Seraphina commanded my body to close in on Artoria, slashing outwards while moving, creating multiple pendulums of pure light to come crashing down on Artoria and the walls behind her. The surrounding walls' edges crumbled slightly, activating the air anti-defenses on top of the walls, aiming their sight on me, letting fly thousands of rope arrows.
In one fluid motion, Seraphina cleaved through the army of arrows, severing their rope and pushing Artoria back directly above the city. Artoria had no way of slowing Seraphina's relentless assault; she fought like a serene dancer, twirling throughout the air, every move carrying the weight of ten men.
While Artoria had no way of counterattacking, no opportunities were in Seraphia's movements. She certainly wasn't outclassed, able to keep up with every single attack, blocking and parrying without much issue.
Each strike of either weapon created a howling storm to blow over the city, the clouds above darkening under the immense aura emanating from both of us.
Many people below had finally begun to show themselves curious about the raging battle above, crowds gathering all over Grandheart. Artoria noticed this but still continued fighting, there being no other way to redirect Seraphina's movements without applying equal power, which would most definitely mean the destruction of half the city.
Something she wouldn't allow to happen from my eyes, it looked as if Artoria was prioritizing protecting the city and taking Seraphina's blow, shielding them from the thunderous impact that would come if she blocked or parried.
Seraphina must have known this if I could notice, but she didn't seem to care, only increasing the power of each strike, discarding public safety, trying to push Artoria into unleashing her power so she could end the fight in a single strike once she created an opening.
Slashing upwards with Helios, impacting with Artoria's blade, Seraphina used the momentum to launch backwards, putting distance between the two, judging the clash of blades to be useless in achieving victory swiftly.
"How can you fly without wings? And how do you possess such strength now? I didn't sense an inkling of real power within you before I severed your lungs."
I hadn't noticed since now, but I was currently hovering in the air. I was forced by the raging battle between Seraphina and Artoria. Only Seraphina knew the answer to her question, but I severely doubt she would actually answer it.
"I have no need for wings; they are useless, only an inconvenience; they are just symbols of borrowed divinity. Not something I would ever need. Artoria, your strength isn't something I can match at this moment in hand-to-hand combat, so I'll try something else."
I could feel my lips upturning into a twisted grin. Seraphina's plan would be anything but good, most likely leading to the devastation of Grandheart. But I had hoped that Artoria would be able to stop whatever she was about to do; the last thing I wanted was to become a mass murderer just because Seraphina lost sight of her surroundings.
Although I didn't have much faith that Seraphina would care, even if she noticed the thousands of people watching below. Her opinion on angels stuck with my mind; she hated their weakness and incompetence. I doubt she would show mercy to them.
"Dominion of Conquest, I don't doubt you'll be able to stop this, but can you prevent the ruin of Grandheart, I wonder? Converging Ray of Annihilation, Helios, Shatter and Explode."
Seraphina aimed her scythe's blade directly at Artoria. The scythe began to separate into thousands of small slivers of light, spreading throughout their surroundings until my hands were empty.
The thousands of pieces of light twinkled in the air, activating their destruction. Thousands of beams of light closed in on Artoria, converging into one point before exploding, creating a blinding collection of light rapidly expanding, aiming to swallow the whole city, annihilating everything in its path.
But its path was impeded by Artoria, a forcefield of dark matter enclosing the blast in its confines, not allowing it to escape, and containing the blast, ensuring the people's safety.
"Edict of Space, Nyx's Embrace!"
The force field of dark matter gradually shrank until it disappeared completely, leaving the city below unscathed, swallowing the blast whole. I once again felt Seraphina smile through my body, a feeling of pride overcoming my mind.
"Very good…"