Kelly stood with her arms folded, a barely-there frown tugging at her otherwise cold face, while her mind kept hurling curses like a broken record, each one sharper than the last. The image of a white-haired boy flashed in her head.
'Jerk face. Butt-nugget. Dweeb lord.'
A few meters away, Flora held her spear, the one she'd flung over her back earlier. Her stance was precise, her expression almost bored as her eyes skimmed over Kelly.
It was the kind of look you gave a minor inconvenience—something you had to deal with, not something worth your time.
Kelly didn't give a damn about the alien girl or the clear disdain rolling off her. Her gaze flicked to where Jayden sat on the raised platform with the two other alien girls, that stupid, smug grin plastered across his face.
She ground her teeth but kept her expression unreadable as she turned back to Flora, who still didn't look the slightest bit interested in fighting her.
The feeling was mutual—though for entirely different reasons.
"You should just admit defeat already, little sister," Flora said, her voice soft but detached, eyes sweeping over Kelly like she was an afterthought. "You're still at the Dust Initiate realm. You don't stand a chance against a Dust Wielder. That's two whole phases above you. Jay Jay is mine, and I might have to hurt you if you get in the—"
It happened before she could finish.
A flash of light. A crack of air.
Flora barely had time to react before Kelly was already in front of her, her figure wrapped in a storm of swirling Cosmic Dust.
"You," Kelly said, her hand glowing a violent purple as it moved so fast it blurred.
"Talk too much."
Her punch landed before Flora could even blink—fast, sharp, and merciless.
The impact cracked through the air like thunder.
Flora's body jerked violently as blood burst from her lips. She shot across the room, slamming into the far crystal wall hard enough to leave a crater before the surface fractured under the force. Her spear hit the ground with a metallic clatter that rang through the silence.
Kelly blinked, raising an eyebrow as she stared at her glowing hands, then at the spot where Flora was half-buried in the wall.
Had she really hit that hard—or were Dust Wielders just… disappointingly fragile?
Her gaze drifted toward Jayden, who was clapping like a five-year-old watching fireworks, and whatever satisfaction she'd felt curdled into annoyance.
That grin on his face always managed to sour her mood.
Up on the platform, the two alien girls stared down at her, mouths slightly open, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Ouch! That hurts like hell!"
The sound of Flora's voice snapped Kelly's attention back.
BOOM!
The wall exploded outward as Flora shot from the crater and crashed into the floor. Her face was bloodied, her clothes shredded, deep cuts carving red streaks across her body.
Anyone else with injuries like that would've been groaning on the ground—or at least flinching. But not Flora. The manic grin stretching across her blood-smeared face told a completely different story.
She looked like she was enjoying it.
It was as if the sight of her own blood thrilled her, like pain itself was some kind of intoxicating high she couldn't get enough of.
"Great," Kelly muttered under her breath. "She's insane."
"Little sister!" Flora's eyes gleamed with wild excitement as she stretched out her hand. Her spear snapped back to her grip like a bolt of lightning. "Good move—hiding your realm, making me underestimate you. But now things get fun. I won't be holding back anymore!"
Her grin widened as her voice rose to a feverish pitch. "Don't disappoint me, little sister! Break my legs, crush my bones—make me bleed!"
"PAIN! I WANT PAIN! HAHAHA!"
Her eyes flared crimson, pupils swimming in pools of blood as an aura of violent, red energy erupted from her, licking the air like fire.
Kelly's expression barely shifted, but her blood began to churn beneath her skin, hot and restless. The sensation was nauseating—wrong.
Then came the voice.
Mission: A worthy opponent has been detected nearby. Defeat and utterly dominate the opponent.
Reward: The host will be guided to a place of fortuitous encounter.
Penalty: The host will be cursed with hair loss for two days.
Good luck!>
A hard frown cut across Kelly's face as she fought the urge to sock the illusory interface.
If the system so much as touched her hair, she was going to give it a proper beating—metaphorically or otherwise.
"Here I come, little sister! Don't fail me—break me! Tear me apart! I want to bleed! Hahaha!" Flora whooped, pounding the floor with her feet until the polished marble cracked into rubble.
She lunged, spear wreathed in that same blood-red aura that crawled over her skin.
Kelly narrowed her eyes and summoned the Astral Skill: Stellar Sight.
Her irises flared a fierce purple, leaving faint trails of Cosmic Dust in the air. The world blurred and then slowed, each beat stretched like rubber.
Cold and clinical, Kelly watched the girl charge, the thick crimson aura writhing around her like living smoke. Her mind ticked off possibilities with ruthless precision.
'It's her bloodline,' Kelly thought. 'Some kind of blood control.'
'I can't get close for long. A nick, a drop—anything that makes her bleed will only strengthen her. The longer this drags on, the worse it gets.'
Waves of Cosmic Dust surged toward Kelly, spiraling around her like a living whirlpool.
'I need to end this fast,' Kelly thought. 'Clean. Not lethal—just effective.'
The storm condensed in front of her, forming a dozen glowing spheres, each one thrumming with contained power.
All of it happened in the blink of an eye.
Flora was already there, spear aimed straight at Kelly's face, eyes wide with wild ecstasy.
Kelly twisted aside, exhaling sharply—boom!—a blast of Cosmic Dust erupted from her mouth, condensing midair into a blade that clashed against the spear's tip, deflecting it with a sharp metallic shriek.
The orbs of Cosmic Dust kept orbiting her even as she moved, shifting with her rhythm—graceful, precise, deadly. The control was so fluid it was almost… beautiful.
"Don't tell me you're treating this like some sort of dance, princess!" Flora yelled, voice breaking into manic laughter as she swung her spear with terrifying skill. The weapon glowed blood-red, the metallic tang of it cutting through the air. "Because I'm still waiting to bleed!"
Kelly didn't answer. She slipped and weaved through the storm of attacks, silent and focused, while the massive training room shuddered and cracked under the weight of their power.
No matter how wildly Flora swung or thrust her spear, not a single strike landed. Kelly slipped past every blow with an effortless grace that almost looked like… dancing.
That's right—she was using Star Dance.
Since awakening the Astral Art, Kelly hadn't truly tested it in a fight. But now that she had, she realized just how absurdly powerful it was.
This time, she was only using it as a movement art, not the full version that included the Sentient Dust branch she'd also unlocked. If she had, this battle would've ended in seconds.
With Star Dance, it was as though the Cosmic Dust itself whispered to her—warning her of danger even before she could perceive it.
But that wasn't the broken part.
The broken part was that her body didn't wait for her to react. It moved on its own, guided by the dust itself. She didn't have to think or plan—just surrender to the rhythm, and let the dust lead the dance.
It meant that unless an attack covered a massive area or was truly unavoidable, nothing could touch her as long as the art remained active.
"Is this all you can do? Dodge and hide like a coward?!" Flora roared, frustration twisting her voice as her crimson eyes blazed even brighter. "Fight me head-on if you dare!"
For the first time since the fight began, a small smile curved Kelly's lips.
"You're too brutish," she said calmly, sidestepping another furious lunge that split the air. "Your style lacks flexibility—it's stiff, predictable."
"SHUT UP!" Flora shrieked, baring her teeth as her attacks grew even more reckless, the bloody aura around her swelling in intensity.
Kelly grimaced as the stench hit her again. The heavy, metallic tang of blood clung to the air, and the chaotic pull it exerted on her own blood made her stomach churn.
Maybe it was time to end this. She couldn't stand the smell—or the madness—any longer.
"I'm done playing," Kelly said, leaping backward.
Flora was already after her, bloody spear raised, that wild grin still stretching across her face as she rocketed forward.
Midair, Kelly smiled.
She raised her right hand, and the glowing spheres of Cosmic Dust swirling around her began to rise, forming a halo above her palm.
As Flora closed the distance, Kelly's lips moved in a whisper that carried through the roar of energy.
"Explode."
Flora's eyes widened. She barely managed to flinch before—
BOOM!
The world erupted in white light and Cosmic sparks. The explosion tore through the air, shredding a quarter of the room into raining debris of marble and stone.
The blast hurled Flora backward, her body twisting violently through the air, blood spraying in crimson arcs. Kelly could tell the bombs hadn't cut deep—they were designed that way. Pure impact, no slicing. Enough to crush bones, compress organs, and leave agony without the mess.
For someone who claimed to love pain, Flora had to be feeling like hell right now.
But Kelly wasn't letting her fly off that easily.
Still midair, she conjured a glowing platform of Cosmic Dust beneath her feet and sprang forward.
More platforms burst from the ground with lightening speed, supporting her as she leapt between them, each step trailing faint streaks of light. Cosmic Dust wrapped around her legs, reinforcing every motion with raw power.
She shot upward, closing the distance fast—
Then her eyes narrowed.
Above, Flora had stopped falling. Her body hovered, surrounded by a storm of blood-red energy. Hundreds of crimson arrows shimmered into existence around her, all pointing down at Kelly.
Flora's grin returned, wilder than ever.
"Try dodging this, little sister!"
The arrows fell like a scarlet rain, hissing through the air with the speed of a storm.
'She mutilated herself,' Kelly realized, her eyes narrowing as she caught sight of the fresh, deep cuts running across Flora's body. 'I should've known. She's using her own blood to create those attacks.'
Kelly's gaze hardened. Her eyes flared with light as Stellar Sight came alive again, slowing the world around her to a crawl.
'But you still underestimate me too much.'
Cosmic Dust surged at her call, swirling violently before condensing into a storm of glowing violet blades—thousands of them—each one humming with lethal precision.
'From the start,' Kelly thought, stepping forward into the air, her figure vanishing in a streak of light.
'I've barely used thirty percent of my strength.'
She moved—five times faster than before—each step rippling with power as the storm of blades followed her, slicing through the air with a haunting whistle.
The purple blades collided with the wave of blood-red arrows, annihilating them completely. The sky burned for a second with red and violet light before fading into drifting motes of Cosmic Dust.
Flora's eyes widened.
Before she could even blink, Kelly was already behind her—three luminous swords floating inches away, aimed directly at her heart, her eyes, and her mouth.
"You've lost," Kelly said quietly, her tone calm and final.
Both landed on the shattered floor, their boots crunching against broken stone as the air crackled with leftover energy.
Flora dropped to her knees, trembling. The crimson bled from her eyes, fading back to their original hue.
Then, despite it all, she smiled.
"I failed, huh… but at least… it's to a… monster."
Her voice broke off as she collapsed face-first to the ground, motionless.
Unconscious.