Isabella ran forward, shoving aside all those who stood in her way, and briefly stood before them all. Mustering all of the Obsulyte inside, she plunged her lance forward, conducting a massive flow as she used to, right at the tip, exploding in a massive beam that mowed down several monsters in an instant. Merely holding onto the lance became a task on its own, the force of the blast threatening to take her off her feet and throw her with the wind, doing her best to pin herself into position, as even the ground below started to crackle, and give in.

Finally finishing the beam, she moved her lance behind her back and cocked it like a gun, a massive, dead Obsulyte, ore-like shell falling out of its sides. Dante, taking advantage of the situation, dropped in and instantly unleashed a flurry of attacks around Isabella, plowing and grouping up multiple threats before resetting in front of her and intentionally preparing to receive hits. A mere moment later, he launched 3 consecutive counterattacks that swept both his attackers and surrounding foes from the enemy's ranged backlines.

"We still got it.", Dante reset to her position once again, "But next time you feel like acting in over your head, give me a fair warning."

"I'm simply ramping up the offensive, seeing how the battle demands it.", Isabella answered back, "It'll get worse from here. Their system of hierarchy would never allow for them to throw themselves at us like this. They're stalling for Makaro to gain full strength."

"I noticed. Fortunately, part of that process made him give us an advantage.", Dante looked at his side, "Someone made sure to take full advantage of said advantage."

Tiki had become increasingly active as well, plowing through rows of enemies while her armor took all the heavy hits. Utilizing her axe on her personal acceleration system, each swing carried force that of a truck going at full speed, giving the enemies connecting with each hit two options: get instantly sliced in half if meeting the axe's sweet spot at the blade, or be crushed and knocked a few hundred meters away shall they avoid the first option.

Among her fearless display of skill and endurance, Terna herself held nothing back, pursuing all enemies surrounding Tiki with poise and grace, dashing through the air as she tried catching and easily slashing enemies mid-air. Luna herself made concentrated and ambitious efforts in the enemy backlines, further ahead than even Dante and Isabella, her constant matrix state causing mayhem as the monsters were forced to swap their attention to her, before Luna dashed to another location and did all the same, picking up a good few eliminations along the way. Whereas the Corrupted would have been an issue had they assaulted them like this in the very near past, right now, not only did they look like a threat the size of a fly, but a mere nuisance for them to reach the core of the issue.

Still, with enemies such as Watchers being present, they knew that no matter how easy things looked in terms of actual threats faced, their guard was not to be dropped if they wanted to avoid tragedy. Knowing that, Tiki forced Terna to periodically stop, allowing the BRAWL war machines with their engineers, along with the battalion under her command to eliminate threats behind them and secure the area as they made a slow, yet steady and safe advance forward. Similarly, both Dante and Isabella followed suit, the ever-increasing stress of the battle forcing a bit more aggression and power out of them, to a still manageable extent.

"With this pacing, we're bound to reach the big bastard in a couple hours.", Tiki stood at the very front, "How long will they last, I wonder."

"Our work is so good though! Just look at how we're doing!", Terna got even more excited.

"Not happy until it's done. Remember that this guy literally tore the ground into creating a funnel towards him, and I sure as hell expect more to happen.", she stayed cautious.

Luna reappeared behind them, "The temperature and Obsulyte levels on the enemy backlines are constantly rising. There seems to be a surge coming from multiple Obsulyte ores affecting the monster."

"We adapt when it's time to.", Tiki dashed forward, delivering a wide slash that cut enemies in half and knocked multiple backward, "Keep up the offensive until then, make them feel constant pressure!"

The battle raged on and on, with no end to it in sight. Monsters just kept throwing themselves at the frontline and though progress was made, their stalling tactic effectively kept it to a minimum. Isabella and Dante made combined efforts to push as far as they could, allowing their battalion to move upward, following after Tiki's very well-working example, but still, all they could do was marvel at the giant beast and its seemingly never-ending number of servants.

To their delight, however, Magi, Reina, and Wallace used the much more aggressive angle of the city to push the enemies right off, their usage of greater Obsulyte power now allowing the mechanics to come to the very back and facilitate the critical weaponry at their effective range.

"So, I've gotta ask. Are lances like, your thing? I mean, I get the 'Lance' in 'Silverlance', but even Victoria outside of Dirunon uses these? Hell, they remind me of that girl's fighting style, although she took several pages off of Cecilia's book.", Magi nonchalantly asked Reina.

"You seem awfully relaxed-heah!", Reina threw enemies off of her, "To be asking this mid-battle!"

"Hey, in my eyes, this makes for a perfect conversation starter. Telling from what humble experiences I've got, we're gonna be here for a while. Unless you want us to push further, which I don't recommend, since the nerds are already doing their work in the back."

"I would love to see what more your experience tells you!", Wallace crashed into the enemy, wildly swinging his lance around before vaulting backward and unleashing a blast of Obsulyte from the tip before returning to the ally lines.

"Oh, it tells me a lot right now. I suggest you both cool it off with the Obsulyte. We don't need too much to hold them here. Mrs. Goddess has gotta start putting the work down there too, unless we want the big boy in the middle to get more pissed."

Reina paused, "Wait, who?"

"The goddess that the Church in Vardard won't shut up about?"

"Excuse me, we have the presence of a god here?!", Reina got utterly confused.

"How the hell did you not find out, exactly? Was it the fact that she switches between light and dark mode?"

"Wait a minute...that girl from the video in Delpha, don't tell me...", Reina put one and one together, "Holy-The girl in the rebel group was the goddess Ikarisa?!"

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"You surely didn't seem like the kind of girl to carry the Holy Book around.", Magi wondered about Reina's reaction.

"Wallace, did you know about this?!", Reina turned at Wallace.

"Yes, I did. The information about the 'supposed' goddess's return we received from Fra-Insinia has been kept a confidential secret between the two governments here. Please, do keep it that way, for a multitude of reasons, and go back to focusing on the battle ahead.", Wallace hastily told her to continue fighting.

Reina got rejuvenated, "That'll only make me want to fight better."

Magi approached Wallace, "Have you given her a crash course on Overseers yet?"

"Her Majesty wants most of this confidential, mind you, along with the Last Monarch. That video, all of those videos in Delpha, could've caused multiple issues, among other things. The New Hope's Light movement stemming from extremists of Veryta is a major point that we aim to avoid. So please, tone it down with the information you know, just like when you hid the Sentinel identity along with Thaddeus and claimed your Royal Guard position.", Wallace seemed somewhat upset.

"Will do, will do. But where we're at right now, I doubt anyone besides a handful would give a shit. But oh well, I respect your point. Hey, getting dangerously close, buddy.", she grabbed a Corrupted by the head and flung it back.

"Your suggestion was correct, also. Reina? Shall we hold the point?", Wallace looked at Reina.

Reina calmed herself down, "Yeah, we should. All units, perimeter up front!", she commanded.

Magi cracked her fists, "Alrighty. Come get some!"

Down at the center of the battlefield, Luna had kept the pressure that inevitably intertwined with Dante's path, meeting him as he tore down enemy defenses at a distance from Isabella. Luna herself was somewhat surprised to see him in that position, way further ahead than the frontlines and even Isabella herself, who also made efforts to dive into the enemy crowd and divert fire. Reminding him of his plan, Dante signaled Luna to drop by him, her doing so in her usual swift manner, decimating all nearby threats nearby with a combination of her scythe's slashes and ion cannons, giving him breathing space.

"You have overextended your reach.", Luna informed him.

"Yeah, I just realized. But since we're here, I need a favor. Your matrix connects with the Abnormal Space, right?"

"Yes."

"Can you amplify its strength, its connection?"

"I can, however, that would heavily affect other functional factors of my system. Mainly, it will add much more material consumption that will overload me at a greater rate since it will be funneled through my frame."

"Just this once, can you try turning it up for just a few seconds? I have a very high suspicion of what this can do to me, in a positive way. Isabella too."

"You want to try reconnecting with the Abnormal Space and Mellistar."

"It's a trump card we can definitely use."

"Keep in mind that sudden exposure can lead-", Luna was interrupted.

"I'm well aware, but it's now or never."

Luna briefly paused as she started faintly glowing before Dante, doing as told and increasing the effectiveness of her matrix and it took Dante mere seconds to feel the effects. As the enemies started to close in again, and with a very sudden familiar surge of power within, he ran even deeper into the enemy lines. Although Luna had the urge to stop him, somehow, even she reluctantly stopped herself from doing so, realizing that there could be a plan beneath.

Finally finding himself at the point of no return as he made a mad dash, slashing and cutting everything in his path, Dante finally stopped in the very middle of the enemy backlines. Raising his sword above his head, he knew exactly what was about to happen, and embraced the power within.

"I'll drag hell right here for you."

With his technique of unsheathing his massive blade, an explosion of major proportions engulfed everything around him. Annihilating a considerable amount of enemies, his presence on the battlefield started to then hit alarms left and right, with a considerable amount of enemy forces trying to take his life. A storm formed above his head, lighting tearing down most of the threats after him and from the allied side, true terror filled their minds as they mistook him for yet another threat.

"God dammit, the radars of the war machines are going off...this can't be good.", Tiki looked at the status reports.

"This Obsulyte spike...this ain't normal. Not even Alexandra knows what the hell is going on. Pilots above can't see a thing, there's a storm that's forming, obstructing vision and preventing an air strike!", Drima got worried.

Luna activated her comms, "The possible 'threat' detected, links back to Dante."

"Eh?!", Terna was surprised.

"What's happening?", Alexandra got onto comms, "Is the son of Cecilia ok?!", she got worried.

"This is like...Dirunon. That's exactly like Dirunon.", Isabella realized.

Though the clouds cleared, the vision from above was still heavily obstructed, but lighting yet again befell them, searing all that posed a threat to Dante. He moved forward, facing ever greater threats rising before him and taking a brief pause only to look at Makaro.

"You.", he pointed his blade at the massive beast, "A part of a whole, I feel it...so be it. If I can't end it all here to do what I want, I'll simply end this instead. I know you can hear and feel me, asshole. Do it. Stop procrastinating, and do it."

Almost as if was completely enraged by his words, that of a mortal approaching a god without consideration, the beast roared again, pulling its body almost completely out. The rifts became larger, tearing the sky apart as massive slobs of mass dropped below. Lizard-like creatures, almost as if they were miniature-sized beasts the like of their master, took form in the backlines, sticking out like sore thumbs amongst the crowd.

The battlefield went silent as the monsters all stopped attacking, surprising everyone as they remained vigilant in their presence. They all started turning their backs, not mattering to them if they took either bullets or lost comrades along their way back. Horrifyingly, Tiki was the first to realize exactly what was going on, turning her comms on and making them global as she shouted almost in fear.

"Every single one of you reposition at defensive formations, right, now!"

It was all she could say as she rushed back to her battalion, standing tall in front of all the souls she was tasked with leading, the entire army of Victoria soon did the same as one by one, their leading figures realized what was going on. Up in the city, Reina and Wallace had already begun reforming their frontlines, along with Magi, who completely dropped her relaxed character as she started commanding all of her troops with strict orders.

The monsters themselves then stopped heading back, and from a sky's view, began a choreography of death. They formed fully functional, proper frontlines, Watchers covering almost every inch of field that the monsters would step onto, the miniature lizard-like beasts covering both the back and the middle, as one final look was given to their enemy, the Corrupted almost eagerly waiting to slaughter every form of living being that existed. Horrifyingly so, even Shadowers were formed at the very front as meat shields very clearly giving away the fact that for their victory, nothing was off the table.

The real battle finally began, with the massive monster ahead rearing its ugly body off the ground. One final roar followed, as the magma surged from beneath one last time. From its back, a pair of two large gushes opened wide, and from the deepest points of the abyss, it drew enough magma to start and form two irregular wings, held into place with nothing more than the liquid itself. Those 'wings' never took full form, as if the monster wanted to keep itself grounded in the same earth it stole from, and like the skeleton of a bird, so too did the monster keep said wings like.

The temperature started to subside even more, as the earth rushed in to fill the missing part of its lands, the hole towards the abyss closing as the monster stepped right on top of it. A familiar memory came to Dante's mind, of the same monster once called Helash, that tormented his home during its final hours. That only served as more motivation for him to want the thing completely erased from this world, further adding to his ever-growing disdain about it all.

Its wings finally finished a shallow layer of dried-up metals around the very edges, magma still visible, one final roar that echoed on the battlefield signaled all of the monsters once more.

Their master had risen fully.

The scourge of this land's pride had taken its form to wreak havoc upon whatever found itself in its quake.

The time to see where this would all lead had come.