"Hehe~"

Fallen Pride's lips curled into a knowing, dangerous smile.

Leo, who caught her sword in his hand, forgot for a moment that he was still standing directly before her. Victory shimmered within reach, yet in that fleeting second—before he could escape—

BOOOMMMM!!!

A devastating shockwave exploded from his chest as Fallen Pride's fist struck with monstrous force, landing precisely under his rib cage.

The blast of pressure cracked the air like thunder, distorting the world in a flash of raw energy. Leo's eyes bulged wide as the breath was ripped violently from his lungs, blood spewing from his lips.

Cough, cough.

But it wasn't over. Fallen Pride's hands, wrapped in writhing crimson light, clenched even tighter.

She hammered her fist into his chest again and again, each strike machine-like in speed and power, targeting the same point with merciless precision. Her blows landed like a drumbeat of doom, and his entire body shook with each brutal impact. Every ounce of air was pounded from his lungs—his ribs rattling.

BOOOMMMM!!!

BOOOMMMM!!!

BOOOMMMM!!!

Before—

One final punch, heavier than all the rest, landed with a sickening, wet sound—something deep within him crushed and torn.

BOOOKKBB!

A second of silence. Her fist paused, embedded in his chest, feeling the shudder of his body's weight collapse onto her knuckles. She slowly pulled her hand back.

Thud!

Leo crumpled to his knees, the sword still in his grasp, his vision blurring. He struggled to breathe, fighting for a single gasp, but nothing moved inside his chest.

Why couldn't he breathe?!

His body seemed whole. Nothing felt broken, bones and flesh somehow intact, and yet—he couldn't draw a single breath.

As if invisible chains bound his chest and Air filled his lungs but refused to move... a stagnant, suffocating pressure that paralysed him completely.

"Diaphragm," Fallen Pride said with a cold tone, stepping closer. She reached to pull his sword from his chest, her face twisting in mild discomfort before breaking into a smirk as she watched him gasp uselessly for air.

"It's the muscle you need for your lungs to move," she explained, a note of almost scholarly pity in her voice.

"You really outdid yourself, Leo. You almost had me… literally, you were this close." She pinched her fingers together, mocking his near-victory.

"But instead of finishing me, you focused on the sword."

The faintest flicker of disappointment as she regarded him. "I don't understand. Why did you focus on my sword? It's just a weapon that channels my power. I could still move, still fight…" as she bent to reclaim her weapon.

But Leo's hand, as if guided by stubborn will or magic itself, moved on its own, pulling the sword away from her grasp, dragging it across the rubble-strewn ground.

She frowned, an unspoken question in her eyes, watching him fight to breathe. His attention was lost entirely to his own body, struggling with a sensation unlike any pain—an emptiness where breath should be, lungs frozen, chest unmoving.

It was a paralysis more absolute than broken bones or slashed flesh.

She reached again for the sword, but his grip slid the blade further from her, denying her even as he suffocated.

Her frown deepened... She lifted her boot and kicked his shoulder hard.

"ARH!"

He slid across the cracked ground, tumbling twice, but somehow, even in agony, his hand never loosened from her sword.

"You're so stubborn, you know that?" she said, her tone edged with irritation, striding toward him as the ground crackled beneath her feet.

But before she could reach him—

"You too, just like him. Stubborn—so stubborn that nobody could ever defeat you!!"

A second voice echoed down the ruined street, resounding off shattered walls and glass, resonating with power that made the very air vibrate.

Fallen Pride, just about to reclaim her sword, froze. Her eyes flicked up and widened, shock lighting her crimson irises—as a blinding green hue streaked toward her at impossible speed, an emerald comet tearing through the dust and shadows.

Before she could even summon a defence—

THUD!

The blow struck her with monstrous force. She was hurled through the air, smashing against the ground with enough power to shatter stone, then skidding across the street, gouging a deep scar into the asphalt. The impact echoed like thunder, trailing a line of cracked pavement all the way to the road's edge.

Leo, still on his knees, still fighting for breath, suddenly felt a flurry of white particles shimmering around his chest. The pressure at last relented... he gasped, exhaling the burning, stagnant air that had been trapped for agonising minutes.

"HUHHHHH!"

He blinked, the fog in his mind fading as his lungs filled, his chest rising and falling in rapid, desperate rhythm. Vision cleared, and with a trembling turn, he looked back—

"Gorgo?"

Leo muttered, disbelieving, as his gaze fixed on the figure before him.

She smirked....

Green hair cascaded down her back in shimmering waves. Her skin glowed with an unnatural, marble-smooth lustre, the scales flickering at her throat and wrists.

She wore a dress of shimmering emerald silk, the fabric so fine it clung to her curves and shifted with her every movement. The gown was slit high along both thighs, revealing long, sculpted legs that moved with the effortless grace of a huntress. Fine gold chains traced across her hips and shoulders.

Twin curved swords, elegant and sinuous, gleamed in her hands, their jade-green blades flickering with golden veins, as if alive with venom and charm.

A white cloth, soft as a cloud and edged with golden thread, was tied over her eyes, yet it only made her expression more alluring and mysterious.

"That's Essa… Medusa,"

She purred, her voice soft as silk and sharp as a fang.

****

A Few moments ago,

'Master… I need your mana,' Essa asked, her voice trembling but urgent, as she glanced at Leo. He was already walking into a nightmare.

'I told you… I cannot give it to you, and I told you to detonate yourself, right?' The voice echoing in her mind was cold and merciless, 'Do I have to repeat myself to you, Essa?'

Essa clenched her fist, 'B-But he is not letting me—' Her voice faltered, cracking at the edge of defiance and desperation.

'Just ignore him. He will understand there are some sacrifices needed for the greater good… Now go and detonate yourself before My Leo gets chopped into pieces by that bitch! Pride will not hesitate.'

Essa gritted her teeth. She clenched her fist tighter and glanced again at Leo, who was locked in brutal combat with Fallen Pride. It looked, for a heartbeat, like Leo was gaining the upper hand. But Essa knew the truth: the moment that woman understood what Leo was truly doing, she would turn the tables.

'What are you waiting for? Do it now—'

'FUCK NO!' Essa screamed back, her expression twisted in rage, 'I am not detonating myself! Is that clear, Master?! If you cannot help, please shut the fuck up!!!' She almost screamed aloud!

She clenched her fist again. For the first time, she felt the weight of her own defiance—a burden and a liberation. She had finally said those words. For so long, she'd been haunted by her Master's demands to end herself, to burn out her life for Leo again and again…

Was it that easy?

Hell no!

It was a nightmare, a curse she carried. She never knew when she would die or how the end would come. The edge of death haunted every moment, and these might be her final seconds.

For a second, silence. No answer from her Master. The silence echoed, cold and bottomless, until, '…Huh?'

Essa felt a sweat bead on her brow, as if she had broken some sacred rule, as if she had finally gone too far.

However,

'If that's what you have decided, then… go on. Take it.' The voice softened... not kind, but resigned!

Suddenly, Essa felt the bond ignite. A river of mana surged from her Master through the invisible tether, flooding her veins.

Her eyes flared with golden fire under the shadow of her torn hoodie. Her limbs trembled with the raw energy pouring into her... energy that lit every nerve and muscle, setting her body alight with power.

Inch by inch, she straightened, the air humming with magic as she looked up and saw Leo being punched—his body jolted, blood spattering the ruined stones.

"Forgive me, Sisters!" Essa whispered.

She gripped her rusted sword so tightly that...

Crack!

Its surface was cracked and breaking. From within those fractures, a pure, searing green energy bled out. For a heartbeat, she tensed, ready to charge—but she waited, the energy in her body burning, building up. Not yet… not enough… not yet…

She waited. She waited as the world seemed to hold its breath, until—

BOOM!

Her body exploded in a storm of green-golden light, a flash so bright it blinded everything. The ground shattered in a shockwave beneath her feet, dust blasting in every direction. The shredded remains of her hoodie scattered like falling leaves.

For an instant, all that remained was pure power, swirling around her form, as she kicked off... straight at Fallen Pride!

Simultaneously crushing the white rune stones in her hand, hurling their magic at Leo. Healing light wrapped around him, knitting torn flesh, sealing wounds.

"Gorgo?"

"That's Essa… Medusa!"

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