Allison's double jump came again. She twisted midair and came down with a twin kick. The impact threw Luke backward into another broken pillar. He felt the stone shudder behind him — the castle was coming apart. Chunks of ceiling broke loose. Snow burst outward when they hit the ground.

He tried to suck in a breath, but she was already on him. Her katana carved a short arc. He jerked aside, barely. The heat of the blade brushed his clothes. He hit the ground, and Allison lowered the strike for a sweeping cut. Luke rolled under it, scooped a handful of snow, and flung it into her face again. She closed one eye by reflex.

He surged forward and caught both of her arms. They crashed into the snow together. This time, she moved faster. Allison drove her knee into the wound in his abdomen. Luke choked out a raw sound, half pain, half breath.

"You know my damn story!" she said, her voice close enough to feel on his skin. "I'm a bastard! They can't kill me. They can't let me disappear. So they'll lock me away. Forever."

He tried to twist free, but she trapped his arm and slid her legs around his torso and neck. A chokehold. Clean. Efficient. It wasn't power. It was technique. Luke felt the air being stripped out of his chest.

"Then don't go home," he forced out, voice scraping. "Break a wall. Run. Vanish. Dying here is not the option."

Her grip tightened.

"Damn it, when did you get so strong?"

"You're the one who's weak!" she said.

He tried to pry her off, but his body was moving slow, heavy. The pain in his gut was bleeding the last of his strength. So he stood—dragging her with him—and drove himself backward into the pillar.The stone cracked. Allison's hold loosened just enough for him to pull free.

They rolled apart, snow scattering under them. Allison rose first.

"Just run away from home, you idiot!"

"Run?" she laughed, breathless and without even a hint of humor. "You don't know my family. You don't know the Rhiannon the way I do. They're powerful. They're one of the kings of the world, and you want me to just run?" She laughed like he had just told a joke.

Luke pushed himself upright, breath shaking, vision blurred around the edges.

He lunged forward and kicked her katana away, sending it skidding across the snow. But it vanished instantly, flickering back into her hand from her inventory. He backed off and grabbed another knife from the ground.

His mana flickered out.

[Mana Points (MP): 0/5100]

He didn't need to look. He felt the emptiness. In any other situation, he would have handled it easily. Especially with Princess Charlie's help. He would only need to use the chain on Allison and throw her into the portal.

"Human, stop stalling and get through the portal. If that foolish woman wants to stay and die, let her," Franky snapped as he crawled out of Luke's clothes. "Or let me spit acid in her face."

Luke clicked his tongue. Allison was already charging toward him.

Sections of the castle began to splinter; more of the ceiling collapsed in a thunder of stone and dust. "Allison, this place is going to fall. Stop hesitating and go through the portal," he called, sprinting after her.

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He attacked with both throwing knives, deflecting and parrying. The problem was that even when he found an opening, he froze. His strikes were meant to kill, and he could not even manage to hurt her.

"Damn it!" he muttered as he tried to test his strength with the katana.

She was serious. Very serious.

"What about your vengeance?" he said, attempting to pull her back from the edge.

"And what of it?" she answered.

Luke started to parry the katana at blinding speed. "You can't kill the God of Assassination if you're dead."

She stepped back, then spun to kick. She moved in wide horizontal arcs with the sword while Luke kept dodging.

"That's why I decided to take everyone out of this world," she said without hesitation. "I had to prove to myself I could do something truly hard if I wanted to. I'm more than willing to die. At least I won't be another Rhiannon."

"Hit her, human!" Franky barked, emerging fully from Luke's shirt as Luke slammed his back against a column. "Hit her, stop being weak."

"Shut up!" Luke shot back.

"It's Luke, another one of your lies," Allison said as their blades met. "So you made friends with the Beast Lord."

"We are not friends!" came the instant reply from both Franky and Luke.

Allison reached for Luke with her free hand while Franky flashed teeth and threatened to bite. Luke stumbled and fell into the snow; she lunged forward with the katana aimed at him.

Luke raised his arms. The blade found him; he felt the sting of the cut.

"Don't hit the human! You only get away with that because he's a weak, miserable, useless thing," Franky said.

"Shut up!" Allison snapped and struck the snake.

Luke seized her arm.

"Hey! She hit me! Hit her!" Franky squealed indignantly.

Luke began dragging Allison toward the portal. She resisted, spinning and pushing back. Her katana clattered to the ground. Luke held her weapon in one hand; his throwing knives were gone. They locked bodies and strength, each trying to shove the other through.

"Get through the damn portal!" she spat.

"Human, let me throw acid on that dumb little rat!" Franky insisted.

"No!" Luke shouted as he felt his foot sliding, dragged across the snow, skidding toward the portal.

Allison let her full weight drop. Luke pitched forward and took a fist to the face.

"Damn it," he muttered as she shoved him to the ground, straddled him, and began to choke. Her hands were iron.

"Luke, stop being an idiot," she snapped.

He fumbled for a throwing knife and drove it into her thigh. She barely flinched. He had options: arm, face, belly. None of them would come. With a frustrated toss he sent the knife skittering into the snow and tried to clamp her arms.

"Allison Rhiannon wants to die?" he said. "Fine. Let her die. Go back to Earth without being Rhiannon."

He hit her in the face even as he said sorry. She toppled backward and spat, "I told you it won't work, idiot. They'll hunt me down."

She sprang at him, a punch to the jaw. He grabbed her wrists and shoved with everything he had toward the portal. She headbutted him and leapt. They both crashed into the snow.

"There's a chance this portal sends all of us somewhere else on Earth," Luke said. "This might be your chance to leave. Allison Rhiannon disappears. You have that damn necklace that turns you into a man. You could escape. Allison Rhiannon could be one of the victims of this tutorial. Live your life as Allison."

She twisted, trying to break free. "And what then? What do I have back there? You don't understand. If my family isn't pestering me, I still have my revenge. That's all I have on Earth. Do you think I haven't considered running? I have no one. No one cares about me there. It's either a life trapped or a life chasing revenge. What good is that?"

"Listen to me, stop making it harder," he begged as she punched his gut. She launched into the air with a double jump and came down with another blow.

He raised his arms to protect himself. She fired an iceball at him, and it sent him skidding back. Her katana winked into existence in her hand. Before he could react, the blade drove into his belly. Metal seared through him, hot enough that the air smelled of burning. She grabbed his throat with her other hand. Luke fell back into the snow.

The katana vanished as if it had never been. Her hands tightened, the choke this time deliberate, stronger, colder. He could not move his legs.

"A-Allison!" he gasped, trying to pull breath through the pressure.

He knew exactly what would happen: she would black him out and shove him through the portal. He would wake up and it would be over. She would stay. She would die.

"N-no!" he tried to move her arms, but his muscles failed.

"Stop fighting, Luke," she said, voice flat.

The hold constricted. His stamina bled away; every inhale stole him a little more. The world narrowed to white at the edges.

"Let me attack, human!" Franky yelled from somewhere inside Luke's clothes.

Luke couldn't answer.

"Allison, stop!" he managed.

She didn't stop. Darkness pressed in from the corners of his vision; his limbs felt made of lead.

"Franky..." Luke croaked, voice strangled. "Bite her!"

Franky shot out like a dart, a living fang erupting from the folds of Luke's clothing. He clamped down on Allison's arm; acid sizzled, smoke hissing from the flesh. Allison screamed and flung him into the snow.

Luke rolled atop her and wrapped his arms around her throat. He had to knock her out.

"I have nowhere to go!" she screamed as she hammered him, fists clawing for purchase. He took the blows, the scratches, the sting of each hit, and tightened his grip.

"You can go back and start over," he said between gasps. "Pick a new name. Be someone else."

"As if it's that easy!" she shouted.

"If I can start from zero, you can," he said.

She made the katana appear again. The blade arced toward his neck and froze a hair's breadth from skin. For a long second they simply stared at each other, the only sound the soft hiss of the falling snow.

"Let me go, Luke," she said. "Let me go or… or—"

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