Chapter 11

When we reached the main entrance of the arena hall, we noticed someone had destroyed the lock. So Olivia really had been here. As soon as we ran inside the grassy field, a scene like a colosseum unfolded before us — with countless levels and seats arranged in a circular structure. But no one was sitting in them. The hall was deserted, which we didn’t understand. Then someone shouted toward us from the distant stage.

“You fell for my trick pretty easily! I didn’t take any hostages — I deceived you with illusion magic!”

It was Olivia, clearly waiting for us. But something felt suspicious.

“What’s the point of this? You could have attacked us anywhere, anytime. So what’s the game here…?”

The dark woman shot us a sharp glare.

“I wanted to test my new power against you — in a properly large area.”

At that moment, the three of us sensed something deeply wrong — something terrible coming. But we couldn’t put this feeling into words.

A black aura surrounded Olivia, and she suddenly let out a scream. We were shocked. We had no idea what was happening. The woman took out her clock again — this time glowing red — and began speaking like a cult member giving a sermon.

“The coming era shall be tainted by darkness! Time, once revered as sacred, shall now turn corrupt! Rampage, Deviclockster!”

Dark red flames burst from the floor, forming a magic circle shaped like a clock. Soon, a black portal appeared at its center, and rising red elemental particles assembled into a Clockster.

But this Clockster was entirely different from the ones before. Its body was pitch black, and its eyes glowed red. One arm was a minigun, the other a grenade launcher. And instead of mechanical growling, it let out a ghostly, echoing roar — as if the voice belonged to a demonic entity.

Horror and shock overtook us all at once.

“What the hell is this…??”

Naturally, I didn’t expect the girls to know, but Olivia was more than happy to brag about her creation.

“This is a Deviclockster. Fergus and I have learned new techniques recently. This creature isn’t made only of time magic — but black magic as well…”

The woman suddenly staggered and coughed up blood. She turned deathly pale. Even though she was our enemy, we actually worried about her. We angrily scolded her for being insane. But she laughed. She claimed she’d only be insane if she let herself keep losing to us like some pathetic loser. According to her, Fergus was supposed to use their new trump card first, but Olivia believed she was capable enough to handle it. So she secretly summoned the new variant before her partner.

Olivia, writhing on the stage, didn’t plan to wait any longer. She ordered her creature to attack.

Our hearts lit up; we prepared to transform.

“Creation of Time Link! Transfiguration!”

All three of our bodies became enveloped in light. Besides our shifting hair and recolored eyes, our bodies also underwent transformation. Mine was illuminated by stars, Kaori’s was struck by sparkling pink bubble explosions, while Emma’s was coated in brilliantly glowing frost. Through these effects, our Seraph uniforms manifested onto us.

We each struck our individual poses.

“I am the mysterious mist that blankets the night. The Seraph of Night — Nightmist!”

“I am the energetic bubble that drives away all sorrow. The Seraph of Lively Joy — Bubblegirl!”

“I am the princess of ice, who brings justice. The Seraph of Windy Frost — Snowincess!”

The Deviclockster’s minigun barrel began spinning, and it immediately opened fire with all its weapons. We scattered in different directions, maneuvering with quick flips and graceful movements. The hall increasingly resembled a decaying, burning battlefield. Growing tired of dodging, I summoned my crescent shield — but the minigun’s bullets cracked it more and more. Before my friends could support me, a grenade punched through my defense. The explosion knocked me back, and the follow-up bullet storm sent me tumbling across the ground. The bullets didn’t pierce my body, but the impact stung like wasp bites. I could hardly withstand the pressure, when suddenly the creature’s face was struck by a giant ice hammer. But before Snowincess could swing again, the monster had already recovered. It struck the white Seraph across the face with its minigun, knocking her onto me. In the next moment, countless small bubbles burst across the creature’s body as Bubblegirl continued firing. But it didn’t seem to harm it — only enrage it. With terrifying speed and aggression, it charged forward even through the bubble barrage. It shoved Bubblegirl aside with its body, sending her tumbling beside us. More gunfire erupted from its spinning barrels. Thankfully, the shots didn’t hit us, because Snowincess quickly raised an ice wall in front of us.

I was barely conscious, Bubblegirl trembled in fear, and Emma sighed gloomily.

“I can’t maintain this wall for long… This monstrosity is far stronger than anything we’ve fought before…”

We didn’t have time to discuss anything. Our breath caught when a grenade dropped behind the ice wall — landing right between us. The explosion sent each of us flying in different directions, though the painful impact and helpless collapse were the same for all three of us.

Olivia was coughing in pain, yet she looked satisfied. At the same time, we struggled to get back on our feet. It was difficult, but we managed somehow. Snowincess no longer hid that she considered the fight hopeless. She kept asking how we could possibly win against such brutal power. For the first time, genuine fear showed on her face.

“We’re going to die…”

Watching from afar, Olivia made us an offer. If we handed over Kaori, Emma and I could live. She claimed Kaori’s existence alone was the problem. Snowincess furiously rejected the idea — we were all friends, and we would never betray Kaori’s trust.

Bubblegirl’s eyes lit up.

“Friends…? Trust…? That’s it!”

We wanted to know what she meant, so she explained.

“All three of us are friends now — and we trust each other! If we synchronize our attacks, we can win!”

Snowincess and I smiled, signaling our agreement to try.

Olivia shouted angrily at the Deviclockster, ordering it not to waste time and to finish us off. As we charged the creature, it fired wildly at us. I blocked the first wave of attacks with my shield, then when it started to give out, Snowincess supported me with her ice wall. When that crumbled, Bubblegirl’s bubble barrage hit the creature, followed by a crushing ice boulder from Snowincess. Once we closed in and surrounded it, I cast black mist around the monster. It wildly fired its weapons in all directions, but in vain. It suddenly realized it was being struck from every side — crescent boomerangs, a massive ice axe, and finally a large bubble sphere exploding on its body. The monster staggered as red sparks flickered across its frame. At least temporarily, it became unable to fight.

Then, instinctively, we did something extraordinary: we began a shared chant.

“Sacred spiral of our bonds, wash away every obstacle! Take form — Rainbow Tornado!”

Lifting into the air, all three of us turned into streaks of light that spiraled around the Deviclockster, forming a rainbow-colored tornado. The ground shook. Many of the arena’s bolted-down seats were torn up and hurled into the air, and several advertising boards met the same fate. The creature’s body flickered and then dissolved completely.

As our light forms faded, we fell back to the ground as if thrown off a bucking bull.

Olivia glared furiously at what she had just witnessed.

“A group technique??”

Immediately afterward she staggered and coughed up more blood. Her eyes were filled with both rage and sorrow. She found it unfair that even sacrificing her health hadn’t brought her victory. Although we were supposed to despise her, we still pitied her. Bubblegirl pleaded with her to stop harming herself like this.

Olivia was deeply offended.

“This is all your fault! Why don’t you just DIE already?!”

No sooner had she finished shouting than she began coughing violently again. Bubblegirl looked even more heartbroken.

The woman then vanished in a hurry, and the hall — which had looked catastrophic — was restored completely.

We returned to our human forms. We knew there was nothing we could have done for Olivia at that moment. But the gloomy atmosphere was soon replaced by joy. We had achieved a magnificent victory — thanks to our trust in one another. Kaori apologized once more to Emma for misjudging her. Emma tried reassuring her, though Kaori still carried some guilt. After leaving the arena, she insisted on going into a craft store, but she didn’t want us to follow her. Later, on the way back to her dorm, she repeated the same thing, sending us away for an hour because she wanted to be alone. We didn’t understand why, but we could see it was important to her.

By the time we returned to meet her, the sun was already setting. The girl handed each of us a bracelet. Mine was made of dark blue beads, Emma’s of white ones. She told us she made them herself — and that she hadn’t forgotten her own either. As proof, she pulled out her pink-beaded bracelet and put it on her wrist. She encouraged us to do the same. It wasn’t exactly my style, but I was happy, and so was Emma. We thanked her warmly for the gift.

The setting sun highlighted Kaori’s cute, cheerful face.

“Even if the world doesn’t acknowledge my existence… even if I’m just a spirit… I’m not alone.”

Her next words were much quieter.

“Because I have two wonderful friends… who are like angels that descended to Earth.”

We weren’t sure we heard her correctly. But when we asked, Kaori quickly changed the subject.

“It’s almost dark! I’ll walk with you for a while. Whoever doesn’t hurry is a pumpkin head!”

The girls ran ahead, and I followed them, annoyed. By the end of the day, all three of us were truly happy.