"…Judging from the vibrations just now, it appears one of the battles has been concluded."
The one who calmly uttered those words was Ryugu, standing in place while spinning her folded umbrella.
Some time had passed since the start of the battle, yet contrary to the state of destruction the hall was in, her appearance was as pristine as pre-battle.
In spite of the fact that Tirna and Terra had activated "Infinite Goddess".
The reason for that was her superpower—"Harmonia". It allowed her to determine moves to perfectly counter any attacks by way of matching her 'breathing' with that of the opponent.
Needless to say, due to the Phoenix Seal, her counterattack was rendered ineffective from the second hit onward, and she had been keeping her distance the moment she'd realized it.
However.
"Yes. That must be the sound of our companions having defeated yours," said Tirna without relaxing her stance, her voice as calm as could be.
Seeing her, Ryugu gave a bewitching smile, "Nfu," and said, "What a cute little one you are. Are you perhaps thinking that I don't notice it?"
"…Notice what?"
"That." Ryugu motioned her chin at the doorway leading to the passage blocked by protrusions of rock, a result of the Combat Art Tirna had released. "I found it strange you keep using only earth attribute Combat Arts, but by doing that, you wanted to instill in me the impression that you did it because you have fused with the 'Earth' Goddess, and by extension, the enhanced potency of your earth attribute Combat Arts, didn't you? However, you have another goal. That." Ryugu motioned at the doorway with her chin again.
"Ah, what am I to do?" Ryugu continued with an exaggerated tone, "Unbeknownst to me, my path of retreat has already been blocked. This is most troubling."
"…"
"So, what are you planning by trapping me in this hall? Well, considering you have access to what you call 'Substitute', I reckon it must be to 'buy time' until your comrades come."
"…Why did you play along when you realized all that?" Tirna inquired.
A smile of leisure spread across Ryugu's face, and she said, "Of course, there can only be one reason. Because I, too, wanted to buy time."
"…I see. By keeping us here, Exa won't be able to activate the 'Ultimate Superior Arms'. I bet the one who came up with this is that oni who thinks himself invincible."
"Yes, verily true. As such, this situation works in my favor. Even if your reinforcement arrives, you will not be able to break through my"Harmonia"for I have the territorial advantage. My apologies for messing up your scheme." Ryugu smiled triumphantly.
However, "No," Tirna shook her head and said, "Unfortunately, you're misunderstanding something."
"Am I, now?"
"Yes. Because you have yet to break our 'scheme'."
"…May I ask you to elaborate?" Ryugu suddenly stopped spinning her umbrella and frowned suspiciously.
Tirna raised her right fist—which was letting out crackles of lighting—overhead, focused her power on it, and said, "I lied about one thing to you: our goal is not to 'buy time'. But now that we know you have such intention, we decided to speed things up a little bit."
"That's a strange thing to say. Do you mean you're capable of something other than buying time in this situation?"
"Yes. After all, I haven't used my 'full power' yet." Tirna nodded.
Ryugu burst into laughter, "Well, well. Bluffing that far will only make you seem a little pitiful, you know?"
"I'm not bluffing. Yes, I had been fighting seriously. So, it may not be wrong to say that I had been using my full power. But that's only the case 'on land'."
"On land…? –Don't tell me!?"
At that point, Ryugu noticed.
"Kh!?" She promptly tried to get away, but it was too late.
Tirna used her Combat Art and slammed her right fist on the ground.
"—Grand Full Maelstrom!!"
――BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNGGGGGG!!
At that moment, a massive torrent of water erupted and swallowed the two.