"Did you see them?" Valra asked sharply, her voice tense as she rushed up the steps, her boots thudding against the cracked stone. Her eyes scanned ahead, looking for any sign of Pride and the other mysterious champion they had briefly spotted in the chaos.
Leo kept pace beside her, his brows furrowed, "No. I didn't see them... only caught a glimpse of their weapon. It was massive... a brutal-looking ball covered in spikes, with thick chains hanging off it. The kind of thing you don't forget easily."
Valra's lips tightened as she muttered under her breath, "A flail weapon... " before speeding up again, her hand quickly tapping her earpiece to contact Envy. They needed to find Pride—now.
Suddenly—
Crack... BOOM!
The entire corridor shook as a thunderous crack echoed above them. Valra and Leo instinctively ducked and looked up, their eyes widening in alarm.
"The ceiling!" Valra hissed.
"They're right above us!" Leo snapped, already darting forward. The two of them bolted up the remaining stairs, arriving at the next floor just as the tremors subsided.
The scene before them was utter devastation... The entire floor looked like it had been torn apart by a storm. Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls and floors. Computers lay in pieces, desks splintered and overturned. Lights above them flickered erratically, sparking before bursting in showers of glass. Not a single piece of furniture remained intact—everything had been shredded or smashed beyond recognition.
"Pride!" Leo shouted, his voice echoing across the destroyed hallway. "Where are you?!"
Silence.
Valra frowned, her eyes narrowing. /Envy, do you see her anywhere?/
/No... I can't sense anyone./
Her frown deepened. It wasn't just quiet—it was unnatural. A complete, eerie silence had descended around them. Not even the sound of breathing or distant footsteps.
"Pride...?" Leo said softly, almost a whisper now, his stance shifting. His shoulders tensed, eyes scanning the ruins around them with caution.
Valra raised her voice, stepping forward slowly. "I know you're here. Come out. I've already contacted the Mage Association—they're on their way, and they'll be arriving any moment."
Leo looked at her, then back toward the hallway, but there was still no reply. No movements. No shifting shadows. Nothing.
Then—
Thuck...
Thuck...
Thuckk...
A heavy, repetitive slamming sound began echoing, dull at first but growing louder with every beat. Both Leo and Valra turned sharply toward the noise, their expressions tensing. The source came from above—the ceiling began to groan under pressure. Then, with a deafening crack, the tiles fractured.
And in the next instant, Pride came crashing down through it, wrapped tightly in thick chains.
She slammed into the floor like a falling meteor, shattering tiles, bending steel, and sending debris flying in every direction.
BOOMMM!!
The entire structure shook violently. Walls cracked, glass exploded from nearby fixtures, and the floor beneath their feet quaked.
"Move!" Leo shouted, grabbing Valra's arm as they both leapt to the side—just in time.
But the ground couldn't take the impact. The floor collapsed completely beneath them, giving way to the level below. Pride, still tangled in the chains, was dragged down through the crumbling floors, disappearing into the below floors!
"Master!" Envy's voice rang out just as his body materialised mid-air. He wasted no time—rushing forward and grabbing Valra's arm before she could plummet. He twisted midair, angling her toward the ledge below and helping her land softly on a safer patch.
"Envy—him too!" Valra yelled urgently, pointing at Leo, who was dangling from a jagged piece of broken flooring, his grip slipping.
"Tch... always trouble," Envy muttered, but he still acted fast, leaping again and catching Leo by the arm before he could fall. With a grunt of effort, he hauled Leo up and helped him land safely beside Valra.
Leo dropped to his knees for a second, catching his breath, his heart racing. "Damn... that was insane," he said, exhaling heavily. Then his eyes widened as the realisation hit him. "Shit—we need to help Pride!"
Before Valra could respond, Envy had already vanished, diving through the gaping hole in pursuit of Pride and the unknown enemy.
Leo looked at Valra, panic creeping into his tone. "Do you think they can handle this? We don't even know what kind of opponent we're dealing with!"
Valra gave a brief, confident smile, though the worry in her eyes betrayed her. "Don't worry. They'll hold out. It's two champions against one. There's no way—"
"Even if that one has more power after killing people?" Leo interrupted, staring at her.
Valra's words caught in her throat. She hesitated, then turned away. "...That's true... we can't take any chances," she admitted. "We need to find Master—"
She stopped mid-sentence, a cold shiver crawling up her spine. "Wait... you feel that?" Her voice dropped low, eyes lifting toward the upper floors. An overwhelming mana had begun to radiate from above.
"It might be Master..." she muttered and bolted toward the elevator.
Leo, still catching his breath, immediately followed.
Meanwhile, on the ground floor...
Pride growled, her wooden sword tightly gripped in her hands. Her body was scratched and bruised. She glanced around, eyes sharp, voice cutting through the air.
"Show yourself, coward!"
The room around her was dim, lit only by flickering ceiling lights. Dust floated like ash in the air, remnants of the collapsed floor above still falling in bits.
Envy stood several feet to her right, his bow drawn, every muscle in his body taut. His sharp eyes darted left and right, scanning the shadows. 'Where is he? I can't sense him at all... No presence... no aura... Is this some kind of masking magic?'
Then suddenly, his right ear twitched.
Without hesitation, he turned and fired an arrow toward the far end of the hallway—just as a massive spiked ball shot toward them from the darkness.
Clang—Spark!
The arrow struck the weapon, deflecting it slightly, but it didn't stop. The ball crashed into the floor a few feet in front of them, cracking the tiles and kicking up debris.
Envy hissed through his teeth and jumped back, rolling out of the way. Pride didn't flinch—she let out a sharp cry and swung her wooden sword with full force, slamming it against the flail and knocking it away in a loud clang. The chains retracted, yanking the weapon back through the shadowed corridor.
Then came the voice.
"Hehehe~"
A soft, almost playful giggle echoed from the darkness.
Pride turned toward the sound, her eyes locking onto a pair of gleaming eyes staring from the shadows. The flail slowly pulled back through the corridor as the chain snaked along the floor.
"Not bad... not bad at all... One against two, huh?" the voice chuckled.
"Reveal yourself," Pride snapped, tightening her grip on her sword. Her stance lowered, ready to strike. "Stop hiding behind your tricks."
"Coward?" the voice repeated mockingly. "Hardly. You two coming at me together... now that's the unbalanced part, don't you think? But hey—can you handle this?"
The voice shifted—then a loud rattling echoed as not one but multiple flails burst from the shadows, shooting toward both Pride and Envy like whips of destruction.
Pride's eyes widened.
Envy cursed under his breath, "You've got to be kidding me," as both of them braced themselves for the incoming storm.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop...
Valra and Leo stepped out of the elevator into the open air. The rooftop was eerily still.
The area was empty. Only the building's air conditioning units and large metal ducts stood in rows, humming quietly.
Leo frowned, stepping forward cautiously. "There's no one here. It's... empty."
Valra looked around carefully. "No. I'm sure I sensed Master here... the mana trail ends at this level. Look around. Someone's hiding."
As Leo walked ahead, his eyes scanned the large machinery. He paused near one of the ventilation units... Something caught his eye.
A small glass tube rested against the base of the air duct. Its liquid was an unusual yellow.
He bent down, sniffed cautiously, and muttered to himself, "Smells... kind of like kerosene?"
His eyes rose slowly.
The air filtration panel of the system above him was wide open.
The air conditioning systems that pumped throughout the entire building were no longer just circulating cool air—they were now carrying something far more dangerous. Mixed into the ventilation was a strange chemical agent, subtle and slow, spreading into every corner, every floor...
Spark!
Back on the ground floor, Envy's arrows clashed against the incoming spiked balls, sending bursts of sparks flying across the broken floor tiles.
Spark!
Spark!
Each arrow that collided with the iron flails ricocheted, skimming dangerously close to the AC piping overhead. The spinning weapons twirled violently, metal grinding against metal.
Sparkk!
Ssshhhhhh!!
One of the sparks finally caught. A stray arrowhead had embedded itself near a broken pipe where the strange flammable chemical had leaked through. A tiny flicker danced in the air for just a second...
Then—
BBBOOOOMMMMM!!!
BOOOMMMM!!
Explosions erupted from the lower floors, one after another like a chain reaction. The impact raced upward like a ticking time bomb, detonating level by level. The very foundation of the building cracked and groaned under the force as fire erupted through the stairwells and halls.
On the rooftop—
Valra stood near the edge of the building, the wind whipping her coat as she stared across the another building.... Her eyes narrowed as she locked onto a distant rooftop where a lone figure stood watching them from the shadows.
'So... that's where you've been hiding, huh?' she thought, her hand tightening into a fist.
"VALRA!!"
Leo's voice snapped her out of the moment. She turned quickly, just in time to see him sprinting toward her in panic.
BOOMMM!!
SSSSSHHHHH!!
The rooftop trembled violently beneath her feet as another explosion rocked the foundation. The floor cracked with a deep groan, and before she could react, the section beneath her collapsed.
Everything fell silent for just a second.
Time slowed.
Her eyes widened in shock—she couldn't believe it. Her footing disappeared, her body falling backwards into the smoking void below.
Then—
Thud!
Leo's hand caught hers at the last moment, his other hand gripping the edge of the metal rooftop rail. Muscles straining, he held on with everything he had, the metal beneath him groaning and cracking under the weight.
"Valra!" he grunted through clenched teeth. "I've got you!"
The rail bent forward. The entire edge of the building was starting to lean. Debris tumbled past them, carried down by smoke and gravity.
Valra dangled midair, her eyes wide and heart pounding. She stared at Leo, who was desperately trying to hold her with one arm, sweat dripping from his face.
She immediately tapped her communication link. /Envy? Envy?!/
No response.
Slipppp—
"Valra..." Leo muttered, straining as his fingers began to slip. "I—I can't hold on much longer..."
The rail gave another sharp creak.
Valra gritted her teeth and looked down. At this height, even with her magic, the fall would be fatal... and worse with Leo dragging down with her.
Leo groaned again, his grip failing. His knuckles whitened.
Then—
Slipp!
Both of them fell.
Air whipped around them. Smoke and heat rushed up to meet them from below. Leo acted fast—he pulled Valra tightly into his chest mid-fall, shielding her instinctively as they plunged together.
Valra blinked—her ears rang, her mind blank, the world slowed around her. She stared at Leo's trembling shoulders as he held her close.
He was... protecting her?
And then, He inhaled deeply and he shouted from the bottom of his lungs, desperate,
"PRIDE!! I NEED YOU!!!"
His right shoulder began to glow—a streak of green light erupted from it.
Crack!
From the crumbling floors below, a burst of vibrant green energy exploded outward, tearing through the dust and smoke.
Sssshhnnnn!!
A flash zipped past them. Something moved—fast. In the blink of an eye, their fall was halted.
The wind wasn't hitting his face anymore.... They weren't falling.
Leo felt it before he opened his eyes.
He blinked once, twice—his vision adjusting—and saw her.
Pride was there, holding both of them in her arms, her body bruised and battered, her armor cracked and nearly falling apart. Blood dripped from a cut on her cheek, but her smile remained.
"L-Leo..." she said softly, her voice shaky but warm.
Leo let out a long, ragged breath, finally stepping back to the ground as Pride landed gently.
"Ha... ha... that was way too close," he muttered, his heartbeat thundering in his chest. He had come seconds away from dying.
"Valra, are you alright?" he asked, turning to her.
Valra blinked and finally stepped back with a flushed, awkward expression. "Y-Yeah... I'm fine."
Crack... BOOMMM!!
They all turned at once.
Behind them, the building began to collapse completely, flames roaring from within as one entire section gave in, crashing down with a deafening roar.
Leo stared at it, stunned. "Did Envy...?"
Before he could finish, a familiar voice cut in—raspy and annoyed.
"D-Don't get your hopes up..."
They turned to the side and saw Envy limping toward them, his body bruised and burned.
But he was alive.
"Envy!" Leo gasped, relief flooding him.
"What do we do now?" he asked, looking around at the wreckage.
Valra took a deep breath, her eyes fixed on the burning remains of the tower. "For now... the Mage Association will take over. You two need to leave the area. I'll handle the aftermath."
Leo raised a brow. "Are you sure? What if they are still here?"
Valra smirked. "They're already here... If you stay, they might take you in for questioning... maybe even dissection."
Leo's eyes widened. "Yeah, no thanks!" Without hesitation, he grabbed Pride's hand and turned to leave.
"Let's get the hell out of here," he muttered.
Valra watched them walk away, her eyes lingering for a moment. Then she slowly turned back to the burning ruins.
"You can rest now, Envy," she said quietly.
Envy nodded, exhaling slowly before vanishing into mist.
The building continued to groan and collapse....
Her eyes narrowed suddenly.
From the corner of her vision, figures began to emerge from the shadows of the rooftop nearby.
Everyone was clad in black cloaks—silent, uniform.
Except one.
Among them stood a single figure dressed in white.
Valra's gaze fixed on her instantly.
"You took your sweet time," she muttered, eyes sharpening.
The figure stepped forward, her voice soft and teasing. "Haha... sweetie, I came as soon as I heard from Jing."