‘What is that!’

‘It’s obviously Apocolyptia.’

‘Mm!’

‘How! She is supposed to be in the Void!’

‘She is, and then Iggy channeled her power to the Magus Leaf, to which I am also bound. And then I used all that delicious Mana you fed me to craft a body for her power, so that I could manifest her physically in the real world. It’s kind of a lot of steps, but in the end, here she is…sort of…at least part of her.’

‘Mm!’

‘This changes nothing! I’ll kill you now and then Apocolyptia is lost in the Void. All you are doing is piss me off!’

I activated Overdrive and the Mana poured over my body. I flexed the blue energy and it hardened like a shell on my exterior. A-chan held out her mini sword and crimson energy surrounded it and the jewel on the hilt shone brilliantly as the energy condensed around the edge of the blade to make the serrations more prominent. Red dots appeared on each of Rex’s wings. I grinned at the evil fairy.

‘Now that I know my enemy, let’s try for round two.’

Rex’s black eyes widened and her face twisted into a snarl. She knelt on the desk and held out her hands, which proceeded to extend into claws. She hissed as she pushed off and flung herself into the air.

In a blink, she was behind me, striking at my back. It wasn’t a teleport ability, but a short burst of speed that I had barely been able to follow. A-chan however, had managed to not only follow but also block the attack. I blinked to the side and attacked at Rex’s head, but she managed to duck under the attack.

We continued like this for a few moments, blinking and dashing around the room. The four other girls and the King stood by the door, watching in amazement. Blue, holding a new, larger shield she had summoned forward, was eagerly watching and looking for a moment to jump in. Pink swore under her breath as she watched.

‘I…I can barely keep up with their movements! See if you can get that door open. We are a liability stuck in here!’

The other girls nodded and began looking at the barrier. Xipper held out her blade and channeled her purple energy.

‘Cryptic Disorder!’

Ting ting ting TING ting!

The energy spiraled outward and began to show lines on the barrier, although the lines crossing were few and far between. Blue continued to watch as the three other girls started chasing the sporadic dots like a twisted game of Wack-a-mole. It didn’t take long before Xipper got the first strike.

Her sword made contact and the purple energy ruptured. The sky blue hex and its surrounding shapes made a cracking sound and slight fractures could be seen within them, but they didn't vanish.

‘Crap! It’s going to take quite a few hits before we bring it down!’

The King got the idea, and turned with his sword to help weaken the barrier. A flash of white-hot light covered his blade as he began to attack. Each hit he made left a scuff in the barrier, and it wasn’t long before he also managed to hit a purple spot near the top of the door. Once again, the dot detonated and left the surrounding hex’s cracked and weakened.

At that moment, Rex caught up with my movements and managed to kick me in the side. I felt the Mana barrier crack and I went flying through a stone statue. A-chan moved to interfere as I tried to recover. Blood ran down my face and my ribs were screaming. They were probably fractured.

I felt a warm energy wash over me and the pain in my ribs subsided. I looked over to see Starlight focusing as a rainbow beam pulsed into me from her wand. I stood up and refocused my shell.

‘Thanks. Now get that door open, quick!’

I dashed into the fight once again just in time to stop Rex from clawing A-chan’s cherubic little face. Pink watched for a moment and then cursed once again.

‘Screw this. Everyone, get away from the door!’

Everyone turned to see her holding two large carbines trimmed with gold and pink jewels. They paused for a second, and then quickly moved to the side.

‘Farther!’

 They moved to the sides as pink energy began to gather in front of her.

‘Target Assist! Lock-on!’

Chuuuuuuuuu Ting!

The pink energy formed two sights on her guns which projected onto the doorway. The projections crossed and formed a heart-shaped target that locked in place. Two large balls of pink energy began to form at the tip of the guns.

‘4NG-3L Tec Bombing Run. Sustained Area Attack!’

Wub Wub Wub Wub!

She proceeded to unleash a hellfire of pink heart-shaped bombs which exploded as they peppered the entire surface of the barrier. The purple dotes exploded one after the other almost as fast as they could form. It continued for a few seconds until all the energy that had charged had dissipated. What was left was a barrier full of missing hexagons and cracks everywhere, but not completely dismantled. Xipper couldn’t help but be amazed.

‘What an O.P. combo! I can’t believe it’s still up!’

Doey frowned as she looked over at Pink.

‘Ah get a bow and a pan flute, She gets wings and auto-rifles. Bless mah little heart, Ah got a raw deal.’

Starlight was less amused as she shot another healing blast my way in an attempt to slow the damage attrition I was building up.

‘Not the time, guys! Get the door open!’

I grabbed Rex by the hair and spun and threw her towards the door. She crashed into it and we heard more cracking as A-chan slammed into her ribs and held her in place. I wiped the blood from my mouth. 

‘Leave that to me! Kaisinka!’

Shing! Foom!

I made contact with Rex’s sternum and her black eyes went wide. The golden energy slammed into her and her barrier shattered as she flew through it. And then through the wall behind it. And then through the next. Did I mention I love that skill?

‘Alright! Go go go! Get the King out of here and off the castle! A, go get her!’

‘Mm!’

A-chan dashed through the hole as we darted down the hall. I heard a crash and an explosion and then looked behind me to see Rex smash through another wall and quickly zip down the hall towards us.

‘Blue! You’re up!’

Without missing a beat, Blue slammed her mace into the ground and created a wall of water. She did it three more times for good measure. I heard Rex crash through the first and smash against the second as everyone continued to run.

I stopped and turned to face the last wall. I raised my Sword and pushed as much Mana as I could muster into it, and then focused inward on my blade. I saw the color drain out of the world, and the four dots on Rex’s wings appeared, thrashing on the other side of the walls. The blade changed and I felt A-chan’s presence coming up quick behind Rex. She turned to meet her oncoming attacker and I slashed.

All at once, I released the Mana in the blade. A concentrated arc of Mana flung forward through the wall of water and the left-most dots disappeared. The speed and air pressure from the attack created a trailing shockwave that ripped apart the wall of water and sent Rex and A-chan tumbling down the hall.

Thoooom! Chrakow!

The arc of Mana continued down the hall, tearing lines through the floor and ceiling until it made contact with the far wall and exploded. I looked down to see two of Rex’s wings and her left hand laying on the floor. Black ooze puddled at their tips. I looked further down the hall to see Rex holding the edge of A-chan’s blade with her remaining hand while holding her left nub close to her chest.

‘How dare you damage the perfect vessel! I’ll tear you apart!’

Color faded back into the world as what little energy I had left in the sword left it. I blinked forward and slashed at her remaining two wings. My weaker blade made contact, but only cut halfway through before getting stuck. I kicked off of Rex’s back and pulled to get my blade unstuck. She screamed an inhuman cry and swatted at me with her stump as I ripped my blade from her third wing.

‘Curse you, Magus! I’ll feast on your flesh! I’ll tear out your heart! I’ll…’

‘Shut up already! Kaisinka!’

Shing! Foom!

I placed the energy right in the square of her back and it exploded. A-chan got out of the way just in time as Rex face-planted into the stone floor and proceeded to leave a huge scar in the ground as she was forced to eat stone for another twenty feet. She crashed through to the lower floor. For good measure, I sent two more arcs or Mana down at her, but she recovered from the fall and evaded them.

She stood, black blood dripping from her forehead and her stump, with one and a half wings nervously fluttering. She growled up at me from the hole. I grinned as a few streams of green energy trailed from her through the air into my cuff. 

‘You win this time, Magus! We will meet again. The second wave will be much larger than the first!’

'Thanks for the info. If you could send me an itemized list of the types of Revenant coming and their weaknesses, that would be great!'

I blinked down the hole and A-chan flew after me, but Rex channeled green energy and threw it at the ground. The energy what chaotic and ripped and tore at reality. I instantly recognized the opening that formed. An opening to the Tower. She slipped through, and I was about to follow when A-chan stopped me.

‘Nn.’

The hole closed and left no trace that a dimensional rift had existed here before. I stood staring at the floor for a while as I let my heart rate lower.

‘I guess you’re right. It would have been stupid to dive in at our current power level.’

‘Mm.’

‘Thanks for the help, A. I’m sure seeing your sister like that isn’t easy. Aura corruption is really messed up.’

‘Mm.’

‘Alright, you go back to the leaf. Work with Iggy to find better ways to link your power and consciousness with this Mana construct. I’ll try to get you more Mana to work with on this side.’

‘Mm.’

‘Um, right…Good talk…ya...I’ll release you now.’

I stomped on the floor and the blue circle appeared again. A-chan merged down into it and vanished. I looked around the hall I was in and then up at the hole in the ceiling.

‘Now if I could only figure out where I am…’