Once the smoke dissipated, Roselle’s pulse hammered in her ears.

  Mystimona was sprawled on the ground, motionless. His purple aura had dimmed to nothing.

  A moment later, a triumphant cry rang through the air.

  "HAHA! I KNEW IT! THAT'S MY GIRL!" Kintovar exploded with excitement with a fist pumping into the sky.

  Haras clapped her hands wildly. “Roselle, you’re amazing! You really did it! You beat him!” She bounced so much that she nearly tripped over her own feet.

  Risebelle, standing with arms crossed didn’t cheer—but the way she exhaled and her shoulders subtly relaxed was proof to Roselle that she was at least satisfied.

  Roselle’s gaze remained locked on Mystimona’s unmoving body. Her fingers curled slightly. Something felt… off.

  The Headmaster suddenly shattered the celebrating crowd with her shout.

  "No. No, no, no, NO!"

  Her silver eyes blazed with fury. "Get up, Mystimona! Get UP! We CANNOT lose! Not to these—these good-for-nothing scientists!"

  Roselle flinched at the sheer venom in her tone.

  Then—

  The lingering dust whipped away instantly as an immense force radiated from Mystimona’s fallen body

  Then, he rose.

  Not by pushing himself up. Not by bracing against the ground.

  He simply… floated upward like a puppet being lifted by unseen strings. Slow. Unnatural. Effortless.

  The sheer absence of struggle shook everyone. Mystimona’s feet touched the ground again, but he stood like a titan that had merely stirred from slumber rather than a defeated man.

  He exhaled, and his eyes fixed on Roselle. “I see it now.”

  Roselle gripped her blade tighter. “See… what?”

  Mystimona tilted his head slightly. “The adventure you've walked. The trials you've endured. And the force that has truly brought you here." His face softened. "It’s been so long... I had forgotten what damage felt like."

  Mystimona’s fingers brushed over his bruised chest, the first true damage he had taken in what felt like an eternity. A small cut traced across his forearm. He let out a low chuckle.

  His gaze shifted from Roselle to Kintovar. “You’ve made an amazing thing here. This girl… she feels alive. As if she truly has a soul.”

  Kintovar grinned proudly. “That’s because she does.” She crossed her arms. “Sure, Haras and I crafted her—every piece, every function, every speck of magic that makes her who she is. But even we well, we even surprised ourselves.”

  Haras clasped her hands together. “She wasn’t just built, Mystimona. She was made to be. To grow.” She turned to Roselle and spoke giddy. “And look at her now! She’s fighting you! That’s proof of everything we poured into her!”

  Roselle looked between them—between the people who had created her and the man who had just acknowledged her existence as real.

  Mystimona’s glowing purple eyes lingered on Roselle for a long moment before he gave a slow nod.

  “I had a feeling.” His deep voice carried certainty. “A typical machine doesn’t fight like this. It wouldn’t be able learn, adapt or show signs of a struggle like you have.” His lips curved into a rare smile. “No, Roselle. You are alive.”

  Suddenly a voice shouted furiously, “WHERE DO YOU GET OFF MAKING THAT ASSUMPTION?!”

  It was the headmaster who held a pointed finger at Roselle. “That THING is soulless! Soulless! It is a mere construct, a failed abomination of magic and metal!”

  The ground beneath her feet cracked violently as her Psychic energy flared. “You would call it alive? YOU, Mystimona? The one who has always understood the depths of a mages power? The one who should know better?”

  Mystimona exhaled sharply through his nose,. He lifted his hand, and for a split second, a single crackling orb of destruction was locked onto the Headmaster’s chest.

  One word. That’s all it would take. A mere flick of the wrist, and she would be nothing but scattered particles.

  The thought barely lasted. She was a dying star, grasping for light that no longer belonged to her..

  Without so much as sparing her another glance, he turned his full attention back to Roselle.

  “You’ve fought well,” he said. Then, he turned to Kintovar with a strange look in his glowing eyes. There was no malice, only something akin to… regret.

  “ Kintovar. I now understand that your creation, this girl is something truly remarkable any yet, I will destroy her. I know I will regret this.”

  He shifted his attention back to Roselle. “Such an entertaining opponent… It’s such a shame for me to lose you...”

  Mystimona closed his eyes. “I’ll send you off as one would send a warrior into the afterlife—honorably.”

  The winds churned around him, carrying embers that burned white-hot. The earth trembled at his feet. Water came from his fingertips. All four elements surged together.

  Not separate. Not in turn. United.

  Roselle’s heart pounded.

  Mystimona exhaled deeply before turning his gaze to the Headmaster. “I offer you my condolences as well,” he said plainly. “Your mana extractor… it will not survive this.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The Headmaster’s body stiffened. Mystimona continued. “And from what I’ve gathered, neither will you.”

  Then—he raised his arms.

  The very fabric of the battlefield trembled.

  “Earth, Wind, Water, Fire… Unite, Expand—”

  Four elemental forces spiraled together in a volatile dance of destruction.

  Mystimona’s roar rang out:

  “Bring the end to my enemies—ELEMENTAL CATACLYSM!”

  The attack erupted.

  Towering streams converging energy intertwined as they surged forward in a cataclysmic onslaught.

  BOOOOOOOM!

  Upon impact—

  The ground shattered. A cyclone of wind erupted. Fire devoured all in its reach mercilessly. A tsunami followed that crashed down with unimaginable force.

  Roselle barely had a moment to brace before she was consumed.

  Kintovar’s eyes widened. The sheer force of the attack sent violent tremors through the battlefield, and a sickening realization struck her—it wasn’t just Roselle in danger.

  “MOVE!” she shouted.

  Haras, Risebelle, and the others bolted away from the blast zone, leaping and dashing with all the speed their bodies allowed. The sheer shockwave of the attack sent them skidding across the sand as they barely escaped the incoming devastation.

  But one person remained still.

  The Headmaster. Her molten-silver eyes were locked onto the cracking, crumbling shell of her mana extractor.

  A jagged fissure split down the center of the item. The stored energy within pulsed erratically—, ready to rupture at any moment.

  There was no one left she could think of who could save her. No trick left to play.

  The mana extractor let out a high-pitched screech.

  A cruel, bitter smile ghosted Headmaster Aimathema’s lips. She exhaled. “…So this is how it ends.”

  And then—

  BOOOOOOM!

  The mana extractor exploded.

  From where they were fighting, Gaiza, Aliana, Elena, and Arlysa saw the battlefield being consumed in an unfathomable elemental onslaught.

  Elena’s eyes widened in horror.

  “The Headmaster—!”

  Without hesitation, she bolted.

  “Elena—!” Gaiza called out, but the telepath was already off sprinting toward the raging cataclysm.

  Aliana exhaled sharply. A sensation returned to her limbs. The telepathic paralysis was gone.

  Turning to Gaiza, she snapped, “Move!”

  Gaiza flinched, then scrambled to follow as Aliana retreated.

  Meanwhile, Arlysa's fingers twitched. The process was complete. The link between her and Sylra had settled. She could feel it—a pulse of borrowed strength surging through her veins. It wasn’t much. Sylra had been drained nearly dry, but even in this depleted state, her magic recovery was astonishing.

  Her lips curled. ‘At this rate, in a few hours, I’ll be back at full strength sooner than anyone expects.’

  But therein lay the problem.

  Arlysa’s gaze flicked downward. Sylra was unconscious. Without intervention, she wouldn’t be consumed in the Cataclysm.

  “Tch—damn it,” Arlysa said while gritting her teeth. She summoned a tendril of shadow that wrapped around Sylra’s body. Carefully, Arlysa lifted her and started to sprint away from the devastation.

  ‘If I want to regain my power… I have to keep her alive.’

  The deafening blast rang across the battlefield that shook the very air. Smoke and dust billowed into the sky. The scent of scorched earth and raw magic suffocated the atmosphere.

  For about a minute, there was only silence.

  Then, a body spun wildly through the air. It slammed down into the sand near Kintovar’s group.

  The Headmaster had survived. Her body was bruised, battered and trembling. The only thing left on her was a tattered set of pink undergarments, barely clinging to her frame and a belt of crystals.

  She coughed with a broken wheeze escaping her lips as blood dripped from her mouth onto the scorched sand beneath her.

  Haras stared at the headmaster with widened eyes. “She’s still… alive?”

  The Headmaster’s breath hitched. She actually should have been dead. She should have been nothing but scattered ashes among the ruins of her ambitions.

  A voice slipped into her mind.

  "I undid the link."

  The Headmaster’s dazed eyes flickered.

  "Elena…?" she whispered through their telepathic bond.

  "I saved you," Elena replied.

  The Headmaster’s fingers twitched against the sand.

  "You… removed my link with the Mana Extractor?”

  "If I hadn’t, you would’ve been destroyed alongside the Mana Extractor. I…I couldn't let that happen."

  The Headmaster’s thoughts churned. But despite everything—despite the unforgivable insult of being saved against her will—

  She could not deny it.

  "You did well, Elena."

  It was the smallest, most reluctant praise imaginable, but Elena heard it, though she said nothing in response,.

  Kintovar, meanwhile, wasn’t even looking at them. Her focus was entirely elsewhere.

  "Roselle!" she called. No answer. No movement.

  Her brows furrowed. She lifted her sunglasses, tapping the side to access her lifeforce data.

  The system whirred to life.

  [System Message]

  Lifeforce Status: ERROR—DATA CORRUPTED.

  Kintovar’s stomach dropped.’ What?’

  She tapped the frame again and forced a recalibration.

  [System Message]

  Lifeforce Status: ERROR—UNREADABLE.

  Her hands tensed.

  The sunglasses had never failed her before. Never. Even when Roselle had taken damage in past battles, the data had always registered correctly.

  Roselle sank within the ocean. The water was cold. Not the cold of mere temperature—but something far worse.

  "No."

  A whisper.

  "No, no, no!"

  A vision erupted before her:

  —

  Risebelle stood her ground. "Come on, old man!" she snarled while breathing heavy. "You think we're done—"

  Mystimona’s hand snapped forward. A single devastating blast ripped through her chest. Her body was destroyed.

  No hesitation. No mercy.

  Haras screamed while lunging toward Kintovar. A jagged spear of energy impaled them both.

  Their bodies spasmed—then stilled.

  Next came a familiar tank. Runebelle floated peacefully inside, unaware. Blissfully unaware.

  Then—

  Shatter.

  Glass, liquid and Runebelle’s fragile body spilled out like a discarded toy.

  Roselle screamed.

  "STOP—!"

  The Headmaster’s smug, vile grin filled Roselle’s vision.

  "Come, Mystimona," she said smoothly. "We’re off to the city. We have scientists to kill."

  Mystimona gave her a sideways glance. "You are not my boss."

  The Headmaster's smirk didn't waver. "Of course not. But surely…" She tilted her head. "You’d be curious to see what their strongest minds have to offer?"

  A pause.

  Mystimona’s lips quirked upward. "Hah. You’re cunning. I’ll give you that."

  Then, he walked away with her.

  Roselle couldn’t breathe.

  The abyss swallowed her whole.

  No.

  Roselle’s fists clenched as the abyss squeezed around her.

  If I don’t get up…

  Her mind replayed the visions—Risebelle falling, Kintovar and Haras slaughtered, Runebelle’s fragile body spilling onto the ground.

  Mystimona walking away.

  The Headmaster smirking.

  The city burning.

  A cold, sterile voice rang through her mind.

  [System Alert: Lifeforce at 0%. Critical failure. Termination imminent.]

  Roselle’s teeth gritted.

  “I refuse.”

  The system message flickered.

  [Recalculating…]

  “I refuse to accept that.”

  Her heart barely thudded in her chest—but it was there. A spark. A whisper of something deeper than magic.

  Something more real than any system, any number, any calculated prediction.

  Her will.

  She pushed.

  [Lifeforce… 1%.]

  The abyss shuddered.

  [2%.]

  She curled her fingers into a fist.

  [5%.]

  She grit her teeth and kicked.

  [8%.]

  Her eyes snapped open.

  [10%.]

  A crackle of purple lightning burst through the abyss, splitting the darkness apart.

  Then—

  Roselle rose.

  Not struggling. Not gasping for breath. She ascended.

  Water curled around her body before shattering into droplets. Lightningsurged beneath her feet and formed solidified pads of electricity on the water’s surface. Step by step, she walked upon them.

  On the shore, Haras blinked rapidly and gripped Kintovar’s arm while pointing towards the rising Roselle. “What? What? What is it?!”

  Kintovar checked her sunglasses again. The data reading was clear.

  [Lifeforce: 10%]

  Her lips curled into a wild grin.

  “She’s alive.”