[Chapter 03.2 – Silver Wolf]

Silence was all that prevailed in the long corridor of the hospital, where the only source of light was the windows.

It was a cold night, much more than usual. Even so, no one could feel their cold bodies, but the opposite. The pressure generated by Arthoka and Bronya was absurdly out of the ordinary, and that was more than enough to make the blood of those present pump with great speed, which in turn made them sweat with fear and worry.

"Aren't you going to give up this battle?" asked Arthoka. "You might regret this. It's better to go away and live your life... someone your age shouldn't be here."

"..."

It was clear that silence was all he would get in response.

"Haah… I see, so there's no way.", replied Arthoka, after a small, but heavy, sigh.

In answers, for the first time, Bronya opened her mouth to speak.

"The mission has already been decided—!!"

Vanishing in the blink of an eye, Arthoka reappeared just inches from the girl and ready to rip her head off.

The only evidence of his movement was the orange beam of light created and left by his blade along the way..

] FSHH! [

By bending back, Bronya managed to avoid Arthoka's blade.

"Die.", Bronya ordered, her voice cold and dry.

Snapping her fingers, Bronya ordered dozens of shots out of the pistols and toward Arthoka, but the boy managed to redirect all the bullets in a matter of seconds, leaving only the trail of his blade behind.

Sensing danger, Arthoka used the back of his free hand to parry a powerful kick towards his chest.

] PFFF! [

The girl's strength as she landed her blow on him was enough to generate a loud impact noise and a strong current of wind, but Bronya didn't stop her advance.

With another snap of his fingers, a third pistol appeared behind Arthoka just after an intense blue glow.

"What!?", Arthoka could hardly believe what he had just witnessed. "Materialization?!"

A point-blank shot was fired towards Arthoka's back...

] TSIIN! [

… and Arthoka managed to redirect the attack after turning 180° to the right.

More and more shots were fired at the boy.

The two pistols that flew over Bronya's side and the one behind him were firing nonstop. There were dozens of shots in a matter of seconds, however, that wasn't enough. He didn't stop redirecting bullets for a second.

It was a complete light show, generated by the blade and the pistols, but this light show was suddenly interrupted when Arthoka redirected the shots of the weapons themselves, destroying them completely.

Like an orange beam of light, Arthoka rushed at Bronya with preternatural speed. Stopping in front of the girl, the young Pendragon slashed diagonally with surprising speed.

Death…

Bronya would be killed. Death was all that was left for her. There was no way to dodge it and she had no way to defend herself… or that's what Arthoka imagined, but to her surprise, Bronya managed to counter her attack!

Widening his eyes, Arthoka recoiled, jumping back. In this way, he noticed that she was carrying a black knife with fluorescent blue stripes. This really intrigued him. Where did that third pistol and that knife come from? Something more important: How did she counter her blade?

'This girl is not just any murderer. My blade cannot be deflected by anything, it was made to cut even diamonds in the rough…', After reaching a dangerous and realistic conclusion, Arthoka smiled in a way that very well conveyed her nervousness and anxiety. 'That girl is stupidly dangerous! In addition to being strong, she is also skilled and intelligent. Soldirel would die easily if he fought her, I'm glad I'm here.'

Arthoka and Bronya continued to stare at each other, but the girl's cold, opaque eyes seemed to be looking into the boy's soul.

With a long, heavy sigh, Arthoka lowered his head. He couldn't see his face.

"I think that's enough," said Arthoka. "Forgive me, girl."

Doubtfully, Bronya just stared at him intently.

"Letting someone like you live is something I cannot allow. You're too dangerous...you might get in the way of my plans for the future."

Bronya, seeing Arthoka raise her head and being stared at by her orange eyes, which glowed intensely, felt all of her extinct screaming for her to be careful.

Arthoka disappeared again.

Purely extinct, Bronya raised her arms defensively, but it was no use.

"Grr!

She was hit by an extremely powerful punch, which with just the pressure of the blow was able to throw her back meters.

Before Bronya even hit the ground, Arthoka suddenly appeared in front of her and landed a powerful punch in her face, hard enough to break her nose, but he didn't stop his attack, because right after that he landed a powerful side kick on her. her body.

"KHAA!" Bronya yelled as she was thrown out of the building through the window, breaking them as a result.

Bronya would die if she fell from that height… but she would never accept such a pathetic death!

To everyone's surprise at that location, Bronya returned right away. She seemed to have propelled herself down the hall at preternatural speed.

As she fell to the ground, Bronya materialized a second knife, just like the other, in her other hand. She ran towards Arthoka at an insane speed, leaving only a trail of blue light behind.

"Tsk!"

In response, the boy also ran towards her.

His blades met, but Arthoka's was quickly repelled and a loud impact noise was generated.

Bronya's combat knife didn't deflect Arthoka's blade, it repelled the blade. That fact made Arthoka's eyes widen.

'As? How can she repel a blade made of compressed Honkai Energy?! This knife was made for that?!', thought Arthoka in a matter of a few seconds.

However, Arthoka did not give up.

One attacked the other again, but this time it was faster. The result was the same as before, so they both decided to go faster.

They attacked each other again, but it was the same result.

Arthoka started to increase his speed, as did Bronya.

Combat speed increases more and more.

'W-What the fuck…!' was all Soldirel could think.

All this time, Soldriel K. Solly had been watching carefully…or at least trying to.

Before Soldriel's eyes, all he could see were beams of light, blue and orange, along with two black shapes. He couldn't see almost anything, but he could easily hear the impact noise.

It was incredible… He couldn't even describe what he was watching. Just watching the two of them, Soldriel was panting and sweating. The pressure created during their duel was absurd.

So orange with blue found it again. A burst of wind was born quickly from that impact, all the glass in the hallway cracked.

They pulled away and looked back at each other, as if they were trying to read each other's minds.

The difference between the two was obvious. While Arthoka was unharmed, Bronya had some cuts on her body and her nose was bleeding.

"..."

"..."

The silence was soon broken by Arthoka, who quickly put a childish smile on his face. In contrast, Bronya remained blank and cold.

"Could you tell me why you want to kill Soldriel?"

"... What?"

"Huh? Oh. I want you to tell me the reason for killing the Lord—"

"Name. Bronya wants to know the name of the fat guy…"

Soldriel himself was confused by this question.

"Don't you know your target's name?" asked Arthoka.

Bronya just shook her head.

'... Is this girl an idiot?', thought Soldriel, while a bitter smile was born on his face.

Wanting his answer, Bronya charmed Soldirel. In response to her, the fat young boy just shivered in fear.

"A-Is there a problem?" Soldirel asked, failing miserably to hide his fear.

"Name."

was all Bronya replied.

"H-Heh? What?"

"Name.", Bronya repeated the same thing, but this time she pointed her knife at Soldriel. "Name."

"Y-You want to know… my name?"

"Affirmative."

"...Soldirel. My name is Soldriel K. Solly."

"... Soldriel?"

"Y-Yes."

He expected her to do something, but it wasn't. Bronya just lowered her head enough so that her bangs covered the top of her face.

… That was a strange and unexpected reaction.

"Two years." Bronya tried to speak again, but her voice was different… it was weaker and a little less cold. "Two years ago… Where were you?"

"...in the city of Nagazora."

"..."

She just lowered her knife and lifted her face.

"..."

"..."

As the two faced each other, Soldriel felt as if time itself had stopped moving.

Firo, opaque and hopeless. The girl's eyes and facial expression were like that before, but now… it was as if she had found someone again. It's like Bronya has found her way out of a cave she's been trapped in for so long.

That wasn't the only problem. Soldirel felt something strange. Even though he'd never met her in her life, Soldriel felt he should… hug her? Why did he feel this way? Why did he feel it was her duty to help her…?

That was weird. He never met her, at least he doesn't remember meeting her… and it was at this moment that Soldriel widened his eyes in surprise. Squeezing his chest, he finally understood what had happened.

'I forgot. What… what did I forget?'

It was then that an idea popped into Soldriel's mind.

Soon after getting up, Soldriel walked towards the girl, who in response took a step back.

"So-Soldriel?" asked Arthoka. "Do you know each other…?"

Athoka was ignored.

"Impolite," muttered Arthoka, but it was clear from his tone that it was just a joke.

Passing the orange-haired boy, Soldirel reached Bronya and stopped in front of her.

"Two years ago. Did we meet two years ago, Bronya?"

This question really surprised the girl, who started to wonder about something.

"I'm sorry, two years ago I was found unconscious in Nagazora. After that I was in a coma and it seems like I lost my memories about some things…"

She didn't answer any more, just remained silent.

"... Yea. The guy Soldriel and Bronya meet in Nagazora."

"I see." Soldriel replied with a comforting smile on his face. "So I believe this coat is mine, right?"

She nodded.

"Given to Bronya during the second day of 3rd Impact..."

'Second day? The 3rd Impact lasted more than a day?! Wait! This is not the time for that!' Soldriel thought.

Surprising Bronya and Arthoka, he raised his hand towards the girl.

"How about joining me? Let's get out of here alive together."

"Eh…? HEEEEEEH?!" shouted Arthoka and the nurses.

Silence prevailed for a few seconds.

"Bronya is surprised"

"I'm surprising, don't you think?" he joked.

"... Right. Bronya will help you."

This really impressed everyone, especially Arthoka.

"Hehehe!"

Arthoka took Bronya's hand.

"So, let's go!" he said.

Pulling Bronya, the two began to go together.

In the face of it all, Arthoka just let out a long, heavy sigh.

"You are really impressive...but we have to deal with your naivety and recklessness."