I Have 10,000 SSS Rank Villains In My System Space Chapter 380: Sofia Meeting Selena

Maria couldn't recall the manner in which she departed from the shop.

She couldn't tell if she had strolled or dashed away. Her form propelled itself ahead, driven by an uncontrollable tempest within. The entrance had banged shut sometime earlier; she vaguely noted the noise, yet her thoughts had drifted far off. A fierce warmth scorched at the back of her eyes, her torso constricted so much that each inhale stung sharply.

With the rear of her hand, she brushed away the tears hastily and irritably, yet they kept flowing. The harder she attempted to suppress them, the fiercer they streamed, turning the avenues ahead into blurred lines of hue and glow. She despised this. Despised weeping openly among strangers. Despised allowing him to witness her in such a state. Despised above all the serene expression on his face as she crumbled before him... And loathed the way he acted and responded when she exposed her most fragile aspect.

Her strides were erratic, too rapid for mere walking, too aimless for true sprinting. Rage seeped into each motion. Her posture was stiff, fingers balled into fists at her hips, nails biting into flesh with a sharp bite. She continued dabbing at her eyes, but the moisture evaded her grasp regardless.

The imperial capital remained inhabited, despite the ongoing assault.

Gateways had ripped open throughout the realm. Beasts had flooded in relentless surges. Yet the heart of the empire refused to collapse and disappear. Existence clung on tenaciously, even with peril looming above. The roads were sparser than normal, indeed, but far from abandoned. Folks traveled in cautious groups. Merchants hovered warily at their doorways. Armed escorts loitered at crossroads, grips always near their blades. Squads of royal troops or military forces patrolled the boulevards in orderly ranks, gazes sweeping over peaks and side paths equally.

Ready... Vigilant and poised for whatever might arise.

Numerous structures showed recent wounds: fractured rock, broken panes crudely sealed with boards. Improvised barriers bolstered key spots. An undercurrent of strain vibrated in the atmosphere, just below the level of everyday clamor.

And amid this scene strode Maria.

A aristocratic young lady clad in attire too elegant for these turbulent times, her light-blue locks trailing messily in her wake, moisture tracing paths down her face. She sliced through the thoroughfare like a bolt of raw feeling in a metropolis paused in suspense.

And... Indeed, gazes followed her.

Several identified her right away; the successor to the Grave lineage was no obscure figure, after all. Murmurs and chatter rippled along her route's borders. A handful of sentries stiffened on reflex, seemingly weighing an approach, yet ultimately none advanced.

After all... Tampering with one of her status involved dangers. Grave ones. And the tale unfolding beneath her dampened features was no risk most cared to wager upon.

Thus, they merely observed, as expected.

And... Maria remained oblivious to them.

She ignored the stares, the whispers, the intrigued looks trailing her or anything else. For her reality had constricted to one searing focus deep in her core. All she grasped was the need to escape that shared space with him. Not after his words. Not after his gaze or his conduct toward her... It was like her anguish unfolding before him posed merely an annoyance, not a concern of weight.

Her mind whirled in circles.

It doesn’t matter... It’s logical not to.

Why should I deliberately make myself sad?

Those phrases reverberated, slicing more profoundly each time they looped.

Her breaths turned ragged.

So immersed in her turmoil was she that she missed the alteration in the atmosphere until it struck too late.

Then abruptly...

BOOOOOOOOM!!

The blast ripped across the avenue from her right flank... the roar overwhelming. Rock fragmented. Timber cracked. A structure's front burst forth in a savage spray of rubble and fire. Pressure waves surged over the paved stones, flinging chunks of masonry and wood everywhere.

For an instant, time dragged.

Maria’s tears halted.

Her eyes focused sharply in a flash.

Reflex overtook sentiment.

Prior to the airborne wreckage striking her, her palm darted out, swift and exact, tracing a round sweep in the sky. Moisture gathered from empty air, twisting about her hand in a compact whirl before spreading wide. A see-through orb of churning liquid materialized ahead of her precisely when splintered logs and rock pieces slammed against it.

The collision stirred waves over the barrier's face, yet it endured.

Pieces rebounded without harm, repelled by the vortex flow.

Beside her, disorder broke loose. Residents cried out. Some tumbled from the force. Others sought shelter. A number yelled, while others drew their arms promptly, assembling protective formations in a heartbeat or so. Several suffered from tumbling wreckage; others hastened to drag them clear. Terror sought to grip, but they subdued it... At least to some degree, since no severe wounds or fatalities occurred... Perhaps too because the detonation wasn't overly massive. Still, their swift responses ensured few casualties... Undoubtedly owing to the constant state of readiness.

Maria eased her arm down gradually as the first rush of ruin faded. The liquid barrier melted into beads that pattered innocently onto the surface.

Haze wafted along the way.

She released a single breath.

Then rage swelled.

The wrath she had stifled—the shame, the dismissal, the sorrow, the ache, the blame—latched onto a new outlet. The detonation had broken her inner gale, but failed to quench it. Rather, it veered its course.

Her chin set firm.

Whoever triggered this picked an ill-timed instant.

It resembled prodding a battered beast.

With no delay, Maria surged into action. Faint streams of liquid wound about her feet as she vaulted skyward, spanning the road in a seamless leap and alighting on the closest roof. Shingles splintered from the launch's power. Her tresses whipped back like a flag in the breeze.

Her visage had transformed utterly.

The sobbing maiden had vanished. Replacing her was a far icier presence. Her gaze blazed with an intensity that electrified the nearby breeze. Her grip tightened, joints paling, subtle lines appearing under fair flesh. A thick aura of lethal intent emanated from her without thought, exerting an unseen force.

The cause of the blast held no interest for her.

Nor did the perpetrator's identity.

She only sensed that some force had dared to detonate so near while she teetered on collapse.

Even the sentries beneath detected the abrupt lethal aura... causing them to halt mid-stride and glance upward.

She advanced steadily over the roofs toward the eruption's origin, each footfall measured yet propelled by ire. She neither paused nor faltered.

Bound after bound across structures bore her to a ledge peering over the devastation.

And right then...

She halted.

The lethal aura evaporated as suddenly as it emerged.

In its stead, bewilderment spread over her features, chased by a somber doubt. The scene before her... defied her assumptions.

For... Amid the smoldering ruins, outlined by broken rock and fractured supports, two forms confronted each other.

Sofia.

And

Selena...?

The view struck her more forcefully than the blast.

“What is happening here...?” Maria whispered to herself, the phrase escaping unbidden. A stern look overtook her countenance, masking her prior feelings: grief, fury, devastation. Those sentiments lingered; they merely yielded to a weighty gravity.

This spelled trouble.

This marked the gravest tangle of events.

For she understood... an encounter between these pair at such a juncture could prove disastrous.

Because... Sofia had just grasped the facts, or the interpretation she embraced. She held that Razeal faced unjust blame. And opposing her stood the one who leveled that charge.

Selena. Empire's Saintess. Offspring of a duke's line.

And Sofia, heir to Atlantis.

Maria lacked precise knowledge of Sofia's might. Not fully. But she comprehended enough to recognize this as no mere elite clash. Should either suffer harm here, the fallout wouldn't stay local.

Selena. The Saintess of the realm's mightiest faith? Child of a ducal family? Guarded by the Virelan household? Ally to the Imperial Princess? Essentially backed by the entire empire?

And Sofia, daughter of Atlantis.

If Selena came to grief, the empire would respond.

And... If Sofia fell... Atlantis would... That would be a dire misstep.

Not to mention... Razeal could intervene too?

And should Razeal act, he'd entangle in matters vastly beyond a private dispute... risking injury.

Maria’s digits gripped fiercely.

Meanwhile... Below, the haze started to clear.

Selena positioned herself among the wreckage of a former modest dwelling, faint golden radiance still dancing on her form. Her limbs relaxed now, though the clash's echo remained in her frame. Shortly before, she had hurried toward Razeal's location, where her senses had detected him... pulse racing, inhales brief, every notion fixed on one goal.

His.

At last, Marcella had granted clearance. At last, freedom to depart. She had perceived him. Near. Nearer than in ages. His aura throbbed like a rhythm under her surface, urging her on.

And then, without warning,

Collision.

An assault emerged from the void.

She had detected it scarcely in time, crossing her forearms before her form on impulse. Still, the power had been tremendous. She had been flung rearward like foliage in a storm, smashing through a wall and into the space beyond.

Timber had shattered. Stone had split.

But once more... she emerged unscathed.

Clearly, her sacred build absorbed the harm with disdainful ease. It meant little to her... In any case, grit adhered to her garb as she returned to the avenue, flicking away fragments from her cuff with composed intent.

Her gaze held no composure.

It pierced. Perplexed and seething with wrath.

As she viewed opposite her... As she spotted an unfamiliar female.

Lofty. Poised. Deep azure tresses falling in a disciplined, breeze-kissed cascade. Her traits were bold, nearly majestic. Her demeanor diminished the nearby turmoil in scale. Aristocracy draped her naturally.

And her lethal intent? That was blatantly evident.

It projected like a sword half-unsheathed.

And a keen grin twisted her mouth as she eyed Selena, as if this clash proceeded precisely per her design.

Selena's eyes narrowed a touch.

This woman was unknown to her.

But from a single glance, she discerned this held no chance encounter.

The woman's allure matched her own, though with a distinct allure... as though she ruled some realm. Aristocracy emanated from her very visage.

Yet, no leisure to decipher it.

Razeal’s aura throbbed subtly in her awareness. Close. Quite near.

As her core hammered agonizingly with each tick.

“I don’t know who you are,” Selena stated, her tone even despite the ire coiling below. “Or why you attacked me.”

She met the woman’s stare squarely.

“But I’ll let it go. For now... As I am going to meet someone. So step away...” Her voice edged sharper.

But in any event, she awaited no reply.

As... Golden radiance erupted around her frame abruptly, pooling at her base and limbs as she propelled skyward, veering toward his detected spot. The gap was minor. She could close it swiftly.

Her pulse quickened with her speed.

Nearly there.

Almost...

But right as she ascended...

“Where are you going?” The words sliced the breeze.

Icy and mocking.

And simultaneously... Selena’s pupils constricted.

And... Ere she could alter her course, a streak of azure blocked her route.

Sofia materialized before her swifter than Selena foresaw, quicker than her own prior dash. No excess action or doubt.

As Sofia’s limb arced down in a sharp, ruthless sweep.

The blow was exact... Restrained and potent.

It aimed directly at Selena’s countenance.

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