The world fractured into slow motion as Hikari's eyes tracked Lila's trajectory through the air—a pink-haired comet launched by Katsuki's impossible strength, arcing toward her with the inevitability of gravity itself.
Time didn't stop. But Hikari's perception sharpened to a razor's edge.
Every detail crystallized: the way Lila's bubblegum curls whipped in the wind, the determination blazing in those azure eyes, the slight rotation of her body as she tried to orient herself mid-flight. The distance between them collapsed—fifty feet, forty, thirty—and with each passing microsecond, something fundamental shifted inside Hikari's chest.
Her heart hammered against her ribs like it was trying to escape. Not from fear. Not from the battle. From something else entirely—something that made her breath catch and her skin flush despite the pain radiating from her half-healed liver wound.
Adrenaline flooded her system like a dam breaking.
It wasn't the combat kind—not the survival instinct that sharpened her reflexes and amplified her strength. This was different. Purer. More primal. The kind of adrenaline that came from seeing the person you cared about most hurtling through a war zone, vulnerable and airborne and trusting you to catch them.
The kind that made your entire world narrow to a single, crystalline purpose: protect her.
Psychic energy erupted through Hikari's body in response—not gradually, not with the careful control she'd been practicing, but in a violent surge that felt like lightning replacing her blood. Her veins lit up with cyan light, visible through her skin, pulsing in rhythm with her racing heartbeat. The energy didn't just flow—it detonated outward from her core, spreading through every nerve ending, every muscle fiber, every atom of her being.
Her eyes blazed brighter, the cyan glow intensifying until it cast shadows across her face, until the air around her head shimmered with heat-distortion from the sheer concentration of power.
Move.
The command came from somewhere deeper than thought, more fundamental than conscious decision. Her body responded before her mind could second-guess, before doubt could poison action.
A layer of cyan energy enveloped her form like a second skin—no, like armor forged from pure will and desperate need. The psychic field wrapped around her legs, her torso, her arms, lifting her from the ground with a force that made the pavement beneath her feet crack and splinter. Debris floated upward in her wake, caught in the gravitational distortion of her ascent.
She shot into the air.
The acceleration was brutal, instantaneous, her body going from stationary to airborne in the span of a heartbeat. The wind screamed past her ears. Her stomach lurched. The ground fell away beneath her with dizzying speed.
But she didn't care about any of that.
Her eyes never left Lila.
They met in the air—two bodies suspended in defiance of gravity, two souls colliding in the space between earth and sky. For one perfect, eternal moment, their gazes locked.
Hikari could see everything in Lila's expression: the relief flooding those azure eyes, the way her lips parted in a breathless gasp, the slight widening of her pupils that spoke of emotions too complex for words. And there—just there, dusting across Lila's cheeks like the first blush of dawn—a flush of pink that had nothing to do with exertion and everything to do with the way Hikari was looking at her.
Like she was the only thing in the universe that mattered.
Like she was worth defying gravity for.
Hikari's arms opened wide, instinctive and welcoming, her body adjusting its trajectory with unconscious precision. The cyan energy around her pulsed brighter, reaching out like luminous tendrils toward Lila's approaching form.
I've got you.
The thought resonated through their psychic link—not words, but pure emotion translated into meaning. Safety. Protection. Home.
Their bodies collided with surprising gentleness despite the forces involved. Hikari's arms wrapped around Lila's waist, pulling her close, absorbing the momentum of her flight with a cushion of telekinetic energy that made the impact feel like falling into water rather than concrete. Lila's arms immediately encircled Hikari's neck, clinging with desperate strength.
"LILA!" Hikari's voice cracked with emotion she couldn't contain—relief and joy and fear all tangled together into something that made her chest ache.
"HIKARI!!" Lila's response was muffled against Hikari's shoulder, her face buried in the crook of her neck. Her embrace tightened until Hikari could barely breathe, until she could feel every tremor running through Lila's body, until the warmth of her pressed against every point of contact between them.
Heat flooded Hikari's face. She could feel the blush spreading across her cheeks, down her neck, painting her skin in shades of embarrassment and something deeper, something she wasn't quite ready to name. Her heart thundered so loudly she was certain Lila could hear it—could feel it through the places where their bodies pressed together.
They hung there, suspended in the air by Hikari's psychic energy, wrapped in each other's arms like the world around them had ceased to exist. The battle, the danger, the cosmic forces trying to tear reality apart—all of it faded into background noise compared to the feeling of Lila's heartbeat against her chest, the scent of her hair, the way her breath ghosted across Hikari's collarbone.
Then Lila pulled back slightly, just enough to look at Hikari properly, and the intensity in her azure eyes made Hikari's breath catch all over again.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Lila's voice was soft but urgent, her hands already moving before Hikari could answer. She began examining Hikari's body with the focused precision of someone who'd trained in field medicine, her fingers gentle but thorough as they traced along Hikari's arms, checking for breaks or bruises.
Hikari's blush deepened as Lila's hands moved across her skin—down her forearms, along her biceps, across her shoulders. Each touch sent sparks of awareness through her nervous system that had nothing to do with psychic energy and everything to do with the way Lila's fingertips lingered just a fraction of a second longer than strictly necessary.
"I'm okay," Hikari managed, her voice coming out rougher than intended. "Really, I—"
Her words died as Lila's hands moved to her torso, fingers splaying across her ribs, checking for damage. Then Lila's expression shifted—concern morphing into alarm as her hands found the hem of Hikari's shirt.
"May I?" Lila's eyes met hers, asking permission even in the midst of crisis.
Hikari nodded, not trusting her voice.
Lila lifted Hikari's shirt carefully, her movements slow and deliberate. The fabric rose, exposing Hikari's abdomen, and Lila's eyes went wide as they fixed on the angry scab near Hikari's liver—a wound that should have been fatal, that would have killed anyone without Hikari's regenerative abilities.
"Oh my god!" Lila's voice cracked, her fingers hovering just above the injury, trembling. "Hikari, what happened?!"
The concern in Lila's voice—the raw, unfiltered fear—made something twist in Hikari's chest. She tried for levity, tried to deflect with humor the way she always did when emotions threatened to overwhelm her
"Nothing major," Hikari said, forcing a casual tone that didn't quite land. "Just some deranged goddess with a spear complex decided to play darts with my internal organs." She gestured toward the scab with exaggerated nonchalance, trying to ignore the way Lila's eyes were beginning to glisten with unshed tears. "Stabbed me right in the liver. But hey—" She managed a wink that felt more confident than she felt. "You know your girl's tough\~"
The attempt at playfulness didn't have the desired effect.
Lila's face crumpled for just a moment—a flash of anguish so profound it made Hikari's heart clench. Then Lila's hands moved, cupping Hikari's face with a tenderness that made the world stop spinning.
Their eyes met. Azure and cyan. Storm and sky.
Lila's thumbs brushed across Hikari's cheekbones, the touch feather-light and impossibly intimate. Then she leaned forward, resting her forehead against Hikari's, and the simple gesture carried more weight than any words could convey.
They floated there, suspended in the air, foreheads pressed together, breathing the same air. Hikari could count every one of Lila's eyelashes from this distance. Could see the exact shade of blue in her irises—not just azure, but a complex mixture of cerulean and sapphire and something that reminded her of the sky just before dawn.
"I was so worried about you," Lila whispered, her voice barely audible, thick with emotion. Her breath ghosted across Hikari's lips, warm and shaky. "When I felt your fear through our link, when I thought I might lose you before I could—"
She stopped, swallowing hard, her eyes searching Hikari's face like she was trying to memorize every detail.
"I need to ask you something," Lila continued, her voice steadier now but no less intense. "After all of this is over. When we're safe. When we're not fighting for our lives." A weak smile tugged at her lips, fragile and hopeful and terrifying in its vulnerability. "Will you... will you let me ask you something important?"
Hikari's heart stopped, then started again at double speed.
She knew what Lila was asking—or rather, what she was asking permission to ask. The weight of it hung between them, unspoken but understood, a promise of a conversation that would change everything.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Of course," Hikari replied, her voice soft and sincere, stripped of all her usual bravado. The single word carried the weight of a vow. "Anything. Always."
For a moment, they just existed in that space—two girls suspended in the air, wrapped in each other's presence, the world reduced to the points where their skin touched and the promises hanging unspoken between them.
Then reality crashed back in.
BOOM!
The sonic boom of Katsuki's departure shattered the moment like glass. The shockwave rippled through the air, making their hair whip wildly, forcing them to break apart slightly to maintain their aerial stability.
Hikari's head snapped toward the sound, her combat instincts reasserting themselves. She could see him—a violet streak against the sky, already miles away and accelerating, heading toward whatever fresh hell awaited him.
Her arms tightened protectively around Lila's waist as she stabilized their position, the cyan energy around them pulsing brighter in response to the renewed threat awareness flooding her system.
A voice cut through the chaos—commanding, absolute, carrying the weight of divine and infernal authority merged into something that made reality itself pay attention.
Celeste Vireya.
The Grand Arbiter stood at the edge of the massive crater, her heterochromatic eyes—one celestial blue, one infernal crimson—fixed on the two younger exorcists with an expression that somehow managed to be both protective and dismissive.
"I'll deal with the leaders," Celeste announced, her voice carrying across the battlefield with supernatural clarity. She didn't shout—she simply spoke, and the world listened. "You two handle their subordinates."
Lila's body tensed in Hikari's arms, her tactical mind already processing the implications. She pulled back enough to meet Celeste's gaze, concern etched across her features.
"Are you sure about that?" Lila's voice carried the careful respect of someone addressing a superior, but also the genuine worry of someone who understood exactly what Celeste was proposing. "These are two entities with the power to warp reality itself. Blare and Brutus aren't just powerful—they're fundamental forces given consciousness and malice."
Celeste's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile—more like the expression a apex predator might wear when contemplating particularly interesting prey.
"Yeah?" The single word dripped with confidence that bordered on arrogance, but somehow didn't cross that line because it was backed by absolute capability. "And so am I."
She raised one hand, and reality responded.
A battle axe materialized in her grip—not summoned, not conjured, but *remembered* into existence. The weapon was a masterwork of impossible contradictions: its blade gleamed with both holy radiance and infernal darkness, the edge sharp enough to cut through dimensional barriers, the haft wrapped in chains that pulsed with both angelic hymns and demonic screams.
The axe hummed with power that made the air around it distort, made reality itself uncomfortable with its presence.
Celeste's gaze lifted, fixing on the two figures hovering in the distance—Blare and Brutus, the architects of this invasion, the cosmic forces who thought themselves beyond mortal challenge.
"I'm not just wielding your brother's divine energy," Celeste continued, her voice taking on an edge that could cut steel. She looked directly at Brutus as she spoke, her heterochromatic eyes blazing with challenge. "I'm also channeling demonic power. The full spectrum of supernatural force—light and dark, creation and destruction, order and chaos—all of it bent to my will."
The declaration hung in the air like a thrown gauntlet.
Hikari felt Lila's sharp intake of breath, felt the way her body tensed with a mixture of awe and concern. Because what Celeste was claiming—what she was demonstrating—shouldn't be possible. Divine and demonic energies were fundamentally opposed, like matter and antimatter. Wielding both simultaneously should result in catastrophic annihilation.
But Celeste stood there, perfectly balanced, the impossible made manifest.
In the distance, Blare's reaction was immediate and visceral.
Her single visible eye twitched—once, twice—the carefully maintained composure of the genius mage cracking like glass under pressure. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, knuckles white, trembling with barely contained fury.
"You FUCKING PEST!" Blare's voice erupted across the battlefield, shrill with rage and something that might have been genuine offense. "I WILL MAKE SURE THERE AREN'T EVEN ATOMS LEFT OF YOU!!!"
The threat carried real weight—this wasn't empty bluster but a promise backed by the power to reshape reality itself. Blare's aura flared, visible as geometric patterns of sickly green light that made the air taste like copper and ozone.
But before she could act on the threat, Brutus's hand landed on her shoulder.
The Archbishop of Pride's touch was gentle, almost sisterly, but it carried the weight of divine authority that made even Blare's fury pause.
"Blare, don't fall for it," Brutus said, her voice carrying that unsettling mixture of childlike innocence and cosmic awareness. Her golden eyes—ancient and terrible despite her youthful appearance—fixed on Celeste with calculating precision. "She's baiting us. Trying to provoke an emotional response that will make us waste energy on a fight we don't need."
Brutus tilted Blare's head upward with one finger under her chin, directing her gaze toward the sky.
Toward the massive tear in reality that pulsed with pure white light.
"Look," Brutus continued, her voice taking on an almost hypnotic quality. "The merger is nearing completion. The veil between dimensions grows thinner with each passing moment. Our subordinates can handle these mortals while we focus on what truly matters—bringing our vision to fruition."
The logic was sound. Tactically perfect. The kind of strategic thinking that had made Brutus one of the most dangerous entities in existence despite her apparent youth.
For a moment, it seemed like Blare might actually listen.
Her breathing slowed. Her fists unclenched slightly. The manic light in her eye dimmed to something more controlled, more calculated.
Then Celeste spoke again.
"So the big bad gods are afraid of fighting a little ol' mortal?"
The words were delivered with perfect, calculated casualness—the verbal equivalent of a precision strike aimed at the exact psychological pressure point that would cause maximum damage.
Celeste's grip on her demonic battle axe tightened, her knuckles whitening around the haft. The weapon pulsed in response, sensing its wielder's intent, hungry for the violence to come.
"Fine," Celeste continued, her voice dripping with theatrical disappointment. "Go ahead and run away." She paused, letting the silence stretch just long enough to be uncomfortable. "Like the *cowards* you are."
The effect was instantaneous and catastrophic.
Brutus's carefully maintained composure didn't just crack—it shattered.
Her golden eyes went wide, pupils dilating to pinpoints. Her entire body went rigid, every muscle tensing simultaneously. The air around her began to distort, reality itself recoiling from the sheer force of her wounded pride.
Because Celeste had done something that very few beings in existence had ever managed: she'd struck Brutus where it hurt most.
Her Pride.
Not the sin—the fundamental aspect of her being. The core truth around which her entire existence revolved. The unshakable belief in her own divine supremacy, her inherent superiority, her absolute right to dominion over all creation.
And Celeste had just called her a coward.
The laughter started low—a quiet chuckle that might have been mistaken for amusement if not for the way it made the ground tremble. Then it built, escalating in volume and intensity, climbing toward something that transcended mere sound and became a force of nature unto itself.
"Hahahaha... hahahahHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Brutus's laughter was wrong. It carried harmonics that shouldn't exist in human vocal cords, frequencies that made reality itself uncomfortable. The sound didn't just travel through air—it propagated through space-time itself, making the fabric of existence vibrate in sympathy.
"A mortal thinks I would run from them?!" Brutus's voice had lost all pretense of childlike innocence, revealing the cosmic entity beneath the youthful facade. "ME?! Brutus, the Archbishop of Pride! Leader of the Sect of Her Shadows! The Architect of Dominion! Elionis's Divine Scion!"
Each title was punctuated by a pulse of golden light that radiated from her body, making the air shimmer and warp. Her aura expanded outward in concentric circles, a visible manifestation of divine supremacy that made even the other Archbishops take an unconscious step backward.
"You think I would EVER run from a mortal?!"
The question was rhetorical, but it carried the weight of cosmic offense—as if the very suggestion was an insult to the fundamental laws of existence.
"WELL, YOU'RE WRONG!"
Brutus moved.
Not teleported. Not flew. Moved—at speeds that made light seem sluggish by comparison. One moment she was hovering in the distance, the next she was directly in front of Celeste, her fist cocked back, golden energy crackling around her knuckles with enough concentrated power to atomize a city block.
The punch came with the force of divine judgment.
But Celeste was ready.
Her battle axe moved in a blur of silver and shadow, the blade intercepting Brutus's trajectory with perfect precision. The Archbishop's momentum carried her forward, and Celeste used that against her—redirecting the force, adding her own strength, turning defense into counterattack in a single fluid motion.
SLASH!
The axe blade carved through the air with a sound like reality tearing. It caught Brutus across the arm—not deep, not crippling, but enough to draw blood. Golden ichor welled from the wound, each drop glowing with divine radiance as it fell.
Brutus's eyes widened in shock.
Not pain—shock.
Because she'd been hit. A mortal had drawn her blood. The impossible had occurred.
Celeste didn't waste the moment of surprise. She pivoted, using the momentum of her strike to create distance, her cloak billowing around her as she turned toward Hikari and Lila.
"GO!" Her voice carried absolute authority, the kind of command that bypassed conscious thought and spoke directly to survival instincts. "Deal with the subordinates. Leave these two to me."
Hikari's body responded before her mind fully processed the order. Her arms tightened around Lila's waist, cyan energy flaring brighter around them both. She could feel Lila's nod of agreement, could sense through their psychic link that they were in perfect accord.
They had their orders. They had their purpose.
And they had each other.
Hikari's psychic energy erupted outward, propelling them into the air with explosive force. The acceleration was brutal—zero to supersonic in the span of a heartbeat—but she cushioned Lila with layers of telekinetic protection, ensuring that the g-forces that should have liquified them both were distributed harmlessly across her shields.
They shot into the sky like a cyan comet, Hikari's arms wrapped protectively around Lila's waist, their bodies pressed together as they rocketed toward the swarm of subordinate supernatural entities that filled the air like a plague of locusts.
Behind them, Celeste's voice rang out one final time—not shouted, but projected with supernatural clarity that ensured every combatant on the battlefield heard her words.
"Now then, divine sisters~" The title was delivered with mocking affection, the verbal equivalent of a slap across the face. "Let's see if your reputation matches your arrogance."
Blare's response was immediate and venomous.
"Idiot." The word dripped with condescension, with the particular brand of superiority that only a genius could properly convey. "You just sent your last bit of help away. And they were apostles, no less~"
The observation was tactically sound. Hikari and Lila were two of the most powerful exorcists in the field—removing them from the equation should have been a strategic disaster for Celeste.
Should have been.
Celeste's smile widened, revealing teeth that seemed just slightly too sharp, too predatory.
"Trust me," she said, her voice carrying absolute confidence that bordered on prescience. "I don't need help. If anything, it helps me more when they aren't around."
She raised her battle axe, the weapon humming with anticipation, with hunger for the violence to come. Her heterochromatic eyes blazed—celestial blue and infernal crimson merging into something that transcended both divine and demonic classification.
"Now then..." Celeste's stance shifted, her body coiling like a spring compressed to its absolute limit. "Let's get to this, divine sisters~"
The battlefield held its breath.
Three forces of nature—divine pride, genius malice, and mortal transcendence—stood poised on the edge of a confrontation that would reshape the very foundations of reality.
Above them, the tear in the sky pulsed with white light, growing larger with each passing second.
Around them, the war raged—exorcists and supernatural entities locked in desperate combat, each side fighting for their vision of existence itself.
But in this moment, in this space carved out by will and power and absolute determination, there was only Celeste, Brutus, and Blare.
The Grand Arbiter and the Divine Sisters.
The impossible made manifest.
And somewhere in the sky above, wrapped in each other's arms and surrounded by cyan light, Hikari and Lila raced toward their own battle—toward the subordinates who thought themselves safe from mortal challenge.
Toward a fight that would test not just their power, but the strength of the bond between them.
Toward a future that hung in the balance, waiting to be decided by the choices they would make in the moments to come.
The war for existence had reached its crescendo.
And the symphony of destruction was only beginning.
END OF PHASE 4
Wraithbound is an original series by Figures, The Architect.
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