The three sisters pressed their backs against one another as the heat from the five mages' flames crackled in the air around them. Risebelle wiped a trickle of sweat from her brow. She spoke first. “Alright, listen up. These Mages seem to be reading the flames in some way. That’s how I see it.”

  Roselle scowled. “Tch… I can’t use my yellow lightning! Every time I try, it just snuffs out!”

  Risebelle gave her a side glance. “Yeah, I figured. You’re still recovering from magic rupture. You might’ve made a miraculous recovery, but like I said—reaching Stage 3? That kind of thing doesn’t just go away easily.”

  Roselle frowned. “So what? I’m just cannon fodder right now?”

  “Not necessarily.” Risebelle smirked. “I have an idea to test that theory.”

  Runebelle looked up. “You think it’s just the rupture?”

  Risebelle shook her head. “Not entirely. There’s a good chance these flames are messing with our magic, too. The sheer intensity of the heat might be interrupting the flow of mana. If that’s the case, we just need to get rid of the flames.”

  She turned back to their opponents. The five mages were watching them with smug amusement.

  Risebelle’s gaze flicked toward Alan, who stood far in the back with his arms folded, smirking.

  Her mind replayed the moment he had unleashed that earlier surge of flames—the way the fire roared to life.That was it. That was their trick.

  She smirked.

  Alan’s smirk twitched slightly. His eyes narrowed toward Risebelle.

  Risebelle cracked her neck and said, “Let’s see how they like this.”

  She raised her arms skyward. The air above darkened unnaturally fast. A swirling storm of blackened clouds formed in the sky.

  “Acid Rain.”

  A single droplet fell. The moment it struck the ground, it sizzled violently, eating into the dirt like a hungry beast. More droplets followed.

  Sizzling, hissing, an eerie blue mist rose from where the corrosive rain touched. Patches of the ground blackened and warped.

  Viera cursed as a droplet landed on her sleeve, burning a hole straight through the fabric. “The hell?!”

  Lita leaped back, dodging as rain pelted down. “Tch. This stuff’s eating through everything!”

  Faust raised her arms to shield herself. Her usual aggressive smirk was replaced with a scowl. “Annoying.”

  Machin and Danish moved swiftly to escape the radius of the downpour.

  “Roselle. Runebelle.”Risebelle cut through the storm with a dangerous edge in her tone.

  The two younger sisters felt it immediately—the surge of power from the acid rain which fueled them rather than harmed them.

  Roselle’s yellow lightning flickered out more vibrantly than before.

  Runebelle’s rapid-fire cannon hummed with renewed energy. Her ammunition now glowed with a faint toxic blue.

  Risebelle smirked at the sight. “Now then, let’s see how you burn when the fire’s turned against you.”

  Bright, crackling yellow sparks flickered at Roselle’s feet. In a flash, she launched herself forward with the lightning at her feet propelling her like a streak of golden light.

  Faust dropped her guard just in time to swing a flaming fist at the incoming blur.

  But Roselle wasn’t there.

  She twisted mid-air, slipping past Faust’s attack with ease.

  Faust’s eyes widened. Oh no. Did they figure it out? Without the flames…’

  Roselle spoke from behind her in a taunting manner. “That was a bad move.”

  Faust snarled and spun with flames erupting once more around her hands. “Tch—shut up, you brat!”

  Her burning fist slashed through the rain like a comet and aimed towards Roselle.

  Roselle met her head-on and raised her massive cannon with energy inside surging to match Faust’s attack. The two forces clashed, lightning crackling against fire. The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward, kicking up steam and mist.

  For a moment, it was a deadlock. But only for a moment.

  Roselle smirked widely. Faust gritted her teeth, pushing forward. But her body was shaking. She was losing the struggle. With a final push, Roselle’s cannon forced Faust’s arm back.

  “No way—” Faust barely got the words out before Roselle squeezed the trigger.

  A deafening blast erupted from the cannon’s mouth. A surge of massive golden energy engulfed Faust in an instant.

  The explosion sent her body flying through the haze of rain and smoke.

  Roselle exhaled and lowered her cannon. “One down.”

  Risebelle pressed her palm to the soaked battlefield and formed a thick, slippery substance which began to spread outward, merging with the acid rain pooling at their feet.

  “Tch! I know this one,” Viera hissed.

  “They used it to trip us up at the academy,” Machin muttered.

  Danish scoffed. “No way we’re falling for that dumb shit again.”

  The three girls ignited bursts of flame beneath their feet, propelling themselves into the air. Hovering just above the dangerous terrain, they exchanged knowing glances.

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  “We got this,” Danish said, smirking.

  But Risebelle smirked wider from below. Runebelle extended her hands, and with a chilling breath, an ice pillar shot up from beneath Risebelle’s feet, launching Risebelle high into the stormy sky.

  The three mages heads snapped up. Their eyes widened.

  “Sh—!”

  Risebelle ascended with frost clinging to her body. The moment she reached the peak of her launch, she threw out her arms.

  “Aqua Whirlwind!”

  Water from the acid rain coalesced around her, forming a massive vortex of liquid devastation.

  The churning force expanded with terrifying speed. It quickly became a storm of razor-sharp water blades.

  Viera, Machin, and Danish were still airborne when it engulfed them.

  “AAAAHHH—!!”

  The razor-like torrents ripped through their bodies. The violent water drowned out their cries.

  For a moment, the whirlwind raged on, carrying them higher and higher—before it finally burst, sending their remains plummeting toward the ground.

  Risebelle landed gracefully. “That’s three more down.”

  Lita’s breath hitched. She pressed herself against the charred remains of a crumbling stone,

  She had seen it all—Faust, gone in a flash of golden devastation. Viera, Machin, and Danish ripped apart by that cursed vortex.

  She was the last one left.

  ‘No. No, no, no.’

  She needed to get out of here. She could still escape. She just had to stay quiet. Stay low. Don’t let them see you.

  A soft squelch.

  Lita’s entire body tensed.

  Slowly, she turned her head.

  Behind her, standing in the mist was Runebelle.

  The youngest sister’s sad eyes met hers.

  Lita’s pulse pounded in her ears.

  Before she could react, a voice whispered from the other side of the pillar.

  “Trying to hide?”

  Lita spun around—only to come face-to-face with Roselle who held a cruel amusement in her blue eyes which held a hint of gold in it from her yellow lightning.

  Lita’s stomach dropped.

  A shadow loomed above.

  Lita barely had time to look up before Risebelle came crashing down from above. Her foot slammed against the ground inches from Lita’s face.

  Lita staggered backward. The sisters closed in.

  “No way…” Lita’s spoke with barely a whisper. “This isn’t happening.”

  A deafening blast echoed through the battlefield.

  Smoke curled in the air as the three sisters emerged from the mist. Ahead, standing just where they left him, was Alan.

  His arms were still folded, although his clothing seemed burned from the acid rain. The Elite Mage didn’t flinch at their return, nor look the least bit concerned, but after a few seconds, he raised an eyebrow and let out a long whistle.

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” Alan tilted his head. “Y’all actually took out all five?”

  Risebelle’s eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms.“Yeah, I don’t buy it.You knew this would happen.”

  Alan blinked at her, then sighed. “Was I really that unconvincing?”

  Risebelle scoffed.

  Roselle tilted her head. “So what’s the deal? You were never gonna step in?”

  Alan shrugged. “Nah. I told the others I’d handle this myself since they were exhausted, but those five?” His smirk faded slightly. “I told them if they came out here, they’d die but, you know how some people are.”

  His smirk returned. “They just didn’t listen.”

  Risebelle’s gaze flicked to Alan’s clothes—burned, tattered in places. She smirked. “Seems you are taking some damage from my acid rain. Even as we speak.”

  Alan’s smirk remained, but he said nothing in response. Instead, he shifted his stance ever so slightly.

  Risebelle noticed.

  The air between them grew taut, like the moments before a storm. The other two sisters stepped back instinctively.

  Then, they began to move.

  Slowly, carefully, they started circling each other like predators sizing up their prey. The rain continued to fall, littering over the battlefield.

  Risebelle flexed her fingers.

  Alan did the same.

  Alan’s flames surged around his body. He shot off at Risebelle like a comet. His smirk widened.

  Risebelle thrust her arms out quickly and shouted,

  “Aqua Whirlwind!”

  The storm answered her call. Water twisted and roared into a violent vortex.

  Alan threw out his hand, releasing a massive wave of fire,. Flames clashed against the swirling water, hissing and crackling.

  For a moment, it seemed like a stalemate.

  Then—Risebelle’s acid rain fed the vortex, making it more relentless. The fire wave buckled under the storm’s force.

  Alan clicked his tongue. “Tch.” He turned his flames downward. A sudden explosion beneath his feet sent him rocketing into the air the same moment that the whirlwind tore through where he had stood.

  Risebelle’s eyes flashed. She swung her arm up. Her medium-sized cannon materialized in her hand. She fired off several shots at him.

  Alan didn’t dodge. Instead, his flames erupted upward—straight into the sky. The blazing force punched through the thick, dark storm clouds of the acid rain and carved a burning hole in the heavens.

  Risebelle’s eyes widened in shock.

  Alan grinned down at her through the thinning mist. Then, he swung both hands downward.

  A monstrous fireball formed above him, growing hot like a meteor pulled from the depths of the sun itself.

  “Infernal Comet!”

  The blazing meteor descended.

  Runebelle’s eyes darkened with focus. Fire erupted from the ground—not Alan’s flames, but hers. Pillars of burning red shot upward, one after another.

  The infernal meteor crashed down with overwhelming force, but the fire pillars merged together into a single massive column of flame. The battlefield trembled as the two forces clashed.

  For a moment, it seemed like neither would budge. Then, with a burst of force, the giant fire pillar absorbed the meteor’s energy and shattered it in an explosion of embers.

  Alan landed smoothly with his boots kicking up steam the moment he touched the soaked battlefield. He shoved his hands into his pockets and titlted his head slightly. “Huh. Didn’t expect that from you.”

  Before he could say more, a golden blast tore through the air. Alan barely had time to react as Roselle’s cannon fired straight at him, but even so, his speed was ridiculous—he was up close before Roselle could even blink.

  He knocked the massive cannon from her hands. It hit the ground with a loud clang.

  But Roselle moved in retaliation and thrust her hand forward with yellow electricity arcing straight into Alan’s face.

  Alan reeled back slightly and gritted his teeth. “Damnit!” His eye twitched in irritation. “Of all the places to hit—”

  Roselle barely had time to register his words before his foot connected with her stomach.The force sent her skidding backward.

  Alan rolled his shoulders and exhaled. "Alright, ladies. You’ve lasted at least a minute with me. Not bad. And you took out five of my strongest mages? That in itself is an impressive feat for a couple of creations."

  Risebelle brushed a few damp strands of blue hair from her face. “Seems you’re ready to stop playing around, huh?”

  Alan didn’t answer. He just stood there with the heat around him intensifying with each second.

  Risebelle’s eyes narrowed. ‘He’s going to use it, isn’t he?’ she thought. ‘His extreme magic. There’s no telling what kind of destruction he’s gonna bring with it, but… Water is the natural counter to fire.’

  Her fingers twitched slightly. ‘Even so, Alan isn’t just any ordinary Fire mage. I may have actually to push myself past my limits…’

  A sudden, suffocating heat swallowed the battlefield.

  The rain stopped.

  Not because the storm had ended, but because the very air itself had become too hot for the droplets to form. The acid rain evaporated before it could even hit the ground.

  Flames roared to life around the sisters, curling and rising into a massive, searing inferno. The fire twisted high into the sky until they were encased in a burning prison.

  Roselle, Risebelle, and Runebelle stood in the center, looking around to see nothing but fire around them.

  Alan watched them with a smirk. "Careful, now—" he started, then paused. He let out a short chuckle and facepalmed while shaking his head. "Oh, right. My bad. No point in warning you."

  He raised a hand and formed an ember at his fingertips before crushing it between his fingers. "You're going to burn either way. I told you, didn’t I? Either I turn you to ash, or the burning floor beneath your feet will."

  And that’s when they felt it. The very ground beneath them was ablaze. Not just flames licking the surface—no, the earth itself had ignited into molten death.

  Risebelle cursed under her breath. They were trapped. The fire cage was so tight that if they so much as stepped back too far, they’d be consumed.

  Risebelle shouted out in desperation "Acid Rain!"

  She extended her arms toward the sky, but nothing happened other than the flames intensifying further.

  "Don't bother. Your affinity isn't strong enough to counter this,” Alan said with his face becoming serious.

  With a fierce shout, he unleashed a colossal pillar of fire that shot toward the three sisters. Risebelle and Runebelle managed to evade the fiery onslaught, but Roselle, in her haste strayed too far and brushed against the searing flames of the encircling fire wall.

  Her body was quickly engulfed in flames, and the agonizing pain forced a heart-wrenching scream from her lips.

  Risebelle watched in horror as Roselle was consumed by the fierce flames.

  “ROSELLEE!!!”

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