I had never felt smaller in my life.

  Two goddesses of destruction, two behemoths of power, were fighting above me, around me, and I was the center of it.

  I could barely breathe.

  Reika and Mayume cshed like forces of nature, their bodies moving with terrifying speed despite their massive scale. The very air trembled with every strike, the foundations of Mayume’s grand pace cracking apart like brittle gss under the sheer force of their battle.

  I barely had time to react before Reika moved first—

  A bck tendril of energy snapped outward from her palm, moving with deadly precision, aiming for Mayume’s chest—

  Mayume twisted, her violet robes billowing as she vanished in a blur of motion, her form flickering like a mirage, reappearing just beside me—

  And her hand reached for me.

  "Mine."

  Her slender fingers, deceptively delicate, moved to close around me—

  Then—Reika was there.

  "No."

  A bck-and-gold barrier erupted between us, forcing Mayume back with a shockwave that sent the entire throne room colpsing inward.

  I was thrown into the air, tumbling—

  But before I could fall, before I could even register my own helplessness—

  Reika caught me.

  Not in her hand—

  But in a golden field of energy, wrapping around me like a weightless cocoon, suspending me midair.

  I wasn’t touching the ground anymore.

  I was floating.

  "Stay there," Reika commanded, without looking at me, her tone absolute.

  I had no choice.

  The energy held me still, keeping me in pce just above the battlefield, a helpless observer caught between titans.

  A Battle of Titans

  Mayume didn’t hesitate.

  The instant she regained her footing, she thrust a hand forward, and a sphere of violet energy cracked into existence, pulsating, shifting like an unstable star.

  Then—it shot toward Reika.

  Reika didn’t even flinch.

  She merely raised a single hand, and bck tendrils shed out, meeting the sphere midair—

  The collision rippled through the air, warping space itself, the impact creating a pulse of raw destruction that sent pilrs crumbling, entire sections of the pace disintegrating into nothingness.

  I barely breathed, the shockwave rattling the golden barrier around me, making me feel like a speck caught in the middle of an earthquake.

  Mayume darted forward, her movements inhumanly fluid, flickering in and out of view, as if she were a shadow that reality struggled to contain.

  She appeared at Reika’s side, already mid-strike, her hand cloaked in crackling violet energy, aiming for Reika’s ribs—

  Reika shifted—

  And caught the blow with a single arm.

  The impact sent a deep, thunderous tremor through the pace, and for the first time, I saw it—

  Mayume’s expression faltered.

  Just for a second.

  But Reika saw it too.

  With unnerving calm, Reika’s bck energy tendrils wrapped around Mayume’s wrist, and before Mayume could pull away—

  Reika twisted.

  A sickening crack tore through the air.

  Mayume let out a sharp breath, her body wrenching sideways as Reika hurled her across the battlefield.

  She smmed into a stone pilr, the force obliterating it instantly, debris raining down like falling stars.

  I could feel it—Reika was stronger.

  More than stronger.

  She was dominant.

  And Mayume knew it.

  The Final Warning

  Mayume staggered back to her feet, her breath unsteady, her violet energy still pulsing in one palm, but I could see the shift in her stance now.

  She wasn’t attacking anymore.

  She was assessing.

  Calcuting.

  Reika tilted her head slightly, her amethyst gaze eerily unreadable, as if this was all a mildly interesting spectacle to her.

  "You weren’t expecting me so soon," Reika murmured.

  Mayume’s lips pressed together, her fingers tightening at her side.

  Then—she smiled.

  "Perhaps not," she admitted, rolling her shoulders, the violet glow around her flickering slightly.

  Reika stepped forward, her bare foot pressing against the cracked remains of Mayume’s throne, the weight of her presence alone making the entire structure groan in protest.

  "Listen carefully, Mayume," she said softly.

  The temperature in the room plummeted.

  "You will not come for him again."

  The words weren’t a suggestion.

  They were w.

  Mayume’s expression remained unreadable.

  But her fingers twitched.

  And I could see it in her eyes—

  She understood.

  Reika wasn’t just warning her.

  She was stating a fact.

  Mayume exhaled slowly, rolling her shoulders, straightening her stance.

  Then, she smiled again.

  A small, knowing smile.

  "We’ll see."

  Reika’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  Then—she turned, and with a flick of her wrist, she lowered the golden barrier around me, catching me effortlessly in the palm of her hand before I could even process what was happening.

  She lifted me to her face, her gaze briefly scanning me, as if checking for any sign of injury.

  Then—she exhaled.

  "You really can’t stay out of trouble, can you?"

  I let out a shaky breath, my body still reeling from the sheer intensity of what had just happened.

  "Not my fault I’m so popur," I muttered weakly.

  A quiet scoff, almost a chuckle, before Reika’s gaze flickered back toward Mayume one st time.

  And without another word—she turned and walked away.

  Taking me with her.

  Leaving Mayume behind in the ruins of her own pace.

  And as we left, I couldn’t help but wonder—

  Was this really over?