Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Shirotsume.
June 3, x785.
Although Marin took her fighting stance after Lust admitted to her accusations, her first thought was actually to do something different. Instead of fighting immediately, she wanted to run away and put some distance between the Sorcerer Weekly crew and the battle. Unfortunately, she doubted that Lust would allow that.
"It looks like you've already realized it." Lust said, her malicious smile widening. At the same time, she pointed a finger at Marin as she continued. "I know Fairy Tail's reputation. Although it was liable to cause large amounts of property damage in the past, they always tried to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. So, unless you want all these people to end up like him, I would suggest you surrender."
As she neared the end of her speech, Lust's finger that was pointing at Marin, slowly shifted to the crew's photographer. And when she saw that, Marin's eyes opened wide as she started channeling magic power into her daggers.
'Please make it.' Marin thought as she increased the weight of her daggers to the limit that she could handle.
In the next instant, Lust's fingernail sharpened as it extended at high speed towards the photographer's forehead.
"[Transformation Magic: Shoot to Kill]." Marin chanted simultaneously.
With Marin's chant, the blades of her daggers extended at an even higher speed. At the same time, she blunted the tips of her daggers, as well.
*Bang!*
An instant before Lust's [Ultimate Spear] could penetrate the photographer's head, Marin's daggers impacted Lust's chest, causing her to slide backwards along with the blades of Marin's daggers.
"Gah!" Lust grunted as the wind was knocked out of her.
At the same time, after realizing just how close to death he was, the photographer's legs gave out and he fell to the ground while a wet patch appeared on the crotch of his pants.
"All of you need to get out of here, now!" Marin shouted as she retracted her daggers after they could not be extended any further without the fear of being easily broken. "She won't be gone for long!"
Hearing Marin's shout, the photo shoot crew finally snapped back to their senses. Then, without caring for any of the supplies they brought out to the shoot's location, they turned back towards Shirotsume Town and ran as fast as they could.
"Hey, someone help me!" The photographer shouted in a panic. "I can't move my legs! Don't leave me behind! Please!"
Hearing that, most of the crew continued to run. However, a few men and women, with comparatively kinder hearts, hesitated for a moment before eventually coming back to help the photographer escape as well.
Seeing that everyone had escaped, Marin could not help but sigh in relief.
["Don't drop your guard too early, she'll be back soon."] Marin's [Armament Spirit] warned.
"I know." Marin replied as she took a deep breath to prepare for battle.
A few moments later, after a tense silence, Marin shifted her body slightly to the left while swiping up with the dagger in her right hand to parry an incoming attack.
"It looks like I under estimated you." Lust said as she returned. "Even so, you have no chance of escaping. And once I've captured you, I'll make sure to slaughter all those insignificant insects you allowed to escape."
"Yeah, I don't think so." Marin replied before dashing forward.
While running, Marin tossed the dagger in her left hand into the air.
"[Dagger Magic: Flying Dagger Barrage]." Marin chanted.
In the next instant, eleven copies of the dagger she just threw into the air were created with Marin's magic power. Then, the eleven copies were all sent flying towards lust. Meanwhile, the original dagger fell back into Marin's outstretched hand.
"You expect to defeat me with such petty tricks?" Lust asked disdainfully.
A moment later, just as the daggers were about to pierce through her body, Lust extended the nails on both hands before rapidly slashing them at the incoming daggers.
*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* * Clang!* *Clang!*
As a result, all eleven copies were deflected before dispersing into magic power.
At the same time, Marin had drawn closer to Lust. Then, once she was within range, she slashed the dagger in her right hand at Lust's neck.
*Clang!*
Unfortunately, Lust was able to easily defend herself. Yet, Marin's offensive did not stop.
"Transformation Magic: Claws and Fangs of Violation]." Marin chanted as she stepped back.
In the next instant, though she was clearly out of range, Marin slashed the dagger in her left hand diagonally upwards from Lust's right waist. At the same time, the blade of the dagger elongated.
"Clang!*
Still, just like with all the previous attacks, Lust was able to block it with her [Ultimate Spear].
"This is pointless." Lust said with a frown. "Just give up. If you do, you'll make it out of this without being hurt too badly."
Naturally, Marin ignored Lust's advice. Instead, she danced around Lust while continuing to alter her distance, and continuously slashed her daggers.
"Even if you were to give up, however, I'll still have to punish you for causing me so much trouble." Lust said as she swiped her arms outward to parry a pair of incoming slashes. "Maybe I'll leave a scar on that pretty face of yours. I wonder if that man of yours will still love you when he sees your new look."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lust's expression changed. Instead of parrying Marin's simultaneous downward slashes, her arms flailed ineffectively.
"Damn it..." Lust muttered as she saw the killer instinct in Marin's eyes as she pointed her daggers at her chest again.
"[Transformation Magic: Shoot to Kill]." Marin chanted.
Then, her daggers extended towards Lust's chest once again. Unlike the last time, however, Marin did not blunt their tips. As a result, the two daggers pierced through Lust's chest, skewering both of her lungs and her heart. Yet, Marin was not done with her offensive.
"[Transformation Magic: Bloom]." Marin chanted while her blades were still impaling her opponent.
In the next instant, several blades sprung out from all over Lust's torso, neck, and head. Then, without mercy, Marin swung her arms outwards, ripping Lust into chunks of flesh. On top of that, a glowing red Philosopher's Stone fell to the ground, as well.
["She's not dead."] Marin's [Armament Spirit] warned. ["Those things can regenerate as long as their stone is still intact."]
"I know." Marin replied as she threw the dagger in her left hand at the Philosopher's Stone.
Then, as soon as the dagger made contact with the Philosopher's Stone, it transformed into a metal case that enveloped the stone.
"There, that should take care of her until I can get this to Alfonzo and have him send it into space like the other one." Marin said with a smile. "My daggers may not be made of adamantine, but orichalcum isn't easy to cut through, either."
["I feel like you just raised a flag."] The [Armament Spirit] replied.
"Huh? Really?" Marin asked in disbelief.
As if to answer her question, one of Lust's fingernails punched through the orichalcum box holding the Philosopher's stone and shot towards Marin's abdomen.
"Seriously?" Marin exclaimed as she dove out of the way. "She ripped through it that easily? No, wait? How did she even do that? There shouldn't be enough room in there for her to regenerate at all."
["That's not really the important thing right now."] The [Armament Spirit] replied. ["You need to figure out how you're gonna get out of this in one piece."]
In the next instant, the extended fingernail sliced upward, bisecting the orichalcum box in the process. A moment later, Lust had completely regenerated.
"She doesn't look very happy." Marin said with a wry smile.
"Just a scar on your face will be the least of your worries." Lust said, ironically, with wrath in her tone. "My only order was to capture you alive. Other than that, the state of your body is irrelevant."
Then, without giving Marin the chance to respond, Lust dashed forward with her nails extended.
"This is bad." Marin muttered with an unprecedented level of focus.
At the same time, Marin reached for the choker around her neck. Then, as she pulled on it, it [Transformed] into her [Soul Armament], a long dagger with a slightly curved blade.
Just as the [Transformation] of her [Soul Armament] was completed, Lust was right in front of Marin with her right hand swinging at her face.
Reacting quickly, Marin parried Lust's slash with her [Sol Armament. Then, she made a quarter turn to avoid Lust's follow-up thrust. Following that, she used the dagger in her right hand to parry another thrust.
*Shing!*
Unfortunately, unlike before, Lust's nails cut right through the dagger, dividing its blade into a few pieces that fell to the ground.
'Shit!' Marin exclaimed internally as she frantically dodged the incoming slash.
Unfortunately, that resulted in her arm being slashed, leaving a pair of bloody gashes across her bicep. Even so, Lust did not slow down her assault, hellbent on maiming her prey.
Despite the pain from her injury, Marin managed to duck under another slash. Then, she lunged forward and buried her [Soul Armament] into Lust's chest, its tip coming into contact with the Philosopher's Stone.
"Gya~~~~~~~~!" Lust screamed in pain as she staggered backwards.
Taking advantage of the break in the action, Marin leapt backwards. Then, she used her [Soul Armament] to cut off a strip from the bottom of her shirt.
'I hope Lici will forgive me for ruining one of her pieces given the situation.' Marin said as she began wrapping the cut cloth around the wound on her arm.
["Yeah, I think she'll forgive you in this case."] The [Armament Spirit] replied.
'More importantly, do you know what happened just now?' Marin asked, never tanking her eyes off of Lust. 'That's the first time she's had such a big reaction. On top of that, she's regenerating much slower, too.'
["It probably has something to do with the fact that I was made from a piece of your soul."] The [Armament Spirit] replied. ["I think some of the souls trapped in the [Philosopher's Stone were released. But without the proper procedure, they won't pass on. They'll just end up as wandering souls."]
'Bickslow would be happy if he was here.' Marin replied as she tied off her makeshift bandage.
["If he survived to use them."] The [Armament Spirit] replied.
Around the same time, Lust finally finished regenerating her injuries. On top of that, she looked even angrier than when Marin ripped her body into pieces.
'I don't think she's concerned with bringing me in alive anymore.' Marin muttered internally after seeing the murderous look in Lust's eyes.
Then, as if to prove her right, Lust extended the nails on her right hand at Marin's chest. And if Marin did nothing to avoid them, at least two of them would puncture her heart.
Reacting quickly, Marin swept the nails aside with her [Soul Armament], which was completely undamaged after doing so. Then, she dodged to her left to avoid the incoming slash from Lust's other hand.
'Damn it, now she's keeping her distance.' Marin complained internally. 'Not that I couldn't hit her from here. But she'd definitely be able to avoid having her Philosopher's Stone getting hit again. On top of that, because Fonzie couldn't carve sigils into my [Soul Armament], it's dangerous to extend its blade too far. Since I can't change its mass.'
["You have to stay focused, Marin"] The [Armament Spirit] scolded.
Unfortunately, Marin was finding it hard to follow that piece of advice. Due to her injury, she was losing blood quickly. As a result, her mind was wandering while her body was reacting slower over time. And that eventually led to Marin being painted into a corner.
'Oh no!' Marin exclaimed internally as she staggered after parrying another slash.
Not missing the opportunity, Lust smiled viciously as she thrust her nails towards Marin's waist, intending to damage her inner organs while simultaneously severing her spine.
'I can't avoid this.' Marin thought to herself while trying to force her body to move away from the incoming attack.
Just as that thought passed through Marin's mind, she found herself in a strange place. Although it looked like a city scape, the buildings in her surroundings were changing shape. For example, one moment the building on her left was a quaint, two-story home. A moment later, it turned into a fifty-story skyscraper only to change into an equipment shed after another moment.
The buildings were not the only strange thing about the place she found herself in, either. Marin also noticed that the sky changed quite frequently, as well. One moment it would be blue without a cloud in sight. Then, it would be covered in storm clouds before turning into a nights sky. At one point, Marin even saw that the sky had turned blood red for a moment.
Even the ground constantly shifted between terrains, as well.
"Where am I?" Marin asked in wonder.
"This is your inner world." The androgynous voice Marin recognized as her [Armament Spirit] replied.
"I see." Marin replied while looking around. "Erza said something about this when she was fighting the chief of that flock of Crow Tengu. That means you brought me here right before it was too late, right?"
"That's right." The [Armament Spirit] replied.
"But where are you?" Marin asked while continuing to look around.
A moment later, the sky lit up like a super nova had gone off in the distance. Then, all the light from the explosion began to coalesce into a humanoid form floating above the changing cityscape.
"We don't have much time." The [Armament Spirit] said after its body, a petite, female body with androgynous facial features, a pair of glowing, multi-colored eyes, chalk-white skin, constantly changing, multi-colored, shoulder-length hair, and wearing a form-fitting, black and white body suit, said as it lowered its self to the ground. "Even though you were able to hear my voice, you're not yet ready to hear my name. So, we'll have to do something a bit different to save you from the predicament you're in."
Hearing that, Marin's focus heightened. Meanwhile, the [Armament Spirit] spread its arms wide.
"Somewhere in this city that is changing to display your emotional instability, there are an uncountable number of replicas of my weapon form." The [Armament Spirit] explained. "And among those replicas, the real me is hidden. And you only have one chance to find my real weapon form. Otherwise, at the very best, you will be captured and lose the use of everything below your waist."
In response, Marin's eyes widened in surprise.
"Just remember, like Fonzie said, we are of one soul." The [Armament Spirit] continued. "You must let our connection guide you to find the real me."
With that, the [Armament Spirit's] body broke down into motes of light that dispersed into the air.