(General POV)
Lyze pivoted and leapt over the snaking whip that seemed to endlessly snap his way each time he found ground. Everytime he tried to move in closer to her, Soltra would just float out of the way while pulling the whip his way.
Usually he would not be so bothered but the fact remained that barbs were stuck in it and one had already cut his lip, proving that once again this Beast was more buffed up than it should have been.
Soltra also seemed to be aiming to make him look into her eye, which was totally useless because Lyze was immune against curse type magic. One moment he finally got into her personal space and swung Excalibur towards her eye, the biggest and most obvious weakspot on her body.
With surprisingly fast agility, she ducked underneath the swipe and grabbed his sword hand. She threw him into a rock wall with even more strength than he currently possessed and he found the wind knocked out of him.
He bore with it though and rolled out of the way as the whip smashed the rock where his head had been. Ottar had done much worse with him and he'd been weaker then. He fired a few fire spells her way but she seemed to glide between each of them and then charge at him. He leapt into the air and tried to pepper her with ice shards but she drew tew hip to her and began furiously rippling it into circular patterns. The ice shards shattered against the barbs.
"Flash of the Thunder God!" He shouted as lightning magic covered his body and he instantly moved behind her in a flash. This was one of Zaratras's abilities where he used his lightning magic to make himself faster. In a way it could be compared to Ais's Ariel except instead of wind, it was lightning.
He thrust out Excalibur towards her but she bent her body in an awkward way to evade the sword. She clenched her free fist and punched him in the face, injuring his torn lip even more. Lyze grit his teeth as he went skidding back through the dirt. Through 'Thread' he detected her closing in on him. Using the momentum of being thrown back, he back flipped in time to smash his heel into her chin and lift her off her feet a little bit.
He jumped back to create some distance as he wiped the blood from his mouth. He threw another fireball at her but she weaved around it yet again and lashed out with her whip. He used the flat of his sword to deflect it and pulled Cupid out his belt. Timing it right, he threw the dagger towards her chest, hoping it would pierce her heat, but to his surprise the dagger bounced off with a metallic clang and clattered to the ground.
Soltra screamed in fury and and brought the whip down towards his head. He ducked and then moved sideways as she pulled it the other way so the tip of the whip would come licking towards him. It was these kind of long range weapons that made it difficult for a swordsman to close in. He would usually try to grab such weapons but again...the barbs.
Deciding he'd had enough, he flew upwards out of her reach and showered her with rock bullets. She lifted her arms up as a few sharp pieces of debris continuously grazed her pale skin and made her growl in irritation. She proved to have sharp intuition as well though as she swerved to the side just as Lyze stabbed down into the ground she was previously stood in.
Her scrawny arms had very pointy and sharp elbows on them. Coupled with her greater strength stats, it was a deadly experience getting elbowed harshly in the stomach. Lyze felt as if a giant hole had been punched right through his abdominals and his intestines as he choked out a mouthful of blood and went bouncing along the ground, cracking his head on a few rocks.
He curled up a little out of reflex out of a desperate attempt to ease his pain before a hot sensation rushed up his leg as his angle started to scream and burn in pain. Soltra had managed to curl her whip around his foot and the barbs pierced through the leather right into his skin.
She pulled on it violently and he went sailing through the air as she pulled his body through rocks, dead trees and debris by pulling on her whip. He struggled to try and free himself but the barbs nicked his fingers and she was too strong for him to try and fly away. He flailed helplessly, as his body went smashing through the surroundings, Soltra unwilling to end this new little game she discovered.
Somewhere along the way, he lost grip of Excalibur but the world was spinning so much he could not register where it had gone. Soltra glided across the ground back towards the entrance, pulling the whip and Lyze's body along with her. With a mighty sweep of her arm, she made his body smash into the very same wall he'd put up to stop the girls coming back in.
Lyze cried out as he felt his leg snap at the knee joint with his kneecap popping out. He slid to the ground, clutching the broken leg and attempting to heal it. Before he could even invoke his healing magic, she was already upon him, grabbing him by the throat and hoisting him up in the air as his grip continuously tightened.
Lyze started to choke as he felt the air being squeezed out of him and he grabbed at her arm trying to pry it off of him. Her superior strength however made sure that she held on and he could not do anything about it. Stars began to appear in his vision as his head started to burn.
Unwillingly, his mind began going over several varying images as the life was squeezed out of him second by second. Images of Ais, of Lili and his hope that they'd reached someplace safe. Of his Familia and the bonds he'd created, of his teacher and the waitresses at the Hostess. Of all the things he'd planned to achieve and the things he was fighting for. His first victory and his defeats. Of Loki and her stupid smile along with Aki and her stupid pranks. Of Raul and his timid face, as well as his pathetic flailing whenever Lyze confronted him on something gone wrong.
Of his previous life and the things he had built for himself there. All the tournaments he'd won and all the things he'd achieved. Of all the things he'd wished to have known in that life and of the things he'd left behind. Of the friends that he'd had in that life and how he never got to say goodbye to any of them. Of the one person he'd been trying non-stop to go back to since his second life returned.
Flowing, chocolate brown hair and dazzling green eyes filled his mind's eye as one word came to mind that put a name to the beautiful and nostalgic image.
'Mum.'
---
Riveria looked up from her paperwork, suddenly being filled with a sense of alarm as she sharply rose out of her seating place. Finn who was lounging in his desk chair gave her a raised brow as he examined the panicked look on her face.
"What?" He asked.
"Something's wrong." She replied.
"Huh?"
"I said something's wrong!" She said a little more forcefully as she looked out of the window in the direction of Babel.
"I don't understand what you mean." Finn said as he sat up straight. "Wrong in regards to what?"
"The kids." Riveria said. "I don't know why...but I think something's happened to them."
"Why though? They're only just going to the middle floors. Lyze has easily cleared them over and over again. If there was any dangerous monster down there, I doubt it would be something beyond his ability to handle."
"You don't know that!" She snapped. "You're a captain for goodness sake! You know better than most how unpredictable the dungeon can be, and with new monster types seemingly appearing like Lyze described in his last time in the safe zone, things have a higher chance of going wrong."
"Somehow I feel that your worry is more centred around Lyze than anyone else." He narrowed his brow at her.
"I can't explain it okay!" She huffed. "Ever since that boy came to the Familia, my mind has been all over the place. I'm constantly finding myself worrying about him and the stupid things he does. He's living in my head now...and everytime I feel that something's gone wrong, he's come home half dead." She gave him a pointed look. "This time though, it's even more prominent than ever. Come on, isn't that 'special' ability of yours doing anything?"
Finn looked down at his thumb and noticed it was aching a little bit. He licked it and closed his eyes to concentrate on it more. Yes, now that he was concentrating, he noticed that it was shaking a little bit...and it was growing by the second. He sighed and got up from his seat before walking over to his spear which was in a corner.
"Alright, have it your way. We're done with most of our work so I guess going down to check on them won't be a bad thing. We'll have to hurry though just in case something bad is happening."
Riveria nodded and looked out of the window worriedly. "I just hope I'm wrong."
---
Lyze grit his teeth as rage began to burn inside him. He had not come all this way just to to be choked to death by some Voldemort bride if he could help it! Lifting an arm weakly, he pointed his fingers at where he estimated her midsection to be and fired a stream of burning hot red Force Lightning.
Soltra began to scream as the lightning scorched her skin and sent her body flying away in a fizzing heap as he slumped to the ground, coughing up bits of drool, that had collected at the back of his throat. While he could, he focused his healing magic on his broken leg and slowly sighed in relief as the kneecap popped back in and the leg fixed itself back into place.
Lifting his gaze back up to the Stone Charmer, he noticed that she was holding herself by her arms, her body smoking a she fixed her singular eye on him. Red lines had appeared on her face, revealing the extent of the damage he'd dealt her. He noticed also that bits of cloth were falling from the place he'd struck her.
Crisped pieces of fabric from the cloak fell away to reveal a shining golden object beneath the clothing. As she righted herself and picked up her whip, the object became fully visible. A shining golden breastplate beautiful to the eye was held on her body. It explained why Cupid had failed to penetrate her skin earlier and what exactly made his punch fail to connect with her. He'd busted his knuckles against the Golden Breatsplate, a piece of armour that provided a boost in physical strength to the one who wore it.
Was that the reason for her absurd strength?
"You little CUR!" She howled. "I'm going to peel the flesh off your limbs, piece by piece. You will be begging for death before I am done with you."
"Save it, you disgusting wench!" He spat. "I'm done playing with you. I should've just killed you from the start."
"And you think you could?"
"Yes. I know how weak you are against sunlight. It's the perfect weakness to have against an opponent like me...in my case that is."
"HAH!" She laughed. "And where exactly would that sunlight be, when we are so clearly underground? Why would you think that my singular weakness is so beneficial for you in this battlefield?"
"Because now..." he lifted his hand as a white light began to shine around his body. "...it's time for 'Cruel Sun'."
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