Kira and Tengen found themselves caught in the eye of a storm, a clash between two living calamities.
One froze the world with her breath.
The other bent reality itself to her will.
And they were ants.
The first impact shattered the mountain's silence, and with it, the ground beneath their feet. Kira barely had time to grab Tengen's wrist before the shockwave hurled them through the trees like ragdolls.
By the time they crashed into the dirt, the two Alberlines had already crossed blades.
Serica's mirror shield unfolded in a burst of icy blue light, her body hunched low behind it. The temperature plummeted with each step she took, but her eyes remained cold, unblinking, emotionless.
"Hmph," the opposing Alberline scoffed, stepping through her own expanding aura. "That's your ability? I expected something… less disappointing."
Serica said nothing.
No reaction. No blink. No twitch of muscle.
Only a whisper.
"Leave me alone. You're not worth it."
The other Alberline's lip curled into a sneer.
"Tsch. How arrogant."
She threw one hand out.
"DOMAIN."
In an instant, the battlefield transformed, and an invisible cage snapped into place around Serica, just like before. Purple light pulsed at its edges, forming a tight hemisphere of suffocating force. Outside, Kira and Tengen could only watch, unable to enter.
But the Alberline wasn't done.
With one hand maintaining the Domain's perimeter, she raised the other.
A sphere of violet energy crackled into existence, humming with raw gravity.
"Let's see you dodge this, little puppet!"
She hurled it.
Serica raised her shield quickly, precisely, with no wasted movement.
But it was a feint.
"Switch."
The energy orb vanished mid-flight and reappeared directly behind Serica.
It detonated.
BOOM!
"AHHHHHH—"
Her scream tore out, lifeless and jagged like a malfunctioning speaker. The ice-armour on her back cracked and flaked, exposing scorched flesh before rapidly reknitting.
Still, she said nothing.
She only stood.
"…Go away. I don't know you."
And this time, she charged.
Frost trailed in her wake, her shield warping mid-run into an ice-forged blade. The opposing Alberline clicked her tongue and braced to form a second Domain, but Serica was faster.
One slash.
From the ground up.
Steel met skin.
SLASH.
Blood sprayed as the enemy staggered back, clutching her chest. Her armour flickered, then began to repair, streaks of light weaving through the wound like a reverse laceration.
"Hah…" she coughed, half-impressed. "Fine. You've got bite. I'll give you props. But…"
She raised her right hand again.
"You're still no match for me!"
Serica surged forward to interrupt her, but the Alberline grinned.
"Mini-Domain."
A tight, flickering circle formed around Serica's sword hand, just enough.
"Switch."
The blade in Serica's grip was replaced with a fistful of damp mud.
She blinked.
And in that moment of hesitation.
CRACK!
A fist slammed into her stomach with monstrous force. The ground shattered beneath her feet as she flew backwards like a cannonball.
Serica smashed through a wall of her own frozen trees, and the impact thundered down the mountain. Shards of ice sprayed in every direction.
Tengen's voice cracked. "Wh–what the hell?!"
"She can… swap anything inside her Domain," Kira muttered, eyes wide.
They had just pulled themselves up after being launched like leaves in a storm. They should have been running; everything screamed for them to flee, but their feet wouldn't move.
Because of what they were seeing?
It wasn't just a fight.
It was mythology.
Two disasters.
Two Alberlines.
One who bends space to her will.
One who brings winter with every breath.
And they were trying to tear each other apart.
"…I've never heard of two Alberlines fighting," Kira whispered. "Not once."
Tengen didn't answer. He just yanked her arm, dragging her into motion before the battlefield swallowed them again.
But they couldn't escape the echo of the war behind them.
It chased them.
And it shook the sky.
As the fighting began to die out, the Alberlines were nearing their limits, both panting, movements heavy, steps cracking the earth. Still, neither relented.
"To think I'm equal to some frozen brat—INSULTING!" the purple Alberline snarled.
Serica said nothing for a moment. Then, finally, in a flat, lifeless tone.
"No one wants such a hateful person near them. Do everyone a favor… and disappear."
A silence followed.
Then the scream came.
"YOU, WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW!?"
Her voice shattered with rage, but the cracks weren't just anger; there was grief behind it. Her hands trembled. Her eyes burned.
"I've lost EVERYTHING because of this cursed power! AND YOU LOOK AT YOU! YOU EMBRACE IT! YOU ENJOY THIS!"
Her words came from a place far deeper than arrogance; this was heartbreak.
Serica tilted her head.
"There's someone… someone who made this bearable…"
Her knees buckled. She dropped her sword.
Her hands gripped her head like it was splitting in half.
"AHH… Ke… Ke—"
She couldn't say it.
She wanted to.
But the name of the boy who held her hand, who treated her like a person, who made her laugh… wouldn't come out.
Her voice choked. Her body trembled.
Tears slipped down her cheeks, evaporating on her icy skin.
The other Alberline smirked, but it was tired, almost relieved.
"Looks like you're finished."
A crackling sphere grew in her hand, this one larger, threaded with streaks of electricity and hatred.
"Let's end this."
Then.
"I'm here, Serica."
A voice cut through the storm.
It came from behind her, steady, familiar. Quiet, but strong.
Between the frozen trees, a silhouette moved toward her.
*
"It seems everything's falling into place…"
Reiden Vale leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled as he watched the fight through a dozen shifting feeds.
"…though losing a few assets wasn't ideal," he muttered.
On-screen: Serica's ice-coated figure flickered. Every twitch, every movement, every scream logged, tagged, analyzed.
Behind him, Vela Cain stood with arms crossed, silent as a statue.
"We did take a hit to personnel," she said, voice cool. "But the Ice-Breaker's reaction… it proved the theory."
Reiden's lip curled into a wicked smile.
"Indeed. Our little corruption device worked beautifully. Couldn't extract her power, no, but she felt it. Broke right down the middle."
He chuckled darkly.
"Next time, we won't just break her."
Vela tilted her head.
"We'll take her."