-Frey Starlight's Pov-
"Your time to die has come."
Rem... or should I say, the Ice Shard.
The true battle was about to begin.
This was my first time witnessing two SS-class powerhouses clash before my very eyes, so I made sure to observe carefully.
This was what it meant to fight at the highest level.
It was all I could do, given my current condition.
Of course, my state prevented me from noticing the subtle force that formed an invisible shield around me.
Out of nowhere, Ada appeared beside me.
"Frey..."
Her face was a mix of sorrow and rage.
She touched my face. The traces of blood that had poured from me still lingered...
The dark circles under my eyes from the torment I had just endured.
My disheveled hair, now turned white.
My utterly broken body, with no part left unscathed.
Slowly, a tear welled up in Ada's eye.
With difficulty, I grasped the hand that was touching my face.
It was warm compared to my freezing body.
"It's fine... I can't fall this easily, can I?"
"Don't say another word..."
Perhaps she felt how cold I had become... perhaps that was why she embraced me so tightly now.
"Ada..."
I patted her back before shifting my focus to the impending battle.
I caught sight of Baylor, laughing mockingly while staring at me.
Rem remained as composed as ever.
Rem... the Ice Shard.
I glanced at Ada once more.
'How did she do it?'
Her movements were perfect...
Setting up the curses from the beginning.
Knowing about the existence of this library, which I had been completely unaware of, despite being the one who wrote this whole mess.
Gaining Rem's support.
It was all too convenient.
As if she...
I muttered under my breath.
"She knows the future."
...
...
...
Baylor Moonlight, the current lord of the Moonlight family, stretched his body slightly before tossing his cloak to the ground.
He was clad in a tight-fitting black combat outfit—one that could be considered armor in its own right.
"Tell me, Ice Shard, you were once one of the founder's greatest creations, weren't you?"
Faced with Baylor's unwavering confidence, Rem remained silent.
"Then allow me... to test your strength!"
Baylor spread his arms wide, and in an instant, hundreds of glacial circles formed throughout the library.
From these circles, hundreds of massive projectiles were unleashed.
Pillars of ice aura rained down from every direction.
In response, Rem simply lifted a single finger.
A lone circle, identical to Baylor's, materialized before her.
But from that single circle, hundreds of blasts erupted, clashing with Baylor's attacks and neutralizing them with remarkable efficiency.
Baylor burst into laughter.
"From just one sphere, you unleashed a force equal to hundreds? What incredible aura control."
The pressure of Baylor's aura intensified.
"Then how about this?"
Before my very eyes...
I witnessed something truly astonishing.
The library was an isolated space, meaning its size far exceeded that of the original location.
When I looked up at its sky, I saw thousands of stars gleaming above.
But they weren't stars—they were the celestial orbs Baylor had created.
This was the first time I'd seen a Wave Controller conjure so many at once.
Those stars all descended at once, falling like an unrelenting storm upon us.
One strike from that attack was enough to erase both Ada and me from existence.
Yet, in the face of such overwhelming force, Rem remained unmoved.
The energy dancing around her handled everything on its own.
Out of nowhere, a glass-like barrier formed, covering the entire library. From the outside, it seemed fragile, delicate—one might think even the weakest attack could shatter it.
But in a feat of pure magic, it absorbed the relentless barrage…
And turned it into nothing more than scattered snowflakes drifting through the air.
"Did she really block it that effortlessly?"
Rem neutralized Baylor's overwhelming attacks with a single gesture each time.
"Incredible!"
Baylor surged forward.
"So, you're a Wave Controller, huh?"
His arms sank into the swirling frost aura, forming massive spheres in each hand.
"Let's pick up the pace, shall we?"
Baylor threw a powerful punch toward Rem.
It was aimed right at her face, unleashing an immense explosion of aura.
But he was forced to stop.
Something blocked him—a barrier preventing his fist from getting any closer than twenty centimeters from Rem.
"Did she stop it? Or should I say—"
"She froze it."
The voice came from behind us. Carmen had arrived, standing beside Ghost.
We were all observing the battle from nearby, shielded by Rem's power—or rather, the library's protection.
That same force safeguarded Seris and Frost as they, too, watched the spectacle unfold.
"That girl in the wheelchair... she's dismantling Baylor's attacks from the inside."
As Carmen spoke, Baylor unleashed a flurry of devastating punches alongside a relentless barrage of projectiles, striking from every direction in an effort to break Rem's defenses.
Yet, she repelled every single one.
"She's analyzing Baylor's complex attacks and rewriting them, breaking them down from within."
Baylor's strikes were of the highest caliber—his aura control, masterful.
To process all of those attacks simultaneously, then reconstruct them into nothingness…
Impossible.
"Who the hell fights like this?"
But Rem wasn't human.
She was something else entirely.
Despite failing to make her budge, Baylor remained completely unfazed.
That ever-present smirk never left his face.
"It seems this level isn't enough, huh?"
He took several steps back.
"Supreme Art…"
The moment I heard those words, I cursed under my breath.
Baylor was about to unleash one of his strongest techniques.
Releasing aura from both arms, his power began to take physical form.
"Primordial Dragons."
In his right hand, a massive, laughing dragon took shape.
In his left, an identical dragon, but this one bore a wrathful, fearsome expression.
Rem's eyes fully opened in response to the devastating attack that made the very ground tremble.
Immediately, she raised both hands.
But Baylor didn't give her the chance to act—he launched the twin dragons straight at her, aiming to consume her from both sides.
The moment they made contact, an earth-shattering explosion erupted, blinding our vision entirely.
Even with Hawk Eyes, I couldn't make out what had happened.
"This is a disaster…"
Carmen observed with a grim expression.
"If I took that hit… I don't think I'd survive."
The aura around us remained unstable.
Baylor took a step back after unleashing his devastating attack on Rem.
"Was that enough?"
An attack of this magnitude should have left some damage, at the very least.
And yet, the protective aura surrounding me, my sister, and the others hadn't faded…
Which meant—
From within the swirling dust—
Something shot out at terrifying speed.
We only realized it in the moment it crashed violently into one of the library walls.
It was an ice sword…
A blade infused with an unimaginable amount of ice aura.
It was drenched in blood.
Baylor slowly lowered his head, only to find a horrifying wound on his right side.
That sword had pierced through him just moments ago.
Amidst the lingering dust, Rem emerged—her surroundings utterly destroyed, yet she herself remained untouched.
She was as calm as ever.
"I told you, Baylor…"
Several swords, identical to the one before, materialized around her.
"Here and now… I will kill you."