The dust from the explosion settled, but the air remained charged with a static that made the hair on Yui’s arms stand up. Blazing Arcana stood in the center of the crater, her dark cape fluttering in the wind. The violet lightning dancing in her eyes wasn't just power—it was a cold, suffocating void.
"Mahiru..." Konone’s voice was a broken whisper. She took a step forward, her hand outstretched, ignoring the smell of ozone and burnt concrete. "Mahiru, it’s me. Look at me! We’re in a new world. We can start over. We can save your mother together!"
Mahiru’s head tilted slightly, a robotic, unnatural movement. For a split second, her eyes flickered, the violet dimming to a familiar brown. "Mom...?"
"Yes!" Konone cried, her heart leaping. "She’s still there! We just need the cards!"
But the flicker vanished as quickly as it appeared. A jagged bolt of lightning hissed from Mahiru’s palm, striking the ground at Konone’s feet and forcing her back.
"My mother was weak," Mahiru said, her voice dropping into a hollow, monotone drone. "Despair is the only truth. The King has shown me the perfection of the Silence. You are just a glitch in the design, Konone."
"She’s totally brainwashed..." Yui muttered, standing tall beside Konone. She raised her Ice Rapier, but her hand was trembling. The pressure coming from Mahiru was unlike anything they had felt from the monsters. "Konone, be careful! She’s not playing around!"
"Stay out of this, local girl," Mahiru hissed. In a blur of purple light, she vanished.
"Konone, move!" Yui screamed.
Konone didn't have time to react. Mahiru reappeared directly in front of her, her hand glowing with high-voltage energy. She delivered a palm strike to Konone’s chest that sent a massive electrical surge through her armor.
"Gah!" Konone was thrown backward, skidding through the construction debris until she slammed into a pile of steel pipes. Her transformation flickered, the red glow of her suit fading to gray.
"Konone!" Yui lunged forward, swinging her blade. "Ice Blade—"
With a contemptuous flick of her wrist, Mahiru caught the ice blade with her bare, lightning-clad hand. The ice shattered instantly. She grabbed Yui by the throat, lifting her off the ground.
"You are an amateur," Mahiru whispered, her violet eyes boring into Yui’s. "You think a 'Happy-Go-Lucky' heart can stop the Void? You’re just a temporary battery for a dying world."
She tossed Yui aside like a ragdoll. Yui hit the ground hard, the 2nd Heart Card falling from her hand. Mahiru walked toward it, the purple lightning intensifying. But just as she reached for the card, she stopped. She looked at her trembling hand, then at the unconscious Konone.
A headache seemed to seize her. She gripped her helmet, letting out a sharp, pained hiss.
"The King... demands... order," she muttered to herself. She didn't take the card. Instead, she summoned a massive pillar of lightning that struck the ground, creating a blinding flash of light.
When the spots cleared from Yui’s eyes, the construction site was silent. Mahiru, Eza, and Guwamu were gone.
Yui crawled over to Konone, shaking her shoulder. "Konone! Wake up! Please!"
Konone coughed, opening her eyes. They were filled with a deep, haunting grief. She didn't look at the card she had nearly died for. She looked at the sky where the purple lightning had been.
"She’s gone," Konone whispered. "She didn't even recognize me, Yui. She looked right through me."
Yui looked at the two Heart Cards in her palm, then at her battered friend. The victory over the Smasher felt hollow now. She realized that the "Evil Dark Force" wasn't just a monster to be beaten—it was a thief that had stolen Konone’s heart, and Yui wasn't sure if ice or fire was enough to melt that kind of cold.
"We’ll get her back," Yui said, her voice hardening with a new kind of resolve. "I don't care how powerful that Void King is. We’re going to find all twelve cards, and we’re going to bring your friend home."
As the sun climbed higher, casting long shadows over the ruined site, the two Blazing Girls stood together—one mourning a past, and the other swearing a future.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlmxWwL6Fo
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