Not too far away from the battle that was taking place, Utopia and Nell watched Operator Chronos wipe the floor with the two other Sentinels.
“She’s… Really strong. Is it even possible to beat her?” Utopia asked.
Nell was less surprised as she was sensitive to Mana.
“She’s weaker than those two,” Nell stated bluntly.
Utopia who couldn’t sense the amount of Mana that someone had, looked at Nell with a confused expression.
“She’s weaker than both of those Sentinels in Mana by a long shot. No matter how strong she physically is, the reinforcement from a Sentinel’s Mana will leave them far ahead. No, what she is isn’t stronger. She’s just that much more skilled than that snow Sentinel.” Nell continued to explain.
Nellphyis had seen Chronos fight several times up to this point but this felt different. When she fought those Invaders, she fought off of reflex, simply reacting to whatever the Invader threw at her but here… She was reading every single move or spell they used and preparing a countermeasure before they even made the move.
Frankly, it was terrifying. She could see that the amount of Mana Chronos was using was significantly lower than the other two combined yet she could still match Yuki with the support of Musi.
It was around this time when Musi created the magic circle for her Orchestra. The massive amount of Mana that started to gather from the surroundings was what finally surprised Nell.
COUGH! COUGH!
The Mana was becoming denser and denser. It didn’t yet match what was in the Sentinel base but this much was already too much for Utopia who fell to the ground while struggling to breathe.
“What… Is happening…” Utopia questioned.
Placing her paw on Utopia, a small barrier was erected around them. It wasn’t enough to fully block out the Mana but it was enough for Utopia not to be in an extreme amount of pain.
“Priests use tools enchanted with magic unlike others so you’re not used to Mana this dense. You’ll get used to it slowly.”
This was the most Nell could do for him. She wasn’t particularly capable of casting large-scale magic when the other Agents were asleep, even less so when she wasn’t with Chronos.
With that being said though, her surprise turned to worry. With the Mana this dense, Utopia wouldn’t even be able to approach. They were roughly 200 meters away from the fight and the Mana was already doing this to him. The closer they got to the source of this, the worse it would get.
Still, Nell needed to be confident in Chronos. She’s been playing with them this entire time. If she wanted to stop such a large spell then she could do so easily…
Unfortunately, Nell’s face had to pale as she realized that Chronos wasn’t even trying to stop the spell. With this realization, she started sprinting towards the battlefield.
“CHRONOS!” She shouted.
20 seconds until the spell went off.
Utopia, seeing the desperation that Nell had on her face, grabbed an oxygen mask of sorts which appeared from a bracelet he wore underneath his robes before sprinting forward.
15 seconds until the spell went off.
Picking up Nell on the way, Utopia began coughing and wheezing after only 40 meters, causing him to slow down but he still pushed further.
10 seconds until the spell went off.
Reapplying her barrier, this time directly to Utopia, their speed not only returned but actually increased.
The timer kept counting down and they just couldn’t match it. They lost too much time from the Mana density.
And once that metaphorical timer hit 0 Nell’s eyes widened in terror. Not at the spell Musi used, no. It was a feat no doubt but what terrified Nell was Chronos’ spell.
In less than a second, she poured nearly all her Mana into herself before nearly teleporting and attacking Musi which only increased the distance between them.
“Damn it, Chronos! That’s not enough to finish her off!” Nell shouted fruitlessly once again.
Gritting his teeth as he saw his Sentinel companion fall to the ground, Utopia grabbed his saber and tried to move faster but his legs refused.
“Make sure it kills me though, if it doesn’t you might be in danger.” They heard Chronos say.
“Beat”
BANG!
Leaping off of Utopia, Nell landed on Chronos.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
At the same time, Utopia lunged forward, barely managing to strike the bullet just enough to change its trajectory.
Chronos’ eyes widened as her companions appeared just in the nick of time.
“Eh? Nell? Utopia?” She exclaimed in surprise, not even realizing she used Utopia’s real name instead of calling him idiot or priest.
“More allies?!” Musi scoffed, hopping backward to gain some distance.
The two Sentinels looked at each other as both were equally not expecting any help to come.
“Are you okay?! What were you thinking using your Mana like that?!” Nell shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Ah…” Chronos said, realizing what this must look like to Nell
“Ah? What do you mean?! You could have just died.”
Chuckling gently, Chronos gave Nell back to Utopia.
“Thanks for the thought, Stupid Priest.”
“Wait what?! Seriously what are you doing.”
Changing her focus to Musi, Chronos cracked her knuckles.
“Well, I wanted to terrify this girl as revenge but that’s out of the plan. I can assure you two though, I was never in danger.”
||
“Still bluffing? “Beat”
The bullet came barreling toward Chronos but it never hit her, shocking everyone present.
Centimeters in front of her forehead, a thin layer of webbing stopped the bullet in its tracks.
“The conditions have been met. Your name was Musi, right? After this, I truly do hope we start anew. But for now, every good boss fight needs a second phase.”
Around Chronos, webs began to fly out of her hands, creating a mask with 8 holes around where her eyes are and 2 more on opposite sides of her forehead as well as covering nearly her entire body
|
Following that message, Lucy’s body went limp.
|
Despite telling her it was reverting her, Lucy’s hair did not turn brown as her robe and Foci disappeared. Instead, it was replaced with pure silver hair.
Two horns rapidly protruded out of the mask’s forehead holes and each of the lower holes was quickly filled in a similar way as eight eyes appeared to fill each one.
Briefly standing up straight only for her body to fall limp again, this time leaning backward instead of forward, as she was about to fall, 8 thin and sharp legs tore through her back and caught her.
|
|
Looking at her hand, Lucy, or rather, whatever was inside of her body right now, clenched their hand over and over again.
“You’re body has grown stronger again, brat.” They said.
Without saying another word, he gave Musi a clear tell that he was coming before dashing at her, one of the spider legs attempting to slash at her.
“Aria!” Musi shouted in a panic, causing her constructs to change their form into that of a greatsword.
CLASH!
CRACK!
The greatsword collided with the spider leg before a piece of it broke off and returned to its rifle state, firing at Lucy.
Throwing their body to the ground to dodge the bullet, they used several of the other spider legs to launch themselves back up before slamming their fist into Musi, sending her back.
Despite not being able to fly, Musi seems to really like soaring during this battle.
“Tch. Chorus!”
The greatsword returned to its original form, firing another volley of bullets at Lucy before a sword made of Mana formed around her Baton, and her charging forward.
Dodging the bullets again and blocking the ones they couldn’t, Lucy also ran straight toward Musi.
Once again, the two clashed, this time with Lucy being overpowered and flung away.
Looking around while in the air, they used one of their spider legs as a hook, grabbing hold of a utility pole.
Unfortunately, Musi continued firing bullets, not giving them a chance to retaliate right away so they had to immediately dash to the side.
Thanks to their quick movement, they had enough time to create a ball made of string, about the size of a basketball which they promptly threw at Musi.
Cutting through the string with ease, Musi got a nasty surprise as it sprayed gas into her face. Assuming it was poison, she quickly covered her mouth and nose giving Lucy a chance to close the distance and quickly stab at her stomach.
The wound caused was small thanks to the protection of the Vest, not going deep enough to cause any serious damage but that didn’t matter to Lucy as she kicked Musi into the ground before backing off.
“You roughed her up too much and it ended quickly, Lucy… Guess I’ll go deal with the other one.”
CRASH!
BANG!
As if to answer their question, Here came Yuki, being sent through a building while being punched by a doll that looked like a large man who was fancily dressed in dark Victorian-era clothing.
Shortly after the human Invader also appeared with strings attached to the large doll.
“Your…”
“Yes this is the same body, no I’m not the same person. Don’t ask.” They dismissed her immediately.
Lucy told them not to kill anyone, that did not encompass dealing with other people.
Turning their attention back to the duo of Sentinels, They frowned, even if it was hidden by their mask.
“Musi! Are you okay?” Yuki questioned, as the onslaught stopped.
Musi who was getting up from the ground nearly fell back down immediately.
“P-poison? How?! I didn’t inhale it?!”
“Why would gas be the only way I can poison you, dumbass,” they stated, pointing to their external spider legs.
“It’s not lethal, you’ll be fine after a few days.”