The library floor erupted in a shower of splinters and ancient dust. A massive, gnarled trunk spiraled upward, its bark etched with the agonized faces of those who had lost their way. The Void Oak had arrived, its branches clawing through the ceiling, casting the room into a leafy, suffocating darkness.
Konone was on her feet in an instant, her chair clattering back. "Yui! Get back!"
She looked toward the deep stacks, expecting to see a terrified Yui running toward her. Instead, two figures emerged from the shadows of the fallen bookshelves.
Mahiru walked with a slow, regal confidence, her hand resting lightly on Yui’s shoulder. And beside her... Yui moved like a puppet on invisible strings. Her head was tilted slightly, her face an expressionless mask. But it was her eyes that made Konone’s blood turn to ice—they were vacant, milky white, staring at nothing yet seeing everything through the Void’s lens.
"Yui?" Konone’s voice trembled. "What did you do to her, Mahiru?!"
"I simply showed her the beauty of the silence," Mahiru replied, her violet eyes shimmering. "She’s finally stopped fighting. Now, she’s ready to fulfill her true potential."
The Void Oak let out a low, vibrating hum, and the air turned thick with the scent of rotting wood.
"Yui, we have to fight!" Konone reached for her Heart Card, her eyes never leaving her partner. "Transform with me! Blazing Heart! Ignite!"
Konone was engulfed in her familiar pillar of white-hot flame, her red armor snapping into place. She turned to Yui, hoping the sight of the transformation would break the spell.
Yui stepped forward. Her hand moved slowly to her chest, where her Heart Card sat. But the card didn't glow with its usual warm, cyan light. It pulsed with a jagged, sickly violet energy that looked like a spreading bruise.
"Blazing Heart..." Yui’s voice was a hollow echo, sounding like two people speaking at once. "...Arcana."
Instead of the bright burst of ice, a swirling storm of dark, jagged frost exploded around her. When the mist cleared, Konone let out a strangled gasp.
The girl standing before her was Blazing Arcana: Ice. Her suit had been twisted into a dark reflection of itself. Her once-bright blue tunic was now a deep, mournful indigo, trimmed with sharp, black crystalline thorns. A tattered, midnight-blue cape flowed behind her like smoke, and a "crown" of dark ice sat atop her head, framing those empty, white eyes.
"The girl you knew was weak," Mahiru whispered from behind the corrupted hero. "She was held back by her 'hope.' But the King’s Ice... it never melts. It only consumes."
The corrupted Yui raised her rapier. The blade wasn't silver anymore; it was made of translucent black ice that hissed as it touched the air. She pointed it directly at Konone’s heart.
"Konone," the hollow voice of the Arcana-Yui spoke. "The world is too loud. Let me make it cold for you."
Without warning, Yui lunged. Her speed was greater than it had ever been, fueled by the raw, chaotic energy of the Void. Konone barely had time to raise her flaming gauntlets to parry the strike.
CLANG.
The impact sent a shockwave through the library, shattering the remaining windows. Konone looked into those vacant white eyes, searching for even a flicker of the girl who loved strawberry milk. But there was nothing.
"I don't want to fight you!" Konone cried out, her heels skidding across the floor as Yui pressed the dark blade closer.
"Then perish in the silence," Mahiru laughed from her perch on a gnarled root.
The Void Oak roared, its branches beginning to wrap around the library's pillars, turning the school into a tomb. Konone was trapped—forced to choose between her mission and the only person who made her feel like she belonged in this world.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0pzqmBDZ6
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