Chapter Fifty-Seven

Sunny pulled out a yellow Tranz and summoned majority of the mutants to retreat, leaving a small amount of them behind to deal with Yoona.

Tiffany and the other hunter were a lot tougher than what she thought. Sunny had only planned to use the mutants to hold down the hunters, but if elimination of the mutants was the only result she received, she had to change her strategy before the Princess was evoked again.

Sunny clasped her hands together and directed them at Tiffany’s direction.

“Icicles trilogy… delayed!”

Numerous icicles were formed around her. Sunny unclasped her hands and lifted up her right arm.

“First batch, released!”

One-third of the icicles departed and flew towards Tiffany’s direction while the rest of them stayed still in their positions.

Her icicles might be fast, but Tiffany was a lot faster and sensitive. If she released her icicles all together at the same time like before, she was assured that Tiffany could dodge and destroy them all again.

However, if her icicles were launched at Tiffany while the latter was busy dealing with her first batch of icicles, she might have the chance to eliminate her.

“Second batch,” She summoned. “Target-locked! Released!”

Sunny summoned her icicles when she saw the first batch of her icicles reaching Tiffany. And as expected, Tiffany was handling the icicles well. She managed to dodge and destroy every single one of them skillfully without getting herself injured.

Sunny smirked to herself.

The second batch of icicles would not be as easy as the first one.

The smirk on Sunny’s face grew deeper as she watched Tiffany using the same techniques to avoid and destroy her icicles.

“Split them up and you will get even more.” Sunny mumbled to herself.

Indeed, the icicles did not drop to the ground like the previous ones after they were cut into fragments by Tiffany’s blades. Instead, they split into two – due to Tiffany’s attack – and flew in different directions before going back to Tiffany again.

“Last batch,” Sunny summoned again when she saw the second batch of her icicles finally hit Tiffany. “Target-lock! Haste! Released!”

The last batches of icicles departed upon their master’s summon.

I’m sorry Stephanie, I didn’t want to do this to you either.

Sadness filled Sunny’s eyes. Be it Stephanie or Tiffany, Sunny had always regard her as a close friend, or, a sister who shared joy and laughter with her. Though, there might be times where Sunny found Stephanie particularly irritating, she never hated or disliked this girl once at all.

Not even after the betrayal incident which took place many years ago.

Till now, Sunny was still confused whether she had made a right choice for telling Taeyeon regarding the so-called truth. She was merely informing Taeyeon what she saw, but… after knowing the horrible act which Taeyeon imposed on Stephanie, guiltiness crawled all over her.

It might be that Stephanie was lying to them all along, but it could also be a misunderstanding which they had all mistaken.

As much as Sunny could remember, Stephanie was the most innocent girl she had ever met. Stephanie was too sweet and pure that even killing an ant was a sin to her. It was likely impossible for her to betray Taeyeon. Besides, the whole betrayal incident was just too absurd as well. Sunny saw no reason why Stephanie would want to do this to Taeyeon. They never knew each other until Taeyeon discovered Stephanie lying unconsciously in the woods near her house and saved her. And there was simply no way for Stephanie to know Taeyeon’s background and identity since Taeyeon was close to isolation, with only the four of them visiting and checking up on her occasionally.

“Arts of the Samurai!”

Sunny was too engrossed with her thoughts that she failed to notice the other hunter had already finished off the leftover mutants that were meant for holding her back. She snapped out of her thought in shock when she felt the immediate loss of her icicles’ presence.

That hunter… Sunny focused her attention on the other hunter who was helping Tiffany up from the ground. She immunes my magic?

“It can’t be.” Sunny refused to believe what had just happened. She is dealing with the Aurales now, isn’t she? The ones who possessed the magic-immunization equipments should be the Satron and not them. It was impossible for the Aurales’ hunters to immune her magic.

Sunny clasped her hands together and chanted the spell again.

Perhaps it was her who left out the cast by mistake.

“Icicles… target-locked, haste!”

Sunny held her breath unconsciously as she observed her icicles making their ways towards Tiffany and the other hunter.

Target-lock is a subsidiary magic to active magic like Icicles. It allows the active magic to lock on its designated target and will not stop attacking until it hits its target. In other words, there is simply no way for the hunters to get rid of her Icicles. Only sorcerers like her have the ability to waive off her cast… oh! And before she forgot, that annoying Kim from the Satron too, since she was equipped with the magic-immunization equipments from her armor to weapon.

Speaking of which, they really have to get her down quickly or else she may ruin their plan––

“Arts of the Samurai!”

Sunny felt it again. The presences of her icicles were gone in a flash. Her jaw dropped uncontrollably as disbelief was written all over her face.

That hunter had indeed immune her magic!

*

Tiffany diverted her gaze towards Yoona suddenly, surprising the young hunter with her strong gaze.

“Yoona,” She said. “How did you––” She was about to question Yoona regarding the shattered icicles when she noticed those familiar icicles were flying at them again. “Move away!” Tiffany pushed Yoona away out of reflex and pulled out her blades against the flying ices.

“Blade clawer!”

Tiffany did a cross with her blades and unleashed them at the icicles. The icicles shattered into pieces upon the furious attack. However, instead of falling to the ground, those little pieces of ice flew in various directions before heading towards Tiffany and Yoona again.

Tiffany clenched her fists and gritted her teeth tightly.

It is those icicles again! They won’t stop until they hit their targets–––

“Arts of the Samurai!”

Before Tiffany knew it, Yoona had already run to the front and hid her behind her back. She leaped into the air and swung her katana at those shattered ices. Glowing forces were released from the edge of her katana upon the action and they clashed with the ices before bringing them to the ground.

Tiffany was still bewildered by it, but this was not the right time for her to question her doubts.

“Yoona, he’s over there.”

Tiffany called out to Yoona who was still back-facing her before leaping towards the woods on their right. She might not have caught it during the previous attack, but she had definitely seen it this time round.

The icicles came from the woods. Tiffany found no reason to explain that unless their master was hiding behind those trees.

“Slashing Assaulter!”

Tiffany swung her blades in the mid-air towards the direction of the woods. The trees, which she was aiming at, exploded from the invisible forces unleashed from her blades. Tiffany squinted at the spot where smoke from the explosion was emerging from. She was affirmed that the mastermind was there, but she could not verify if her attack had successfully put him down.

“Icicles… target-locked!”

Craps! Behind!

“Unnie, behind you!”

Tiffany spun around, intending to search for the source of that female voice she heard. But instead, she saw those icicles flying at her again.

Damn it!

Tiffany cursed under her breath.

How did she let her escape to the other side without noticing?

The previous experiences had made known to Tiffany that if she ever tried to destroy the icicles, it would only multiply their numbers and bring disadvantages to them. Gritting her teeth, Tiffany leaped to the other side when the icicles were about to reach her. But as expected, the icicles did not give up despite missing their targets. They did a roundabout and flew at Tiffany once more.

“Unnie!”

Yoona finally caught up with Tiffany. She held her katana in one hand and pulled Tiffany into her embrace with another. She wanted to destroy the icicles again, but they were too close this time. Leaving with no choice, she shielded Tiffany from those deadly icicles with her body instead.

“Ugh!”

The hit was more painful than what she thought and Yoona could only felt numbness on her back. Yoona turned to look at Tiffany to see if the hunter was alright, but all she saw was a blurred Tiffany yelling at her with a pair of worried and fearful eyes. She wanted to tell her badly she was okay, but her strength was depleting so much that she lost her conscious before she could do anything.

“Yoona!”

Tiffany held the young hunter tightly before she managed to hit the ground. Yoona had completely lost her conscious by then. Tiffany quickly lowered her body and laid Yoona on the ground.

“Damn it.” Tiffany stood up and immediately made a speedy dash towards a particular tree. “Blade clawer!” She crossed her blades together before unleashing them at the tree. The tree exploded upon her attack but as the smoke dispersed, she saw nothing again.

“You can’t defeat me.”

That voice rang from behind her again. Tiffany spun around in surprise and found a short figure standing behind her. She couldn’t see her face as the person was wearing a large cloak over her body and not to mention, the scarf she was wearing covered most of her face, leaving only her eyes to be seen.

“Who are you?” Tiffany lifted up her blade and pointed at their assaulter. Her heart was beating rapidly in nervous when she realized they might have met a strong opponent who could put them down any second now. But she remained stern to hide her worries away. Revealing weakness in front of the enemies only meant straight defeat.

“I’m sorry Stephanie.”

Tiffany felt her heart had skipped a beat when she heard that name.

Stephanie, her great-grandmother… why is she calling her that name?

“I’m asking who you are! Answer me!” Tiffany could not stop the trembles in her hand. The person before her might be the key to those strange images which kept flashing in her mind nowadays. She was afraid to know the truth, but she had to know what was going on. Those images were supposedly memories of her great-grandmother, but why does she have the feeling that she was actually Stephanie herself?

Instead of answering her question, Sunny ignored her again and continued. “I’ve never thought of killing you. But your existence is hurting her so badly.”

Her?

Images flashed through her mind once again, Tiffany saw the familiar girl with a ponytail tied to the back of her head talking to her. Just like her dreams, she couldn’t see her face, all she knew was the girl was happy and so was she.

“Frost-bites!”

Tiffany snapped out of her thought when she realized she was under attack again. She tried to dodge the attack, but the frosts had already made their way to her body, capturing both her arms and legs before she could even budge.

“Craps…” Tiffany muttered as she struggled to sweep those frosts away from her body. But the frosts were getting thicker and were locking down her movements.

Gradually, Tiffany’s breathing became heavier than before. The frosts did not only cover her limbs, but they were expanding all over her body. It was only a matter of time before the frosts reached . They, too, had restrained the movement in , causing the intakes of oxygen going into her lungs dramatically decreased. She opened uncontrollably, trying to make use of to inhale even more air into her body, but it wasn’t helping at all. She could not even tell if still exists.

Yoona…

Tiffany watched the unconscious hunter with pain in her eyes.

It doesn’t matter if she dies, but Yoona is different. The assaulter is clearly here for her, she can’t drag Yoona down with her.

Tiffany soon became dizzied. The lack of oxygen was eating up her consciousness. Her eyelids were getting heavier as well. If only the frosts weren’t there to freeze her feet to the ground, she would most likely be lying on the ground already.

“Flame Towers!”

The sudden change of temperature woke Tiffany up.

Tiffany struggled to open her eyes and found herself surrounded by fire that was burning at a height higher than her. It seemed like the fire was engulfing her, but no, it wasn’t. It might look like a blazing fire, but to Tiffany, it was the gentlest fire she had ever seen and felt. She felt warmness from the fire. It did not only warm up her body, but her heart too. She sensed protection and within the protection, she sensed love.

Love…?

The frosts were slowly melting away due to the high temperature. Tiffany could finally feel the existence of her body again, even though it was still weak from the frost attack. As soon as the frost completely melted and released her, her wobbly legs gave way, leading her to the ground––

A pair of arms caught her just in time.

Tiffany opened her eyes to see who that person was, but the weakened her could only captured a blurry figure looking back at her. She squinted, trying to get a clearer view, but her eyes remained stubborn and refused to focus.

However… A faint smile was slowly formed on Tiffany’s face as she closed her eyes and relaxed her body in her savior’s embrace.

She smelled a familiar scent.

It was peppermint.