Astran and Nozomi face Grolly, the corners of his lips raised in an overzealous grin. Astran turns her head to face Nozomi. "How does your telepathy work into fights?"
"The only way I can use telepathic techniques in a fight like this is if I can use a mind stasis on him. However, he needs to be weakened enough for me to do it."
Astran shifts her glance toward Grolly, taking in his menacing appearance. "Ok, but I'm not sure I can hold him off that easy. This will be a challenge."
"D-do what you can. I-I'll t-try my best to help."
"Will do," Astran dashes towards Grolly with incredible speed, her JōKai Amplification surrounding her body and giving her an extra burst of speed.
Grolly's sinister grin widens as he removes a blaster from his side, indicating his hunger for violence. "Eager to attack me, aren't you?"
Astran moves quickly, lunging toward Grolly and delivering a powerful slash aimed at his midsection. "Astraeus Disturbance!"
In a split second, Grolly jumps aside and unleashes Soft Terrain JōKai from his blaster. Sand Blaster: Five Figure Dune Shot!" Countless Sand JōKai shots release from Grolly's blaster and hurtle at Astran.
Astran takes a defensive stance, focusing her energy to increase the potency of her defenses with JōKai Amplification. "Ursa Impact!" Astran manages to block most of the sand waves, but one pierces her shoulder blade, leaving her in excruciating pain. Astran's agonizing scream fills the air as she crumples to the ground.
Grolly's laughs, a laugh filled with scorn and mockery. "Come on, brat, that can't be all you got! Get up so I can have more of a challenge!"
Astran recovers and looks over at Nozomi, noticing her eyes are closed. "She's trying to perform that stasis block technique. I still need to buy her some more time," Astran shifts her glance to Grolly. "I can't attack him straight up since he's more powerful than me. Hopefully, I can withstand his assault long enough for him to get tired and for me to get a good attack. That should be enough damage for Nozomi to perform a stasis block on him," Astran takes a defensive stance, tensing her muscles as she waits for Grolly to strike.
"Oh, so now you're going on the defensive," Grolly's face twists into a sinister smirk. "Then why don't I break it!" Grolly unholsters his second blaster and unleashes a devastating barrage of Soft Terrain JōKai bolts, each taking the shape of razor-sharp teeth. "Dual Sand Blasters: Swarmer Madness!"
Astran applies JōKai Amplification to her body, enabling her to deflect Grolly's blast bolts with her sword. "Ursa Impact!" The blast bolts come at Astran with such force that she can only deflect a few, leaving her vulnerable to the rest, which cut into her body. Grolly launches a Sand JōKai wave at Astran, sending her crashing into the wall.
Grolly watches as the opaque smoke billows from where Astran hit the wall, wondering about Astran's condition. Grolly waits a few moments before deciding to holster a blaster. "That takes care of her," Grolly's eyes lock onto Nozomi, and he points his blaster in her direction. "Seems you're trying to do some telepathy trick on me. I won't let it happen," Grolly releases the blast from his blaster, the weapon emitting a bright flash as a narrow Sand JōKai blast hurtles toward her.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Astran springs from the wall and intercepts Nozomi's path, striking the sandblast and sending it away from her. Nozomi opens a Mental Link to Astran. "Thank you, Astran."
Despite Astran's heaving breath, she manages to smile at Nozomi. "Don't mention it."
"Astran, I have an idea."
"What is it?"
"Why don't you deflect his attack back towards him?"
"Good idea. But I'm not sure my JōKai Amplification is strong enough to deflect it back to him."
"I can activate parts of the nerves in your brain which can enhance the strength of your JōKai Amplification."
"Really?"
"Yes, but there's only one catch. It can cause an extreme strain on the body and take you out of the battle since your body isn't used to that much force."
"So that means we're betting it all on this last attack."
"Yeah."
"Well, now, we don't have any choice. We either take this chance now or suffer the consequences later."
"Ok, activate your JōKai Amplification, and I'll do the rest."
Astran coats her body in JōKai Amplification, then Nozomi enters her mind and amplifies it tenfold. Astran's eyes narrow in pain as Nozomi amplifies her JōKai amplification, causing the clear aura around her to surge more intensely. "Grah! This hurts."
Grolly claps condescendingly from Astran's JōKai Amplification. "Ooh, your power has grown!" Grolly gathers an excessive amount of Soft Terrain JōKai into his blaster and boosts the power of his attack using JōKai Amplification. "Why don't I defeat two of ya with one shot?" "Sand Blaster Special Technique: Sand Demon Dune Cannon!"
"Here it comes, Astran! Block it back towards him!"
Astran takes a defensive stance and deflects the attack, sending it back toward Grolly. "Ursa Impact!" The counterattack lands on Grolly's torso, the impact reverberating through his body as he's sent staggering off balance. "Now's my chance!" Astran lunges toward Grolly, her sword slicing through the air with precision as she unleashes a devastating slash across his torso that leaves him reeling. "Astraeus Disturbance!" Grolly falls onto his knees, collapsing to the ground from Astran's attack. Astran turns back to Nozomi, her eyes filled with urgency. "Nozomi now!"
With intense focus, a vein bulges from Nozomi's forehead. "Telepathic Technique: Stasis Block!" Grolly freezes in place as Nozomi's stasis block takes effect. Astran drives her blade deep into Grolly's stomach, feeling it sink into his flesh. As she extracts the blade from Grolly, they both plummet to the ground. "Astran!" Nozomi sprints toward Astran, her hands trembling as she grabs and shakes her. "Astran, are you alright?"
Astran's eyes open, and her lips curve upward into a friendly smile. "Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just glad we beat him, Nozomi."
"I don't think so," Upon hearing Grolly's voice, Nozomi and Astran's eyes widen in horror. Grolly grimaces as he places his hand over the stab wound, drawing their attention. "You think that's enough to defeat me!? Don't make me laugh!"
Nozomi's brow furrows with concern as she looks down at Astran. "Astran, what should we do?"
"We have to fight him again. What else do you think?" Astran attempts to stand, but her legs buckle, causing her to tumble down. "Dammit, why can't I get up!?"
"It's just as I feared. The strain from that JōKai Amplification technique was too much for your body to handle."
Grolly's heavy footsteps pound against the ground as he approaches Astran and Nozomi, his face twisted into a devilish grin. "Now then, come with me, Elf! I have an order to take you in!"