The forest echoed with Aishwarya's painful screams.
Kamali tightly gripped her fist.
Aishwarya's skin continued burning.
Tears streamed down her face.
"N-No... please..."
Her voice trembled.
"Don't..."
Kamali slowly extended her free hand toward Aishwarya's face.
A cruel smile spread across her lips.
"Oh?"
She tilted her head.
"Were you saying something?"
Aishwarya's lips quivered.
Her body trembled from pain.
"P-Please..."
Kamali's fingers moved closer.
"Please..."
Then—
Aishwarya suddenly stopped trembling.
A smile slowly appeared on her face.
"...Please let me beat you to a pulp."
Kamali's eyes widened.
"What?"
Before she could react—
Aishwarya slammed her foot into the ground.
BOOOOM!
"Infernal Eruption!"
Crimson flames burst violently from beneath the earth between them.
A blazing pillar of fire erupted into the sky.
The sudden explosion forced Kamali to release Aishwarya immediately.
She instinctively jumped backward.
But despite her quick reaction—
The flames brushed against her right hand.
"AAAH!"
Kamali cried out.
Smoke rose from her burnt palm.
Both women retreated several meters apart.
Aishwarya tightly grabbed her injured fist.
The burning sensation still hadn't disappeared.
Across from her—
Kamali held her own scorched hand.
For the first time since the battle began...
Both fighters had suffered serious injuries.
Silence filled the forest.
Then Aishwarya slowly looked up.
"I was wrong."
Kamali frowned.
"What?"
"When I first analyzed your technique..."
Aishwarya smiled faintly.
"I thought you could remove oxygen from the air."
Kamali remained silent.
"But that wasn't your ability."
Aishwarya's eyes sharpened.
"You don't remove gases."
"You create them."
Kamali's pupils shrank.
A cold sweat rolled down her forehead.
"And because of that..."
Aishwarya pointed toward her.
"You don't possess an Air Attribute."
"You possess..."
She paused.
"...an Ākāśa Attribute."
Kamali's expression changed completely.
Her fists clenched.
Aishwarya continued calmly.
"We know very little about Ākāśa Attribute users."
"But one thing is known."
"It possesses several unique sub-attributes."
She looked directly into Kamali's eyes.
"And yours..."
"...allows you to generate different types of gases."
The silence that followed confirmed everything.
Kamali slowly gritted her teeth.
"...How?"
Her voice was filled with disbelief.
"How did you figure it out?"
Aishwarya closed her eyes briefly.
She recalled every moment of their battle.
"When I first couldn't breathe..."
She opened her eyes again.
"I believed oxygen had disappeared."
She shook her head.
"But I overlooked something."
"I could still inhale."
Kamali remained expressionless.
"The air felt..."
Aishwarya searched for the right word.
"...heavier."
"And..."
She smiled.
"I smelled something."
Kamali's eyes widened.
"You smelled it?"
Aishwarya nodded.
"At first I couldn't understand."
"My flames had already disappeared."
"So why did I smell something burning?"
She folded her arms.
"Then it clicked."
"The smell wasn't from my flames."
"It came from the gas itself."
Kamali remained silent.
"It was carbon dioxide."
Aishwarya continued explaining.
"Carbon dioxide extinguished every flame I created before it reached you."
She pointed toward the battlefield.
"And inhaling too much of it made my body weak while making it difficult to breathe."
Kamali's fingers twitched.
Then Aishwarya looked at her injured fist.
"When you grabbed me..."
"My skin suddenly started burning."
She slowly raised her scorched hand.
"And once again..."
"I noticed a smell."
Her gaze locked onto Kamali.
"It wasn't carbon dioxide."
"It was..."
She smiled confidently.
"Hydrogen chloride gas."
Kamali froze.
"...How?"
Her voice almost cracked.
"How do you even know that smell?"
Aishwarya laughed softly.
"My parents."
Kamali blinked.
"They're researchers."
"They work in Pranansh's research division."
"When I was little..."
"I often visited their laboratories."
She smiled nostalgically.
"I grew up surrounded by chemicals."
"That's why..."
"I know exactly how many dangerous gases smell."
Kamali's expression grew increasingly serious.
Aishwarya continued.
"And there's one more thing."
She raised her burnt fist.
"When you caught my punch..."
"Only my fist burned."
She slowly clenched it.
"The rest of my arm was perfectly fine."
She looked directly at Kamali.
"You coated your hand with a layer of hydrogen chloride gas."
"The moment my skin touched it..."
"It started burning."
Kamali couldn't deny it anymore.
Everything was correct.
"And..."
Aishwarya smiled once more.
"You can only produce one gas at a time."
Kamali's pupils contracted.
"When you covered your hand with hydrogen chloride..."
"The carbon dioxide disappeared."
"That's why I was finally able to use my fire again."
For several moments—
Neither spoke.
Finally...
Kamali laughed.
"...You're unbelievable."
She shook her head slowly.
"How many battles have you fought..."
"...to develop battle instincts like this?"
Aishwarya scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"My gramps."
Kamali blinked.
"He trained me."
A warm smile appeared on Aishwarya's face.
"He always said..."
"'If you can't overpower your enemy...'"
"'...outthink them.'"
Kamali sighed.
"...Idiot."
Then her expression darkened.
"How dare you analyze me like some laboratory experiment?"
Yellow Prāṇa erupted around her body.
"I'll show you..."
"...the true difference between us."
Aishwarya smiled confidently.
"I'd love to see it."
Kamali raised her right hand.
Yellow gas rapidly gathered around her palm.
"So that's what hydrogen chloride looks like..."
Aishwarya muttered.
Kamali thrust her hand forward.
The poisonous cloud shot toward Aishwarya.
She immediately jumped aside.
The gas struck a nearby boulder.
SSSSSSSS!
The massive rock began dissolving before her eyes.
Its surface rapidly corroded until pieces crumbled apart.
Aishwarya's eyes widened.
"So corrosive..."
She landed several meters away.
"I absolutely can't let that touch me."
Suddenly—
She inhaled.
A strange smell entered her nose.
"...Huh?"
Her expression changed instantly.
A sharp irritation spread through her nostrils.
"What..."
She coughed violently.
"...is this?"
Her eyes began watering uncontrollably.
"My eyes..."
A burning sensation spread across them.
"They're burning!"
She rubbed them instinctively.
That only made the pain worse.
"Cough!"
She fell onto one knee.
"Cough! Cough!"
Every breath intensified the irritation.
Her throat burned.
Her nose stung.
Tears poured endlessly from her eyes.
"I..."
Another violent cough escaped her.
"...let my guard down."
Her entire body weakened.
She collapsed onto the grass.
The irritation became unbearable.
Then—
Realization struck.
"...Wait."
Her eyes widened despite the tears.
"It can't be..."
Kamali smiled proudly.
"So..."
"You figured it out?"
She slowly approached.
"This..."
She spread her arms.
"...is ammonia."
A pale cloud floated around her.
"My favorite gas."
A sinister smile spread across her face.
"I've used it..."
"...to torture countless people."
She stopped directly in front of Aishwarya.
"Now..."
She raised her foot.
"...it's your turn."
THUD!
Her kick slammed into Aishwarya's stomach.
"Agh!"
Aishwarya rolled across the ground.
But the burning in her eyes and nose refused to stop.
She couldn't even open her eyes properly anymore.
Kamali slowly walked after her.
"The fun part..."
She smiled coldly.
"...hasn't even begun."
She crouched beside Aishwarya.
"The irritation will only get worse."
She whispered into her ear.
"You'll rub your eyes until they bleed."
"You'll scratch your skin trying to escape the pain."
"And eventually..."
She chuckled.
"...you'll beg me to kill you."
Aishwarya gritted her teeth.
Every breath felt like fire.
Her eyes burned.
Her throat burned.
Even her lungs felt as though they had been set ablaze.
She desperately tried to stand.
But her trembling body refused to obey.
For the first time in the battle...
Aishwarya realized...
She had entered a battlefield where every breath could become a weapon.
TO BE CONTINUED…