Chuang’s hand punched through the molten rocks as she lifted herself from the glowing pool of magma. Her heat-proof clothing was thankfully intact, but its darkened edge glowed like the pan of rage. Those fires were dragon-grade. Chuang could tank some heat being a fire-goddess, but even someone like her got limits. She dipped her hand into the molten rock and casted her anger to the earth.

The ground swelled, alarming the two knights of Dawn.

[Inferno School: Hell Field]

The earth turned into a blazing hell-pit. Melody remained unharmed from the blaze because of her draconic durability. Luxinna wasn’t as lucky, being forced up the sky to avoid becoming a roasted elf.

Chuang clenched her fist. Her storage ring flickered in the light.

…

Several hundred meters from the battle, Rem woke up from his [Clairvoyance]. The transient vision of the future finally handed him the signal.

“Hikma, space break,” Rem whispered at his radio. He hoped Hikma pulled their counter-play before the fight turned ugly.

…

Hikma De Darwin tracked the trail of devastation in the shadow. He stalked the battlefield, unseen and unheard under stealth Arcane and Scathach’s training. Three minutes in and Hikma dispelled the thought to interfere. The mind carrying the key to triumph must not remove itself.

Hikma’s limit was three Arcanes, catalyzed by three [Conceptual Seal] — miserable limitation for the man who learned thirty at the minimum. Thankfully, he made it worked. [Shadow] concealed him from the attention of the furious Heavenly Daughter. [Chill] lent him the cold [Arctic Aura], protecting him from the inferno Melody and Chuang threw like confetti. It took Hikma knee-buckling effort to shore the two Arcanes under the onslaughts, but enough healing-potion to substitute as his dinner solved that problem nicely.

Finally, Rem’s signals arrived. Hikma’s third seal glowed. It was their ace — the Arcane defining the success or failure of this mission. Chuang’s arrogance stopped them from using this secret weapon from the get-go. Now that they cornered the beast enough for its claws to unsheathe. The time to break the Heavenly Daughter of Fire arrived at last.

The [Conceptual Seal] of [Space] shined in Hikma’s palm as he stepped from the shade and into the heated hell. Hand waved in the air as he poured his focus, unleashing the Arcane at the very second Chuang’s ring shined.

“[Space Jamming]”

...

The storage rings on Chuang’s finger glowed as she attempted to access her warehouses of arsenals. The Space Stone inside shone with innate energy, releasing pocket space filled with Chuang’s weapon, supplies, tools, and puppets. It was a ring accumulating a vast amount of her wealth and half her battle power. The prizes inside worth enough to fund Lightwell for a year.

However, Chuang most prized treasure was without a doubt her puppets. A quality piece she crafted herself. The mechanical beast made from corpse of magical creature, equipped with weapons of the gods, painstakingly selected from the best specimen. Chuang Tianshang hunted more than half of them with all her effort. She climbed the mountains to fight the griffin and made a flying behemoth from its corpse. She spent three days trudging through the forest for an elusive holy beast to create a healing-base puppet. She even dove into the ocean to capture a giant calm as a base for the strongest defensive servant available.

Each Heavenly Daughter specialized in multiple classical arts praised by Nu Wa. Kar’Dia boasted talent in blacksmithing, sculpting and weaving. LinLey excelled as an expert artist, calligrapher and formation maker. Cytortia ranked as the youngest S-rank in history of Alchemy, medicine and an expert cook. Tai Hua—much to her eternal embarrassment—was the unrivaled mastered in all form of dances, ceremonies and music.

Nu Wa bombed as a mentor — that was a fact. However, some of her training tested positive. Cytortia eventually transcend all Alchemist before her. No soul in Phantasia dared to siege the matured LinLey’s fortification. Tai Hua ultimately coached the most famous pop-idol in Phantasia and even toured a dual concert on multiple occasion once she learned how to smile at the camera.

Brashness aside, Chuang also held equal attainment to her surrogate sisters. She was an expert puppet-maker, poet and zoologist. She combined her knowledge in animal’s physiology and puppet mechanism to create multiple war pieces which elevated her above mages such as Kar’Dia Tianshang and Shyme Enma.

The moment Chuang took out her puppet, Horizon Dawn would face hell. The only thing stopping this worst-case scenario from happening earlier was the Heavenly Daughter of Fire’s arrogance.

But Rem didn’t care — arrogant or humble — Chuang got on the naughty list. Remus Breaker didn’t treat his problem humanely. He assumed opponent as smart as himself, so plan that took them down was the plan he knew he couldn’t survive either.

Chuang’s greatest mistake was not taking out the puppet before entering the forest. However, Rem would argue the true blunder laid on fighting under the enemies’ term, proving that she learned nothing from his lecture a week ago.

Hikma’s Arcane was perfect. The Space Stone jammed mid-activation and exploded, destroying the pocket space. Every single property Chuang kept in that ring—puppets, weapons, life-saving consumables—did not survive the space crashing that tore them to scraps.

Chaung’s ring flickered and popped like an overloading light-bulb.

The Heavenly Daughter of Fire took three seconds to register what happen.

“What?” Chuang shook her storage ring as panic built. “Come on. Turn on. Please Don’t go out like this.”

Once Chuang registered the painful truth that she lost everything in her ring. She experienced a vision. The specail moment with every treasure she earned. Every puppet she struggled night-by-night to create. Every thing came flooding back to her at the realization that all of it vanished.

Tears trickled down Chuang’s cheek and her heart shattered.

“GO TO HELL!” Chuang howled. Her eyes blazes with fury and tears. “I HATE ALL OF YOU!”

The temperature shattered the metaphorical roof as Chuang splashed her Mana. All traced of restraint evaporated completely from the destruction of her treasured possession.

“[Inferno School: Rising Blade],” Chuang unleashed a row of fire spears and harpoons from the ground, but she didn’t stop there.

“[Heaven Fire: Incinerating cloud]”

Magical circle lighted up, dropping a plume of fire on the earth below.

“[Burning War: Ignition Slice]”

Chuang flung her arm, unleashing the fire blades that bisected half the forest.

But the Horizon Dawn was ready for everything she did.

Hikma put his hand on the ground and released an Arcane that instantly froze the ground, shattering the construct. Melody unleashed a dragon breath, extinguishing the fire by using fire to drain the oxygen. Luxinna deflected the blade of flames with [Serene Glass] amped [Historia]. Chuang’s onslaught might overwhelm each of them, but together they were more than a match to the weaponless 33 Stars.

“[Burning War: Mountain Piercing]”

Hikma raised his hand, remembering what Rem told him.

…

“Hey, Hikma, do you want to know what is the most annoying spell in all of Magic,” Rem said one afternoon.

“I think you are also new to Phantasia.”

“Eh, that doesn’t mean I am new to Magic: the Gathering,” Rem said. “Listen to me buddy, the most toxic deck in Magic is blue-control.”

“Why?”

Rem made a face.

“Counter spell.”

…

Arcane was the power to replicate the memory of the world and imposed the phenomenon into reality. However, the same method could be reversed to return the phenomenon back to the memory of the World. Reverse Arcane changed spell and unnatural phenomenon into a bad dream.

However, Reverse Arcane was a much more demanding technique compared to vanilla Arcane. It was much easier to make ice-cream than returned the treat back into milk, vanilla and flavoring. The craft demanded intense attention to detail, control and deep understanding of the phenomenon. Among all of Horizon Dawn, only Hikma boasted the talent for the craft. [Deep Meditation] and his natural affinity with Astral Tracing allowed him to read the target’s component given enough time. [Memoria Revision] function an advance eidetic memory, allowing him to recall the sight, scent, sound, touch and taste of any phenomenon he experienced. His high WIS lend him the precision he needed. Above all else was the True Magic [Conceptual Seal]. Its uselessness in combat seemed to act as an internal balance to omnipotency as a universal catalyst for all Arcane and Reverse.

Hikma was the only mage in the world who could create and erase any Miracle except for other True Magic. Despite having the lowest power-level in Horizon, his versatility made the most viable pick in any composition. Any team with him in it would guarantee absolute magical superiority. He was the Chronicler of Magic who, able to wield every miracle in his memory.

“[Reverse]” Hikma stretched his hand, throwing a [Conceptual Seal] of [Fire] at [Mountain Piercing].

“What?!” Chuang’s eyes bulged, sinking to the same expression every Magic: the Gathering player had when they first receive the bitterness of counter spell. 

Seizing that opportunity. Melody and Luxinna threw a canister that exploded in a familiar purple fume. Chuang raised her eye-brows. She won’t fall for the same trick twice.

But the fume was just a distraction for Hikma to get closed enough.

“[Enchant Break],” two seal — [Fire] and [Magic] — lighted up in Hikma’s palm. Chuang felt her fire-base defense cracked as the boy closed in. She attempted to throw a punch, but without her [Immolation Robe], the table tilted for Luxinna and Melody.

Chuang bit her lip. She needed to pull spell.

“[Reverse],” Hikma took down her [Heaven Fire: Vermillion] before it even formed.

In a three-against-one fight — with her tool and skill set compromised — Chuang had no choice but to use desperate measures .

“[Martial Phoenix]”

Flaming tattoo appeared over Chuang’s body. She disliked using this style. It was a hybrid technique used by her future self as a mix between cultivation technique and spell-casting. The technique channeled a specially cultivated energy into a pathway constructed with spell-formula, enabling the used to combine powerful spells with the martial technique.

Chuang only learned [Martial Phoenix] a few months back. Her proficiency with it was disastrous, but right now she didn’t have a choice.

[Martial Phoenix: Fireball]

Chuang’s fireball compacted punch collided with Luxinna’s fist. The raw magic power combined with her STR stats overwhelmed the elf’s boosted power and sent her flying back. Melody rushed to match her Draconian strength, but Chuang’s second [Fireball] punch sent her sliding away with her feet digging trenches across the earth .

[Martial Phoenix: Fire spin]

Chaung rushed after the two as a swirling mass of fire. Melody and Luxinna dodged aside and Chuang slammed the ground they were at, transforming it to a crater with a touch of swirling flames.

Melody barely regain her breathing, when she detected the Mana coming from below.

Shit! Melody thought. She was prioritizing me.

Chuang rocketed from the ground in a mass of fire.

[Martial Phoenix: Mountain Piercing]

Melody evaded the spell-compacted stomped, but the explosion unleashed was another story. Explosive force knocked everything back. Chuang kicked destroyed the terrain, turning the area withing 500-meter radius into a blast-zone. The tree disappeared in a flashed of heat. Hikma and Luxinna received the shock-wave that sent them sprawling out of the fight.

The light show died down the instant it happened.

The blacken crater burned with ember. Chuang walked toward the crawling and gasping Melody. The demoness stood directly within the blast zone and fireproof didn’t necessary translated to explosion-immunity. Melody’s internal organ was in shamble and she knew several of her bones got dislocated from the blast. The demoness let out a pained grasp, thanking all things sacred that her mother wasn’t here to give her a scolding.

“Look at you,” Chuang kicked the injured Melody in the gut, slamming her against the crater’s wall. “Do you feel it? The pain of defeat. This is what it like to get beat down by the opponent you have no chance of winning. Frustrating, isn’t it?”

“Hah,” Melody coughed another mouthful of blood. “I don’t know you are such a moaner.”

A canister suddenly landed near Chuang and burst into a cloud of purple smoke.

Chuang easily evaded the clumsy attack and saw her junior sister sliding down the crater and running to heal Melody at full-speed.

“[Fire shot]”

The bullet of flamed punched through Cytortia's knee-cap.

Chuang walked over toward Cytortia, who was clutching her bleeding leg in tears.

“Useless as always. All these powerful comrades and you still fail. Do you know how much this spat cost me? Don’t you think this will end with just beating. No matter how much you beg, I will make you wish I will only kill you.”

Cytortia glared at Chuang with her eyes in tears and her voice trembling.

“Do your worse.”

Chuang gritted her teeth. She only kept herself under control by imagining this idiot begging again.

Bang!

A bullet mangled her in the leg. 

It was not a small-round either, but an armor-piercing one. Then another round shattered her forearm. The third round punched through her back.

The fire-goddess dropped to the ground, yelping like an injured cat as she bled like any normal human. 

Chuang couldn’t comprehend her sudden injury. How was this possible? Even without her defensive spell, a tiny pea-shooter from a backward planet like Earth shouldn’t hurt her. Any A-Rank should be able to handle a high-caliber bullet like a popcorn. Confusion rose in Chuang's mind, but reality quickly broke through.

Melody was an expert blacksmith who easily surpassed Kar’Dia. With Cytortia’s help, she could design a gun and ammunition that hurt even someone in the B-rank. It would be even easier if the shooter somehow implement a magical trick with the bullet.

However, the biggest caused of Chuang’s defeat belong to inherent brashness and desperation that led to her abusing an unmastered [Martial Pheonix]. 

Every technique had a price. And when the technique directly toyed with the organ, the price would be costly.

[Fireball] and [Fire spin] wasn’t a powerful spell. Her body handled the [Martial Phoenix] version of those attacks just fine. But [Mountain Piercing] was an immense spell that  resulted in a backlash to her body. The immense Mana consumption and homeostasis malfunctioning eventually weakened her defense enough for a sniper round to hit before she could react.

Sadly for her — other than underestimating a Mana-less place like Earth and recklessness — one more reason added to the sunset of 3rd of the 33 Stars. 

Melody stumbled to the ground. Her head felt like about to cracked opened. The grains and dust she saw spun and danced in her eyes like a hoard of demons partying in the purgatory. She tasted the bile coming up her throat and retched.

Melody laughed.

“Finally.”

“What did you do to me?”

A footstep landed behind her.

“Melody didn’t tell you everything about the spray we used on you,” Luxinna answered, heaving the unconscious Hikma on her shoulder. “There are a third substance in the cocktail: a reworked version of a poison called [Black Despair] acting as a nerve toxin. We aim to weaken your goddess’s natural immunity to poison by forcing you to spend an enormous amount of Mana, exhausting you as much as possible for the poison to hit a full momentum.”

Chuang glared at the elf and recalled a familiar monster from her memory.

It was a herald of the Paracis Corrupter which destroyed Lightwell. It costed the life of two 33 Stars to finally killed that monster. Tai Hua needed to lead the battle herself. It was a bitter victory that won them nothing. The corruption was so powerful it rendered Lightwell forest inhospitable. The elf’s species barely survived, and no matter how much they got questioned, they refused to name the corrupted, lightning-wielding elf leading the World Enemy’s invasion.

How did she miss the elf’s identity beforehand?

“The monster of Lightwell.”

Luxinna flinched.

Chuang tried to get up, but she the combination of numbness, migraine and blood lost toppled her face into the ash.

“Don’t try,” Cytortia warned. “we coated the bullet with [Black Despair]. You don’t have a chance.”

“You don’t know-“

“I don’t,” Cytortia looked at the hill in the distance. “But I trust his Advance [Clairvoyance].”

Chaung froze.

Advance [Clairvoyance]

It was a highly coveted version of [Clairvoyance] that look into the future. Anyone with such a skill was a strategic resource any military would kill to have. Even the Grand Empire didn’t hire such person. The skill alone was rare enough, but accounting for the user's ability to foresee threat, forcing those users into service was almost impossible.

No one who achieved that skill was stupid enough to get recruited alive. They knew too much about their employer's method.

Chuang gritted her teeth as her consciousness faded

All of this time, she was struggling against the arm of the future.

It was not funny.

…

A 750 meters from the battlefield, Rem put down his Melody’s certified sniper rifle.

Mission accomplish.