Chapter 83: Mastermind

An icy hand plucked Emma out of the air, as Antipode responded to an urgent summons just in time to keep her from flying off the battlefield. Settling down on the Ice Elemental's shoulder, Emma turn her blunt blade into its bow form, noting how a thin grey layer of magic vanished as the transformation took hold.

"Status conditions cannot be applied," Overmind repeated.

Immediately turning Epitaph back to a sword, Emma stabbed Antipode in the hand; the blade piercing through the elemental easily, albeit without the expected appearance of a Weeping Scar.

"Only one order can be in effect at a time," Emma concluded, as Epitaph became a bow once more; feeling some semblance of relief as what had looked to be an impossible task became merely very difficult.

"After her!"

Emma ordered, spurring into motion the dozen orbs of flame that accompanied the elemental everywhere. The spheres converged along the way, becoming one massive fireball twice her height. Overmind leapt to the side with the easy grace of a lifetime of combat, heading towards Emma with the fireball close behind.

Deep freeze, the next time Overmind talks, Emma ordered non-verbally, before firing the first arrow of the battle, powered by five percent of her anima.

"No projectiles!" Overmind ordered, as both the arrow and fireball faded into nothing.

[-500 Anima

Status condition: Freeze applied.

Anima: 2800]

"No healing!"

Another hasty order followed, but Emma was all smiles as both her armor and Overmind's flesh frosted over, a thin layer of blue coating them both. Caught between arrow and fireball, Overmind had met her expectations and cancelled both with a command; which meant that Antipode was now able to exert the full pressure of his Ice, without his warmer side to act as a counterweight.

[-100 Anima

-100 Anima

-100 Anima]

Of course, Emma couldn't withstand such cold for long either, she was confident she'd outlast her opponent, which was all that really mattered here. Granted, Emma didn't think that this trick alone was enough to seize victory, but at the very least, it would force her opponent to show her hand, beyond just orders and an impressive physicality. It was hard to speak with frozen vocal cords, after all.

[Faded: Ajna

Invoke: Sahasrara]

Emma had half a second to ponder the notification before Antipode exploded, turned to powdered ice by an immense force that had erupted from within. Absent the elemental, the temperature of the room returned to normal, freeing both remaining combatants from their icy prison.

[Anima: 2300]

Emma raised her bow, which Overmind met with an open palm, looking unbothered even as her skin cracked and bled from frostbite. An arrow aimed at her head struck an invisible shock-wave and shattered; as Emma immediately slipped into intangibility, avoiding being thrown out of bounds for the second time in the bout. Overmind raised an eyebrow as Emma approached, accepting the drain of anima from maintaining Ardent Ephemera rather than exposing herself to further attacks she couldn't see, before cracking a thin smile.

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[Faded: Sahasrara

Invoke: Anahata]

Besides that notification, Overmind did nothing else as Emma closed in, blade in hand; which was immensely suspicious no matter how she looked at it. Following her intuition instead of going for a killing blow, Epitaph turned at the last second, delivering a light tap on Overmind's wrist with the flat side, as Emma's intangibility ended.

[-10 Anima.

Anima: 2260]

Feeling a phantom sting on her own wrist whereas Overmind's looked untouched, Emma could only be thankful that she hadn't followed through with beheading. She wasted no time turning Epitaph around and burying it in her own chest; where her heart would have been had she still been human. That finally draw a grimace from Overmind, who staggered as her top stained red, suddenly wet with arterial blood. As Emma withdrew her blade - noting the complete absence of an entry wound - and prepared to behead herself, another notification pinged.

[Faded: Anahata

Invoke: Vishuddha]

Overmind glowed white, her wounds fading as time seemed to reverse; blood vanished, skin mended and even the wear and tear on her clothes were mended. Regrettably, Emma did not receive the same consideration as her body and soul both began to burn, and her arms locked up at the very thought of approaching any closer to her opponent.

[-100 Anima]

"Stop," Emma growled, using the fruits of her new class to nullify the spell, after testing her intangibility and finding it did nothing here.

[Anima: 1984

Faded: Vishuddha

Invoke: Manipura]

Overmind blurred from sight, her incoming punch barely intercepted by a hasty parry that still saw Emma pushed back five yards.

Earthbound Immortal.

A second punch was similarly stopped, Emma managing to hold her position this time; with a bit of help from her underground summon enabling her to literally dig her heels into the ground to bolster her parry. The third punch, unfortunately, broke Epitaph in two and caught her in the helmet.

[-500 Anima]

Bind her! Emma ordered quickly, her undead state thankfully immune to the perils of concussion, as tendrils of earth erupted to catch Overmind's arms before a fourth punch could knock her head flying.

Overmind put up a good struggle, grinding away at her restraints even as the Earthbound Immortal continually reinforced them, until finally she came to a halt once each tendril was over a foot thick. Still wary of further trickery but unable to pass up a clean shot, Emma burned a fifth of her remaining anima to reform Epitaph and stabbed at Overmind's vulnerable stomach.

[Faded: Manipura

Invoke: Muladhara]

Emma's blade met earth, as the unthinkable happened and her own summon turned against their master. She hurriedly recalled the elemental to her soul, before it could do any worse than a few spikes to the legs; but without its controlling influence, the earth holding Overmind became mundane once more, no longer sufficient to contain her.

[-200 Anima

Faded: Muladhara

Invoke: Svadishtana]

Burst through her weakened restraints, Overmind ducked beneath Emma's half-sword swing and tapped her on the stomach.

"Blossoming heart demon."

Emma stabbed herself in the stomach, not liking the sound of that in the slightest. That left her with a Weeping Scar, and an annoying black haze in her vision as an added bonus from Can I Play With Madness?, but the latest notifications validated her move.

[-300 Anima

Anima: 687

Status Condition: Low Vision inflicted.

Nascent Sha of Doubt slain!

200 EXP gained.]

"You actually survived a full cycle of seven chakras," Overmind remarked approvingly, looking barely winded from the battle so far. "Even restricted as I am now, I've killed men ten times your age with less still."

"Sounds like they were pretty awful fighters," Emma retorted, projecting confidence ever as her Anima dipped far below comfortable levels; it did not escape her either, how few blows she'd actually landed up to this point.

As such, she was more than happy to talk while attempting to think of a way to turn the tide.

"They were completely useless," Overmind agreed wholeheartedly. "The recent decades have been peaceful for magical and mundane society alike; which has its benefits, but also tends to produce some uniquely unqualified wastes of space."

Then Overmind caught on fire, as a tear in space opened to an icy realm, and a burning replica of Emma thrust her arm through the former's chest.

[April Fools!]