The normally chts of Atntis felt unusually hot. It was almost unbearable to deal with, even though most didn’t notice the ge. Sweat and blood hung in the air with ixing elements. Order struggled to hold on with the uing power of inhuman beings g.

  None of it ed Photine. She still wore a simple robe that Heber insisted she wear during her recovery. Photine didn’t believe she o sleep in an infirmary to recover her mental energy. After Heber finished his work, her body had no injuries. Her health erfect, physically at least.

  In the ensuing chaos of the attack, it made it difficult for her to do anything. They pulled back all of the patients to safer distances. Blood dripped down her face to tap her forearm. It forced the muscles in her arm to tense up. Her mind fell back to the images of the infirmary tent only minutes after the attack began.

  A rge k of debris ripped through the teroying any peabsp; It immediately alerted the attention of Heber and others under his and. The sudden attack brought all three of the MP users out of their cots to stare at each other.

  Photine gnced over at the debris. Blood pooled out from behind it wetting the dirt. All she saw free was someone’s mangled arm separated from their body. It widened her eyes abruptly and jumped her heart rate. “What the hell?!” She jumped out of her cot, but felt a strong force behind her. Her head tilted over her shoulder to see her issing.

  “Someone help me!”

  “It hurts!”

  Screams of the injured surrounded Photine. She spun around trying to figure out what happened. Nothing made seo her, everything happeoo fast for her to process it all. Her heart pouronger and her palms turned cmmy with sweat.

  A scalding wind burst through the tattered remains of their tent. Bright red light blinded her right eye. She caught sight from her partial vision of the t fmes shooting around nearby them. Photine no longer could mistake the cause of the destru. “…they’re here…” rattled her voice barely kept in trol.

  Explosio off throwing around pieces from the ruients. Cloth from the infirmary tent tain. A struggling groan escaped someone’s lips o Photine. She turned around to find who was injured. “Antipas!” she yelped, as she k down to his side. “How bad is it?” All she saw was blood everywhere, but no injury.

  Antipas coughed from his position on the ground. Blood poured from his mouth spttering the grass. He slowly lifted himself over with the help of Photine. “…oh…” he muttered, his eyes cast down at the rge k of wood embedded in his chest. The sight made him cough again, but it felt worse as though something inside him ripped. More blood dripped down his lips. He worked up a brave face for the horror filled Photine. “It’s not so bad…”

  “What are you saying?!” She looked over at the rest of the area that used to be a tent. Screams and blood filled everything. Heber and all of his assistants scrambled around trying to save everyone. She saw his Field already w on stabilizing those in shobsp; “I’ll go get someone for you! You just stay here! Don’t move!”

  Photiried to stand up, but Antipas grabbed onto her arm at the wrist. His eyes already looked dark underh and his face began to turn pale. “…it’s fine…”

  Her head pulled down towards him fused by his words. “No, it’s not! You o be treated!”

  Another cough showed his worsening state. It drew Photine ba. “I feel Heber’s work, but I’m too far away. His Field is too weak…here. All it’s doing is dragging things out.”

  “Then I’ll carry you closer!”

  Antipas shook his head. “No, I feel it tearing me up inside.”

  Photine lost her breath. She hardly kneas. They never worked together until the m, but suddenly found tears dripping down her cheeks. She didn’t know how long she had been g. ‘I ’t…let him…’ Her eyes closed to focus. Ripples came out from her feet signaling her Field activation. However, a crushing squeeze on her wrist broke her tration. “…what do you—“

  “No, you don’t have…as much trol of your Field…do you?”

  “Huh?”

  The pain tore through his chest again f up more coughing. His breathing ran shallow. “You ’t use your Field… …you’ll interfere with his…I’m only one…he save…dozens…”

  She choked ohought. Her mind divided with thoughts of the others and Antipas. Photine shook her head to throw out the thoughts. “I’ll save you! I don’t care!” She pced her hand on his hand that held on to her. His strength started to weaken.

  Ripples pooled out from her feet again. Desperation shortened her breath. Faint light gathered arou the start, but another hand grabbed onto Photine. Antipas pulled at her, as he could no longer support himself. His bloodied haed along the side of her face with his fingers clumped between her hair. “…what?!”

  He smiled up at her. Photine fought him, but fourength missing. “It’s fine… this isn’t so bad…”

  “What are you saying?! I save you!” She tried again to get up, but could only hover above him with her hand holding her up.

  Antipas rubbed his thumb over Photine’s cheek, smearing blood. “I always thought…it might…be o…” A cough interrupted him, but it drained away most of his strength. He could barely breathe anymore. “…die in…the arms of…a beautiful…woman…” His smile grew a little more.

  Photine blushed a little, taken back by his words. “Antipas! What—“ She stopped herself when she realized that he stopped breathing. Her heart stopped for a sed. Everything around her went silent. She thought she shouted out for him, but she couldn’t hear anything.

  Blood dripped down her cheek again eg through her memories. It snapped her babsp; “…he’s dead…” Her eyes held a dead look buried amongst hardened features built on despair.

  Chapter 158 – Product of Despair

  She stumbled around in her robe with little dire in mind. Fighting occurred around her, but she couldn’t interveo someone’s fight. Nothing remained for her. Photine needed something to do. She wao do anything. Her body felt hot. The festering inside wouldn’t disappear.

  A body colpsed to the ground dead. The weight of the life l through her ears. Photiurned her eyes up, suddenly awakened by the sound. Her eyes widened in surprise. She never expected to see her again. “…you…” Everything in her body suddenly became alert and honed.

  Yumi straightened herself back out. Blood dripped across her face from the st act she made. Her eyes readjusted, feeling another foe nearby. “So it’s you.” Yumi's face ged to disappoi. She turned away from Photine.

  Ripples sprinted out from Photine’s feet altering the entire area into a dust bowl of rocky terrain. None of the camp remained in the area. Photine ran up to close their distanbsp; “I’m not letting you go! You’ll pay for your crimes today!”

  Pausing for a moment, Yumi turned her head over her shoulder. A crity in her eyes existed with a greater sense of dedu. “So you’ve included Japanese in your Field. However, I’ve no i in chatting with someone she beat. Leave my sight.”

  Already breathing heavily, Photine leaned forward a bit. She struggled to keep herself together. The image of Antipas burned in the back of her eyes. An array of swords erupted from the grou to block the path of Yumi. “You’re not going anywhere. I don’t care if you don’t have an i in me. I’m putting ao your chaos! No more will die!”

  She raised an eyebrow a little amused by the guts of the woman. However, her expression otherwise remained unged. “You’re of no i. I only want to fight those that are strong. You’re weak if she was able to defeat you.”

  “I’ll show you who’s weak!” Several of the swords flew quickly at Yumi iion to Photine. However, they all missed their targets. The ons recovered from their failure and hovered opposite of the remaining, surrounding Yumi.

  Crossing her arms, Yumi turo face Photine. “Ag on anger? Your powers won’t be of much use to you with emotions clouding your mind. You were better before.”

  Photine gritted her teeth together. It bothered her that she missed her attack, however it annoyed her more that Yumi was correbsp; She lost trol of her ons and they responded on her instinct rather than on her and. “Shut up! You don’t know me! You don’t know anything! You aren’t even one of us, are you?” She panted again after her explosion of words.

  A bit of a smirk built up on Yumi. “So you’ve finally figured it out. You acted as if we used the same powers. You’ve stopped making assumptions. You’re correct, we aren’t the same.”

  She blurted it all out suddenly without much of a thought, but the answer shocked her more. Photine gasped for a moment. ‘What?! You ’t be serious? I just thought…I didn’t know… It just seemed strange, but to be right! Then I was right!’ It took her a little more to take it all in after hearing it. She only thought and guessed about it while rec. “Then what are you?”

  “There is no name for us yet other than Japanese. There hasn’t been enough time for someoo think one up yet.” Yumi turned away, no longer ied in the versation. She waved a careless hand back at Photine and began to walk away. “Bye.”

  Photiioned all of her ons in to surround Yumi. However, a puff of wind blew out from the ground as she jumped into the air effortlessly evading them. She tur into a smooth flip to touchdown beyond their reabsp; Another missed only angered Photine more. “I didn’t say you could leave!” Her body heat only tio rise.

  No longer b to look back at Photine, Yumi spoke from the spot she nded. “I don’t believe you do anything to prevent it. Besides, someone as worked up as you rief doesn’t belong in a fight.”

  The shaking in her body became untrolble for Photine. Dozens of ons materialized around Yumi. Sweat beaded up on her fabsp; “What do you know?! Yoing down!”

  A sigh escaped Yumi’s lips. The numbers increased around her making dodging more difficult. She slid around on the heel of her foot to face Photine. “I generally don’t make it a habit of fighting those too weak to fight back, but I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”

  “That cocky attitude won’t st! Just because you beat me once doesn’t mean it’ll be the same!”

  “You’re right about it not being the same.” Yumi motioned her arm to summon up a barrier. Ten red barriers appeared around her. “Her powers might not be what I’m used to, but it doesn’t mean that I ’t make better use of them.” Lines appeared through the barriers causing them to divide. It segmehem into hundreds of pieces. They all rapidly spun around her and then subdivided further quadrupling the number in the air. Thousands of ses of the barrier created a deep impossible to navigate maelstrom.

  All of the pieces then suddenly stopped. They fttened out set up all around her. In an instant, the pieces disappeared as barely visible blurs of red light. The air around them exploded into shards. Red particles aal ks rained around to the ground.

  Photine ched her fists at the sight. “Don’t think that’ll make me back down!” She began to move to summon more of her ons. However, a shadoeared behind her, setting the hair on the back of her ne edge.

  A dark voice spoke out to her. “I didn’t think it would.” Quickly following the words, a fsh of light arced through air. Blood sprayed up iermath.

  Instinct was the only thing that saved Photine. She already started to jump away when Yumi attacked, but she didn’t get out . Her right arm hung at her side bleeding heavily from the nearly severed limb. The pain made her twit her fabsp; Photine quickly modified her trench coat to tighten off her arm to staunch the wound. She bit through the stabbing it produced. It made her pant heavily for a couple of breaths to recover. “You really aren’t the same…”

  Yumi rexed her hand lightly dipped in Photine’s blood. She gnced back over at Photine. “The speed isn’t to the level I’m used to, but it’s still enough to deal with normal humans.”

  “Is that right?!” she yelled. More ons appeared around her, but in fewer numbers. The look in her eyes was pletely ed with rage. “There’s nothing normal about me!” She sent the ons quickly speeding towards Yumi to bee blurs.

  The aly elicited a bored raise of her eyebrow. “Same tactics…making them faster won’t save you…” She lifted her hand to erect barriers to slice the ons. The barriers quickly materialized and spun around moments before the oered the perimeter. “This’ll end the same way.”

  An explosion of metal shattered the ons and clouded the area. However, Photine held a smirk on her face, making Yumi curious. She looked up at the debris cloud to see it suddenly divide. A single sword broke through unharmed. Yumi’s face held a flicker of surprise for a moment before another barrier rose. The sword pierced through the barrier destroying it without even stopping.

  Trails of blood paihe ground and Yumi’s arm. Her faarrowed suddenly, being serious for onbsp; Another set of ons appeared all around Yumi. “This is the end for you! This isn’t the same fight as st time! I’ve seen what you do and I’ve created special ter measures for everything! This won’t be like before!”