing like that. She wasn’t born from Lilith.
Which ant—
"This is the end," I whispered, my voice steady.
She stepped right where I wanted her to.
And then, with my hand curling into a tight fist, the countless strings hidden all around the space suddenly snapped to life. They rushed inward like a thousand blades, closing in on her from every direction, the air itself screaming as they cut through it.
"Now... die—"
"That’s enough."
A woman’s voice, calm yet commanding, cut through everything like a blade.
My strings—every single one of them—vanished in an instant. The trap I’d spun so carefully, gone as though it had never existed.
It was like my power itself had been erased.
How...?
"Shredica is a valuable asset to my plans, you see..."
The voice carried deeper now as a figure stepped into the bar, her presence washing over the room like a tide.
The mont my eyes landed on her, my blood surged, like fire racing through my veins.
That feeling... I knew it. I had felt it before—
With Leon.
"Fufufu... Is this what they an when they say your blood recognizes its own? When you et soone you’re related to, and your very veins stir at the sight?" She smiled slyly, her tone dripping with amusent.
"Y-You’re..."
"Veronica Eclair. That’s the na I was given, isn’t it? You’re the one who left in that place, right?" she said, smiling as though she already knew the answer.
My chest tightened.
Veronica.
This woman... she was one of the five parts of Lilith. Which made her... my sister. My younger sister.
"Veronica!" I shouted, a rush of emotion breaking out of . My arms spread wide as I lunged toward her, desperate to embrace her.
But she disappeared before I could touch her.
Her voice echoed around , almost playful.
"It seems you can’t contain your excitent, Elise Eclair. Or should I say... dear big sister?"
"Well, of course! I am your big sister!" I shouted back, giddy, almost trembling from the weight of it all.
I couldn’t hold back the emotions surging through . After all this ti, after searching endlessly—I finally found her.
"I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Finally... I finally found you!"
Her crimson eyes softened, but her lips still curved into that sly smile.
"I’m glad you feel that way. Truly, I am. But..." Her voice dropped lower and colder. "Do you really think this is the right ti for a happy reunion, dear sister?"
Before I could respond, sothing slamd into .
It wasn’t physical. It was worse.
A crushing weight bore down on , like invisible hands pushing against every inch of my body. My chest tightened, my knees buckle and the very air felt heavy as if it was turning to stone.
I looked up, struggling to breathe, and saw her hand stretched out toward .
"I’m sorry, but... could you co with for a mont?"
Her words were soft, almost kind.
And then, darkness swallowed whole.
***
Shredica’s POV
I woke with a start, a sharp ache burning in my back. My body felt heavy and sluggish.
Blinking, I realized I was lying on a bed, the ceiling above blurred in my vision. A dical knight was standing nearby, checking over with steady hands.
"W-Where... am I?" My voice cracked as I forced the words out.
"Ah, you’ve woken. Good. I’ll call Captain Laurel imdiately. Please wait here."
The knight hurried off, leaving sitting up slowly.
Why... was I here?
No... I rembered. I had been defeated.
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
I lost.
To Elise Eclair.
As the thought sank deeper, the door opened and Laurel stepped in, her usual composed presence filling the room.
"So, you’ve finally woken. That’s good. Do you feel anything unusual? Any pain?"
"Not that I can tell," I answered, shaking my head.
Laurel tilted her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. "It’s strange, though. The others told you sewed your arm back on yourself during the fight. Did you lie about being skillless?"
Her words froze .
I hadn’t lied. I was skillless. But... sewing my arm back? I didn’t rember doing anything like that. My mind was blank on the matter. And yet, when I glanced down at my arm—it was whole. Perfectly reattached. It shouldn’t even be there. It had been severed.
"...I don’t know anything about that," I muttered.
"Well, it seems you truly don’t," Laurel sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Either way, Vice Commander Veronica wants you to co with her. She intends to speak with Elise Eclair."
"...Why ?"
Laurel only shrugged. "No idea. She only said since you fought Elise, you’ve earned the privilege to know the truth. Like why their last nas are the sa."
Her words struck a nerve. That question had been gnawing at too.
Veronica and Elise.
There was sothing about them—an aura as well as a presence—that felt identical. And when I looked closely, they shared features too. Sa black hair. Sa red eyes. The resemblance was undeniable, though Veronica looked a little younger.
But it wasn’t just them.
There was soone else who carried that sa feeling.
Leon.
The thought wouldn’t leave .
Was there truly a connection between the three of them?
That was what I had to find out.
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