Performance Day (2)

In the midst of her dance, Liella could sense her body move exactly as she pictured it and her atmosphere was finally matching the story the way she interpreted it. It was an exhilarating feeling to have a performance surpass your expectations, but that ecstasy never distracted her from resonating with the space known as the stage.

'Interference? What is security doing?'

Liella complained in her head, but she still executed dance moves with absolute precision. She wished that the presences that were encroaching on her territory would know where to stop, but if they were that polite they wouldn't be targetting her here to begin with.

Just as Liella feared, three men dressed in pitch-black like shadows, slowly appeared on stage. As she believed that she was in excellent condition, Liella was very reluctant to end her dance so that she could escape from them. Luckily, while she was stuck contemplating and performing, a new dancer entered the stage. This was Liella's solo so there were no extra costumes for other cast members, yet somehow the new dancer was wearing a gown with a similar but plainer design compared to Liella's, along with a sword that seemed to be made of clear ice in her hand. Liella wanted to ask her why she appeared, but when the newcomer glanced at her, Liella figured out everything that she needed to know and returned her focus to the performance. There was still much she wanted to ask, but she trusted her to accomplish the mission that she came here to complete.

The three shadows that came on stage also noticed the newcomer and could immediately tell that she would get in their way, so they charged at her from three directions with their peak Soul Realm cultivations unleashed. As they approached, the new princess, Annaleigh, whispered a line too quiet for anyone to hear but herself.

"Unorthodox Blade Method, Control Form,"

With a twirl, Annaleigh deflected the attacks of the three shadows and gracefully leapt forward with her sword aiming for the neck of one of them. Behind them, Liella subtly changed her choreography to fit the atmosphere of battle so that all of this seemed to be planned and those handling the lighting and sound did the same. Naturally, the audience wasn't completely fooled as none among them was ordinary, but they allowed themselves to be tricked by this act.

Backstage, the Asteria Dance Club was in a frenzy, but Heina and their advisor worked diligently to calm them down. Even though she didn't receive any verified information, Heina knew enough to comprehend what was happening so she was able to maintain a better mental state. However, that didn't mean she was thinking of letting this go even if it ended peacefully.

'I wasn't going to interfere if it was away from public eye, but to dare make a mess of our stage. I'll make sure to be thorough in their discipline.'

Annaleigh's first lunge was blocked, but the shadow that blocked it was knocked off balance. While he was forced three steps back, the other shadows attacked her from both sides but their strikes were destined to miss. Annaleigh swept the ground with the tip of her sword and spun in the same direction as her blade so that she faced the ceiling. The weapon in her right hand forced the shadow on her right to back off, while her left hand caught the other shadow and held him in place with her body weight.

"First Stance: Dance."

The captured shadow struggled, but was unable to break free until the sword completed its circular journey and perfectly inflicted a vertical cut upon him. No blood spilt from his body, but a pattern of snowflakes spread from where he was hit and encroached upon his skin as he dropped lifelessly to the floor and then scattered into snow petals. The surviving two shadows who saw their ally's death were convinced that they shouldn't expect to win against her while keeping their lives intact. Therefore, one of them charged at her while the other stayed behind with his eyes on Liella.

When the first shadow clashed with Annaleigh, the second turned to face Liella, but a light blue sword immediately appeared to stop him. Annaleigh had led the first shadow closer, and then slipped past him before throwing her sword at the second shadow.

The second shadow was able to deflect the sword, but it returned to Annaleigh's hand as if he intended it to. Annaleigh took the sword from the air, and then used the momentum to spin around and strike the shadow. This time, the shadow leaned backward to escape her blade while the other shadow attacked from behind. However, as if toying with them, Annaleigh performed a tight spin and subtly pulled the shadow behind her to take her place before stabbing him from behind.

The sword slipped through his body and came out the other side so smoothly it was like his body was a sheath. It should have been a traumatic experience watching as his comrade withered into frost dust, but the final shadow wasted no time shaking in fear.

The moment Annaleigh's sword was captured by his ally's corpse, the final shadow fired a black wind spell at Liella. The spell had obvious traces of poison arts, so just a whiff would be enough to incapacitate at least one of the two in his way. Unfortunately, he was punished for his neglect of his partner as frost dust had formed a mystical fog on stage that emphasized Liella while dissipating the black wind before it could cause any damage.

In his refusal to accept this result, the shadow tried to approach Liella, but as it was time for the resolution, Annaleigh ensured that everything was settled peacefully. Mixed within the frost dust that covered the stage, were fragments of her sword that was now half of its former length. The fragments secretly invaded the shadow's body and shut off his life functions as easily as pressing a button. Like the other shadows, he crumbled into stage decorations, and by the time his body had completely broken down, Annaleigh had also left the stage, leaving only the princess who would bring spring to the kingdom and thaw the ice.

Once her role was over, Annaleigh returned to backstage in her previous clothes as if she had never changed to begin with. She was going to get back to staring at the lovely girl onstage, but her fellow club members couldn't leave her alone after such a mind-blowing event.

"Wow! How did you do that?"

"When did you learn to dance so well?"

"I didn't know you were so strong!"

"What's the name of your sword technique?"

Annaleigh didn't plan on appearing before the audience after the recital, so she hadn't expected to be barraged by questions like this. The persona that did the fighting had sunk below her surface consciousness so the usual Annaleigh was in control, but she still had her memories of what happened during combat. However, there was a lot that she was reluctant to or couldn't tell them so she was wondering how to appease them when Heina came to the rescue.

"Girls, I understand that you're excited, but the show hasn't ended yet. Remember that."

With just that, Heina dragged the professionalism out of them and made them back off, but Annaleigh couldn't settle down as Heina approached her in their instead.