Aturia's mind raced in anxiety and desperation due to what happened.
She laid Sieg on his front and tore a piece of her cloth to quickly wrap around the huge wound on Sieg back.
She glanced at her hand as it was stained in Sieg blood.
Her eyes began to get blurry and sweat trickled down from her face.
Az materialized into his physical form as he looked silently at their predicament.
Az "Just know that this was entirely your fault."
Aturia muttered in a low voice.
Aturia: "My... Fault."
His words stirred something painful within her. Something she desperately wished she could forget.
The sensation of someone's blood staining her hands... The creeping fear that once crawled beneath her skin...
It all came rushing back.
Az raised his hand in the hair, the orbs began to charge up surging electricity.
Az: Fire!
A violent discharge of lightning erupted from the orbs, tearing through the air toward Aturia and unconscious Sieg.
Boom!
The dust began to settle as he saw that Aturia dodged the attack carrying Sieg on her arms.
Az thought to himself.
Az "That my attack was a guaranteed kill but she managed to dodge it and save her friend in time. How is that possible....?"
Aturia lowered Sieg gently on the floor.
Aturia: "What... just happened?"
She glanced back at the spot where the lightning had struck before looking down at her trembling hand.
Aturia: "I... saw it coming?"
Something felt different.
Her vision seemed unusually clear, as though every movement around her had suddenly become easier to notice.
Unbeknownst to her, a single crystalline line had appeared vertically through each of her irises.
Az gaze shifted toward her eyes. As he became surprised and trying to make out what he saw.
Az's eyes widened.
A single crystalline line had emerged from Aturia's eyes.
His lightning suddenly faltered.
Az: "Y-You..."
He stared at her, unable to hide the disbelief creeping across his face.
Az: "You're... a Ken Star?!"
Aturia blinked.
Aturia: "Huh?"
Az: "No way..."
His expression changed completely.
Az: "You awakened your Hex Eyes?!"
Aturia touched her face as she felt her eyes stinging a bit. Still confused about what Az was talking about.
Az: "To think I'd actually get to see a Ken Star face-to-face... The last one disappeared around twenty-nine years ago, or so I heard from my brother."
Az stared at Aturia's eyes in disbelief.
Az: "And now... you're the next and only one in the entire world. Although I don't know much about the abilities it grants its user, I do know there are four in total."
Az: "Oh well. Even if you die, no problem. Another Ken Star will eventually awaken."
The orbs began charging once again as electricity surged across their surfaces.
Az: "Fire!"
A barrage of lightning erupted from the floating spheres, tearing through the clearing.
Aturia's eyes widened.
Something was different.
The crackling electricity, the shifting orbs, even the subtle movements of Az's fingers before he commanded his attack...
Everything seemed strangely clear.
Her gaze followed the lightning as it traveled through the air.
"I can see it..."
Without realizing it, Aturia tilted her head slightly.
The first bolt narrowly missed her cheek.
Another came from behind.
She stepped aside before it reached her, the lightning grazing her shoulder as she moved.
A third bolt shot toward her legs.
Aturia jumped.
The attack passed beneath her feet.
Az's expression changed.
What...?
He increased the barrage.
Lightning came from multiple directions, forcing Aturia to move continuously.
Yet she wasn't struggling to keep up.
Her movements were surprisingly precise. Every step seemed to place her just outside the trajectory of an incoming attack.
She could see the slightest twitch of an orb before it discharged.
She could distinguish the direction of an attack before the lightning fully formed.
And somehow...
She knew where to move.
Az: "How are you dodging those?!"
Aturia didn't answer.
Her eyes remained fixed on the surrounding orbs.
"It's almost like..."
Another bolt shot toward her head.
She ducked before it reached her.
...I can see everything."
The crystalline line in her irises glimmered faintly.
Az stared at her in disbelief.
"She's not reacting to my attacks...
"She's seeing them before they happen!"
"Even though her movement speed remains unchanged, I still have the advantage."
Az concentrated lightning beneath his feet and propelled himself forward at tremendous speed.
Aturia remained focused on dodging the incoming lightning, her enhanced perception tracking every approaching attack.
However, she failed to notice Az closing in from her blind spot.
Before she could react, he seized her by the throat and tightened his grip.
The lightning barrage immediately ceased.
Aturia struggled to pry his hand away, but her strength was rapidly fading.
Meanwhile, her Magic Energy continued draining at an alarming rate as the crystalline lines in her eyes flickered intermittently.
Aturia desperately attempted to freeze Az's arm.
Ice slowly crept across his forearm, threatening to immobilize his grip.
However, Az immediately poured more Magic Energy into his body.
A violent surge of lightning erupted from his arm, shattering the ice into fragments.
Aturia: Damn it... That was the last of my Magic Energy. I can't hold out much longer.
Her Hex Eyes flickered one final time before deactivating completely. The crystalline lines gradually shrank and disappeared, leaving her eyes to return to their normal state.
Her vision blurred.
She struggled to remain conscious, while Az tightened his grip around her throat even further.
Az: "what motivates you so deeply that you refuse to fall down? What exactly are you fighting for."
Aturia weakly mumbled beneath his grip.
Aturia: "Even if I lose everything... my body, my mind... I'll never abandon my pride. Nor the pride of my family. I can't die here... I have to get stronger... and avenge them."
Az stared deeply into her eyes.
Az: "From the look in your eyes it feels like you've lost something or someone precious to you. Perhaps that's why you've become so emotionally distant."
He paused briefly
Az: "I know what it's like to lose... To believe so desperately that you're right yet to fail nonetheless.
Without another word, Az unleashed a surge of lightning through his arm.
Aturia screamed as the electricity coursed through her body.
Smoke sizzled from her charred skin as her strength finally gave out.
Az released his grip as Aturia dropped to her knees before collapsing unconscious onto the ground.
Meanwhile, Sieg had regained consciousness in the background.
His blurred vision gradually cleared, only for him to witness Az electrocuting Aturia.
His eyes widened.
Sieg: "Aturia...?"
His expression filled with worry as he watched her collapse.
But that concern quickly gave way to something else.
His trembling fists clenched tightly.
The worry in his eyes gradually turned into fury.
Az was exhausted with the battle as he sat on the ground.
His lightning orbs began to dimmer away because he couldn't maintain the technique anymore with the magic energy he had left.
Little did he know Sieg slowly stood up and was walking behind him silently unbothered by his wound on his back.
Az took a deep breath.
Az: "i won" He said in a calm still unsure voice.
Then suddenly his skin started to tingle.
As he instinctively felt a tremendous amount of magic energy oozing from someone standing behind him.
Az: "What the hell is this tremendous magic energy I'm feeling. It's filled with nothing but pure rage.
He concentrated the last remnants of his magic energy into his fist. As lightning sparked and then swung it back which was a direct across his face. Meanwhile Az backed up quickly to assess the situation.
Lightning sparks tickled on Sieg cheek a bit before before fading.
Az: He took the full force of that attack, it didn't even make a scratch on him.
Then suddenly he heard a low chuckle coming from Sieg as it grew louder and louder.
Az was puzzled as he didn't understand what was going on.
Az: "What's up with him, Why is he laughing?"
The laughing stopped as Sieg tilted his head to face him.
Then Az realized his change in tone of voice, his eyes were crimson predatory red, his teeth and fingers grew into claws and fangs and scales appeared on some part of his body. It felt as if something had taken over his body and mind
Then suddenly a tremendous burst of mana wave erupted as Az was paralyzed with fear.
Az: "Who... No, What are you?
Acnologia: "Yes finally for 12 years I've been trapped and been in slumber inside this boy body, but his rage allowed me to leak my magic energy and take control of his body.
"Hehehehehehe"
Then his gaze shifted to Az
Az: And you how dare you touch me with that hands of yours you filthy mongrel.
Az: "Huh?"
In the blink of an eye he smashed Az face on the bridge ground. And pressed it deeper on the ground with his feet on his his face.
Az mumbled as he tried to get up being crushed by the tremendous magic energy pressure from it's feet.
Az: "What... the hell are you?"
Acnologia: i am one of the four PRIMORDIAL DRAGON! THE FIRE DRAGON ITSELF ACNOLOGIA.