"Hey," Mira called out to Emilia, her expression in complete disbelief and denial. "Hey Emi. Answer me dammit! What the hell is this!?"
Mira's face was full of a mix of restrained and pained rage.
'This is a problem,' thought Ace as he glanced back at Mira. 'What to do now?'
He then glanced at Emilia who seemed to be on the verge of breaking down, evident from how she was hiding her trembling hand.
'Guess I'll just have to-' Ace thought ready to move before Emilia's voice came out, stopping him before acting.
"It's just as you see it," Emilia replied. "I killed Frank."
"Huh?" something inside Mira crumbled. "What? W-why? Why would you…?"
"You don't need to know," replied Emilia, a calm expression etched on her face. "It doesn't concern you."
Mira's mind snapped, making her stumble backwards slightly.
"It… doesn't concern me?" Mira clenched her teeth, anger and frustration starting to fill her heart. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!?"
Intense blue flames surged from Mira's body, swirling fiercely around her as the nearby grass, bushes and the ground were set ablaze.
'Things are starting to get hectic,' Ace was ready to take action before being frozen in place by Emilia's glance. 'Wha?'
Emilia's eyes were ordering him to not interfere, and just as he had previously noticed, for whatever reason it was, he unconsciously did as he was told.
'Dammit all. What the hell did you do to me, Emi?'
Emilia's eyes then focused on Mira.
'What's with those eyes of yours? Huh, Emi. Say something. Anything.'
Even though Mira seemed to think that Emilia could understand her thoughts, the one she considered a friend showed no reaction at all.
Mira clenched her fists and teeth before letting out a roar of rage.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Mira dashed towards Emilia with no hesitation, her ever-growing flames, that continuously became hotter and stronger, swirling around her fists.
"EEEEEEMMMIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!" though filled with rage, Mira's eyes were filled with tears.
'That idiot! Is she going to take the attack head on?' Ace's expression remained composed, noticing that Emilia wasn't reacting to Mira's incoming attack.
Without even noticing it himself, a sudden feeling of disappointment gripped Ace's heart. 'Pathetic. So in the end, you're still weak.'
"I'm sorry." Emilia muttered as Mira felt something piercing her before collapsing on the ground, her flames and momentum disappearing in an instant.
Ace's eyes slightly widened at the sight, an unknown feeling of relief washing over him.
Mira coughed up blood, small spikes of frozen blood coming out of her left abdomen and both of her thighs.
'What…? What the hell just happened?' Mira questioned herself, her body starting to shiver from a freezing cold that she couldn't explain. 'My body… It's so cold.'
"I'm sorry," Emilia began, kneeling in front of Mira. "But there's nothing you can do about this situation now. This is my own battle. Mine and mine alone."
"W…wh…why…?" Mira's mouth trembled from the cold assaulting her body that struggled to rise from the ground while her previously frozen blood was now a flowing red puddle.
"I've had enough," Ace chopped Mira's neck, rendering her unconscious. "Just go to sleep already."
"N-no…" Mira's eyes slowly closed, her fluttering and blurry eyes getting sight of Emilia's pained expression that was on the verge of tears. 'Emi…'
"Okay, now that's been dealt with, what do we do now?" bluntly asked Ace, his unconcerned tone forcing a silent yet unexpected reaction from Emilia.
She stood up and took a few steps towards him.
"Hmm? What i-!?" Ace started before being shut down instantly in a stunning manner.
Emilia slapped him, making Ace stumble and fall butt-first on the ground.
"Eh?" Ace's eyes widened slightly from the shock.
As his gaze fell on Emilia, Ace felt a bundle of unknown emotions swirling in him. He couldn't understand what they were. Whether they were a mix of irritation, frustration, confusion, his mind couldn't process what those emotions were.
He knew one thing only. He had seen the same expression on Emilia's face last night, and without understanding why, he felt something being forcibly pulled out of him.
"Don't take this so lightly!" Emilia yelled at him. "Don't ever do something I didn't ask for! Never again."
She was on the verge of tears, but she didn't let them flow and instead, she wiped them with her sleeve.
"Understand?" Emilia looked at him straight into the eyes as she asked him that question.
At that moment, Ace felt another feeling he never experienced. It was a strange one, as if something was turning into dust and ashes inside him, and whatever was being pulled out from within him, it was emerging from below.
"Yeah. I'm sorry," Ace held his head and gaze down, as if his spirit had just been broken and his heart pierced.
But even as Ace said those words, his mind had become a mess. It was as if static sounds were glitching on repeat in his mind. He was drowning within his own undecipherable thoughts that he himself didn't understand.
"I thank you, young lady. I think that will be enough," a voice called out to Emilia, making her flinch in surprise, and without notice, she was electrocuted from behind.
'How…?' Emilia fell to the ground, her vision growing blurred until it turned completely dark.
"Huh?" Ace came back to reality as powerful, disturbing rumble that only he felt shook him to his very core, making him cough up blood.
As he fell to the ground, his gaze fixed on the ground, Ace saw the ones who had ambushed them.
Standing above him was Hugo, and the one who approached him from the side as if reporting something, was none other than Isabella.
'What the hell is happening?' Ace's blank expression grew weaker as snow started falling down on his face.
"I'm sorry to have to employ such methods, but I can no longer afford to wait patiently," Hugo seemed to be able to read Ace's mind whose eyes had slowly started closing. "It's time for both of you to fulfill your roles."