Leiso moved out of the way as several runes on the ground caused a chain of explosions all around her.
She created an iron shield to block out most of the impacts but the heat of the explosions caused it to melt slightly.
"What the hell is this enemy!?" She thought angrily.
Jallah moved in to attack again, but was nearly sliced to pieces by Willpower in an instant. The sword simply ignored his Kinetic Aspect. He couldn't defend against it...
"Hahahahaha! This is so easy! You two are waaaay weaker than I thought you'd be. Come on! I'm barely trying here!" Kesia said with a laugh.
Leiso created a storm of blades and incased them in water. She fired them at Kesia like a barrage of arrows. Kesia simply raised her hand in defense.
An orange rune appeared in mid air and incinerated everything that touched it.
"Ha! Seriously? A bit of water and metal? That ain't gonna be enough to hurt me, girly! My runes can change to any element I want. I'm not about to let someone like you get the better of me with your weak attacks!"
"Laugh it up while you can..." Jallah said as he attacked her from behind again.
Lightning sparked from his fist as it connected with the flat of her sword.
She gritted her teeth as the impact sent a shockwave through her body.
A rune appeared at Jallah's feet at the same time.
"Shit!!" Jallah shouted.
He leaped out of the way, but was caught in an explosion of fire. Jallah landed a few feet away and shakily got to his feet.
He was panting heavily.
"Is that...all you got? Just a few sword techniques and...some stupid rune magic?"
"Of course not. You think this is all? You two ain't worthy of my full power," Kesia said.
"If this keeps up, we'll die here... Think, Leiso! She creates runes to attack and defend. She can lay traps, change their elements, and even make them in the air. According to Jallah, she can place them on our bodies if she wants... She's really powerful..."
"I think I've had enough of you two. I was told to wrap up any loose ends and meet up with the others. They're probably already assaulting the Cursebreaker by now, so I should go help out. How about I end this?" Kesia said.
Leiso's eyes went wide.
"Assaulting the Cursebreaker!? How!? Even just the vice-captains are so much stronger than us... But with everyone else...how would that be possible!?"
"Leiso...we gotta pull back..." Jallah said as he moved closer to her.
"Don't think for a second that I'll let you get away. Even if you split up, I'll just track you down. I've marked you already, you know?" Kesia said.
Both of them looked down and saw a single small rune on one of their arms.
"With that, I'll know wherever you go. There's no point in running anymore. I'm ending this right now," Kesia said.
At that point...Leiso could do nothing but watch in horror as Kesia slowly began to approach the two Enforcers.
* * *
Iris was beside herself with worry.
She knew something was wrong...she could feel it. She knew Mizik had been harmed in some way, but couldn't figure out where he had gone.
Additionally, the life forces of both Leiso and Jallah were beginning to fade. Someone was fighting them...and winning.
Johann was busy directing the Oracle's Faithful. They weren't much as soldiers as far as he was concerned, but they were still very powerful. He'd decided to take a backline role out of respect for his subordinates.
A King didn't typically spend time on the frontlines when his soldiers were willing to fight for him. Johann never cared for this sort of thinking, but entertained it out of respect.
Iris couldn't help but be frustrated by it all...
She could feel something was very wrong with Isabella and Cassandra as well. So much was happening that it caused her stress. She wanted to cry to Johann and ask him for help...but didn't want to bother him.
So...she made a rather impulsive decision.
She teleported to the location of her two Enforcers.
As she arrived, she could see a woman with red hair standing over two unconscious people.
Jallah and Leiso.
"See? I told you idiots you couldn't win. I am Kesia the Red! Second in command of the Hero Party! I'm not about to get beaten by a couple of chumps like you! Now then...I'll just finish you off and be on my way."
"NOOOO!!!" Iris screamed.
She teleported in front of the woman and blasted her back with magic.
Iris manifested her divine scales and examined the woman.
To her surprise...the woman had a very positive alignment.
"Please wait! Be reasonable! These two are like children to me and-"
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?!? WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP SHOWING UP!!! DAMMIT!!!" Kesia screamed in rage.
"Huh...?"
"I was given a simple order! Tie up the loose end that saw us and tried to escape. That's it. Then another lady showed up after he decimated part of the city. I FINALLY managed to beat them and another one shows up? I don't have time for this!"
Without warning, Kesia waved her hand and multiple runes appeared all over Iris' body. They exploded all at once and sent her flying back.
Before she could stand, she felt herself dragged into the air as another rune appeared on her body.
She flew straight at Kesia and stopped in mid-air. Kesia took her sword, a strange katana made of pure energy, and slashed Iris several times all over.
Iris felt her body breaking with each wound and was thrown to the ground again.
She expected to begin regenerating at any moment...but was startled to learn something horrifying.
Her body wasn't regenerating at all. Some kind of strange energy radiating from Kesia's attacks was preventing her body from mending itself.
"Wait...hold on a second... This isn't right. What is happening right now!? Am I about to die!?!?" Iris thought.
Iris tried to stand up again and Kesia grabbed her by the throat. She held her up and smiled.
"Dumbass goddess. Lesser gods can't kill us. We're all god slayers, you know? Think of us as the Artificer's personal fighting force. Not that it matters to you anymore. I'm sorry, lady. I'm just in a bad mood, see?"
"Bad...mood?" Iris managed.
"Yeah. I'm trying to be the next leader of the Hero Party. Krow is hard to compete with, but I manage. Now, if I can't even complete a simple task like this, how can I lead our group? It's silly. I don't know why I'm telling you this... Sorry, but you gotta die," Kesia said.
She slammed her fist into Iris' face and knocked her to the ground.
Then she raised her hand and created another rune in the air. It formed into a sword and Kesia grabbed it with her free hand. She raised both swords into the air and looked down at Iris.
"Goodbye goddess lady...I don't think I even learned your name. Huh. Oh well..."
She brought her swords down and impacted something as another flash of light appeared before her eyes.
"Huh...? You have GOT to be kidding me right now..." Kesia said.
In front of her was a man with white hair and red eyes. Wings of crimson energy flared out on his back and he had horns on his head of the same color.
He looked at her with seething fury.
"What the hell...DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!?" He roared.
The air around him was heating up so much that Kesia could hardly stand it.
She pulled back, wondering how he managed to block both of her swords with his bare hands. Not even gods were capable of such a feat.
He knelt down next to Iris and touched her face.
"Iris!!! Speak to me! Are you okay!?" He said.
"I'm...fine... In a lot of pain... My body isn't regenerating...ugh..." Iris managed.
"HEY! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!!! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!!! I'LL DEAL WITH YOU IN A MOMENT!!!" Johann yelled.
Kesia was taken back by his gaze and kept staring at him.
Johann picked Iris up and she was surrounded by crimson energy.
"You'll be safe back there. I'll transport you to the infirmary."
"What about...Jallah...and Leiso...?" Iris said.
"Geez...they're like children to you, right? Come on...have faith in me. I'll take care of them too," Johann said with a slight smile.
"Thank you...Johann..." Iris passed out and Johann transported her away.
At the same time, he extended his hands outward and cloaked the unconscious Enforcers. They, too, were transported out.
Finally, he turned his attention to Kesia.
"Who are-"
"I'm not gonna play with you. You hurt my wife...the Queen of Excelsis. You will die here. End of story," Johann said.
"Queen of Excelsis...? Then that means you're...oh no..." Kesia backed away from Johann as he slowly walked closer.
The air began to heat up and there was an explosion of fire around him. His wings spread out and he shot towards Kesia.
She tried to attack with Willpower, but he swatted it away with his claw.
His other claw burst into flames and he slashed at her throat.
Kesia narrowly dodged it and drew back.
"RRRAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!!" Johann roared.
A stream of white-hot flames burst forth and nearly incinerated Kesia where she stood.
She managed to move, but not before being singed by the flames.
At that point, she knew it was time to retreat.
She dispersed Willopwer and her other sword, then turned to run.
There was an explosion behind her accompanied by flames spreading out in every direction.
She glanced back to see that Johann had changed form into a massive white dragon.
Crimson energy swirled around his body and flared outward.
"ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!!!"
"THE ORACLE IS A FUCKING DRAGON!?!?" Kesia screamed in fear.
Johann flared his wings out and flew into the air.
"NO MERCY FOR THOSE WHO HARM IRIS!!! I WILL ERASE YOU!!!" Johann roared.
* * *
The onslaught of the duo fighting the Cursebreaker's crew continued.
None of them had managed to so much as wound either Mako or Mori.
And oddly enough...Cassandra had come to the conclusion that Mori wasn't even here.
Something also kept firing extremely powerful magic at them from a distance. It seemed to come from all directons at once. The spells would appear from anywhere.
Not to mention...Mako was a dominating presence on the field.
Stella's sword had also ceased to function.
Even if Nirani's power was effective against Mako, he didn't have to attack to be a threat.
And somehow...Mori could continue attacking as if nothing had changed.
Many of her clones would rapidly dart in and out of the group, slashing wildly. Meanwhile, threads around the field, floating daggers, and the intense magic being cast all around them created the perfect storm.
Isabella, Cassandra, and the rest of the crew were pushed back repeatedly.
The fourth forms of Bravery and Intelligence were truly not to be underestimated. Especially in their strengthened state.
Isabella couldn't understand what was happening...
Mizik went missing. These two showed up and stole their swords, which were apparently theirs to begin with.
Somehow, they used the fourth forms of both Bravery and Intelligence without saying anything... As if it were as natural as using any other form.
For years...Bravery was hers. Given by Mizik.
The betrayal she felt from that sword alone was enough to make her cry. Because Bravery was her friend...
"Have you had enough?" Mako said.
"Ugh..." Isabella grunted as she fell to her knees.
"We can keep going! Really really! This is so much fun! But...you're not all as strong as we thought you'd be...so sad so sad..." Mori said.
"Mori, I'd prefer not to insult them," Mako said.
"That's because you think the pinky girls are cute, riiiiight?" Mori said.
"Silence! Nasumi is the only woman for me! Ahem...I want to be respectful. Especially since we'll be working with them soon."
"Uh-huh! Suuuure~!"
"Work...with you? Why would we do that!? Cassandra said angrily.
"Well, when Mizik is done with his training, he'll be coming back. Until then, we were told to relocate and contain you within Dominus. Our leader doesn't trust you to not run amok and cause trouble."
"M-mizik..." Cassandra said.
She dropped to her knees.
"That's right. Mizik will be back once we let him go. He'll be strong enough to end this. And most importantly, we'll be joining you for the final battle. Can we let bygones be bygones? We haven't killed anyone. We hope you'll forgive us," Mako said.
He bowed his head respectfully.
Isabella thought about it.
"We can't fight these people... They're too strong. But as long as Mizik comes back...and as long as we defeat Difar...it should be fine."
"Fine...we'll come along with you..." Isabella said reluctantly.
"Isabella!" Aldaril said.
"V-vice captain!?" Nirani exclaimed.
"It should be fine... Besides, we can't win this fight. Please, trust me..." Isabella said.
Everyone seemed reluctant. Regardless, they lowered their weapons.
"Excellent. Don't worry, just get back on the ship and we'll have you transported to Dominus," Mako said.
"Very well. Everyone, if you can move, get back on the ship. If not...I'll make sure you get there safe," Isabella said.
As everyone moved to the gravity lift, Isabella turned to Mako.
"It appears as if we are your prisoners now. Please be good to us."