"What are you trying to do?"

"What you said is true, however..."

Ayaka then fixed her stance, before attacking again with a swing of her tachi, which is parried by Whiteblind's blade.

"I don't accept it!" Ayaka replied, as she continued to make swing after swings with her tachi, which were all either dodged or parried by Whiteblind's blade, wielded by Noelle.

"That's the reason, Lady Ayaka?! We don't even know if Aether felt the same for us!"

"Don't you lie to me!"

With a heavy strike, Ayaka manages to push Noelle a few feet backwards, gashing the dirt beneath her feet.

"Lie?"

"I saw you both on Yashiori Island during that drama surrounding Arataki Itto... You held hands! And he seems to have accepted it!"

Noelle widened her eyes. She remembered the hand holding, and she held his hand back reflexively. As she continues to become lost in thought, Ayaka dashed in, and made an overhead slash.

However the slash never hit Noelle's body as she reflexively activated her shield.

"W...What!? A defensive power!?"

"Please cease your action! This is getting us nowhere!"

Ayaka didn't say anything back to Noelle, as she then went into the ground and burst back up with her tachi's blade imbued with cryo just as Noelle's shield exploded, sending her flying back, hitting a wooden railing on the passageway.

Ayaka recovers quickly, and went back into her stance as Noelle then imbues geo into the blade of Whiteblind. They raise their swords, before dashing towards each other to clash them against each other.

Blue and golden lights are seen flashing from a vicinity. Yae saw this from the Grand Narukami Shrine, and made an intrigued smile as she puts down one of the light novels she is reading.

"My, my... The Frostflake Heron against someone who's transcended, how interesting."

Back to the duelling maidens, they are still bashing swords against each other, until they were both pushed back.

"You are a formidable opponent, Noelle. But know that I have techniques as well."

Noelle widened her eyes, and activated another shield, as Ayaka puts her tachi back into the scabbard. The shield shatters instantly from an unseen attack, which surprised Noelle. Ayaka used this opportunity to strike as Noelle let her guard down. She dashed towards the Maid-Knight and unleashed an Iai unsheathing slash on her. Ayaka whizzed past Noelle, and she puts her tachi back into the scabbard as an unseen slash hits Noelle in the chest.

Noelle gasped in pain, as she then knelt down and took heavy breaths.

"Now, please disappear!"

Ayaka shouted, as she pulls out her folding fan, and chanted "Kamisato-ryuu: Soumetsu!" Before she swung her fan causing a snowstorm to approach Noelle from behind.

However the snowstorm was blocked by an unseen barrier that blew the snowstorm away, freezing a nearby wall.

"I'm still not finished, Lady Ayaka... I give you one final warning... Cease your action."

"Is this really Noelle... Shirogane's daughter!? What's this pressure!?"

A golden translucent cape materializes on the back of Noelle's armor, before she stood up and turned around. Her gaze meets Ayaka, who shook in fear.

Noelle's eyes are that of anger, the center of them are glowing in a golden light, and a golden aura slowly surrounds her form.

"What's going on!? W...What are you!?"

"I'm your rival!"

Ayaka shook her head, trying to get rid of the sudden fear before dashing towards Noelle who only used her index finger to push Ayaka away, but the power is too much as Ayaka was sent flying to a wall which cracks a little from the force.

"What is going on!? It's as if she became a whole other level!"

"Yield, and you won't suffer more damage."

"And just give him up for you...?"

Coldness froze Ayaka's heart. An icy cold feeling of hatred and jealousy as she begins to lose herself within them.

"Ara~? Looks like the Yashiro Commission girl is about to..." Yae said musingly as she watches from the roof of the estate, having gotten too interested in the duel.

A moment later, an icy blue aura emanates from Ayaka and her vision, as her heart throbs painfully each second. When it stopped throbbing, a pair of translucent heron wings emerge from Ayaka's back. She begins to float above the ground gracefully, as she unsheathes her tachi, which is now imbued with an even more powerful concentration of cryo. The winds blew in smoothly, sweeping some of her bangs to reveal her eyes. The center of each of them are glowing in an icy blue light.

"Ah, she transcended as well~"

"I will never." Were the last words from Ayaka's reply, continued.