"A power source," Melpomene hisses. "A power source. They're using us as a fucking power source!"

"They used the Antipathy as a fucking power source," I correct. "Or more specifically, they privatized Antipathy-based power in an Antipathy city. We can check to see whether that power was actually going to the city itself or not, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't going to the city at all."

"Don't be obtuse," Melpomene growls.

"I'm not being obtuse," I insist. "I'm being specific. It does us no good to assume the sins of our enemies without proper verification. If you plan to stop them, it's best we know exactly what it is we're trying to stop."

"Y-yeah!" Thea chimes in. "Maybe they were just trying to uplift the Antipathy. Maybe they just wanted to help them!"

"Look around you!" Melpomene snaps. "You can't possibly be arguing that they aren't doing anything wrong here. A power plant of children!"

"Most likely children and adults," I correct again. "But no, Melpomene, I'm definitely not arguing they did nothing wrong. Like, at best this is cyberpunk dystopia level shit. This just isn't the time for screaming, raging, and jumping to conclusions. This is the time for finally getting to the bottom of this mystery. Right?"

"Luna is absolutely correct," Nanaya says simply.

"…Right," Melpomene relents. "Right, of course. Well, lead the way, then."

I nod, stepping towards the front glass and forcing the door open. The inside is much the same as the last one of these we found, though this time, rummaging around the front desk allows me to find a computer bank that looks mostly intact. I motion Thea over and open my ports, letting her hook me up enough to start pulling data from the drives. It's annoyingly slow-going, but these things are pretty old.

…And corrupted. Antipathy Antipathy Antipathy Antipathy. But not everything has been destroyed, not by a long shot. In fact, there's quite a bit here, most of it seeming to pertain to the power plant itself. Things like the employee manifest have every name replaced with the word 'Antipathy,' but a lot of stuff is still intact. There are regular reports on power generation and profit margins, which I can read because they tend to be written in the Antipathy language… unlike most of the interdepartmental messages and alien emails. It seems like anything a Preserver sends to another Preserver is in their home language, which I don't understand. But anything a Preserver sends to an Antipathy is readable… other than any of the Antipathy's names.

Antipathy. Antipathy. Antipathy.

It all looks like uncomfortably familiar corporate jargon, by and large. Hey middle managers, why are your numbers low? Hey maintenance, why isn't everything perfect? Hey people who are doing their jobs as instructed, why are you accruing expenses? There's even a particularly disgusting message from a Preserver marketer asking Antipathy managers the best ways to attract more 'employees' without paying anyone more money.

"…It looks like the Preservers ran their companies almost exactly how humans run theirs," I hum.

"If you can't find any evidence of wrongdoing, you probably just aren't looking hard enough," Melpomene insists. I give her an incredulous look.

"God, I don't know how I keep forgetting you people have no idea what living in human society is like," I sigh. "Trust me, Mel, that is not a good thing. Human corporate structure is a tangled mess of monstrousness. The entire core premise of the stock market means that the vast majority of company shareholders aren't there because they care the slightest bit about the company's products or services, they're just trying to use money to make more money and damn the consequences."

"And that's what's happening here?" Nanaya asks. "The energy plant's abuses are profit-motivated?"

"Well, they're also energy-motivated, at least," I admit. "Some of these reports discuss finding ways to increase the percentage of energy being transported back to the Preserver homeworld without causing power outages in the Antipathy cities they're also powering. They continuously sucked the Antipathy drier and drier, giving them less and less of what they made."

"And it was all joy?" Thea asks, horrified. "They only took the most important emotion?"

"Debatable," Melpomene says quietly.

"There are a few messages in here about researching 'safer' ways to use other emotions," I say, "but it doesn't look like they figured it out, at least at the time the messages were sent."

"…That makes sense," Nanaya hums. "Using magic for a purpose counter to why the magic was created is very dangerous. Vague, undirected happiness is unlikely to cause any adverse effects when used for just about anything, but if the Preserves attempted to power their society with, say, the resentment the Antipathy had towards them? Many would have likely perished. You cannot get rid of unwanted emotions so easily."

"That's probably a good thing," I say. "Imagine if the Preservers could have powered their society with the resentment of the Antipathy. Not only would they be even more crazy dangerous, they'd be preventing their victims from feeling that resentment. The Antipathy would have ended up as slaves completely unable to form meaningful desires to rebel. Any sort of motivation they might muster would be snatched away before it could come to anything."

"Oh," Anath says. "So that's why they did it."

"What?" Thea asks, turning to her.

"That's why they destroyed themselves," Anath states simply. "Because the Preservers figured it out."

She points at Melpomene's transformation stone, the purple hairpin pulsing dangerously on the side of her head. We follow her finger, staring with disbelief. Oh, fuck. She's… she's right, isn't she?

"I have often shielded myself with rage," Nanaya hums. "I did not consider it odd because it was my rage, of course it would follow my will, but… I am often most angry at myself. Yet, it still works."

"It's… it's only Antipathy artifacts where we have trouble using specific emotions to perform contradictory tasks," Thea agrees. "The transformation stones have never had that problem."

"I don't know if I've ever risked blowing myself up, but I definitely need to wrangle my emotions in a specific direction when I cast, or I lose enormous amounts of efficiency," I agree. "I've used red magic to cast spells while I have a blue crystal configuration before, just because that was still the best option."

"A unity of purpose is still a great boon for any user of magic," Nanaya agrees, "but things are different when using the functions of the transformation stone. The magic is so easily forced in whatever direction we desire… but how?"

A slamming noise shakes us out of our musings as Melpomene's tail hits the floor tiles hard enough to shatter them. She stares at her claws, shaking with rage and disbelief.

"The Preservers were going to enslave not just their bodies, but their minds, their very souls!" she breathes.

"Why yes," I agree flatly. "Truly horrible."

Nanaya glances at me, and my entire soul tries to vomit as I realize I pushed that one too far. Damn it. Gotta tone it down.

"They fought for their freedom," Melpomene continues, the mist in the room seeming to swirl slowly around her, "and they lost. So they collectively chose death over servitude. Would humanity have been able to do the same? Would we have it in us?"

"Not the entirety of humanity, perhaps," Nanaya says, "but some of us? Many of us? Yes. Humans have fought to the death for freedom before."

"And they have fought to the death for slavery," I shrug. "All that matters to them is what side of things they're on."

"Well we're certainly all on the same side for this," Melpomene hisses.

"W-wait, hold on," Thea stammers. "We have no reason to believe this is going to happen to Earth. If anything, it seems extra likely it won't! The Preservers are committed to non-interference, right?"

"That's a good point," I agree. "They're so committed to it, it causes them to be kind of stupid."

"It isn't wise to assume an enemy is stupid when they could simply be playing on a level beyond your understanding," Nanaya warns.

"It's not wise to assume an enemy is playing beyond your understanding when they could simply be stupid," I counter.

"What does it matter!?" Melpomene snaps, unfurling her wings and sending the mists around her into brief, violent cyclones. "It's not as though we can ask and expect them to tell the truth. Or to even say anything! We have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. And now we know exactly what that is! We have to be prepared. We have to be!"

"For what, a full-scale invasion?" Nanaya asks. "I doubt such a thing will occur. A society's power needs do not simply stop when sources of power are lost. When the Preservers lost the Antipathy, they would have been scrambling for an immediate solution. I suspect whatever that happens to be has already been in motion for some time."

"…Of course," Melpomene hisses. "Yes, you're right. You're all right. They've changed tactics. They… the Dark World, it…"

Her eyes flick around as thoughts rapidly form behind them. I doubt they're anything good. I should get her to focus.

"Well, our plan is the same, right?" I say. "We need to get humanity on our side. To do that, we needed evidence. And now… we have it. We have all the evidence we could ever need."

I tap my chest with a 'clank clank.'

"Every single thing I've seen is recorded. Give me the word, and I'll make myself an entire bot network of social media posts. I'll assemble a website and put everything on it. I'll compile an entire Antipathy language dictionary. I'll record messages from all of you, edit things to make us look legitimate. We've hit the jackpot, ladies. This is absolutely evidence of needed action. We just have to make a big enough stink for people to smell it."

The Dark Rebellion's eyes go wide as they turn their attention to me, staring blankly as they think through the implications. Nanaya is the first to break out into a grin, a somewhat shocking expression on her usually stoic face. But one after another, the whole team starts smiling.

"Well. Let's work up a sweat, then," Melpomene says eagerly.

- - -

"Castalia, you don't have to come," I insist.

"I disagree," Castalia says simply.

"You're retired!" I insist, accelerating south at a pace she easily matches.

I mean, it's Castalia. What were we expecting?

"I am capable of deciding when to work despite my retirement," Castalia says. "I have decided. Please drop the subject, Fulgora."

"Okay," I say. "Sorry."

"I look forward to seeing you in action, Castalia," Amaterasu chimes in. "I have been… lacking, in my duties. I hope witnessing your power will help me understand it."

"There are no shortcuts to strength," Castalia warns. "…No good ones, anyway. And hopefully, we will not be fighting."

"I'm not sure what else we'd be doing," I say. "Uma'tama found Su unconscious and then got the report that all five Earth Guardians protecting the kaiju gate were taken out simultaneously. We're either about to enter a kaiju fight ourselves, or…"

"Melpomene," Castalia says quietly.

"…Yeah," I confirm. "Or her."

"Or both," Amaterasu hisses.

"Or both," I agree. "But… hopefully not both."

"If so, the two of you will focus on the kaiju," Castalia orders. "I will keep Melpomene away from you."

I can't say I love the implication that Melpomene is likely to be the more dangerous of the two. I also can't say I'm surprised. I've fought kaiju before. And far more briefly, I've fought Melpomene. The flight continues in silence for a bit longer, with Amaterasu unexpectedly being the one to break it.

"…I am sorry," she says, forcing the words out. "I was brought here to help, and I… have failed.

"It's not like I've been particularly successful myself," I answer. "It's fine, Su-san."

"No," she says. "I should… apologize to you in particular. I thought you were weak. But you're not."

Oh.

"I'm not exactly strong, either," I disagree.

"I don't think you realize how much you have improved in so little time," Amaterasu says, shaking her head. "I am not sure you were ever weak, but you have only gotten stronger. You have gotten stronger quickly. I wish I knew how."

"She reached a greater understanding of herself," Castalia answers, which I'm thankful for. I'm not sure what I would have said. "Her situation is unique, and she couldn't cast properly until she recognized that and formed her own methods."

"I see," Amaterasu says. "So not a method I can use, then."

"No," Castalia confirms. "But you are not weak, Amaterasu. You are one of the stronger Earth Guardians alive. The problem is that the threats we face here are utterly unlike the monsters you are used to fighting. You cannot simply overcome them through raw force and expect them to unthinkingly rush to their own demise. Your enemies think and plan."

"…I understand," Amaterasu nods thoughtfully.

"I've had the advantage of experience fighting Anath over and over," I add. "She's… at least a little monstrous, but it's still very different. Most Earth Guardians don't know how to fight people like themselves, but I have experience."

"Raw strength and speed are all I know," Amaterasu frowns. "It is… a difficult adjustment. Especially when I am often outclassed in both. I do feel like more of each could turn the tides, if I could simply unlock it."

"There are no fast paths to strength," Castalia insists. "…Except for class changing, I suppose. But that's more the culmination of slowly-built strength and personal growth."

She glances at me when she says that, and I can't help but do a double-take. Does she think I'm going to class change? Well, I suppose 'reactualize' is the proper term the Preservers use, but I've mostly heard it being called a class change for some reason. I think it's from video games or something? It refers to a moment in which an Earth Guardian's incarnate form changes its name, and sometimes also its initial transformation incantation, almost always resulting in a massive boost in power.

Which makes sense! A reactualization effectively occurs when someone 'outgrows' their old incarnate form—not in a physical sense, but an emotional and personal one. It's not something that can happen very often, but it has happened to me before. When I was a lot younger, my incarnate form was similar to what Minerva's is now, but after… after the death of my original team, I became Furious Avenger Survivor Fulgora. I hated it. It wasn't fair that I got such a boost in strength after it was already far too late.

I thought I was class changing again the first time Minerva entered her incarnate form, but then we learned I was still also Fulgora, and… yeah.

Yep.

We eventually figured it out.

We needed a LOT of help, though. But hey, here we are! Su-san is right, you know. We really have gotten a lot stronger.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Not strong enough.

No, never. But can't we still be proud of what we've accomplished?

I… no. It doesn't feel right. How can we justify being proud of anything we've done? There's a reason Castalia needs to be out here with us on this emergency call.

Well there's also a reason she's acknowledging our strength! Look, again, I'm never going to tell you to stop improving. But when everyone keeps telling us we ARE improving, can't we take a moment to acknowledge we might be doing something right? I'm starting to feel like things are finally making a little bit of sense, you know?

I… I can't say I do. But if nothing else… I'm glad you're with me, Minerva. I've been pretty awful to you. I resented your entire existence. But the more you become… I don't know, yourself, the more of the joy you feel passes into me. Things like this make more sense when we're you. Things that were so hard before become easy. Honestly, part of me is a little resentful of that, but… most of me is learning to be glad you're here. It should have been obvious to me before that I'm barely half a person. I think what I needed all along was someone to make me complete.

I… oh my gosh. Thank you, Fulgora.

Please don't make too big a deal over it. It's just nice to know there's at least part of me that has her shit together.

Ahh! Well! Gosh! I won't let you down!

I nod, and after a bit more flying the four of us finally manage to reach our destination. Despite the fact that it was a nearly half-hour-long trip, I'm pleasantly surprised to find the flight hasn't even winded me, despite not being particularly angry at anything right now. We have plenty of reasons to be afraid, after all. It's easy to know when we reach our destination, because… god.

There's nothing here but devastation. The liminal space here is little more than steaming gashes torn through the ground and piles of rubble still crackling with purple sparks of lightning. The air is so thick with disgust it's hard not to choke on it. It takes me a moment to process the sheer, raw destruction before I remember that we're partly here to look for survivors.

Will there be survivors? It definitely looks like a kaiju came through here. But if that's the case, where is it? Kaiju are a lot of things, but 'hard to find' definitely isn't one of them. I can't see any sign of whatever caused this or any of the Earth Guardians that inevitably got caught up with it. So where…

"H-hey! O-over here!" a sudden voice coughs, and I turn towards it to spot a ragged-looking Earth Guardian and her four unconscious, human-form teammates lined up next to each other behind her, where they've apparently been dragged so she can keep an eye on all of them at once. The girl is looking bad, with multiple small yet still distinctly open wounds, a broken arm, one eye swollen shut, and burns all over her outfit. And yet she's obviously the one who's the best off.

"Report!" I say, flying down and landing next to her. Huh, I think some of her teammates are boys. That's uncommon.

"I-I'm not even sure, it was… it was those half-monster people from your town, but one of them just… it was over so fast. She wasn't human. She wasn't human at all!"

"Where are they now?" I press, Castalia floating down next to me and enveloping all five of them with her telekinesis, gently lifting them off the ground.

"They went in the portal!" she says. "But then the portal shut behind them. I don't know where it is now, but the liminal space is still here, so…"

"So the portal will be back," Amaterasu hums. "It is the device the six-armed one had, yes?"

"Probably," I confirm. "When she reopened that portal, it appeared in the same spot. About where was it?"

She points with her one good arm towards a spot slightly less obliterated than the surrounding area. I nod at her.

"Okay, we'll get set up," I say.

"You can't fight that thing," the girl insists.

"I can," Castalia says simply. "But we will be getting you to the hospital first. Fulgora, I will be back."

Then, she takes off like a rocket, carrying the injured Guardians away at a speed at least a full order of magnitude higher than I've ever managed in my life.

"Just us, then?" Amaterasu hums.

"She'll be back soon," I say. "But yeah, let's get ready for the worst. I know I've asked already but you're sure you're good to fight? We found you unconscious pretty recently."

"I was not injured much," Amaterasu assures me. "I passed out from emotional exhaustion. I used my Catharsis… badly."

"Considering where we found you… it was the Corrupted, right? Did you really try to fight them on your own again? This fight is probably going to be even worse, and if you're still tired…"

Amaterasu flinches.

"I… recover fast," she says. "Especially from loss. It empowers me. I need to win."

"Hmm. Well, I can certainly relate to that," I shrug, setting up near where the portal will likely appear. "But you need to be careful, alright? We have to work together."

"…Yes," Amaterasu scowls. "You are correct. I am not… completely incapable of learning lessons. I will accept my weakness, at least for now."

"So you'll follow orders?" I press, and Amaterasu nods. Well… alright. Good. "Then here's what we'll…"

I trail off, a rush of air and a coalescence of black mist signaling the end of our time to prepare. One by one, to my rising horror, every single Corrupted exits the portal together, Amalthea carrying with her an absolutely massive collection of artifacts, even bigger than the set we only half-prevented them from taking last time. They glance between Amaterasu and me, none of them looking particularly happy to see us.

"You'd think the Guardians are all casting with hopelessness, what with how suicidal they are today," Melpomene comments idly.

"…Come on, Mel, don't joke about that," Amalthea winces.

"Oh, I wasn't trying to be funny," Melpomene says, the disgust in the air becoming even more oppressive. "I was trying to threaten them."

Well, shit. This is about the worst-case scenario. We don't stand a chance against Melpomene. We need… ah. Good. I can feel her again. She's back.

A streak of brilliant yellow lights up the liminal zone as Castalia herself reenters the battlefield, floating high above our heads and staring down at the Corrupted with the same expression she wears when microwaving leftovers.

"…Melpomene," she greets her old teammate.

"Castalia," Melpomene hisses back, rising into the air to meet her. "Thea, get the artifacts back to base. Nanaya, cover her. Anath, Artifact, deal with the rabble."

"Oooh! Yes, ma'am!" Anath agrees excitedly, hopping towards me. "How you doing, Fulgy? Let's ghurk—!"

"You're fighting me," Amaterasu insists, barely missing Anath's neck with her dagger and ending up clotheslining her instead, knocking her away. "Take out the artifact!"

I've got a better idea. I immediately rush towards Amalthea instead, and as expected the artifact pulls away from Anath and Amaterasu to deal with me.

"I just want to talk," Castalia tells Melpomene.

"Could have fooled me," Melpomene growls. "You show up now, of all times? When we finally have what we need to do some good in the world? I won't let you stop us. You haven't earned the right to even try."

"I don't need anyone's permission to try," Castalia answers blandly, rotating her body to point her stump arm at Melpomene, who responds by summoning her lance and shield. "We don't have to fight. I don't want to hurt you."

"But what if," Melpomene hisses, "I want to hurt you?"

Nanaya glares at me from in front while the humanoid artifact deploys its thrusters and rushes me from behind. I respond by flying up, knowing from experience that both of them prefer to fight on the ground.

You don't think we're getting a little big for our britches here? You wanna take on the artifact and Nanaya? Really?

We don't need to win. We just need to destroy the weapons they're smuggling, or hold out and delay until Amaterasu beats Anath and catches up with us.

What if she loses?

Then we wait for Castalia to catch up with us.

What if SHE loses?

Then we're fucked beyond anything we could possibly plan around.

Good point! Alright, let's kick their butts!

That's the idea! The artifact leaps up after me, giving me a perfect shot to line up a Fulminant Thunder, but its yellow crystals shine, a shield blooming into being between us. I unleash my shot, the attack dissipating without breaking through, and the artifact successfully grabs my ankle, aiming to throw me back to the ground.

Well, I can work with that, too. A swing of my staff forces the artifact to let go early, harmlessly tossing me a few dozen feet through nothing but air. I stabilize, aim, and fire again.

"Tᴡɪɴ Fᴜʟᴍɪɴᴀɴᴛ Tʜᴜɴᴅᴇʀ!"

Two lightning bolts arc out, one at the artifact and the other at the… pile of artifacts. Nanaya steps in to block the one I send that way, while the humanoid artifact simply summons its shield again. But as long as I can stay on the offensive, things will stick to my advantage.

Look out!

A deafening crack of thunder, far louder than any of my own, matches an equally blinding bolt of purple lighting up the sky. I hear the high-pitched hum of a shield absorbing the hit, turning to see Castalia floating right next to me defending me from the blast Melpomene sent my way.

"Did you want to hurt me or not?" Castalia frowns.

"I'm afraid I'm here on business, Castalia, not pleasure," Melpomene sneers at her. "This is far more important than just me and you."

"Okay," Castalia says. "Explain it to me."

"…What?" Melpomene growls.

"Explain it," Castalia repeats. "I won't understand unless you explain it."

"I don't expect you to understand it, Castalia!" Melpomene snaps. "You've never understood a single thing in your entire goddamn life!"

Castalia blinks up at her, then aims her stub arm at Amalthea's fleeing form, along with the pile of artifacts.

"Alright," she says. "Well, I asked."

Melpomene screams in a mix of alarm and rage, magical circles blooming to life around and in front of Castalia's stub, layering one after another after another. Light gathers at the end, and I get the hell out of the way as Melpomene comes crashing down, her lance impacting hard against Castalia's shields and knocking her attack off-course. A brilliant white light erupts in a falling arc, cleaving down into the ground and scouring a canyon six feet wide and several dozen feet deep into the earth.

On seeing this, the Artifact stops its attempts to get a bead on me. Instead, it boosts towards Amalthea, seeming to exchange glances with Nanaya for a moment before the two of them exchange places. Nanaya flies up to meet me in the air while the artifact starts layering magical shields on top of Amalthea's platform.

We're not going to catch them.

Yeah. Unfortunately, I have to agree. I maybe could have fought off the robot enough to make it to the platform and cause havoc, but now they've gone and changed things up in order to play to their strengths. Nanaya is a much more dangerous fighter than the artifact, but the artifact excels at defense. This setup is definitely worse for us, but fine.

My team isn't here this time. There's no one who can get hurt but me. And even if we can't get those artifacts, Nanaya herself is an important strategic asset for the Corrupted.

Let's kick her butt.

"I Wɪʟʟ Nᴏᴛ Tᴏʟᴇʀᴀᴛᴇ Tʜɪꜱ," Nanaya incants, her cloak vanishing in an explosion of red light to be replaced with an almost perfectly-tailored business suit, bulging slightly around the abdomen where the jagged crystals grow out of her organs like an inverted geode. She rises above me as the transformation reaches its apex, and I realize that I've already miscalculated before the battle has even truly begun.

"Fᴜʀɪᴏᴜs Sᴀᴠɪᴏʀ Rᴇᴠᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴᴀʀʏ Nᴀɴᴀʏᴀ!" she shouts, the shockwave from a completed transformation bludgeoning me like a falling meteor and knocking me straight into the ground. I absorb the impact as best I can and leap out of the way, Nanaya falling fist-first into the spot where I'd just landed. The red pinpricks of light that act as the pupils for her black eyes lock onto me, glaring up from beneath her eyebrows.

"Sᴏᴜʟ Fʟᴀsʜ!" I respond succinctly, letting anger flow into my arms to guide my assault and fear flow into my legs to guide my safety. Minerva and I engage as one, spells dancing just on the edge of our lips. A swipe, a return.

"Lɪɢʜᴛɴɪɴɢ Aʀᴄ!" I shout, and Nanaya summons her viola to block. Parry, parry.

"Rᴇᴠᴇɴɢᴇ Bᴜʀsᴛ!" she counters, blowing me backwards to give herself time to bring her instrument up to play. But we're ready for it. We flip around in the air, aim down our staff, and let the range play into our favor just as well as the melee.

"Fᴜʟᴍɪɴᴀɴᴛ Tʜᴜɴᴅᴇʀ!" we cast, spiraling bolts of red and green slamming into Nanaya's chest. She grunts in pain, staggering back. No sense not pressing the attack. "Fᴜʟᴍɪɴᴀɴᴛ—"

Nanaya bursts forwards, not wanting to get caught in a ranged duel without the time to set up her sound-based spells, and that's exactly what we predicted her to do.

"—Pʀɪsᴍ!" I finish the spell, setting up my favorite trap. But Nanaya is ready for it. She leaps over the bombs, bringing her viola down for a brutal overhead swing.

"Aʀᴍᴀɢᴇᴅᴅᴏɴ Iᴍᴘᴀᴄᴛ!" she roars, and though I manage to leap away from the blow, her weapon still hits the ground with such incredible force that a violent, fiery explosion blooms from the resulting crater, the shockwave slamming me hard enough to knock me clean through a wall. I flip over backwards, my body skipping off the ground like a stone, and manage to land on the inner wall of the building I've just unwillingly entered, absorbing the rest of the force with my legs and jumping off just in time to prevent a follow-up strike. Nanaya's fist shatters the wall I leap from, bringing the ceiling down on top of us both. We have to—

We can't run, Minerva insists, startling me. Time seems to slow down as the two of us speak, the conversation happening at the speed of thought.

She's expecting it. She'll intercept us as we bust our way out. Intercept her first.

The coward, recommending we stand and fight? I never thought I'd see the day.

I have more important things to fear than our safety. Especially when we're going to win.

"Aʙʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ: Hᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ's Hᴀᴍᴍᴇʀ!" I shout, stepping towards Nanaya and completely ignoring the falling roof. Her eyes briefly widen, and then that's all the time she gets before my attack shatters her ribs, launching her out of the building and sending her tumbling down the street. The attack also clears my way out from underneath the falling roof, so I barely escape getting buried… though it would have been fine if I did get crushed, as long as Nanaya was too far away to capitalize.

Speaking of capitalizing, Nanaya is starting to stagger to her feet and I can't let her get her bearings.

"Fᴜʟᴍɪɴᴀɴᴛ Sᴛᴇᴘ!" I shout, appearing next to her in a flash of lightning and cracking my staff against the side of her head. Again, I feel shattered bone.

Serves her right. Reap what you sow.

Hell yes. She's still in incarnate form, so we aren't slowing down.

"Lɪɢʜᴛɴɪɴɢ Aʀᴄ!" I declare, repeating the swing to the other side of her head. Somehow still conscious, she attempts to twist away, but I end up hitting her in the back instead, shattering her spine and sending her tumbling away once again.

Again!

"Fᴜʟᴍɪɴᴀɴᴛ Sᴛᴇᴘ!" I shout, appearing behind her at the point where she's about to land. I start another swing… and again, her beady eyes snap to look directly at me, utter contempt burning in their depths, and she reaches out her monstrous combined arm to wrap all eight fingers around my incarnate weapon, arresting its momentum before it can once again reach her face.

Blood pours from her broken skull as she lands hard, unable to catch herself with paralyzed legs. But still, she holds firm onto my staff, and while I try to yank it away from her my strength can't match hers. She uses it as leverage to ensure she can meet my gaze.

"Very well," she hisses. "I'll take you seriously."

Fuck! I unsummon my weapon entirely and kick her in the ribs as she falls, immediately calling my weapon back once it's free from her grip. She stumbles backwards and then catches herself, staggering to her feet. The many wounds on her body hiss and bubble, knitting themselves back together with terrifying speed. I swing my staff and she steps into the blow, letting it shatter her left shoulder while she socks me in the face with her right fist. My nose crumples, incarnate form blood flying everywhere before slowly dissipating into motes of magic.

"Aʙʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ!" Nanaya roars. "Sɪʟᴇɴᴛ Dɪᴀsᴘᴏʀᴀ!"

She spreads her arms wide, a swirling ball of darkness forming between us, pulsing, growing, twitching faster and faster…! I turn to run, but it's already too late. The ball of blackness explodes in her face, enveloping both of us in complete, unending darkness. I can't see anything. I can't hear anything. And yet the very air bites at my skin, swirling through slits in my clothes and trying to burrow inside of me like a parasite. Agony spreads across my limbs, but I grit my teeth, take aim at the spot I last saw Nanaya, and fire.

"Fᴜʟᴍɪɴᴀɴᴛ Tʜᴜɴᴅᴇʀ!"

The flash of lightning is the only thing I see, and the crack of thunder is the only thing I hear. The light exists for only an instant, and it illuminates nothing at all. Pain blooms in my stomach as I feel Nanaya's fist connect with my gut, nearly causing me to topple over, but I manage to swing my weapon wildly in the direction of the attack. I hit something, but not hard enough. And, of course, it's probably nothing she can't heal off.

There has to be a limit to it, right? Everyone can run out of magic, and if she's going out of her way not to heal unless she really needs to, it's probably a legitimate concern for her.

That might be true, but fighting her while I'm effectively in a sensory deprivation tank isn't going to be easy.

Yeah. Why isn't she attacking, though? An Abreaction like this would also use up a lot of magic to maintain. Try talking to her? I think stalling is in our favor here.

"Essentially getting an entire second shot to win a fight after fucking up is a little unfair," I comment to the void. The void responds by punching me in the face, which I counter by lashing out with the butt of my staff. Another hit. Hmm.

"You're also blinded, aren't you?" I say, preemptive dodging to the side and attacking the spot where I was just standing. Nothing, total miss. A kick in my back knocks me to the ground, and I scramble back to my feet. What the hell…?

"I am," Nanaya admits. "But that doesn't mean I'm not at an advantage."

"You can heal," I say. "Trading blows always goes in your favor."

"Mmm. True. But more than that, I am used to the darkness. It's how I got to America, after all. I was trapped in a Dark World fragment while it crossed the Atlantic Ocean."

"That… that would take the better part of a year," I comment, receiving another punch for my troubles. Again, my counter hits, but I'm really starting to hurt now.

"Yes," Nanaya confirms. "At least. I truly couldn't tell you the exact time. Do you believe Dark World corruption affects the mind, Fulgora?"

"What…?" I ask, surprised by the non-sequitur. "Uma'tama said she wasn't so sure, anymore. It seems like a stupid thing to risk, though."

"Perhaps," Nanaya hums. "In truth, I'm not sure if it's real or not either. I certainly went mad, being trapped in the Dark World for so long. But wouldn't anyone, if they were stuck somewhere like this?"

A kick hits me in the side of the cheek, toppling me to the ground. I can't manage a counter this time, though when Nanaya stomps on my ribs immediately afterwards I attempt another swing up at where I assume her face is. My blow halts in place. She caught it again.

Fine, then.

"Fᴜʟᴍɪɴᴀɴᴛ Tʜᴜɴᴅᴇʀ!" Minerva and I incant, the spiral thunderbolt successfully connecting with something as it shoots out of the tip of our staff. I hear Nanaya scream, so I attempt another attack, hitting only air. A blow cracks one of my ribs, and my counterattack hits air. Another attack strikes me from behind, and my returning swing strikes only shadows. Shit. She's figuring me out. I don't really stand a chance of finding her if I don't wait for counterattacks, but—agh!

A sweep to my legs sends me tumbling, and a yank on my staff prevents me from doing a damn thing about it. Yet before I even hit the ground, I hear words I know will seal my fate.

"Aʀᴍᴀɢᴇᴅᴅᴏɴ Iᴍᴘᴀᴄᴛ!"

Ah. Damn. I lost. My head hits the ground the moment Nanaya's fist caves in my stomach, the resulting explosion vaporizing my armor, immolating my skin, rupturing my organs, and blowing Nanaya's own Abreaction away, letting my broken body see the sheer devastation done to both me and the surrounding area. The skies above us flash with yellow and purple, Castalia and Melpomene circling each other overhead, neither committing to a big attack while their allies are so close by.

Then, Nanaya stands up, her imposing visage blocking my view of above. She, at least, didn't come out of our bout unscathed. Even with her healing abilities, I can spot bruises blooming in her gray skin, cuts on her face that have yet to seal up, and of course her fancy suit has been utterly devastated, now little more than expensive-looking shreds. Still, the difference in our conditions is night and day. Light and dark. She's winded, sure, but she completely kicked my ass.

I was expecting it, at least a little. But it still hurts. I grin up at her, a cough forcing blood out of my lungs.

"You are stronger than before," Nanaya comments, "but I truly do not know where your apparent confidence was drawn from."

"Oh," I say. "It's simple, really. I just happen to know you aren't the only one who gets a second shot."

Her eyes widen and she takes a step back, but Minerva is already speaking the words.

"Oɴᴄᴇ Aɢᴀɪɴ, I Fɪɢʜᴛ!"

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