The struggle between technology and cosmic energy continued. With a triumphant grin, Solene directed the miniature planet toward Kintovar. The swirling miniature planet, her celestial orb was about to overwhelm the Bg-356, Dr.Kintovars weapon.

  Kintovar gritted her and poured every ounce of power into her weapons beam—but it wasn’t enough.

  The miniature planet crashed into her like an unstoppable meteor and once it struck, it engulfed the battlefield in an earth-shattering explosion of light which tore through the clearing and sending debris flying in all directions.

  “Dr. KINTOVAR!” Becky’s panicked scream rang through the smoke.

  “Dr. K-Kintovar!” Sybil’s eyes were wide with horror.

  When the dust slowly settled, the ruins of Kintovar’s BG-356 came into view. The once-mighty weapon was reduced to twisted metal and fading embers with its core exposed.

  Yet, standing amidst the wreckage—her lab coat slightly singed, her sunglasses crooked and a few bruises marking her skin was Kintovar herself.

  "Ohohoho!" Kintovar let out while dusting herself off with an air of amusement. “Well now, I definitely can’t take too many of those!”

  She casually tossed the broken weapon aside. She then adjusted her glasses, flashing Solene an almost taunting smirk. “Looks like my main weapon is out…for now.”

  Kintovar lifted her pink headphones over her ears. Then, she retrieved small devices from her utility belt and tossed them into the air. The devices hovered momentarily before slowly descending.

  Solene watched with curiosity. In that split second, Kintovar seized the opportunity to withdraw two small guns she kept in a holster on her utility belt. From them, she unleashed a rapid barrage of magic bullets towards Solene who quickly raised her cosmic barrier to shield herself.

  Kintovar dropped one of the guns she had been firing and activated an energy hook that extended from the other weapon which wrapped around one of the hovering devices in the air. Kintovar launched the device downward at Solene's barrier.

  The moment the device made contact with the barrier, a blinding explosion of magical energy erupted. Trees were uprooted, and the very ground seemed to quake under the sheer power of the explosion.

  For a brief moment, Solene’s barrier held up, but then, with an ear-shattering rupture, the barrier shattered into fragments.

  Solene was sent hurtling backward. She crashed through the forest, leaving a trail of devastation in her wake.

  Kintovar watched as Solene's body disappeared into the distance and blew a breath from her lips with a cocky grin.

  “The BG-356 was my main weapon, sure…” she said while retracting the energy hook into her small gun with a mechanical click. Then, with a sharp, toothy smirk, she flipped the gun in her hand and holstered it back onto her belt. “But that by no means is the only weapon in my arsenal that I can use to take you down.”

  Becky let out an exhilarated laugh. “Damn, Doc! That was sick!” she shouted. “I mean, the timing? The explosion? The badass execution?! That was some grade-A shit!”

  Sybil simply nodded quietly.

  Kintovar tilted her head and placed a hand on her hip. “Glad to see at least someone here appreciates fine craftsmanship.”

  But before she could say anything else, A low rumble echoed from the distance.Leaves rustled violently. Birds scattered. And then, a golden streak shot through the battlefield.

  Solene returned from the forest. Her light half of her body was dirtied. She brushed off the debris from her body with irritation.

  “...A fluke,” she muttered. Her gaze locked onto Kintovar. “That’s all that was. There’s no way your technology could damage me.”

  Then, her cosmic energy began to surge and the celestial orbs started to rotate in an unpredictable pattern. “I hope you’re not getting ahead of yourself, scientist.”

  "That's checkmate," Kintovar declared with a sly smile. "You made the wrong move by coming back from that direction."

  Solene's raised an eyebrow in confusion and frustration. ‘What nonsense is she talking about?’ Solene thought, ’No. It doesn’t matter….!’

  Solene spoke with finality. “You can’t bluff your way through this one, Kintovar.”

  She raised a single, glowing hand toward the sky.

  “There is a checkmate here, though… and your name is on it.”

  The instant Solene raised her hand, the battlefield warped.

  Her celestial orbs drilled into the ground. The sky above collapsed and reassembled. Stars that should have been unreachable now hovered just above the treetops. A massive, pale moon loomed unnaturally close, which nearly blinded the battlefield with it’s light.

  Becky’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh, hell no—”

  The stars aligned with the moon in a pattern only Solene understood. “Begone with the stars in the sky!”

  “EXTREME MAGIC: STELLAR CONSTELLATION!”

  An enormous constellation-shaped surge of energy carved its way across the battlefield.

  Becky’s instincts screamed at her.

  “SYBIL, RUN!!” she shouted while grabbing her friend’s wrist.

  But it was too late. The attack was coming in too fast. They would be caught within it as well.

  Kintovar’s teeth clenched. With a flick of her wrist, two small storage devices snapped open that released two glowing spheres of artificial energy.

  The spheres rolled forward, unfurling into rapidly expanding containment fields which hey Becky and Sybil instantly. The containment fields ejected them from the battlefield at high speed, safely out of range but popped like bubbles the moment they hit solid ground.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Becky and Sybil tumbled across the earth afterwards.

  Becky choked on her own breath. Her eyes widened.

  “Dr.KINTOVAR!!!!”

  Kintovar stood dead center of the attack. Her pink headphones were buzzing from the sheer amount of magical interference.

  A cataclysmic burst of stellar force consumed her .Kintovar let out a growl which warped into a full, agonized scream as her silhouette vanished into the white void.

  Everything was white after the attack. Once the light faded, the battlefield was no more. The very earth had been scorched away, leaving only a lifeless chasm stretching for meters in every direction.

  And at the very center of that crater—

  Nothing.

  No Kintovar. No body. Just— A single, lone object: Her sunglasses.

  Solene’s chest rose and fell with exhaustion. Her once pristine outfit was tattered, but celestial energy still crackled faintly at her fingertips. "I can't believe… I had to go this far for the likes of Kintovar."

  Her silver eyes lingered on the sunglasses. A faint breeze shifted the cracked lenses. Solene sighed. "All things considered…"

  She closed her eyes briefly. "I finally stopped that deranged scientist."

  Then—

  Footsteps.

  Hurried. Uneven.

  Solene turned her head just as two figures emerged from the tree line: Becky and Sybil.

  Their eyes widened as they took in the devastation before them.Becky’s breath caught in her throat. Sybil’s legs locked beneath her. Her lips trembled out, “No way…”

  Becky took a step forward. Then another.

  Then—

  She bolted, straight toward the crater’s edge. She went toward the only thing left of Kintovar.

  Becky staggered to a stop upon reaching the sunglasses. She knelt down to the them, but she couldn’t bring herself to pick them up.

  Her throat tightened.

  Behind her, Solene rang out, calm yet cold. "This… is what happens when you overestimate your abilities as a scientist."

  Becky’s breath hitched.

  Solene crossed her arms. "I’ve seen all types, you know, Scientists, engineers, thinkers. Each and every one of them convinced themselves that they could stand against magic."

  She turned back toward Becky and Sybil.

  "Creating their little machines. Their ‘Artificial Magic.’ Trying to match what they could never understand."

  Her lips curled.

  "And they all died."

  Becky’s breathing grew uneven.

  Solene walked forward, stepping lightly over the broken ground.

  "I’ll give her this much—"

  She gestured toward the sunglasses with a small flick of her wrist.

  "Kintovar was the closest thing we ever had to a real threat, but in the end, she followed the same path as all the others."

  Her gaze sharpened. "She may have accounted for my attacks. She may have even reduced the damage, but it doesn’t matter."

  She looked down at Becky, whose head remained bowed.

  "Because Extreme Magic exists on a far higher plane than she could ever hope to reach with her so-called ‘Artificial Magic.’"

  Solene’s mind drifted to the glorious vision of her inevitable reward. In her mind’s eye, she stood tall in the grand chamber of the Headmaster’s Office with Kintovar’s sunglasses resting in her palm.

  The Headmaster, with her graceful silver hair cascading down her back sat behind her desk. She leaned forward, folding her hands atop her desk.

  "I knew it would be you, Solene."

  Solene’s heart skipped a beat.

  The Headmaster’s gaze softened with something that sent a rush of warmth through Solene’s chest.

  "Yes… Solene…"

  She rose from her chair, approaching with slow steps.

  "You have done more than prove yourself."

  The Headmaster reached out and placed a single, delicate hand upon Solene’s shoulder.

  "I am promoting you to Elite Mage."

  Solene’s breath hitched.

  But then—

  "And from now on…"

  The Headmaster’s lips curled into smile. "Why don’t you call me ‘Sister’ instead of Headmaster?"

  Solene’s entire body heated up.

  Her ears burned. Her cheeks tinged red and before she could stop herself, A grin split her face.

  "S-Sister…?"

  The Headmaster nodded approvingly.

  Solene clutched the sunglasses tightly and tried to suppress the giddy warmth overtaking her.

  Then—

  "Hey, Solene. You might wanna see this."

  Solene snapped back to reality. She blinked and cleared the fantasy fog from her brain.

  Becky stood there, holding Kintovar’s sunglasses with a grin."Something’s off about these."

  She turned the sunglasses toward Solene. What Solene saw made her stomach drop. Her satisfaction turned to confusion.

  Her eyes locked onto a small slip of paper tucked beneath the bridge of Kintovar’s sunglasses. A slow, sinking dread crept through her chest. Her fingers twitched and began to ask herself: How did these sunglasses survive and that paper?

  Of all things…

  And then, Reality sank in.

  A voice cut through the air.

  "I told you it was checkmate."

  Solene froze. She knew that voice all too well. Slowly, she turned.

  And there she was. Dr. Kintovar, without her sunglasses. She was holding her broken Bg-356.

  The weapon was still smoking with it’s energy cores exposed and yet, Kintovar held it with certainty.

  "D-Don’t be ridiculous!" Solene snapped, though she sounded afraid despite her best efforts. "That thing is broken!"

  Kintovar’s lips curled.

  Oh, that smile… That damn smile. It made Solene flinch.

  Kintovar lifted the Bg-356 just slightly.

  "Would you like to test that theory of yours?"

  Kintovar tilted her head. "Allow me to show you something… before your demise."

  Her fingers danced over the battered frame of the Bg-356, pressing a sequence of buttons. Then, she spoke."BG-356—Transform."

  The weapon responded. The exposed energy cores shifted, pulling together. The barrel extended outward with the broken edges reconstructing themselves. Segments of armor snapped into place, forming a new, monstrous frame.

  What had once been a damaged firearm was now built Bigger. Heavier. Deadlier. It radiated power—not just mechanical, but also magical.

  "No."

  Solene took a step back.

  She had to—

  Yes!

  She had to reverse the transformation with her time magic!

  Her hand shot up. "Time Re—"

  But then, her limbs locked and vision blurred. She staggered with exhaustion crashing into her like a tidal wave. "No, no, no!"

  Solene had burned so much magic that she couldn’t reverse the transformation and keep Chronos Cosmas active at the same time. She hesitated to do one or the other. Either way, she knew she would be screwed.

  Her eyes widened in horror.

  The cannon fired out a colossal beam that engulfed her before she could even scream.

  Her silhouette flickered within the blast for a brief moment and then, she was vaporized.

  The once-powerful weapon slowly retracted into its more compact form with mechanical precision. The Bg-356 looked as if it had never been damaged at all.

  Kintovar smiled and without hesitation, she brought the barrel up to her lips, pressing a playful kiss to it.

  "Another win for you, baby."

  She slid the weapon into its storage device with a satisfied click.

  Becky watched the scene unfold with excitement. Her eyes widened, and a grin began to stretch across her face.

  She shook Sybil roughly by the shoulder.

  "Damn, Doc!" Becky shouted. "You see that, Sybil? That was insane!"

  Sybil, who had been standing there in stunned silence blinked rapidly.

  Becky let out a whoop of excitement, then turned back to Sybil. "From now on, I’m calling Kintovar the Doc. She’s earned it."

  Sybil finally allowed a shy smile to slip across her face. "I think… I think I like it."

  Kintovar glanced over at them, raising an eyebrow, though she gave a half-smile.

  The magical barrier around the Mana Extractor dissipated with Solene's defeat. Kintovar stared at the now vulnerable device.” I didn't expect that thing to last through Solene’s desperate attempts to destroy me. Guess they really reinforced it."

  Becky’s eyes were already locked onto the Mana Extractor. "I’ve got this," she declared with a grin. She swung her hammer at it. The blow landed squarely on the Extractor’s core.

  The impact sent sparks and magical energy in every direction.

  "RUN!" Becky shouted while sprinting away from the epicenter of the explosion that came after. Sybil, quick on her heels followed closely while Kintovar managed to keep up.

  The explosion behind them shook the very ground they were on, and as they reached a safe distance, the shockwave sent a gust of air sweeping past them. Kintovar glanced back with both hands on her hips."I guess that’s one way to do it, Becky.”

  Becky gave a thumbs-up without looking back. "Damn right, Doc! Nothing like a good smash to wrap things up!"

  Kintovar exclaimed, "Just one more to go, and we'll have dealt a significant blow to their magical infrastructure! Risebelle, Roselle, Runebelle, you've all been fantastic! Wonderful! Extravagant!" She twirled around, singing praises to her creations, who weren’t even here at the time.

  Kintovar suddenly stopped and said, “This last Mana extractor should be the toughest one my creations will have to deal with. I just hope they remember the secret phrase I told them about."

  Project Mage