'Master Serah…'
Maria silently watched as her mentor squared off against the villain of this entire event.
Her fist was clenched, and her lips tightened, but there was nothing she could do but remain in her bubble as she watched the whole thing.
Thus far, she had been useful by utilizing her Constellation's Representation, [Wish], to change the tide of battle.
She would cause Serah to disappear and appear in whatever location she desired, while doing so within the fraction of a moment.
She also rendered herself invisible while using a clone to occupy her previous position.
All of these things were the methods she cooked up so she would be useful to Serah in their conflict with Legris.
After all, even if Magic did not affect him, it affected other people and things.
By using her Magic on herself and Serah, rather than directly on Legris, she was going to assist her mentor in emerging the victor.
However…
'This Spell ruined it all…'
Maria looked around her and her chest tightened in frustration. Everything was going so well that they thought the fight would finally end.
Who would have thought their opponent had more cards up his sleeve?
'The battle is now a lot more lopsided than we ever accounted for. At least, for me…'
Unlike Serah, she did not have any Magic that could recover her Aether at such a quick pace.
Especially not while she was protecting herself from rapid corrosion.
'Right now, the best I can do is defend myself from whatever Spell he has activated.' Maria looked at her shield and noticed how fast it was deteriorating.
The rate was getting faster by the second.
'I won't be able to maintain this forever…'
As much as she hated to admit it, she was going to be a major hindrance to Serah. After all, the latter was perfectly fine with the current situation and would never lose a battle of attrition.
The problem here was how long Maria could last.
'I'll do my best to hold on, Master Serah!' She clenched her teeth in determination, watching the rest of the fight unfold from within her bubble.
'Please win!'
*******
~WHOOOSSHHH!!!~
The darkness parted as Serah sped towards the swarm of Legris that gathered together.
Her sharp gaze shone with nothing but resolve, and her body brimmed with unrelenting energy.
As she appeared within their midst, the entire area instantly broke into distortion thanks to her breakneck speed.
"Get her!"
"Die!"
"It's over!"
The various variants of Legris uttered their nonsense, but none of their words shook Serah in the slightest.
She simply focused on her task at the moment.
… To fight!
~WHOOOMMM!~
Becoming a blur, she twisted her body and kicked her first victim, instantly dislocating his neck with her strike.
The instant she did this, three more opponents closed in on her, their dark fists ready to eviscerate her.
However, she was too fast.
Swiftly moving her head, she dodged their fatal blow, bending downward to evade the next barrage of assault that sharply lunged at her.
With the thrust of her adversaries entirely evaded, Serah bounced back, head-butting one Legris, instantly shattering his skull, while sending her two fists flying towards the necks of the two others.
With one chop sharply dished to the respective two, they fell to their knees.
Serah ignored how they grabbed their necks, making choking sounds. Instead, she kicked them as if they were mere balls on the field, sending their flesh bursting as a result of the pressure.
More Legrises swarmed around her, launching dark arms towards her, but at this point, she was able to dodge their assaults with ease, even predicting where the next would arrive from.
Rushing towards her next foe, she evaded his dark attack at point blank range, turning slightly so only fragments of her flaming hair was grazed.
Once she closed the distance, Serah clenched her fist and delivered an almighty punch of justice.
He instantly exploded, sending his mangled flesh and darkened blood spurting around the darkened space.
With her eyes darting up and about the rest of the landscape, Serah became a blur once more, charging towards her next target.
Several Legrises charged at her, hoping to overwhelm her in a melee, but even that proved ineffective.
As they launched hands at her, she easily caught and deflected them, twisting her body and shifting her head for moves she couldn't catch.
Hands danced around in a blur, and she even supplemented her defenses by raising one or two of her legs to stop attacks that she could not ignore or evade.
In the end, even a group brawl could not take her down.
And the best part?
"Hahahaha! Is that the best you can do?"
… She was still growing stronger!
Serah's aura burned brighter than ever, and all the Legrises around her could only watch in obvious frustration as they threw themselves back into the wringer, only to experience the same results.
Serah simply dominated the fight.
Suddenly, however, about half of the Legrises abandoned Serah and rushed at the stationary Maria, clearly targeting her since she was vulnerable.
Stuck in yet another melee, Serah witnessed this and instantly got agitated.
"No!"
In a blur of crimson, she swiftly abandoned her victims and lunged at the other group.
Unfortunately, that was a move they already predicted.
"G-gugh!"
Serah felt something cold course through her legs, and upon looking… she found a bunch of Legrises tightly gripping them.
"W-wha—?!"
The Legrises grinned manically, refusing to let go.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Let's keep fighting!"
"We were having such fun!"
"Come back here!"
"Hehehehe!"
His disgusting voice echoed in her ears as the corruption seeped in.
Until… it finally tore through her Aether and reached her skin.
"Arghhh!!"
Serah screamed, forcefully pushing back the group that tightly gripped her legs.
The pain that coursed through her was unbearable, but even at that Serah ignored it and launched herself in the direction of her protege.
All the Legrises were already closing in on her, and she felt like a bird in a cage, surrounding by a swarm of bloodthirsty predators
Whether or not her injury was deadly, Serah instinctively knew her first priority was Maria.
'As long as I breathe… I will not let any harm fall upon thag child!'
She bridged the gap between the both of them in no time, pushing her body even higher than before.
Once she did, Serah twirled in space, sending a flurry of fatal hits towards the horde.
The ones who noticed her attacks in time tried to block or dodge, but it was of no use.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!~
She eliminated all of them nearly instantly.
But…
"Haa… haaa…"
… Even that victory came at a cost.
"M-Master Serah!" Maria's voice echoed out, her tear-filled eyes focused on the bottom half of the woman she loved and respected.
"Y-your legs…"
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[A/N]
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!
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