Y/N POV
"Hey! Stop running! We already caught you, so you running would only make matters worse!"
I yelled at the refugee thief who tried to get away from our clutches, who's also our target in the first place.
The target in question is Reize, an oni that escaped the eradication upon their tribe around 14 years ago. Another coincidence, is it not? I've had my suspicions again on who it was, since the Witch Cult decided to go full-crazy around 14 years ago, setting off bombs basically everywhere around the world.
And even Cappy, who has now joined our side, did not know any further plans than what she was told to do. And in this case, she kinda... helped eradicate the onis?
If I recall correctly, Capella dripped some kinda substance into Reize's ear, which was a fusion of her Dragon's Blood and some kind of catalyst that Pandora gave her. Using her Dragon's Blood as the base, I was quickly able to track the thief who was within the area of Zarestia's Bed, or more specifically, the southern forest next to it.
And now we're chasing the runaway, who is running quite eagerly and escaping many of our techniques with ease. I see that the oni tribe is really physically advanced in terms of genes, or they're just great escapees. Wait, no. Reize also has Zarestia's Light Sphere, maybe that's why it's giving her boosts. She's basically jumping with boosts mid-air at this point.
You know what... time to go full power just for a little bit.
"Al Akra!" I yelled as the Yang Magic flooded through my body, and enhanced every single one of my physical capabilities. I chased after her in her direction, and as soon as I entered the vicinity of where she should be, an immense bloodlust suddenly emerged from behind me and swatted me into the ground.
What the hell? First Zarestia, and now an oni with parts of that monster's power?
I turned and faced the oni who stood in the trees, glaring at me menacingly. I need to shoot a flare to tell the other where I am-
Before I could finish that thought or relay to Echidna, she dashed towards me and punched me with enough force to completely demolish a wall. If not for my quick activation of Prudence's Barrier, I might've had another hole in my stomach.
Jumping back, I activated my Extensions and covered the area in my Dominator's Domain, unleashing my bloodlust to combat her own. This is going to be such a hard fight...
More blades of wind came towards me, and I spotted a miniature tornado coming my way. "Ul Vita!" I yelled as I increased the gravity on all the wind blades and the tornado, slowing them down before I cut through them using the Spirit Sword. Next, I swung Inen and bisected the tornado in half.
When the winds died down, I couldn't see the onis anymore, and instead, a enraged Zarestia came into view and punched me into a tree, followed by more blades of wind that severed everything in her way.
I rolled out of the range of the wind blades, and faced Zarestia in confusion. "Hey, Tia! Didn't we come to an agreement? Why are you attacking me now?"
Zarestia did not respond, and instead slashed through the air once again, forcing me to dodge. Annoyed at her behaviour, I decided to use all my power to fight. "Zeam!" I yelled, and caught the sword between my teeth.
"Santoryu- Original."
"Triangulum Crucifixium."
A series of nine slashes soared towards Zarestia, bound by souls, shadows, and spirits. In response to my attack, she unleashed a typhoon wave upon the slashes, but it did nothing to my slashes. They soared through and reached their target, successfully injuring her. However, the result was different from what I expected, and Zarestia... started melting.
Her skin kinda just dripped off her, and they came off as if a layer of molten rubber. Taking a closer look now that she fell to the ground, I recognized the inner person as the oni who has been chasing me earlier.
What the hell? Why does Zarestia's Light Sphere give the ability to shapeshift? This isn't what I remember!
Snarling, the oni leapt at me again with her claws outstretched. Seeing that I dodged her swipes, she decided to headbutt me with her sharp horns, which I narrowly avoided after activating Akra.
"Hey! I just want to talk! Also, you were the one that stole the Light Sphere, not me, and I'm just trying to work out a peaceful solution."
"You..." the oni spoke for the first time. "...are in no position to speak, damned Witch Cultist!"
Witch Cultist? Is it because she can smell the miasma from my Witch Factors? I thought only Rem and Omega could-
Before I could finish the thought, the oni punched me in my stomach with an accelerated dash through wind magic, sending through a few trees before I came to a stop.
"Ow..." I stood up slowly, and recovered my swords. "Can we just stop and talk about this?"
I said it in the most polite way possible, that it almost made me look like I'm trying to use the Eloquence skill that I definitely do not possess. My efforts were in vain when the oni continued to advance, and I sighed as I began to ready myself for a fight.
Just in that moment, and Al Jiwald shot down, and obliterated a few trees before the oni was forced to block it with a wind barrier. However, she did not predict a single laser of black flame was aiming for her too from the back, and was struck before she blew it away.
Capella and Sphinx landed beside me, and the oni flared once again, this time with even more rage.
"Can't beat me in a fight alone so you bring your comrades now? What a coward, you scum." The oni scoffed, while I deadpanned. If I went all out, this forest and you would be gone and I definitely did not want that.
"Don't insult him, oni. If anything, you're the coward for stealing a Great Spirit's power." Sphinx said, and Capella nodded in agreement.
"Back away, Witch Cultists!" Reize snarled once again, brandishing two wind blades in her hands this time.
"Hey, calm down, okay? We're not Witch Cultists, we just happened to have a few of their former members, okay?" I waved my hands in surrender, but she didn't seem to listen to my reasoning.
"Then how do you explain the thick miasma upon you guys? Especially you, and that girl over there!" She pointed to me and Capella. "You two have the smell of a Sin Archbishop!"
"I have a Witch Factor, yes, but having a miasma does not mean-"
"Stop trying to twist my words, Witch Cultist. Your kind is nothing but despicable trash, and I swear upon my legacy that I'll eradicate you! I, Reize, the sole survivor of the Oni Tribe!"
I was about to continue reasoning with her, seeing she's probably a distant relative of Rem and Ram, but surprisingly, Capella stepped forward.
"I do not care if you insult me or anything, since I did have my fair share of sins committed. That's why I'm trying to right those wrongs now. However, insulting the one who saved me from that darkness is something that I will definitely take offence for, so retract your words."
"Retract my words? Looking at you, becoming all worked up! What were you guys thinking when you wiped us out, huh? I, Reize, would cut you down right now!"
"I hope you would see reason, you know? Because this lady here is the Chimera of the Liberator's Battalion, Mother of the Assassination Organization, and former Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing Lust. My name is Capella Emerada Lugnica. Remember it well."
"Sin Archbishop of Lust... so it was you. You! Who burned my village and poured that disgusting substance in me! How nice for my target to walk straight into the path of my vengeance."
"Wait." I turned to Capella. "You were the one who destroyed her home?"
"No-yes. It was Pandora's orders. I didn't know what her motives were, but I just went ahead and did it. I'm not exactly proud of it, though. I suppose I am sorry for my past misdeeds, oni named Reize."
"Do you think you can honestly get away with that flimsy apology? I-"
Before Reize could finish her sentence, a blade of wind sliced past her, grazing her cheek. Sphinx had her hand out, indicating that she fired the spell. "Capella-chan tried really hard on her apology, so don't you dare disregard her effort."
"Tried? Don't think you can fool me with those words. She's just trying to protect the coward over there-"
And once again, Reize got cut off by a spear that Capella formed as it got embedded into the tree next to her. "You've gone too far, oni girl. Don't think that because you have a Great Spirit's power, you can say whatever you want. Crossing the line in front of me means that I will plummet you into the ground."
With that, Capella shot forward at a speed that could rival my Ul Akra, and split her body into 10 parts as each of them started transforming rapidly into one animal then into an another. "Witness the result of my evolution, Reize. Chimera Clones: Explosive Change!"
The ten parts split up into different directions and started attacking Reize at blinding speeds. One of them was a lion that bit onto Reize's wind sword, and when it got slashed, it turned into a snake that wrapped around the sword with such force that it broke.
"Now do you see the difference in power, you overconfident insolent fool?" Capella snarled as she transformed her hand into a dragon's claw, and punched forward, smashing Reize into the ground.
"Disgusting Archbishop...! Why don't you just disappear!?" Reize yelled in anger, and dashed forward to match Capella's blows, who was now in her dragonoid form. The two women started throwing everything they have at each other, and eventually a typhoon formed through their clashes as the wind continued to pick up.
I shielded Sphinx and myself from the collateral damage, forming a wall of reinforced glass. Eventually, Capella transformed into her full dragon form, and shot her strongest dragon breath full of black flames towards Reize, who counterattacked by unleashing a whirlwind.
The blow from both attacks resulted in a large firestorm, and exploded, demolishing all the surrounding trees and plants. When the dust settles, Reize was on the ground, clutching her arm. She was clearly exhausted at this point, despite having Zarestia's powers. Of course, nobody can fully defeat Capella, a near-immortal being that will not be fatigued through battle alone.
This was when a tiny white ball dropped from Reize's sleeve, and I knew exactly what it was as it radiated the power of the Great Spirit of Wind.
"The Light Sphere!" I shouted as I threw my extension towards the ball that rolled onto the ground in front of the exhausted oni, who also reached out to grab the power she stole.
However, in that instant, an even more dangerous force descended upon us, slicing my Extension to pieces and bisecting Reize's arm, who howled in pain.
Zarestia, wearing her white garments, picked up the sphere as it got absorbed by her powers, and fused into her body as an immense wave of bloodlust that could kill a frail man in a second.
"Oh no... this is really not good..."
"Die." A single word was uttered out of Zarestia's mouth, and a giant blade of wind swarmed towards Reize, who looked in despair as I tried to move, but was too slow compared to the wind blade.
A large creature slammed into the source of the wind blade as it protected Reize, completely nullifying the wind strike. When the dust cleared, I saw Capella detransforming from a Wagpig, a mabeast with insanely durable back skin.
"Why...?" Reize looked at Capella in shock, the person she was just trying to annihilate.
"First of all, Y/N would be not really happy if I just stood by and let somebody I could save die. And arguably, you haven't done anything wrong. You just wanted to take the revenge you were supposed to have, and you went to such extremities to obtain your goal. I respect that. Not saving someone like that is a waste, you know?"
Capella said as she braced for a second wave of wind blades, but I stepped forth and blocked them all with Prudence's Barrier.
"I'll take care of things from now on. Capella, take Reize away to a safe place, and heal her arm. Sphinx, go with Capella back to Omega and relay the current situation to them." I said and they nodded, before leaving the battlefield.
"Now... Tia, it doesn't seem like you can hear me, but I'm just going to say this: I will liberate you from that cursed pain that fate has ordered upon you."
Unsheathing all three of my swords, I filled each one with mana. My three spirits, Alchemis, Cahya, and Bayanga materialized, each covered in a thick layer of mana. Valgren flew down and landed on my head, ready for a fight.
Brimming with mana, I took a single step forwards and readied my stance. "Now, let's try out that proposed theory of mine."
Valgren and the three spirits nodded as I linked my thoughts with the hydra and my spirits.
The Elder Spirit of Fire.
The Great Spirit of Yang.
The Great Spirit of Yin.
The Black Dragon, the Last Hydra.
Set your heart ablaze.
Fill yourself with light.
Let the darkness flow through you.
"Trinity Magic, Pinnacle Form:"
Facing the roaring wind that symbolizes certain death and the Great Spirit of Murder, I announced the words that marked my ascension to the next stage.
"Spiritual Assimilation: Full Spirit Dive."