“Life is not simple, and people can’t be boxed into being either heroes or villains.” -

Jessica Hagedorn

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The two women shouted before auras of red and green erupted from their body, rising to the sky before shrinking back down to the size of their body and fading.

“First thing first,” Iris said while cracking her neck. “A greeting.”

Iris said quietly as she disappeared and reappeared in front of the woman, swinging both of her swords.

the woman muttered as she gripped the hilt of her sword with both hands and parried the incoming attack before returning one of her own.

The two women stood in the middle of the field; blades locked in combat as they exchanged blows after blows. The force of their attacks shattering all objects around them, scattering it to the wind.

After several minutes of back-and-forth Iris, satisfied with the exchange, dodged the next incoming attack, and retreated to her original position.

“Not going to make it easy on me huh,” Iris grinned as she held her swords. “What is the name you were given?”

The woman remained silent.

“Surely you were created with better manners than that?” Iris continued. “You wouldn’t want her reputation to be dragged through the mud because you have no sense of courtesy, do you?”

“Rose,” the woman replied, her eyes glaring.

“Much better,” Iris laughed. “Once again, as I mentioned earlier, I’m Iris Perisaub.”

“Rose Ria.”

“Now that proper introduction is over,” Iris grinned, her knees bent as she leaned her body forward, “LET'S HAVE A LITTLE FUN!”

Soon as Iris finished speaking, Rose disappeared from her position and reappeared behind Iris’ back, swinging her sword at Iris’ neck.

“Die!” She shouted.

“Not happening, ,” Iris cried out.

On her command, five shields, like the one that deflected the earlier attack, appeared instantly, and began to rotate around Iris, repelling Rose’s attack.

Seeing that her strike was reflected, Rose retreated, her eyes glaring, clearly annoyed that her opponent was still alive.

After Rose retreated, Iris straightened her back and laughed heartily without a care in the world.

“Did you think it was going to be like earlier?” Iris said. “Sorry to disappoint you but I’m not as easy as some random bounty hunter.”

Raising one sword to the sky Iris declared proudly. “I am the strongest knight. There’s no one beneath this sky that can defeat me.”

Lowering her sword and pointing it at the woman, Iris continued, “and that includes you.”

Rose shouted as soon as Iris finished speaking, creating a pillar of fire that erupted beneath Iris’ feet, surrounding her in a raging inferno.

The heat, radiating from the center of the pillar, melted all the residual snow surrounding the two women, turning all the vegetation into ash, and converting the ground into glass.

On the sideline, Janus watched as the battle between the two women devastated its surrounding; finding it hard to believe what he was seeing, despite it playing out right in front of his eyes.

This was something he had only ever seen in the realm of imagination, within the countless of pages of books created from the minds of writers the world over. However, with the reality thrusted in front of his face, Janus had no choice but to set aside what he thought he knew and accepted what was happening in front of him.

Janus could feel the heat from the center of the pillar, lapping at his skin. The intense temperature slowly evaporating the water in his body, cracking the skins on his lips. He knew that he was in danger; but, despite knowing that he could die at any moment, he chose to remain.

“You’ll die,” Rose said while keeping her eyes on the pillar of fire.

“I won’t,” Janus replied confidently.

“How are you so sure?”

“I’m not,” Janus answered. “You’re not exactly leaving me any other option. If I run, you’ll chase after me and kill me. Better for me to gamble my life on the person that saved me earlier.”

Glancing at Janus with a slight look of confusion in her eyes, Rose asked, “She…saved you?”

“Yes.” Janus nodded.

Before she could say another word, Rose returned her attention to the pillar of flame just as it was cut in half as Iris emerged, untouched, her armor glowing an orange hue from the dissipating flame, the five shields continuously rotating around her body.

Iris pointed her sword at Jacob and chanted.

“Sorry about that.” Iris said as she looked at Jacob. “Forgot the shields are only good for blocking attacks but…completely useless against environmental damages. You should be okay now.”

“Good luck,” Jacob told her.

Nodding, Iris turned her attention back to Rose who, until this point, only stood by and watched silently.

“Warm-up is over,” Iris said, her previous light-heartedness replaced by a humorless look in her eyes.

both Iris and Rose shouted as countless spears of wind and flame appeared behind them, respectively.

The magical javelins, as if responding to their owner’s silent command, immediately launched forward, colliding in the space between the two women, mixing and exploding together, creating multiple fire tornadoes that ripped up the glassy surface, filling the battlefield with countless falling shards of glass.

Amidst the continuing devastation caused by their spells, Iris and Rose collided, swords swinging at one another once again.

Rose swung her sword first at Iris’ head, causing her to block with one of her swords and in return, Iris attacked with the other, forcing Rose to twist her body to dodge the incoming blade. They pulled apart and collided again and again, each time fiercer than before.

Iris continued to swing her sword amidst the chaos, laughing with each swing, a tint of madness began to appear in her eyes. Rose, for her part, continued to calmly parry each attack and returned them with strikes of her own, aiming for Iris’ neck whenever an opening presented itself.

After a countless exchange of attacks and defense, the two women retreated a good distance from one another, their breaths ragged as their shoulders heaved up and down.

Taking a moment to calm their breaths, the two women then raised their swords in front of as them, wrapping the blades in wisps of fire and wind, as they began to chant.

“Gate of the Underworld,” Rose chanted, “Open now and grant the world eternal respite.”

“Gate of Elements,” Iris chanted, “Open now and protect the world in everlasting peace.”

“Open” .

“Open” .

As soon as they finished their chant, giant gates materialized behind each of the women.

Rising up from the ground behind Rose, a gate, decorated by giant skeletons on its side, opened its dark maw as countless phantoms cloaked in fire emerged from its portal, lining up in formation in front of her.

On the other side, a gate descended from heaven, clad in rainbow hues, its door opened by small fairies to allow an endless stream of soldiers, decked out in in green armor, to pour from its entrance, each one holding a spear and shield, as they take up battle positions behind Iris.

Like generals leading their armies to battle, Iris and Rose pointed at one another, signaling their respective armies to charge forward. Upon command, the armies of phantoms and soldiers charged and swarmed one another on the battlefield. Some phantoms were impaled by multiple soldiers as they faded in the sky while others ripped through the enemy’s line with their fiery claws.

Watching as their armies clashed with neither side gaining any distinct advantage, Rose and Iris began to chant another aria.

.

.

Rose cried out as a giant image of a phoenix emerged from her body, covering the entire battlefield in searing heat, turning a vast number of soldiers into ashes.

Iris cried as a giant azure dragon appeared behind her, whipping up tornados that shredded columns of the phantoms before it into oblivion.

Janus watched as the two giant monsters, after wreaking havoc on the battlefield, disappeared just as fast as they appeared, leaving behind the two women in a changed appearance.

The changes to Rose were the more subtle of the two. The white hanfu dressed Rose originally wore was replaced by a crimson armor, wings of fire emerged from her back, and the blade she held was now covered in an orange glow.

On the other hand, Iris transformation was far more dramatic. Gone was the knightly appearance she originally had. She grew larger, her muscles rippling as the armor that she wore was no longer able to restraint her power, shattered into countless pieces, falling to the ground. Blue scales appeared, covering her entire body as a tail emerged from behind. Iris impaled her twin swords into the ground as her nails lengthened, turning into claws.

“I honestly don’t like this appearance,” Iris murmured in her new appearance. “Now I’m the one looking like a monster.”

Once her transformation was completed, Iris slammed her tail into the ground behind her, launching herself into the sky with Rose chasing her closely behind.

Realizing that Rose was on her tail, Iris manipulated the wind to halt her momentum. Turning in mid-air, she propelled herself downward as she unleashed cyclones from both her hands in Rose’s direction.

Unfazed, Rose swung her sword, slicing apart the cyclones as she continued to charge toward Iris.

When Rose came within striking distance of Iris, the pair of wings behind her expanded, becoming three times larger than her body as the heat radiating from them became more intense. Utilizing the heat, Rose created multiple mirages of herself, each one attacking Iris from a different direction.

In response, Iris held her ground, flexing her muscle as hard as she can as Rose impaled her through her stomach, the heat from the sword cauterizing the wound instantly as it burned Iris from the inside out.

“Die,” Rose murmured, driving the sword deeper into Iris’ body.

“You first,” Iris replied as she grabbed Rose’s hand with her claw and unleashed a high-speed punch toward her body.

Caught off-guard by the incoming attack, Rose was unable to react in time as Iris’ punch connected with her body, shattering pieces of her armor, and launching her back down to earth.

Rose grunted as she struggled to steady herself in mid-air, managing to right her body just as her feet collided with the ground, creating a crater where she landed.

Iris, still floating in the sky, smirked as she gathered the wind in her hands, creating two balls of compressed air. She then merged them together in front of her, creating a lump of energy that continued to grow larger with every passing second, eventually becoming several meters in diameter.

Watching the situation unfolding in the sky, Rose answered with her own power as her wings detached from her and back and merged together with her blade, causing it to transform into a large pyre that grew until it reached several hundred meters in height.

“DIE!” Both women shouted at the top of their lungs as they unleashed their attack toward one another.

Wind and fire collided in mid-air, pushing back and forth against one another until ultimately fusing together into a ball that began to compress in size. Silence fell over the battlefield as the soldiers and phantoms on the ground stared, watching the clash of power in the air, waiting for the victor to be decided.

Then, that power exploded, and a loud explosion ripped through the battlefield as the entire world was covered in white.

The ground was shredded apart, dirt and rocks, regardless of size, were launched into the air like they were light as feather, becoming projectiles that tore through the armies on the ground. The summoned soldiers, human and monsters alike were caught in the blast, their body riddled with holes from the flying debris and burned until ashes were all that remained.

Jacob watched as the blast eventually consumed him, turning his sight completely white. He could feel his body being ripped apart from the explosion as the protection that Iris provided to him earlier offered him no protection.

Closing his eyes, he accepted his death as his body was torn apart.

Just moment before his consciousness faded, he could hear two voices calling out to him.

“WAIT FOR ME!” one voice cried out. “I’ll save you, no matter what.”

“Try your best to survive in this new world,” the other voice said.

After the chaos subsided and the dust settled, the area that was once home to the sprouts of spring was turned into a vast desert wasteland. Everything living and nonliving that once decorated the landscape were grinded into dust saved for two figures that remained, their eyes continued to glare at one another.

“Why?” one of them asked.

“This is not enough,” the other answered. “He needs to suffer more, a lot more. This is merely the beginning.”

“It is not right. No one deserves this.”

“I care not…as long as it takes us just one step closer to our goal, I will sacrifice…everything.”

“For her sake, I will stop you.” They said in unison.