Chapter 103: Blinding the Eye: Part 8 - Mana Zone
"Armament Magic: Gauntlets of the Eternal Dusk!"
With a primal roar, Avera formed the gauntlets around her hands and rushed at Myla. Orist, who knew better than to interfere when Avera was in her battle state, simply watched with his knees drawn to his chest, his dark eyes taking in their impending clash with great interest.
Avera swung a punch at the Fullbright lady, who blocked with her arm and swung a right hook of her own towards the elf. Her fist did not connect with Avera's face, however - a shield with a golden star materialised, blocking the impact and causing Myla to recoil, leaving her midriff wide open for a blow from Avera to connect.
The vice-captain staggered back, her stance now shaken, and Avera began to press her advantage.
"Armament Magic: Gladius Rain!" she cried, and the swords began to fly at Myla with a menacing hum. As she summoned another wood barrier to defend herself, Avera wound back her fist. Dark mana began to coalesce at her fingertips, and as she opened her fist again, it turned into a blade that enveloped her hand - this was the secondary ability of her gauntlets.
A/N: Think Goku Black
She released a mana slash that cleaved straight through the wooden barrier, Myla only barely being able to dodge as she ducked and rolled, her boots scraping across the stone floor as she brought herself to a stop with her momentum. She didn't get a moment to rest, however, as Avera was upon her immediately, that predatory grin still present on her face.
"You are my prey, human!" she screamed, her eyes filled with maddened glee. "Armament Magic: Glorious Sabre!"
A gold and white sabre formed in her hands, replacing the gauntlets, its tip shining menacingly in the light of the dungeon. She brought it down, but Myla was faster, creating a wooden staff - this time, a lighter, more manoeuvrable version, partly to save her mana, and partly because she realised she was going to need a different approach) - reinforcing it with Mana Coating and blocking easily. The two were now stuck in yet another grapple, Myla now also grinning with the same enthusiasm as Avera.
"You misunderstand," she growled, her pulse racing. "I am not the hunted. I am THE HUNTER! The legendary Warrior of the Woods! And I'll be damned if I lose to you!"
"Then show me more, human! Show me that beautiful fighting spirit you have!" Avera leered, her mana flaring out of her body in a display of power and unbridled joy at finally having an opponent so worthy.
They broke the grapple, Myla standing up from her kneeling position and immediately aiming for Avera's chest with a brutal swing of her staff. Avera blocked, and the two immediately began trading a flurry of blows. Orist just continued watching, his interest now piqued by the two.
As Myla went in for another critical blow, her staff whistling through the air like a bullet, Avera blocked with another shield hovering in the air. The recoil wasn't as large this time, however, due to the staff's reduced weight, and Myla pirouetted, swapping her grip mid spin, and delivered a crushing blow to the side of her face, causing her to roll across the floor. Avera immediately got up as if nothing had happened, and though blood seeped from the area where the staff strike had connected, she did not look fazed.
"Should have kept the heavier staff," she smirked, cracking her knuckles. Myla said nothing, and the two rushed at each other again, weapons in hand.
Avera aimed an upwards swing of her sabre at Myla, who blocked it reflexively with her staff, and then dropped, aiming for a leg sweep. Avera dodged her trailing leg, but Myla thrust at her with her staff.
In the blink of an eye, Myla was now on the offensive. She hammered down on Avera's staff with intensity, completely in her element as she pushed the elf back. Mana began to crackle in the air with each blow, as their clash, writhe with their shared passion for battle, echoed throughout the whole chamber.
On his stone pillar perch, Orist smiled. "That old bag is tiring," he muttered, a smirk beginning to light up his face. "Avera will win in no time."
Avera felt it too. Weakness.
It was in the slight hesitation in Myla's counters, the fraction-of-a-second delay in her footwork, the way her breath came sharper, faster, more labored. Her endurance was slipping. Her movements, once fierce and unrelenting, had become measured - conservative, almost as if she pushed too hard, she would shatter like fine china upon a stone floor. The heavy clash of weapons filled the chamber, but Avera could hear beyond the sound. She could hear the strain in Myla's muscles, the quiet battle her body fought against exhaustion.
Avera grinned.
"You're fading, human," she purred, her voice thick with exhilaration. She punctuated her words with a vicious diagonal slash of her sabre, the golden blade carving through the air like a comet. Myla barely managed to block, her staff catching the strike at the last possible moment. The force of impact sent a violent tremor through her arms, rattling her very bones.
Avera did not let up.
She pushed, slamming Myla back with sheer brute force. The Fullbright woman staggered, her boots scraping across the stone floor. Avera advanced, her blade a gleaming blur, her attacks relentless.
"You've given me such a thrill," she mused, her sabre slicing through the air with deadly precision. Myla parried with gritted teeth, barely keeping up. "I never imagined a grimoireless human could last this long against me-"
Avera twisted her wrist, angling her blade downward, forcing Myla's staff to dip.
"-and yet, here you are, still standing."
She lunged, her knee slamming into Myla's ribs. The force sent the Fullbright woman reeling, her breath hitching as she staggered back.
Avera laughed, wild and free. "You should be proud."
Myla did not respond. Her breath came in sharp bursts, her shoulders rising and falling with exertion. But her grip on her staff remained firm, her feet shifting instinctively into a defensive stance.
Avera tilted her head, dark amusement glittering in her grey eyes.
"But let's be honest, human-" She flourished her sabre, and with a crackling surge of mana, the weapon dissolved into golden motes of light. "-this fight is over."
Power gathered around her, thick and oppressive, distorting the air. A brutal, crushing force built at her fingertips, crackling with the sheer weight of her magic.
The chamber shook as an enormous warhammer materialized in Avera's grasp, its golden-black surface gleaming with an eerie, molten glow. Runes flared to life across its massive head, smoldering like embers in the dark.
"Armament Magic: Bringer of the Dying Sun."
Myla's eyes widened.
Avera swung.
The hammer descended like divine judgment, tearing through the air with a sound like thunder. Myla raised her staff in a desperate attempt to block, but the moment the weapons connected, a shockwave erupted outward, the force of impact shattering the stone beneath them.
The sheer weight of the blow sent Myla hurtling across the chamber, her body twisting mid-air before she slammed into the far wall with bone-rattling force. The impact sent cracks spiderwebbing across the stone. Dust and debris exploded outward, obscuring her form.
Avera exhaled, rolling her shoulders. "Well." She turned to Orist, who remained perched on his stone pillar, lazily observing the carnage. "That was fun."
"Told you she wouldn't last." Orist smirked, propping his chin on his hand.
Avera clicked her tongue. She was still buzzing with adrenaline, her blood singing from the thrill of battle.
She turned away. "Come on, let's find-"
A shiver ran down her spine.
Avera stopped. Something was wrong.
It wasn't mana. It wasn't magic. It was something else. Something older. Something primal.
A weight settled in her gut. Her battle instincts, honed from years of combat, screamed at her to turn around.
And when she did, Myla was standing.
No, she was rising, with an air of something close to triumph.
The dust that had settled around her was swept away in an unseen current. Her posture was unshaken, her body battered but unyielding. Her glasses - cracked from the impact - slipped from her face, clattering onto the ground.
But Avera barely noticed.
Because what struck her - what froze her in place - was the presence radiating from Myla.
It was not mana. It was not magic. It was something far deeper. An overwhelming aura.
Avera's fingers curled around her hammer's handle. "…What?"
The very air around Myla began to shift.
The space itself seemed to bend, thick with an untamed, ancient energy. The stones beneath her feet trembled, as if the dungeon itself was responding to her call. A powerful gale howled through the chamber, and from the swirling winds, leaves began to form.
Leaves.
They materialized from nothing, caught in a violent storm around her.
Orist's smirk vanished.
Avera's breath hitched.
With deliberate slowness, Myla reached into her shirt - into the space between her breasts - and pulled out something small, delicate, impossible.
A solitary page. A single fragment of a grimoire, her stolen grimoire. She held it up between her fingers, letting it catch the dim light of the dungeon.
And then she grinned. A sharp, fierce, wolfish grin.
"You made a mistake, elf."
Avera's pulse pounded.
Myla's voice was steady - calm, unshaken.
"You should have finished me when you had the chance."
A sudden pulse of raw force erupted from her, sending dust and loose stones flying. The entire chamber seemed to shift, as if the very walls were responding to her will.
Avera knew this feeling.
She had used Mana Zone. But not just any Mana Zone.
Something greater. Something unshackled. Something heralding strength beyond her comprehension.
The air detonated as power exploded outward. The swirling winds became a tempest. The leaves sharpened into razor-thin blades. The ground shook with the force of an earthquake.
Myla exhaled, her breath steady, her eyes burning with something ancient and wild.
She raised her staff.
"Mana Zone: Full Release. Warrior of the Woods."
Avera stared. And then, the countenance of a predator began to fill her face once again with unbridled delight.
"…Oh, you magnificent woman. I'm going to enjoy beating you."
Myla leveled her staff, her stance radiating power, her presence drowning the battlefield.
"Let this "filthy human" show you what she can do!"
"I never knew a human was capable of this high quality of a Mana Zone," Orist muttered, his eyes wide with shock and his voice laced with grudging admiration. He shook his head, as if snapping himself out of a trance. "She's still just a human. Her power is limited. Besides, Avera's an elf made for battle, forged in it, from her magic to her soul."
His confident smirk returned. "There's no way she loses."
…
"They'd only get in your way, huh?" Rhya repeated almost incredulously as he stared at Mereoleona, mana at his fingertips. "What a load of rubbish. I'm going to find and neutralise the anti magic boy."
The difference in our strength…What a pain.
As Rhya turned away from Mereoleona, a fireball rushed at him, and he dodged using a copied spatial magic spell from Valtos.
"You're wasting your breath," Mereoleona said, her predatory grin widening. "You shall not advance towards my subordinates until you defeat me."
"Ah…we have numbers, anyways. Let's settle this quickly, shall we?" Rhya muttered.
"Humans are so arrogant," Piera said, her grimoire's pages flipping as she gave Rhya and Lira wings crafted meticulously from her Feather Magic. "Always thinking they can do everything themselves… it's very brutish."
Siel, who had already gotten wings bestowed upon her form by Piera, nudged Rhya. "Fighting together, just like old times, eh?"
Rhya chuckled grimly. "The circumstances are vastly different… but sure sis, just like old times."
"If you're done with your tea party," Mereoleona declared, her mana flaring, "come at me, you elven bastards! I'll kill all of you!"
"Yeah, likely chance!" Lira said, sticking his tongue out at her. "We'll defeat you in an instant."
Siel meanwhile, saw the gravity of her threat. "I won't allow anyone else to be killed," she muttered. "Clone Magic: Doppelganger Blitz!"
Multiple winged clones of Siel, each bearing Yultin's Edge, appeared around the room, and like elven, vengeful valkyries, began to descend upon Mereoleona, their swords ready to lop off her head at any given opportunity.
Rhya saw the imminent danger before she did. "MOVE, Siel! She's going to-"
"Flame Magic:" Mereoleona intoned, "Mana Zone - Calidos Brachium Barrage!"
Multiple flaming fists erupted from her body, and the omnidirectional barrage took out one of Siel's frail clones after the other with brute force, but also technique refined from years of fighting to be the strongest.
Siel grit her teeth as she used a cloned spell from Oda to form a dark blue portal and get out of there immediately, the magic blast aimed for her careening into nothing.
"Unlike you humans," Piera said, "we elves are connected by strong bonds. Your attacks won't even touch us. Wing Magic: Angel Flapping!"
Feathers coalesced around the large elf and rushed straight for Mereoleona, their sharp quills pointed at her, gleaming in the dim light of the dungeon. Mereoleona, her spirit undampened, simply used Calidos Brachium again, hitting nearly all of the feathers with her fiery projections. The feather rain was relentless, however, with some feathers posing a genuine risk of slipping through Mereoleona's defenses.
Tch. That's too many… she thought, increasing the intensity of her defence.
A massive arm burst through the ground however, dispelling all the flames, its fingers curling into a fist.
"Picture Magic: Subterranean Giant's Iron Fist," Lira said, a grin plastered onto his face. "Ya might have a hard time burning something this big, fiery royal lady. Don't you agree?"
"Clone Magic: Spell Multiplication!" Siel cried, and the iron fists multiplied from one into four hands, each wound up and ready to attack Mereoleona.
The royal's mana flared, ready to destroy each of the hands at a moment's notice, but Rhya was craftier, and he used Valtos's spell to change the trajectory of the now flame coated hand so that it hit Mereoleona squarely, sending her flying back. The three other hands descended on her one by one, each blow sending shockwaves through the air, and sending her crashing into a wall.
Mereoleona got up, the attack looking like it did nothing to her. "Is that all you have?" she called up to them, dusting herself off.
That attack managed to graze me. My senses are shot. My attacks seem to be losing their edge as well.
Am I really declining before that old bag? No, that can't be right. What the hell is going on?
She felt a snowflake touch the edge of her nose, and then it all made sense. "So that's…"
"Snow Magic: Phantom Snow Box Garden," Frala said, snow beginning to fall more visibly now that Mereoleona wasn't throwing fireballs all over the place."I'm forcibly putting the senses of everyone in my area of effect to sleep. Everyone other than us elves, that is."
"You crafty little brat," Mereoleona said, her eyes carrying that same burning spirit she always had.
"I'm far older than you," Frala replied. "Besides that, you're very skilled at using mana, despite your human lineage. You remind me of one of the humans Lukos bright home. But it's only a matter of time before you won't be able to move.
They both heard a noise. It was Siel, running with a squadron of ten clones, their boots clacking across the floor rhythmically, eerily synchronised as she raised her blade.
"You've got some nerve to be attacking me, elf," Mereoleona said, "after the way I beat down all your clones last time."
"I put a bit more care into making these, thanks to me and Lira's synchronised distraction," Siel replied, her clones echoing her voice in a damned reverb, "so I'd be a bit more careful, if I were you!"
Mereoleona's breath came in steady, controlled bursts, her body crackling with an intensity that dwarfed the bitter chill settling around her. The clones of Siel surged forward, their movements fluid and eerily in sync, each one brandishing Yultin's Edge with razor-sharp precision. Their eyes gleamed with unshaken conviction, a formation of relentless spectres closing in to end her.
But before a single blade could reach her, she was already moving.
Mereoleona exploded from her stance, a whirlwind of raw muscle and honed instinct. The first clone lunged for her flank, its sword swung in a perfect arc, but she pivoted, her leg snapping up in a ferocious kick that connected with its chest. The clone crumpled on impact, vanishing into wisps of mana before it even hit the ground.
The second and third attacked from both sides, a coordinated pincer strike meant to trap her - but Mereoleona twisted low, ducking beneath their swings as her palm shot out, striking the ribs of one with a force that sent it soaring backwards, crashing into the other with the weight of a cannonball. Both dissipated instantly.
Another came from above, sword raised high for a downward cleave. Mereoleona barely looked up. She caught the wrist mid-swing, crushed it in her grip, and with a violent jerk, sent the clone flipping over her shoulder, its body slamming into the ground with an earth-shaking crack.
Four down.
The rest pressed in, not deterred in the slightest. A swift thrust came for her abdomen - Mereoleona sidestepped, snagging the clone's wrist and ripping it forward, straight into her rising knee. A sickening snap, then nothing.
One dared to come at her from behind. Foolish. Mereoleona didn't even turn. She lashed out with her elbow, striking its temple with the force of a hammer. The clone didn't even get the chance to register its demise before it flickered out of existence.
The remaining four moved as one, weaving between each other with precision, their strikes faster now, their approach less reckless. A blade whistled past her ear, another aimed straight for her thigh - but Mereoleona was fire itself, untouchable, dancing through their attempts with such ruthless elegance it barely looked like effort.
Her fist shot forward, and another clone was gone. A swift roundhouse kick caught another mid-dash, sending it flying into the shadows.
The last two leapt simultaneously, one high, one low, a feint to divide her attention.
Mereoleona smiled.
Fools.
Her foot slammed into the ground, cracking the stone beneath her, and her body blurred. A gust of heat followed as she intercepted the high-flying clone mid-air, gripping it by the throat before hurling it into the one below. The impact sent both clones tumbling across the battlefield like ragdolls before they faded into nothing.
Silence.
Mereoleona exhaled, rolling her shoulders, untouched, uncrowned, undefeated.
She cracked her neck, then fixed her burning gaze on the real Siel, standing frozen, her face a mask of disbelief.
"You're going to need more than that," Mereoleona said, her grin widening, "if you want to bring me down. I will kill you for insubordination, Sharya!"
She did all of that… without using named spells? Siel thought, slight fear beginning to sink in. She used her wings to fly back to the rest of the group of elves. Rhya, meanwhile, stepped forward.
"You won't lay a hand on my little sister!" he declared, his grimoire snapping open. "You won't kill any of my comrades ever again!" Within moments, he had leveled a slash across Mereoleona's chest using one of Yami's spells, using his wings to boost his momentum. Blood spurted out from the targeted area, and the light from Mereoleona's mana began to fade.
Then it burned, brighter than ever, as more feathers began to rush at Mereoleona from Puli's fi attack, in a desperate bid to defend herself.
"Well, see ya, Miss Royalty," she said, a malicious, victorious smile lighting up his features. For a moment, there was stillness.
That stillness wouldn't last very long.
Out of the blaze, a blue fireball burst at Raia, which he barely managed to block.
"Raia!" Piera cried.
"No way," Siel muttered. "No way she's still standing…"
True to the elf's declaration, Mereoleona, though battered and bleeding in several places, was still standing, her smile as defiant and predatory as it had been the first time.
"You guys wanna kill all humans, right?" Mereoleona declared, breathing heavily. "But I'm still standing. Hurry up… try to kill me!"
Is she even human? Raia questioned, a worried expression on his face.
Mereoleona's mana exploded in a powerful display of dominion, and every elf in the room tensed in apprehension.
Every elf, that is, except Siel, who snapped.
"NO MOOOOOOOOOORE!" she screamed, drawing everyone's attention, even Mereoloeona's. With blinding speed she threw a cloned dagger towards Mereoleona, using Mirage Shift to swap places with it, and delivering a vicious, spinning heel kick to the side of her head.
"You sure are a pain in the ass," Rhya muttered, using a spatial portal to stop Siel from blindly rushing Mereoleona again, and she reappeared beside him.
"What the hell? What's wrong with you?" Siel said, struggling to break free from Rhya's vice. "We need to kill her now."
"This woman is too dangerous to continue beating down gradually," Rhya said. "We need to finish her in one fell swoop."
Siel sighed. "Fine," she grumbled.
Mereoleona leaped at them again, but the Subterranean Giant's Iron Fist came out of nowhere and hit her, sending her flying facefirst into the ground.
She struggled up to her feet, her eyes still blazing with resolve. "You morons… think this is over…huh? I'm…still…alive."
"Yeah, I'm at a loss for words," Rhya muttered. "You truly are a troublesome-ass woman. You're too much like Freja for my liking. To think you can stand up after all of those attacks."
"I'll keep getting up for as long as it takes," Mereoleona declared, "until you all lay dead at my feet!"
Mereoleona's breath came ragged, but her eyes burned with the same unrelenting fire. Her body was battered, torn, her royal garments tattered, but she stood tall, unwavering. Even now, against overwhelming numbers and power, she refused to fall.
Rhya clicked his tongue, though there was an amused smirk on his face. "You really don't know when to quit, do you? Taking all those attacks and still standing like this? Man, you're even tougher than I thought, fiery lady."
Mereoleona let out a low chuckle, rolling her shoulders as flames crackled from her skin. "Damn right, I am. But I think it's time we settle this once and for all."
As the words left her lips, her mana surged. The space around them trembled, the very atmosphere warping under the sheer intensity of her presence.
The elves froze.
"The mana in this space… it's shaking?" Frala muttered, her usual composure slipping into something akin to concern. Her snow, which had been steadily coating the battlefield, began to melt away, erased by the raw heat radiating from Mereoleona's growing inferno.
Rhya narrowed his eyes. "Tch… what's she up to now?"
Mereoleona exhaled, and the flames around her erupted like a roaring storm.
"Flame Magic: Mana Zone - Full Release - Calidos Brachium Purgatory!"
The world turned blue.
A monstrous surge of flames exploded outward, consuming everything in its wake. It was an all-encompassing hellscape, a blaze so intense that the walls of the dungeon blackened, the air itself ignited, and every elf found themselves swallowed in the firestorm.
For several moments, nothing but the deafening roar of flames and crackling embers filled the space.
Then, as the fire began to settle, the elves emerged, each of them worse for wear.
Lira coughed violently, patting his smoldering clothes. "Ow, ow, ow—ugh, this is the worst! I swear, I can feel my skin melting. My beautiful body—ruined!"
Frala, her usually elegant demeanor replaced with exasperation, shook ash from her hair. "She definitely did a number on us…"
Piera stretched her wings, wincing as she inspected a burn on her arm. "I won't lie, that was impressive… but she still failed to kill us."
Siel, gritting her teeth, flexed her arms to check her range of motion. "I can still fight, which means she didn't finish the job."
Rhya, no longer airborn, landed lightly on the scorched ground. He walked up to where Mereoleona lay motionless, her body sprawled, battered, and utterly still. He shook his head with a slight chuckle.
"Even unconscious, you're still standing in spirit, huh? You really are one hell of a woman."
Then, to everyone's horror, Mereoleona moved.
Her fingers twitched, then her arm lifted, and with what should have been an impossible burst of strength, she pushed herself up.
Her head hung low, her body barely holding itself together—but when she looked up at them, her eyes still burned like a raging inferno.
"You wanna kill me so bad?" Her voice was raspy, but her grin was as wild as ever. "Then come at me and finish this!"
The elves tensed.
Rhya sighed, raising his grimoire. "Guess we don't have a choice, huh?"
The elves exchanged glances. Then, with silent agreement, they prepared their final attack.
"Let's put her down in one fell swoop," Piera said.
"Fine," Siel muttered.
Rhya's grimoire glowed. "Let's finish this!"
"Compound Magic: Elemental Quintet!"
Before they could unleash their spell, a loud voice cut through the tension.
"Yo, elf bastards!"
The elves turned sharply, to behold Asta, Zora, and Theresa stood at the entrance to the battlefield.
Rhya narrowed his eyes. "You three again? You're really coming back now?"
Asta, sword in hand, met his gaze with unwavering determination. "That's right." He planted his feet, gripping his weapon tightly. "Because we've decided - we're all getting out of here alive!"
Rhya clicked his tongue in annoyance, his grimoire flipping to a new page. "Tch. How naïve. Fine, then - die with her!"
The elves unleashed their combined spell, an enormous blast of magic roaring toward Asta and the others.
Before Asta could react, Zora stepped forward. A massive sigil appeared in front of the trio, absorbing the spell entirely.
The elves' eyes widened.
"Oi, oi…" Lira muttered. "That's cheating."
Zora smirked. "Cheating? Nah. This is just called playing smarter than you dumbasses."
Then, without missing a beat, Zora reflected the spell - straight at Asta.
Asta reacted instantly, pulling out his Demon Slayer Sword. He cleaved through the magic, redirecting it back to Zora.
Theresa, standing off to the side, watched the back-and-forth exchange with a deadpan expression. "…Idiots."
Zora, unfazed, caught the spell again.
"Tch. Damn kid, stop messing up my rhythm!" he grumbled.
Before he could throw it back, the spell began to crack, destabilizing under the repeated use.
Asta vanished, and in a blur of speed, he reappeared behind the spell and slashed it straight at the elves. The attack roared toward them.
"Shit!" Rhya cursed, barely managing to evade as the blast hit the wall behind them, sending shockwaves through the battlefield.
Before the elves could retaliate, Theresa made her move.
"Plant Magic: Omni Vine!"
Vines surged from the ground, wrapping around Mereoleona's unconscious body. With a single motion, Theresa pulled her toward them.
"We're leaving," she stated flatly.
Asta grinned. "Right behind ya!"
Zora crossed his arms, a smirk playing at his lips. "Hah. Bunch of amateurs. Guess we'll let them have this one."
The trio turned and fled.
Rhya and the other elves remained where they stood, watching the retreating figures.
Lira groaned. "Ugh, what a pain. Should we go after them?"
Rhya exhaled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "No. We'll deal with them later."
Siel clenched her fists. "Tch… they got away."
Frala, arms crossed, sighed. "We've already spent too much time on this fight. We should move forward."
"Wait…doesn't he have…" Rhya realised, his eyes widening. He instantly opened a spatial portal and disappeared from the rest of the elves.
"What's got him so worked up?" Lira muttered. Siel chuckled.
"He's finally put two and two together."
…
Asta barely had time to react before a hand shot through a swirling spatial portal, locking around his arm with a vice-like grip. Rhya's eyes gleamed with something between amusement and finality.
"I'll be taking those back," he said smoothly, his gaze flicking down to Asta's grimoire and swords.
Asta grit his teeth. His first instinct was to wrench free, to fight, but he thought he had a better idea.
Instead, he tossed Mereoleona - who had, at some point, shifted into his arms - back toward Theresa. "Heads up!"
Theresa barely had time to react before the sheer weight of the unconscious Lioness nearly crushed her. "You absolute-" she started, knees buckling.
Zora caught Mereoleona's upper body before she and Theresa collapsed entirely, grunting under the weight. "You couldn't have given a little warning, dumbass?"
Asta grinned despite the situation. "I'll make it back alive, don't worry!"
Zora's expression darkened, his grip on Mereoleona tightening. "Tch. You'd better, or I'll kill you myself."
Theresa exhaled, glancing away for a moment before murmuring, "Come back safe."
Asta gave them a thumbs-up as he and Rhya disappeared through the portal.
…
Across different parts of the collapsing dungeon, multiple escape groups moved in tandem, each feeling the pressure of time closing in on them.
Zora, Theresa, and Mereoleona soared through the tunnels atop an ash-crafted platform, Zora steering them with a precision that belied his usual nonchalance. Theresa, despite her exhaustion, kept a steady grip on the unconscious Mereoleona, eyes flickering back toward where they had left Asta behind.
A few tunnels away, Noelle, Maddy, and Kirsch glided atop a drifting bed of cherry blossoms, the petals glowing faintly with magic. Noelle's grip on her wand was tight, her jaw set. She could feel something - an ominous pulse in the air, like the pressure before a storm. Kirsch was knelt beside her, breathing heavily, his face filled with defeat.
Further still, En, Cade, and Yul surged forward, En guiding his Muscle March Mushroom with a single-minded focus. Yul sat beside him, expression unreadable as he steadied himself. Cade, shifting slightly, glanced over his shoulder.
"We're missing something," he muttered.
Above them, Nozel flew on his Silver Eagle, his posture rigid. Below, Vivianne's tornado carried an unconscious Cara and Lucia, her expression sharp as she navigated through the dungeon's wreckage.
Then, all at once - they felt it. A pulse. A shift. A sheer, overwhelming force of mana exploding outward.
Myla's Mana Zone – Full Release.
Cade inhaled sharply. "What the hell is happening back there? The old hag's mana… I've never felt it like this…"
Mereoleona twitched in her sleep.
A/N: myla and mereoleona chapter so cool
this was a long ass chapter - we're going to have a few more longer chapters, so my bad guys
or you're welcome if this is what you want from me
my favourite part to write was probably mereoleona running the gauntlet with the different siel clones - that was very cool
myla's battle will be concluded next chapter