Ukris Nightsong and Saya Summerbolt had fought in the Nebula Park once, during the battle between their classes 22 years ago. Although the whole Class Battle had ended in a draw, Saya had successfully defeated Ukris back then. Thus, the loser of their clash wad dead-set on not allowing their rematch to end with the same result.

Looking at Saya at the present as she hung from one of the fingers of the gigantic elemental skeletal wings the black empress had created around her actual wings, she felt disappointment rather than satisfaction. Which was very unpleasant as the day had already turned out extremely disappointing for Mrs. Nightsong.

Pretty much all the soldiers under her command had either been beaten or killed, the Martians having first failed and then turned on Ukris while Tenji Line, Rale and Ulura were probably captured at this point. And her intervention was the sole reason for the tables to be turned on her enemies with Saya and Martian Class #3’s demise. A fact that led her to believe that if she had just come alone to the park and unleashed her full might right from the start, this mission would already have been completed.

Once again the head of the Nightsong family came to the realization of how alone she was, not being able to rely on a single person she knew, all the hope she had for any of them leading only to frustration. At times like this she felt like she hadn’t learned anything from her past.

There was no such thing as hope. Not in the world in its current state. And that was one of the many reasons why this world needed to be reshaped as quickly as possible with Ukris playing a key role in the process.

But first the remaining obstacles in the area needed to be removed from her path and Saya Summerbolt was the prime target on the bat-winged lady’s kill list. Given how weakened she was, the lightning-laser mini-projectiles falling from the sky would soon end her life, but Mrs. Nightsong wasn’t going to wait until that happened. She was already getting impatient and preferred to take whatever precautions she could, now flapping her skeletal wings made of black lasers and clad in purple lightning. This action caused all the Martians impaled by the wings’ fingers to slip from them and fall back to the ground, the wings cutting all their shocked comrades who had come out unscathed from the initial attack. One of the wings was then swung to be used as a decapitation device for the sole person left hanging on the other wing – the head of the Summerbolt family.

(Ukris) ‘-Well, Saya, so long. Seeing how weak you’ve become, I’d say I’m doing you a favor by killing you before you shame yourself further. Too bad you won’t be able to thank me for that.’

A blast of bright yellow light pushed the decapitating wing away while also separating the finger Saya was pierced by from the wing it was attached to, Ukris not being able to see more because of the blinding light.

When the light subsided and Mrs. Nightsong could fully open her eyes again, a dot combining blood red and bright yellow moved in front of her before she felt a very heavy and hot fist hit the side of her face. The power behind that hit was mind-boggling, the solar-flame blast caused by it sending the black-haired tyrant many meters away.

Ukris couldn’t even keep her balance anymore, crushing in a part of the ground where quite a few coral-colored crystal spikes were sticking out, broken apart by the villainess’ lightning to evade any damage, her jaw already being hurt plenty however. The entire lower half of her face stung, a feeling of searing pain in her left cheek being added to the mix, probably due to the burns she had suffered when that flaming fist had first made contact with her skin.

Needless to say, the fiery mom was behind this, but how she had managed to develop such high teleportation speed or use such powerful punches was beyond her opponent’s understanding. Another baffling fact about the current situation was that as Ukris got back on her feet, she realized there was something mixed with her rain of two-element projectiles. Initially they looked like bright yellow fiery tears, but upon closer inspection the drops were revealed to be miniaturized suns made of solar flames.

Stars were literally raining from the sky at the moment, combining with each other before they hit the ground and quickly forming a shield that spread far beyond the ruins of the central big field. The shield itself looked like the half of a star, its interior being far too bright for the pseudosuccubus, so she released her full demonic form to remain impervious to its effect.

Her armor broke apart entirely, exposing her skin that had become lavender in color, black lasers wrapping around parts of her naked body to form a new outfit.

First off, the former human’s torso now had a rather revealing piece of clothing on it that barely covered her breasts and groin. Her arms were covered in long gloves that reached just under her shoulders, her legs – in stockings, her feet also seeming to have change their appearance under the new type of clothes put on them. They now had three fingers instead of five with gigantic claws coming out of each finger, the numbers of fingers on her hands being reduced to four with their nails being elongated.

Mrs. Nightsong had also gained a new appendage in the form of a lavender-skinned tail coming out just under the back of her waist, its end having a spike clad in black lasers. Lastly, her horns had grown in size, her hair now being made of a mixture of purple and black flames, her wings being armored in purple lightning with only the black bones of each wing still being somehow visible under the skin.   

Once the transformation was complete, Ukris could look around freely, getting a good look at her opponent’s current form. Saya had clearly activated Merutera’s Bloodless Covenant, but there was something different compared to the previous times she had used this technique. The flames were a darker shade of red than the usual bloody hue, in places appearing almost black, at the same time Mrs. Summerbolt’s eyes and the symbols on the parts of her body with the skin exposed shining brighter than ever.

It had been so long since Ukris had felt like this that at first she couldn’t even understand the emotion that had suddenly taken hold of her whole being. That emotion was fear. Fear of something she hadn’t seen awake in decades and something she had never seen awake like this – THE BLOODY SOLAR EMPRESS.

The fear didn’t last long, of course. It was only a momentary response soon to be replaced by immeasurable joy due to finally being properly reunited with her old rival.

(Ukris) ‘-And here I thought you were as good as dead! Why didn’t you use the Bloodless Covenant sooner and kept me waiting for so long?’

(Saya) ‘-I didn’t think I’d be able to activate it again. But then you said that succubus hadn’t been controlling you all this time – something I was hoping for very much. You’ve actually committed all your crimes while being fully aware of your actions. That demon is not the monster. You’re the monster and always have been.’

(Ukris) ‘-So you’ve given up on trying to save me? And what you were doing so far was going easy on me?’

(Saya) ‘-I was hoping you would eventually take back control of your body from the succubus and the brats and my family would be safe, but seeing as how that’s not going to happen, the only option left is to stop you myself. By any means necessary.’

(Ukris) ‘-Yeah, about that … you're fully covered in blood flames. That wouldn’t happen after only being pierced in the stomach. Did you hurt yourself to lose more blood and directly clad your whole body in those special flames? And what’s up with the black flames here and there? Have you been holding out on a new form?’

(Saya) ‘-There’s no new form, Ukris. It’s the same old Bloodless Covenant you know. The only difference is I’m going at more than a 100% right now, so the flames have to contain a lot more blood leaving my body than usual.’

And there it was. The Summerbolts’ most definitive trait. The real reason they had to be eradicated in Ukris’ mind. That indomitable will that went hand-in-hand with their madness to break through every boundary and law of nature to protect the things they care about. The Nightsongs may have had their insane moments, but the one who currently led them thought there wasn’t a crazier family out there than the Summerbolts.

Moreover, that family’s strongest member now looked more serious and driven than her rival had ever seen, making her question if trying to enjoy this battle was the best way to go about things. Letting up against Saya in her present state for even a second could prove fatal.

(Ukris) ‘-That’s a level of madness beyond suicide. You haven’t used more than a 100% since you were around your son’s age.’

(Saya) ‘-Yeah. Every cell in my body hurts like hell right now. (she clenched her fists, stepping forward) But due to my ability, I’m the only deviant able to withstand the blood loss from going way beyond my limit.’

(Ukris) ‘-With the output you’re currently going for and your level of exhaustion, though, you won’t last longer than two minutes in this form.’

(Saya) ‘-Try surviving against me for two minutes, then, Nightsong.’

Luckily, Ukris had used the conversation with Saya to distract her while replacing herself with the most convincing illusion, the original having snuck behind the lady of solar flames, ready to strike with the dual-element claws over the fingers of her hand.

(Ukris) ‘-It won’t even take that long, I’m afraid!!’ (Mrs. Summerbolt made no attempt to move away from the attack, letting herself get stabbed, which led to her body being wrapped in black laser tentacles clad in purple lightning)

(Saya) ‘-Was I supposed to be surprised by you using an illusion to deceive me? Any damage you bring upon me now will be neutralized, in case you forgot.’

The violent nurse’s special type of fire burned away the tentacles before they could spread, the blood from her new wounds being contained by her cloak in overdrive mode.

(Ukris) ‘-Only for about two minutes, though. If I manage to deceive you for a sufficient amount of time, eventually my attacks will hurt and kill you!’

(Saya) ‘-If I remember correctly, you can’t use those illusions consecutively. Since you just used one, you missed your chance.’

Saya had a point. After playing her illusion trump card to bring their battle to a quicker end, Ukris would now have to face her opponent directly until she regained the use of her illusion-making ability. But during that whole time Hikaru’s mother would be able to fight freely with her increased output, so the situation had suddenly turned disadvantageous for Ulura’s mother.

(Ukris) ‘-You kept talking with me to give my illusion time to take hold. To make me use up my trump card.’

(Saya) ‘-It was a trap, yeah. I’ve known you long enough to predict you’d try to sneak up on me to finish me preemptively.’

Mrs. Summerbolt lunged forward no more than a second later, blasting the remains of the big central field in solar flames, forming whole herds of rams made of her deva from them and leading their charge against the black empress. Massive purple lightning bolts hit all the animals and disintegrated them, meanwhile their creator having reached her target, forming a burning wheel with her kick to try and cut Ukris.

Gigantic skeletal bat wings were manifested around the villainess’ original wings again, blocking the wheel while she ran her devas through the ground, black laser tentacles of terrifying proportions emerging from the surrounding area. All of them went for Saya who now unleashed a burning pulse to push them back, her opponent having already teleported in the second-level pit near her. The next attack used by her was a black laser beam with purple lightning swirling around it shot from the pit, a cloak of solar flames protecting the violent nurse from the beam. It couldn’t stop the swing of the skeletal wings of the pseudosuccubus, though, Mrs. Summerbolt suddenly crumbling into flaming tears when being cut.

She had used a clone – something Mrs. Nightsong remembered the fiery mom was really good at – the original now concentrating the full force of the protective field she had spread all around in her fist.

The moment the shield was brought down, the black rain’s intensity was increased, its focus point becoming Saya and purple lightning typhoons being added to the rain to cause further chaos, keeping the solar empress away from her black-haired rival. She took that attack head-on, the flames around her having become almost entirely black now, Ukris’ ability to use her illusions returning just then, but not before the fist pierced right through her chest.

This led to the most triumphant and apocalyptic explosion this park had probably ever seen, not leaving a trace of plant life in the whole pinewood area of Nebula and setting all other trees and bushes in the vicinity ablaze. Not a cloud was left in the sky, the black rain also disappearing as the bat-winged lady could no longer focus enough to keep using her technique, throwing up a tremendous amount of blood.

All she could make out as she fell was that Saya had returned to her normal appearance, falling down in her own right. Despite the pain burning in her chest, Ukris managed to swing with her gigantic wings one more time, aiming to cut the leader of the Summerbolt family in half horizontally.

(Ukris) ‘-I haven’t lost yet, Summerbolt!!! Even your madness won’t save you this time!!!!’

Opposite to any logic in existence, the solar empress let the wings cut her with a smile, but put her hands on them to try and stop them from separating the upper half of her body from the lower one as both combatants crashed in the ground.

(Ukris) ‘-You really aren’t what you used to be. I remember you being able to create flaming angelic wings that matched my demonic wings in power. Why didn’t you use them now?’

(Saya) ‘-You still don’t get it, Ukris, do you? I don’t need those wings anymore. A mother’s wings are her child – the thing that will always elevate her higher than anything else and allow her to become stronger than she ever knew she could be. (solar flames were suddenly channeled through the wings that connected the two mothers, reaching Ukris before she could unmake her elemental appendages) AS LONG AS I HAVE MY SON TO FIGHT FOR, A MOTHER WHO DOESN’T LOVE HER CHILD LIKE YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME!!!!’

Mrs. Nightsong had successfully made the switch with an illusionary version of herself just in time to escape that attack, her gigantic wings disappearing now as she revealed herself right next to her prey. Her tail wrapped itself around Saya’s throat and as she choked her, she swung with only the index fingers of both her hands in an X-like fashion and a deafening roar full of hatred.

(Ukris) ‘-LET’S SEE HOW ALL THAT LOVE WILL SAVE YOU NOW!!! NIGHTSONG’S DEMONIC CROSS OF PAIN!!!!’

A lightning bolt with normal color fell from the still bright sky, stunning Ukris for a moment as it hit her, a silhouette coming out of that bolt and kicking her back into the ruined ground.

Although her technique was released a bit to the side, the further wounded empress was certain it would still cut up Mrs. Summerbolt’s skull to death as she knew the range of ‘Nightsong’s Demonic Cross of Pain’ very well. Saya was spared that fate as a whirlwind full of ice shards emerged next to her, a hand coming out of it and pulling her inside and then away.

As the smoke of all the destruction was lifted and the bat-winged lady’s wrath from failing to finish off her prime target helped her find the strength to get back on her feet, the people responsible for foiling her assassination attempt were revealed.

The ones who stood closest to her were Yuki Iceflame who held the fiery mom in her arms, Hikaru Summerbolt standing on the one side of the ice maiden, Seiren Blackscale – on the other. Behind them were gathered the members of Earthling Class #1 along with Lara Jade and the Nelaz twins from the Martian group, to the side of the students standing the rest of the Summerbolts. Graid held Tenji Line in a Daroid prison on the left and an ordinari soldier – in a Reloid prison on his right, Iziya having wrapped Ulura in a mini-typhoon and Rose having put Rale in a block of rocks with only his head sticking out of it.

(Hikaru) ‘-I promised my mother I’d beat her up if I found her half dead when I came back, but I guess I can postpone that beating a bit. (he stepped closer to the villainess alongside his family and comrades) Crushing you and ending this whole nightmare comes first.’