A couple of minutes earlier, civilians are running from some of the remaining low-ranked demons, who weren't killed. Some of the tournament participants and those who are Adventurers attempted to deal with them.
'Kya!'
A woman knelt, holding her head, as a low-rank demon started to fly toward her. It was demolished in less than a second. When she didn't feel any pain, she opened her eyes. Nothing had attacked her. The woman saw the corpse of the low-ranked demon go from black to yellow. As she looked up, a boy looked at her. He knelt down and used his index finger to wipe her tear.
'You're okay now.'
He said as a solace smile peeked up his face. Though his appearance was strange–specifically speaking, his horn–she found it in her heart to trust him.
'Erika! Where are you?!'
Someone called for the woman. The boy, with blazing blue hair, stood up and waved goodbye as he leapt onto the nearest building's roof. A blonde woman came for the one on the floor.
'Oh, Erika, are you al–Woah, what happened to you?'
She changed her attitude completely when she saw her friend's gleaming eyes. They were fixated on the direction the boy had went. The black-haired woman felt her heart–it was beating unexpectedly fast.
'Alisia... I think... I've fallen in love.'
◈◈◈
The girl continued chasing her target, the Black Oni. Once Lapis approached the town square, she landed there and stopped. Arcana landed, not wanting her opponent to escape. Sirius had slowed down to help someone in trouble, but even if he hadn't stopped he wouldn't have been able to keep up.
The reason Arcana was able to keep up with Lapis was due to her Skywalker mode, which helps with speed, stamina and control, while Vanguard helps with strength, endurance and mana control.
'Why did you stop here?'
Arcana said, slowly walking forward. Lapis sauntered over to the fountain.
'You curious?'
Lapis asked. She destroyed it with a blast of mana. Water came gushing out of the fountain, it started to flow into the city. Arcana walked through the water without hesitation. Her red flames didn't burn out in the water.
'Did you think that my flames would extinguish themselves in water? Sadly for you that my flames are made from True Flame Magic, meaning that only holy water can extinguish these flames.'
'No, that's not why I broke the fountain. I have another trick up my sleeve.'
She knelt and put her hands into the water. The girl, with blazing crimson hair, suddenly had chills travel down her spine. Arcana ran toward Lapis, trying to make sure whatever she would do wouldn't be successful. Lapis gave a smile.
'Water–'
ROAR
Both Lapis and Arcana stopped and looked toward the west. A purple magic circle dissipated as a large dog, with three heads and a chain and collar around each one, appeared from the magic circle. It looked menacing–it seemed to be focused on something else.
'What is that?'
Arcana said out loud.
'Isn't that Cerberus?!'
Sirius said, finally catching up to the two of them. Lapis kissed her teeth as she looked at Cerberus in annoyance.
'I told them that I'd get rid of the haemorrhaging. Oh well. Water Dragon God Armour.'
The water rose and flowed around the body of Lapis. It started to cover her body and, before long, it became a transparent armour. The Oni siblings readied themselves for battle as Lapis walked toward them.
Sirius decided to attack first. He didn't materialize a flaming bow, but, instead, a flaming spear. Rushing toward her, he unleashed fluid and fast attacks, however, they all bounced off of Lapis' Water Dragon God Armour. And so, Sirius decided to go for any spots not covered in armour, namely the face.
As Sirius pierced forward with his spear, it was countered by Lapis. She hit it away and kicked Sirius in the stomach. Lapis felt something against her back–Arcana had tried to attack Lapis from behind, only for the armour to stop her. If she didn't have the armour, that may have been a fatal blow.
Lapis decided to go on the offensive. She hit Arcana in the gut and face. The Oni girl didn't back down, though. Arcana went in for a punch in the face, but Lapis dodged. The next thing Lapis knew, she was staring at the sky.
Sirius had swept her off her feet using the azure spear. She recovered quickly and parried the attacks Arcana and Sirius were firing at her. Lapis' All-Seeing Eye was good enough to help her dodge it completely, but something told her that she shouldn't dodge the attacks but parry them.
Unfortunate for Lapis, she couldn't parry forever. It wasn't her stamina that was the problem, but the difference in their attacks.
Arcana's attacks didn't pack too much power, but she would release three or four attacks around the same time Sirius could release two. On the other hand, Sirius' attacks were slower but they had power, behind them, to compensate for the lack of speed.
If Lapis continued to try and counter the attacks, then she would get the rhythm confused and she would be attacked, even with Eye of Providence. Moreover, the duration of her Water Dragon God Armour is two minutes, and it would run out at any moment.
In other words, she was at the disadvantage. The only way for Lapis to get out of the attacks safely would be to dodge, but she feels that dodging would be even more trouble than staying in her current predicament.
Then, Lapis found a solution. She had approximately 20 seconds until Water Dragon God Armour would dematerialize. If she made a mistake after that 20 seconds, it would be more dangerous than now. She stopped parrying. Arcana and Sirius took this opportunity. The flames, on Arcana's legs, transferred to her arms. She went from Skywalker to Vanguard.
The two then used their full strength to deliver a decisive blow on Lapis. Her armour broke as she was sent flying toward a building. Crashing into it, her body collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
Sirius and Arcana's forms dissipated and their horns shrunk into nothing. They both seemed tired, however, they didn't seem too tired that they would collapse.
'Shouldn't we kill her?'
Sirius asked. Arcana chuckled.
'What do you think Altair would say if we did? You saw how he reacted to the dead bodies earlier. No matter what he says, he's practically a kid.'
Sirius smiled alongside his sister.
'I guess that is true. Speaking of Altair, why don't we go help him?'
'Where do you think he is?'
'Well, Cerberus is the only place to go.'
Arcana nodded and they ran as fast as they could toward Cerberus, leaving Lapis' unconscious body behind.
As soon as they were out of sight, a green-haired girl descended from the sky. Reverie landed softly and picked up the unconscious body of Lapis. She gently touched her blue hair and moved it out of her face. There was a slight smile on her face–both of their faces, in fact.
'Enjoy fighting, Lapis?'
Reverie then started pouting.
'Mooou~! We weren't supposed to interfere with this Devil's Hour yet all four of us did! We're so getting shouted at by Lady Artemis!'