As the light faded and the smoke cleared, the Trinities and the Vixens beheld a slender figure with auburn hair flowing in the wind; silver Crusader armor, and a matching blade and tower shield that both gleamed in the sunlight. When she opened her eyes, they were limpid orbs of hazel and her face was nigh perfect with soft, delicate features – almost akin to a goddess; a figure whose beauty rivals even that of the Battle Vixens'. A warp portal then emerged from behind the Crusader as three females stepped out of it and stood by her side.
"What… in the hell just hit us…? Another one of that Wizard's dirty tricks?!" groaned Lupi, rising to her feet and climbing back on her Peco Peco, who suffered minimal damage from the blast.
"Trust me, Lupi, if it were me, it would be much less flashy…" retorted Thiji.
As everyone rose back to their feet, the Crusader lifted her sword and pointed it at the Battle Vixens, her focus fixed solely on the four sisters.
"At long last," she began, "I have found you savages here, upon Geffen's western bridge. The outskirts of the City of Magic shall be where I, Youmei, will exact retribution upon the Battle Vixens this day!"
"What in the hell is a Youmei?!" Aege asked in confusion. This disappointed the Crusader as she flipped her hair in response so as to get a better view of her assailants.
"Are you Neanderthals so dense as to forget the very face of the woman you defeated all those months ago?" Youmei chided, flashing back in her mind to when she was still a Swordswoman. "Three months ago, when this all started, you struck down numerous aspiring guilds using petty traps and cowardly ambushes. I was there, leading the charge against you and yours. Mt. Mjolnir was soiled by the blood of the fallen innocents that were engaged in a healthy competition for fame and glory! And even more recently, you routed my brothers and sisters once more at the Pharos Lighthouse on Beacon Island. That time I nearly died defending my comrades – namely these two promising youths before you." The compliment she made to Botan & Momiji made them blush.
"The soldier from the desert…" gasped Lupi.
"But wait!" interjected Elua, "White Trinity also attacked you guys on that very same day! They should be just as guilty as we are; we saw the report!" she explained further, trying to throw a portion of the blame towards White Trinity. Youmei turned her head toward them, just now noticing the four, but she did not shoot and angry glares at them – save for Raien to whom she gave an arched brow as if something was wrong with the Ninja.
"At least White Trinity fights with honor, for they gave me back all my brothers and sisters," the Crusader remarked. "None of them perished or became fatally wounded as they retreated from the island. For that I respect them. However, you ladies – if I may even so deign to call you such – could learn a few things from these gentlemen."
This affront infuriated Lupi that she swung at the air in front of her with her lance as the Peco Peco reared back.
"You've got some nerve openly insulting us like that!" the Knight growled as her sisters surrounded the Crusader. "You clearly have a death wish by confronting us for the third time now. And if you nearly died last time… what do you think will happen here?!"
"Come forth and find out…" Youmei replied, raising her shield. With a loud yell, Lupi charged forth and focused her powers into her lance…
As the Battle Vixens charged the Crusader, White Trinity attempted to use this confusion to flee the scene, but were halted by a wall of green light.
"Not so fast, boys," Tsubaki said. "You might actually want to see this!"
Without any other alternative, White Trinity sat down and watched the skirmish unfold.
"Pierce!" cried the scarlet Knight with her lance pointed at Youmei. The Crusader then planted her shield before her as two metal prongs sprung out from the underside, jamming themselves into the stone…
"Whoa, these shields have hydraulics?!" Raien gasped. "Since when did people have those?!"
"Shield… Reflect!" Youmei cried and her tower began to radiate a white light, and Lupi's Pierce attack connected with great force. An impact of such magnitude would be sufficient enough to push back a giant or equally large monster, but the contrary had happened – Lupi and her steed suffered a large portion of the damage Youmei would have received and flew backwards. The Peco Peco let out a loud squawk as it was forced back, and Lupi had no choice but to jump off it, sliding against the stone from the momentum of their flight.
Heal-Do and Elua flanked Youmei from the left and right, respectively. The Elves attacked with a combined effort of Venom Knife and Blitz Beat, but Youmei easily deflected Mukuhawk's strike with her shield, altering his course toward Heal-Do's poisonous projectile which grazed his right wing and continued its path toward the Huntress, who ducked in panic and avoided potential harm. The falcon struck Heal-Do in the legs, tripping the Assassin, and spiraled out of control into the waters below. Botan & Momiji cheered their sister on as she gained the upper hand against the quartet of warrior women.
It was Aege's turn now and she would engage Youmei in a melee duel, clashing axe with shield and sword. They would seem evenly matched for but a minute until the Crusader blocked an overhead swing from the earthly Blacksmith, giving Youmei the opportunity to stab her blade into the marble, and a large symbol manifested on the ground beneath them.
"Grand… Cross!" yelled the Crusader, and the symbol radiated energy that stung Aege's body. After a brief moment, Youmei lifted her blade from off the ground and bashed the Blacksmith's chest with her shield, sending her sliding backwards towards her elder sister. After the clash, the Battle Vixens gazed upon Youmei in awe whilst they rose to their feet…
"Whoa…!" Elua uttered in shock. "She fights like a demon possessed… and she slays demons!"
White Trinity's members were utterly baffled at how this once-Swordswoman just handled all four sisters that their jaws practically hit the ground! Thiji, however, kept his composure as he studied the Crusader carefully; from his observations he would notice small signs of fatigue as the Crusader inhaled and exhaled harder than normal…
"The Mighty Battle Vixens, brought low by a solitary Crusader…" Youmei incited. Despite her small moral victory, she could not help but feel a tad disappointed in them.
"That damn shield of yours…" Lupi growled. "That shield you hide behind is doing all the work for you!"
"You always talk tough, but your ability to back up your words? I have found that rather wanting…" the Crusader replied, insulting the Battle Vixens – and Lupi, most of all – even further.
"The amount of confidence she's gained is astounding," Lee commented, almost enjoying the scene. As the Vixens and Youmei continued trading each other, Ray gave a silent gesture to his comrades, and they would once again slowly begin to back up through the "wall" of green lights – as an Acolyte at one point in his life, Lee knew that it was just a Pneuma spell conjured by the twins. Before they could get very far, however, Elua's keen eyes spotted them trying to sneak away.
"Hey!" she shouted and pointed at the fleeing Trinities. Youmei immediately turned on the heel of her plated boot and rose her shield…
"Aww, that is some bullsh -! " Raien groaned before he would be interrupted by Youmei who then shouted, "Shield Charge!" and zoomed down the bridge towards them at top speed.
"She's coming in too hot!" Lee exclaimed.
"I will take care of this!" Thiji interjected as he quickly conjured up a blizzard in front of him. "Storm Gust!" he yelled, and a tornado of ice and snow manifested before him, and the Crusader went straight in; the others shielded their faces from the storm.
"Sister Youmei…!" cried the Acolyte twins in worry. Youmei was caught in the centripetal force of the Storm Gust that she began to move slowly in the direction of the blizzard, and had accelerated to speeds that'd make her image blurry to normal eyes.
"Were you… actually counting on that, Thiji?" Lee asked the Wizard.
"No," he simply answered. "I just wanted to see what would happen."
After the storm had begun to die down, the Vixens regrouped and ran down the bridge as Youmei slowed to a stop, ruthlessly dizzy. Lupi took advantage of this and smacked her aside with the pole of her lance and continued onward, shooting hot stickers at White Trinity. Elua & Aege would charge ahead of them, but would be intercepted by Botan & Momiji for a brief second before they would be caught off guard and kicked aside as well. Tsubaki was blindsided by Mukuhawk as he escaped from the river beneath them and hit her left arm with his wings before returning to his master's side. With quick thinking, Heal-Do jumped into the river and attempted an ambush maneuver, but Thiji saw through her plan.
"Heal-Do!" Raien exclaimed. "She's trying to cut through the river!"
"Take care of it, Brother," Thiji commanded before neutralizing the last of Lupi's fireballs and preparing to cast a spell.
"We'll cover you!" Ray spoke as he and the Monk advanced toward the Battle Vixens. The Lightning Ninja took out a Wind Stone, performed a series of hand signs, causing the stone to shatter and become the essence of lightning.
"Lightning Crash!" he cried as he called forth a bolt of lightning from the heavens into the river, causing the waters to become electrocuted.
"Sister!" yelled Elua as she coasted to a halt. "Mukuhawk, save her! Heal-Do's in trouble!"
Despite his injuries, Mukuhawk obeys Elua without hesitation and flies past Tsubaki once more, avoiding her Shikigami's strike as it made its way towards the Assassin of water.
"You idiot! There is no way your skill is equal to mine!" Lupi grunted as she clashed blades with Ray.
"Don't make me laugh, Hotcakes!" he laughed in response. "I'm way better than you'll ever be!"
The Gun-Knight would deliver a horizontal slash aimed at Lupi's head, but she ducked, which is what Ray wanted as he expertly detached his revolver from his blade and aimed at Mukuhawk with his left eye closed. "Cracker!"
As Mukuhawk would swoop in and save Heal-Do, whom had just noticed the electric currents before she grabbed on to the falcon's leg, his left wing would be hit from Ray's bullet, paralyzing all feeling in it and losing control of that wing. Heal-Do looked behind her and gazed upon the light show in the river in which she would have been the main attraction.
"Dear Mukuhawk… you risked your life to save me," Heal-Do thanked as she petted the falcon.
"That's what sisters are for!" Elua said, picking her baby sister up. "You okay?"
"Yes, but we have to continue!"
"Lee! Now!" Thiji commanded as he fire a Cold Bolt of Ice at Aege so as to slow her down.
"Body Relocation!" cried the Monk, and he would immediately appear behind Elua and Heal-Do. He would show off the technique he learned from Kafra Nora again and hit them both with a Heavy Tackle, forcing them to run into the waters below and getting shocked in the process.
"Attack!" yelled Botan as she and her twin sister surrounded the Monk. He would seem to be in trouble until Aege finally joined in the fray.
"Let's shake things up a bit, shall we…?" she said with a snicker before jumping high into the air, preparing her signature Hammer Fall attack. However, she wasn't aiming for Lee or the Holy Saviors at all; the bridge was her target, and once she slammed down with all her might, it began to shake. This would cause everyone to lose balance as the Blacksmith ran down the bridge, dodging a Bash from Ray's sword and counterattacking, but he quickly guards and forces Aege back with a magical bullet.
Once the shaking stopped, Raien and Thiji used the confusion to retreat down the bridge and into the forest; Ray and Lee followed suit, performing a Blade Stop on Lupi's intercepting attack and immediately using Body Relocation to throw her off. White Trinity had successfully made it through the bridge. Heal-Do and Elua, recovering from the electric attack, chased after them, leaving behind Lupi and Aege.
At this point, Youmei would finally snap out of her daze and noticed her adversaries fleeing.
"After them!" she commanded the Saviors.
"Yes, Sister Youmei!" acknowledged the Acolyte twins, with Tsubaki leading the way.
"I don't think so!" Lupi shouted as she rose her lance to attack, but as she swung down, she would find her body moving at a snail's pace; Aege would feel the same.
"Why are we going so slow…?" the Blacksmith asked. The Priestess chuckled as she used Increase Agility to boost the speed of herself and her allies, and Decrease Agility to leave the two Vixens in the dust.
"Spear… Boomerang!" cried the Knight, and with great effort, she hurled her lance towards the Holy Saviors.
"Allow us, Lady Tsubaki!" Momiji said, facing down the incoming projectile. With her sister, they stretched their arms out in front of them and simultaneously cried, "Pneuma!" and a pillar of green light would manifest and block the attack, sending Lupi's lance back to her.
"God, I hate that spell…" Lupi grumbled.
"Guess we'll have to catch up to them… somehow," Aege sighed.