Sunrise and events on the other side

"Haaa... Haaa... Haa..."

Blair and Fara collided with all their might. The impact was deafening, and Fara's physical superiority was instantly evident; Blair was sent flying, her body a rag doll hurled against the distant arena wall. The crash was thunderous, raising a cloud of dust and debris.

"AAAAARGH!!"

"Got yo-what?!"

However, before Fara could pursue Blair, who crashed thunderously against the wall, she noticed her own body beginning to freeze at an alarming rate.

(Ice? When did she...?!)**

Fara looked at her limbs in disbelief. In the first clash, Blair, with brutal cunning, had managed to etch an ice rune onto her skin. And just before impacting the wall, Blair snapped her fingers, activating it.

"Bwaaaagh!!... Cough, cough!... Hahh... Hahhh... Urgh..."

Blair, meanwhile, slid down the wall to the ground, vomiting a mouthful of blood that stained the arena. A stabbing pain shot through her from head to toe. With that impact, her body had reached its absolute limit. She felt as if multiple bones were broken and an internal hemorrhage burned from her abdomen.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!!"

However, from the center of the smoke, Fara laughed maniacally, a guttural laugh filled with fury as she broke free from the ice imprisoning her with pure brute force. Fragments of ice burst around her, revealing her monstrous figure.

".... It's time."

At that instant, Blair knew it. To have the slightest chance of winning, she had to use her ace in the hole.

"... I'm sorry... Everyone..."

With trembling but determined hands, she pulled out an intricately blood-written black rune and placed it on her chest, right over her heart.

"Urgh!! RAAAAAAWWWWWRRR!!!"

As she did so, a tearing roar of pain escaped her throat while a terrible transformation consumed her. Her skin turned red, appearing like raw flesh, and dense crimson smoke began to release from every pore of her body. Her eyes dilated into immense pupils, and her veins grotesquely swelled, pulsing beneath the surface of her skin.

This was the "Over Limit" rune. The "professor" had warned Blair about it: a technique not to be used unless there was absolutely no other option. This rune pushed the body beyond its limits for a short period of time, at the cost of placing immense pressure on the user and consuming their lifespan in the process. In return, it temporarily granted strength and vitality beyond conception. The wounds on Blair's body began to heal at an absurd speed, closing before her very eyes. She felt her blood boil, instantly evaporating due to the extreme heat emanating from her body.

"... That form, you... what did you just do?"

"......."

Without responding, Blair began to move at an absurd speed, using the surrounding darkness to conceal herself.

(Explosion!) (Explosion!) (Explosion!) (Explosion!) (Explosion!) (Explosion!) (Explosion!) (Explosion!)

"DAMN IT!!"

Fara, now completely free from the ice, found herself bombarded by fire and lightning runes that Blair activated incessantly, continuously wearing down her resistance. Unable to directly detect Blair in the gloom, Fara defended herself with her tentacles and tongue, which moved at an absurd speed, blocking the attacks with instinctive precision.

(I can't keep up with her! But... she's already tired and losing speed!)

Finally, Fara began to adapt to Blair's unpredictable movements in the darkness.

"There you are!!"

"Aaaaggghhhh!! GRRRRGGRHHR!!!"

With a swift move, she managed to catch her with her tentacles. Without losing an instant, Fara struck a blow with her kitchen machete, which pierced Blair's skin....

(I missed...?!)**

... However, the cut was superficial, shocking Fara. She realized that her opponent was concentrating the density of her muscles to reduce the impact.

"Die!!"

Blair, taking advantage of Fara's momentary surprise and the fact that she had lured her into her trap, decided to deliver the final blow.

"Tch...!!"

"As if it were that easy, damn you!"

But even after cutting with her knife, she noted with frustration how her own cut was also superficial due to extreme exhaustion combined with a factor unknown to her, such as the paralyzing effects of the tentacles holding her, passively weakening her with each passing moment.

(I must kill her now!)

"RAAAAAAAAWRRRR!!!"

Realizing she was weakening faster than expected, Blair changed tactics. She completely abandoned defense to attack relentlessly head-on.

(Damn bitch!)

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGG!!"

Fara, for her part, decided to counterattack, cutting her again and again as the combat transformed into a bloody, direct carnage where both tore each other apart, roaring at each other. Their wills clashed in a display of ferocity and brutality that continued even after the smoke cloud covering the arena cleared. The light revealed the horror: both continued cutting each other, trying to kill each other without paying attention to their surroundings.

The entire audience held a sepulchral silence, watching the brutal confrontation between the two. And amidst the carnage, Fara remembered as she was being torn apart.

(.... This feeling... It's familiar...)

When she was captured by "Susie" in her time as a curse and taken to her "playroom," she experienced the worst kind of suffering. She was torn apart, cut, poisoned, exploded, and much more, while death was impossible for her. She wasn't even allowed any kind of freedom, and "Susie" became more and more creative with her "games". Finally, "Susie" got bored after trying everything she could think of, only for Lilith, seeing that they were about to dispose of her, to decide that she could still be useful, giving her this new form to serve her.

(Aahh... Now I understand...)

After remembering all that, Fara realized she was at death's door. She watched in disbelief as the human in front of her, Blair, somehow remained standing, showing nothing but fury, hatred, and brutality in her eyes.

(... I... also... had that look... once...)

Seeing such eyes, "Fara" managed to "empathize" with another for the very first time, letting herself fall.

(Splat!!)

"Haaa... Haaa... Haa... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAREERRREEERRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

At Fara's fall, the crowd erupted in deafening applause for Blair, who, with a guttural scream to the sky, collapsed to her knees, the effort finally taking its toll. The roar of the audience was a deafening cacophony, but for Blair, it was just a distant hum. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, and darkness began to close in on her vision. She had won. She had reached her limit, beyond anything she thought possible.

Amidst the still delirious crowd, Evianne burst through like a whirlwind, her face a mask of worry. She reached Blair's side, who was swaying as she tried to stand. Evianne held her, supporting her weight as she helped her out of the arena. Blair's body was a mangled mess of pain and exhaustion, but determination still burned in her eyes.

"Hold on a little longer, Blair..."

Evianne whispered, her voice tinged with urgency and fear as she saw her friend's true state.

"No... It's not necessary... We... already have the drug."

Blair, barely audible, shook her head.

"... Please, don't say it."

Evianne pressed her lips together, a pang of anguish piercing her. She knew the price of the "Over Limit" rune, the "professor's" warning resonating in her mind.

"I... can feel... how... my punishment... is coming."

Blair's eyes, though dilated and feverish, fixed on her with sad resignation.

At that instant, as if her words had been a detonator, Blair's veins began to burst beneath her skin, leaving dark and purplish marks. Her body started to contort uncontrollably, as if every nerve was exploding at once in unbearable agony. A muffled moan escaped her lips, but it was stifled by the spasms.

In the distance, the wailing of ambulances grew louder and louder, breaking the somber atmosphere of the arena. Evianne, with tears overflowing, clutched Blair with all her might, her voice a desperate scream tearing through the air.

"Resist! Please, resist!! BLAIRRRRRR!!!"

As dawn began to break over the horizon, painting the sky with orange and pink hues, light fell upon the scene. In her mind, Blair could only whisper:

(I'm sorry, Mom, Willow... I... don't think I'll... see you again...)

.... An apology.

However, beyond Blair's consciousness, within the "veil," in a shattered environment where the sky roared with furious lightning and hurricanes tore through the air, two lights clashed in the sky with earth-shattering roars.

... And below, on the cracked ground, a cracked silver armor desperately tried to stand, each movement a torment.

"How... did we... come to this...?"

He asked...