If anyone were to ask who in the world knew Arcueid best, there was likely no one else besides True Moon. After all, Arcueid was created with True Moon as the blueprint and was essentially a spare body for True Moon.
Although True Moon had lost the power of Moon UO and become a Heroic Spirit, it was still easy to use magic to slightly provoke Arcueid's sanity.
Arcueid, who was originally throwing a small tantrum, suddenly froze. Then, an ominous magic rose from her body. With her hair disheveled, Arcueid entered a berserk state and instantly charged into the sky, punching Altrouge into the sea. At the same time, she used a backhand elbow to strike the volleyball back to Rin.
"Bang!"
The volleyball, suddenly imbued with increased power, caused Rin—who was distracted by the berserk Arcueid—to stumble. It was then caught by Sakura on the ground and passed back to Rin.
Rin bounced the volleyball up first, then rubbed her chest where she had just been hit, glaring at True Moon and shouting.
"What are you doing, True Moon!"
"I saw you were being too slow, so I'm just letting you decide the winner sooner."
Rin glared at True Moon with annoyance. With the intention of settling the score later, she punched the volleyball that had fallen back in front of her, making a declaration at the same time.
"Volleyball above, air below."
Rin actually wanted to declare 'Volleyball above, True Ancestor below,' but for the current Rin, directly declaring a Natural Spirit like a True Ancestor with Lights Execution was still too difficult.
The volleyball, enhanced by Lights Execution and Rin's strength, tore through the air, ignoring air resistance and flying toward Arcueid at a speed even faster than Arcueid's previous return.
"Bang!"
Rin's returned volleyball sent Arcueid somersaulting through the air. The immense force left Arcueid with no time to adjust her posture, leaving her to watch helplessly as the volleyball fell toward the empty half of the court.
Just as the volleyball was about to touch the ground, an explosion rang out, sending hundreds of tons of seawater into the sky. A dark shadow flashed like lightning at the moment the ball was about to land, striking it back to Rin's side. Before Rin or Sakura could react, the opponents scored a point.
The one who returned the volleyball was none other than Altrouge, who had just been punched into the sea by Arcueid.
Landing on the ground, Rin picked up the volleyball from the large crater with annoyance and casually used magic to repair the hole in the ground.
"Sister, I'm sorry!"
Sakura, believing she had lost the point by failing to catch the ball, walked up to Rin with self-reproach and lowered her head dejectedly.
Rin rubbed Sakura's hair with some frustration. Actually, Rin, who was now slightly shorter than Sakura, felt a bit awkward about the gesture, but long-standing habit made her do it unconsciously.
"Sakura! It's just a game, what's there to apologize for! Have some confidence! Besides, we only lost one point."
Rin always had a bit of a headache when it came to Sakura. In Rin's eyes, her sister Sakura was almost perfect, except she always seemed to lack confidence in front of Rin. Her tendency to apologize at every turn made Rin, who always hoped Sakura could stand on her own, constantly worry about her.
Hearing that Rin didn't blame her, a smile returned to Sakura's face. She happily went back behind Rin and found her position.
Did Sakura really lack confidence? Of course not. Although Sakura's life in this world hadn't been entirely smooth sailing, she hadn't encountered the tragedies of the original story. Furthermore, with talent on the same level as Rin's and being cared for in all aspects, her current power might not be enough to tear apart Heroic Spirits or crush a Magus, but she could certainly defeat some second-rate Heroic Spirits, and even fight some first-rate ones by relying on elemental advantages.
But Rin was too dazzling. Although Rin and Sakura were on the same level in terms of talent, Rin was practically a walking cheat! As a representative of those with 'cheat' powers, Rin not only surpassed Sakura in all aspects but also, through incident after incident, caused Sakura's feelings for her to fall into a mix of admiration and 'forbidden' emotions.
How could such a Sakura be full of confidence in front of Rin? Combined with Sakura's naturally introverted personality, she wasn't assertive in her dealings at all.
At this time, Altrouge looked at Arcueid, who had exited her berserk state, and a fierce argument broke out between them.
Rin looked at the True Ancestor sisters who were about to start a physical brawl and glanced proudly at Sakura behind her. Then, Rin walked over to Sakura and thrust the volleyball into her arms.
"Sakura, you take the main attack!"
"Ah! But..."
"No buts!"
Seeing Sakura's hesitant expression, Rin pushed Sakura's back to move her into the main attacker position. Then, Rin gave Sakura a thumbs-up and turned back to the position where Sakura had been standing.
"Go for it! Sakura."
Hearing Rin's encouragement from behind, Sakura took a deep breath to calm her nervous emotions.
The calmed Sakura seemed to think of something as her eyes suddenly lit up. She instantly activated Reinforcement Magic across her whole body, and a yellow light glowed in her hands as she served the volleyball.
On the opposite side, Altrouge and Arcueid, who were pulling at each other's collars, didn't care about Sakura's serve at all. The two sisters simultaneously used their free hands to casually swat at the volleyball.
Then, as they touched the volleyball, their expressions suddenly changed. The True Ancestor sisters actually felt a sense of tension at the same time.
The volleyball, which had been struck by both sisters, was barely returned by Sakura using all her might. However, this time, Sakura's hands were imbued with red magic.
Seeing the volleyball covered in red magic flying toward them, the first thought of the True Ancestor sisters was actually...
"Dodge!" x2
The two who had jumped out of the way simultaneously suddenly realized this was a match, not a battle. They both dove to save the ball, hoping to knock the volleyball up.
However, it was too late. The volleyball, bolstered by Sakura's Reinforcement Magic and emotional magic, wasn't as supersonic as the ones hit by Rin and the True Ancestors, but it was still incredibly fast.
With a whistle from True Moon, the score instantly became one to one.
"Hahaha, good job, Sakura!"
Rin, who had originally intended to help Sakura build confidence, was so happy to see Sakura score a point against the True Ancestor sisters in such a short time that she rushed to Sakura's side, threw her arms around her, and jumped for joy.
However, Rin didn't notice that Sakura, being held by her, now had a dazed look in her eyes and cheeks that were completely flushed red.
"Sakura, see? It's that simple! As long as you want to, you can definitely do it!"
Unlike the celebration on Rin's side, Altrouge and Arcueid continued to blame each other. Both sides stared at each other with murderous eyes, rubbing their fists and preparing to fight.
For Arcueid, what was originally a fun game had been ruined by Altrouge.
For Altrouge, Arcueid had completely shamed their Father King.
With their own agendas, how could the two sisters defeat the united Rin and Sakura? They could only watch as the score gap widened while they constantly hindered each other, quickly losing the match.
The two who lost the match didn't say a word. After glancing at each other, they both flew toward a corner of the Spiritron World. Soon, sounds of tremors and explosions continuously echoed from that direction.
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