(Manami POV)
The flaming bitch in front of me was starting to get on my nerves.
As much as her fire could not hurt me, my fire could not burn her either. Even the freezing blizzard of my cute little sister was not enough to pierce through the flames that she had clad herself with.
"The domain of Fire," The bitch growled smugly. "It may not be especially extravagant but all forms of fire are under my domain."
I threw a fireball at her but it fizzled out of existence the moment it left my hand.
Truly vexing.
My flames were useless and her flames burned hotter than my little sister could freeze. Coupled with the fact that the very same flames also protected her, Diao Chan and Tsuki were unable to get through her defences either.
Yet, the same thing applied to her as well since Master's infinite love protected us from harm. She could bring down the sun upon us and Master's protection would have snuffed it out even before the heat had time to reach us.
In other words, we are at a complete stalemate. It was just a matter of who could break through the other's shields first.
"I don't understand why you still insist on keeping up with this farce?" The bitch asked with a raised eyebrow. "It is obvious that none of you stand a chance against me, so why not just hand darling back to who he belongs to?"
I covered my mouth with the sleeve of my kimono, "Ara, ara? To even suggest that our Master could belong to a rabid dog like yourself is too much even for a joke~"
"Oh? Are you suggesting that he should belong to vicious vixens like yourself?"
"Ufufufu~ To even suggest that Master could belong to anyone else… You must be more delusional than I thought."
"Master has always belonged to us. Tell me, who else has a little bit of him inside them?"
I smirked at that question, moving my hands to rest on my navel, "Why… I'm sure if you were to look, you would find some of Master's seed still sitting within my womb. In fact, you might find just that within almost all the girls here tonight~"
Ufufufu~ Just look at this bitch. The fact that Master has given us His love and not to them is something I would pride myself over no matter how many times I have to say it.
It is an obvious indication of Master's favour, something that they most certainly did not possess and they are aware of that.
Surprisingly, the rabid dog recovered from my insult quickly, not even sparing a glance at the ice and dark spear that were tossed at her to be disintegrated by her fire.
Despite our 'civil' conversation, we still have yet to stop trying to kill each other.
The dog snarled at us, "I know you're tempted to do it as well."
I maintained my fake smile directed at her, "Ara? I'm afraid I do not understand dogspeak, could you try switching out from your barks?"
Unperturbed, she pushed on, "If you truly did love him as you claim, I know you would be tempted to consume his flesh too."
I turned to my cute little sister, "Ara, ara? It seems like I really can't understand the howlings of a rabid beast. I don't suppose you understand what this animal is barking about either, dear sister of mine?"
My sweet Kiyomi merely nodded her head once, "Indeed… It's such a shame but the task of putting down such a wild animal has fallen to us."
She ignored our barbed words, opting to continue her monologue instead, "Have you not tasted him? No, I'm sure you have smelt him, how his smell would stir your primal instincts, drawing you closer to partake in his flesh? Simply just having him outside was not enough for you, you want to envelope him completely inside you, wrap all of him up and keep him inside."
"Fufufu~ Unlike you who is obviously lacking in that department, we can wrap our Master up just fine with our tails. It really just goes to show how pathetic you are~"
"Kahaha! Act tough all you like, but I know what is residing in your deepest of desires!"
Kiyomi frowned, "Please do enlighten us. What was going through that bestial mind of yours for you to even think that hurting Master was completely sane?"
The corners of her lips curled into a wicked smile, "The taste, the succulent flesh, the rush of power and how it makes you feel like you could bend the entire universe to your will. The look of despair on his face as you chop him up, the realisation of his own mortality as you consume him bit by bit and the sounds of his screams serving as the testament of his life! And finally, when the flames of life finally snuffs out when you rip his heart out… That was the most beautif--
"You bitch…" The words tumbled out of my mouth as my vision went red with rage.
I had thought they at least saved Master the suffering by killing Him quickly, I never thought that they had consumed Him piece by piece while Master was still alive…
For these trash to take advantage of Master's benevolence like that, they are truly unworthy of living.
My sister shared my rage and my utter frustration that we could not break through her confounded wall of fire.
No matter how hard I tried to burn her, no matter how hard Kiyomi tried to freeze her, all our efforts were for naught.
If only we had a way of negating her fire and also making her suffer at the same time!
Ah.
I turned to my sister at the same time as she turned to me.
How foolish of us…
Master paved the way for us and we were too blind to see it…
Master had given us this dual cultivation Technique not to get stronger and ascend by ourselves, but to ascend together as one.
The others had improved at a much faster rate than ours that it almost felt like we were being left behind, but now I see that was not the case.
Fire and ice, two polar opposites that were meant to come together. The answer was so simple and it pains me to say that it took this long for us to realise this.
I reached out my hand and my dear sister took it with hers.
With our fingers entwined, both of us closed our eyes and willed our Elemental Quarks within our body to move towards our hands, entwining themselves with each other.
The union was violent as fire clashed against ice, one trying to burn and the other trying to freeze.
The violent reaction made it look impossible to merge until the both of us fought it under control. We are the master of it, not the other way around.
Soon enough, the Quarks settled down and congealed together, forming itself as the link between the two of us.
I felt a creeping cold edge up along my arm before shooting straight into my Cultivation Point, no doubt Kiyomi was experiencing the opposite right now.
We held on, letting each other's Quarks wash over us before flowing back towards the centre.
Soon enough, our Quarks were completely fused together and my body burned.
It was not the burn felt from the heat of fire but the burn of freezing frost. I fought back the urge to scream as my very soul was eroded away by the frost, snapping and cracking like ice being stepped on during the last days of winter.
I focused my senses to my core, willing it to flare to life and the fire shot forth to wrap itself against the cold.
Kiyomi squeezed my hand and I squeezed back, allowing our senses to mix once more.
Not even a minute passed and I felt the universe shift, filling me up with a scorching heat that could burn entire Worlds. A heat that burned brighter than any fire I have beheld.
I recognised that as the Divine Essence that would make me a goddess.
I opened my eyes, seeing the world in a new light.
"I am the Goddess of the Brightest Star, destined mate of Origin."
"I am the Goddess of the Darkest Depths, destined mate of Origin."
We have ascended.
