You Are Not Allowed To Die

Purple lightning covered Rio's arms, bolting towards the blue-haired woman's body. The lightning corroded through her skin, turning it the color of ash.

"Damn it…" Rio suddenly cursed.

The remainder of the woman's body began to change form. It gained a liquid appearance before changing into water.

Rio's lightning evaporated all the water on the spot. No remains of the woman were present on the spot.

"It was a clone. She managed to avoid my attack by replacing her position with a clone. Lex, stay alert!" Rio shouted.

Lex was high on alert and kept a check on his surroundings. Though he felt tired after using the sphere attack, he couldn't afford to slack.

Elfie, who acted as a second pair of eyes for him, was also alert. 

[ I don't sense her presence around us. ] Elfie informed.

'You can sense the presence of others?'

[ I can sense Elemental Energy inside others. Those who possess a large amount of dormant EE give off a strong presence. That woman was one such person. ]

'I see. Keep looking for her.'

An unsettling silence settled around the area. Only the sound of wind blowing could be heard. 

"She left." Rio broke the silence after a few minutes. "I didn't sense her aura when she trapped us but I started sensing it after that. Currently, she is not present anywhere in the mansion.

"Well, it looks like she left us with a parting gift." Lex pointed at the spot where Rio had used her attack.

A plain white letter was placed on the ground in the spot where the woman's body had turned into water.

With wary eyes, Rio picked up the letter and opened it.

"To you, Rio. Mr Allen has decided that it's time for you to return to him. You have a month to make your decision or you and your mansion will be eradicated from the face of Gaia.

You have you to arrive at Mr. Allen's residence alongside the man called Lex. Mr. Allen sends you his regards. Yours truly, Mahiru."

Rio crumpled the letter in anger before destroying it with her lightning. Sparks of lightning ran wild around her body, highlighting her anger.

"Sorry, you have to go through all this… you are bleeding!"

"Huh?"

Lex felt something trickle down his nose. Lifting his fingers to his face, Lex touched his own blood leaking out of his nostrils.

Rio immediately appeared at his side and put her hand inside his pocket. She took out a red pill and put it inside Lex's mouth.

The latter swallowed the pill and felt his blood flow stabilizing. Lex's eyes became more focused as he saw the worry on Rio's face.

"It's just some nosebleed. Nothing to worry about." Lex reassured with a smile.

"It is something to worry about! What if you couldn't break free of the water prison?" Rio demanded.

"Well, I was about to almost die. I wasn't able to breathe and…" Lex trailed off when he saw the expression on Rio's face.

"You could have died," Rio said grimly.

"No, I wouldn't have died! I said I almost died. I just struggled and I—"

An unexpected event suddenly cut off Lex. His eyes widened slightly when he realized what was happening.

Rio had pressed her lips on his to shut him up for good. Currently, the two of them were kissing.

'Feels nice…'

Lex could feel the softness of Rio's rosy red lips over his. His hands automatically reached out for the back of her head, pulling her close to him.

Their bodies came in contact as Rio's bust clashed against Lex's chest. Lex and Rio stared into each other's eyes, a spark crossing between them.

The duo stayed in this position for a minute before Rio stopped back.

"You are not allowed to die in front of me. Do you understand?" Rio asked in a demanding voice.

"I understand," Lex replied sincerely.

"Good. Let's continue then."

Rio grabbed Lex's hand and began to run towards the mansion, soon disappearing inside its doors.

***

"They were stronger than I imagined. Rio still has a lot of strength and that man's ability was different than what the twins described…"

Standing a few mansions away was Mahiru, the blue-haired woman.

Her shoulders showed a couple of cuts caused by Lex using her own attack against her. Her other hand was slightly burned due to Rio's disintegration attack.

If not for Mahiru's prior knowledge of Rio's attack style, she would have suffered major damage.

Due to her knowledge, she could switch herself with a clone and escape.

Her mission was to deliver the letter to Rio and come back. Mahiru didn't understand why Allen bothered to give Rio so many chances.

He willingly wanted her to come to his residence and submit herself to him. Mahiru had no ideas how things like this worked.

All she knew was to follow orders and carry them out without failure. That was how she survived till then.

"That man possess an ungradable ability as well. The aura he gave was faint but he can definitely use one ability." Mahiru muttered to herself. "He will be a big threat in the future."

Once again, Mahiru didn't understand why her boss wanted Lex to come alongside Rio. According to her, killing both of them was the best option.

"He was able to use his ability to take control of my water sphere and use it according to his wish. If he is trained properly, especially by someone with Rio's caliber, he will become a powerhouse."

Mahiru's observation skill was well developed and she knew that Lex possessed the power to become insanely strong in the future.

"Unfortunately, I have to follow my orders." Mahiru sighed.

She had no choice except hearing Allen's orders and carrying them out

After analyzing her recent fight and the damage caused one last time, Mahiru decided to leave the place. She needed to report back to Allen about everything that happened.

However, one thought that was unrelated to her mission kept on bugging her.

"Why did Lex look familiar…"