The tip of the dark rapier pressed against Konone’s throat, drawing a thin line of heat in the frozen air. The Void Oak groaned, its branches tightening around the library's pillars as if sensing the kill.
"Do it, Yui! Sever the link!" Mahiru’s voice was a jagged shriek of command.
But Yui’s hand was no longer steady. The black ice of her blade began to crack. As she looked down at Konone, the vacant white of her eyes flickered. In the reflection of Konone’s tear-filled violet eyes, Yui didn't see a target. She saw the girl she had shared strawberry milk with. She saw the "Tactical Introduction" at the blackboard. She saw the hero who had smiled for the first time in the courtyard.
The memory of that smile acted like a spark in a dry forest.
"I... I am not..." Yui’s voice cracked, the hollow echo beginning to peel away. "I am not... a ghost!"
"Yui, come back!" Konone grabbed the blade of the dark rapier with her bare hand, her blood sizzling against the frost. "Don't let her take your light!"
A scream ripped from Yui’s throat—not a sound of despair, but of raw, defiant 'Hope.' The purple crown of thorns on her head shattered into dust. The midnight-blue cape dissolved into brilliant, glowing particles of light.
The darkness didn't just fade; it was forcibly purged. A massive shockwave of warmth exploded from Yui’s chest, the sheer intensity of her "Happy-Go-Lucky" heart melting the black ice and incinerating the Void Oak’s reaching roots.
"BLAZING HEART... CRYSTALLIZE!"
In a pillar of radiant, blinding white and cyan light, the corruption was burned away. When the light dimmed, Blazing Ice stood there in her original, brilliant armor—but it was different. Her suit shimmered with a new, iridescent sheen, and her eyes were a piercing, vivid blue, sparkling with a clarity that had never been there before.
She blinked, shaking her head as if waking from a long, heavy nap.
"Ugh... I had the worst dream," Yui groaned, her voice back to its cheerful, slightly high-pitched self. She looked down at Konone and immediately shrieked. "Konone! Your hand! And the library! Everything is a mess!"
She reached down, pulling Konone to her feet with a strength that felt warm and solid.
"You’re back," Konone whispered, her voice thick with relief. "You’re actually back."
"Of course I am!" Yui grinned, spinning her silver rapier. "I still have to show you that bakery with the cat-shaped buns, remember? I can't leave my partner hanging!"
Up on the branch, Mahiru took a step back, her face a mask of genuine shock. "No... the King’s hypnosis... it was absolute. How did you break the seal of the Void?"
Yui looked up at Mahiru, her blue eyes fierce. "You forgot one thing, Mahiru! You can freeze a heart, but you can’t freeze the friendship inside it! Now, let’s finish this lesson!"
The Void Oak let out a final, desperate roar, but the "Arcana" influence was gone. The monster was back to its original form—a mindless tree of despair—and Yui was more than ready to cut it down.59Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQrbezRsas
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