Crashing into the ground, the Siren was unable to recover quickly enough. Elizabeth dove down, smashing her fist into their stomach, forming a crater underneath their body.
"Coooaaahh!"
Blood spilled from their mouth after feeling the rupture of blood vessels from the impact. Her eyes were strained red, and her pretty face was ruined by the ugly expression she wore.
"Hup!"
Elizabeth front-flipped forward, gaining distance from the Siren, momentarily.
"If you're thinking of fighting me the way you're now then good luck trying."
She was confident in her martial prowess; taking another stance by putting her dominant leg forward and slightly bending her knees. Elizabeth's posture was confident yet slightly aggressive with her hands relaxed and positioned near her face, ready to react to an attack. Her lead hand was slightly forward with her rear hand guarding her body.
The Siren slowly rose from the ground, realizing Elizabeth's posture.
"How... absurd! Taking such a barbaric stance in the clothes of a rich girl! Aren't you ashamed? How can you call yourself pretty this way?"
"Just because I wear high heels doesn't mean I can't kick your ass." Liz frowned, her expression stern. "Besides, they're more of a limitation to what I can really do. You should be glad that they're on in the first place."
The Siren smiled, mockingly.
"Pwa Ha Ha! A limitation, you say? What rubbish! Taking off your heels won't change anything about you!"
"Is that so?"
Elizabeth smirked, her frown still apparent in the mix.
"Maybe I should show you what I mean."
"...?"
The Siren lifted her brow, barely able to stand, but prepared for battle nonetheless.
"I won't let a Kaizamei beat me!"
Elizabeth slowly removed her heels and tossed them to the side, jumping up and down on both of her feet.
She was agile and quick on her soles, hopping up and down like a rabbit.
"Alright..."
Stopping in place, the Rozenheart took a slightly forward-leaning stance with a slightly bent knee. It was akin to track runners before they dashed off into a sprint at the start of a race.
The Siren was confused at her posture, but she refused to let her guard down.
("What is she doing? Did removing her heels give her some sort of speed boost?")
Elizabeth took a deep breath and focused intently on her opposition.
"This is my ultimate move..."
("Ultimate move? I must shield myself, immediately!")
Glancing at the water surrounding her, the Siren quickly began to merge the liquid together, forming a water-shield in front of her body. It was dense enough to withstand entire spells and even Elizabeth's attacks.
Surely she didn't have the strength to break through.
"Now...!"
Elizabeth's muscles bulged while her soles crushed the ground beneath her.
"Dragon Phantom Stream!"
She launched forward at infinite velocity, producing a sonic boom that destroyed everything in its surroundings.
Around her body was a dragon that manifested from her Antimana as she dashed in linear motion.
Her speed was unquantifiable, as the targeted space temporarily condensed into a singular area; that being the body of the Siren.
Even if she dodged, the targeted space was still located around her body, making it useless to resist.
"Damnit... what is that?!"
Launching forward with a flying kick, Elizabeth collided with the water-shield in front of her, breaking through it like a hot knife through butter.
"No… I'm too pretty to die..."
With no mercy, the Rozenheart slammed her foot into the Siren, attacking the body, soul, and nucleus as a whole; effectively ignoring her durable physique.
"Aaaaaghh...!"
Her eyes widened in both pain and utter shock, realizing she was about to meet her end.
"Lady Merlin... I'm sorry..."
Thus, Dragon Phantom Stream wiped her away, deconstructing the Siren down to her Information Archive.
"Ghnnn!!"
Elizabeth still carried forward after her attack, carried by momentum, though she buried her feet into the ground and slowly came to a halt.
"Huff...Huff...Huff..."
The Rozenheart gazed upon the ground, hands resting on her knees as she slouched over catching her breath.
"Doing that move puts a lot of strain on my body... I have to be more careful... I got carried away."
Liz slowly stood up straight, looking behind her at the massive trench she made.
"I overdid it." She cringed at herself, though immediately frowned at the thought of Merlin. "But she deserved it! If that Siren was sent here under Merlin's orders, then that means she knows about me, Kyto, and Jean!"
"Caw! Caw!"
"Hm?" Her attention turned to the sky, seeing Vedrfolnir flap about.
"H-Hey, Vedrfolnir! Come down here, will you?"
On command, the eagle slowly descended toward its owner, landing on their shoulder.
Elizabeth smiled, rubbing its head with her finger.
"This whole time you were trying to warn me about that Siren, weren't you?"
"Caw! Caw!!"
"Ehehe, yeah I figured—but things would be so much easier if you could talk."
Elizabeth crossed her arms in thought.
"That Siren must've known where I was going and set this entire thing up. That must only mean one thing; Merlin is watching me and my every move through some form of magic."
Liz frowned.
"This is totally unfair! She has a head start while I have nothing!"
She ruffled up her hair, kicking her legs up and down in panic.
"She's probably watching me freak out right now! Aaaaaghh dang it!"
"Caw! Caw!!"
"Eh?" Liz stopped her temporary panic and gazed at the Eagle. "Something wrong, Vedrfolnir?"
"Oww, my head…"
Elizabeth heard a familiar voice, turning around to see her companion holding his scalp in pain.
"Kyto, you're actually awake!"
She ran toward the Cyrodel, giving him a tight hug-
"Aaaghh! Oi, oi! Elizabeth… you're gonna kill me!"
Unaware of her own strength, the Rozenheart kept squeezing him tight around the waist.
"I was so worried! I thought you were put to sleep forever!"
"W-Why the hell would I be put to sleep… forever?!"
"Uwaaaahh!"
"Huh?"
Kyto widened his eyes at the sudden burst of tears streaming down Elizabeth's face.
"Liz… don't cry… chill out…"
She dug her face into his chest, hugging him even tighter, but Kyto endured it with a gentle look in his eyes.
"It's okay, Elizabeth."
Slowly he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer.
"It's all over. Whatever happened, you dealt with it, right?"
She nodded her head into his chest.
"Exactly." Kyto smiled. "That means you protected me—like a true friend, and I'm uninjured to top it off."
Elizabeth sniffled into his chest.
"I can rely on you more than ever. I'm glad to have you by my side; I couldn't ask for a better friend."
She slowly rose her head to face the Cyrodel, her eyes sparkling with tears.
"You're just… saying that!"
"No!" He shook his head. "I meant every word."
Liz stepped back, slowly wiping away her tears.
"Besides, I was just taking a little nap, don't be such a worrywart!"
The Rozenheart faced her friend, red in her eyes from all the crying.
"When a Siren puts someone to sleep and doesn't wake them up, it's said that they will sleep forever."
"Huh?" Kyto widened his eyes.
"I was really scared, I thought I'd never see you again."
"O-Oh… I-I… wow, I didn't know that."
He scratched his cheek, realizing how dire the situation was.
"Well, that explains all the crying…"
"And you call me an idiot!" Said Liz, crossing her arms.
"Hey, just because I didn't know about Sirens doesn't make me some idiot! Besides, they're rare, why would I need to know about them?"
Elizabeth glared at him, pointing her finger.
"It's commonly taught in schools, you know?! Did you ever pay attention in class?"
"Of course I did!"
"Oh yeah? Then what was the first race in all of Yggdrasil to create magic?"
"!??"
Kyto paused for a moment.
"T-The Elves, obviously!"
"Hah, so you didn't listen to our teacher!"
"What?! Am I wrong?"
"Yes, of course you are!"
Elizabeth placed her hands against her hips, sassy in her tone.
She loved being right in something for once—if that wasn't obvious enough.
"The first race to create magic was the giants! Ymir, the first giant, taught his people magic, and then they left Jotunheim and came to Midgard to teach the orcs before it was passed on!"
Kyto mumbled under his lips, crossing his arms as he averted eye contact.
"Yeah whatever, not like that's gonna help me kill those dragons at Mythical Valley."
"Oh? Switching up the topic I see?" Elizabeth was smug as ever, leaning forward at the embarrassed Cyrodel.
"Yeah yeah, just shut up already, history never interested me. The only thing I cared about was the history of my people, and that's really it."
Elizabeth tittered before shrugging at his comment.
"Fair enough! But now I have something to pester you about."
"…" Kyto glanced at Elizabeth with a skeptical look. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing! Let's not talk about it. How about we set up camp?"
Kyto sighed.
"Alright, fine, I'll let it slide. Camp sounds good for right now, it's getting late."