"Gh…!?" While her body was being tossed about by the continuously whirling torrents, Ryugu bit her lips without her knowing.
Looking back, from the first time they had met until now, she, 'Fist' Saintess Tirna, had never used Combat Arts related to 'water'.
She had used Combat Arts of 'wind', 'thunder', 'earth', etc. but she'd never used one of 'water'.
In spite of that, Tirna had been able to overpower Ryugu with the help of the Phoenix Seal.
Hence why Ryugu did not doubt that she had been using her full power.
She was leagues above common adventurers when it came to sharpness and close-quarters hand-to-hand combat skills.
But—Ryugu forgot one thing.
That Tirna was a unique case among the saintesses, in that she had the blood of demi-human running in her.
She was half-human half-mermaid.
As such, only in one environment could she demonstrate her true full power.
――Yes, 'underwater'.
Perhaps she had been planning this from the very beginning.
Even if she had the Phoenix Seal, it wouldn't be easy for her to end Ryugu, a master of anti-close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.
The only way she could hope to do so was if she were to drag Ryugu into her territory, underwater.
That was why Tirna had been distracting her until just now.
(How vexing…)
Realizing she had fallen under Tirna's scheme, Ryugu was mad at herself for not being able to see through it, rather than Tirna.
Wouldn't this make her no different from Kitezh, who was complacent due to his talent?
"—!"
"Gh!? –Gaha!?"
WHACK! Tirna approached Ryugu with tremendous speed and threw a roundhouse kick at her, bending her body in the shape of く.
Ryugu had seen her approaching from a distance, and so she had somehow prepared herself to ward her off, yet before they collided, Tirna had changed course and struck her from another side, making her attempt futile.
With the accursed water robbing her mobility, her bodily reaction became slightly delayed even though her consciousness was fine.
In this situation, her"Harmonia"was rendered completely useless.
In that case… Ryugu tried to escape from the restraint of water by using Magic Art.
"—Grand Tornado Cage!!"
――SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHH!!
A barrier of storm expanded in a spherical shape, protecting Ryugu from the torrents.
"Haa, haa…"
With this, Tirna wouldn't be able to carelessly approach her—or so Ryugu thought as she was breathing raggedly, but…
"—Wha!?"
…almost immediately after she saw something unbelievable.
――WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHH!!
A humongous rock was flying straight toward her.
"—Agh!?"
Naturally, the suddenness of the event made her unable to avoid it; Ryugu was knocked out of the wind barrier by the rock, and she returned back into the water.
Ryugu was confused, where had the rock come from? Her eyes landed on the great number of rock protrusions on the floor at the bottom of the water.
Yes, they were the rock protrusions resulting from the Combat Art that Tirna had used.
Most likely, Tirna had sent one flying at the first sign she was deploying the "Tornado Cage".
It was evident that she had predicted that Ryugu would try to escape with some Magic Art.
"—Agh!? —Ogh!? —Ugh!?"
Before Ryugu could regain her balance, Tirna rushed over and proceeded to literally struck her from all directions.
"—Gah!?"
And so, with a final upper kick to her back from below, Ryugu powerlessly looked straight ahead.
"Grand—"
There she found Tirna, already waiting with her right arm held aloft and activating some Combat Art.
(Ah… there is no way I can dodge that…)
Therefore, Ryugu curled up the corner of her lips as though she had resigned herself, and…
"Diamond Blade!!"
――BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNGGGG!!
…she welcomed the blow head-on.
◇ ◇
"…Why did you not kill me…?" Ryugu, lying on the floor of the hall where the water had drained, inquired powerlessly.
Then, Tirna, who had canceled her fusion with Goddess Terra, replied with a straight face, "Because our purpose is not to kill you."
"Fufu… that's very kind of you… I might attack you again, you know…"
"Then, at that time, I will—no, we will just beat you again. No matter how many times you stand before us, we will always win."
"Is that… so… That's… troubling…" Ryugu smiled without her knowing, but just before her consciousness faded away, she, at last, said, "Go on… Your comrade should be… in the throne room…"
"Got it. Let's go, Terra-sama."
"Yes, let's."
Looking at Tirna's small back as she ran off along with Terra, Ryugu suddenly smiled and slowly closed her eyes.