The air screamed as Koko’s "Gale Needle" pierced the distance. It was a strike meant to end a war, traveling at a velocity that blurred the very fabric of the atmosphere. But it didn't hit the heart of the Void. It hit Konone.
CLANG!
The sound of the impact was like a hammer hitting a cathedral bell. Konone had crossed her flaming gauntlets in a desperate "X" block, but the sheer kinetic pressure of Koko’s wind was overwhelming. The emerald energy sparked against Konone's red armor, grinding into the metal with a high-pitched screech.
"Konone, move!" Koko yelled, her composure finally breaking into a snarl of frustration. She increased the pressure, her boots sliding back against the metal grating. "You’re sacrificing the city for a ghost! She isn't your friend anymore—she’s a weapon of the King!"
"I don't care what she is!" Konone’s voice was a guttural roar of pain. The heat from her own armor was blistering her skin, and Koko's wind was cutting into her shoulders, drawing thin lines of blood that evaporated instantly in the heat. "If I let you kill her, I'm no better than the monsters that destroyed our home!"
Behind Konone, Blazing Arcana froze.
Mahiru watched the scene through the haze of the violet rift. She saw Konone’s back—broad, trembling, and bleeding. It was the same back that had shielded her from falling debris when the Capital fell. It was the same Konone who had promised they would always find a way back to each other.
“Why?” a dark, oily voice whispered in Mahiru’s mind—the voice of the King. “She is weak. She is the noise that prevents your ascension. Destroy her.”
But for the first time, the "noise" was louder than the King. The sound of Konone’s gritted teeth, the smell of her burning fire, and the sheer, stubborn effort she was putting into staying alive—it shattered the rhythmic trance of the brainwashing.
"Konone..." Mahiru’s voice was barely a whisper, no longer hollow, but trembling with a sudden, sharp clarity.
The white light in Mahiru’s eyes began to flicker and crack, like a television screen losing its signal. The jagged violet thorns of her armor began to melt into dark tears.
"STOP IT!" Mahiru screamed.
The outburst of raw, emotional energy wasn't a dark spell—it was a rejection. A shockwave of pure, unrefined light exploded from Mahiru’s chest, throwing both Koko and Konone back. The violet rift above the tower began to spiral inward, collapsing under the weight of a heart that refused to be silent any longer.
Koko skidded to a halt at the edge of the platform, her emerald light flickering out. She looked up, her eyes wide with shock as she saw the terrifying Blazing Arcana literally falling apart.
"The rhythm..." Koko whispered, watching the chaos. "It's breaking. But it’s not becoming noise... it’s becoming a song."53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQYbf3Vo05
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