’Projecting a possible future’s emotions to achieve a strengthening effect?’

Aurora could only wonder if this paranormal ability of hers was truly that versatile.

She was still in doubt regarding whether she could truly see alternative futures. So, for Aurora to believe that she could unconsciously do something this complicated was simply not viable.

’This doesn’t seem right.’

Seeing the future was a rather unreasonable cheat. In Aurora’s opinion, it was likely to be a deep deduction ability, instead of a predictive one. In that way, it would actually make some sense. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Though that still failed to explain the phenomenon that had just taken place.

The dark place that she had reached in that single instant honestly made the brave Aurora a bit afraid.

’Hopefully, it doesn’t happen ever again.’

Aurora didn’t care for the resulting power-up; all that she remembered was that she almost lost control at that moment.

As someone who had barely gotten back in control after struggling with her various conflicting emotions and directives, being out of control had become one of Aurora’s greatest fears...

’Either way...’

Stashing her worries away, Aurora chose to prioritize the problem at hand as she approached the limp Yvonne.

Dealing with the little rebel had to be done first before she could take the time to deal with her existential crisis.

"I did tell you, right? That defiance would incur grave punishment..."

Aurora had already vowed to herself that she would no longer endure blatant sabotage. She was sick of being used to no end.

As Enigma-filled light particles trickled out of her fingers, they danced in the air before congregating around Yvonne.

"But you just don’t listen!"

Snap!

With just one gesture from Aurora’s fingers, the light particles formed into a guillotine that held onto Yvonne’s head and arms, ready to snap them away at any moment!

"Big sis!"

The Thorn Princess, who had been blown away a second ago, rushed over again in an attempt to save her sister. Unfortunately, however...

"Did I tell you to stay silent?"

A rope made of light jumped into Viva’s body like a snake, tightly binding her, stopping her from making any more surprise movements.

"Dirty snakes like you don’t get to express your opinions anymore. You only get to listen, so listen carefully."

The gentle Aurora that always handled everything other than monsters with softness was no longer there.

At this moment, she looked more like an enraged tyrant.

"First of all, let’s get rid of you."

As soon as Aurora announced her decision, the guillotine’s blade dropped down at an alarming rate...

"Big sis!"

"Or so I would have done, if things hadn’t gone this far."

Only to disappear just when it was an inch away from reaping Yvonne’s life.

Originally, no matter how tough a front she put up, Aurora wasn’t really sure if she could actually kill a fellow human up until this point.

However, the residue of the hatred she felt earlier was actually pushing her to do so, bypassing her moral guidelines as if it were a piece of cake.

"You truly are in luck. Had you pulled this stunt at the start, I would have cleanly disposed of you. Alas, having already come this far, I can’t just let your impulsiveness ruin things for me."

That being said, Aurora’s rationality was still stronger.

If it had been necessary to get rid of the nuisance, she wouldn’t have minded using this hatred residue to ease herself through the process, but that was not the case.

In fact, putting down the Thorn Queen now would have more adverse effects than positive ones.

After all, the very next Gate was the most dangerous and ominous-looking one. If Aurora had to give up clearing it, it might end up becoming her lifelong regret.

She had put in so much effort acting out her role of being a selfless victim while being completely fine.

A small hiccup like this couldn’t possibly be the end of the road. At least not before everything culminated in her moment of great reversal!

’Still, things need to be made clear.’

At the same time, letting things pass as they were wouldn’t work.

If these three were really as psychotic as her alternative prediction dictated, they would pick up on that as a weakness.

That was exactly why Aurora didn’t give them the chance to do much, let alone converse.

From this moment on, she had to temporarily shut down her heart and just apply some cold-blooded logic to the situation.

"Seriously, you couldn’t just wait for one more Gate, could you? Well, since I can’t kill you..."

Aurora’s eyes momentarily scanned Viva’s expression to confirm her suspicion.

In the end, she still seemed intent on bargaining in the Thorn Trio’s favor. As such, due punishment had to be meted out.

"I can only make it so you would wish for death instead."

Approaching the Thorn Queen, who was still held by the bladeless guillotine, Aurora simply pressed her finger into Yvonne’s left wrist.

’Safe..?’

At first glance, nothing seemed to have happened as silence ensued. However...

"Ahha! Ahhhaa! Ahh! Ahhhhhhhaaaaaaa!"

Yvonne’s screams soon erupted all over the Gate’s final room.

Although her eyes still looked out of focus, completely unaware of her surroundings or whatever was happening to her, it seemed like Yvonne was still very capable of feeling pain.

"Big sis! Leave her alon-"

"Didn’t I say to stay silent? If you want to join her, I would be very happy to give you the very same special treatment."

’She can be quite cruel.’

Watching from the side, Kara wasn’t really bothered by Aurora’s heartlessness. It was just that this sudden change was completely out of her expectations.

Originally, Kara had figured that she would have to play the villain when a situation like this arose, but now that she saw it, Aurora’s cruelty was actually more than enough.

Through analyzing Yvonne’s shadow, she was completely aware of the painful situation she was in.

Rather than a massaging attempt, Aurora’s finger press was actually used to inject light Enigma into the Thorn Queen’s body.

Considering the versatility of Aurora’s light Enigma, such an action could in fact be interpreted as a healing session. However...

’She amped it up to the max.’

The property being imbued at this moment was an extremely destructive one.

Nothing could be seen from outside at first, but a faint bulge that was constantly on the move under Yvonne’s skin could already be seen as her arms started flailing uncontrollably.

In Kara’s eyes, this was a destructive right marble, accurately rampaging through Yvonne’s arms as it destroyed every fiber of her muscles!

To make matters worse. As soon as the arm fell limp, becoming completely useless, the marble switched properties, becoming an orb of healing instead.

’Simply diabolical.’

Since healing the entire arm would take too much time, Aurora only focused her healing on the nerves responsible for transmitting pain before continuing to destroy the arm once again.

"Ahhh! Ahh! Ahh! Ahh..."

"Mmm mmm! Mmm mmm!"

Just like that, Yvonne’s screams echoed to no foreseeable end.

Despite being threatened herself, Viva still wanted to plead for her sister, but Aurora had long covered her mouth to stop her interruption.

’Is this about right?’

It was only after a whole 15 minutes had passed that Aurora extinguished the tiny light marble, letting Yvonne’s arm fall limp once and for all.

"We will do it. As long as you spare our lives, whatever you want done, we will do it."

Finally, the person who had stayed silent throughout this whole ordeal had unexpectedly spoken up.