In a different region from that of humans, two women stood above a massive pile of skeletons. Mana emanated from their bodies, indicating they had just come from a recent battle.
The woman with yellow eyes spoke wearily, "You have to ask mother to get us out of this position. We shouldn't be doing manual labor."
The other woman, with black eyes, replied while opening and closing her hand, mimicking her mother, "Both of you need to learn your duties. You can't complain about it now. Stop being lazy, get up, and start working." The girl sighed, her eyes empty, and said, "That's exactly what we would have to hear, so let's be quiet."
"Why? She's not around," the woman with yellow eyes kicked away the head of one of the skeletons. "She's not here; we can say whatever we want."
"Are you sure about that?" The woman with black eyes pointed to the side, where they could see a red-feathered raven flying at full speed toward them.
"Ah, damn familiars, what a hell. I'm a princess; I shouldn't be doing this," the woman with yellow eyes stomped so hard on the skeleton beneath her that it shattered, causing a rain of bones and making her sink into the pile of bones.
While the other girl jumped away, landing on the ground and looking ahead as the domino effect took place, causing the entire pile of bones to collapse, the red crow landed on her shoulder, touching her face with the letter it held in its beak.
"What does she want this time?" The black-eyed girl spoke, taking the letter.
"Caw!" The crow opened its wings and flew away.
"A letter from mother? What is she saying, Pinna?" spoke the yellow-eyed girl, emerging from within the bone pile.
"It's nothing important, just her saying she arrived safely and no attacks occurred," Pinna crumpled the letter and threw it behind her.
"Ohh! Wait, where did mother go again?" The woman with yellow eyes spoke, now sitting on top of the pile of skeletons, which had diminished in size due to her previous action.
Pinna, with a look of disgust, replied, "I don't know why, but she went to see that aberration."
Hearing that, the other woman's eyes gleamed. "Ahh, today is the day of the ritual, right?" After saying this, the gleam in her eyes faded as she realized something important. "Oh, I wish I could have gone to see it."
After a second of silence, she began to speak again, now muttering, "Mother is no good. How can she be a good queen if she treats her own daughters like this, making them do manual labor, and then going alone to such an important event?"
She jumped in front of Pinna, asking, "You wanted to see it too, right? Don't you?"
"Did you hear me or not? Why would I want to see that? I honestly don't find anything interesting about it, it could have remained extinct."
"Huh? You don't get it? Hasn't mother told us about it so many times"
Pinna turned her head, sensing something approaching, but when she focused her eyes in that direction, the presence suddenly vanished.
"Hun? What happened, Pinna?"
"A rat ran away... That's all," Pinna sighed and looked at her sister's face. "But anyway, I just don't understand why you're so curious about that Aberration."
"Hmm, it's not just that I find it interesting, you know? I wish I had lived during the time when they existed naturally."
Hearing that, Pinna replied with a horrified expression, "Ugh, your mind scares me, Eika. Just thinking about it gives me chills – a world full of aberrations, what a nightmare."
Returning to where the ritual was taking place, a woman with green eyes and long black hair, reaching down to her thighs, wearing a beautiful white dress adorned with golden embroideries, smiled and said, "I didn't expect the first harvest to be so successful... Should I introduce my daughters to him later?"
Praia gazed at Mikahil, standing on the ice platform, looking down at her with an arrogant expression, ignoring her previous failure. She said, "Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson, just like when we were younger."
Her right arm was covered in flames, while the second one gained an icy coating, forming a pair of vambraces with long claws. The snow crown rose above her head, and the two blue horns bore red runes from the base to the middle in the blink of an eye, and Praia disappeared.
' Here ' Mikahil thought, leaping backward, watching Praia strike the ice platform with her fist, causing it to be devoured almost instantly by flames.
With agile movements, Mikahil made the twelve swords go in Praia's direction, but none of them hit her. Instead, Praia landed a punch right on Mikahil's face, sending him crashing to the ground.
' So, this is your speed potential? ' Mikahil thought as he touched the ground, creating an ice hand that lifted him upward, distancing him from Praia's next attack.
Mikahil created four ice platforms around him, anticipating Praia's attack this time. She used her other hand, the one covered in ice, destroying the platform and launching a pillar towards Mikahil. He countered by hitting the pillar with his hand, launching himself forward and redirecting the twelve ice swords behind him to where he originally intended to go.
"I'm not that predictable, Praia," Mikahil said, looking at the twelve swords, stopped by small ice hands holding their tips. Praia smiled and retorted, "So, not only your body grew, but your brain as well."
' System, activate auto mode. '
[Where do you want to apply this mode?]
' All of these swords...' Mikahil thought as he took Praia's punch to his chest, sending him to the ground, pushed by a pillar of ice.
As his body hit the ground, he immediately raised his right hand, snapping his fingers. 'Each one separately.'
"Hun?" Praia, floating in the air, looked at Mikahil, tilting her head. "So, are you admitting defeat?"
The moment Praia finished speaking, a sword grazed her face, leaving a small cut on her cheek. In the next instant, the pillar holding Mikahil on the ground shattered into pieces, revealing him standing, holding two ice axes, while hundreds of swords appeared one after another, flying randomly in her direction.
'I don't need to spend mana to control the swords; I only need to create them. Now, what will you do, Praia? You have no escape now.'