Beyond the Eternity

Within an Isolated dimension,
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Several lit torches illuminated the dark corridor, casting flickering shadows that made the space appear both eerie and timeless.

Despite this, several windows lined the right side, offering a view of nothing but darkness.

The house floated aimlessly in the void, and the torches were the only source of light in the infinite expanse.

However, at this moment, the battle raging within was far more terrifying than the void outside. The barrier surrounding the house ensured that all parties could fight without fear of being annihilated by the abyss beyond.

Amid the howling winds that threatened to tear the house apart, the ground trembled as a black silhouette approached with alarming speed down the corridor.

Apart from her invisible attacks, Luxuria, the Flame of Lust, could also use Wind Magic to fly.

The distance between them was a mere ten meters.

In less than five seconds, Luxuria would close the gap and reach Miyuki.

A magus using Wind Magic could fly much faster than running.

On the other hand, Miyuki remained calm and didn't panic.

This, too, was all part of her plan.

It wasn't that she wasn't frightened. The terror of facing such a formidable opponent truly dwelled within her heart, but she swallowed her unease, forcing herself to maintain a brave front.

She could practically feel the sweat running down her back.

Recalling the conservation she had with the little shadow, she would act as bait to lure in Luxuria.

She was well aware that she stood no chance against the Sister in terms of magic or physicality. However, her goal wasn't to overpower Luxuria, but to frustrate her, buying enough time for the preparations to be completed.

With that thought in mind, Miyuki took a deep breath, calming her rapidly beating heart.

Then she swiftly raised the crossbow, took careful aim, and squeezed the trigger.

Crack—! Swish—!

Accompanying a sharp, soundless release, the arrow flew from the crossbow at a blistering speed of 500 feet per second, cutting through the air toward the rapidly approaching Luxuria.

But Luxuria, already using Wind Magic, had no need to evade.

She simply manipulated the surrounding mana, conjuring a fierce gust of wind that diverted the arrow mid-flight, sending it careening off course like discarded debris.

As she continued her flight toward Miyuki, countless black tendrils shot from the shadows, forming an iron wall that blocked her path.

It was as if they were saying, "You shall not pass!"

Sadly, there was a huge difference between intent and action.

Luxuria swung her cane, releasing a violent wind slash that tore through the wall of tendrils in an instant.

But as she did so, she sensed more tendrils shooting toward her from behind. Before she could react, they coiled around her ankle mid-flight, halting her progress with a forceful tug.

In the blink of an eye, she went from speeding through the air like a bullet to an abrupt stillness.

Swish—! Swish—!

A few seconds later, three arrows, moving at the same tremendous speed, shot toward her from beyond the broken wall of tendrils.

With an irritated sound, Luxuria shattered the tendrils binding her and deftly evaded the incoming arrows.

Pulling back, Luxuria tapped her cane twice against the floor, summoning a powerful wind barrier that surrounded her.

It quickly became as if a violent storm had descended upon the corridor.

Countless shadow tendrils emerged, attacking her from all angles, from the darkness. However, the wind barrier tore through each one effortlessly, causing the shadow wolves to recoil in pain as they were sliced apart.

Miyuki frowned and quickly reloaded another arrow into the crossbow.

With the arrow secured in place, she lifted the crossbow once more, took aim at the raging storm, and pulled the trigger.

Swish—!

She gritted her teeth, feeling the familiar recoil as the arrow shot forward.

Despite the wind's constant pull, the arrow flew straight and true, penetrating the wind barrier.

"Wh-wha...?!"

Luxuria, caught off guard, quickly evaded, but the arrow grazed her cheek, drawing blood.

She groaned and pressed her hand to the wound. Seeing her own blood only fueled her anger further.

Dammit! What the hell was that? How did she bypass my wind barrier?

It would have made sense if the girl had used magic or some unknown ability, but Luxuria couldn't shake the feeling that something ordinary, yet unusual, had been at play.

After all, her opponent was wielding a crossbow.

A crossbow?

Now that I think about it, where exactly did she get that crossbow from?

Luxuria squinted her eyes.

At the same time, Miyuki maintained her focus, smoothly loading another arrow into the crossbow.

She immediately identified that crossbow as the speedster model, "Ravin R29X."

The crossbow, the Ravin R29X, was a masterpiece of modern engineering. Its carbon fiber limbs and precision-machined rail gave it a sleek, futuristic appearance, almost like something out of a science fiction film. That impression wasn't far from the truth.

Equipped with a state-of-the-art digital scope, the Ravin R29X could calculate wind speed, distance, and trajectory with pinpoint accuracy in real time. Its auto-aligning rail system and precision-trigger mechanism ensured that even an untrained user could fire with deadly efficiency. Lightweight, nearly silent, and engineered for speed, it was a devastating weapon in capable hands.

Using the Ravin R29X was like playing a high-tech arcade game, just point and shoot, and the crossbow would handle the rest.

All Miyuki needed to do was aim and pull the trigger.

But as Luxuria observed her wind barrier failing to stop the girl's arrows, she felt a lingering unease. How could someone, even with advanced weaponry, bypass her defenses so easily?

Perhaps Miyuki was using barrier-negating magic, but Luxuria wasn't convinced. There was something more at play, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

The speed of the arrows was indeed an issue, but not so overwhelming that she couldn't defend herself with magic.

If she could precisely calculate the velocity of the arrow at the moment it was fired and as it cut through the air, she could time her counterattack with perfect efficiency.

Magic, the art of mysteries, could never be defeated by mere man-made weaponry!

In the end, the crossbow itself didn't seem all that special. Luxuzia thought.

Perhaps it was just an ordinary weapon, but even as she entertained that thought, Luxuria still couldn't shake the thought of how Miyuki had acquired it.

Speaking of which, didn't they have an inventory where they stored all kinds of weaponry within the house?

Could it be that she took that crossbow from there?

And that model… it looked oddly familiar all this time.

That thought turned the gears inside Luxuria's head.

No way… could she have accessed our inventory?

Luxuria's eyes widened in disbelief.

Impossible! No, that's not possible. No one should be able to access it except for the Seven Flames… my Sisters! How could she have possibly gotten in?

No matter how she tried to rationalize the situation inside her head, it made no sense whatsoever.

She was certain Miyuki couldn't leave this dimension without defeating her first. The inventory was in its original layout, completely separate from the personal dimension Luxuria had crafted.

Even if Miyuki could somehow astral project and use her «Soul Body» to move beyond this personal dimension, finding that weapon and bringing it back into this isolated space should have been completely impossible.

The only plausible explanation Luxuria could come up with was that a certain black spirit had physically brought it into this space.

That stupid black spirit. It's a constant thorn in my side. I should have taken care of it first instead of dealing with this girl! Tch! I'm such an idiot!

She clenched her teeth.

But there was nothing she could do now. Cursing her own stupidity and carelessness would change nothing in this situation.

The only thing she could do now was to eliminate the girl quickly and rush back to the control panel to track down that troublesome spirit and eradicate it once and for all.

Inhale!

Luxuria braced herself, ready to wield the magic of the Cane of Misfortune, which could manipulate the "Ether" element and transform it into any of the four primary elements.

"Everything is made of the five elements. The fifth of the five elements. Open up, symbol of chaos..."

Just as Luxuria began to recite the incantation for the spell.

Her chanting abruptly stopped.

In that instant, a scorching pain flared across the wound on her cheek, and her throat felt as though it were being scraped by a blade.

Luxuria frowned as she recognised the strange phenomenon.

Is this the effect of [Silence]?

Her expression remained cold, and showed no signs of changing.

As its name implied, [Silence] was a debilitating effect designed to render its target incapable of speech for a short duration.

It was often used to interrupt mages mid-chant, just as it had done now.

However, its effect was fleeting, and Luxuria knew it wouldn't last long.

Swish—! Swish—!

Miyuki continued to unleash arrow after arrow at her. By now, she had fully adapted to the recoil, allowing her to fire rapidly without losing her balance.

Luxuria nimbly dodged the arrows and summoned Wind Magic to deflect the black tendrils that lashed out unpredictably from the shadows.

Even without chanting for advanced magic, Luxuria could still defend herself using low-sequence spells.

She attempted to use her magic stakes, but they were destroyed before she could even input the effects and commands.

Her enemy wasn't giving her any chance to use long-range attacks!

Recalling the events from earlier, the older woman realized why the girl was being so cautious.

Swish—! Swish—!

More arrows flew her way, accompanied by the rapid-striking shadow tendrils that swiftly retreated whenever they missed their mark.

Luxuzia continued to fend off the attacks, biding her time and waiting for the duration of [Silence] to end.

She noticed that some arrows couldn't be destroyed or have their trajectory altered by her magic.

Perhaps they were imbued with an unknown effect, but Luxuzia didn't have time to check their information due to their speed.

Evading, however, was no challenge. The arrows either followed a predictable path or simply missed their mark.

It was clear that the girl wasn't an expert in using the crossbow. That much was understandable. After all, professional athletes and hunters spent years training to master such weaponry.

As for the shadow wolves, they were hardly a concern. While their intangibility made them immune to direct attack, as long as she could anticipate their movements, dodging them was child's play.

However, she was careful not to summon more shadow wolves, wary that Miyuki might tame and add them to her numbers.

The last thing she needed was being surrounded from all directions.

Surely, It was an unfavourable situation for her.

It almost seemed laughable and ironic how she, the predator, was now playing defense.

But Luxuzia didn't let her emotions cloud her judgment.

She only needed to be patient.

When the opportunity arrived, she would unleash her Ether magic and strike the girl from afar, bypassing the need to close the distance.

So she waited.

For the moment where she would establish her victory with a single strike!

One second passed.

Then two.

Three... four...

A full minute had gone by, yet Luxuria still couldn't speak!

"Uh! Uh! Uh?"

Luxuzia tried to speak, but only strange, incomprehensible sounds escaped her lips.

Like a bird attempting to call out with its beak tightly shut, her words were distorted and gibberish.

Huh? What's going on? Why can't I speak? If it's [Silence], then its effect should have ended by now!

From her knowledge, [Silence] could only last for thirty seconds, but a full minute had already passed, and she was still unable to speak.

How could this be? Was there something she had overlooked?

"....?!"

Abruptly, her gaze shifted forward.

Miyuki, standing a short distance away, wore a strange smile Luxuria had never seen before.

In that instant, Luxuria realized something was terribly wrong.

Her eyes quickly darted to the spot where the arrow that had grazed her cheek had landed. She analyzed its details with her eyes.

The color drained from her face, leaving her pale.

She understood it now.

The reason she couldn't continue her chanting was due to the arrow that had grazed her cheek earlier.

That arrow, unbeknownst to her, carried a curse.

It wasn't [Silence] at all!

But the terrible hex known as [Voiceless]!

[Purple Arrow]

[Object Class: Dormant]

[Effects: Inflicts the curse «Voiceless» on the target, causing intense damage to the throat. This results in excruciating pain and prevents speech for one minute. If the target attempts to speak during this time, their voice will be permanently lost.]