47 Arayle's Desire

"..Correct!" Arayle grinned in delight. The smug look on her face slightly irritated Estelle, but she shrugged it off.

"To be fair, I don't really have a strong reason, do I? I just don't like you," Arayle's smile disappeared as she got closer to Estelle and observed her changes. "No, dislike is a weak word... hatred would be correct,"

"But it's true that you might help to bring a change to my world?" Arayle mused, laughing in between her sentences. It was as if kidnapping Estelle was a mere whim that she felt like doing.

"I've never met you in my life prior to the abduction," Estelle gritted her teeth as she was hit with Arayle's emotion spikes that triggered an unconscious disturbance. Although the other was smiling, the reactions that she caused proved that she was feeling irked and even angry.

Estelle didn't know what caused them to be in such a relationship. In the six years she lived, she had never offended another personnel except for the recent incidents involving the danger of her family.

"That.. goes both ways. I also don't know. Well, you turned out to be less interesting than I thought. And.. suppressing you doesn't give me joy," Arayle was slowly losing interest in Estelle.

Estelle felt the mood drop and all of a sudden, she was also being affected. Not in an emotional way, but physical through and through. She wanted to strangle Arayle and tell her to stop her emotional roller coasters for she was hurting her just by doing that.

"Maybe we need another trigger..? For example, the death of your close family members.. Your little brother perhaps?"

"Don't you dare," Estelle readied herself for combat. She knew she was weaker than the other, but she got to learn a gist of how Arayle's train of thoughts went. She didn't care about anybody's life. Treating everything like a game and detaching herself from the worldly affairs.

She might seem easygoing, but once she loses her interest and her mood sours, even if you were once her most loved person.. she wouldn't care.

Then, it came down to betting everything. If she was going to do it anyway, then Estelle would rather struggle to make Arayle keep her interest.. or throw it all away and do the opposite, in hopes of being released eventually.

But she knew, she knew that the proposal of being released when the time comes was just something to give her hope.

"You twisted fuck," Estelle wanted to punch her delicate face.

"Hmm, I'll take that as a compliment. But really, you want to live that badly, huh? Pestering Yion to such a degree where she's beginning to warm up to you and treat you as a proper student.. How scary of you," Arayle clicked her tongue.

"Yion's a kind person deep down, so you're taking advantage of that. Should I punish you?" Arayle stretched out her hand and lifted Estelle up using her bare hands, choking her in the neck.

"Unlike you, I know how to make people like me. Losing one or two friends would hurt me, but that won't be the end. However, Kalis, Yion, and Elias are the only ones you have," Arayle's hold on her neck tightened, and Estelle started to spit blood from the amount of power Arayle was using. Unconsciously, she let out her magic as a form of self - defence. Their powers battled against each other.

Shocks traveled through both girls' bloodstreams, their unique magic creating an adverse reaction against each other.

Arayle was unused to pain, so she released her grip and retreated, trying to get her mind cleared up.

However, Estelle had already experienced the shocking effects multiple times, the sensation was something not foreign to her body.

She was someone who used her body as a test subject to gauge the reactions. It was akin to the inner workings of a vaccine.

She endured doses of Arayle's power. Little by little, she regained her control.

When Estelle first came into the Underworld, she was just as unused to pain as Arayle was.

The difference was that, she continued developing that pain tolerance everyday.

And now, although the power still brought her pain, it was endurable.

Taking advantage of the other's confused mindset, Estelle lunged at the girl and used her brute force to channel anything left in her powers into a single fist, punching Arayle in the stomach as hard as she could.

When Estelle noticed signs of pain in Arayle's expression, she knew that it was working. Arayle was strong, but her body was undeveloped and did not have a tolerance to direct confrontations. Her potential was massive, but unlike Estelle who underwent basic physical training, Arayle was just a little girl.

Of course, getting punched in the gut would shock her.

One punch wasn't enough, Estelle was prepared to collapse at the same time as Arayle. Forcing herself to bear the shock of using magic, she infused her attacks with mana and landed the blows.

"S-stop! What are you- Kalis!"

"You underestimated my struggle. I've made preparations for this kind of situation. You should be familiar with what I'm using at you," Estelle felt like her vision was clouded by a thick haze as she operated the magic she has prepared for the last four years.

"[Dimension Break]" Estelle spelled it out for the girl. The same spell Kalis used to transport her to the Underworld in order not to trigger the spatial membrane between the two realms.

"You- how were you able to master the spell?!" Arayle's eyes widened as she screamed on top of her lungs, trying to wrestle her way out of Estelle's attack.

It was a gamble, but Estelle had a feeling that the 'restriction' placed onto her magic usage would not cross over the lines of heavy injuries. Death would not be the worst repercussion.

"We are similar. Don't you think I would be able to master this kind of complex spell easily if I were given freedom for four years?" It was Estelle's turn to laugh, maniacally gloating over the fact that she was able to reap her benefits after bearing everything for years.

"For a complete answer, I memorized Yion's research records when she got lenient and left her book," Estelle's memorizing prowess was indeed top notch, especially when her last life was taken into consideration.

"Thank you for being soft hearted... Teacher Yion," Estelle took this as a chance to teleport away from the cursed place, leaving Arayle stunned and unable to chase.

She truly enjoyed her time with Yion.

The start was rough, but the knowledge she got from her was more valuable than anything.

She was grateful that she studied under Yion's tutelage.

Although she hadn't been given absolute freedom in terms of magic, as long as she carried on the knowledge to the Surface, she was sure that a huge advancement could be made.

[Dimension Break] activated and sent Estelle back to her original realm whilst simultaneously shielding her from the spatial changes in between the travel.

Designing Minerva's house as her destination, she dropped in front of the familiar beauty.

Before she was even given the chance to take a look around, a loud bang suddenly sounded out nearby.

Estelle rushed out to take a look and found a hideous scene of rampaging monsters.

"What the actual-" Estelle wanted to curse. She just came back, but the situation that greeted her was chaotic.

"Estelle?"

"Uhh.. I'm back?" Estelle wanted to explain more about her sudden disappearance and arrival, but immediately collapsed onto the ground. Her body, mind, and soul, everything had been heavily impacted after forcing herself to inflict damage onto Arayle in order to escape.

All that matters to her was that, she was finally able to see the nostalgic crimson - haired beauty, which acted as a signal that proved her return.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but the next time she opened her eyes, she was already rested within a comfortable bed and healed continuously by magic.

Her powers were still unstable over the previous outbreak, but it seemed like her magic wasn't limited anymore. The chains may only work inside the Underworld, it couldn't work otherwise.

They had a lot to catch up, so their chats extended for hours.

"Heine was hit the hardest. You disappeared in front of him, after all. He's riddled with guilt and shame for allowing you to come with danger, but he wasn't able to pay much attention," Minerva, who was in charge of nursing Estelle showed a hurt look inside her eyes.

After the incident happened, Heine immediately visited the Dukedom and paid heavy respects to the Clareste couple. Apology for exposing Estelle to danger, even if he wasn't aware of it. Of course, apologies wasn't enough to make up for it.

The Clareste couple refused to accept the apology. In the first place, it wasn't Heine's fault, and they also had a part in it since they allowed Estelle to go on a journey of her own. The only way it could be resolved is if Estelle returned to their side.

Now, the relationship between those who were left behind by Estelle was astringent, worsening day by day with nobody to make the first move to change the dynamics.

"...If I was the Fae King, I wouldn't have been able to see through Kalis' disguise. Even the Spirits didn't notice anything wrong. He was recognized by the Spirit Tree. I just don't know how he got his status.." Estelle recalled the man.

"Hey there, your expression is screaming 'I want to go take a look'. No way in hell!" Minerva rebuked her.

Estelle just came back from years of unknown exploration.

"..Even so, I need to investigate further on a matter. The moment I recover, I'm leaving nonetheless. You can't convince me otherwise," Estelle gripped the sheets tightly. If she just stayed still, she wouldn't be able to defend herself the next time Arayle paid her a sweet visit to bring her back.

Minerva bit her lips, stress clouding her mind after many years of peace.

"Things need to change. The world is already on its way to evolve, we need to make our own efforts to match it," Estelle felt like she was being chased by time.