Yivern touched its collarbone, confusion lingering.

  A strange sensation made it understand that the place Olivia had dragged it into had been a mental illusion—something akin to hypnotism rather than a distortion of reality itself.

  The rumbling of the soul, born from Rakia, had breached the illusion and dragged it back moments before its head would have been severed.

  Slowly, its fingers traced upward along its neck.

  Then realization struck.

  Its missing hand was there.

  Its right wing still wavered at its side, whole and unsevered.

  Olivia seized the moment and glanced behind the Devourer, her breath shallow from the strain. In the distance, her maids released quiet sighs of relief.

  Both felt as if the ground under their feet was dirt when, in reality, they were standing on solid concrete.

  Keleanos—still held by Alisa and Martha—stared at Olivia in shock. His emotions had yet to settle, but his mind was already racing ahead.

  “Olivia!” he shouted, stepping forward.

  Alisa and Martha released him. He lifted his right arm and thrust it toward his own chest, tapping his collarbone repeatedly with his thumb to make his meaning clear.

  “...” Olivia met his gaze in silence as Keleanos nodded, determination set into his features.

  She leaned back and drew a deep breath, filling her lungs. Her eyes drifted toward the ceiling as she processed his signal.

  Does he want me to strike Yivern at that spot?

  Knowing how difficult it was to breach through Yivern's defense, she paused her thoughts.

  It's this or nothing. I'm too far in to doubt this suggestion.

  The Devourer glanced over its shoulder, jaw tightening. It then ignored Keleanos and focused its attention on the real danger.

  Both she and the Devourer were still feeling the aftereffects of the illusion settling in—one burdened by exhaustion, the other by lingering phantom pain.

  Even a monster like Yivern needed time to recover from the psychic damage it had endured.

  At last, Olivia lowered her gaze, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her curved sword.

  Yivern focused on her in turn, straightening its posture. Its wings spread wide with an audible flap, as though preparing to take flight.

  They faced one another, eyes locked.

  After a moment, they began to move—slowly circling, inching sideways in search of an opening.

  The tension stretched.

  The maids and Keleanos watched in anxious silence as Olivia raised her sword horizontally beside her face.

  She’s going for a big attack…

  Each maid knew Olivia wasn’t the strongest physical fighter. And yet, no one else had ever endured Elliott’s swordplay training to its end.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Memories threatened to surface—but there was no room for them now. Hands moved as thoughts of joining her overwhelmed their mind.

  Yet, they simply watched, words tangled inside their throats.

  Leaning into her right leg, Olivia’s eyes burned brighter, reflecting her resolve.

  Yivern stood motionless, though subtle twitches betrayed the restraint beneath its stillness.

  Its wings were poised to strike or defend, its hands ready to tear her flesh apart.

  A beast forcing its instincts into chains.

  That was Yivern.

  Before another breath could be drawn, Olivia vanished from her spot.

  The Devourer reacted instantly, sweeping its left wing up to block the incoming strike.

  Olivia lunged with all her might—and in doing so, locked herself into the attack, opening the way for a devastating counter.

  As expected, Yivern prepared to block her with its wings.

  The fighters’ perceptions slowed as their actions collided, the world stretching into an absurd, crawling pace.

  Thoughts and movements overlapped as every last drop of energy was poured into ending the other.

  Pushing forward with gritted teeth, Olivia’s left foot stepped in front of the Devourer.

  Her sword advanced, inch by inch, aiming to pierce the monster hiding beneath human skin.

  Yivern stepped back, shifting its left wing to protect its chest, unaware that her true target lay higher—at its collarbone.

  In the blink of an eye, mist gathered and shaped itself into another Olivia, stepping between the real one and the wing.

  Within the illusion’s hand, a whirling orb of water formed, intercepting the wing and diverting it away from its defense.

  Seeing this, Yivern retreated another step, snapping its opposite wing forward even faster in an attempt to block the strike.

  A second illusion manifested to Olivia’s left, both of its hands thrust toward the wing.

  Three whip-like tendrils burst from the illusion’s shadow, coiling tightly around Yivern’s left wing.

  With both wings restrained, Yivern faltered, unable to protect itself.

  Olivia’s winning smile filled its vision, frustration boiling violently within its mind.

  As a last resort, Yivern lunged forward instead, thrusting its right arm straight ahead.

  “Guh—” Olivia’s movement halted abruptly as a hand pierced her abdomen.

  Blood slipped from the corner of her mouth, disbelief flickering across her face as her body sagged.

  But Yivern did not celebrate.

  It tore its hand free, forced its wings out of the restraints with violent thrashes, and twisted around.

  Rakia’s feet scraped across the concrete so fast that dust and shattered stone failed to keep up.

  Thrusting forward—

  Olivia was still there.

  “Hyaa!” she shouted, meeting Yivern head-on as it leaped to intercept her.

  SLASH

  In an instant, Yivern’s right arm flew into the air, blood trailing behind it, showing how fast the limb was sent flying.

  The limb struck the ceiling—but only after Olivia’s blade snapped through in a diagonal arc.

  Then the blade phased through harmlessly.

  Yivern suffered no injury.

  Its hand passed through Olivia’s body in the same moment—intangible, neither capable of harming the other.

  With a grimace, Olivia leaned sharply to the side at the first opening, just before the Devourer turned solid again.

  Its remaining arm only began to fall behind it.

  Their exchange lasted barely ten seconds, revealing the brutal truth of two monsters trading blows.

  And it wasn’t over.

  Without drawing another breath, Olivia surged back onto the offensive.

  She stepped sideways, almost dancing around the Devourer, leaning just enough to evade a slicing wing.

  She bent backward as Yivern’s left hand shot toward her face.

  At the same time, she hurled her blade upward while cartwheeling back, her heel slamming into the enemy’s elbow.

  Reeling, Yivern exposed a once-in-a-lifetime opening—and Olivia seized it instantly.

  She knelt, sprang upward, and caught her sword mid-air.

  Her shadow stretched over Yivern, anchoring the final phase of her plan.

  In less time it required to blink, hundreds of black tendrils erupted from beneath the Devourer.

  They pierced its flesh and dragged downward, sealing its movements completely.

  Yivern fought back, but the sheer volume of tendrils made escape impossible.

  Olivia landed—and without pause, vanished, reappearing behind it.

  Rakia’s remaining arm was severed in a clean arc, and before it could even begin to fall, she carved both wings away with a single crescent slash.

  She drove her blade into its right thigh, forcing Yivern to its knees as agony overwhelmed its senses.

  With the same fluid motion, Olivia slipped back in front of it, slashed through its leg, and finally, as Yivern understood her true objective, plunged her sword into Rakia’s collarbone.

  All within seconds.

  Rakia's eyes trembled as Yivern gargled blood.

  The first arm Yivern had lost finally struck the ground with a wet, sickening splatter.

  Its other arm followed as its eyes widened, horror drowning its expression at the blade embedded in the one place it could not afford to expose.

  Its wings collapsed uselessly behind it, twitching as black blood poured out in torrents.

  Only the demoness’s breathing echoed through the room.

  No one else fully grasped what had just occurred.

  She pushed forward, sinking the blade deeper into Rakia’s body.

  “My win… Devourer.”