"A fraudster!! You can't take my lines like that!"
"Too bad. I just did."
Stelle stomped her foot down seeing Yuuto avert his gaze and felt like a piece of her identity was stolen away from her.
Yuuto on the other hand looked downwards at his fist and the flickers of red aura covering his hand gradually faded away.
'I figured it would be pretty strong from the description but I didn't think it would be this powerful.'
[Propulsion]
The [Core Memory] that he gained from Luka during his final moments in the Underworld.
By gathering energy within his right fist, he is able to produce punches that contain the amount collected. So the longer you gather the energy, the stronger the power will be.
'I figured Bronya and Cocolia would take a while to talk so charging up [Propulsion] felt like a good choice.'
While the memory brought its benefits, Yuuto felt it would be a bit difficult to use in practice since it took a while to charge up.
As his style leaned more toward sharp and consistent attacks. This memory was like a breath of fresh air to him.
"I should find a way to incorporate this into my usual attacks." Yuuto thought of the possible ways but decided he should wait until later.
A few meters away, the air began to tremble and a deep yellow light exploded from a crater that contained an annoyed and angry woman.
Beyond the waves of rocks and snow, Cocolia glared at Yuuto with a ferocious expression. The yellow aura that covered her body exploded and fluctuated as if it responded to her emotions.
"{Annoying….}"
Cocolia raised her hand towards her chest and felt the indent. "{How dare you..}" Feeling the injury she got, she placed Yuuto on the forefront of the people she wanted gone.
"{I shall bring…}"
—BOOOOOM
"I feel like I'm fighting that damn echo again."
As Cocolia was about to finish her words, a bright light exploded in front of her and instinctively covered her body with the lance she had.
Streaks of moonlight covered her lance before flowing around the weapon and assaulting the arm holding it up. Cocolia narrowed her eyes feeling the pain and pushed her lance forward.
The yellow aura around her moved towards the lance and a small explosion pushed Yuuto into the air.
Not missing a beat, Cocolia raised her hand and an array of spikes made out of ice appeared behind her. She locked her eyes on Yuuto and immediately fired at him.
"She's not holding back." Yuuto saw the hundreds of spikes heading his way and tightly gripped his sword.
Silver lines covered the tip and he traced the air to fire a few lines of his own. Creating a few medium-sized crosses
Feeling satisfied with what he made in the short period, he willed the moonlight to break forward and destroy the spikes Cocolia sent toward him.
Countless explosions appeared in the air as sharp light and dense ice collided, bringing Yuuto to expand the mist contained within his body.
A cocoon gradually formed and blocked out any remaining ice that passed through his barrage of crosses.
–BOOOOOM
Dan Heng, March, and the others watched this exchange that happened in the span of a few seconds and snapped out of their stunned looks.
"Quickly! Attack while she's busy!" Dan Heng was the first to move and disappeared from his position to rush Cocolia.
Hearing his shout, the others began to move with Seele blinking from her spot and Stelle raising her bat. Ready to destroy anything fired her way.
"{They don't know when to quit.}" Cocolia took her eyes off the sky feeling the presence of a few people headed towards her.
Followed by the array of spikes behind her, she raised her hand and a rain of spears came crashing down on the land in front of her.
Dan Heng relaxed his breathing and black and green wind quickly covered his body. Forcing his spear behind him, Dan Heng dodged each of the spikes aimed at him.
Seele didn't mind and continued to blink forward. With each step she took, her body sunk into the space ahead and phased through any obstacles threatening to harm her.
"Where are my special dodging skills!?"
Stelle stopped and cursed, feeling like she was out of place seeing her two allies dodge the rain of ice sculptures.
She wanted to do the same but thinking about the possibility of her getting skewered was too high for her liking. So racking her brain on the problem she came to one solution.
"Let me just destroy everything flying towards me."
As if a switch was flipped inside her head, Stelle was certain that this was the best plan she had.
Why dodge when there's nothing to dodge in the first place?
It was simple but simple was what Stelle liked the best.
"I'm a genius."
She began to smile and seeing a large spear come towards her, Stelle swung her bat to shatter the spear to pieces. Leaving a trail of blue sparks behind her.
Moving forward with her plan, March deadpanned at Stelle as she lowered her finger and gave an audible sigh.
"Hopefully she notices the shield I made to help protect them."
March shook her head that there was no way she didn't realize it and raised her bow alongside Bronya. Who was already aiming toward Cocolia a few meters away from her.
{.....}
"{I know. There are just a few distractions.}" Cocolia said to herself in a solemn tone.
Cocolia controlled the growing aura covering her and locked her sights on Dan Heng who twirled his spear towards her.
She immediately blocked the incoming thrust he prepared but had to move to the side when the trajectory suddenly shifted from its initial course. Dan Heng didn't stop and wind converged within the tip of his spear.
"Torrent.."
The wind flashed a deep shade of black and white. His spear flickered in his hands before putting forth an attack that forced Cocolia to use the ice she had.
A large shield extended from her palm and the force behind the 4 hits caused a small crack in her shield.
Cocolia didn't like this and dug the heavy lance behind her since she felt like she needed to lose the weight so she could move.
–VSSHHH
"Fast–!"
Dan Hang gritted his teeth after Cocolia suddenly vanished and appeared right in front of him. Two heavy spears clashed with each other not relenting to either side.
The two exchanged blows for a while and it looked like each side didn't want to stop their assault.
However, being powered by the Stellaron's energy held tremendous advantages even if she didn't absorb all the power brewing within her.
Cocolia pushed her spear back and after stepping forward, she forced Dan Heng to move a few steps back.
"{Quickly disappear.}"
Alarms began to ring within his head and Dan Heng immediately backed off. The wind flowing around him dragged him backward and watched as multiple spears exploded at his initial spot.
A large crater formed and a slight chill rolled down his spine wondering the damage if he didn't move fast enough.
Cocolia blankly stared at him and took a while before raising her fist towards her chest. A flash of deep yellow began to erode her skin which brought a smile to her face.
"{The world shall now—}"
"I didn't understand why he did it but seeing you glow like that seems pretty dangerous."
A mocking voice appeared right under Cocolia when she was about to finish her words once more and a fluorescent group of butterflies swarmed the space under her.
Being interrupted a second time brought an enraged feeling in her heart since the nagging voice in her head kept urging her to use the power given to her.
She was fully invested in using said power but the countless interruptions made it hard for her to reel her anger in.
"{Stop!!}"
Cocolia struck the cluster of butterflies and a large explosion caused the ground underneath her to tremble. The butterflies shattered but they had already completed their use.
"You certainly like to blabber so much nonsense that those two dumbasses should learn a thing or two from you."
In the air behind her, Seele suddenly materialized and a large smirk hung on her lips. With her body still flickering, an unknown force mixed into her scythe and she twisted her body to add more power to her swing.
Cocolia raised her spear to block this but felt her spear move off course when a bullet and arrow collided with the shaft she was holding.
She attempted to spin her spear to make up for the force that interrupted her but was a bit too late.
"{Argh—!}"
Chips of armor and ice exploded from her body but she was able to minimize the amount of damage she received by forming a layer of ice to protect herself.
A deep gash from her shoulder to her chest appeared but her face didn't show a hint of pain.
The force from Seele's swing brought her sliding backwards and the layer of ice she used shattered. Making Cocolia look at Bronya and March with a cold glare.
"Yikes, it looks like she's going to butcher us alive with that stare."
":...That look.."
March winced after feeling the brute of Cocolia's icy gaze but Bronya felt her body freeze up when she noticed the glint within her mother's eyes.
Growing up with Cocolia she learned about some of her subtle cues regarding her emotions. Whether it was her tired face after a long session with some documents.
Or her stern eyes whenever she made a mistake regarding her studies or her training.
But the glint she felt that instance was one when her mother wanted to finish a task she found troublesome.
"Everyone! Quickly come back!!"
Bronya yelled out to Dan Heng and Seele and urged them to return.
They were about to question why but they felt sharp pieces of snow cut their faces and saw a storm of ice brewing around Cocolia.
"{You pests are persistent.}"
Cocolia's voice didn't hold a bit of emotion and the ice around her continued to grow stronger with each step she took.
She hoped to quickly absorb the Stellaron's power but seeing as a few obstacles were preventing her from moving forward.
She decided that their presence when she created the 'New World' was unnecessary and should be better off gone.
"{I wanted you to join but your will is too shackled by those false ideals.}"
She didn't look at her but Bronya felt like Cocolia was talking directly to her.
Finishing her last words, Cocolia flew upwards and raised her hand to grab something. She felt the air before suddenly clawing on the space above her.
An explosion of yellow escaped her arm and seeped into the very space she held on to.
The people below looked shocked when they saw that she ripped a hole through the space and a mixture of black and yellow began to seep through.
"Did she just forcefully corrode the space above her…?"
Dan Heng was dumbstruck as this phenomenon usually took years to happen but Cocolia just did so in one move.
'This is becoming very dangerous..' He gripped his spear watching the hole pour out more corroded energy and churned his brain on what to do.
The energy from the hole Cocolia made eventually reached its peak and a hand came out.
A large monster that had the body of a large robot and a hue that carried the dark sky jumped out and landed on the land under Cocolia.
That wasn't all. More monsters began to pour out and each one was as big as the next one.
"H-How much is going to come out?" March pointed her finger to the monsters and Bronya nodded her head as this was also on her mind.
Various monsters began to fall out and as if it was answering their question, the hole finally closed.
"There's around 50 and they all look very strong."
Dan Heng narrowed his eyes and saw the size of each monster that fell out of the hole and began to wonder how they should handle this.
There was a chance they could handle it if they used the powers hidden within himself but he felt reluctant to use it.
But that was the least of his worries as Cocolia wasn't finished and the mountain beneath them began to shake for the last time.
The cyclone that surrounded the mountain began to gradually stop and move upwards at Cocolia's command. It morphed, molded, and followed her will.
"This is overkill…"
Seele couldn't help but mumble and watched as the snow cloud grew above them.
"{Sinners. Ready yourself for the judgment of eternal winter.}"
The snow began to meld together and ice began to form underneath the night that covered Jarilo-VI.
The ice moved and eventually formed hundreds upon thousands of spears that were ready to fall upon the group beneath Cocolia.
"Should we run?" Seele posed the question and was met with unsure looks.
"We won't be able to escape if we run." Dan Heng churned his mind to think of this. "We need to find some sort of cover and also think of a way to handle the crowd Cocolia summoned."
"But there's hardly any area where we could hide properly." Bronya looked at the terrain and saw no sign of caves or strong shelter they could escape to.
"I can try and form my shield but I'm not sure how it will hold up."
March said but seeing the numerous spears forming above them, it wasn't a surprise that she felt nervous.
"Yuuto could probably help you but the question is hold long he shou—"
"Wait, I have a question."
Dan Heng paused when he saw Seele raise her hand and shot her a look to continue.
"Where is Yuuto in the first place?"
"..."
"That's right… Where is that guy?"
"Wait, Stelle is also missing."
They all exchanged looks as they remembered Yuuto floating in the air and Stelle was off doing her own thing trying to reach Dan Heng and Seele who were ahead.
But after that, they hadn't seen the both of them since.
"They didn't get hurt did they?"
Bronya looked around and the others began to follow her trying to find any sign of the two.
–CREAK
As they moved around, the sound of a machine moving entered their ears, and couldn't help but look at the stationed robot far from them.
"The Engine of Creation?"
"Don't tell me we have to fight a large mecha now!?"
Bronya and March had varying expressions as they watched the robot move. Since on top of the monster and the spears, they now had to deal with a towering robot.
Seele and March gripped their weapons as they were getting nervous. However, Dan Heng stared at the robot with a look of realization on his face.
"This damn guy…"
Cocolia on the other hand narrowed her eyes, seeing the flash of golden light gradually growing on the robot and its deep red eyes attached to its head flashing with a deep look.
"{How? There shouldn't be anyone…}"
She was about to approach the robot but quickly moved back when she felt multiple projectiles aimed at her.
"Shit. I actually missed that."
A small curse came from the top of the robot and the body of a man glowed a dense silver hue. Tendrils of light danced around his body and his eyes glowed an eerie white which caused Cocolia to flinch.
"You actually suck."
"Talk to me after you're done shaking."
"S-Shut up! I didn't know we had to climb up this high!!"
Stelle gripped the bars behind her and shot an annoyed glare at Yuuto.
He didn't react and instead crossed his arms looking at the scene happening in front of him. His clothes fluttered and a serious look appeared on his face.
"I tried my best to gather as much moonlight and strike her down when she was caught off guard but…" Yuuto looked upwards and saw the spears finally forming.
"Two-thirds of what I gathered should be enough." A small smile hung on his lips and gave out a deep breath.
"Like I said before, I'll leave the controls to you."
"Don't worry, I got it."
Yuuto smiled and nodded his head seeing the serious look Stelle showed him.
Yuuto crouched down and felt his fingers glide on the Engine of Creation right underneath him. He prepared his mind and uttered a single word that he was all too familiar with.
"[Archive]"