The sword landed but Cain was flung away yet again as he crashed into the walls of the cave with a loud boom. Celestine got away with the sudden attack but her face was ashen as a dribble of blood made its way out of her nose.

Abigail shivered as she casted a quick glance at Celestine and was relieved to see that she was still in one piece before speaking hurriedly

"Be on guard, buy me some time"

Celestine cleaned her nose and nodded without even looking at Abigail as her whole focus remained on Cain who got up and immediately rushed towards them. This time she didn't stay idle as she stepped forward to intercept him

Abigail however immediately took out a large black orb and a small dagger from her space ring as she placed the orb on the floor and sliced both her palms with the dagger. She stored her dagger away as she crouched and placed her blood stained hands on the orb before speaking in a solemn tone

"With my blood as a sacrifice and my years as the fuel, sever and disrupt, sp..."

*boom*

This time it was Celestine who crashed on the walls of the cave interrupting Abigail as she coughed and spluttered, with bloody tears coursing down her face but she gritted her teeth and kept chanting

Meanwhile Cain was about to divert and head towards Abigail but Celestine shot out from the wall and rushed towards him with a broken left arm like a mad bull as she forcefully tapped on the power of her bloodline, provoking a backlash as blood trickled down from her ears and eyes.

Nevertheless it was still activated as her hair colour and eyes became a dazzling white, her figure speedily covered in a thin veil of ice as she pointed her right arm and aimed at him, ice shards emerged from her palm as they shot out like bullets.

Cain was forced to engage her as he slashed the ice shards before proceeding to aim his sword at her, she retreated as she kept firing but Cain kept advancing as he blocked and slashed, her ice veil offered protection but it was slowly being chipped away as Cain's relentless assaults raged on mercilessly before an opening presented itself

*shwip*

His sword eventually met flesh as her right arm was sliced off and her blood gushed out with ferocity, she squealed in pain but Cain wasn't done with her yet as he let go of his swords, grabbing her head with both his arms and planting his knee on her face as it broke her nose and disfigured her mouth, with broken teeth making its way out

She was in a state of extremely heightened pain and that was the last straw as her energy dimmed and slowly reverted back to Rank 0 level, she looked a mess as her body rapidly lost color and began twitching but still, she hoped in her heart that she bought Abigail enough time to complete whatever she was doing.

Cain threw her body to the floor like a ragdoll as she kept twitching before he quickly picked his katanas and headed towards Abigail but unfortunately that was enough time for her to finish as she hit her chest and spoke in a hoarse voice

"...shift and replace, I call on you, crawling queen of the void, Libellon"

He was just a few feet away from her as the cave trembled, mimicking a volcano that was about to erupt, the air became still as a humongous black claw emerged from the void and grabbed Abigail before it swiftly disappeared with her.

It all happened in an instant as Cain could only watch in helplessness and slight shock. He then stopped in his tracks and turned to face the still twitching Celestine who was on the floor in a pool of her own blood with a disfigured but visibly shocked face, she couldn't believe what just happened.

Cain however slowly walked towards her in tiny and laborious footsteps as he removed his black membrane, his katanas disappeared as well and his pitch black eyes reverted back to crimson. He stopped just in front of her and looked at her mockingly before he shook his head and spoke

"Aren't you a pitiful one, your partner used you and left you here to fend for yourself"

He paused for a second and continued "no that's not right, she was never your partner in the first place, you were just a tool for her escape in the end"

He crouched and inched closer as he spoke with a light chuckle "look at you, is this the power of your justice? you naively placed your faith in someone you hardly knew and put your life on the line for her, only for her to-...pfft"

This time he stopped speaking as he facepalmed and let out a long and sincere laugh from the bottom of his heart, he truly found this whole scenario funny. Granted, he didn't expect Abigail to abandon Celestine, he thought she was cut from the same cloth but apparently he was wrong.

Still, he wasn't surprised, in fact he praised Abigail in his mind, only a fool would throw their life away in the face of overwhelming odds expecting a miracle. Some idiots might call it bravery or courage but he deemed it foolish.

Some might also label those who run or escape as cowards but he instead deemed them wise and smart, because of what use is it to face an unbeatable foe and certain death when you have the chance to escape, staying behind expecting to win is only something society brainwashes people to believe.

He stopped laughing as he looked at her and spoke again with a slight smile "this is the outcome of your weakness and stupidity. You were so caught up in your own bubble of justice and righteousness that you failed to realise that you are weak"

With a sigh he continued "really, you should have left with the others but you stupidly chose to remain behind and in your own words, 'hand me over to the royal court"

His smile retracted as his voice chilled, his eyes slowly turning pitch black "I told you before didn't I? the weak have no say in the presence of the strong, justice is powerless without strength to back it up and it is useless in the hands of the weak"

He stopped speaking as he closed his right hand into a fist and concentrated his black membrane on his fist alone as he prepared to end her worthless life

'Is this how I die?' Celestine thought, this time she was gripped with fear and regret, she honestly never thought Abigail would leave her, she felt betrayed, angry, helpless but most of all she felt weak, she has always been cuddled and protected by her family but now she realised something, she was powerless without them

She kept staring at the young boy in front of her and for the first time in her life, she thought that perhaps her idea of justice and righteousness has been wrong all along, she wanted to speak but she couldn't as she could only stare as the death laden fist got closer and enlarged in her view

'Monster' was the last thing she thought before the irreversible fist came crashing down

*boom*

Cain's punch landed squarely on her face as it cracked open like a watermelon, but he wasn't satisfied as he kept pounding at her face till it became mush as life drifted away from her body, he eventually stopped and stared at her lifeless corpse as it was greedily devoured by the hungry cave

He stood up, his eyes slowly turned back to crimson with his black membrane retracting at a visible speed. He looked around and checked himself before sighing. He had truly overexerted himself this time, shaking his head he smiled bitterly, he was forced to go all out against a Rank 0, he truly hated his weakness.

'I myself am the weakest and the most pathetic of all, this is why I seek strength, this is why I have to be at the top. So I won't leave my fate in the hands of others' he thought as he looked at the spot where Abigail's body disappeared.

He then snapped out of his thoughts and muttered "Oh well, I can only take things one at a time and make plans for the future"

[ Warning: 5 seconds Left ]

The prompt sounded alarmingly as he nodded "Time to leave this cave"