“W-What do you mean?” Master stammered, his entire body stiffening.
He couldn’t believe what Sandra had just said… The words echoed in his head, making no sense at all.
He couldn’t understand a single thing, but the confident smirk on her lips and the determined glint in her eyes told him one thing—something had definitely happened back at the Academy.
His gaze shifted toward the tiny hooded figure, frozen solid in ice. He had to know what had gone down. Just as he was about to step forward,
“Where do you think you’re going?” Sandra’s voice was low, almost taunting, as she flicked her wrist, sending a sharp water knife slicing through the air straight toward him.
Master reacted instantly, cutting the attack down with a swift swing of his sword before locking eyes with her.
“Killing him seems impossible,” Dora muttered in irritation, her fingers curling into fists.
Sandra frowned slightly before a slow grin spread across her face. “But he can freeze, right?”
“Huh?” Dora blinked, momentarily caught off guard. Her gaze shifted between the frozen monster and the tiny hooded figure trapped in ice. “I mean… I’m not exactly sure, but…” Her voice trailed off as she considered the possibility.
It wasn’t like she was doubting it outright, but Master wasn’t the type to let a threat linger. If freezing someone could deal with them permanently, he would have done it already.
Sandra gave a casual shrug. “Well, there’s only one way to find out. Let’s freeze him… forever.” Her grin widened as she took a step closer to Master.
“Come on!!” Master roared, tightening his grip on his sword before charging straight at them with full force.
He was mere inches away from striking when the ground suddenly trembled beneath them… The cracks left from their previous battle stretched and deepened, throwing him off balance for just a fraction of a second—but that was all Sandra and Dora needed.
Dora moved first, seizing his wrist in a crushing grip before twisting it sharply. A sickening crack echoed as his bone snapped, and his sword slipped from his grasp, clattering to the ground.
Sandra was already in position, moving with calculated precision. In the next heartbeat, her knife plunged deep into his chest.
Chucckk!
A sharp, dry sound filled the air.
Master’s breath hitched.
But Dora and Sandra didn’t stop. They pressed forward relentlessly, attacking him just like before—how she and Mary had done in their last battle. The difference this time was their lack of coordination, making it easier for him to slip away.
Still, Sandra grinned, unfazed. She snapped her fingers, and in an instant, ice began spreading from the wound in Master’s chest, creeping outward, threatening to consume him entirely.
But then—
With no hesitation, he swung his blade.
Schlck
He sliced through his own flesh, cutting his chest clean off like it was nothing. He tossed the severed piece aside, and the moment it hit the ground, it froze solid before shattering into countless icy shards.
Within seconds, his chest regenerated as if nothing had happened. A cocky smirk tugged at his lips. “You’re still too young to be fighting me.”
Sandra let out a small chuckle, tilting her head. “Huh. Didn’t expect you to go that far,” she admitted, watching him with an amused expression. “You really are something else, aren’t you?”
Dora clicked her tongue in frustration, shifting her stance before raising her hand. Without wasting another second, she unleashed a wave of razor-sharp air pressure, the sheer force of it ready to slice him to pieces.
But instead of dodging or defending himself, Master simply raised his hand. A blinding white light erupted from his palm, obliterating the attack on impact.
Sandra’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “Well, that’s unexpected.”
“Yeah, he can use that power too,” Dora muttered, though she didn’t sound too surprised. She already knew that only living beings were capable of wielding holy energy… and yet Master had just used it effortlessly.
That meant he was alive, right?
But then why had he said he wasn’t?
The contradiction gnawed at her, but she had no time to dwell on it.
“If that hits us, it’s going to burn like hell,” Sandra said, her expression shifting to mild annoyance as she watched the white flames tear through the air, completely cancelling out her previous attack.
Her gaze flicked to Dora, “Think you can hold him off for a bit?” she asked, flipping her water knife and offering it to her.
Dora stared at Master, who was steadily advancing toward them, unbothered. “I can buy us a few seconds,” she said, taking the weapon before stomping the ground and launching herself toward him.
Master was ready. The moment she got close, he raised his sword to strike.
Dora angled her knife, prepared to deflect the attack, when—
A sharp shift.
A feint.
Before she could react, a powerful kick slammed into her side.
She barely had time to process the impact before she was sent flying backwards.
Master grinned down at her. “You shouldn’t fall for that so easily. You know me better than that, don’t you?”
Dora gritted her teeth, her sharp gaze locked onto Master’s Origin weapon—that dull, unimpressive-looking sword he held so effortlessly.
It was hard to believe that something so simple could contain such overwhelming power. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips, but she merely spat it to the ground, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
“I guess I have no choice but to use it again,” she muttered under her breath.
Without hesitation, she hurled the water knife high into the sky, the blade spinning vertically, catching the faint light as it ascended. Then, with a flick of her fingers, she spread them apart as if unravelling an unseen thread while whispering a single word—
“Arcane!” she whispered, and the air itself seemed to shudder.
Master’s eyes widened, instincts screaming at him to move. In a blur, he stepped back—just in time.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
…
The ground around him quaked as deep, precise stabs struck out of nowhere—ten of them, in an instant.
It was as if invisible knives had materialized, each one aimed with ruthless accuracy.
Dora’s lips curled into a knowing grin as she waved her hand, and just like that, the invisible stabs vanished without a trace.
Master gritted his teeth, his expression darkening. “You think you can cut me down like before?”
Dora merely shrugged, a playful smirk playing at her lips. “Who said anything about cutting?”
And then—she disappeared.
No, not disappeared. She moved.
Her presence flickered like a phantom, shifting at different speeds. But it wasn’t just her—something else moved with her.
Something unseen.
Master’s grip on his sword tightened. He could feel it now—something slithering through the air, something deadly. Yet, no matter how much he strained his senses, he couldn’t see it. He swung his sword wildly, slicing through the empty air, attempting to block whatever was closing in on him.
Tang!
Tang!
… Tang!
And he managed to deflect a few—but only a few.
Thud!
“Argh!” A sharp grunt escaped his lips as something latched onto his leg.
His eyes darted downward, but he saw nothing. Yet, the sensation was undeniable—something thin, something razor-sharp had coiled around his limb. It tightened in an instant, and his leg locked up, refusing to move.
Something was binding him.
But before he could even react—
Dora danced through the battlefield like a phantom, her ten fingers weaving through the air as if controlling marionette strings.
Master’s body jerked unnaturally.
His limbs stiffened… His breath hitched…
It was like a puppeteer had seized control of him, yet there were no visible threads. Nothing but the overwhelming force pinning him down.
Before he could process what was happening, his knees buckled.
He dropped.
The once-mighty Master, now forced into submission, kneeling on the ground as his body refused to obey him.
Sandra stood nearby, watching with narrowed eyes. She couldn’t see the weapon Dora had used, but she could see the faint, eerie impressions—thin, almost transparent lines wrapped around his arms, legs, neck, chest, even his head. Like strings of fate binding him in place.
And then—
Stab!
The water knife that had been thrown into the sky finally descended, striking down like judgment itself, piercing straight into Master’s shoulder.
Master let out a guttural growl, his teeth clenched in defiance. “You think freezing me will be enough to stop me? Hah! You have no idea—”
Snap!
Sandra lazily snapped her fingers.
His body jolted as the blade sank deep, ice instantly spreading from the wound.
The ice consumed Master’s body at an alarming speed.
“Aaargh!” He roared in fury, struggling against the unseen bindings. He tried to tear himself free, but the more he fought, the tighter they constricted.
Dora clenched her fist when she felt the pain on her fingers, ‘He is still strong’ she thought.
No…. No, he couldn’t lose here. Not after everything.
Not after all the sacrifices!
He refused to be defeated.
“Heh… You really think this will stop me?” he sneered, though his voice trembled with barely restrained rage. He turned his piercing gaze toward Sandra, his lips curling into a twisted grin. “You, your daughter, your sister… everyone you love will suffer before me. I will make sure of it.
Watch, Sandra… Your death will be the most agonizing of them all!”
Sandra merely stared at him, her expression unreadable.
Dora and Sandra watched as the ice spread further, consuming him, and sealing him within a crystalline prison.
Yet, even as his body froze, his eyes burned with an unyielding, murderous intent.
His hate… His malice… It was palpable!!
And just as the last sliver of his vision was swallowed by ice—
“Hold on, that’s not the ending we were hoping for! It’s way too easy!”
A voice sliced through the tension.
Before anyone could react, a figure appeared behind Master—like a shadow slipping into reality.
Moving with unnatural speed, it pressed something against Master’s neck—
“Let’s raise the difficulty Level!”
And injected it.
Dora’s eyes widened, her blood running cold as she saw the dark red liquid seep into Master’s veins before he fully encapsulated in ice.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, AETHER?!” Dora screamed, pure horror lacing her voice.