Dimensional Descent

Aina faced off against Lyra, recognizing this woman as the one they wanted to marry her husband to. Well, there should have likely been many candidates, but she was the only one that Leonel knew of, and as such, she was the only one Aina knew of. It was clear to Aina that part of the reason Lyra was fighting was for this. Honestly, she had thought that she would be very angry when she saw this woman, but when she met Lyra's eyes... She couldn't quite seem to feel that way.

Lyra was fighting her because of proposed marriage, but it was for Leonel, per se. Lyra was fighting for herself. All this time, she had been forced to face the comparison between herself and Aina. It had already been months of that spiraling inferiority welling up inside of her. She felt that if she didn't fight now, maybe she would never have the will to fight again for the rest of her life... and maybe her journey as a genius would end right here... She was entirely unwilling. Even if that meant dying here.

Lyra suddenly moved, a cyclone of flames forming around her like ribbons dancing in the skies. Her flames seemed to be of one heart, as though they were forged into silky fabrics that moved along with her will. When she appeared before Aina and struck out a palm her flames moved with her.

Aina flicked a wrist and her pole arm slapped against Lyra's palm. The palm was repelled, but the ribbons of fire snaked up her Battle Ax, pulling at it hard and suddenly as though to wrest it out of her control.

Aina's grip was much too strong. She pulled her pole arm back and the ribbons shattered, forming dancing balls of flickering flames in the skies that surrounded the two and blocked off Aina's bath of retreat.

Lyra's hair fluttered and her palms danced in the wind, seemingly fusing with it as her strikes were layered one after another. In a split second, she had sent out hundreds of strikes, each one filled with a light and delicate sort of aura, one that masked their true danger.

Aina raised an eyebrow and her Battle Ax spun in her hands. A vortex of Battle Ax Force clashed against the palms, sending sparks flying in all directions and only adding to the candle-like flames hovering in the surroundings.

The more the two exchanged blows, the more these flames multiplied, growing and growing until the point Fire Force seemed to be the only detectable Force in the surroundings.

Lyra's hair continued to flutter, their dancing rainbow array of colors beginning to influence the flames in the skies until suddenly, they went from a reddish almost pink color, to an eruption of rainbow as well.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

the flames skyrocketed. It was abrupt and suddenly, almost as though a flame within Lyra's heart itself had

her Battle Ax gliding through the air. Her golden irises

Lyra and the rainbow flames all solidified at once, a torrent of palms forming in the skies and

up. There was no

the world. If Scarlet Star Force was the number one Fire Force in

Force that fused Fire Force and Soul Force, pulling on the emotions of its users

flicker within the flames, each taking hold of

BOOM!

gasped for breath, her palms still stretched out in a loose battle stance. She clearly felt that what she had

WHOOSH!

unblemished. If it wasn't for her military outfit that was torn to shreds and dripping with blood, it would be hard to believe that

and evident. In the

she also didn't want to just give up like that. If Aina wanted to defeat her, she would have to either kick

silence for a long while as the

her husband, even if it wasn't Lyra's idea. At the end of the day, Lyra had known she existed and still tried to