"Heap, ha!", Hikari unleashed three quick slashes on the legs of a lizard foe, forcing it to kneel, and executing it with a strong downward slam of her blade after raising it above her head.
"Way, too, many! Hreeah!", Dante drove his lance to the ground full force, forcing monsters directly in front to stutter, lowering their defenses before a massive thunder struck them from above, incinerating them completely.
"I have never seen this before- I'm lost!", Hikari panicked.
"The other front must be twice as bad...dammit- god dammit!", Dante tried his best not to follow suit as well, "Just die completely already, you shits! You can't keep getting up!"
"Remember the breathing exercises, Dante. And if you want to panic still, at least turn your comms off.", Tiki commented.
"How's your front?"
"God-awful. I even got myself stabbed in my right hand too. Good stuff.", Tiki sounded menacing but kept her calm.
"What do we even do in this case?!", Hikari desperately asked Tiki.
"We're separated by an ocean of lava. Just kill the big bastard and let's get this over with. Simple as that. Now, if you'll excuse me-", she turned off her comms.
With the other front becoming as dangerous and unpredictable as it did, Tiki couldn't spend another moment talking in the comms, instead trying to manage her massive struggle. With rage painted over her face and her entire body thrown at the center of it all, she took hit after hit while delivering blows that all had ever-increasing force behind them. Luna herself was working hands-on in the enemy backlines, almost overwhelmed by the power needed to take down a single enemy and the speed needed to clear groups of them before they could set up and let their ranged attacks rain hell above them all. Terna herself had taken the extremely difficult task of striking down the bigger-sized enemies with her speed and rapid attacks, finding it almost impossible to keep up with the overwhelmingly demanding force each hit needed to pierce through their defenses.
"I'll crush you all! Come on!", Tiki activated her accelerator, slamming her axe down and slicing a Watcher in half, before shattering the earth in front of her as she felt the heat of the battle.
Luna jumped at a high point of her matrix, "Reinforcements have arrived."
Without hesitation, Wallace crashed at the front alongside Magi, his powerful forward thrust followed by a wide sweep giving Tiki much-needed space.
"Took us a while. Are you guys ok?", she checked on Tiki.
Tiki dusted herself off, "Like hell we are. Terna and Luna are doing everything they can at the back, I've basically gone berserk here, and we're still at risk of being toppled. Dante and Hikari are in too deep, stuck near the massive bastard."
"Good news all around. Makaro will not let go. Reina is coming in hot right now-", she walked at the front, alongside Tiki while briefing her, "We're getting more numbers, so we'll see how it fares then."
"You took literally everyone off that point?", Tiki got confused.
"Gardard is fine. Big bastard realized he ain't making it anywhere if he doesn't kill you off first. Directed all of their numbers here as a last resort, so we decided on doing the same, instead of watching nonchalantly with a coffee at hand from up there."
"Fine by me. Do you want my guys moved to make room for yours?"
"Nah, don't worry. Reina will assault them at an angle."
Tiki paused, "Magi, these little shits are taking a considerable effort to kill individually. If you're about to throw numbers in the fire, I swear to god-"
"Relax. From what boss-man Wallace told me before he dove his Silverlance ass in the front, is that the boss-girl has a plan."
Reina, having gained momentum with all her troops as they ran straight at the front from the hills signaled her arrival, having a particular face then emerging from the crowd of their backlines, surprising people as she went.
Alexandra stood before them, Victorian flag at hand, "If this is judgment day by God, the Goddess, or any other omnipotent or otherwise figure, I refuse to sit by and watch.", she slammed the flag down, "I've had my pride rest upon the shoulders of glory once, and I refuse to do so again. Forward!"
The entire group of soldiers moving down from the hills suddenly cried at the top of their lungs, their charge almost getting twice as fast right before the collision. All of them together pierced straight through, plowing through enemies like a massive steamroller, before eventually coming to a stop next to the main forces.
Being reinvigorated once more, the frontlines charged again, this time pushing enemy forces back a considerable amount, before the war machines also jumped into the fray with haste, unleashing rapid strikes at melee, and firing considerably faster and stronger missiles at a range.
Tiki got relieved, "So that's what your Obsulyte does? Fitting."
"Woah-ha! Tiki, you're missing out here! Every single one of my hits is on the beat, absolutely flawless and it cuts them like butter! Let's do this thing!", Terna was seen from a distance, speaking through comms as she almost enjoyed herself in the battle.
"At a considerable range too. Very nice.", Magi commented.
"I'll take your positive comments with humility in mind. But we should keep going."
"Agree, and fast too. I don't need to worry about our frontlines from what I'm seeing here, nor the others in the back, but like I told Magi, Dante and Hikari are stuck in there. Had it been the dark-haired one, Isabella or something, it'd make me feel marginally better, but right now, we've got a clueless, almost reckless shortie up front, and the guy I'm almost certain is liable to lose his cool and panic at any moment.", Tiki turned her comms on, "Luna, please tell me you've got visual and can assist them."
"Despite the energy flow that allowed me to start sabotaging the enemy backlines, approaching Dante in such a state will compromise me still. It appears that where I am currently positioned is also the near limit of Alexandra's ability reach, so it is safe to assume that Dante and Hikari are indeed not receiving any sort of enhancement either."
Wallace stepped back briefly, "Your Highness. I suppose that with how the tide turned, I shouldn't be surprised to see you take direct part in the field. I heard about Cecilia's son being at a disadvantageous position, so if there's anything I can do, tell me."
"I've got a plan. With how apparently strong your ability is, why don't we just escort you closer? Judging off distance, I'd say around a couple, or maybe 300 meters?", Magi thought.
"A good idea. However, we must make do with haste. I'd have used this way sooner, but the drain is too much for such a massive scale.", Alexandra picked up the banner.
"Allow me to pierce the front.", Wallace went back into the fray.
"You're not alone, you know.", Magi went along with him.
"Of course, count me in too. I've always been interested in watching a full-fledged Silverlance at work, but you know how it was. You kept it to your tiny city, and we kept it away from you."
"Likewise. Show me what you've got, Vorgesetzter Commander!"
Tiki chuckled, "Ha-aah...you know how to make me want to showcase my 100%. But it looks like the climax of it all...alright then. Here's my 100%."
With a slow, ground-shaking walk, Tiki got to the front as her assigned soldiers all backed away to give her space. With both her arms tightly gripping her axe, she widened her stance to its limit as she took a swinging position. With that setup, it was easy for the monsters to funnel in and try to capitalize on her overwhelming exposure, thinking of ending her quickly before moving on. Activating the acceleration system to its absolute max force, completely breaking it as it granted her swing momentum, she scraped the ground around her and smacked dozens of monsters directly, severing their upper and lower halves. The force was so severe that despite not being a direct hit, the force and shockwave cast from the initial impact sent several enemies flying backward, landing and being incinerated in the pool of magma behind them, while Tiki firmly held the axe up high. The crack on the ground didn't slow down either, with the ground breaking in half as it continued its trail, reaching deep within the magma pool and draining the liquid back into its half-broken, shattered earth.
Tiki continued her menacing, heavy walk, "I'll end this battle now. Behind me, go."
"Huh. The 'Demon' nickname really did them justice after all.", Magi thought, "Now this is getting exciting!", she ran behind Tiki.
"Ever right as always, Your Majesty.", Wallace nodded.
"Strength, control, precision, and tactical acumen bundled in what has been top to bottom labeled perfection. I have never been even remotely graceful or understanding of the horrors and downright disgusting events of the Second World War. But with what followed in this world too...I'd be delusional to say that it didn't walk."
"Grand Counselor!", Reina reached them, "It's time! We can fire once more, we can make this one really count!"
"Understood, Commander.", Alexandra cast her hand forth, "Now's the time! Let's end it all!"
Back in the middle of the heat, Dante and Hikari were quick to recover in both strength and spirit, more than able to feel the force of their friend's strikes as they tried to reach them, knowing that the end of the monster was near.
"Hmm!", Dante looked at the monster, "No idea if it'll work, but let's blast it again."
Hikari took down several monsters with a single strike, "This power...must be from the others. Ok, here goes then!", she looked at the monster, swapping her comms to the channel between her and her friends, "We have to take this out in one go, you guys! Don't let it heal!"
Luna tuned in, "From my current position my matrix is able to reach a position that the ion cannons are able to fire at. Alexandra's abilities seem to be unaffecting to me, so not factoring in those allows me to freely redirect the massive energy flow into the monster instead. My calculations come to an average of 3 times multiplier in an energy burst outflow once it gets funneled."
"Got it! Dante, can I trust you to make a clear window of opportunity once Luna completely weakens it?!", Hikari looked at Dante.
"You can. I'll aim for the stomach. Not sure that its heart will be there, but you should do some serious damage regardless."
"Hmm...alright.", she briefly breathed out.
"We'll help too. Alexandra, tell them to fire the damn things, otherwise, you'll be counting funeral costs instead of hospital bills!"
Alexandra grunted softly, "The scale of enhancement is getting to me. Alright, let's do it!", She looked at Reina, "Reina! Tell them to fire!"
"Yes ma'am.", Reina swapped her comms, "Take off all the power in the grid and redirect it. This order is coming from the Grand Counselor herself and not me- FIRE!"
All or nothing, this finally came down to one final gambit, failure or success. Luna sent over the appropriate calibrations for all of the ion cannons and took her position after landing a devastating final strike with her scythe to clear the area. With the overwhelming amount of power that the cannons were forced to process, their charging started up much slower and was obviously taking much longer to fire than before, causing an awkward and dangerous stalemate between them.
Said stalemate causing a much greater disadvantage to them rather than the monsters, Dante and Hikari were forced to fight their way through more hoards and now the big dragon slamming its massive front legs to the ground trying to crush them. With every movement and subtle stroke of its fiery body following geysers and explosions of both lava and magma, it appeared as if their plan came more and more to an end before even having the chance to be executed.
"Hikari, focus. They'll fire any second. Nearly there.", Isabella tried to help Hikari calm down.
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Hikari became increasingly more lethal in all her strikes as Mellistar's blade seemed to light up more and more in her hands. With each passing second giving her more and more power to cut right through all resistances, her balancing of body and mind started to waver, as she almost started seeing red instead of the full picture she always did.
"Hya-ha!", she quickly cut the heads of three Watchers off, "Come on then! I'm right here! I was oblivious and acted ignorantly as you said, and you were always cunning and planned, said, and did everything with the utmost intention! Both our mistakes clash right here and now, and if I have to erase yours with mine, I will!", she almost teared up.
"That blade is more trouble than it's worth. Hmph!", Dante finished off a kneeling lizard Corrupted, piercing right through and into its heart.
"It's not the blade, Dante. It's the Obsulyte, it alters your mind...I can't stand seeing her like this. Not even through you.", Yuno said with sadness in his voice.
"Remember what she did? Seriously, you pity her, instead of wishing for whatever bad punishment to find her sooner?", Dante scoffed.
"Living with such mistakes is unbearable, you know that for a fact. Unfixable mistakes of such scales...the greatest punishment can only be realization and regret, coupled with the gift of life itself. My blade, since I am in the state that I am is conductive, more so than other weapons. Where your mind altered causes what it does, this is what hers does instead. You were right about one thing, Dante. Obsulyte is no gift. But it ain't a curse either. It's a power that when used unearned is a hindrance unlike any other, to more things than you can count.", Mellistar said.
Hikari looked at Dante without a hint of fear in her eyes, "Whether you realize now or later that I love you and everyone else here, despite all that I've done, you will eventually. I can't keep explaining myself and apologizing like this. I screwed things up. The world I saw again too frightened me. I never faced anything, rather than trying to control it instead so that I'd never have to...until I took with me futures and hopes that I shouldn't have, down in the dumps. I tried controlling everyone around me before this world that way. But this fantasy of mine, if better still, is wrong, and thousands of years, making it only now able to be realized...hehe.", she destroyed a group of monsters heading her way with a single strike, "We could've faced this together, and alone even, had we had the chance to grow a bit more. No matter. I'm done, Dante. I messed shit up. And I won't apologize for anything anymore...give me an opening, and at the very least, I'll make this up to you. Let's erase this prick's existence!"
Dante, despite being taken somewhat aback by what he finally perceived as true words and feelings, cast forth by both her overloaded state that affected her mind and the pressure, as well as the heat of the moment briefly gazed at her. Realizing that time was of the essence, however, he dismissed all he had to say, his own regrets and wrongful attitude directed at her all this time, instead choosing to focus on the task at hand instead. "Whatever. We'll have plenty of time to talk it over with her once this is done, so let's end it quickly before more of these hell spawns can come out.", Dante took a throwing position, "I'm at the ready! Hated fighting with this thing anyway, so give me a clear shot and end it already!", his words and expressions forced a smile out of Hikari still, who could always see what he really meant or felt despite all he said and did. Be it from what she witnessed with her own eyes now, or the memories of Isabella then...it didn't bother her enough to figure it out anymore. What mattered was that she could do so, to begin with.
Reina entered comms, "Cannons are finally ready, stand back!"
Magi cleared the area around Tiki, crushing several extremely strong enemies with a frontal Obsulyte burst, "Wallace, help her out!"
"For Victoria!", Wallace jumped into the fray a long distance in. Surrounded by enemies, his might as a Silverlance shone right through, charging and plowing through a massive hoard as Alexandra's powers started to diminish, barely managing to make his way back into his original position, leaving behind him a trail of destruction. As he kept charging back at his allies, he very harshly stopped right besides Tiki, who upon his return, started gathering momentum herself, "Now, Vorgesetzter Commander!"
"Damn! Just a little bit...more!", Alexandra gave it her all, reinvigorating everyone one last time, if even only for a few seconds.
Tiki went forth, one last time, "Even if this breaks me- go back to the hole you came out of, you fat dragon bitch!"
With yet another demonstration of her immaculate strength, managing to catch the last glimpse of Alexandra's boost before she succumbed to fatigue, Tiki didn't just smash the ground like she used to. Rather she divided the earth in half as she tore an absolutely massive fissure of such scale that forced the monster to trip and fall inside it, with a cry of dismay echoing from it soon after. Both her allies and all of the enemies shook as some were taken off their feet, with the earthquake cause forcing panic among the streets of Gardard itself, multiple massive drops of magma launched and dropped all over the enemy side, as geysers of stored magma still to be unleashed by the massive dragon erupted at once. The damages suffered by the enemy side due to their position were extremely severe, and despite Tiki being brought to the point of collapsing due to fatigue and the recoil she had to very much absorb by herself that came with the strike, the front, middle and almost entirety of the back were secured at once with the destruction caused.
The monster, still shaken from the absolutely devastating attack recovered rather quickly, pushing out of the hole it forced back into, regaining its strength and stability rather quickly.
Terna swooped the last few dangerous enemies in the back, gracefully and precisely moving around the magma pools and droppings, "For the love of all that is dear to this world- just STOP!"
Her cry, not initially looking like it, echoed throughout the battlefield despite its rather low pitch compared to the greater scale. The monster, clearly able to hear that cry almost completely fell back into the hole, its entire body weakened at a moment's notice, including all of its minions below, forcing it to a position where Luna was almost completely above its head.
"Recalculating explosion area of effect. Repositioning to the calculated position.", Luna dropped to an angle and prepared herself, creating her own weapon of mass destruction at hand
With the entire length of the city going black as far as the Institute and beyond, all of the ion cannons blasted at Luna simultaneously, leaving everything thereafter in the dark while also having several of them completely break in the process. Luna, now completely overcharged to a degree almost greater than what her internal systems had calculated she could survive and utilize, fired at once and completely eviscerated the monster's armor before nuking the entirety of the ground below, precisely averting the bulk of the explosion towards the horizon, incinerating all nearby enemies around it in the process and completely exposing the monster.
Before the dust could settle in, the gust of wind produced by the explosion swept it all away, leaving a dragon lying on the side and exposing its stomach underneath reble. The earth unable to take any more collapsed into the hole and instantly filled the fissure, forcing the ground to lower significantly and creating a new platitude, one where Dante had a more than clear shot to throw the lance at. Not giving the monster any sort of rest, he adjusted his aim and without hesitation, leaned back.
"Hikari, get ready to end the bastard! Haa-hyaa!"
Yet another deafening blast was heard as Dante hurdled the lance at Mach speeds, overcharged by his own Obsulyte right at the monster's exposed stomach. In the blink of an eye, the lance crossed the gap between them and struck it directly, collapsing its body to a singular point and instantly penetrating through it as if air gathered to fill in a gap, magma bits launched everywhere. Unable to crash into any surface behind, the lance instead kept flying as it scraped the floor, traveling thousands of meters before the friction could finally force it to stop.
Paralyzed, weakened, and wailing, the threatening giant was no more. And yet, it could always get back up no matter the damage, had it not simply been total annihilation, forcing the so-called 'deity', the fraud that the world chose to believe in order to grieve and survive, to cast her hand with the blade aside, as she prepared for one last slash. And yet, that never came, as anticipation soon turned to confusion, the chain of hits disrupted by her shortness of breath and tears. Lowering her weapon as she moved forward, eventually kneeling on the floor.
"I-I'm not ready yet!", she cried and looked back at Dante, behind him the entire world, her friends watching, "I can't...I-"
She clenched her fists, crying louder as she knew there was no turning back. The vote had been cast the moment she decided to take that route. She got up and pushed herself to grab the blade and despite what her innate survival instinct, her being told her, started walking towards the monster. The whole world's history resided in one decision. This decision. And to Isabella's horror, when she let everything go...she was forced, like this world, to simply witness without being able to say anything in return.
Sudden? Maybe to everyone watching. Even her other self couldn't believe it, as she too spectated the seemingly irrational movements and thoughts of what she suspected of being a gentle madwoman. A move completely uncalled for, a battle she so desperately wished to become the victor of, had laid its victory on her tight grasp. The battle about to be won now had all but signified the major loss of her internal war. She was to complete a task that would set the world into motion of rehabilitation...and in doing so, her very existence was to be seized, as it bore no place in it. Her perfect world never once had room for her in it, and the only overbearing hatred for her wrongs only helped to push her over the edge.
And the same way she always handled her fears alone -talking and monologuing in her head in hopes of forgetting or momentarily diverting her attention from the same fears she always ran away from- was the way her last flame of rebellion against life itself would be extinguished. She would bury the lies, confusion, and wrongful manipulation, along with all the mistakes she ever made the slow, with her own body. The only hope she had at this point outside of herself, was left behind along with everything she ever did. And so, the seemingly endless walk commenced. An action performed in such a way that surprised and paralyzed everyone...that of a long, long lost, dead woman walking.
"My name...I don't have one. I didn't have one. I was given one.
Hikari. Based on what she told me, that'd mean 'light'.
For what this life I've lived is worth, I struggled to see the light my name was based after. At least...I never saw it after that moment the girl in the endless ocean of matter appeared.
I loved growing up alongside her. I loved the way that despite my body never changing, my mind did.
We should have never met."
The walk resumed its normal speed.
"She was mistakenly placed where I was. That should've never happened. But despite what happened, she accepted me and allowed me to live. She protected me from everything.
Almost as if a mother to a child...an older sister to the younger one. I was never allowed to see the darkness. She had seen it...she had felt it.
She was tortured in it. And I never once realized it. And when it came to the breaking point long ago...when I did.
What if that darkness could loom over dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Just thinking about that scares me, and makes me anxious.
That darkness couldn't be allowed to live. Not after what it did to her, and what it could do to others."
The walk became faster.
"My life as a mistake harbored the gift of being able to do and step into unbound territories. I wanted to use that to make you and so many others happy.
I never knew of the darkness you saw, but I wanted to bury it so far below that it wouldn't bother you or anyone else again.
He was right. If I couldn't see what I buried, that only made me blind. And I never did see it then. I never heard it either. And I never listened to those who did.
At first, you were confused. Later you praised me. And at a point where I couldn't return, where you realized it was too late...you joined me.
I lived in my delusion, and you lived in yours. You protected me and carried my weight before, that of a feather.
And I paid you in return by breaking your back as that weight became that of the entire world."
The faster walk turned into a jog, raising the blade further from the waist.
"I tried my best to make others come closer when you pushed them all away. I wanted to share the weight of this world with them so that your back wouldn't break doing so.
They weren't the damned objects I found them to be. Even then...even then I knew that was false. Those goals born of virtue to bury the darkness far beneath...it did.
Those goals buried that darkness within me. And it grew into its disgusting flora. That's what then lay within. A book that if judged by its cover would yield unwarranted smiles.
It spiraled as I contained it, I never wanted to be that. I never wanted you to be that. But you stole all that was wrong with me again. You and I aren't different almost at all.
I just wish...I wish I never had to funnel more things into you, that I knew you'd carry yourself to not bother others, not to be a drag or a pain.
A trait that they found admirable...but unlike you, I realized it'd destroy you."
The jog turned into a run, the blade firmly stuck at her side.
"I realized my mistakes, why you were carrying them, and how I could fix them. I looked away and kept going.
In truth...now that I know what he was about to do that day, that knife that was placed into his throat as he pushed against it...I wish I could've traded places. I wish...I was brave enough to do it then.
You took every blow for me as I finally saw the true meaning of darkness. But never seeing anything but that...but when you broke, so did I. I just never wanted you to know that.
I covered everything like you wished until I realized what- who it was for. How Drima took that into his research that eventually created more chaos...idiot. I'm a god damn idiot.
If I just wasn't blind, if I could see what was happening in front of me- I- I..."
The run turned into a sprint, blade tightly held in both hands. By her command, the leftover energy scattered on every single surface of the battlefield gathered around her. The blade lit as every step only discharged the same energy sourced back inside her, her eventually being lit up as a whole.
"No matter. What I did...what that caused...people died, I killed them, all into a world that was fine without me. The same darkness I wish to dispel in its entirety I funneled back into you.
The blood and tears you've shed to carve the image of strength, the miseries you absorbed and can't get rid of, only letting manifest behind closed doors...it was never enough for it to finally stop.
Only enough to keep going. You want to feel weak but can never do so...you must always be strong, for me. I only saw that now.
And if I have to force myself to die, to rightfully give you a life that you deserve...so be it. It never had to be this way.
But I can erase every trace of my existence to break some of your chains
For once take with me one of my mistakes to an early grave once Obsulyte was gone and the clock started ticking
I will!
This time, I will bash my head on every single thing that comes my way! I don't care if it's god or death!
My prayers will always be with you all...so I hope you understand deep down- I have to save you in my way and protect your own futures!"
And as she jumped up high, placing the blade up front and plunging downward right into the monster. Only one final cry was heard and echoed throughout the entire battlefield...not that of war, but rather an outburst of restrained emotions. Tens, hundreds, or thousands of years for everything to be the same, but a moment in time as small as this changed it all in its roots.
A flash of epic proportions occurred shortly after, almost bringing the world to its knees as the monster's existence, along with hers, ceased. I could have been avoided. The need for such sacrifice was unnecessary, as the strength that lay within was more than enough to end a foe crippled after receiving devastating after devastating blow. Yet, without it, hell was sure and quick to follow once again. No one but her and the other half knew of the tears they shed, and casting aside all fears and showing said tears out for the world to see, if only once, was enough foundation to stop the growing misery that filled their lives, and to build something new, better, worth smiling at and for.
The world was rid of a monster, and with it, so were the "god" and "creator". A move that served to surprise those who knew her well, unaware of how wretched the darkness within her was. Now the unanswered prayers, both of those below and even the gods themselves -should they even exist to witness this- would finally be justified in being ignored. Because although there'd once be a soul to try and catch up, to answer them all...now she was gone. And with her, she took those prayers to cast them into obscurity, and the others after it forever meaningless as their addressing would be to no one but the empty place left behind her.