The Ancient Ones come out of the building and materialize their sword in their right hand once again.

AO:" So, you have decided to join us, have you, Reaper?"

Calli:" You got a problem with that?" she yelled out at the monster staring them down.

Kiara:" Calli... Can you hold them off for a bit? I need to talk to someone."

Calli simply looks at her and nods, then takes out her scythe that was on her back, and lunges at The Ancient Ones.

---

Sonnenschwert:(Kiara... I know this will be hard for you to hear, but I will not lie to you. Your fighting was good, you have done all you could have, however... You were much stronger when you fought Nanashi Mumei.)

Kiara doesn't seem surprised by this statement but still, she puts her head down and clenches her fist, feeling disappointed in herself.

Sonnenschwert:(That should not come as a shock to you. You had lost your powers, and when they had returned, you used this ability right away.)

Kiara:(I-I didn't have a choice...)

Sonnenschwert:(I am quite aware of that. Combining The Way of The Sword with your martial arts technique was also a smart move, it almost makes up for the difference in your strength. But I must warn you, with all the power you've used up, combined with the wounds you've suffered... This form will not last much longer.)

Kiara:(…)

When Kiara looked discouraged, she gets lightly pushed by wind from behind her. She turns around and sees Mumei watching her with her arms crossed and a serious look on her face. She turns back around and, despite her not saying anything, Mumei's light push was able to motivate her.

Sonnenschwert:(My apologies. My words were not meant to make you feel bad.)

Kiara:(No, it's okay. Thank you for telling me. I could already tell I was weaker than before. Nothing I can do about that. I'll just do everything I can with the power I have left.)

Sonnenschwert:(That is more like you now. But, before you go, I must tell you this. If you wish to use that, with the Reaper woman, do it quickly, before your power runs out.)

Kiara:(...)

---

While Kiara was talking with her sword, Calli was fighting The Ancient Ones. She flew towards them and they did the same with her. They both swing their blades towards each other and they collide.

During the collision, The Ancient Ones charge red lasers from their eyes, Calli's eyes widen when she realizes she can't dodge it. She quickly moves her head, but their laser still hits her and it blows off the left half of her face.

Calli remains unfazed by this and pushes them away with her scythe. Then, the left part of her skull returns and her mouth begins moving.

Calli:" Unfortunately for you..." she says, while her face and hair regenerates completely "I am also immortal." 

AO:(… It was fortunate that the Phoenix decided to sacrifice her immortality, however, this woman will be a nuisance... We will simply have to destroy her until she cannot fight back anymore.)

They both fly towards each other. They lift their blades up, but right before they hit, Calli summons a huge skeletal arm and punches them downwards with it, sending them to the ground and them making a crater in it along with a cloud of smoke. She materializes a black steel rod in her left hand, as she's about to throw it, dozens more rods appear around her and all begin raining down on The Ancient Ones . Shortly after, all the rods get sent flying back towards her, Calli deflects them by spinning her scythe in a circle with one hand. After their counterattack finishes and the smoke dissipates, she notices that they're nowhere to be found.

Calli:(They're gone? Wait, this means they'll attack...)

Calli quickly turns around to see The Ancient Ones coming out of a portal from behind her, while swinging their sword at her.

Calli:(From behind!)

She swings back at them with her scythe and pushes them away. Then, Kiara comes flying towards her.

Kiara:" I'm here, sorry about that!"

Calli:" It's fine, don't worry about it."

Kiara:" Calli, I don't think we're going to be able to kill them without using it..."

Calli:" Yeah, I realized that-"

The Ancient Ones fly towards them both and Calli slowly raises her left hand and points her palm at them. Black chains materialize around her hand, and she sends them towards The Ancient Ones. They stop moving and put out their left hand to block them, but the chains simply wrap around it.

AO:(What are these chains?... )

Calli grabs the chains and wraps them around her own arm, then swings The Ancient Ones into a building. They remain unfazed by this and swing their sword at the chains, but nothing happens.

AO:(We cannot break them?! What is this?)

Calli:" Don't even bother. The Chains of Hell are unbreakable."

AO:" Is that so?" they get a smug look on their face as they say that.

Kiara:" CALLI, LET GO OF THEM!!"

The Ancient Ones summon one of their big black hands and grab the middle of the chains with it, then pull them towards themselves. Calli, since she was still holding the chains with her hand, gets swung towards them and Kiara quickly follows her. Calli stops holding the chaisn and makes them disappear, but it’s too late. The Ancient Ones wrap their sword with dark purple energy and swing it towards Calli. Right before their sword reaches her, Kiara kicks Calli in the side of her stomach and sends her flying into a building, then blocks their sword with her own. She swings her sword and sends them flying away with a stream of flames, then quickly flies towards the building she kicked Calli into.

She sees her coming out with the right side of her stomach regenerating from burn marks.

Kiara:" Sorry Calli!!"

Calli:" Man, did you put all you had into that kick or something?" she says while her stomach regenerates back to normal. "You didn't even have to do that; I'm immortal, you know. "

Kiara:" I know, I just thought getting kicked wouldn't be as bad as getting cut in half! "

Calli:" It's okay, nevermind that now! What do we do?... I can already tell they've recovered from your attack before, they'll be coming back at us any second now! I don't think we have enough time to do it..." 

Both looked down at the ground in despair, not knowing how to put their only way of winning into motion. It was as if they had already lost. Mumei watched, as they stood there helplessly, before shouting at them in an annoyed voice.

Mumei:" What are you two waiting for?! If you want to use that thing, do it already! I didn't train you for you to act like this!!" she yelled out at her disciples, with her fists clenched.

Motivated by her words, both Kiara and Calli raise their heads and look at one another with a slight smile on their face and then nod. 

The Ancient Ones emerge from a portal above Kiara, swinging their sword down at her, but she remains still, unfazed.

When Mumei sees them, she concentrates wind in each of her fingers in her right hand. With what appears to be tiny tornados circling around her fingers, she shoots them towards The Ancient Ones. Five cylindrical streams of wind dig into their chest, which pushes them upwards far away, with incredible speed.

Kiara:" Now's our chance Calli!"

They both jump up and fly high into the air, then just stop. Kiara connects her right hand with Calli's left hand. They close their eyes, take a deep breath, then exhale.

A huge skeleton begins to form around them and the two girls end up in its ribcage. As soon as all the bones form, they turn blazing orange. Orange feathers cover its arms and body, but its head remains as only an orange skull. A huge pair of wings sprouts from its back and as the feathers reach its feet, they transform into talons.

Mumei stops her attack and The Ancient Ones regain their balance, and they can see the thing appearing before them clearly. They simply float in place, and look at it all with with smile.

AO:" How amusing! If you had something like this up your sleeve, you should have simply said so! We will gladly let you use your trump card, so We can crush it to bits!"

A huge orange sword appears in the Phoenix's left hand and a blue shield on its chest, similar to how Kiara looks. The shield, while looking blue, is somewhat see-through, which means the girls can still be seen from the outside. Calli's Chains of Hell jut out of the creature's neck, and proceed to wrap themselves around its legs, arms and most of all, around the left hand which was holding the huge sword.

AO:" Do you think you can defeat Us, simply by becoming bigger? All you have done now, is make yourself an easier target!"

The Ancient Ones' sword starts glowing a dark purple, then they swing it towards them and shoot a slash of energy. However, before their attack even reaches them, it disappears into nothingness, leaving The Ancient Ones with a shocked look on their face.

AO:(It would seem that they are now emitting even stronger heat than the Phoenix was alone...)

Kiara:" Calli, we've never done this while I was in this form before. Even before, it was hard to maintain, now it will be even harder. I doubt it will last long..."

Calli:" Yeah, I figured as much..."

---

A long time ago, somewhere in a desert

Calli and Kiara were laying on the ground on their backs, panting, looking exhausted, while Mumei was standing in front of them, with her hands on her hips. Calli and Mumei were in their usual outfits, while Kiara was wearing something different. Loose black pants and a black kimono on top, being tightened by an orange belt.

Mumei:" I admit, this combined form of yours is strong. It has a lot of destructive power but, it lacks in speed. And there are two big weaknesses I found. First, it drains your energy way too quickly. If I really wanted to, I could've just kept flying around until you ran out. And second, it seems that you need to hold your hands the whole time in order to maintain this form. That is a huge weakness if your enemy finds out about it. "

The two tired girls sit up straight, and both let out a disappointed sigh.

Kiara:" Yeah, I noticed my energy was getting drained like crazy..."

Calli:" So, is this form even worth it then? Maybe we should just forget about it..." 

Kiara:" But it's so cool!..."

Mumei:" I wouldn't say forget about it. I'd prefer if you just trained your individual powers, rather than rely on a combined form, but I can tell you like this thing, so I'll give you some advice. You can train to maintain the form longer by meditating. Either together normally, or in the form itself. The more you do it, the more you'll adapt to it. So, you don't have to rule it out completely. It could still be useful, as a kind of last ditch effort. "

---

Kiara:" Let's not waste any time then."

The huge Phoenix raises its sword above The Ancient Ones and swings it downwards, completely obliterating their right side, along with their sword.

Upon taking the damage, The Ancient Ones quickly back away into a portal. They emerge from a portal behind them all healed up, but their body starts melting instantly. The girls notice them and without moving a muscle, huge energy of flames surround the Phoenix, making The Ancient Ones back away into a portal once more.

Kiara:" Those portals of theirs are so annoying!"

Calli:" Yeah, I know, but there's nothing we can do about them. Just get ready for their next attack."

The Ancient Ones come out from a portal far away behind them.

AO:(As soon as We get close to them, We begin to melt... No matter, We have already overcome this before. We simply need to keep getting close to them, in order to adapt to their heat!)

The Ancient Ones raise their hands into the air towards the two, and dozens of portals appear all around them. They go inside of a portal in front of them, come out of a portal near them. They begin to melt, back away into the portal, then come out of a different one. They repeat this over and over again, each time they melt slower. The girls were confused by their actions.

Kiara:" What are they doing now? They're not even attacking us..."

Calli's eyes lit up when she came to a realization.

Calli:" I think they're trying to adapt to our heat! They're melting less and less each time they come out of a portal."

Kiara:" ARGH ALRIGHT THEN, JUST GO AHEAD AND TRY TO ADAPT TO THIS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Kiara tightens her grip on Calli's hand in anger, and the huge Phoenix surrounds itself with an enormous cylindrical flame of energy, reaching all the way down to the ground, while encompassing all the portals around them.

Calli:" Kiara, calm down! Don't waste your energy on something like this, you already know it won't work!" Calli yelled out, trying to calm her down, but it didn't work.

The Ancient Ones come out of a portal right behind the flames and then shove their hands inside of them. They were melting, but at the same time, constantly regenerating, all while having a smile on their face. Mumei was watching them with her arms crossed, while looking annoyed.

Mumei:(I can't believe this, they're not even paying attention to their enemy anymore!)

Calli was so overwhelmed by Kiara's heat that she didn't even notice The Ancient Ones. She kept sweating and panting, then her hand that was being held tightly by Kiara, began to melt. 

Calli:" KIARA! YOU'LL MELT MY HAND OFF, YOU IDIOT! STOP IT ALREADY! WE'LL LOSE THIS FORM IF YOU KEEP GOING! "

And finally, as Kiara looks at Calli's hand, which now consists of only bones, she lets out a gasp and quickly loosens her grip.

Kiara:" I'm so sorry Calli, I... I don't know what came over me... " she says while panting and the cylindrical flame of energy begins to slowly disappear.

Calli:" It's fine... At least you calmed down before it was too late..." she says while regenerating her hand.

After the flames of energy completely disappear, they notice that nothing has changed. The Ancient Ones quickly go inside of a portal, with Kiara and Calli never knowing they were there.

Kiara:" Tch, even after all that, these portals are still around us... I guess they can't be destroyed. "

Calli:" That should have been obvious..."

The Ancient Ones come out of a portal further in front of them with their arms crossed, then the portals that were surrounding the Phoenix disappear.

AO:" We must admit, that was quite amusing to look at. However, in your anger and distress, you must have not noticed that We were right behind those flames of yours. We have already adapted to your heat."

The Ancient Ones raise their right hand and a black ball of energy appears above it, with purple electricity around it. Dozens of energy beams start coming out of the ball, all going towards Calli and Kiara. The huge Phoenix puts its sword in front of them and all the beams crash into it. They don't damage the sword, but the sight still puts a smile on The Ancient Ones' face and they stop their attack.

AO:" It would appear that Our attacks can reach you now. " they say as they make the black ball of energy disappear "Even so, it is clear that Our sword, as it is now, will not be enough."

Calli:" As it is now?..."

Kiara:" Don't tell me they're going to-"

The girls, while remaining confused, had an idea of what is coming next.

AO:" That is right, We shall transform it to match your sword!"

They materialize their sword in their right hand, and then a huge black hand appears to the right of them. They throw their sword in the air above them and as it spins, it changes its size, now being as huge as the Phoenix's sword. The big arm next to them grabs the sword, and The Ancient Ones fly towards the Phoenix, with the hand following them.

Calli and Kiara do the same with their Phoenix, both it and The Ancient Ones raise their swords, then swing it down, towards the other. The huge swords clash, both releasing a huge amount of energy. The Phoenix's sword covered in flames, The Ancient Ones' sword covered in black energy, with purple electricity surrounding it. Neither of them show any signs of backing down, the swords continued to collide until a huge explosion between them occurs, making them back away from each other. 

The Phoenix points the tip of its blade towards The Ancient Ones and a huge fireball forms in front of it. It shoots and The Ancient Ones are shocked by how fast it's moving, given its size. They fly away and manage to dodge it, but the Phoenix shoots dozens more fireballs at them. The fireballs were going all around them, most weren't even close to touching them. The Ancient Ones stop moving and notice that every fireball has stopped mid air. They were completely surrounded and then every single one of them moved in towards them with incredible speed. They all crash into The Ancient Ones, creating dozens of huge explosions, followed by a cloud of smoke. 

Kiara:" Did we get them?..." 

Calli:" Looks like it... But I doubt this is over, don't celebrate yet."

When the smoke dissipates, the only thing they see are two huge hands interlocked with each other. The hands let go of one another, and reveal that The Ancient Ones were inside of them. They make one of the hands disappear, while in the other, their huge sword materializes once again.

AO:" We must admit, that was a good try. If you had done that earlier, perhaps it would have been enough to kill Us. Do you have any other tricks?" they say with a smug look on their face.

The Phoenix flies towards them again, with its huge wings flapping and a trail of flames following it, it swings its sword at The Ancient Ones and they block it with their own. They begin to back away from each other and then close in to attack again. They both keep disappearing and reappearing in the sky, with their swords clashing with one another every time, emitting flames and purple sparks with each hit. 

They repeat this over and over again, up until the Phoenix suddenly grabs the sword with both hands. It does a sideways slice towards the huge hand, instead of the blade itself. The attack destroys the hand, along with the hilt of the sword, then sends it flying far away and it crashes into a building at the surface. While still holding the huge sword with both hands, the Phoenix quickly swings it down at The Ancient Ones, but they stop the sword between their hands. Calli points her left hand at them, sending the Chains of Hell towards them and they wrap completely themselves around The Ancient Ones' arms. Then, as the sword starts glowing red with flames covering it, becoming hotter and hotter, The Ancient Ones point their horns at the two girls and a black ball of energy starts forming in front of them in the middle. 

Calli:" That... That doesn't look good!" 

Kiara:" Dammit! I can't... Move the sword!" 

Both struggled to speak, while having pained expressions on their faces. 

The Ancient Ones' sword, which was now back to normal, began flying back towards them. A huge arm appears next to them, it grabs the sword, swings it upwards and cuts The Ancient Ones' own arms off, along with the tip of the Phoenix's sword and the Chains of Hell fall off. The tip of the Phoenix's sword spins in the air while falling down and digs into the ground upon reaching it. The Ancient Ones, while regenerating their arms, finally shoot their attack, which they have been charging up the whole time.  The black energy beam was enormous, it hit the Phoenix in its stomach and started pushing it upwards. 

Calli quickly materializes her scythe in her right hand, then throws it at The Ancient Ones' horns. She cuts them off and their attack explodes on themselves and the beam starts to slowly disappear. The explosion blew their head off, but it quickly started to regenerate. 

Calli and Kiara took no damage from it, but their Phoenix did. The shield on its chest now had a huge visible crack in it. 

Calli:" DAMMIT!! There's no way we'll get another chance like that again... It looks like there's no other way, we have to destroy those huge hands, the sword and themselves all at the same time... With our sword broken and how much energy we have left, that's impossible..."  

Kiara, while seeming to agree with Calli, gets annoyed upon hearing that word. 

Kiara:" Impossible? I don't care how bad it seems or how much energy we have left! It's not impossible until we're dead! Come on, let's give it everything we got, Calli! We're doing this for Gura and Amelia after all!" 

Calli:" Alright!!" she says with a slight smile on her face and holds Kiara’s hand tighter.

The Phoenix starts flying down towards The Ancient Ones, and attacks while holding the sword with both hands. The two swords clash and the Phoenix pushes The Ancient Ones further and further away, until they stop them by firing a purple slash of energy from their sword.

AO:" Impressive! You still fight, despite your sword being broken! However, We can tell! That fused form of yours will not last for much longer!"

Calli & Kiara:" SHUT THE HELL UP!!" 

They both yelled out and went to attack again. As the two swords collided, seemingly out of nowhere, a huge explosion of red energy occurred far away behind them, from the direction the rest of the girls were. 

 

To Be Continued...

---

A new chapter already? Crazy, I know. I want more views and dopamine so, I decided to post this part early. I already wrote a lot for the next part and, as it's one of my favorites, I'll try finish it as fast as possible. Man, I actually love this next part so much and I'm so happy I finally reached it. I was thinking about it all the time! My favorite character finally appears! (hint: red).
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, let me know what you thought about it in the comments!