“It won’t be long now. Your last hopes of defeating me have been turned into mere fragmented pieces, and now, you shall be judged by I, Abner, the Chosen one of light! “

  Abner's proclamation echoed through the clearing.

  "You're annoying," Risebelle stated bluntly while lowering her eyes. She turned her attention to Roselle. Her once-fierce violet eyes faded back to their original blue hue. Her sharp, matured features softened. Her face looked more childlike again. Her body even shrank slightly.

  Roselle was reverting. Risebelle placed a firm hand on Roselle’s shoulder.

  “System scan,” she muttered.

  A faint glow emitted from her fingertips as her internal system linked to Roselle’s:

  [System Message]

  Scanning…

  Status: Magical Rupture (Stage One Detected)

  Warning: Unstable magic output. Physical and magical degradation in progress. Risk of total system failure if pushed further.

  Risebelle’s face darkened. ‘Magical Rupture’. She knew what it was. She had experienced it herself before. Pushing too far. Straining beyond one’s limit. Magic rejecting its own wielder, breaking them down piece by piece.

  The difference? Risebelle had stopped before it was too late. ‘Should I tell her? Should I ask her to do it?’

  She knew what needed to be done to win. Taking out the beacon was the only shot at ending this for good.

  But at what cost?

  Risebelle didn’t know what she should tell Roselle, but she had to say something.

  Risebelle opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get a word out—

  “I know what you’re going to say,” Roselle interrupted weakly.

  Risebelle watched as Roselle forced herself to control her breathing. “I can’t revert yet,” Roselle said firmly.

  Risebelle narrowed her eyes. “It’s already starting.”

  “I know.”

  Risebelle clenched her fists. “Roselle, this isn’t just exhaustion—you know what happens when someone pushes past their limits? If you force it beyond stage 2 of Magical Rupture, I doubt it will just go away.”

  “I need this power,” Roselle countered. “I need it to take out Abner.”

  Risebelle inhaled sharply. Then she asked with a whisper, “Even if it means I lose you?”

  Roselle’s breath caught in her throat. For the first time ever, Risebelle’s usually sharp eyes softened to an uncertain look.

  Roselle wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t thought about it that way.

  Risebelle let out frustrated breath and shook her head. “What the hell am I…Forget I ever saw or said that.”

  Roselle blinked. Then, slowly, a small smile formed on her lips.

  Risebelle didn’t return it. Her face became serious. “If you’re really going to do this, then you have to follow my plan. Exactly. No hesitation, no mistakes.” She exhaled. “There’s no guarantee you’ll survive. Do you trust me?”

  Roselle didn’t even flinch. “I do.”

  Risebelle studied her for a second, then nodded. “Then let’s end this.”

  Abner stood tall, waiting with unwavering confidence for the girls to make their move. But the first thing he heard was—

  "Acid Rain!"

  A dark, swirling cloud materialized directly above the Luminous Beacon. The air around it grew dense with ominous energy before droplets of eerie rain began to fall.

  The moment the first drop struck the beacon, an unsettling hiss echoed through the battlefield.

  Abner’s entire body flinched as a searing sensation spread through him like wildfire. His eyes darted upward in horror while seeing his beacon itself corroded beneath the rain’s relentless assault.

  “This… this is no ordinary rain,” he muttered through clenched teeth. ”This technique—it's not just harming me… it's damaging the beacon itself!”

  His face twisted into frustration. “I have to finish them quickly!”

  Abner raised both hands and sent blinding light blasts forth towards the sisters with terrifying speed.

  Roselle and Risebelle weaved, narrowly evading the relentless beams as explosions erupted around them. Each blast left scorched craters where they once stood.

  Risebelle gritted her teeth while barely avoiding another strike. “Damn, he’s panicking now!”

  Roselle narrowed her eyes at their target despite her fatigue.

  The beacon was still dissolving under the relentless rain.

  "We can't let up, Roselle," Risebelle said. "We need to finish this before he has a chance to recover. Do it now!"

  Roselle nodded in agreement, and then shouted:

  “Wrath of the Thunderstorm!”

  Roselle directed the storm's fury towards Risebelle’s Acid Rain. The dark clouds above crackled with lightning, and bolts of electricity lashed out with pinpoint accuracy, striking the gleaming source in the sky.

  The once-golden radiance of the beacon flickered. It was now ensnared in a violent collision of elements with electricity supercharging the acidic rain, intensifying its destructive properties a hundredfold.

  A colossal bolt of thunder-infused acid struck the beacon dead center. The structure screamed.

  Abner’s eyes widened in sheer horror. “NO—IMPOSSIBLE!” he roared while reaching out desperately.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  A blinding detonation of violet lightning and acidic energy engulfed the sky, sending shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. The sheer force of the destruction silenced everything, drowning out even Abner’s screams.

  And then—

  Silence.

  The once-majestic radiance of Abner’s divine source was reduced to nothing.

  Ash and flickering remnants of golden light rained down like dying embers that vanished before they could touch the ground.

  Roselle lowered her arm while panting.

  The clearing was shrouded in darkness with the light force extinguished, leaving Abner disoriented. Abner gazed at Risebelle and Roselle. In that moment, they appeared as monstrous, otherworldly entities with red demonic eyes.

  His initial reaction was one of pure terror, but despite the overwhelming fear that had gripped him, the Elite mage managed to summon his inner strength and began to speak with a sense of authority and pride. "I am Abner, the Chosen One of light," he declared. "One of the four Elite Mages, honored by the headmaster himself. I founded the Affinity of Light on this very island, and I trained to reach the level of Extreme Class Magic, a tier above Greater and High-tier!"

  Abner went on with his voice raising, "I am the one who created the power of the Luminous Beacon, a source of lustrous energy that no one else could control other than myself. I was chosen by the goddess Exul herself!”

  Abner gathered his remaining energy. "It has come to this. A regular mage wouldn't even dare to attempt this. Even the Headmaster, a powerful mage in her own right, can only cast a few Extreme-tier magics in a single day. But I am Abner, the Chosen One of light, and I shall not falter to these abominations!"

  As Abner spoke, a surge of energy began to radiate from him. The clearing was once again bathed in intense radiance, pushing back the dark clouda that had enveloped it moments before. The glow from the Luminous Beacon seemed to pale in comparison to the brilliance that now emanated from Abner.

  He raised his hands and released the book he carried. His fingers formed symbols in the air. “I call upon the power of the heavens to deliver judgment upon my foes. Let thy celestial energies descend and purify all that stands before me!"

  Abner's incantation finished.

  "Heaven's Gate!" Abner’s shouted. A blinding blast of energy burst forth from him, forming into a colossal gateway of divine energy that loomed high above the battlefield.

  The colossal Heaven’s Gate had a radiant vortex of divine energy that swirled within its frame. The swirling mass within it crackled with streaks of white-hot energy that surged with enough force to consume everything in its path.

  The pull began.

  The ground beneath them trembled as the air itself was sucked toward the gateway, forming violent gusts that began to drag in everything—rocks, debris, the very essence of the battlefield. The ruined terrain quaked as smaller fragments of earth lifted off the ground, helplessly toward the gaping maw of divine energy.

  Risebelle felt her stomach drop. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me!” she snapped with both frustration and alarm.

  The pull of Heaven’s Gate intensified. Dust and debris spiraled upward, and even their feet began to slide across the trembling ground.

  Abner stood in the eye of the storm, floating high above in front of the gate with his arms outstretched.

  “This is the divine judgment of Exul herself,” he proclaimed. “There is no escaping it! Surrender to oblivion, and be… purified!”

  Roselle and Risebelle’s feet left the ground. They began floating towards the gate.

  Suddenly, a golden shockwave slammed into Roselle’s and Risebelle’s body, sending pain coursing through their limbs. Roselle gasped as another blast struck her side before she could position herself to attack. The third hit pierced straight through her, making her body convulse with searing agony.

  A sharp chime rang in her mind.

  [System Message]

  Life Force: 10% (Critical)

  Magic Reserves: 125% (Critical)

  Ribelle’s vision blurred.

  ‘I can’t move…’

  Risebelle gritted her teeth from the pain. “Roselle!” she shouted. “You gotta hit it! I can’t do anything if you don’t move!”

  But for Roselle, it felt like every breath took more energy than she had left.

  Risebelle’s eyes lowered. ‘Roselle’s body is failing.’

  She didn’t need to see her system readout to know it. The way Roselle barely reacted to the last blast, how her breathing had slowed—those attacks were lethally aimed for her. If she weren’t transformed into this ‘Project Mage’ form, she would’ve been destroyed already.

  Risebelle needed to find a way to make sure she kept fighting.

  ‘What can I do?’

  Her mind scrambled for answers, but instead, an odd memory surfaced—The first time she patted Roselle’s head.

  It had been very awkward for Risebelle. Roselle had frozen with her eyes wide and yet, in that moment, she had seemed relaxed.

  ‘Is that what she needs? Motivation?’

  Roselle was already pushing herself beyond her limits, but maybe—this would push her even further.

  ‘Worth a shot…’

  Risebelle pushed against the unrelenting force of Heaven’s Gate and reached out. She placed her hand firmly on Roselle’s head. “You idiot.”

  Roselle blinked. For a brief moment, the weight of everything—Abner, the rupturing magic, the battlefield—seemed to pause, and she looked at Risebelle, starry-eyed.

  “You’re overthinking again, Roselle,” Risebelle said quickly. “Just like the time we were trying to learn hacking magic, remember?”

  Roselle’s eyes shifted in confusion, but Risebelle didn’t give her time to dwell.

  “Stop looking for something new. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel right now. Use the attack you can do easily and put your full force into it. Trust yourself.”

  Roselle’s starry-eyed gaze slowly transformed into something more resolute. She nodded and focused in the air.

  Risebelle muttered under her breathe. “This is gonna be cutting it close.”

  Roselle drew on everything she had left—everything she was—and locked her focus into a single attack. This was it. No more hesitation.

  She wasn’t just trying to survive anymore. She wasn’t just fighting to keep going. She was fighting for something. Runebelle, who was believed dead at the hands of Abner, and Risebelle, her older sister.

  Her body crackled with raw energy. Her eyes glowed with a greenish electric intensity that hadn’t been there before. Risebelle’s words rang in her head like a constant hum—‘Focus on what you can do.’ And she knew exactly what that was.

  With a breath that felt like it came from the depths of her being, Roselle raised her arm high.

  “THUNDERCLAP!” she screamed.

  A deep rumble echoed through the air. The sky itself trembled in response to her command. The crackling energy in her hand exploded outward, and a fan of lightning expanded like a violent tidal wave. The arcs of electricity spun faster and faster by the minute.

  And then, with every ounce of her being, she bellowed the final call:

  “SUUUURRRRRGGEEE!!!!”

  A massive pulse of electric energy shot forward, sending jagged arcs of lightning spiraling outward like a fan of raw, untamed power. They sought their target with unerring accuracy, striking at Abner’s Heaven’s Gate with devastating precision.

  The first tendril of lightning slammed into the Gate’s golden light, and the air crackled violently. The massive surge of power slammed into Abner’s defenses, sending him reeling back from the gate. His hands trembled as he tried desperately to contain the oncoming storm.

  Abner’s eyes widened in shock. “What is this…?” he gasped.

  “Aqua Whirlwind!” Risebelle rang out through the storm like a battle cry.

  She summoned a mighty whirlwind of water, sharp as blades through the air which circled violently around Abner’s Heaven’s Gate. Water slashed and sliced, cutting through the very atmosphere, surrounding him in a vortex of crushing power.

  Abner staggered back and raised his hands in futile defense. “Impossible!” he shouted, but the more he struggled, the more the storm tightened around him. His body was sluggish.

  Risebelle smirked. “Your magic level dropped significantly after your little toy beacon was destroyed and after casting that spell. Looks like you’re the one denying the possibilities now.”

  Roselle felt the surge of energy in the air. It was the perfect moment. She raised her hand again, focusing on the water of Risebelle's whirlwind.

  “Conduct it,” she whispered to herself. She let her magic thread through the water like lightning through a storm, and with a mighty thrust of will, she connected the electric surge with Risebelle’s Aqua Whirlwind.

  The sky above them split with an earsplitting crack, and the powerful electrical charge flooded into the whirling storm. The arcs of lightning coursed through the watery vortex, expanding outward in all directions. Abner’s Heaven’s Gate groaned under the pressure.

  “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!” Abner screamed.

  A massive explosion of energy erupted outward, sending Abner flying down to the ground with his gate now shattered into a thousand pieces.For a brief moment Roselle and Risebelle shared a glance and then they high-fived in the air. “We did it,” Roselle whispered with a smile.

  But the celebration was short-lived. With the destruction of the Heaven’s Gate, they were no longer tethered in the air. There was no more magic pulling them upwards. They both quickly realized:

  They were falling.

  Project Mage