Oscar stands on the deck of the ship, staring into the distance. Cannons fire off behind him as he moves his iron slabs around him. Behind him, Talia pulls out a series of blades and daggers. He waited for her, knowing the amount of prep work her skills needed. Out of the group, she was the best fighter, outside of Sebastian himself. But for her to be effective, she needed time readying each of her swords. She carried six blades and six daggers. Each blade was coated in her Mana as she breathed her life into the metal of the weapon. Her technique slowly ate away at her lifespan, but that was of no consequence. All of it was in favor of the Great One.

“Ready.” She proclaims, sheathing the last blade.

“Good. Now let’s be off.”

“Shouldn’t we wait until they get to the island?”

“Oh, we’re going to guarantee they get to that island.” He says with a smile.

Oscar lowers one of his slabs and steps onto it. Reaching out his hand for Talia, she follows as the two are lifted into the sky. Under his breath, he says a prayer to the Great One, thanking in for the battle to come. He would do his best in its name to bring these people to enlightenment. Whether they liked it or not.

“Sam, go get the Tisha and the others,” Glyn says as he spots Oscar approaching. “Mila, fire on that thing approaching. Otso keep us steady, and everyone else prepare for battle.”

At his command, everyone went to positions. Sam disappeared, teleporting away from the situation as Mila gathers her flames. She fires out at Oscar as he flies in closer. Her attacks miss as he simply dodges the attacks. He smirks, looking down at her as they draw in closer.

But as they get close to the ship and Talia readies herself to leap off, an arrow flies out, hitting his metal slab.

“I’ve told you before Mila, when you're spotted, aim at where they’re going to be, not at where they are,” Tisha says, walking out from under the ship.

Behind her Zanrit and Pepper appear as Zanrit carries plants his club onto the ship. “What’s the situation?”

“We’re being pursued by some crazy fools,” Glyn says.

“Well, give me a second.” Tisha snaps her fingers.

In an instant, the arrow explodes as a mass of wood and vines grow around the slab. Oscar struggles to control it as he flies off, with Talia leaping from the flying metal onto Glyn’s ship. Cannonballs explode in the water around their ship as she smiles, drawing one of her blades as it glows with a bright silver color.

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“Everyone watch out, this one is….” Before Glyn could finish, Talia was in front of him, bringing her sword down on him.

Mila moves via instinct as her sword comes from her wrist and she blocks Talia’s attack just before it hits Glyn. Mila swings as Talia instantly avoids her attack. She sheaths her silver sword and draws another glowing with a golden light.

“Pepper barrier!” Glyn orders.

Pepper forms a barrier around the group as Talia swings. A burst of energy comes from the sword slashing through everything in front of it. Pepper’s barrier holds strong, redirecting the attack as part of the mast falls away.

“What is this?” Miller asks.

“She’s a Soul Sword. She put a part of her soul into those swords, so each of them has a different effect.” Glyn explains.

She smiles. “Right, you are. You’re a smart one, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but as a side effect of breaking her soul apart, she’s slowly killing herself.”

She laughs, sheathing her blade and drawing one glowing with an emerald green. “All for the glory of the Great One!”

She thrusts the sword into the ship as if a corrosive liquid comes from the blade. “Damn it. Otso, we need to make land now!”

“There’s an island nearby but….”

Mila fires off her fireball, taking out another series of cannonballs. “Their aim is getting better.”

“Tisha, I want you and Mila on interference and keep that other one from landing. Zanrit and Pepper offense and defense.”

“And me?” Xia Bei asks.

“You do whatever you're going to do.”

She rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”

As more cannonballs rain down, Mila fires off her flames to knock them back and set them off midair. Tisha keeps her eye trained on Oscar, firing on him and keeping him from landing on the ship. Talia watches the pair as she draws her silver sword. As she moves, Zanrit charges ahead, blocking her attack as he swings his club. She reaches for her gold blade, only for Pepper to fly in her shrunken size and blast her with a wave of ice.

She reaches for a dagger as a wave of heat comes from the blade melting the ice and she draws her golden sword. Swinging it, a burst of energy comes from the blade as Pepper forms her barrier. The barrier blocks the attack but cracks.

“Two more times. Two more and I’ll break your barrier in half!”

Zanrit rushes forward and smashes his club down on Talia. She dodges the attack as the ship turns. She stumbles and Zanrit swings at her. She reaches in, drawing another dagger, this one forming a barrier around herself. It nullifies Zanrit’s attack, as she only laughs.

“Now!” Glyn yells.

He reaches out, touching the barrier as his touch eats away at the magic. “What!?”

“Zanrit if you would.”

Zanrit swings, smashing his club into a stunned Talia. She takes the blow and flies off the ship onto a nearby island, smashing into a tree.

“That was impressive.”

“Thanks. I’ve been practicing.”

The ship makes landfall on the island as Otso runs to the others. “We’re on land.”

“Good. Get to the other side.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. We’ll be there shortly.”

Miller stares at Glyn. “What’re you planning?”

“How long until that ship and flying jerk catch up to us?”

Tisha stares at the ship as the wind changes, sending it off course. “A few minutes. As for the flying guy, he dropped into the ocean, so I don’t know where he is.”

Glyn eyes Talia in the distance. “Good. Let’s secure our proof and then be ready for teleportation. We can turn this mess around.”

He turns to Talia, who in a bloody mess forces herself up. Everyone stares at her as she grabs hold of her head and lets out a loud, inhuman scream.