"You should stop this, Ophelia!"
Aihara parried every single punch from Ophelia. She used her fingertips and stabbed her right arm, multiple times.
When she attempted to raise her arm, it did not rise following her thoughts. Instead, it was stuck to her side.
"Shut up! You don't know what you're trying to stop!"
"Then tell me!"
Aihara enhanced her arm muscles to their apex—he punched her. Ophelia coughed blood, stumbling backwards.
"You all are leading yourselves and everyone else to their deaths, trying to stop us. Valkyrie Dress, Equip."
The next moment, a beautiful white dress cloaked her. Black wings sprouted from her back. Six white swords floated behind her back.
"Valkyrie Dress: Model Titania."
"You were never one to clarify on important matters... Singularity Overdrive."
Aihara's hair turned the same shade as her eyes—silver. White lines covered her body like tattoos. The magic circuits in her forearms could be seen through her suit. Aihara donned white gauntlets and a golden crown, which floated about her head like a halo.
This was the awakening of her Body Enhancement.
Valkyrie Dress is armour made for the two homunculi, Ophelia and Faith. They have different variations and they were made to match, or surpass, the capabilities of Singularity Overdrive.
Ophelia made the first move, flying towards Aihara. She grabbed one of the swords floating behind her and raised it above her head.
"First Sword: Zekken."
She thrust her sword forward at Aihara. It was so incredibly fast that the blade itself disappeared. To the naked eye, at least.
Aihara caught the blade in her hand. Ophelia's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Holy Armament—Divine Gauntlets."
Aihara crushed the sword and spun around, kicking Ophelia in the face. The impact felt harder than it was supposed to be. That was because Aihara possessed another Holy Armament, which she wore as boots.
Aihara bent her knees and prepared for her next attack. From the surroundings, light converged at her fist. Her magic circuits surged with holy mana. The light formed a lion head and roared at Ophelia.
The woman leapt at Ophelia and launched her attack. In a split second, a sword floated in front of her and morphed into a shield.
"Third Sword: Zenkai Shield."
The attack rebounded off of her shield.
"Huh?!"
The shield floated around Ophelia's back and she held yet another sword. Aihara managed to back away just in tim—
SHING!
Before Aihara realised, she had been sliced. A thin, yet, large wound appeared as blood sprayed from Aihara's chest.
"What..."
"Fifth Sword: Zekkai."
"Is that all you've got?!"
She screamed, hitting Ophelia with a barrage of punches. The black-haired woman attacked back. They were both smiling at their exchange.
·———·
"Hymn of Destruction."
The pages of the book fluttered and faded in colour. A massive white ring appeared behind her. Black blood dripped from it like melted ice cream. Black lightning struck down from the ring.
"Devour!"
Daiyu's shadow devoured most of the lightning, redirecting the rest.
Alix attempted to copy the spell that Zara used. Nothing was produced.
"Huh?! Whatever she's using isn't magic! In fact, it doesn't use mana at all!"
The fact that she could not copy the black lightning was proof of it. Alix could copy any spell and even some Singularities. If she was not able to copy whatever Zara attacked them with, then it was not anything magic related.
"What?"
Kaguya grimaced.
"I feel like you're going to be a pain in the ass."
"If you say so. I feel somewhat charitable, so I shall explain."
The woman, wearing a placid smile, closed her book.
"What I'm holding in my hand is a grimoire. Grimoires do not use mana to perform their 'magic,' instead, they use ether. Ether and mana are two sides of the same coin. Ether is the foundation of black magic while mana is the foundation of magic."
"So, you're using black magic instead of normal magic?"
Calira asked.
"That's up to you to decide."
She answered, somewhat vaguely.
"What was the point of giving us a hint? You could've used the lack of knowledge to your advantage."
Daiyu asked the Arcana.
Zara raised her hand; streams of lightning struck the ground. The squad dispersed and ran around to avoid being struck.
"I am the only one in the Wicked One's peerage who is not a homunculus. I am a human."
Everyone listened intently as it was news for all of them. Kaguya fired flames at her but they were easily devoured by the black blood.
"No openings, huh?"
"I am the only one not bound to his principles and ideals. I am the only one with so-called liberty."
"Then why do you continue to follow his design?!"
Alix screamed while shooting icicles at her.
"Why...?"
She uttered.
The grimoire floated in front of her and sang eerily. The pages regained their colour.
"Hymn of the Dragon."
A myriad of magic circles appeared behind Zara. From them, a blue dragon came out, roaring at the top of its lungs. It glared down at the humans.
"She summoned..."
"...A dragon?!"
"Because you all are the villains. The Wicked One may be evil but he truly is attempting to save the world."
The dragon walked past Zara and looked at Kaguya and the others, enlarging its cheeks.
"Separate!"
As they split, the dragon breathed blue fire. The dragon followed them as they ran, still breathing fire.
The veil on Zara's head was blown off. She was a beautiful woman. Her hair was a dull blue and her eyes were verdant. The only thing blemishing her beauty was a scar, which tore through her left eye, leaving her blind in that eye.
"Have you stopped to consider whether what you are doing is truly for the greater good of the world?"
The dragon flapped its wings, pushing them back. It slapped its tail towards Daiyu. She cloaked herself with shadows. She blocked the tail but still got sent flying into the fountain statue.
"Yeah, maybe what you're saying is right and perhaps we are the villains."
Kaguya replied, crouching down and placing Nuri on her shoulder. She glared at the dragon as it turned toward her.
"But, right now,"
The girl's eyes glowed amber and molten cracks appeared under her eyes. Her right arm became encrusted in black armour. A golden horn formed on her head, fluttering like a flame.
"All I care about is saving my friend!"
She jumped towards the dragon and sliced its neck. It disappeared into black mist.
"Your dragon didn't seem too fond of approaching us, meaning that it didn't want to have its weakness uncovered. It may look like a real dragon but it certainly was not as strong as one."
Kaguya explained, looking at Zara.
"Surtr..."
Zara clicked her tongue.
"You would not be saying that if you knew what type of monster would awaken if we fail. Having it in our world again would be disastrous..."