"[Oblivion]!"

"[Absolute Frost]!"

Using Eternal Frost too much costed her lifespan, and the same could be said about Immortal Ki. Using them both like this was tantamount to suicide.

Still, Erina didn't falter even a single time.

A blizzard appeared surrounding Erina. It was unlike any blizzard that could naturally be formed, just one look at it made it evident that anyone who went into it would be torn into a thousand pieces by the fierce wind and snow.

At the same time, Mars cut down with his sword. There was a giant rift in space. The air looked like it was being sucked inside. The Eternal Frost that could only be melted by Hell Flames was cut open.

The two powers clashed. One that of an angel's and one that of a demon's.

Only one word could describe it: chaos.

There was nothing that could be understood even if you looked at it from the outside. The two powers mixed and clashed against each other at the same time—causing unbelievable damage to the surroundings. If it weren't for the remaining Eternal Frost dome, there was no doubt that half the city would've been wiped out.

However, inside that chaos were two figures.

"Kuh..."

Erina groaned and the darkness that was trying to cut through the frost got the advantage. The darkness advanced forward while the frost receded slightly. Even though it was just a slight setback, it was the trigger.

Like a dam beginning to leak, it would only leak faster and faster. It was only a matter of time until it broke.

Erina who had charged at Mars, took several steps back. Her confidence in winning was beginning to falter.

She was forced down on one knee as she desperately tried to defend against the attack—even going so far as to use more of her life force to fight back. Even if she were to lose years of her life in this battle, it would be better than losing it all today.

Looking at the overwhelming power charging at her and no way to escape, Erina smiled wryly.

"You're really strong..."

Her arm that was holding up her sword began to weaken and it wouldn't be long before it gave out. The light in her eyes was also starting to fade, hopelessness was taking over the entirety of her mind. There would be no escape, as this man could even destroy her Eternal Frost, however imperfect it may be.

"Kai..."

As she voiced the name of her beloved that she hadn't seen for a while, she held her chest and closed her eyes.

...

Just then, she heard it.

It wasn't a strange noise she hadn't heard before. In fact, she had heard it many times throughout her lives.

It was the sound of her own heartbeat.

But, why was it so loud? In this maelstrom of chaos where no sound should be distinguishable, she could hear it ever so clearly.

Thump thump thump

She could hear the sound of her own heart despite not having her ear close to it.

Why was this happening? Was it an auditory hallucination?

No, this was something else. She couldn't understand why she knew that, but it just felt like she was aware of what was happening.

Erina couldn't feel anything. Her five senses were still there, but they were all a blur. The pain her arm was feeling from having to fight against the darkness wasn't there anymore. She stood up in the middle of the jumbled-up mass of mana and calmly spoke.

"『Stasis』"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the world around her became monochrome. Without fearing the attack aimed at her earlier, Erina moved out of the way and a few seconds later, her previous spot was eaten up by the darkness. The Eternal Frost covering the area behind her was also erased.

"Hm?"

Mars frowned when he saw Erina to the side. She was no longer wearing her armor, and she wasn't holding a sword either.

'Her state isn't normal...'

Instead of letting his guard down, Mars roused his mana and made sure he would be aware of any moves she might try to do.

'How did she manage to get out of there while avoiding my detection?'

Though it was a question that bothered Mars, this was a battle. There was no time to think about it so calmly. He prepared to attack again, but as soon as he blinked his eyes, Erina's figure vanished.

"Where—?! Agh!"

Mars' body bent forward. There was blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth.

Erina was standing there with her hand on top of his chestplate. There was ice coming out of her hand and going through his armor.

"Akh!"

Mars tried to stab Erina while she was near but she moved away as fast as she could and in his current state, he wouldn't be able to catch up to her. He fell to one knee and relied on his sword to stand up. His other hand was clutching his bleeding chest. The ice went through his skin but fortunately stopped just before it reached his heart.

With his abnormally large body, his skin was also pretty thick. If the ice went just a little bit deeper, his heart would've been hit and he'd have been killed instantly.

"...Lord Mars?"

Nerio arrived. With the dome of Eternal Frost already taken down, they entered without a problem. They had expected Erina to be severely injured—if not dead. Instead, what they saw was the person they had complete faith in kneeling down on one knee while his opponent was standing there nonchalantly.

Neri's mana ran rampant and she shot the most deathly glare she had ever made at Erina.

"Y-you wretch!"

Of the three sisters, Nerio was the leader, Ene was the most active, and Neri was the most collected. For her to go out of control meant that someone had pushed her to her very limit.

Neri raised her arms and thousands upon thousands of black orbs filled the sky. She was going to send them crashing into Erina but before she could lower her arms, she was sent flying by a wave of ice—causing the black orbs to dissipate.

"?!"

Nerio was alarmed and quickly put up her guard. Erina hadn't even turned at them yet Neri was already sent flying. From what she saw in the brief instant Neri was attacked, she wasn't too badly hurt. Still, she wouldn't be able to return immediately after taking a hit without her guard up.

"Nerio, back down!"

Mars yelled out.

"B-but, Lord Mars!"

"This woman isn't someone the three of you can handle. You'll only get in the way."

"..."

Nerio bit her lower lip and after glaring at Erina, she moved away to find Neri.

After the two of them were out of the way, Mars turned his attention back to Erina.

"Tell me, angel. How did you suddenly gain this much power?"

Although judging by the quality of her mana, she hadn't gotten any drastic increase. To be so fast and precise that her attacks couldn't be seen through in advance, just what had happened during their earlier clash of powers?

"This... is a strange feeling..."

Erina muttered. Her eyes were unfocused, but Mars could tell that she was more ready to battle than ever. If she could even hear what Mars was saying is a mystery.

Beings with Innate Abilities weren't as rare as those with Supreme Being Medallions, but they were a close second. Kai isn't the reason that those in Memento Mori will be able to unlock Innate Abilities.

It's just that even in the other timeline, they had already unlocked this power by themselves. What Kai did was just to accelerate their growth, and allow them to awaken it faster than before. It didn't change even among the demons and angels, those with Innate Abilities were just as scarce.

It wasn't strange that Mars didn't know the signs of an Innate Ability as he personally didn't have one. And, witnessing someone's awakening was normally only available to their opponents.

Mars didn't hesitate any longer, he took the initiative to attack this time. He did his best to ignore the pain in his chest and stood up. He charged at Erina with the intent to end the battle immediately.

Erina, however, didn't react at all. She just waited until Mars was nearly a meter or two away from her. Just when he swung his sword to chop off her head, she vanished. Mars' pupils shrank and he tried to defend against the attack coming from behind him but it was too late. There were three slashes on his back—all using Immortal Ki and Eternal Frost.

Mars hissed and backed away.

Erina swung her sword to the side and the blood that was on her rapier splattered on the ground. She had intended for it to be a lethal blow but Mars' body was way tougher than she had thought. And, since she only had a few seconds inside her ability, she couldn't dish out enough power to finish him.

But that wasn't the end of her problems. With each use of her ability, the time she could stop it became less and less. It also drained a lot of her stamina and if her instincts were correct, she could only use it a handful more times lest she wanted to chip off more from her life force.

With the resolve to end the battle as soon as possible, Erina gripped her rapier.

"Haa... Haa..."

Kei was leaning on his sword while Ene, who he had been fighting just moments prior was unconscious on the ground. He had managed to win somehow when Ene lost her focus because of Erina's fight. If the fight had been prolonged further, there was no telling what the outcome would be.

But, Kei was sure that he would be left severely wounded either way.

"I have to get out of here..."

Kei began looking for a way to escape. In this state, he wouldn't be able to help Erina even if he tried. And, he couldn't kill Ene because he didn't know about her alignment. If Ene wasn't part of the hostile faction, then things would be a whole lot more troublesome for Kai.

Someone of her ability wouldn't be just of regular status.

Just as Kei was planning to run away, two figures floated down from the skies and blocked his exit.

"..."

Kei took a deep breath. Something inside him snapped.

"All of you... coming out one by one like a bunch of bugs..."

It wasn't like Kei hadn't been in a situation like this many times before. The vampire siege was a tough fight where he could die at any moment. This was just on another scale. His irritation built up like a dam.

"...Bugs, you say?"

A vein bulged from Nerio's forehead and her mana soared. Her mana was the highest among the three sisters, but instead of feeling fear and despair, Kei could only feel rage. The blood was rushing to his head.

"First, I was teleported to god knows where. Next, I had to live off of wild animals that I've never even seen before. Then, when we finally got to a city, we were being monitored. And now, this?"

Kei was trembling.

Nerio was about to attack but Neri put her hand in front of her sister.

"Big Sister Nerio, that man... something is happening within his body."

"All the more reason to end it now."

Nerio conjured darkness in her hands and pointed at Kei. A giant beam of darkness enveloped Kei and the area around him. For a good five seconds, the beam continued to eat at anything in its path.

When it ended, Kei was standing there in his previous spot. The land all around him was gone, but he was still standing. The wounds that were on him worsened, but it didn't look like he fell unconscious.

"..."

Nerio frowned and was about to attack one more time.

"『Berserk』"