"Ugh…!"
After the light died down, groans from the remaining survivors of the blast resounded. The surviving Elders were sprawled out on the ground, covered in blood, their Qi wavering and their lightning armors dissipating.
Maria lifted her hands, preparing to finish them off, but Celaine beat her to it.
She swooped down and, with a single swing of her saber, decapitated the survivors with an indifferent expression.
"Tch. You didn't have to do that, you know?" Maria clicked her tongue, but a smile remained on her face.
"...It'd be annoying if this fight dragged on any longer."
"Well, whatever." Maria shrugged before waving her hand, collecting their Spatial Rings.
"I'm just glad that my techniques worked well in actual combat~"
"..."
Celaine wasn't sure what to say to that. There was no way Maria hadn't tested her techniques out before, it was impossible for them to be that refined otherwise.
"Do you think Mira saw that?" Maria suddenly asked.
"...I'm sure she's watching us right now." Celaine nodded and swept her gaze across the horizon. She couldn't immediately spot Mira's figure, but she did find a trail of blood in the distance.
Following that with her eyes, she eventually saw a fox woman sitting cross-legged on a pile of corpses in the middle of a destroyed forest, staring at them with her blood-red eyes. The fox gave a toothy grin and nodded.
'You should leave this place as soon as possible.' Celaine received a Voice Transmission from Mira, startling her. Before she knew it, Mira had already disappeared, leaving behind only a few more words.
'Let's meet later.'
"Hm? Celaine? Are you okay?" Maria called out, tapping Celaine on the shoulder, snapping the woman out of her thoughts.
"Ah… Yeah, I'm fine."
"Did Mira send you a message?"
"...!" Celaine's eyes widened, wondering how Maria knew, but the blonde just smiled.
"...I see… What'd she-actually, nevermind. It doesn't matter." Maria shook her head as she could somewhat guess what Mira said. It was probably along the lines of 'I'll see you later'.
"Ummm… I'm not sure what you're thinking, but she told us to leave-AH!" Celaine suddenly trembled, feeling one pair of ferocious eyes glaring at her and another that seemed to be inspecting her inside and out.
"HOW DARE YOU?! DIE!"
A thunderous roar came from Yanira's battlefield as Master Lei glared at Celaine and Maria, his eyes filled with killing intent. The sky turned dark overhead, with lightning gathering in a singular point before a clap of thunder resounded and shot a massive bolt of lightning at them.
The two were frozen in place, unable to move. The electricity in the air had essentially incapacitated them before the attack could even land.
However, just as the two were about to die, a hand reached out and snatched them.
"Woah, there, old man~ It's just a battle between kids. There's no need for us old folk to get involved~" Kaius's voice sounded, interrupting the ongoing battle between Yanira and the other Masters.
Master Lei's eyes were bloodshot as he directed his gaze to the throne in the center of all the destruction.
"YOU!"
"Alright, alright~ Sheesh~ No need to be so loud." Kaius chuckled playfully, dropping Maria and Celaine on the ground in front of him. His castle was starting to regenerate, taking on its original appearance. It wouldn't be long before it was back to normal.
Master Lei's eyes, alight with fury, remained locked on Kaius. "You interfere with the affairs of the Thunderstrike Pavilion," he bellowed, his voice echoing across the shattered landscape. "This is not a matter to be taken lightly!"
Kaius, unfazed, merely shrugged, his casual demeanor starkly contrasting with the situation's gravity. "Oh, come on now," he replied, his voice laced with amusement. "You were about to obliterate two young talents over a little scuffle. Where's the honor in that?"
Master Lei clenched his hands, electricity arcing between his fingers. "Honor? They decimated our forces, and you speak of honor?" he spat, his anger palpable.
Meanwhile, Maria and Celaine were released from Kaius's grasp and quickly regained their composure. Maria glanced at Celaine, a silent understanding passing between them.
They were screwed.
"Well, if you don't like it, how about you join them? Hm?" Kaius pointed his finger at Master Lei, who instinctively dodged, but nothing happened. He chuckled, looking at the man in amusement, "Anyways, I've had enough. You lot are boring. I'm going back to my castle now."
With a snap of his fingers, the atmospheric Qi around them created a vortex on top of the castle's remnants. Within seconds, it began to rebuild itself, sucking in all the remaining energy, turning it into a literal wasteland until it was completed.
"There! Now we don't have to deal with those guys anymore!" Kaius exclaimed as the castle shook, the Masters outside forgetting about their differences and raining down attacks.
However, they were too weak to damage it. Only those at the peak of the Divine Sea Realm could even think about scratching it, much less doing any damage. That abominable titan was an exception.
He directed his gaze at Maria, examining every inch of her body, inside and out. She tried to 'cover-up', but it was useless.
Fortunately, after a few moments, he smiled and shook his head. "You're certainly talented, but it seems we're not fated. Good luck with the little fox, though." He said, and Maria was sure he wasn't talking about Vulcan.
"As for you…" His eyes landed on Celaine, his smile widening. "I like you. You have a strong will, one solely devoted to the art of the saber. While I'm by no means an expert with blades, nor would I attempt to teach someone in the way of the Saber, I'm a master when it comes to willpower. With your talent, I have a feeling you could become quite terrifying if you studied under me for a bit.
So, what do you say?"
"..." Celaine fell silent, taking in everything.
Who was this man? Why does he want to teach me? Is he scheming something? What is this place? Where'd this castle come from? Why can't those guys outside get in?
What the hell is going on?
Such thoughts played in her mind as she stared back at the man. To be honest, he seemed oddly similar yet strangely different compared to an angry fox she knew. As if their dispositions were similar, but their personalities were the total opposite; one enjoyed life a lot more than the other.
'...I've already considered one of them half a teacher…' She wryly thought. 'What's one more?'
Still, she couldn't bring herself to say yes.
"...Why do you want to teach me?" Celaine cautiously asked, trying to determine what this man was planning.
"Hmmm~ I just thought it'd be fun? I mean, isn't the world more interesting when it's filled with strong people?"
"..."
"You may not know, but I've been stuck here for a while. Now that someone like you showed up at my front door, how could I not try my luck? My only request is that, when your training is over, you don't hole up in some cave somewhere and rot! I want you to go out there and shake the world a bit!"
"..."
'So, he's just crazy.' Celaine sighed, immediately understanding Kaius's character. How could she not? She had practically lived with a much eviler version of him for several years!
'Well, it's these types who are generally the best teachers, so…'
"Sure. If you'll have me, I'll gratefully accept your teachings, Sir." She bowed slightly, her expression remaining unchanged.
As for getting on her hands and knees and kowtowing… If he were the type of person who wanted or cared about such things, she wouldn't have accepted his proposition. She didn't need a Master, after all; her path was already chosen.
Just as she thought…
"Hahaha! Good! Things are finally about to get interesting!" Kaius suddenly appeared before Celaine, patting her shoulder. "This old man will gladly shape you into a terrifying powerhouse!"
Celaine merely nodded.
"Alright, now that the formalities are out of the way-" He switched his gaze to Maria, "It's about time for you to leave."
"Wait! What's going-"
"BEGON!" Kaius waved his hand and shouted, sending Maria out of his castle.
"...You didn't have to do that, you know?" Celaine gave him a weird stare but wasn't all that bothered by the disappearance of her friend.
"I know, but isn't this more interesting? Will she strut back into my abode to challenge me? Or will she come back with that monstrous fox? Whatever it is, I'm curious!"
'Haaa…' Celaine shook her head with a sigh. 'It seems he really is a crazy, bored old man.' However, a slight smile formed on her face, thinking about how much stronger she'd get after this.
'Will I finally be able to beat Mira?'
***
"What the-?!" Feeling someone appear right behind her, Mira reached for her scythe and swung before coming to a screeching halt, seeing who it was.
The blonde woman flinched at the appearance of the scythe, closing her eyes as her previous trauma resurfaced. Just as she was about to open her eyes, she heard Mira exclaim:
"Maria?!"
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