Three seconds after Rias' glaring lightning attack...
Skullius had quit thinking about why the name Reon, which Rias had uttered, was so familiar, and turned to look at the exchange between Vali and Rias.
He had been about to urge himself to go forward and help – somehow – when he spotted Grutus and Liura. They were both riding the multi-tailed Beckoned Retriever Liura had tamed, which featured a ring of light over its head.
Grutus seemed a bit pale, but Liura firmly sent her gaze to the figured close to where the pillar of green fire burned ferociously.
"Come on. Let's go help her," Liura urged Grutus while gesturing to Vali. "With her on our side, we could do something."
Grutus looked at his female partner as if she was insane, and stuttered.
"You... you want to fight THAT? Open your damn eyes Liura! This isn't something we can compete against! I had hope before... and I was even willing to find out what this shady business with undeath was about... but even our fallen friends wouldn't appreciate us dying like chickens!"
Liura was awestruck.
"Don't tell me that whole thing earlier was just a facade...again! That light show scared me too, but I'm not going to run and live with this... this grating feeling at my chest that we lived while our friends died for what...? Some dreadful scheme that may well go beyond our little nation?" Liura barked.
"Oh please! The stronger we get, the longer we live and the longer we live the easier it will be to swallow whatever regrets we have. It doesn't have to be me out there. It doesn't have to be us. That not what our lives have taught us, right?! As for... well... This was a battle royale, and whatever reasons behind it, we all came in expecting death!" Grutus shot back.
He huffed, watching Liura express disgust at his words. Then he continued.
"Let's just do what we meant to in the beginning. Steal our Units back from that bastard and get out like that boy said! That would be mourning enough for our friends."
For people who had known each for more than half their lives, making a living through various, legal means, from registering as Contract Knights, becoming mercenaries for a time and even dabbling in the social evil that was robbery in their earlier years of collusion, Liura couldn't believe that dispersing the fruits of her bond with Hun and Mandon was possible.
Grutus made it look like it, but she knew he could tell himself and others as many lies as he could to keep himself alive. Sometimes that required the help of the others, and other times, that relied solely on his decision.
In Grutus' mind, this situation nodded towards the latter.
Liura was about to rage out some more when she felt a tight grip on her shoulder, and she heard another falling on Grutus.
...!
The two were alarmed.
The Retriever beneath them reacted a moment too late, and in the next second, it was suddenly... turned flat.
...!!!
Grutus, Liura and the third party reached the ground, all three standing on a glossy, glassy thin pane.
"Move... and you'll share the same fate," a voice said, appealing to the shock burning within the two at the sight of the frozen beast spottable under their feet.
"Tell me. What in the world is going on here?"
Grutus and Liura looked at each other, a bit of defiance in the latter, and a smidgeon of compliance in the former.
"Maxim!" Skullius, who had hurried over called, his eyes fixed on the pink haired woman, whom, as he had been hoping, looked alright. Or at least seemed so.
Maxim turned and her face visibly relaxed a little at the sight of the Hybrid Luman, but she didn't ease up on her captives.
"Festos... I almost thought you were done for," she said with a chuckle.
"Thanks for the faith," Skullius said hollowly. "I'm guessing you didn't find Tallo?"
Maxim shrugged.
"We were sent flying pretty far from each other. I guessed he would be rushing here too, but... given that I almost died to the blinding light just now, I'm starting to turn cautiously pessimistic," she said, her eyes getting drawn to the battle happening close to the pillar.
"I see," Skullius said.
That was a morbid conclusion Maxim had drawn, but he was sure Tallo would be fine.
Everyone alive should be heading towards the pillar of green fire, so perhaps he would show.
Skullius' senses finally gave attention to the burning fury Liura radiated, all of it directed towards him. While unable to suddenly make a move towards him at the moment, she was ready to pounce if compliance and defiance gave the same result.
"What?" Skullius asked her with a frown.
Liura didn't answer.
Sensing the tension, Maxim raised a brow, and read the likely situation as much as she could without having anything explained to her.
"Want me to kill them? I could use the Units," she suggested, startling Liura and Grutus into action, but with a surge of mana, the latter was turned flat with Planate High, falling to the ground almost soundlessly.
Liura froze.
Skullius scoffed.
Well, he doubted he and Maxim and could work together with these two, or better yet offer substantial help in the current conflict anyway. So perhaps since Rias had said the Units were still valuable, he might as well let Maxim take them. If he told her they were the ones to split them up, she was likely to do it without asking anyway.
"Sur—"
"Now, now. That won't do," a voice interrupted Skullius along with a set of steps.
...!
"What the..." Skullius gaped. Maxim and Liura turned tense upon sensing the pressure gushing from the new arrival.
"Vali?" the Hybrid Luman continued in his surprise.
Indeed. Standing before the group, was the cheerful, voluptuous figure of Vali.
But...
Skullius spread his senses, and found that Vali and Gabel were also locked in combat with Rias a distance away!
So... so what was this?
"Let's not go about killing each other just yet. Not at such a crucial time. We're all important resources," Vali said with a narrow glint in her eyes.
Then, to the stunned trio's surprise, Vali arched her neck to the left, and her body bulged, flesh and bone clearly heard breaking and squirming from her right until... until she split in two!
...!
Surprises seldom walked alone.... so Vali split once again, turning into four of herself, all surprisingly donning the same revealing black dress the original had.
Skullius, Maxim and Liura maintained vigilance but with as much shock at the sight. The Hybrid Luman in particular was driven to add a "No way!" when Vali suddenly lifted her hand and set up, around them, a plum-coloured barrier so intricate, it couldn't have been from a mere Auxiliary Technique.
That meant it had to be, as Skullius had thought during Vali's first REAL fight in the Preliminaries...
"No way..." Skullius muttered again.
"Alright," Vali said with a wide grin. "How about we go around and explain how our abilities work, hmm? Trust me. All our lives might depend on it. And I really, really... want to kill that kid."
"..."
***
In the present time, Rias was momentarily taken with the rising golden white tree in the distance. Something like a wide, purplish barrier was breaking around it, revealing a group of contenders he hadn't seen were still around until now.
These contenders... they seemed to be doing something.
Rias recognised their actions far too late.
It started with a thin, quick object hurtling towards him while swaying little by little.
The crows spread out around this world were knocked into or killed as it passed, bathed in a watery Aura. Rias only allowed it to get close without evading, because he was quite curious on what it was, and his ability to flash out of the way even if it was an inch from him.
This turned out to not be as good of an idea, unfortunately.
When the object, which up close was revealed to be a thin glass-like pane, on it, a beautiful depiction of something like a large, whitish blue rune, as well as a glowing half a skull mark, was three meters away, it suddenly shifted from its flat state, and became a smooth, lengthy laser that zoomed so fast towards Rias that he didn't see it before it penetrated his chest to protrude from the other side of his body, carrying him away!
It was like watching a torch fall into an dark dungeon; Rias' figure was beckoned towards the mass of nothingness he had created prior!
The crows became livid.
The Vali beside Gabel nudged the man harshly.
"Out of the way!" she shrieked, and the two dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding a large arrow of Aura that was bathed in a dark crimson flame, and specks of lightning which cried on its way, before smashing against the shiny barrier erected around the pillar of greenish black flame!
There was a deafening noise, and quite the spectacular explosion.
The original Vali who stood close to the pillar could already see the result before the flame and obscurity cleared.
There were a few cracks... and that was the extent of the damage caused.
But that wasn't outside of expectations.
Close to a kilometre away, the brilliant figure of the Preeminent Attegoth stood firm, made with glowing, almost ethereal bones, skulls making up its canopy. Skullius stood before it, a complex look on his face, his fingers locked together as he spread his focus far and wide.
It had taken a lot of convincing for him to use this. In the end, he had only opted to reveal that he had something like this when Vali mentioned that accuracy was essential for what they needed to do.
Quite honestly, a little bit of intimidation from the Kinn Family Head had also played a vital role in making everyone cooperate, especially for the others, whom Vali didn't speak to as smoothly as Skullius.
Liura, Maxim, and Grutus – who had been restored – stood around the glowing tree, all still showing signs of wild awe at the luminous creation.
They wondered what it was.
They couldn't imagine how something so beautiful and yet so dreadfully designed could stand before their eyes.
But it wasn't time for admiration or questioning.
Liura, whose Incarnation – a large, feminine archer decked in corinthian armour – was drawing a large bow, and a fitting, large arrow, funnelled more of her focus while riding her Retriever.
She felt a rush of strength burrow through her like a tide of blessings, increasing the potency of her Aura greatly.
The nocked arrow of Aura billowed with more destructive power and turned bright. Liura herself felt a little invincible.
She wasn't alone in feeling this though.
The others felt the same.
...Because each of them had a Vali standing behind them, gushing what seemed like an infinite amount of edifying and replenishing energy within their bodies!
"The next!" one of the Valis called immediately after the last arrow hit its mark!
Liura urged her Retriever on, and it growled. Above, the clouds swirled and sent a shimmering bolt of lightning that attached itself to the bulky Incarnation's arrow, applying a bright tone, and a lace of potential calamity to it.
Grutus begrudgingly extended his hand towards the arrow, and sent a sizable portion of his Aura over it, as did Maxim who stood close to him, further bolstering the power of the attack many fold.
The arrow hummed dangerously, growing twice as large.
Skullius attached a half a skull mark to the arrow and a split moment later, Liura set it loose without taking precise aim!
With a harsh crackle through the air, the arrow reached the thick stack of plates around the pillar of flame, and caused a grander explosion than the last, the damage it did being many times greater.
The arrow had been so powerful, that multiple glass plates had been borne through with harsh effort, creating a gaping, smoking hollow!
The third arrow was already being prepared when Rias suddenly emerged, but for a moment, none recognised that he had returned after his second-long forced trip because of the swarming crows that left many feathers everywhere.
That momentary lapse, cost the contenders a great deal...
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