Rieren was certain that, whatever Grade the Aetherian had been before, it had to be at least B-Grade now. There was too much evidence pointing that way.

For one, it moved incredibly fast. The Nebula had been speedy before, when it had chosen to be. She just had to look at the way the second one had evaded them all to reach its companion.

Now, it had raised its inherent speed by several degrees. As proven by the way it flashed at the Elder with literally blinding speed.

It was a good thing the Elder was quick enough too. Her wall of thorny vines erupted before her, making the Aetherian slam into it with blistering force. The monster was rebuffed backwards, the vines now coated with the Elder’s secondary Aspect—a hazy purple mist.

Jumping back once, the Nebula summoned its spear of light in one hand and the spinning discus held like a shield in the other. A quick slash with its brilliant spear made the whole viny wall explode, the detonation shaking the entire chamber.

Rieren looked up. Little bits of rocks and dust had rained down at the impact. Was this dungeon room that unstable?

“It will hold,” Kervantes said, having noticed her glance. “For the moment.”

Before she could reply, the Elder shouted, “Rieren. Can you and your companion hold this thing off for a moment? I must close the Abyss Rent before more of its kind appear.”

Rieren found that the Elder had evaded the worst of the blast by dodging away, though a part of her robes were smoldering and more of her hair was in disarray. On the other side, the Nebula was calmy observing the effect of its explosion. Its power had dug a pit in the chamber. At the bottom, they could all see lava.

She glanced at Kervantes, who gave her no reaction whatsoever. Of course. What was she expecting from a Ceramic Automaton, a grimace?

“I will assist you,” Kervantes said. “My law is to not harm the Abyssals. This thing is clearly not one of those.”

“No, it certainly isn’t.” Rieren turned back to Elder Veylie as the Nebula looked between them. “I will do my best, Elder. But hurry.”

There was no more time for any talk. The Nebula was done waiting. It once again made to charge towards the Elder, but Rieren rushed in, summoning her Domain in the process. Seeing the attack, the Nebula changed direction. Now, its target was her.

Rieren’s eyes widened. That thing was far too fast.

That her Receptor sword was already out and that she had the presence of mind to use Earthfell Blade were what allowed her to survive the collision. Her blade deflected away the shining spear before it could skewer her. It was still a close-run thing.

Rieren had already activated Tidal Summons. The water of her Domain was swishing this way and that, and quick thrusts and jerks of her limbs and joints sent several waves crashing into the Aetherian.

They never hit. The Nebula had already released several of its stars, all of which crashed down into the surf.

Rieren barely deflected away the worst of the resulting explosion. Her Domain had been reduced, though temporarily so. It would regenerate. But for the moment, she was devoid of any water to assist her.

Something that the Nebula looked to take full advantage of.

Kervantes’s interruption stopped that line of thought. One of his mechanical arms had transformed into a small cannon, his ceramic plates coating its barrel. The resulting blast of pulsing purple energy shot over the ground with a rush of terrific power. It didn’t work against the Nebula, who simply blocked with the shield of thick light.

But it did grant Rieren a little breathing room. She was able to use the moment the monster was distracted to grant herself some distance.

She sighed. This wasn’t working. Facing that thing head on even with her recent improvements was going to be difficult. At least, so long as she didn’t use her Domain and her skills to their fullest potential.

Water had again risen around her in stormy waves. Rieren had another chance to strike. With its back turned to her, this time, she could be the one to cause all the striking.

Though, she had to remember that their goal here was to distract the monster, not kill it. All they had to do was keep it occupied until Elder Veylie had finished sealing the Abyss Rent. But no. A part of Rieren had been hoping that she would rejoin the fight, but if closing the rent required her life, they would still have to defeat the Aetherian by themselves.

Cursing her circumstances, Rieren charged at the monster. The chamber was unstable. They could use that to their advantage if need be.

It was a good thing Kervantes was able to hold his own, if barely. He too had a shield. The violet aura he had used before had now solidified into a curved panel that he was using to ward off the worst of the Aetherian’s attacks.

As Rieren ran towards it, the monster turned around just as quickly as it had appeared. She deflected away its spear stab, then slashed with her sword. Its shield was up too quickly, though. Her sword bounced off the spinning discuss of light. Where she had expected another spear attack, she was instead slammed with the discus.

The force behind it was stronger than she had anticipated. As Rieren flew backwards, she jerked in mid-air to send Tidal Summon waves at the Aetherian. A needed distraction. It had ejected several of its stars to perforate her, but they all detonated when colliding with her waves.

Rieren landed and held herself ready. She would have been attacked, but Kervantes had distracted the monster again with another timely cannon blast.

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Of course, the monster was unhurt. Its reactions were lightning-fast. Not only that, the little exchange between them had just shown how much difference there was just in their physical capabilities. The only way Rieren could attack was through her skills.

The Aetherian pushed Kervantes back. One of the Ceramic Automaton’s arms had been ripped right off its shoulder. Not good.

Rieren distracted it before it could do anything worse by summoning her secondary Aspect. Hissing steam rose off the jumping waves, swaddling her in a warm, moist blanket.

It was a good thing she had already predicted her opponent’s next move. The Aetherian blasted out another salvo of shooting stars, all of which perforated through her overheated mist to strike various areas of the chamber and her Domain water, exploding upon contact. Dust and more steam shot everywhere.

All of which missed Rieren for she had leaped over them. Even better, the Aetherian had not seen her. The summoned steam had provided her the cover she had needed.

Now, as her leap took her straight to the Nebula, she activated Gale Blade. That was imperative. The monster might have relied on its vision to spot her amidst the chaos, but now it was seeking to use its senses to quest outwards and discover her.

No chance of that with the speed granted by Gale Blade. Rieren shot through the air with incredible pace, straight at the Aetherian. She collided through its body before it could react. Even its reactions weren’t fast enough to block Gale Blade. At least, not when it couldn’t see her coming.

Now that she had reached another stage of cultivation, her body didn’t scream at her for using her skills. All the better for her to slash the monster apart.

Her first slice carved through the Aetherian’s midsection, taking her under its spear. With Gale Blade having been raised a few Grades, she could transform its intended motion to suit her needs best.

The second slice took advantage of the way the Aetherian was turning. It sought to find her in the direction she had attacked, and shot past, but Rieren was already attacking the opposite side. The connection was satisfying. Rieren’s sword sheared right through the monster’s leg.

Her third slash was aimed for the Aetherian’s head. There was nothing for it. She intended to take its skull right off.

She just hadn’t counted on the monster slamming its discus shield into the water-covered ground.

Just as Rieren reached the monster, the explosion caught her. The monster’s burst of light was powerful, slamming into her with the force of a collapsing cliff, sending her flying in an arc.

Rieren’s scream was lost in the blast. Her voice jerked to a halt when she splashed down several paces away. It was only the presence of her Domain’s water cushioning her fall that prevented the breaking of most of the bones in her body.

That said, there were still numerous debilitating wounds that severely reduced her effectiveness in the fight. Her left arm was more or less broken, and several ribs had fractured. The way her head was woozy likely proved she had cracked her skull a bit too. A great deal of blood was marring the water around her.

She shook her head, trying to dislodge the torpor, though the throbbing pain made her wince. Kervantes was tackling the Aetherian again, though he wasn’t about to last long. Instead of an arm, he had lost a leg this time, and distantly, it was rather amusing watching him hope around on one leg while trying to protect himself with one arm missing too.

Alright. Enough was enough. If Rieren was standing here laughing at a valiantly fighting comrade, her head had well and truly been hit.

But not enough to recognize it.

She activated Reaver Stance. The pain of her injuries faded to the back of her mind. Strength returned, overflowing in her limbs, her mental acuity sharpened, and even Divine Resilience began working faster.

There was no time to waste. Rieren flashed forward.

Rieren was fast enough that even her Domain had trouble keeping up. All the water that formed was always in her wake.

Of course, the Aetherian’s heightened senses notified it that she was approaching. A burst of shooting stars sprayed out as it turned to face her, but Rieren’s heightened speed combined with a short burst of Fray Passage was enough to take her past them.

Even better, the resulting explosion occurring behind her back gave her even bigger boost to her momentum. She reached the Nebula before it was properly ready to defend itself.

Rieren’s one-handed slash opened a deep gash on its side. Unfortunately, her Domain had failed to keep up, so the wound was quickly refilled with the Aetherian’s dark, cosmic matter. It counterattacked with a flurry of its spear, the light blitzing and crackling as it made contact. But Rieren was fast and strong enough to keep up Earthfell Blade and deflect away all the blows.

At a point, the Nebula attempted to slam its shield downwards again. Rieren’s Mind was just heightened enough to see the intended effect and react appropriately. Her Domain was present now. Water swirled in little waves around her. Just as the discus touched the surface, Rieren concentrated on her location and summoned her secondary Aspect, steam.

The pressure under her feet was an added boost to her own jump. It was imperative that the monster’s attack missed her. Rieren did not have it in her to suffer another hit from that exploding discus. Even in the air, she could feel the rippling shockwave that threw her even higher.

When she finally began to descend again, Rieren used Fray Passage to boost her momentum. Then she added Gale Blade and Tidal Summons on top of it.

With the monster’s shield down, it had nothing to protect itself with. Rieren slashed through its midsection again. This time, her Domain rose up in tandem, sending a wave crashing against the Aetherian. Its body couldn’t regenerate with a blistering combination of water and steam filling the wound.

Rieren’s second slash failed to connect. The Aetherian had brought its spear around, the impact between its spear and her blade jarring her enough to make her teeth tremble. She didn’t even get to complete the Gale Blade slashes. The monster rebuffed her backwards, then immediately launched into another barrage of violent blows.

While Rieren was barely able to ward off most of the blows from the bar of sparking light, she hadn’t counted on the Aetherian adding a headbutt to its arsenal.

Its neck seemed to extent like a praying mantis’s limbs. The dark skull filled with shining stars snapped forward and slammed into Rieren’s own head, striking at the exact point she did not need to get hit.

Pain and brilliant light blinded for a fraction of a second, the crack in her skull flaring to overtake her other senses. Though she managed to deflect away a deadly thrust, she didn’t see the monster’s other arm extending out to grab her own hand. Rieren tried to move, but the grip was iron. She was locked in place. Just what the Aetherian had been seeking.

The arm started to glow. At the same time, it extended even further, putting some distance between Rieren and the Nebula.

Rieren was about to slash herself free from the grasping arm, but then the Aetherian threw a salvo of shooting stars at her. She was forced to divert her attention. A quick deflection with Earthfell Blade gave her enough protection from the bursting stars, and she had angled the blade to sliced through the monster’s blade as well.

Unfortunately, the contact between her sword and the Aetherian’s arm caused that to detonate as well. Of course, with the distance between them, the Nebula no longer had to worry about blowing itself up with its own explosions.

Since Rieren had been slashing downwards with Earthfell Blade active, it had redirected the worst of the blast into the ground. All the water exploded outward, throwing her off her feet once more and tearing her sword from her grip. She twisted in the air, redirecting herself to ensure she at least landed properly, when she found the true danger hurtling towards her.

The Aetherian had flung its discus of compressed light straight at her. It was about to hit, and Rieren had no way of protecting herself.