"Have you thought of something yet?!" Julian yelled, still running.
"... No."
"I don't know how long this mana amplification will last, so you'd better think. Fast."
"I have thought of something. But... It's a foolish idea."
Fwsh!
A crystal the size of a tree shot past them, sending debris into the air. Julian quickly changed direction, avoiding a collision with the crystal.
"Nothing is foolish right now, Miss Lusha! Give it to me! What's your idea!?"
Lusha turned around for a moment. The Frun van Jolen she had known was no longer, instead an amalgamation of crystals and an assortment of shiny rocks. The only recognizable item was the necklace that dangled.
Looking at him now, you would've never known he was a human before.
A beast purely of mana. Lusha thought.
"The idea. Please chuck me at that big crystal. And I'll snatch the necklace of."
"What'll that do?"
Another chunk of crystal was narrowly avoided.
"I don't know. But it's worth a try, right? If we let this thing stay alive, in the state he's in right now... I imagine there'll be a lot more deaths in the future. So I'll take it out."
"Okay. Okay. Haah.. I'm gonna trust you, Lusha!"
"..."
. . .
. .
.
A bright summer in the heart of Venichian.
Clack!
Clack!
Clack!
The sound of two wooden swords meeting eachother rang in the summer air. A pair of siblings was surrounded by a fence, standing on packed dirt.
"You're getting better, sister. Still pretty bad, of course."
With a single twist of his foot, Frun van Jolen knocked Lusha van Jolen's sword out of her hand. It spun in the air before hitting the ground.
"Ack!"
Lusha van Jolen landed on the ground with a soft thud. A satisfied grin formed on Frun's face. Reluctantly, his palm outstretched above Lusha.
Lusha smiled, reaching for his hand.
. . .
. .
.
It's best that I think not of unnecessary thoughts like that.
That's right. Harden your resolve! Fight, Lusha van Jolen!
In the chance that I manage to kill my brother, then what? I go back home, and my dad is there, waiting for me with a knife. Because I am a stain on the Jolen lineage.
Fwsh!
Before she knew it, Lusha was in the air, like a missile. She quickly tightened her grip around her sword, passing it to her off hand.
At the speed she was moving, the wind felt much more like a resisting force, blowing brazenly into her face. Just a few dozen meters away, her brother marched. A former, crystal shell of her brother. If she took off that necklace, what would happen?
He'd die, wouldn't he?
It was time!
With how close she was, Lusha van Jolen realized grabbing the necklace was a lost cause. So, she thought of the next thing.
[Cast: Low Flame Slash]
Lusha van Jolen. A burnout. Skilled in her youth in some areas, but that was just because the competition was simply low. This was the only technique she had managed to retain.
Swsh!
The blade of metal slid horizontally, slashing the strange-patterned necklace in half. It managed to cut into some of the thick crystal as well.
B-but I'm still moving forward! Gah! I didn't plan this at all!
She slammed into a crystal wall. Falling.
Julian moved quickly. He bent his knees, dashing toward Lusha. It was correctly timed, allowing him to catch her.
The crystals had lost integrity, collapsing into the ground.
"..."
"..."
You could hear a pin drop at this moment.
Lusha walked over toward the pile of crystal after hearing some kind of shuffling. There, her brother, unclothed, desperately pulled crystals off him. His skin was ashen, and his physique had shriveled.
Lusha pointed his sword at him.
"Agh!" Frun instantly lifted his hands up.
Her eyes shifted back and forth. From her blade to Frun's throat, to the open space behind them. After what felt like hours, her lips parted softly, for her to then speak.
"Leave. Frun van Jolen. And tell this to your father. Lusha van Jolen has officially abdicated!"
I don't think abdication is the right term. Julian watched from afar.
Lusha turned around. The instant she turned her back, Frun leaped at her. Julian's eyes shot toward him.
!
Suddenly, he caught afire. A shallow horizontal cut at his collarbone ignited, spreading to the rest of his body quickly. His skin formed blisters, blisters that were quickly popped, growing black. Frun writhed in pain and agony, falling to the floor.
"[Low Flame Slash]... a warm cut. It becomes potent far later. Haah, maybe if I had landed hits with my sword, I would've become something in that damned house."
His screams grew louder and louder. Lusha promptly turned around, meeting with Julian. Once she was out of hearing distance, she finally spoke.
"I didn't expect him to be so... flammable. Must've been the drying of his skin. This whole time, it took moisture to create his crystals? Interesting."
Conveniently, Julian felt his skin cooling down.
"You really spoke with a lot of conviction, Lusha."
"Hah, you think so? I don't know. I felt like I had to impress a kid, and really drill it into Frun, before he died," she chuckled, very lightly. Though she was still a little shaken.
Everyone in this world... is so brave.
"Julian!"
Julian turnt his head, hearing the familiar, sweet voice. Umilythe jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his torso. They fell to the floor.
"I'm so glad you're alive, Julian! She's dead, I did it. I really managed to do it. I was as brave as you claimed I was. It's thanks to you, Julian. Thank you. If I had never met you, I would've lived my life a slave!" she spoke quickly without breathing.
"Umilythe... my skin is still sensitive."
She lifted her head from the crane of his neck.
"Ah, I-I'm sorry."