Y/N POV
Spirit Dive was a move that was inspired from a certain anime from my world.
The people of this world never thought of fusing themselves with their spirits, but why shouldn't I?
It's a technique that draws the limits of one's power, alongside their contracted. In a way, it's the best possible way to fight for a spirit user. However, one must be able to take the burden of fusing with one. Since spirits are pure mana, they turn your body temporarily into pure mana as well.
That's what's happening to me. Although I can still heal myself using Capella's Dragon Blood and my Authority, my cells turns directly into mana. It seems that E=mc^2 was true: The conversion between matter and energy is possible, it's just a matter of achieving that state. Thank you, Einstein.
So technically, I'm nature itself right now. Cutting through me would only result in myself regenrating back without help. As long as Od Laguna exists, I will not die in this form.
The transformation has greatly affected me and my spirits as well. A crown of fire appeared above my head, and my left side is brimming with light while my right side was completely filled with darkness. Valgren's three heads are now also filled with the three elements, while my Great Spirits have entered my body, fusing together with mine as one.
A gale blade severed my right arm, but it floated their before the darkness connected back with its other piece.
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Right now, I am invincible.
"Great Spirit of Wind, Zarestia, it's time for you to CALM DOWN!"
Fire mana entered through Zeam and I can feel the blade burning. Taking it out from my mouth, I allowed my Extensions to grab the hilt, and unleashed a giant wave of flames towards the incoming typhoon currents. "Helios's Descent." The fire and wind clashed in the sky, resulting in a huge firestorm that exploded in the sky, showering fire all over the forest. Quickly extinguishing them with my Periodic Manipulation, I readied my other two swords.
Taking up Inen and Ryokyo, filled with Yin and Yang mana from my Great Spirits, I dashed into the sky to trade blows with Zarestia, who formed a blade out of pure wind as well. I'm only fighting right now because Zarestia has entered her massacre state, and unless she is defeated in battle, she will raze her surroundings bare.
"Nitoryu Sword Skill- The Eclipse."
Unleashing the flurry of 27 slashes from the technique, I dispersed gale after gale, until I was suddenly swept up by a gust that lifted me up into the air, but I didn't mind. Valgren, whose heads and body are also filled with spiritual energy, transformed into a larger state as he grabbed onto my shoulder while preparing for his special attack.
Twisting his three heads together due to their flexibility, Valgren formed a machine gun of sorts, and opened their maws.
While we dived towards Zarestia, Valgren started spinning mid-air as his heads shot out lasers of fire, yang, and yin magic, bombarding the Great Spirit who defended herself using more wind barriers that she used to protect herself last time. It warded off my spells last time completely, but this time it's different!
Raising my three swords in conjunction as I lifted Zeam back into my mouth and Valgren attached himself to my head before he unwinded his heads, and readied himself for his second blast of magic. Twisting my body as I raised my three swords, and along with Valgren unleashing his blast, I unleashed the blow that would've been able to counter Reinhard's swordsplay.
"Spirit Dive- Full: Centauri System."
The three suns that represented a far away 'solar system' that were the nearest stars to our own back on Earth. Alpha, Beta, and Proxima Centauri.
May my blow strike as clear as your light shines.
"ENDLESS SKIES!"
A large circular axis spread across the air, forming from the slash and the lasers from our attack. Zarestia seemed to have suffered direct and major damage from my wide-scale attack, but she showed signs of persistence still.
It seems that even Endless Skies could not fully bring down a Great Spirit. Then again, she's the eldest of them all, and a sentient one at that. This is almost equivalent to taking on Reinhard, in a sense, now that she has her Light Sphere back and her power is literally at her peak.
"Well, let's try our second approach-"
BADUM
?
"What just...?"
I suddenly noticed that the mana around me has been exhausted, including my own. Now, without anything to keep me afloat, I fell towards the ground at an alarming rate. With Akra deactivated, my lack of stamina returned to me and I couldn't even bring enough strength to summon the White Whale's Flying Seal.
Valgren was exhausted as well, and his wings couldn't beat as he crumpled up into a ball, and I caught him before shielding him with my body. Zarestia took this opportunity to chase us down as I fell, making the situation even more desperate.
I experienced many times, and I think everyone might've had a similar feeling. Falling down from a high place, is a common dream for people when they're growing in height. However, the only difference was that this was real life, and I will literally me crushed when I hit the ground, and not wake up. With my enemy at half-strength and still chasing me down, I felt very desperate.
And desperate people are rewarded.
I was stopped by my teammate's own Wind Magic, and Palmyra smiled as she slowly levitated me to the ground. "Hey! Y/N! Thank you for the training! As you can see, I can do these cool stuff now!"
Then, I was caught by a large beast, who smiled down at me before laying me down on the grass. Detransforming herself, Colette rushed over and gave me a hug. "Y/N-san, you've done enough. Let us aid you in this fight."
"But you guys can't win against that-" I began to argue, but Sphinx put a hand over my mouth.
"This is why you gathered us in the first place, is it not? No one can win a battle truly alone, and you're not alone anymore. You have us, and it's our duty to support the one who promised to carry on our dreams, is it not?"
"Sphinx is right. I believed that you will lead us to a better future, and that belief will never change." Yae stated as she put a hand on my shoulder. Stepping forward as they unsheathed their weapons, my teammates covered me as I gave a slight smile. Halibel also joined as well, his pipe still in his mouth, with less smoke coming out than usual.
"We can take care of this, Y/N-nii!" Meili nodded towards me along with Elsa, who took out her prized kukris. Omega stomped her staff against the ground, and a large barrier encased us and the raging Great Spirit of Wind.
"How long does it take before you can enter that state again, Y/N?" Omega asked.
"About 5 minutes."
"I understand. Well then, rest up and be ready while we hold her off for you." Omega suddenly started chanting as I felt her mana capacity rise, much to my surprise. Then, she held her Ryuzu staff high before giving me a cheeky laugh. "Here's a surprise."
"Shario!"
The sky darkened as I looked up in awe, and a large meteor descended from the heavens before it slammed itself into Zarestia, sending her rolling into the ground before she was crushed by the rock.
"SUGOI..."
Omega's cape fluttered in the wind as she unleashed the least devastating spell in the strongest series, her head held high in triumph, probably because she didn't expect that she was able to recover her magic prowess in such a short amount of time. In all honesty, I am surprised too, which is the reason why my mouth is agape.
Sphinx, obviously jealous from Omega's show-off meteor, decided to unleash her own spell. "Al Jiwald, Modified!"
"Ars Magna Ultima."
A gigantic ray of light shot from Sphinx's wand, and amplified itself at an alarming rate as it travelled through the air, slamming itself into the raging Zarestia, who just emerged from Echidna's meteor. Colette then sent a punch at the spirit who was just damaged by the light ray, who was cut by Elsa as she sliced at Zarestia's bowels. I'm not worried since Zarestia right now is in her full power form, and her body is now composed of pure mana, so unless Elsa imbue her slashes with mana, she can't really damage Zarestia other than just stalling her.
Meili sent her mabeasts to distract Zarestia while Elsa and Yae hacked away at the Great Spirit, trading blows with the latter like a certain very popular fight in anime. Palmyra went on support to heal Yae whenever she was cut, and her constant rain of earth bullets boosted by Wind Magic allowed the two melee fighters to open fire on the blind spots.
As my cooldown almost ended, I noticed something weird. Where's Capella?
I did tell her to go and heal Reize... it's not like she would've gotten beaten by Reize while she's unconscious, so it's highly unlikely. Maybe she's just voluntarily keeping an eye on the other girl. Well, it's fine either way-
My thought train was cut off as Palmyra slammed into me, affected by the large gust that Zarestia suddenly shot out, and the others retreated as well. Zarestia's body started to glow green as the gusts picked up again, and a large green barrier started to form around the spirit. Shielding my teammates with Prudence's Barrier, I prevented the damage that seemed like a Wither spawn.
"Full Spirit Dive." As the five-minute mark hit, I re-entered the form that allowed me to fight on par with the Great Spirit, and once again, my body glowed in the same way as Zarestia.
"Zarestia is a pure spirit, so she cannot absorb other spirits and enter the 'Spirit Dive' state like you did, Y/N." Omega clarified as she scrutinized at Zarestia's barrier. "However, she could unleash all her stored mana over the years, similar to Beatrice using Al Shamak back at the Sanctuary. The only difference is that Beatrice is only a little over 400 years old, and Zarestia has lived for more than 1000 years."
"So that's why I'm trembling..." I realized, facing the Great Spirit with a new understanding of her abilities. "However, it doesn't matter, does it? Because I'm winning this fight."
"Alchemis, Cahya, Bayanga, Valgren, are you guys ready?"
"We are!" The four shouted in unison, and I gave a smile before taking off. Last time, I was only fighting using mana, but this time, its antithesis will come into play as well.
My Witch Factors of Deceit, Sloth, Greed, Wrath and Pride.
Subaru, Crusch, Anastasia, Felt, Echidna, Elsa, Meili, Yae, Sphinx, Capella, Colette, Palmyra, Halibel, Minerva, Sekhmet, Typhon, Daphne, Carmilla, and Satella...
...lend me strength. Please.
I thought as I activated the White Whale's flying seal, and opened my powers on full throttle towards the Great Spirit of Wind. "Time for you to wake up, Zarestia! Deceit's 8th, Kago Shometsu Modified: Od Weakening!"
The barrier around Zarestia disappeared in a flash, and she grunted at what I did before slashing her hand to create an invisible wind blade similar to how Regulus attacked Crusch. However, this time, I was fully prepared for the blast since I crossed my index fingers and the effect was stopped. At the sight of her absolute severance being stopped, she made a look of surprise.
"Hehehe..." I laughed. "This is the Third Shift, and the first stage of the true power of Prudence's Barrier. After all, I did wish for absolute protection. When absolute severance and absolute defence meet, it creates an universal paradox, resulting in both effects disappearing. However, my authority doesn't suffer any damage, and that's why-"
"-I still have the upper hand!" Releasing all my mana, I jumped and activated all the powers.
Elemental Manipulation. Critical Overload. Elemental Rupture. Suitoru. Scindo. Pure Truth. Blessing Eradication. Dimensional Storage.
The metal spikes sprung out of my back to counter the wind blasts before Suitoru sucked them in, and Dimensional Storage effectively interchanged the dented metal with new ones. The stalemate continued for a while before I looked Zarestia straight in the eye and thrust my head forwards.
Rage Pulse Stage III - Singularity Beam.
Taking all the wrath accumulated over the fight, I condensed all the electromagnetic waves generated by my Authority of Wrath and concentrated all of them onto one single spot, before releasing it like a laser at Zarestia's impenetrable defence. Hearing a crisp and satisfying shatter, I took out my three swords before engulfing them with mana from Spirit Dive, and teleported for the first time using mana.
"No matter what the obstacle is, I will rise above it!" I yelled as Zarestia flew high up into the air, and the mana sent me to the location right above Zarestia. Taking my three swords and Valgren heads who partially attached himself to my arms and head, I spun midair horizontally as I performed my attack.
"Deus Irae- OVER THE TOP!"
Slamming my three swords of power into Zarestia, I threw her into the ground using the sheer force created through my momentum, and she crashed through the ground all the way until she hit the hard bedrock, creating a giant crater as large as an eighth of Zarestia Bed. Seeing that I finally won the battle, Omega lifted the barrier she casted earlier, and I sighed in relief.
Suddenly, I felt a wave of fatigue unlike any other, not even similar to the one I experienced at Priestella, wash over my entire body. This was not because of my Spirit Dive's time limit running out... it was extreme mana deficiency.
All the mana was drained from my body... and although it shouldn't be life threatening, in this world, having zero Od means that you're supposed to be dead. Sharing the last bits of mana within Valgren and my spirits, I tried to conserve as much mana as possible before crashing into the crater, only to be saved by a person with wings.
"Cappy?" I called out, but no answer came.
At least the fight was over.
But I knew that as soon as I fall unconscious into the soul realm, I had a lot of work to do.
Taking one last look at the cracked and battered Light Sphere that tumbled out of Zarestia's clothes, I drifted into the darkness that welcomed me.