Exactly for a single breath.
That was enough for everything around to change.
And before her—him.
Zen.
Standing amid the vortices.
Amid the fog.
Amid snow and ash.
His eyes—not just red.
Rage in its purest form.
Liquid light that didn’t even allow blinking.
And then—
?? Rage exploded.
Not a metaphor.
Not an image.
A real flash.
A pillar of fire tore through the sky.
Flames surged upward for hundreds of meters,
and the demons who were too close
evaporated instantly.
The titan golems he had created earlier cracked,
as if they themselves were afraid of their master.
The snow around melted,
the ground turned to glass.
For the first time in the entire fight, Mira raised an eyebrow.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
— Now that’s more like it, — she whispered.
He moved.
Not a step.
Not a dash.
A rupture of space.
As if someone cut him out of one place
and inserted him into another—without transition.
A strike—from below upward, an icy blade,
enough to split a mountain.
Mira dodged,
but the blade passed so close
that it cut her cheek,
sending sparks into the air.
She smiled.
The kind of smile worn by someone who knows:
now the game has truly begun.
Zen struck again.
A second time.
A third.
A tenth.
Each blow—like an attempt to tear space itself apart.
But Mira—
Mira moved as if she were reading the rhythm of his rage.
She dodged,
dropped low,
slid through fire,
bent the flames to her will,
twisted the trajectory of his strikes.
She was the center of calm in an ocean of madness.
Zen drew back—
and this was his true power.
A combination of ice, lightning, flame, wind, and the crushing pressure of earth.
Something inhuman.
Something that should have erased the entire steppe.
Mira exhaled.
Almost… tiredly.
And vanished.
She appeared beside him.
With one motion of her palm she swept aside all his energy,
as if brushing dust from her clothes.
With the second motion—
she drove her fist into his solar plexus.
A blow.
The air around them exploded.
The ground cracked.
A pressure wave rolled out for hundreds of meters,
throwing everyone down—demons and humans alike.
Zen doubled over.
The flames around him froze.
For a moment, he was a child again.
She struck a second time.
To the temple.
A third.
To the chest.
A fourth—an elbow to the back of the head.
Not to kill.
To knock him out.
He fell.
His body scorched the ground…
and went still.
Mira stood over him.
Dropped to one knee.
Pressed her palm to his chest.
— You really lost control, kid… — she said quietly.
Mana around them obediently gathered into a pattern.
A seal—complex.
Perfect.
Not just a lock.
A system of dozens of layers,
each one breathing,
like a living being.
Fiery symbols flowed across his body,
weaving into his skin.
The ground around them warmed slightly.
Even the air changed its density.
The soldiers watched, not understanding
what was happening.
The demons didn’t dare come closer.
The phoenixes circled overhead,
like flaming sentinels.
And then—the seal closed.
A soft crack.
A gentle glow.
Mira smiled.
Warmly.
With a hint of exhaustion.
She leaned down to her brother and, brushing hair from his face, whispered:
— Well then, little brother… now we’re together again.
I missed you so much.
I see you didn’t waste time—broke my old seal, stirred up chaos…
Luckily, I think I made it in time.
She lifted him into her arms—light as a feather.
And for a moment, the world around grew brighter.