With a sudden boom, the whole carriage exploded. Morgana's face was slightly burnt; she would have taken more damage if she hadn't reacted in time. Still, she was on the ground, trying to make sense of the situation. She could smell a familiar stench in the air… blood.
She could also hear the sounds of people running, screaming, and the sounds of horses moving.
'People nearby must have been affected by the explosion.'
"Michael!"
Morgana remembered that her brother was also caught up in the situation. Unlike her, he lacked the means of protecting himself from such a blast.
Morgana realized that she was gripping her saber; using it as a support, she stood up. The scene she saw was more chaotic than she could imagine. It seemed like when the carriage exploded, its pieces flew in every direction, causing catastrophic damage. Blood was everywhere, as there was a huge number of corpses around. Morgana looked around but couldn't see her brother.
"Michael!" She shouted, hoping to gain his attention wherever he was.
"Michael!" she shouted as she walked toward where she assumed the explosion had taken place.
'What could have caused this explosion?'
Morgana couldn't think of an answer to that question. One moment everything was normal, and the next she could see a different Qi, then an explosion.
"Michael?"
Morgana heard a faint voice trying to talk, or perhaps trying to breathe. She quickly located the origin of the voice.
"Michael!"
Morgana gritted her teeth in anger and in pity. Michael was lying on the floor; however, unlike Morgana, he wasn't in good condition. He was in a terrible condition.
His whole body was burnt. Michael seemed to be barely holding on.
'What should I do?'
Morgana started to stress just by looking at her brother's condition.
'Should I take him to a hospital?'
Morgana glanced to her right.
'I don't have time for that.'
'What if the mysterious attacker attacks again?'
This was Morgana's main worry: another attack. She couldn't see any signs of her attacker, but she was sure that her attacker could see her.
'Twenty minutes.'
Judging from her brother's condition, Morgana assumed that she had twenty minutes to handle matters.
"Who dares attack me in secret? At least have the decency to show yourself!" Morgana shouted.
As she did, she could see a woman walk up to her. The woman was wearing a black dress and had quite an attractive appearance, but what was most unique was her eyes. She had blue eyes. The blue eyes weren't weird; what was weird was how many eyes she had.
'Four eyes.'
Two eyes were placed where eyes are supposed to be, while the other two were placed on her cheeks, close to her eyes. These eyes weren't that big, but they were noticeable.
'A Berserker? Perhaps a Villain?'
Morgana was trying to make sense of what she was seeing. As far as she knew, someone shouldn't have four eyes. Even classes such as Berserker and Villain that go through noticeable changes never had an extra pair of eyes.
Looking at each other, none spoke for a while until Morgana broke the silence.
"Are you the cause of this?" As she asked this, the grip on her saber tightened.
Morgana could see her Qi.
'Pink.'
It was the same color as the Qi that invaded her body. It was also most likely the cause of the explosion. Morgana tightened her grip on her saber.
'I have to end this quick.'
"Yes, I was," the lady replied, then showed off a sinister smile.
"Why did you cause the explosion? I see no need for you to do it," Morgana replied while looking around.
She wasn't far away from the King's mansion. She expected the Feathers to come by now, or anyone who could help, but strangely, no such person could be seen.
"I caused it to kill you. After all, I'm your opponent, ain't I?" the lady said.
Her Qi moved around until it solidified, forming a claymore. "It seems I'll have to kill you the manual way."
"Opponent?" Morgana muttered.
But she had no time to think about the matter.
'Words are useless now.'
Tap tap tap tap.
Morgana charged at the lady with explosive speed, her Qi leaking from her body.
'Going straight for the kill,' the lady thought as she charged forward as well. Due to her claymore's length, she swung while Morgana was a distance away. Morgana evaded this attack, then solidified her Qi, forming a small orb, then launched it at the lady.
The lady, despite using a claymore, which is a large sword, was able to use it as a shield, blocking the orb.
Tap tap tap.
She heard light, fast footsteps. In the brief moment her eyesight was gone, Morgana had closed the distance.
'I see why you're so feared.'
Swoosh.
As if cutting the air, Morgana swung at the lady's neck, aiming to cut off her head in one swoop. But at this moment, her extra pair of eyes looked at the saber's trajectory. The pink Qi close to the lady started to vibrate.
'This again.'
Boom!
Before Morgana could react in time, she was caught up in the explosion. She bore the full force of it; a majority of her face was burnt. The lady, on the other hand, wasn't badly injured. Her lower body was burnt, but she protected her face and other vital organs. A smile found its way onto her face.
"Is that the best you can do?"
As the lady said this, she noticed a Qi barrier a distance away. Looking there, she saw a white Qi gather around, forming a closed, circular space.
"Ah, I see. You focused on protecting that boy."
As she said this, a vein bulged out on her forehead.
"You'll regret not taking me seriously."
Morgana's body started to release hot steam. When the steam was done, her body had visibly healed.
'That explosion technique will be a problem.'
Morgana could have easily protected herself, but her brother couldn't. As such, she protected her brother and took the attack. Unlike her brother, she could at least heal herself, but her brother couldn't heal himself.
Morgana couldn't use her Qi to heal her brother, as it would cause a Qi rejection.
Morgana was disadvantaged in this fight; it wasn't looking good for her. She looked at her opponent's second pair of eyes.
'Could that be a weapon of some sort?'
Denying her the right to think, the lady charged at Morgana. Despite the large weapon, she was quick on her feet.
'Going near will make me vulnerable to explosions. Distancing myself from her will also make me vulnerable to explosions.'
Swoosh.
The lady swung her claymore, aiming to cut off Morgana's head.
'Fast!'
Morgana barely moved back, avoiding the attack. She expected her opponent's attacks to be slower due to her large weapon, but it seemed to be the opposite. Her opponent moved a few steps forward, then swung her claymore. Morgana dodged the attack by moving under the claymore's trajectory, then shot herself at her opponent.
Her opponent didn't have time to strike again, and with how large her claymore was, she wouldn't be able to freely use it. Morgana released an extremely high Qi output at this moment.
'Electrification!'
This Qi violently surrounded the lady, attempting to invade her body and cause a huge rejection.
"Urghh…" a pained groan escaped the lady's mouth.
Swoosh.
Like air being cut, Morgana aimed her saber at the lady's neck. Her second pair of eyes looked at where the saber was aiming, but no explosion was created. Instead, when Morgana's saber reached her neck, she felt a barrier preventing her from slicing her head off.
Taking advantage of Morgana's brief confusion, the lady launched a devastating kick at Morgana's stomach all the while being electrified.
"Urghh…" Morgana was the one to let out a pained groan this time. She moved to her left, creating distance between the two.
"I'll remember this." As she said this, she rushed to her brother.
"Like I'll let you!" the lady said after stabilizing herself.
But before she could do anything, she saw a large amount of white Qi surrounding the area like mist.
'Such large Qi output.'
Some of the Qi covered Morgana, creating a thick white metallic armor; some created armor for her brother. The rest rushed to the lady, attempting to cause an electrification.
Before she knew it, Morgana and her brother had disappeared from sight.