Mavislin looked genuinely shocked before going back to her stoic expression. She then shook her scythe, cleaning the blood away from the blade as if it were mud on boots.
"You had one? Better strengthen it then. If not, you are making this too easy for me," taunted the dragoness as she shot a devilish smile toward the Nian.
The Nian recoiled in terror, its eyes wide with disbelief. How could such a small girl be so utterly terrifying? Her strength, her movements—they were unnatural, beyond anything it had ever faced.
A shiver ran down its spine as it struggled to comprehend the menace before it. No! The Nian shook its head violently, forcing the creeping dread away. It couldn't afford to dwell on its fears; it needed to focus on the fight.
The beast knew that if it didn't stop this relentless dragoness now, it would be reduced to nothing more than prey. Determination flared in its red eyes as it steadied itself, bracing for the next strike, aware that its survival hung by the thinnest of threads.
Mavislin stifled a yawn, already growing weary of the fight. She was eager to wrap things up and move on; there were more pressing matters elsewhere.
She could sense Mattheos struggling slightly against Inti, but it was Zenos who made her blood run cold.
The dragoness froze, a terrible chill seizing her spine. That overwhelming surge of mana—there was no mistaking it. The Viceroy was preparing to use his Alter form against the Firebird, and his power output was staggering.
A small but nagging fear gnawed at her: what if he lost control of his Guardian and his power?
Dread settled over Mavislin as she hesitated, caught between her duty here and the urgent pull towards Zenos. She could feel the tension mounting, unsure whether to place her trust in the blonde warrior or abandon her post to reach him before it was too late.
Sensing her distraction, the Nian seized the opportunity and pounced, its massive jaws gaping as it lunged at the dragoness, aiming to catch her off guard and swallow her whole. But just as the beast closed in, Mavislin's reflexes kicked in.
With a casual yet iron grip, Mavislin raised her left hand and caught the Nian's upper jaw mid-lunge, stopping the creature dead in its tracks.
The beast's eyes widened in shock as its momentum was abruptly halted, teeth snapping just inches from Mavislin's face. She held the Nian effortlessly, her expression devoid of concern, a stark contrast to the terror she felt for her ally's plight.
"If you think such a tactic would work on me, then you've been sorely mistaken," said Mavislin as she channeled energy into her limbs.
For a split second, the Nian could swear that its enemy was more powerful than its captor. The dragoness released her grip on the Nian's jaw, and as expected, the beast's mouth snapped shut with a forceful clamp.
Seizing the moment, Mavislin spun around, delivering a devastating roundhouse kick to the Nian's head. The impact was so fierce that it effortlessly decapitated the beast, sending its head flying across the room.
Not wasting a second, Mavislin raised her blade and leaped forward, descending upon the Nian's lifeless body with a flurry of relentless strikes.
Her attacks were swift and precise, each slash imbued with dark and violet mana as she ensured the creature would have no chance to heal or revive.
She moved like a tempest, her blade cutting through flesh and bone with ruthless efficiency, reducing the once formidable beast to nothing more than tattered remains.
Satisfied that the Nian posed no further threat, Mavislin paused, her breaths steady as she surveyed her handiwork, her thoughts already drifting back to the greater battle unfolding beyond her immediate victory.
The Nian's severed head lay on the ground, its lifeless eyes still wide in shock as if bearing silent witness to the carnage that had unfolded. Its mouth hung open in a final, futile snarl, teeth bared in a grim reminder of the threat it once posed.
But with its core obliterated by Mavislin's relentless assault, the head was now nothing more than a useless remnant, devoid of the power it once wielded.
"Why... Why... Didn't Solaris promise me that she would be easier to kill? That I would be able to persuade her not to kill me because I was a fluffy animal? Why was she so terrifying? That bunny nearly got knocked out by Inti so why was it so easy for her to kill me?"
The Nian's final thoughts drifted like whispers into the void, its consciousness slipping away into the darkness. Confusion, fear, and a fleeting sense of defiance ebbed into nothingness as the remnants of its awareness faded.
Mavislin, her expression unreadable, strolled calmly toward the Nian's severed head.