The combination of the containment structure created by Aglaya and the makeshift escape valve designed by Marien managed to limit and almost completely contain the pulse of aura that the baby was releasing.
However, for safety measures, they were still handling the situation with utmost care. One reason was that Marien was forcibly absorbing the excess energy from the aura pulse.
In this way, she was acting like a living sponge, but she couldn't keep absorbing constantly because the aura was too pure for Marien's aura veins to handle without suffering damage.
Thus, she was overloading her veins and needed to take small breaks to recover, which ended up overloading Aglaya as well. She quickly realized this and wasted no time in taking other measures.
"Anya, your aura is more compatible with the baby's among us. You will force a partial connection with him. Try to solve the problem through an aura cycle. If you can't, disconnect quickly so you don't hurt him even more," Marien said, with a tense expression and beads of sweat on her face.
The main problem was that none of the women in the room could stabilize the baby's core without a deep intervention being necessary. Just like a doctor cannot perform surgery without violating a patient's body, they would need intrusive measures to try to solve the problem.
All the women in the room knew they needed an effective solution; however, when they heard Marien's words, they all had horrified and shocked expressions. Even Aglaya seemed as horrified as a child being startled.
"But Marien, he's just a baby… This is…"
Anya's expression was a mix of disgust, horror, guilt, and despair… It was as if she found what Marien suggested an act of pure barbarity and abomination. But at the same time, deep down, she was almost certain that this was the best alternative.
Not just her; they all internally knew this was the best option at the moment. Like a dog owner who must choose between letting the dog suffer from a degenerative disease or letting it go early and free from suffering.
A difficult choice, but one that someone has to make…
"Desperate times call for desperate measures. We can't risk prolonging his suffering further and putting his life in danger. QUICK…"
Marien's eyes sharpened, and her ears folded back, showing that she was becoming hostile to Anya's attitude. If the situation didn't require her full attention in draining the excess energy, Marien would have taken a slightly more aggressive stance.
"Marien… I don't…" Still fearful, Anya took a step back, scared of Marien. She didn't want to do this, but at the same time, she realized that all the other women were in agreement that this was necessary.
Even without a word being said, the women quickly realized that the baby's aura needed to be controlled. And Marien's idea was the only alternative they could implement at that moment…
"Trust me; I will take full responsibility. But you need to do this quickly. It's an order…" This time, Marien's hair began to stand on end subtly, her claws extended, and a low growl emitted from her…
Faced with the threat Marien posed, Anya had no choice but to comply. There was no alternative but to approach the table and begin to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do.
"Let's expand the containment, Aglaya."
____________________
"You are still very deficient in techniques, Inessa. Relying solely on physical strength is not enough to win a battle; how many times has this been said to you?"
As he dodged the various strikes being launched against him, Akachi continued giving warnings and advice to Inessa. At the same time, he took advantage of openings in Inessa's defense and landed some effective blows against her.
"Enough to know that fighting technique is not my strong suit. I prefer to end the fight as quickly as possible using my Aura. I just haven't done so yet out of enough respect for you not to threaten your life."
Just like Akachi, Inessa was dodging the sneaky blows that were being launched at her. Feeling slightly inferior in terms of technique, she opted to invest in speed and physical strength in her strikes to disrupt Akachi's counterattacks.
Unfortunately, Inessa was exhausting herself much faster than Akachi. The choice she made was proving useless, and Akachi was manipulating her to keep the fight at this pace. He skillfully avoided her strikes and knew how to provoke her violent reactions.
"Haha, little Inessa, even if you used all your strength, it would still be very difficult to threaten my life. I've lived long enough to know how to defend myself against things you've never even heard of… Don't hold back; let's dance…"
"Your intentions leak through your words, Lord Akachi… But if I were you, I wouldn't count on victory; even if I am defeated, I would hardly agree to your plans. I may be humiliated, but I have enough pride not to bend before circumstances."
Contrary to Akachi's intention, Inessa jumped away and ceased combat for the time being. She began pacing back and forth while examining her opponent. She was weighing in her mind what her potential chance of winning would be and what the consequences of losing this fight would entail.
"I don't count on your full cooperation, Inessa. And even if I need your support, I am not the one who will convince you. I just need you to get out of this room and out of this decrepit state."
"Then, as I said before, let it be by force."
"Since you insist on this… But time is running out, Inessa; I'm wasting precious time here, but since you don't intend to admit defeat and don't want to use all your strength, fine, I'll do it myself."
As soon as Akachi said this, he began manipulating aura to create two more barriers that covered the walls of the room and accumulated with the four other barriers that were already protecting and shielding the entire place.
After that, Akachi did not stop manipulating the aura as spheres of pure energy formed in his hands. He then began to float a few meters off the ground, and his eyes lit up like small torches of golden flame.
His clothes, hair, and skin also began to shine even more intensely, dazzling the entire area.
"Come on, Inessa, let's end this." Akachi said after entering this state, his voice much deeper and stronger.
"That's what I want the most."
With that said, Inessa also began to manipulate her own aura and followed the same process as Akachi; her eyes became flames of blood-red color, red spheres of energy also formed in her hands, and her clothes, hair, and skin began to shine intensely.
The two stared at each other, seeming on the verge of entering combat; they appeared quite similar in imposing stature and power, making it difficult for any normal person to choose a side. But for a keen observer, it was possible to note some subtle differences between the two.
The two main and visible differences were the intensity of the flames in their eyes and the quality and shape of the energy spheres. These two characteristics were much better and more intense in Akachi's form, demonstrating his efficiency and skill in manipulating aura.
The first to make a move was Akachi; he moved so quickly that it seemed he teleported. Then, appearing right in front of Inessa, he used one of his spheres to strike critically with an extremely concentrated beam of energy against her.
VvvvvvuuMMMMMM THUMMMP
Inessa managed to defend against the close-range blow, but she didn't have enough strength to stay in place and was violently thrown against the wall.
Unfortunately, Akachi didn't give her time to recover, and as soon as she opened her eyes after the impact, she saw Akachi in front of her launching another energy beam, but now combining the two energy spheres.
VVUMMM Crack
She couldn't defend; the beam this time was much more concentrated and again at close range. Unlike the first that was in the blink of an eye, this one lasted long enough to make the barrier suffer cracks and deform…
The strength and duration of the beam were something Inessa couldn't handle even in her best condition. Her body began to lose energy to resist the attack; her consciousness was already threatening to fade…
VVUUM VVUUM VVUUM
To make matters worse, Akachi stopped the uninterrupted energy beam and manipulated his aura to create a type of barrage of energy shots, further draining Inessa's resistance.
In this way, even though the fight had started just seconds ago, the outcome was already defined.
Inessa's consciousness faded, and she passed out. Akachi noticed this and stopped his attack.
He said nothing, merely returning to his normal state and approaching Inessa. Throwing her over one shoulder, he made some gestures that dissipated all the barriers placed in the room.
But as soon as he undid the barriers, he immediately noticed the anomaly in the baby's aura.
"Shit… it wasn't supposed to happen this early…"
He had an idea of what was happening, but he also knew he couldn't do much at that moment. He needed Inessa to completely prevent the event; the most he could do was try to delay the moment until Inessa woke up.
After that, he went upstairs, carrying Inessa out of the room and heading toward where the baby was.
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