CHAPTER 1148: TALK

Sylmira froze when she saw Arty. That wasn’t the girl she knew anymore. Black mist swirled around her body, it was getting thicker now, feeding on her rage.

From the sides, Sylmira could see her eyes empty of humanity yet burning with hatred.

Sylmira’s chest tightened with guilt. "I should’ve been there. I should’ve stopped this."

She had promised to protect Arty from that darkness, to keep her away from the influence that once nearly consumed her. And yet here it was again. The influence was getting worse, stronger, and could be deeper into her soul.

The word the being had shouted—"Zerathul"—echoed in her mind. It carried weight, a name that didn’t belong to their world.

It wasn’t random, it meant something. But what? The uncertainty gnawed at her even as her instincts screamed that the name was a key to something dangerous.

Before she could think further, the air exploded with huge sounds.

Arty lunged forward again, fire blazing from her fists, wind swirling violently around her body, the ground cracking beneath her as water surged up from shattered soil.

The being answered with his own storm, his entire body glowing in white-blue lightning as he commanded rain and gales that tore the forest apart.

Every strike between them became a natural disaster. Bolts of lightning speared the ground. Flames met torrents of water that exploded into clouds of steam.

Shockwaves ripped through trees, turning trunks to splinters and flattening acres of forest in seconds.

The clash of their powers reached up, painted the stormy sky with violent flashes of power and a little bit of blackness.

Sylmira had to shield her face and retreat, the sheer force of the Magic shockwave nearly throwing her far away.

She stumbled back until she stabled herself again, then she could only watch.

The battle below was beyond anything she could contain.

Arty and the being were no longer just fighting, they were annihilating everything around them.

Sylmira’s heart ached as she whispered to herself, "Arty... what have I done to you?"

—

Meanwhile, Arty’s consciousness drifted far from the battle. She was no longer facing the being of storm. She was somewhere else entirely.

Here, everything was dark and red, like she was trapped inside a space made of decaying flesh. The air pulsed thick, wet and alive.

She blinked several times, trying to steady her breath, and realized she was standing inside a room with black and red walls that seemed to twist and breathe around her.

The sight alone made her skin crawl.

"This... this isn’t right," she thought, trembling. "How am I here? I was just fighting that man before... what happened?!"

Panic began to rise in her chest. She could still feel the faint echo of her power, but it felt distant, buried under a fog.

Whatever this place was, it was wrong. Here it was too quiet, and too heavy with an energy she didn’t understand.

The same dark influence she had felt earlier was pressing down again, thick and suffocating. It was back, stronger than before, crawling inside her mind.

She looked down at her hands, expecting to see rot or black veins like before, but they looked normal. Yet something told her that what she saw wasn’t real. Her body wasn’t here. Only her mind was.

Then, without sound or warning, someone appeared in front of her.

He materialized out of the air like smoke gathering into form. A tall and lean man wearing the face of someone she didn’t recognize.

His golden hair fell down to his shoulders, and his eyes glowed faintly with the same golden hue.

Black robes wrapped around him, streaked with veins of gold that shimmered like molten metal.

A thick aura of black mist curled around his feet and hands, writhing like it was alive.

"Who are you?" Arty demanded, her voice echoing in the pulsating room.

The man smiled pleasantly, his tone almost playful. "Me? Ah... that’s a complicated question. I’ve changed, you see. I’ve evolved... and become something else entirely."

He stepped closer, his golden eyes fixed on her as if he were studying her soul.

"I know your brother," he said suddenly. "He’s trapped right now. But I’m sure he’ll find a way out soon."

Arty froze. "What... what are you talking about?"

Before she could say more, the man raised a hand, and the air between them rippled like a disturbed reflection. His smile widened.

"Meanwhile, you and I," he said softly, "have something very important to talk about."

—

The wild and unstoppable battle raged on. The storm above screamed as if the sky were splitting apart, mirroring the chaos below.

Arty and the being clashed again and again. Two forces of nature locked in a brutal dance of destruction.

The being hurled lightning that tore through the air, his power roaring. His attacks carved deep craters into the earth, sending molten rock spraying outward.

But Arty met his attacks without hesitation. She raised her hands, and pillars of fire erupted from the ground, devouring the lightning in their furious blaze.

The heat twisted the air, and the rain evaporated before touching her skin.

Wind screamed around her as she launched herself forward. Her movements were faster than a blur.

The being swung his arm, sending a wall of slicing gales at her, but Arty countered by commanding the earth beneath her feet to rise into a shield.

It shattered upon impact, but it gave her enough time to strike.

She swung her arm downward, and blades of condensed water formed midair, whistling toward him.

The being tried to dodge, but one cut deep across his chest, spraying sparks of energy and blood.

He snarled, the light of his body flickering as he sent another burst of power through the storm.

Bolts of lightning fell like a rain of spears, and for a moment the entire forest was illuminated in pure white light.

But Arty didn’t retreat.

She roared and let her fury take over. The elements around her bending to her will. Fire, wind, water, and earth. Four forces collided around her, swirling into a massive vortex that expanded outward like a hurricane of pure destruction.

The sky turned crimson, and the land beneath them cracked open.

When the explosion of power subsided, smoke covered the battlefield.

The air trembled with heat and electricity. Through the haze, the being staggered, his form broken, his body covered in burns and gashes that leaked glowing light instead of blood.

Still, he tried to stand, glaring at her with what remained of his strength.

Arty landed in front of him, her expression still snarling and her eyes blazing with blackness and rage. Without a word, she gathered her power one last time.

Flames engulfed her arms as water and wind spiraled around her fists.

She punched forward. A wave of elemental energy exploded outward, tearing through the air and striking the being directly in the chest.

The impact shattered him. His body split in half, glowing fragments scattering like dying stars.

His scream was lost beneath the crash of thunder as his form disintegrated into the storm.

Arty stood above what was left of him, his torso and head, its still crackling faintly with dying light.

The rain poured over her face, but she didn’t move. She only stood there, silently. Her aura flickering with an unstable black mist, as the storm began to die around her.

—