Maria looked at the transformed Eri feeling annoyed; she didn't know it was because of jealously she was so easily irritated. Smart as she is, she knew she must not let this emotion control her; therefore, she quickly calmed down.
''That is some nice transformation,'' Maria said with a smile, but Eri snickered, urging her also to do the same as she knew she had something like her Phoenix mode.
Seeing how eager Eri was to be beaten up, Maria smiled.
''Don't worry, it will before you even know it.''
Eri frowned; she didn't like the tongue Maria was using to talk to her; she looked down on her, this time it was too much.
''Ice Empress Mode!"
Under everyone's astonishing eyes, Maria used her ice empress mode; her eyes turned partially white like her hair, the stone under her feet began freezing.
Out of everyone present, the most shocked one was Eri. While she couldn't entirely remember that fight where both used phoenix form, the current Maria was a far cry from that level; it compared an adult to a child. For the first time, Eri was not sure anymore as she was a few seconds ago.
However, cowering now would change anything, and she would be ashamed to show her face if she were to do that.
Eri extended her left hand, and flame gathered under it to form a sword. Her gift, but unlike the previous time where not too much sense could be felt, this time it was different. The moment the sword appeared, it generated so much heat that the floor around Eri was melted. She moved extremely quickly. She shot forward like a streak of lightning. Her sword cut through the air like a knife cutting through butter, everyone believed that Maria wouldn't be able to easily dodge this attack even Alex, everyone except Artemia, who had fought against Maria a few days ago, she was shocked that Maria could use that power she used back then, she was ready to interrupt the fight if needed to be but she saw Maria perfectly fine which surprised her, however, when she took a second to think about she quickly understand why it must be because of Alex did, whatever he had done clearer the side effect and enable Maria to call this power easily rather randomly.
'Now I'm more curious about what method he used.' Artemia thought while glancing sideways; Alex happened to be looking at her at the same time they smiled at each other before turning their heads back where Eri's sword was about to touch Maria, even the frozen ground under her feet had been turned into water because of the heat coming from Eri's sword.
However, to Alex's and others' amazement, Maria did nothing until the sword reached her neck before she mumbled.
''Absolute Zero!"
Her glass heart thumped, and Eri's sword stopped moving; it was only an inch from her neck, the flaming sword was soon covered in ice. Eri's eyes narrowed in horror; she felt fear like never before she knew her arm holding the sword was covered in frost.
Maria knew she didn't have much time left as she could only use absolute zero for two seconds at most; she must finish Eri before the effect of absolute zero wore off. She stepped forward and put her finger on Eri's chest, and opened her mouth.
Eri sensed danger; she gathered her mana and breathed fire; Maria was swallowed by the fire; apart from her body, most of her clothes were melted, but she ignored them and continued with her plan.
Alex moved immediately he knew if he didn't stop them, the worst could happen, and because he used time rewind earlier, he couldn't use it again because it was not a normal fight, not only he heal them (partially) using Time Rewind, he also healed the destroyed stage, something normally he doesn't do during a fight.
As Alex feared the fight escalated beyond normal, Maria ignored her melting clothes and put her finger on Eri's chest while muttering.
''Absolute Zer-"
''Maria, don't" Artemia shouted as she knew what would happen if Maria did that. Still, Maria ignored her and was about to finish her sentence when Alex appeared between them; he gently pushed Maria to the size and moved away with Eri; her body was shivering, her phoenix mode was long gone, and her skin had turned white.
''Eri, how are you feeling? Are you alright?" Alex asked while checking Eri's state.
Maria, who just came to her sense froze, and her face changed when she saw how concerned Alex seemed; he held Eri with such care that the ice empress felt like a needle was poking her heart, it hurts so much, she knew she must not let this emotion control her, she did her best to regain the control however Alex following words didn't help her out at all.
''Maria, you could have stopped, but you didn't. Tell me why. Is it because you must win at all cost?"
Maria had nothing to say to such a question.
For an unknown reason, Maria's silence irritated Alex, and he raised his voice.
''Answer me!"
''Alex, calm down. Don't say any more.'' Artemia, who appeared beside him, tried to stop him, but as though a demon had possessed him, Alex glared at her.
''Shut up, Artemia. Just check how badly injured Eri is.'' Alex said while pointing at Eri, who kept vomiting blood.
Using her sense to check Eri's body quickly, Artemia was shocked by what she discovered. As Alex said, her body was in a mess, although her natural constitution was helping her to heal faster than normal, it was still slow, as if something was stopping her ability from fully exhibiting its power. She understood that the situation was grave, but Alex should control his language as he was hurting Maria.
''Big brother, please stop.''
Gracier also understood that if any more were said, it would be disastrous.
Alex seemed to listen to his sister, he stopped speaking, but his silence hurt more than if he had said a word.
''Let's heal her first,'' Alex said without looking back; this gesture hurt Maria more; she said nothing and turned around and was about to walk away.
''Where are you going?" Alex asked while helping Eri. As Artemia had said, she was badly injured. They have used numerous healing potions, but they couldn't fully heal her.
''I want to be alone. I'm sorry for what I've done but please don't search for me. I need some time to cool off.''
Leaving those words behind, Maria vanished; Alex was shocked that Maria left like that; he couldn't understand why it never came to him because of how concerned he seemed toward Eri. It was like he cared more about her than Maria; the latter felt jealous of her while knowing there was nothing between them; she couldn't control her emotion; jealousy was not something one had control over.
''Master, a woman, even if I have never been in a relationship before, what you did was not good you shouldn't have done that.''
Unexpectedly it was Noire who decided to give Alex some advice. The others nodded as if to tell him that what he did what not wrong.
Alex came to his senses, he analyzed what happened, and when he put himself in her shoes, he understood why Maria would react as she did. Because of jealousy, while he felt no romantic feeling toward Eri, his actions could be misinterpreted as one because he seemed to care a lot about Eri.
''It's not like that.'' Alex tried to defend himself but did nothing as the others did not listen to him.
He sighed and immediately went after Maria to apologize and clear up the misunderstanding; he couldn't let her be angry with him.
''Alexia, please wait; it's not what I meant!" Alex shouted after he saw Maria running away.
However, while his voice reached Maria's ears, the latter did not stop; she kept running.
''Maria , stop, please stop!" Alex tried again, but once more, he failed. Maria did not stop; she kept jumping atop rooftops, and soon she was about to disappear from Alex's sight.
Alex sighed before using Accel to catch up with her, he tried to touch her shoulder, but she dodged.
''Alexia, why are you running away. I said I'm sorry; I know I was wrong, please forgive, but you hurt Eri; I was just saying those words to let you know that you must be careful in the future.'' Alex, who is not a master in emotional stuff, said.
And Maria, who had kept running since the beginning, stopped.
''It's a problem. You keep bringing her name. You don't understand anything at all. Please leave; I don't want to see you right now. I need some time to think it over. Maybe my current state is due to the side effect still effective. A few days will help me recover; please don't look for me.''
After saying those words, Maria vanished, leaving Alex standing there dumbfounded; he could not understand what had just happened.
''Is this that? Our first dispute?" Alex asked nobody in particular.