48 Choices (3)

The girl deactivated her barrier.

The moment she did, a primal ground tore through the air. Leon leapt towards her like a panther going for the kill. The flames accompanied him as he attacked and red fiery streaks shot out towards the little girl with brown hair who had no choice but to dodge the incoming flurry of attacks.

Sparks danced around 373's body as she cast a spell. "Fulcio!"

The girl's figure nimbly evaded ribbons of fire. She dashed to put a safe distance between the two of them and automatically wove an intricate web of energy beneath Leon's feet. The debris on the floor clattered as the ground shook. With a flick of her hand, the floor beneath them changed. "Mutatio."

The metal plates and concrete slabs that made up the floor rose up and wrapped themselves around Leon to limit his movements. The girl took a deep breath and tried to approach the boy. She had only taken a step when the area around the male burst in flames. Leon's body glowed in a brilliant yellow light.

'Dodge, pueri,' Astaroth whispered. As soon as she heard the demon's words, 373 retracted her foot and instantly jumped backward.

The glow that surrounded Leon's body exploded and broke the restraints 373 had painstakingly set up. The power behind the attack was much weaker compared to when Leon had first summoned his flames. However, the destructive power wasn't something she could turn a blind eye to.

'You need a stronger spell, child. Wound him and weaken him if you must. A spell that lacks resolve will simply turn into ashes when faced with his flames. Can you do it?' Astaroth revealed himself in front of her with his arms crossed. The Duke of Hell watched her unblinkingly. 'If not, retreat and leave him alone.'

There was no rhyme nor reason in the way Leon fought. It was wild and unpredictable, yet it was worlds away from Zain Amina's level. But the fights between her and Leon were always fought with words. The little skirmishes the had were nothing but playful exchanges sandwiched between moments of companionable silence. She never had to fight him for real.

He was her confidant. He was the first person her age to have spoken to her – the first person to treat her as an equal. He knew her secrets, had seen her quirks and foolishness. Hesitation flashed in her black orbs. Did she really have to raise her hand against him?

'The amount of backlash he will receive from forcibly using his Talent will only worsen the longer he remains in his berserk state,' The Duke of Hell muttered. 'Not even a Magno Deorum can reverse the effects of a Talent's backlash. As I said before, if you let him continue with his rampage, he will die.'

'Do whatever you can to capture him. Use my shadows if you need to. Can you do it, pueri? If not, let him exhaust his energy by himself and let him die.' The demon's voice was coated with sugar. Yet the meaning of his words was as clear as day.

If she can't find a way to suppress Leon, then she might as well just wait for him die.

Astaroth's languid countenance flashed in her head. 'Contentus es vere iustus est, pueri?'

Another barrage of attacks flew towards 373. Leon ran towards her, his eyes tinted with bloodlust. The small girl's figure flickered through the onslaught as she evaded the pillars of light that were materializing and falling from the sky.

373 would never forget that phrase. It was the first thing Astaroth had said to her the night she heard the demon's voice in Elisium. Even though her mouth was completely dry, 373 swallowed. She gulped down the lump in her throat and tried to push the apprehension rising in her chest. "I'll do it."

Astaroth's voice chimed in her ear. 'Good girl.'

She let the boundary between her emotions and Astaroth's blur. The unwillingness she had slowly faded as she gather her energy on her fingertips. As soon as the last shaft of flame crashed into the floor, 373 launched herself towards Leon, sparks of electricity dancing at her hands. The boy growled at her and met her head on. Lightning collided with flames and the collision set off a gigantic blast that chipped away the layers of metal and concrete on the floor. Smoke and dust created a fog that concealed everything inside the operating theater.

The boy's figure shot out of explosion and slammed against the wall creating dents on the metallic surface. 373 remained standing in the cloud of smoke, energy pulsating around her feet. Without waiting for the fog to subside, she jumped out and closed the distance between her and the blonde-haired boy as the wind around her picked up and a bright blue glow erupted from her body.

"Aer Gurges. Tempestas."

High velocity gusts of wind appeared around the operating theater. Metallic tables flipped and crashed against the walls, scattering the tools that were placed on top of them. The red sea of fire danced with the cyclones of wind. 373 dispelled them with a quick wave of her hand.

Blue eyes widened. Leon stood from the ground and extended his hands. Flames shot out from his open palms and went up to greet her. But before the fire could touch her skin, the gusts of wind formed a protective shell around the girl's body. 373 continued to advance towards the boy and ignored the fire that nipped at her heels. Leon summoned a single lance of flame that was aimed at her chest. 373 nimbly rolled to the side and quickly got to her feet. A spell was on her lips.

"Mutatio."

The ground shot up from Leon's feet and turned into a cage made up of ground and metal. The boy growled and clawed his way out of 373's barricade, flames lapping at the material until it disintegrated and fell apart. The girl stood idly and looked like she wasn't moving anytime soon. But the throes of magic were gathering on her body, like she was preparing for one last attack.

The boy noticed nothing and sprinted away from the girl with dark irises. With a yell, pillars of flame erupted from the floor like geysers. The fire twisted and melded together until they became one body, forming a serpentine body that stretched out. The embers on its figure flared as the serpentine body opened its mouth and bared its fangs and letting out a howl that reverberated throughout Elisium.

The chimera soared towards 373. The girl released the energy she had been stockpiling and stretched out her left hand. The gusts of wind that she had previously summoned shot towards the serpent of flame. Air and fire collided. One element refused to give way to the other.

373 skidded backward from the wave of energy that pulsated from the two colliding forces. She could feel the soles of her feet being peeled off little by little. The girl increased the power behind her attack, sweat pouring from her forehead as she used every bit concentration that she had.

She brought her right hand above her head. Sparks gathered on her vacant palm. While wind and flame clashed, she flicked her hand up and sent the sparks danced in the air. The yellow orbs glowed before they brilliantly blazed and turned into bolts of lightning that aimed themselves towards serpent-like body that stretched before the little girl.

"Fulgur."

The attacks pierced into the body of flame and left a chain of explosions in their wake. Without another power to oppose it, 373's whirlpool of air went straight for Leon. The gusts of wind howled as lightning boomed. In the middle of it all, the girl with black orbs steadily moved forward even before the dust could settle down on the ground.

Her hands found Leon's arms. With a growl, the boy slammed his forehead against the girl's temples. He wrenched himself free from her grasp. Flames began licking the floor. 373 stomped the floor, curled her fingers into a fist, and punched Leon on the face.

Two pairs of hands grabbed and grappled. They two children rolled on the ground, their limbs becoming a tangled mess. Leon seemed to have forgotten his Talent. Instead of summoning the flames he had been flaunting till earlier, he decided to bite down hard on the pale white appendage that was propped beside his head.

373 hissed. She winced but endured the pain on her left arm. She held the boy's head with her free hand as her eyes glowed a faint silver. A blue glow flowed from her hands and into Leon's body the same way Astaroth had showed her. She used the energy to probe inside him, to sense the various changes happening inside Leon's body while his energy was slowly being depleted by his Talent.

The girl found something – it was a shapeless like water, but it was intricately woven with Leon's body. The liquid-like existence reacted with the energy that she had implanted. The formless entity slowly untangled itself from the fibers it was attached to and seeped into the wisps of energy 373 sent. She called the energy back to her and steeled herself for the pain.

The pain never came. Instead, a flood of memories seeped into her veins. 373 found herself staring at a scene that had once occurred in one of Elisium's classrooms. A boy with short yet wild blond hair was standing at the corner of the room. Tears flowed freely from his bright azure eyes. Yet the steady flow of water did nothing to extinguish the flames on his hands nor did it bring the dead child in his hands back to life.

The girl blinked. The peaceful classroom from Leon's memories turned into an ash-filled hall that showed nothing but destruction. Fire continued to rage as they lapped against chemicals and highly flammable materials. If they stayed, they were bound to get caught in a bigger explosion.

It was time for them to go.