She only managed to escape by dodging the first few hits but soon was overcome by the sheer number of the attacks that had been waiting for her.
The earth around her quaked and trembled. Vibrations could be felt in the whole forest as if the forest itself was throbbing but nobody could be sure what was happening at ground Zero since the cloud of sand and dirt and obscured it from the vision of those who were busy witnessing the fight.
The golden light vanished but the dust had yet to settle down so nothing could be assumed immediately.
They were all waiting for the dust clouds to scatter in order to determine the status of Kyouko who had been so heavily bombarded by the golden palms.
This was not the first time that Calista had seen this skill of Valerie but every time she saw it, it gave her the same sense of awe and worship as it was giving her now. She was feeling very optimistic about the result. Hopefully, Kyouko would have perished but even if they were lucky, she should at least be heavily injured and her battle capabilities should have been lowered.
The silence after the attack had made it impossible to discern what had happened. They could only wait.
"Is it over? Did it actually work?"
Calista murmured to herself as if she couldn't bring herself to believe it all.
Just then the ominous silence was broken by a sharp sound that originated from the ground zero. The ground had clearly sunk in and the Kyouko was currently busy getting out of the crater that she had been smashed into.
A wave of flame erupted from around her and the surrounding dust clouds produced a shattering sound as they fell on the ground. The high temperature of the flame had caused the sand to turn into glass which had then fallen onto the ground.
As soon as the sight was restored, the first thing that they saw was a string of black beads that were revolving around Kyouko seemingly floating in the air around her.
"If I didn't have the Yasakani no Magatama, I really might have been killed by you. I am impressed. You really didn't hold back."
As she said that, she dusted off her clothes in an attempt to show that nothing had happened to her at all.
Other than her slightly tattered clothing, her body had no signs of physical injury at all. The Magatamas revolving around her had born the brunt of the attack from the looks of it.
Calista could not bring herself to believe it at all. She had seen it for herself. There was no way that an attack of that level was unable to harm her. She had thought that the worst-case scenario would be that Kyouko would be injured and not dead but fate had something else in store it seemed. The enemy wasn't even dazed in the wake of the power that Valerie had released.
Calista thought that they might have underestimated Kyouko by assuming her to be an S-rank mage. With the power of the imperial regalia, she was clearly stronger than most S-rank mages.
Valerie on the other hand did not reveal any expression at all despite the frustration that she had been feeling on the inside. This had been her strongest technique but Kyouko had managed to guard against it with the Yasakani no Magatama.
Zavier too felt that this was a bit too much. Just how powerful were the imperial regalia? They were practically game breaking if they were on the same level as the Yasakani no Magatama.
Only now did he understand why she had killed her whole family for it. It was just that powerful.
Zavier could do nothing in a fight of this calibre so he was hanging at the back waiting for Valerie's signal regarding their next move. He felt that escaping was the best option in the current scenario but that was only possible if someone could hold Kyouko back and stop her from pursuing the rest.
Zavier had been prepared to take on that duty since this death meant nothing at all. His consciousness could travel to his other clone at the moment of his death. Therefore, he didn't want anyone else to stay back.
Kyouko's voice rang again and brought him back to reality. She was staring right at Valerie with her cold gaze. Though Valerie was panting due to excessive consumption, she revealed not the least bit of regret, helplessness or fear. She stood straight with an erect back, unwilling to bow down.
"You might have risen to become the most peerless mage among your generation, if you had more time. You might even have become better than I ever was but luck is also a kind of strength. And as luck has it, I was born earlier than you were. So, I have become stronger than you are. And you on the other hand would die a horrible death because of the rotten luck that you were born with and your repulsive instinct to protect those who are weak."
Kyouko raise her right hand and her body began to float while the Magatamas that had been revolving around her sped up and released a dark light.
"Since you have such potential, you have earned my respect. I would love to give you a gift as a token of my respect for you."
With that she stopped talking and started to chant inaudibly but the movement of her lips revealed what she was up to. With each passing second the Magatamas started to spin faster and the light emitted by them became more and more dense.
The aura that was being emitted was nothing like that of Valerie. It was purely malicious and harmful and had the same oppressive air like before. But Zavier felt that the attack had been at the same level as that of Valerie's sacred skill.
The Magatamas gathered up in front of her and started to stick to each other with more of her chanting. The resulting mass scrunched up together to form a dark round mass the size of a watermelon.
"This skill of mine is called 'God's Gift' and just like your 'Vestal's Pray', it is a skill that is exclusive to me. Though mine is not as famous as yours because those who have ever laid their eyes on it have already left ahead for the yellow springs. You will be able to meet them soon enough. This is my gift for you. Enjoy it while you can."
As soon as she finished talking, she released the dense black sphere and it shot straight in the direction of Valerie like a bullet shot out of a gun.
Valerie had long seen through the power hidden inside the black ball but she didn't intend to evade it at all.
Zavier had been constantly looking at her and was worried that she might not be able to handle the attack after her last attack but the unmoved expression on her face gave him the impression that she had something else up her sleeve. Otherwise, there was no way she could have stayed that calm.
He had been waiting for her to make a move or try to evade the upcoming attack but how could he have known that Valerie had already decided on taking the attack head on so that she could keep all of them safe.
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