Chains Of Pride

"Rikona are you mad!?! Even if your power is on the rise, you can't recklessly use this move!" Kura's face was full of shock, she didn't think the outcome of an exchange of a few moves would end up with this.

"You forced my hand; with this, your fate is sealed!" Rikona's expression was twisted at this point. Part of it was because of her current state, the other part was because of the risky nature of this move.

This was an extremely dangerous move, it was able to forcefully drag the effects of the worst environments to have ever been experienced in time from a reachable location and simulate it in a confined area. Also, because there was a vague barrier of time differentiation, one could not simply walk out from here.

Though this move was powerful, there was the one constant drawback, the power drain. Back when Rikona last tried to execute it, she could only maintain it for a few seconds before she collapsed. She didn't wake up for the next 3 days!

"Of all the…Damn it, Rikona! Primordial Rondure heed my call" Kura's construct began to vibrate when she summoned it. A slight waver entered her actions, "I've barely comprehended this move, but for big sis, I'll do anything. Hopefully, it works!"

Kura took a deep breath and stopped hesitating, "Reverse Nascent!" when she said this, the area that was dark not long ago started to recede like the tide. The temperate also began to return to normal.

It seemed as if it was being absorbed into the Primordial Rondure. Sweat began to drip from Kura's face, this was to be expected as Reverse Nascent was a move that brought everything back to the beginning of inception, before forbidding even that.

Simply put, she was practically undoing its creation, what was the beginning of creation? She didn't go this far, but ss can be expected, this move was very taxing, she was barely able to execute it because of her current stage.

"Well, now I've got you right where I want you," Floating in the distance was Rikona, who wore a leisurely expression on her face.

"W-What h-how…how are you still okay after launching The Darkest Hour?!" Kura was evidently shocked by the turn of events.

"Hahaha!" A mocking laugh came from her sister, who stared at her. "Indeed, you are truly a fool among fools to fall for your own trap."

Kura's eyes widened in shock as she realised she had just been played. Rikona never genuinely executed The Darkest Hour, she only acted like she did. She knew that given Kura's character, she would try to erase the move and only one move within Kura's arsenal could pull this off, 'Reverse Nascent.'

If everything played out true, Reverse Nascent would have broken The Darkest Hour resulting in Rikona suffering a backlash. Kura would have been weakened yes, but at least Rikona's injuries would have tipped the scales in Kura's favour.

Yet Rikona pulled a fast one and didn't put any strength into the move, only a shadow of its full power, and the end result speaks for itself. Kura was now horribly weakened, and Rikona's injuries from before, both internal and external, were in the middle of healing when she began to circulate her energy to do so.

"Now, I believe I owe you a palm strike, and anything after, we'll consider it interest."

Whoosh!

As soon as Rikona finished speaking, she made a move and dashed straight towards Kura. Her momentum was on the rise while Kura's was at its lowest, the only thing she could do was passively defend.

Rikona didn't choose to use the Perennial's Mechanism, it drew too much power for its reality-bending capabilities. Kura saw that Rikona wasn't giving her any time to breathe! She quickly crossed her arms to guard against another one of Kura's incoming blows.

Bam!!

"Where's the bravado you had before, huh dear sister!?!" Rikona was relentless. She kept throwing out punch after punch on a weakened Kura.

Boom!!

Rikona landed a heavy kick in Kura's midsection, sending her flying once again. This time the expenditure and incoming attacks really damaged her, her energy was dangerously low, she was barely keeping herself airborne as it is.

"Coughs!! Urkh!!"

Kura coughed up another mouthful of blood, she looked through unsteady eyes at her sister, who was currently making her way over.

"I-I can't keep up with this for much longer. Her aura is still on the rise, and I only have enough in me for one last attack, no, not even one, b-but if I don't do this now, I won't have a second chance, and I will NOT lose my sister!" Kura gathered the remaining power left in her body to execute one last move.

"Still resisting? You're seeking death!" Rikona flew over at breakneck speed, in her eyes. Kura was simply a bird without wings, just a little more and her sister would be no more.

Wait, sister? Would she really be ending her own sister? Rikona's thoughts fluctuated as she moved in on her goal.

"N-No! My pride transcends mundane things such as blood! Hmph, goodbye, little sister." She moved so that the last punch was aimed right for Kura's head.

As she closed in on the now descending Kura, she suddenly sensed a dangerous fluctuation. Kura's clothes began fluttering intensely when there was no wind. When she lifted her head, her eyes flashed with a fearsome power.

"Danger!"

This word ran rampant through Rikona's head, but when she recalled how she knocked Kura around earlier, she pushed that feeling to the back of her head, even increasing her speed.

"Divine Will of the Heavens!!" Kura's shout echoed out and before Rikona's shocked expression, the Primordial Rondure, shuffled ever so slightly, and that accursed black core became visible once again.

Rumble! Crack!! Boom!!

Myriad golden lightning escaped the sphere, the space that they passed through shattered, shortening the distance to Rikona. She knew she couldn't dodge it, she could only watch it approach, her own small fist still outstretched.

Kkkssshh! Badaboom!!!

A massive explosion took place that could be seen and heard for miles out. The space over a large area shattered while an even larger area was distorted beyond that.

The golden divine lightning tore asunder everything in its path, such was its power! This was one of the heaviest hand that the heavens would play. This was the unparalleled, and irrefutable might of above, energy in its purest form!

"Incredible! So this is what happens when the two masters fight. God! Is it foolish of me to hope that they'll both be alright?" Yang Min and the rest were standing a distance away watching the quite literally, heaven-shattering battle.

"It's not foolish, t-they'll come back to us, they have to," Gin was reassuring everyone else and himself not to worry. They had met up in the time the girls were fighting.

A long time had passed before the sounds began to die down. The space that had shattered previously started to mend itself.

Soon, Yang Min's group began to see a shadowy figure drifting towards them. They edged nearer to see who it was, for they saw that in that person's arms was held another, whose life and death was unknown.

However it was not Rikona who lay with that unknown fate, but Kura, the one who fired Divine Will of the Heavens!

'Sniffles.'

"I-I was weak, 'sniffles' my will was weak, and my sister was the one who paid the price." Tears streamed down Rikona's face as she carried her motionless sister in her arms.

What just happened…?

4 minutes ago…

Boom!!

The massive explosion still echoed out across and beyond the horizon and yet within the chaotic space stood Rikona with that same fist outstretched, just an inch from Kura's face.

Rikona's face was the definition of shock, her eyes were wide open, and her mouth was slightly ajar. Her sister, on the other hand, was different, there was a smile on her face, one of relief.

"It looked like my gamble worked hehe." Kura weakly laughed when she saw that familiar look in her sister's eyes.

"W-Why Kura? Why didn't you just kill me? I was lost!!" Rikona lowered her arms as she stared at Kura in disbelief.

Earlier when the lightning arrived in front of Rikona, she could remember feeling an immensely powerful force guiding the numerous bolts, so that it barely passed by Rikona's cheek, leaving her unharmed.

When that happened, Rikona's mind was in turmoil, to wield such power and to leave her untouched. This is my sister, pride gifted the power, but blood chose how to use it. That is my sister.

Such were the thoughts in Rikona's head, this all happened in the blink of an eye. While her momentum still brought her forward, she finally found herself and halted The Fall. She quickly stopped herself and stared at the scene of her younger sister, whom she failed.

"Silly, why would I kill my own older sister?" Kura extended a bloodied hand to Rikona's cheek. The earlier attack and additional guiding force had caused an enormous backlash on her. Kura's body was riddled with varying injuries, blood had stained her beautiful ebon-hued skin.

"Next time, give me less…trouble…will…yo-" Kura didn't finish speaking before her power left her. Rikona hurried to catch her, the tears in her eyes already welling up.

Now…

"Yang Min, head to the building we were in prior and recover Machyal." Rikona' voice appeared lifeless, and nobody could blame her.

They knew what took place wasn't her just turning evil, and they were aware they would soon come to know what happened.

Gin said nothing, the pained expression on his face was evident enough to show how he felt. Numani silently observed the proceedings with a downcast expression.

When Yang Min came back with Machyal over her shoulder, Rikona only glanced at him once before turning around to leave, no feelings present.

Everyone followed after her to return to their base. This was the very definition of a pyrrhic victory, and damn it all if it didn't hurt like hell.