The System's holographic proje nodded in agreement with Risebelle's decision. "Very well, Risebelle. Let us proceed. But remember, focus on yer, el it as your strength, rather thaing it e you. This is how you will activate Project Zab Transformation. Yer be yreatest on, but if you allow it to e you, you will lose trol."

  Risebelle nodded. She closed her eyes and began to focus oense ahat had been burning withihis time, she would use it as a source of power, not as a destructive force.

  Her eyes burned with anger. She eled all the pent-up emotions withihe inteterness surged through her veins like a torrent of power that demanded release.

  "PROJECT ZAB!" Risebelle shouted loudly.

  In an instant, her body was enveloped in a bluish aura, crag with the iy of her emotions. Her petite frame began to grow, maturing into that of a teenager. Her hair turned a deep shade of blue. Her eyes matched the same pierg hue. She wore a small blue jacket that partially covered her chest, but was semi-open. A matg blue skirt flowed around her waist, radiating a poisonous energy. Crystal earrings in the shape of poison-blue crystals adorned her ears.

  In her hand, Risebelle wielded a medium-sized gun, its barrel was lit up with blue poison energy. By her side, a blue acidic swlowed with a malevolent light.

  [System Message]

  Lifeforce: 250%

  Magic Level: 390%

  Warning: High Magiergy - Risk of Magical Rupture Detected

  Risebelle, now in her Project ZAB form, stood transformed with newfound power. She looked towards the battlefield with fidence. “I won't let anyone hurt my sisters any longer!"

  Dark Whirlwind observed Risebelle's transformation with an analytical eye.

  "You've tapped into the power of the ‘System’, haven't you?" Dark Whirlwind remarked, but she then tilted her head, studying Risebelle with a critical eye. "Why didn't you tap into this power earlier? There must be a reason….perhaps your System didn’t want you to use this power..."

  Risebelle ched her fists, still feeling the surge of power c through her. "You don't uand anything about my systems, Dark Whirlwind," she retorted, her voice edged with frustration.

  Dark Whirlwind chuckled. "You may be right. But I do know something about artificial human lifeforms like myself. Pushing your systems too far have sequences."

  She paused, her gaze thoughtful. "Earlier, I noticed steam ing from your body. You were on the brink of overloading. There must be a bance, a risk involved in accessing this level of power."

  Risebelle's jaw tightened.

  Dark Whirlwind's delved into her own mind. Her sciousness navigated through the vast databanks of information stored within herself

  "Aha," she murmured softly. "Magical rupture. It's a phenomenon that occurs when magical energy surpasses the body's capacity to tain it. For artificial humans like yourself, it lead to catastrophic failures in our systems. Overloading spells disaster."

  She poiowards Risebelle. "Your transformation likely amplifies your power, but since I 't sense you, I would be just guessing. Though, it’s a double-edged swranting immense power but also posing a grave risk. Your 'System' likely restricts access to this power to prevent such ruptures and protect you. Am I wrong?"

  "How do you know all of this?" Risebelle trembled slightly with unease.

  Dark Whirlwind's lips curled into a knowing smile. "Knowledge is a power I possess, Risebelle. While you might wield the fury of transformation, I and the uanding of how to deal with you. There is little about your kind that escape my notice."

  Risebelle's anger fred at Dark Whirlwind's words. Without hesitation, she unched herself towards Dark Whirlwind, her blue energy crag with iy.

  Dark Whirlwind's bdes swirled around her in a deadly dance of darkness and light. Risebelle, now in her Project ZAB form, wasted no time a on the offensive. Dispying her newfound agility and power, swiftly moved her bde and dashed at Dark Whirlwind's side. Dark Whirlwied in time, using one of her bdes to block Risebelle's attack.

  Risebelle quickly ged her tactics. She moved behind Dark Whirlwind, catg her off guard. Dark Whirlwind swiftly turned around with her bde sshing through the air.

  Risebelle raised her hands and began to spin gracefully, creating a cye of sharp, water-imbued bdes around her.

  “Aqua bde Cye!”

  Risebelle unleashed the Aqua-Bde Cye and it expanded outward. The attack swirled fiercely and tore through the battlefield. Dark Whirlwind, caught off guard, found herself engulfed iorm of water bdes and corrosive mist. The attaflicted substantial damage on her, leaving her momentarily stunned.

  Dark Whirlwind summoned her Abyssal Cleave. With a sweeping motion, she jured a colossal bde formed from the fusion of dark and light energies. The bde cleaved through the battlefield, tearing through obstacles and oppos alike, leaviru in its wake. It created a devastating path of destru, slig through the Aqua-Bde Cye with ease. Dark Whirlwind used the momentum to escape, riding the wave of peed by her attack.

  Dark Whirlwind nded some distance away. She casted a challenging gaze towards Risebelle.

  “Bde Torrent!”

  Dark whirlwind unleashed a spiraling torrent of dark and light bdes. These bdes swirled around her in a relentless onsught, homing in on her foes with uny precision. Dark and light bdes streaked through the air. They closed in on Risebelle with incredible speed.

  Risebelle moved with incredible grace, dodging and weaving through the storm of bdes.

  Dark Whirlwind raised her arms high, gathering her energy into a single, colossal bde of pure, swirling energy. With a fierce, triumphant shout, she decred:

  “I have you now…Sword of Reing!"

  The massive bde crackled with dark and light energy. It was hurled towards Risebelle with a mighty swing. Upon impact, a cataclysmic explosion of dark and light energy erupted, unleashiation that left no doubt about the destructive force she possessed.

  Risebelle found herself caught in the midst of the devastating attack. At the very st sed, she tried to summon a protective barrier of water energy, f a shimmering, semi-transparent dome around herself.

  Risebelle ched her teeth, feeling the immense pressure a pressing against her makeshift shield. The magical barrier strained uhe overwhelming force but held firm, redug the damage she would have otherwise endured.

  Ihe protective co of water energy, Risebelle cried out in pain.

  [System Message]

  Lifeforce: 100%

  Risebelle's lifeforce had signifitly depleted as a result of withstanding Dark Whirlwind's devastating attack

  Dark Whirlwind's ughed. Her swords disappeared into thin air. Risebelle watched with curiosity.

  “I am wearing you down, but no, this won’t be enough. At this rate, you will prove to be more trouble than your actual work.”

  "Why would you disarm yourself?" Risebelle questioned.

  Dark Whirlwind grinned wickedly, "Sometimes, Risebelle, the absence of ons be more dangerous than their preseell me, Risebelle, what do you know about Extreme Magic?"

  Risebelle gred at Dark whirlwind. "Extreme Magic? It's... one of the most powerful forms a mage use. The sheer energy it requires decimate entire armies. But wait a minute," she paused with her eyes narrowing in suspi. "That's impossible. You wield swords. Aren't you a Swod or something?"

  A sinister smile spread across Dark Whirlwind's face. "Quite the opposite. You uimate the development of Magic. The bdes I wield are magic bdes, a fusion of darkness and light, hohrough the depths of are knowledge. And for this mistake, you're about to witness my Extreme Magic firsthand."

  Dark Whirlwind raised her arms, and the air around her began to ripple with an eerie energy.

  "There are three ways to deal with oppos in battle. You've already witnessed my Sword Mode, which is a relentless offehis, however, is my seethod."

  A swirling vortex of darkness enveloped the battlefield. Dark Whirlwind tinued with malice, " Extreme Magic: Shadow Tempest is all about trol, about manipution. Within this tempest, I sow fusion and disorientation, rendering my foes helpless.”

  “Shadow Bind”

  The shadows withiempest respoo Dark Whirlwind's and, they verged upon Risebelle. Their inky tendrils ed around her like serpents. Risebelle found herself ensnared. Her movements were restricted as the shadowy bindings which coiled around her.

  Risebelle was struggling to break free from the binding shadows that coiled around her, but it was no use. The darkightes grip on her, restrig her movements and sapping away at her energy reserves. Her skin glistened with sweat while struggling against the magical restraints that held her captive.

  Dark Whirlwind's eyes gleamed with sadistic delight. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned her bdes bato existence, and they began to whirl around Risebelle, f a deadly cye of light and darkness.

  Risebelle struggled against her shadowy restraints, but the overwhelming power of Dark Whirlwind's bitack left her vulnerable, uo evade the impending onsught. The cye of bdes closed in, threatening to rend her apart.

  Risebelle's quick thinking allowed her to jure a barrier of swirling water energy just in the nick of time. The bdes from Dark Whirlwind's cye struck the barrier with a series of thunderous impacts, causing sparks to fly. They cshed against the protective wall.

  Unlike in Dark Whirlwind’s sword mode, the bdes struly once before dissipating. They were uo break through Risebelle's watery defense. She took a moment to catch her breath within the sanctuary of her protective barrier.

  But Risebelle wasn't tent to stay on the defensive. A fiery blue aura burned in her eyes. She gathered her power, and a blue aura of energy erupted arouhe shadows that had ensnared her were bsted away from the sudden surge of power, allowing Risebelle to break free from Dark Whirlwind's hold.

  Risebelle's gun was trained squarely on Dark Whirlwind immediately. Her finger lightly rested origger; however, she was met with suprise when Dark Whirlwind responded by holding up a replica of Risebelle's own on.

  The eerie sight left Risebelle momentarily stunned. Her eyes were fixed on the identical firearm in Dark Whirlwind's hands.

  Breaking the silence, Dark Whirlwind posed a perplexing question, "Risebelle, what do you believe is the most important thing in this world?"

  Risebelle She hesitated for a moment before her guesses, "Is it love? Or maybe... freedom? No, that wouldn’t be yame, would it? I’ll say ‘Power.’"

  Dark Whirlwind chuckled softly at the attempts. "Iing guesses," she remarked, her gaze unwavering. "But no, it's not love or freedom."

  Before Risebelle could make anuess, Dark Whirlwind tinued, "The most important thing in this world is knowledge. Knowledge grants you power, and prants you trol over your destiny."

  Meanwhile, elsewhere otlefield, Kintovar was locked in her own struggle. She fought against a swarm of flying drones. She used her small guns to fire with automatic precision thanks to a new device she made called the ‘auter’. The battle she was in had taken a toll on her and she was breathing heavily.

  With each shot she fired, Kintovar cleared a path toward the se where Risebelle and Dark Whirlwind engaged in their battle.

  Kintovar's eyes darted toward the be dominating the battlefield. Her back-up trag device beeped urgently, firming what she already suspected—Risebelle was inside, engaged in a fierce struggle. She growled under her breath.

  “Ugh! I'm too te," Kintovar muttered while taking dow of the flying drones. “That is quite annoying.”

  Dark Whirlwind tinued her expnation, "Knowledge is the foundation upon which all power is built, Risebelle. It's the key to uanding the world, to mastering one's abilities, and to shaping one's destiny."

  Dark Whirlwind's fidence radiated as she tinued, "Knowledge is why I am the most powerful being in the world, Risebelle. Nobody rival me, not even—"

  Before she could finish her sentence, Risebelle interjected with a fiery retort, "That's a load of crap!"

  In a synized motion, both Risebelle and Dark Whirlwind simultaneously pulled their triggers.