—Why… why did you do it?! Why did you get in the way?! Answer me, Rin! Damn it, don't die, please!
My scream tore through the air like a lost thunderbolt, but there were no walls for the echo to return to. There was no one else—only the two of us, in that frozen field, white as absence itself, and the scent of hot iron mingling with fresh blood. It was as if time had shattered into a thousand fragments; every word I spoke hung suspended in the frost, tangled in the mist of my ragged breath.
Rin's voice was barely a whisper—hoarse, broken… almost inaudible even though she was right in front of me. It was a sound that hurt, a shard of glass splintering inside my chest. Her body trembled—not only from the cold, but from something deeper, as if her very essence were slowly dissolving. There was light in her eyes, but it was a weary light, like that of a star that had burned through all its fire.
I could see the vapor leave her lips, slow, uneven, growing fainter each time. I could hear her heartbeat—not with my ears, but with my soul: a distant drum losing its strength.
—I… I'm… sorry… sister… tell… everyone… that… I love… them… all… so much…
Every word was a needle. Each syllable seemed to rip the air apart, as if the world itself refused to hear her.
When she finished speaking, her body stopped moving.
That moment was not a moment—it was eternity. It was like falling into an endless abyss where even the wind dared not exist.
The silence was not silence; it was a deaf roar in my ears, a current dragging me inward.
Rage consumed me whole. It was a black fire, thick and suffocating, a hurricane that blew not wind but blades.
I felt my skin turn to ash, my breath become a growl, my heart shatter into a thousand knives thirsting for blood.
—Damn you… you're going to die! Right here, right now—you'll pay for all your sins, for all the suffering of those you killed!
My voice wasn't mine anymore. It was something else. It sounded hollow, reverberating, as if something inside me was speaking at the same time.
Then, without thinking, I shouted:
—Special Ability: Clairvoyance!
[Clairvoyance: Allows the user to foresee attacks that will occur within the next four seconds.]
[Usage Limit: 10 consecutive times. 1-minute cooldown once the limit is reached.]
[Disadvantage: If the user suffers ocular damage, the ability enters a 2-minute cooldown.]
The invisible letters floated in my mind like a scroll of light only I could read. A familiar echo, almost mechanical—but this time, it felt different, as if the ability itself were made of my memories, of every failure and every lesson learned.
With fury, I tore off the roots that still bound my body. I felt the bark rip apart, the cold sap sticking to my hands like viscous poison. It was like ripping pieces from a nightmare.
I grabbed Rin's katana from the ground, right beside her lifeless body, and stood up. That sword weighed as if it carried within it every vow, every tear, every laugh we had shared.
The handle was warm—perhaps from her blood, or perhaps from her memory. I didn't know. I just felt it.
I looked ahead—and saw the immediate future.
It was like opening a third eye on my forehead; the world warped into threads of light, a web of unfolding destinies.
I saw the woman attacking me from below, her roots piercing through my body. I saw my own death before it happened. I saw the snow stained with my blood seconds before it would be.
I dodged just in time. A moment later, the roots burst through the ground where I had been.
The earth shook, spitting dust and shards of ice. It was as if the land itself were enraged—alive and hungry.
I pressed forward, but she reacted swiftly with another strike. Fighting her was like fighting a living shadow, like battling an entire forest compressed into one woman.
I stopped, closed my eyes for a second… and felt her presence behind me. It wasn't instinct—it was certainty written in the air.
I deflected her katana with mine just in time. The clash rang out like thunder, shaking my bones.
—Hey… what does it feel like to have that ability? —she asked.
Her voice was that of someone enjoying a massacre—sweet and venomous at once.
I didn't answer. I just glared at her with hatred. Not simple hatred, but an ancient, boiling one—a dark river that had been growing since the day everything began.
In her eyes, curiosity. In mine, fire.
She smiled, tilting her head like a child playing with a butterfly before tearing off its wings.
—No answer? Hahaha… very well…
Once more, her roots surged from the ground. This time, I wasn't fast enough.
Five roots pierced through my abdomen with brutal force. It was like being impaled by five frozen spears that burned my insides as they entered.
The world shrank into a single point: pain.
I fell to my knees. My blood stained the snow—a vivid red upon pure white, a poem written in fury.
The cold crept up from the ground, mixing with the heat of my blood. It was no longer outside—it was inside me.
The goddess approached, smiling. Her steps were slow, almost dancing, as if savoring every second. Her shadow stretched over me like that of a dead tree.
—Your memories flow through your eyes, heroine! Your damned memories through your damned eyes!
Her voice struck like whips. Each word was a claw on the air.
She had thrown her katana aside as if the battle were already won. She was certain of victory, delighting in my defeat.
Her fingers traced the air, tasting invisible triumph.
—You think you've already won…? Pathetic —I muttered through clenched teeth.
My words came out as smoke, faint but burning.
I waited…
One step… another… until she stood right in front of me.
The world slowed. I could see every snowflake turn, every particle of dust floating. I could hear my own blood rushing like a river inside my ears.
With desperate strength, I swung my katana in a diagonal slash—from her abdomen to her chest. It was a pure movement, thoughtless, like lightning.
Her body trembled. Her strength left her. She fell to her knees before me, gasping.
Her breath came in broken whistles.
Her face said it all: she couldn't understand how she'd lost. A mask of disbelief and rage twisted together.
But she wasn't done yet. That stubborn spark still glimmered in her eyes, that shadow of power refusing to die.
With effort, she reached for her waist and drew a hidden dagger.
That motion—slow to anyone else—was to me like watching a comet explode. Everything was in slow motion, yet I couldn't stop it.
Only one name filled my mind.
—Rin…! —was my last thought.
She lunged forward and, using the last of her strength, stabbed me straight in the heart.
The pain wasn't a strike—it was an ocean closing over me with all its weight.
In that instant, I heard Rin's voice.
I don't know if it was real or just an echo in my mind… but it wrapped around me. A broken melody, a lullaby played in reverse.
My body grew heavy. So heavy. As if gravity itself had multiplied.
Blood poured uncontrollably from my mouth. I could taste the metal mixed with my breath.
The Vitae gem was completely shattered. It could no longer heal. No longer save me.
That crystal, which had been my salvation so many times, was now only dust and silence.
With the little strength I had left, I dragged myself across the ground toward my sister's body.
Each movement was a battle. My hands left trails of blood on the snow, like breadcrumbs for ghosts.
I just wanted… to be beside her. Nothing more.
Each inch cost me more life, like coins falling from a torn pocket.
My vision blurred. The light dimmed. Shadows stretched like reaching hands.
But I didn't care. I just wanted to reach her. To touch her hand one last time.
The world around me dissolved into color and sound. I could hear distant voices, screams that weren't screams, childhood memories blending with the snow. I saw fragments: Rin's laughter in a flower field, her face during training, her gaze the night before battle. Everything was there—in flashes, as if my whole life were passing through my eyes by way of her.
And when I was finally just inches away from her…
[Rin and Hana. Two sisters. Two heroines.
One gave her life for the other. The other bled out to honor that sacrifice.
Their bodies lay only inches apart… yet just far enough that their hands would never meet.]