Abner’s disbelief hung in the air as Roselle and Risebelle tered his attack, leaving Abammering.

  “W-What…are you..!” was all he mao utter out before he was hit by the ter attack.

  Risebelle and Roselle exged a g was one silent aowledgment of their hard-fought victory. But victory came at a heavy cost, and Roselle’s strength depleted to its limits, began to stumble.

  With a grace born of sisterly instinct, Risebelle swiftly moved to catch Roselle as she fell. She cradled her younger sister in her arms with heavy . Roselle’s breathing was shallow, and her eyes were heavy with exhaustion, but the spark of triumph still flickered within her gaze.

  Risebelle held Roselle close, her protective nature ing to the forefront. “You did it, Roselle,” she whispered. “We did it.”

  Roselle managed a weak smile, her strength nearly spent. Despite the toll it had taken ohe satisfa of their victory warmed her heart.

  Abner’s struggled to say, “This... isn’t over.”

  Despite the exhaustion that weighed heavily upon him and the undeniable defeat he had suffered, Abner’s resolve remained unshaken.

  Risebelle and Roselle exged sad gnces.

  Suddenly….

  [System Message]

  Magic Rupture: Stage 2 Initiated

  The words appeared in Roselle’s sciousness like the end of a tra which she had signed within her own body. And then, as if in cruel accordah the ominous message, Agony unlike anything she had ever felt befripped her.

  Roselle’s scream cut through the nd, a visceral cry of anguish that rang through the clearing. Her body vulsed as if rebelling against itself, and she clutched her chest iorment. The pain was searing and uing, an internal battle that threateo e her from the i.

  Risebelle, her eyes wide with arm

  “Roselle!” Risebelle cried out. She held her sister close, her own deepening as she witnessed Roselle’s agony.

  “Roselle! Stay with me!” Risebelle’s trembled out with panic seeping into every word. She could feel the raw power surging within Roselle, threatening to tear her apart from the inside. “You ’t leave us like this! You ’t!” Risebelle soon realized that there were no words that Risebelle could offer fort in the face of such suffering. Risebelle could do nothing but hold her sister close, what little fort and support she could amidst the excruciating torment that Roselle endured

  Roselle’s eyes were wide with terror, her body wracked with spasms. The magic rupture was ing her, and Risebelle could do nothing to stop it. She frantically looked around, searg for anything, any solution to save her sister. Her mind raced through the possibilities, but nothing seemed adequate. Her own magic reserves were insuffit, and there were no healing resourearby.

  Abner watched the se before him, but he made no move to intervene. Roselle’s as today were beyond anyone’s trol, and they could only watch as she had to deal with the price she paid for her victory.

  Risebelle’s heart ached as she held Roselle close, her sister’s screams of agony eg in her ears. She didn’t want to see Roselle suffering like this, and a deep sense of guilt rushed into her mind.

  “It’s my fault,” Risebelle thought. “I pushed her to use that power, to go beyond her limits. I should have been more cautious, more protective. I’m su idiot!”

  Tears flowed endlessly in Risebelle’s eyes as she watched Roselle’s torment. She felt utterly helpless, her own magic reserves not suffit to aid her sister in this dire situation.

  “I have to find a way to save her,” Risebelle whispered to herself. She couldn’t bear to lose Roselle, not after all they had been through together.

  But as she looked down at her sister’s torted form, wracked with anguish, Risebelle couldn’t help but wonder if there was anything she could do to ease Roselle’s suffering. The sed stage of Magic Rupture was a formidable enemy, and she feared that they were entering uncharted territory.

  Abner watched the se unfold before him, and he couldn’t help but be struck by a revetion that shook him to his core.

  ’These creatures... Creations of Kintovar…’Abhought, his gaze fixed on Risebelle and Roselle. ‘They have emotions, bonds, ahs I never imagined.’

  The sight of Risebelle holding Roselle, her face etched with worry and guilt, and Roselle herself writhing in agony, her screams of paihrough the clearing, shook Abo his core.

  ‘Emotion,’ Abner realized with a heavy heart. ‘They are capable of emotions…’

  In a vivid memory of a fateful meeting with the Headmaster, Abner recalled the stern words that had been spoken. The Headmaster, a woman of authority and wisdom, had emphasized the supposed otion in Dr. Kintovar’s creations.

  “They are mere experiments,” the Headmaster had decred this to Abner in the beginning as if all knowing. “Dr. Kintovar’s creations are soulless, emotionless beings. They ck the capacity for feelings, bonds, or humanity. If you are to ever enter them, destroy them without hesitation.”

  Abner had taken those words to heart, believing them without question. The notion that Dr. Kintovar’s creations were nothing more than lifeless experiments had shaped his perspective for so long. He had regarded them as tools, as beings without emotions, and had never sidered the possibility that they could experience pain, suffering, or love.

  Abner looked at Risebelle holding Roselle, her face etched with and guilt, and Roselle herself ihroes of agony, Abner realized the depth of their humanity. They were not the emotionless experiments he had beeo believe they were.

  His as and decisions were now thrown down upon him. The stists who had been killed for creating simir experiments, the pursuit of Dr. Kintovar, and the extra of mana from the Mystical Forest—all of it took on a different light in the face of this revetion.

  “Have we been making the right decisions?” Abner wondered aloud. He couldn’t help but questioh he had been following, the beliefs he had held so steadfastly.

  Risebelle’s trembled with sadness. She addressed Roselle, who still writhed in pain. “I’m so sorry, Roselle,” she whispered, her tears falling like rain. “But I have to leave you like this for now. I have an ass I o destroy.”

  With a heavy heart, Risebelle gently id Roselle on the ground, her face filled with guilt and sorrow. She wiped away her tears and called out the word “on.”

  Risebelle’s aterialized in her hands, and she turned her attention to Abhe source of their current predit. The memory of Abner being infused with the maractor served as a remihat the only way to end this was to eliminate him.

  Risebelle’s on crackled with power, and she aimed it at Abner without hesitating. It was a difficult decision, but she k was the only way to put ao the suffering and dahat had engulfed them all.

  Abner, still grappling with the weight of his own as and beliefs, looked at Risebelle with a fear and resignation.

  Risebelle spoke to Abner.

  “I’m sorry, but I have to kill you now… Actually, no, i’m not sorry. Being sorry is a sign of weakness in the face of the enemy,” she said, her words devoid of mercy.

  Abner, in response, began to ugh, though his ughter held a tinge of bitter resignation. “I uand,” he said with weariness. “There’s no time for sed-guessing ourselves anymore.”

  With a solemn gaze, Abner gathered an orb of light energy into his hand, a st vestige of his magic.

  Abner spoke weaily, “This is all the magical power I have left.”

  In the shadowed clearing, a teandoff unfolded. Risebelle, her on at the ready, locked eyes with Abner, who clutched the shimmering orb in his hand. The air grew heavy with anticipation as the two adversaries prepared for their final csh.

  Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Abner unleashed his ball of radiant energy, its brilliant glow illuminating the darkened surroundings. Risebelle, her finger poised origger of her on, braced herself for the impending onsught.

  But as Abner’s hurtled toward her, a single sh out. Risebelle’s on discharged a powerful bst of water, its azure brilliating through the wind like a speeding et.

  The seds stretched iernity as the two opposing forces closed in on each other, a collision of unstoppable power.

  And then, in that climactient, Risebelle’s shot mao breach the rapidly diminishing distaweehe azure energy surged forward, faster than the radiant orb of light, striking Abner before the orb reaches.

  Abner’s body shuddered as the shot struck true. A look of shod realization crossed his face as the radiant energy dissipated.

  The shot hit Abner’s body, but its true target had been the Maractor that he had merged with. The moment the bst made tact with the extractor, a massive explosioed, sending shockwaves rippling through the clearing.

  Abner’s body was engulfed in a blinding fsh of light as the extractor was obliterated. His scream was loud, drowning in the might of the explosion.

  Risebelle shielded herself from the bst, her on proteg her from the worst of the shockwaves. When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, the extractor was nothing but sm debris, and Abner’s presence had vanished.

  Risebelle stood amidst the aftermath, her breathing heavy. The battle was over, and the threat that had loomed over the Mystical forest had beeinguished.

  Risebelle, after the intetle and the moal explosion that had just occurred, sighed dramatically.

  “Ugh, this was sooo tough!” Risebelle decred, with her eyes l. “I mean, I had to deal with this super-powerful mage and blow up a maractor, plus, there’s still two more Maractors to go… and my damn Magic is at 15%.... anyone believe this bullshit? Why couldn’t this be any easier?”

  Risebelle cast a worried goward her sisters. Roselle’s Aches seemed to have subsided, and although she was far from being in perfect dition, there was a glimmer of relief in her eyes. However, her gaze then fell upon Runebelle, who y lifeless with her life force depleted to 0%.

  A heavy sadness weighed upon Risebelle’s heart as she k down beside Runebelle. She reached out, gently pg a hand on her younger sister’s cheek. “Runebelle,” she whispered softly.

  Runebelle remained unresponsive, frozen in a state of sorrow. Risebelle couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt.

  “I’m going to do everything I to try and save you, Runebelle,” Risebelle vowed, despite the uainty of the situation. She khe odds were stacked against them, but she couldn’t give up without making an effort to try something.

  Risebelle carefully brought Roselle over to where Runebelle y. She wao keep her sisters close, especially with the stress she had to deal with.

  As she sat beside them, Risebelle went into the depths of her mind. She reflected on the plex emotions that had welled up within her. Her innate aoward humans had always been a driving for her life, but these two creations of Kintovar, along with their creator herself, had somehow mao carve a p her heart.

  “I hought having sisters would make me feel this way,” Risebelle admitted to herself, her gaze shiftiween Roselle and Runebelle.

  “I’ve always despised humans and the world they’ve created. Part of me remains angry at the entire world. These two and Kintovar... they’re the only things I care abht now...”

  With a sigh, Risebelle turned her attention back to the task at hand. She khey had little time to spare, and she was ready to do everything she to save Runebelle.

  Risebelle gazed upon her lifeless sister, but she gained an idea.

  “I ’t let her go,” Risebelle thought, her emotions ing. “I might hate humans, but these two... they’re different. They’re…. family, and uhe humans I know. I’ll do whatever it takes to save them...”

  Risebelle sidered unique ability. It had served her well in various situations, but now, she saw a new possibility.

  “It’s a long shot,” Risebelle aowledged, “but I’ve got to try. I won’t give up oher of you. Both of you… you will survive!”