To answer Desmond's question, how strong had the girls get? the answer was: very strong.
To the degree that all of them could fight against experts in the max-level one-star class equally. Cecilia could even overwhelm her opponents if she decided to use her bloodline. On the other hand, Sasha's case was a bit exaggerated from Desmond's point of view. The alchemist was brutally crushing even low and mid-level two-star class opponents.
Sasha had made her breakthrough to the two-star class some time ago, long before Desmond, so it made sense that her strength and dominance would be better entrenched. Yet, given her penchant for obsessing over the work in her lab, it was hard to see her as a fighter.
Now Desmond knew that underestimating Sasha was something only someone seeking their own deaths would do. With Sasha's current raw power and now more refined combat prowess, even Desmond would be gambling with his life if he fought her with everything he had.
