Witnessing the fruits of his labor, Cyrus was bound to be dissapointed for slowly but surely the former octopus freed itself from the makeshift trap.
Its former pink skin was now dark and patchy, with several carbonized parts all over it. Yet the wine spilt on it was only so much and the moment the fuel had run out so did the burning.
Its growth continued, taking it far above the size of the trio's previous enemy as it fully clambered out of the depths and showed off its new form with a howl.
Its skin once more began to boil and froth, as thick muscles began to be pushed outward and harden as they reached the surface. Creating a thick layer of black almost insect like skin, the creature went from a soft but slow target to a tank like monstrosity of impossible defense, regeneration, and slow but powerful offense.
Cyrus noticed several holes in the layer of its new skin, which he considered the purpose of all the way up until they aimed themselves at him, and its purpose became dreadfully obvious.
Time slowed once more as his demonic powers unleashed themselves on instinct, allowing him to see the dark mass be shot out from the hole like a shot from a high powered cannon in slow motion. Its trajectory would leave it at exactly where he stood, with nothing besides himself to save him from a perilous fate.
His mind raced through each and every possibility, every tool at his disposal, and every trick he had up his sleeve. Several plans came to mind, but each one was struck down due to its impossibility or from a lack of Will.
Next came plans that were not guaranteed to work, or even if they did the repercussions could be as fatal as the speeding bullet that was heading for his body.
'The sword...a fully runed sword, it is something far beyond my means of using but it is my only saving grace' thought Cyrus as his enhanced state of mind began to fade, his arm shooting for the blade he usually kept sheathed and hidden from sight.
Whether he would even make it was something that only Mundus knew, and whether the effects of the sword would even have something which allowed him to slice the projectile out of the air was another question.
Completely up to chance was his life, something that neither half of Cyrus liked.
In the time he took to move his hand from his side to the pommel of the sword, the bullet had long left its starting destination and had traveled more than half of the distance.
'I won't make it...'
Gripping the sword with all his might and starting to haphazardly activate the secrets he was not even close to be ready to handle, he felt a burning sensation spread throughout his entire body at once as the strain from the rune activation took hold.
For runes were a tricky thing like that, their power dependent on the number per item and the type of material they were crafted onto. Even an oddly strong toddler could handle a single weak rune sewn onto a piece of cloth, but that same rune on a steel gauntlet might cause its body to implode from within...Cyrus was attempting to do just that, activate a fully runed steel sword of a mastercraft level.
He soons stopped in his actions, however, not because he had given up or that he even had a different method of stopping his impending doom.
No, he stopped because he finally noticed that the bullet would never hit him.
"Icy Hell," said a chilling voice from the far end of the arena.
The moment such words were uttered, a vast network of essence manipulation shot forth from the gems in front of Minerva. Faster than what should have been possible for her current strength, the entire arena was trapped in what looked like a vortex of icy death in the eyes of anyone with the ability to see the world of essence.
All of the pesky Ignis had been banished from the realm while a vast array of Aqua had taken its place. Instantaneously a thick mist of vapour began to form along the ground, which was the only visible part of the spell due to it naturally collecting on the ground.
As if she were an ice demon residing in its frosty lair in the tundras of hell itself, Minerva's eyes glowed with a chilling power as she ordered the world to bend to her will.
Flicking a finger forward, the bullet shot forth was frozen in mid air as it ran through the misty aura.
Its energy being quite literally sapped from it in real time, by the time it finally reached Cyrus it was slow enough so that he could whack it out of the air with the sheath of his other sword.
Seeing that her companions was safe, Minerva focused her attention towards the enemy that had endangered them in the first place.
Ordering the world once more she spoke,
"Rigescunt indutae(To Ice/Frozen)"
Suddenly and without warning, the air around the monster turned into a vast blizzard of unknown depths. The monster moved forward, trying to escape the terrible biting cold, even wildly shooting its inky bullets all over the place.
Alas, the more it struggled the more energy was sapped from it by the frost and its limbs began to harden at an alarming rate.
The spell was impressive indeed, as it was singlehandedly in the process of defeating the enemy that even Cyrus had no hope to defeat.
It was not without its drawbacks, however, as the more she manipulated this massive spell that was far beyond her means the more of a backlash was rendered onto her.
From the moment of the spells inception, a mind splitting migraine had sprung forth bringing tears of neigh unbearable pain to her that streamed down her face only be be frozen before they could fall.
Not only that but as her sense was not strong enough to control the entire spell, her own body was slowly being frosted over despite only experiencing a fraction of the spells true might.
Starting from her legs and arms, the frost slowly built up and she gradually lost feeling in the limbs that had frozen solid.
"I am worth more....I am worth more" muttered Minerva as she entered a state of complete madness, fully intent on bringing down the beast with her regardless of the costs.
'My other half with the bright ideas, you ah, did you expect THIS?' asked the dark half.
'She is projecting again, but it's just a beast this time and not another human being. I have to say, I am surprised to say the least...' responded the bright half, in complete disbelief.
Imran was seeing the same mess that Cyrus was and as he was no idiot he could tell that Minerva was endangering herself and so with a deep breath he began to form the words of surrender...only to be knocked out from behind with a sharp blow to the back of the head by Cyrus.
'Last time I was the object of her projection, this time it's a beast...if she continues to be defeated by her imagined foe then who knows what she will do next time' thought the dark half, interceding before his counterpart could complain.
All the while, from knocking out Imran to shutting up his counterpart, Cyrus was moving forward towards Minerva who was looking more and more like some kind of frozen delicacy.
Not even bothering with the biting cold that was slowly chilling his own bones, eventually even being subjected to the same torrent that Minerva was, he arrived behind her and considered for a moment how to hide what he was about to do.
A sudden idea from his other half was forced into his mind, who he was seriously starting to doubt at this point, but seeing as he could not think of any other way to solve the situation he did what he was told.
Stepping to Minerva's side, Cyrus looked at the completely focused Minerva who could not even notice his approach due to her entire consciousness being solely focused on the world of essence.
Grabbing her chin and making her face him slightly, he stole her lips without a care in the world and an expressionless face.
Hiding her face with his own, a black mist erupted from his core and traveled through her mouth from his own and up her nasal cavity. Drilling through, the intrusive mist attached deep within her and on her soul like a leech.
The connection between the two was weak, purposefully done so as if Minerva's soul decided to fight back he was surely not going to win quickly if at all, he gently fed her his own demonic power and went to great lengths to control it. The very same that he always instinctively called upon in order to enter a state of hyperfocus was what he delivered, such an ability that while taxing would no doubt allow Minerva to control the spell she was using perfectly for a few precious seconds
Sweat poured from his brow, that froze instantly, and his pupils dilated as he was undergoing a method of soul manipulation that he had never attempted. Not only was he exerting his power on the real world but he had to guide it to another individual and NOT let it just run rampant, but control it ravenous and destructive nature. Taming its ferioucess nature and forcing it into submission so much that not only could he easily control it, but someone else who has absolutely no experience as well.
The effect of Cyrus' move was immediately apparent, as the ice that was forming on both of their appendages immediately melted away. Next the grotesque creature that had been barely holding out against the spell started to completely freeze from the outside to the inside, turning into a freakish ice sculpture within seconds.
The amount of focus Minerva now had was enough for her to also realize the position her body was in, causing her to try to pull away but was unable to due to Cyrus keeping her face locked in place.
Perhaps running away from reality, she focused her entirety once more on the fight and finished it with ease.
The intricate array of essence pulled back as she released the spell and severed her connection to the world of essence.
Seeing that his work was done, Cyrus finally broke what looked to all the spectators like an extremely deep and passionate embrace, and caught the falling form of Minerva who had just experienced all of the backlash from Cyrus' technique in a single moment.
Looking up at her companion who had done something she had never thought he would do, she tried to form a word but her consciousness slipped and she fainted completely.
Picking her up and feeling how stone cold her limbs were, Cyrus marveled at the stubbornness of her once again.
'She reminds me of someone' remarked the bright half from within.
Not paying attention to the suddenly extremely annoying other half of his, Cyrus waited for the battlefield to be cleaned up while considering what the hell just happened.