Slyvia's breath hitched as the chilling presence behind her closed in. Every instinct screamed at her to move, but the betrayal—Harlan's betrayal—had paralyzed her. She could feel Ares' dark energy coiling in the air, his power suffocating, his deadly aura washing over her like a tidal wave.
The witches surrounding him emitted an eerie hum, their corpse-like bodies shrouded in tattered cloaks. Their hollow eyes glowed a sickly green, mouths twisted in unnatural grins as they whispered incantations. The very ground beneath her feet pulsed with their magic.
Slyvia knew she was done for.
Then, without warning, a blinding explosion of white-hot energy shattered through the darkness.
A guttural, ear-splitting scream erupted as the force sent the witches sprawling. A gust of power roared like a tempest, slamming into the cavern walls and shaking the ground beneath them. The air smelled of burning flesh, a scent so strong it made Slyvia gag.
For a moment, she thought she had been struck—until she felt a familiar warmth wrap around her.
Ava.
A surge of energy crackled in the air, raw and unchained. Flames—blue and white—danced wildly around the space, illuminating the battlefield in an otherworldly glow.
Slyvia turned her head slightly, her blind eyes searching for clarity in the chaos. She couldn't see what was happening, but she could feel it. The energy pulsed like a living entity, thick with unrestrained fury.
Harlan, frozen in place, could only stare in disbelief.
And Ares—Ares stood still, his deadly red eyes narrowing with something between rage and intrigue.
Ava's voice echoed through the cavern, her tone laced with something terrifying.
"Dont you dare touch her you traitor?" Her voice carried a depth of power that hadn't been there before. It was no longer the voice of a girl, but something ancient, something divine.
Harlan swallowed hard, his hands trembling. "Ava… how?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, the flames around her intensified. Her blue eyes glowed like miniature suns, her body suspended a few inches above the ground as raw magic surged through her veins. The air warped around her, crackling with unrelenting force.
Ares' witches lunged forward, their clawed hands reaching for her, but with a single flick of her wrist, Ava sent out a wave of energy. It tore through them like a scythe through dry ground, their decayed bodies exploding into dust before they even had the chance to scream.
Ares' expression darkened.
The Hybrid Lord took a step forward, his crimson eyes flashing with danger.
"I see now," he mused, voice deceptively calm. "You have no idea what you are, do you?"
Ava barely spared him a glance before launching herself at him with inhuman speed.
She moved like lightning, her form a blur of blue and white as she crashed into Ares with enough force to send him hurtling into the far wall. The impact cracked the stone, debris raining down as he grunted from the sheer power of her attack.
But Ares was no ordinary foe.
Before Ava could land another strike, he vanished—reappearing behind her in a flash.
Ava barely dodged in time, flipping mid-air as Ares' claws slashed past her face. The ground where she had been standing moments ago exploded, leaving a crater in its wake.
Slyvia, still blind, could only listen in shock. She had never felt power like this before—not even in the grimoires she studied.
The battle intensified.
Ares moved like a spirit, his speed unmatched, but Ava… Ava matched him. For every attack he threw, she countered with an even deadlier one. Magic crackled between them, their collisions sending shockwaves that shook the cavern.
Harlan staggered backward, covering his face from the heat. He had seen powerful magic before, but this? This was something else entirely.
Then, Ares made his move.
With an inhuman snarl, he extended his claws, dark energy coiling around them like tendrils of shadow. He slashed downward, sending a wave of black fire toward Ava.
Ava reacted instantly, summoning a barrier of blue flames that clashed against the dark fire, creating a massive explosion. The force knocked everyone back, sending even Ares skidding across the ground.
But Ava barely flinched.
She slowly straightened, her blue eyes now blazing.
Then she roared.
The sound wasn't human—it was a sound of power, a war cry that sent a tremor through the entire battlefield.
Suddenly, her body was engulfed in an inferno of celestial energy. Her hair floated wildly around her, golden markings glowing across her skin. The air around her distorted, as if the very fabric of reality was bending to her will.
Ares' eyes widened slightly.
"…Impossible."
Ava raised her hand.
And then, she unleashed.
A wave of divine fire erupted from her, consuming everything in its path. The flames twisted and coiled like living serpents, latching onto the remaining witches. Their screams pierced the air as they burned, their bodies disintegrating in seconds.
Ares barely managed to teleport away before the flames could reach him. He reappeared several feet away, breathing heavily, his once-pristine cloak now singed.
For the first time, Slyvia could feel the shift.
Ares—the Hybrid Lord himself—was wary.
"You…" he muttered, staring at Ava with something akin to wariness. "You are not meant to exist in this realm."
Ava's chest rose and fell, her gaze unyielding. "And yet, here I am."
Ares' lips curled into a smirk. "Interesting."
Then, in the blink of an eye, he disappeared.
The battle was over.
The witches were gone. Ares had fled.
Ava slowly lowered herself to the ground, the overwhelming magic fading from her body. As soon as her feet touched the stone, she stumbled, her breath ragged.
Slyvia, still stunned, reached out blindly. "Ava?"
Ava turned toward her, her voice barely above a whisper. "…I don't know what just happened."
Harlan, still frozen in place, could only whisper one thing:
"What are you?"
************
The arena was eerily silent now, save for the crackling embers of Ava's destruction. The lifeless bodies of students, victims of Abigail's merciless death spell, lay scattered across the wrecked school corridors. Some still wandered aimlessly, their souls detached from reality, but those trapped in the Dark Trench were fighting for their very existence. The air was thick with residual energy—dark magic, and… something divine.
Slyvia shivered, still trying to process what had just happened.
Ava had saved her.
Ava—the same girl who had always stood against her, the one person she could never trust—had just obliterated an entire battalion of Ares' minions with power so terrifying, so otherworldly, that even Ares himself had hesitated.
Slyvia, who had been blind to the chaos unfolding around her, had only heard the destruction. The wind that howled like a raging storm, the guttural cries of vampires reduced to ashes, the witches with corpse-like bodies shrieking as their dark magic was consumed by a divine force.
Ares had disappeared, but not in fear—no, he had left with purpose, knowing that this battle was far from over.
But Ava… Ava was still here.
Slyvia turned to her, shaken.
"Why?" she rasped, her voice raw. "Why did you help me?"
Ava blinked, as though waking from a trance. She glanced down at her trembling hands, still glowing faintly with the remnants of her unleashed power. "I don't know," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "I just… felt bad. It wasn't intentional. I didn't mean to destroy everything—I don't even know what came over me."
She sounded just as shocked as Slyvia felt.
Slyvia opened her mouth to speak, but a groan of pain pulled her attention elsewhere.
Harlan.
He had managed to push himself up, his face twisted in agony as he clutched his back. The force of Slyvia's spell had sent him crashing into a stone wall, and he was clearly struggling to breathe.
He coughed, his lips stained with blood. "Slyvia… please, just listen to me."
But Slyvia's rage reignited at the sound of his voice.
The betrayal was still too fresh, too deep.
She clenched her fists, her magic surging instinctively. "You used me," she spat, her voice dark with fury. "You led Ares right to us, and you dare ask me to listen?"
A violent gust of wind erupted from her fingertips, slamming into Harlan once more and pinning him against the wall.
He cried out in pain, his body convulsing.
"This is for betraying me," Slyvia hissed, her voice cold and merciless. "Never in your life speak to me again."
She released the spell, and Harlan crumpled to the ground, gasping.
Ava stepped forward then, her expression unreadable.
"What now?" she asked, her voice quieter. "This isn't over, Slyvia. You know that, right?"
Slyvia exhaled shakily.
No, it wasn't over. In fact, this was only the beginning.
She turned away from Harlan, wiping at the tears she hadn't even realized were falling. "I need to find the Phoenix Stone," she murmured. "And the Red Oak Tree. My friends—this whole school—everyone's lives depend on it."
Ava's gaze darkened. "Abigail is after your friends, isn't she?"
Slyvia nodded. "She's using the Dark Trench to trap their souls. If I don't stop her, they'll never come back."
Ava sighed, rubbing her temples. "I betrayed my brother tonight," she said after a pause. "And now I'm helping one of my brother's enemies. What's the worst that could happen?"
She offered a smirk, but there was something tired in her eyes.
Slyvia hesitated for only a second before stretching her hand forward.
Ava stared at it.
Then, without a word, she took it.
"Let's solve this mystery together," Ava said, her grip firm.
Slyvia felt a lump rise in her throat, her heart twisting with emotions too complex to name.
Her fingers tightened around Ava's.
"Yeah," she whispered. "We need to."
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to stay strong.
"I have to."
Because if she didn't…
Then Abigail would win.
And Slyvia couldn't—wouldn't—let that happen.