"Time the moment that your comrades pulls back a little and you shoot your spell with me!" Eugene commands to the pink haired mage, and she nods in agreement. The Sage's apprentice then shows his talent when he cast a dome of magic circles when Mayuri disengage from trying to slash out Conquer. Veronica decides to concentrate her magic into a single spell circle, amplifying it into the maximum energy that she can muster.
"Not enough!! I need to deal with this monster with everything that I got!!" Veronica thinks as she grits her teeth and her friend Rinko sees the determination in her eyes. "Great! I hope War Cry does make her determined to fight!" Rinko remarks to herself as she also joins the fight.
Eugene unleashes the spells her conjure up surrounding Conquer. It actually hit and this time, even the Skeletal Herald have feel the effect of the attack. It halts his movement as his whole body is frozen in ice. Veronica then aims her staff and screams out.
"Infernal Embrace!!"
And it scorches Conquer in a torrent of flames. Mayuri notice how the flames have change color, and Eugene explains why. "The Frozen Chain and Infernal Embrace are both spells that actually bind. The flames that she can release are a kind of binding spell, not just a powerful fire spell. Since both are the same in nature, it combines and the effects are at the level that even such being as he is can't resist it."
Just as Eugene finish his explanation the powerful foe flexes his might as he moves from the combination spell and he swing his sword so forcefully that it makes the group brace themselves. Rinko is able to withstand the said swing as she powers through. The swing sent Veronica outside the cavern as Faffy have catch her while Eugene makes a quick Ice Shield in front of himself as he grabs Mayuri in the protection.
"Are you okay instructor? You're not hurt or anything?" Eugene worriedly ask Mayuri, making her blush but shakes her head to keep it intact. "Yes I'm fine. It will take too many years for you to be worrying about me." She jokingly says as she flicks his forehead, but she hides her happiness as she remember something. "Oh please..."
But the moment ends when, instead of focusing on fighting the ground opponents, Conquer zip through outside as he focuses on fighting Faffy. "I am really pissed off now! I'll end you first!" Conquer says in a wild manner. The group have guess that he is losing it as he can't seem to take down the group while he is already at full power.
Faffy drops his master as he flaps and attempts to spin in order to hit Conquer with its tail, only for the Herald to jump through and run through his tail and attempts to stab his side. The sword that Conquer uses is not an ordinary sword in any means, and it manage to stab through Faffy's thick hide.
"Faffy!!" Veronica screams out as she attempts to shoot down the Skeletal Herald off of her pet dragon, but he is just parrying and swatting her fireballs out. "You're out of your depth!!" Conquer shouts as he then goes and tries to jump and slice the crimson dragon's eyes out. Faffy raises his mouth instead and is able to dodge the attack.
Conquer is now falling, and Faffy bites his right leg and throws it back to the ground.
The two are actually high above the air as Faffy throws Conquer back to earth. The landing is so wicked that it creates a crater and a rumble to the ground. Faffy then flies up and swiftly flies down while firing his Dragon's Breath to burn Conquer off.
Conquer then stands up and raises his sword. With a single swipe again he is able to slice off Faffy's attack and his mouth. It shuts the dragon up and it whimper in pain as it falls to the ground.
"Faffy!! No!!" Veronica screams as she loads off her spell again and this time, Eugene have a plan. "Okay! I know you are exhausting your Mana out!" He remarks as it makes Mayuri's brow raise in question. "Isn't it too obvious?" She thinks as she prepares to catch Conquer off guard and stab his bony torso and knock him out. With a swift step, she closes the gap and she also see Rinko doing the same as her.
"Want to combine our attacks?" Mayuri ask Rinko, with the timid shield maiden nods in agreement. Rinko goes in to position herself at the back of the opponent, Conquer's attention goes to her as the Herald doesn't notice that Mayuri dashes to kick his legs out. As Conquer's right leg is barely functioning as Faffy's bite into it, she manage to catch him off balance, then she kick the demon upward.
Rinko then follows as she jumps and bash Conquer upward through the air. She lands as she prepares her bent shield to become Mayuri's platform. "Multiple Shield Barrier!" Rinko commands as the green haired Rogue jumps high in the air and slices Conquer's back off, then the demon skeleton blocks her second dagger stab and attempts to spin slash to retaliate.
Several spectral like shield appears surrounding the two. Conquer doesn't understand what is the meaning of this whole charade, only for Mayuri to shout her trump card.
"Finishing Move!!"
Then soon she begins moving into the spectral shield and lands with a renewed momentum. She darts across Conquer as she lands on the next spectral shield and she is blitzing her blade onto the skeletal Herald. Conquer couldn't cope with the speed as he thought the spinning slash is enough to deter the attacks, only for him to be filled in with slashes and stabs. The whole sequence ends as Rinko slumps to the ground while Mayuri gracefully lands next to her while Conquer falls down to the ground, steaming and his armor is broken.
"Didn't expect for you lot to have remaining spunk in you... I have taken you all lightly." Conquer mutters as Faffy fires a powerful fireball on his way, and it makes him swing his sword again towards him, only for the spell to be cut but not the dragon.
"Looks like you're on you last legs huh." Mayuri states as a remark on the state Conwuer in and a pun about his legs, which are now too damaged to be relied upon.
The crimson dragon then unleashes a small fire for Veronica to handle. The dragon then run his face into his master's body as it closes its eyes and rest. Veronica caresses his face as she put the fire in her staff.
"Eugene! Do you have another combination spell for me?!" The pink haired mage ask as Eugene cast a spell circle on his hands and a icy sword forms in it.
"Put the dragon's flame here." Eugene commands as Veronica closes her eyes and imbue the flame that Faffy release into the Frost Sword. "This is the sword that my Master laughs about. She calls it crude and a failure... But I am not buying it!" Eugene expresses his anger for a moment as he fixes it when Veronica looks at him. "Well Masters are like that." Eugene says as he faces forward to the enemy.
"Instructor!! Catch!" Eugene then throws the blue glowing Frost Sword to Mayuri, who's able to catch it and she turns to see Conquer charging up his devastating sword.
"This is the Demon King's true expression... Tyranny Embodiment! Here me my master! Grant me one last strength!" Conquer'e words seems to be a prayer and a decoration mold into one. Eugene and Veronica stands beside Mayuri in order to boost their Frost Sword with all of their Mana that they can imbue into it. Within moments they slump into exhaustion, panting heavily as Rinko and Mayuri stands infront of a truly formidable foe.
Conquer then swiftly swings his sword towards Mayuri. The green haired Rogue answers in kind as she swings her sword upward to unleash the magic inside the Frost Sword. The two opposing force clashes. The violence of the clash is so great that Rinko opts to stand behind Mayuri.
"One more time!" Conquer shouts as he swings his sword again. This time Mayuri time it more faster than him as her magic sword beam is much more closer to Conquer this time. The intensity is the same, but Mayuri plans for a different attack, and this time she leans to Rinko.
"Can you withstand the next attack Rinko? I want you to block it instead." Mayuri ask of her friend, who cast another War Cry for herself. "Yes! As long as you get the job done!!" She fully confident to answer Mayuri's call, the Vice Leader's call. The two nod at each other as the beam clash ends. Conquer swings his sword again, but this time Mayuri moves to the side in a moment before the force of his sword connects. Rinko catches the attack and she runs through the side.
She doesn't shout or wait for anything. She pulls all of her strength to dash through the distance and she manage to be inside Conquer's range. The skeletal Herald tries to get to his stance again to intercept Mayuri, but it is too late.
"Let's end this now then." Mayuri says as she slice the upper torso off diagonally upward in a low stance, she then follows it with a vertical slash, splitting the demon skeleton in two.
"Target eliminated."
Upon saying that, Mayuri loosen her grip to the Frost Sword that it falls right under her. She also fall face first into the ground as Conquer's body is split in two and the surrounding forest are burning in blue flames.
"We did it... We really did." Rinko says but she also know her strength are at its limits. She tries to fight her slumping to the ground, only for her to just go with the flow.
Meanwhile...
Gran and Soli doesn't need any words to communicate the emotions swirling up in that moment. The sky begins to darken as the afternoon sets in. Sylvia raises her sword as Van and Gina are preparing to take Soli off as well. "Looks like I'm at the disadvantage Gran. Master would prefer fairness above all." Soli remarks as he looks around and the emotions everybody shares are too intense.
"Tch, you... Never insult Master's words like that." Gran quietly says as he calculate the Flow near him and he fill his body with it. With a falling sand nearby, the whole group doesn't move. And when the final grain touches the ground, their feet creates a crater afoot.
The Holy Knight, Valkyrie Leader and the Sword Saint attacks the monster first. He then snaps his finger and Harker appears to block their attack. Soli is distracted, making Gran have the first move as he punch him square right in the jaw with a straight punch. He follows with a quick chest hit, yet Soli catches his left arm and he grab Gran's face.
"You know Deconstruction right?" Soli ask as he prepares to unleash it on his face, but Gran stabs the dagger on his gut and announce. "Yeah, chatty monster. Repel Blast" The Repel Blast sends Soli flying as his Deconstruction fails to activate in time. Gran then follows up as he is still flying. He grab his Flow attuned dagger and he jumps and throws it straight to Soli again.
"Compression."
As he cast Compression, Soli stops flying as he goes toward the dagger and Gran doesn't wait for anything else as he is in a perfect distance to not harm himself. "Hah! How predictable!!" Soli mocks the Exorcist as he fills himself with Dimensional Flow to block the Dimensional Boom.
"And you are stupid to think I'd do the same trick before." Gran counter reacts as he is drag out with the strengthening Compression as he uppercut Soli's back and punt kick him so hard that it removes the monster from being trapped in the Compression itself. Soli then uses the wind and his Dimensional Flow to stop the momentum of his flight as he lands in a tree.
"I commend the subversion! Here's the reward!" Soli says as he touches the said tree and it grows many branches and tendril like attack. Gran weaves, jumps and run through the branches like a trained balancer. He then able to close the distance, but he uses Repel to distance himself since he feels that Soli surround himself with Flow, meaning he is using something to protect himself.
"He master Deconstruction in such degree that he can use it as an armor now? This is a tricky thing I need to work around." Gran thinks but he gets distracted. A monster from earlier just jets out of the woodwork as it goes back to the destroyed Vulcana.
As Gran focuses on looking at the speeding Amun returning to the battlefield, Soli then tries to deck the Exorcist with a combination of hook to the jaw and a kick to the knee.
Gran poses to intercept the first attack as he move his right knee and he counters with a quick livershot. The attack connects as Gran sidesteps to the left to send a follow up. He then tries to hit Soli's jaw as well, yet the monster tilt his head and he answers with positioning himself as he prepares to unleash a clean right elbow to the gut.
Gran blocks this, but the impact is somehow going beyond his expectation as he still feels the impact. Soli then stomp his lead foot, the right, as he creates several earth spires that makes a distance between him and the Exorcist. The Monster then follows up with several wind blades as he also points and the moist and water within Gran are molding itself together as he is seeing little sharp water trying to hit his temple and face.
Gran is able to jumpback the earth spire, ducks and weave the wind blades as he also engage his Repel Skin in order to protect his face from the incoming surgical moist strikes. Soli then holds a particle on his hands, something that Gran recognizes. "Damn, even a Quasi Antimatter like that can kill anyone that it touches! You're mastery is scary indeed Soli!" Gran thinks as he raises his hand.
He put his left hand below his right. He then take the put his left index and middle finger down while his right index and middle finger up. Gran then chants the necessary words to properly anchor his concentration just as the Flow attuned pendant and dagger are glowing. Soli recognizes this handsign as he starts to see that the reality within Gran is starting to distort.
"In order to properly use his Time Stop without it breaking apart with any phenomena, he is preparing a chant and concentration within. But the two artifacts he have... Clever." Soli remarks silently as he throws his colorful particles that almost crush Trismegistus' barriers in one go. The surrounding becomes suddenly dark as anything is now under the Stillness of World.
"The Stillness of this World."
As this engages, Gran wastes no time as he runs through the darkness and dodge the stopped Quasi Antimatter. He then coats his limbs with his Barrier as he goes to unleash a flurry of hits against Soli. "I am right! His Deconstruction is still active! If I throw the dagger there it would be too late!" He remarks as he smacks, guts, uppercut and end the couple of dozens of hit with a roundhouse to hook kick.
"And the world goes on."
And in a flash the world's color returns to normal. Soli flies into the sea of forest again as his hits registers and it devastate Soli's whole body. Every hit is an equivalent of a mace, and the kick hits like a battering ram. As Soli founds himself hanging on a tree, laughing, Gran looks back at his comrades as he is worrying thatAmun might harm them.
Soli chuckles as he goes down from the said tree and looks at the Exorcist worrying about his friends. Gran then shift his gaze back at Soli, having his thoughts in a haywire as he likes to help Gina but this monster is getting on his way.
"You see this fight is just a preliminary Gran! Meet me at Aluteria, at the Mayor's Mansion. I'll wait for you there." Soli then snaps his fingers and he disappear. Gran's blood is still boiling, but he is keeping it in check as he have to value the lives of others. "I never wanted to see you anyway." Gran replies as he runs back to the destroyed city of Vulcana.
As soon as Amun goes back to the battlefield, Van manage to pindown and stab Harker's forehead with his shorter blade. Amun angrily roars as he gestures that he is wanting to fight. Gina and Sylvia sees the now hulking demon standing in the middle of Vulcana, and they brandishes their weapons to fight once again.
"I'll make sure this fight will be something memorable." Gina tries to banter with her rival, only to be meet with silence and the cold clanging of her steely longsword. She takes a stance as she dashes through and she swings her sword vertically. Gina follows suit with a stab to the right thigh. Amun tanks these attacks as he unleashes a punch that is so telegraph, the two lady fighters didn't even need to dodge as they both duck it and follows up with an attack.
Gina then pull her spear out and she follows with a stab in the neck. Sylvia goes to his right side to slash the monster in half. Both doesn't go through as Amun starts to harden all of a sudden. "You are fools!" Amun says as his body begins to sprout sands as the two jumps out and they see him transform into sand and collapses. Gina and Sylvia becomes wary, they can feel the presence of Amun that are surrounding them as Van have already deduce where he is.
"Sylvia! Gina! Get out of there! Get out of anything sand related!" The Sword Saint warns the two warriors as they feel that a sandy hand holds there feet and when they try to let it loose, it hardens like a cement. The next thing they see is that the sand have grab their faces as Amun splits up and tries to choke them both. They tries to fight and swing at the sandy opponent, yet it just continues to strangle them both.
"Why I can't fight it?!" Gina ask herself as Sylvia are also struggling. Van fills his ebony sword with Mana and in a swift motion, he surgically slices the sand that is strangling Sylvia. A dagger fly off and hits the sand that strangles Gina. The Compression fron the dagger is so controlled that it only removes the sand off. "Phew, manage to make it in time then!" Gran proudly says as he snatch Gina away.
Gran check if his girl is okay. She catch her breath as Gran silently check where the Mummy Herald could appear, as it begins to re assemble above them.
"You sure are stubborn to deal with huh." Van remarks as he looks at Gran and the Exorcist is able to get what the Sword Saint is planning to do. Van's right hand swirls with black energy that it surrounds the blade and it transform into a two handed sword.
Gran then throws his dagger to Amun, the demonic herald swat it out with his left hand. Gran then engages the Compression right there and then. Amun tries to fight it with putting a bunch of sand as an armor while it being absorbed by the swirling wrtificial gravity well. Van jumps as he uses his speed to close the distance between himself, the air and Amun.
The Sword Saint tilt his blade sideways a little. He then quickly raises his sword and he mutters.
"Finishing Move."
The finishing move is not a flashy attack or a devastating strike. Van wants to show the Exorcist that his move of splashing Mana filled attack wasn't his true power, this slash is. This Finishing Move makes Gran calculate how fast it is. It makes him cover his mouth as he just witness the true lightspeed attack, so fast that it burn the sleeves out of Van's black coat. The Sword Saint lands in a sandy ground, standing as he just executes somebody with his true Finishing Move.
"That slash will render his existence null." Van states as Amun falls to the ground, split in two and he can't recover nor regenerate.
"Truly terrifying you are. You're worthy of the title Sword Saint." Gran remarks as his dagger falls to the ground, next to Van.