Reyna flew into the air, her katana flashing as it slashed toward Sho. Sho, however, managed to block the blow with her sheathed odachi, though the blade was bound and couldn't be unsheathed fully. She used the sheath itself as a shield to deflect the strike.
Tenshi, struggling to regain her composure, stumbled to her feet and smiled, her energy returning.
"Full_Heal(players: Reyna, Viri; effect: permanent)," she whispered.
A white light appeared behind them, growing brighter as Tenshi took a mana position. The light engulfed both Reyna and Viri, healing their wounds and granting them a permanent boost to their vitality. They attacked Sho again, but Sho dodged with agility, moving longer distances this time, avoiding their strikes.
Sho descended back to the ground with a graceful thud and, with a flick of her wrist, threw her odachi away.
"Mana_Bind (player: Arden, effect: active, Mana: necessary)," Sho wrote in the air, her fingers moving quickly as she almost entirely ignored their attacks. A foreign power rushed into me, binding my mana in a way I had never felt before. It was as if invisible chains were tightening around me. Binding me from the inside. My body buckled. I collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
Reyna's eyes widened. "Max_Phoenix_Featherstorm."
She summoned a storm of golden feathers that surrounded Sho. The air crackled with energy as a burst of wind intensified the feathers, which then rained down like fiery missiles. As the feathers exploded, each burst left behind a trail of fire and sharp winds, dealing continuous damage to Sho.
A silver bullet made of ice appeared next to the storm, its shape resembling a dragon, and shot forward toward Sho with deadly precision.
"Arden," Sho called out, her voice unphased, "Mana_Bind works on players, but the catch... you need to have more mana than the person you're binding!"
Before the feather storm could reach its target, Viri activated another skill.
"Stone_Shackle," Viri whispered, and cracks appeared beneath Sho's feet. Massive stone and gem shackles erupted from the earth, wrapping around her legs and arms, trapping her in place. The shackles were made of pure stone, with embedded gems that pulsed with energy, ensuring Sho would be immobilized.
"Paralyze_!" Eli shouted as she ran forward, aiming at Sho, trying to stop her movements. The feathers from Reyna's Phoenix Featherstorm landed around Sho, and the bullet struck true, piercing her defenses. A flash of red, blue, and yellow erupted from the impact, temporarily blinding us all.
Amidst the chaos, a red circle appeared, glowing with intense energy.
"Wind_Barrier," Sho wrote in the air.
A thin, shimmering barrier of wind materialized around her, its circular form rippling as it deflected the damage. The barrier was like an invisible wall, and with Sho's mana, it began to expand, counteracting the elemental attacks directed at her.
"Since you'll be healed, I can go half out," Sho muttered, her voice determined.
Sho's skin broke free of the stone binds, and she attacked once more, switching to the offensive. Despite Tenshi's barriers protecting us, Sho broke through with nothing more than her fists, each strike causing the air to crackle with raw power.
Tenshi, blood trickling from her mouth, spat out more as she collapsed again to the ground.
"Craft_Weapon_Sword," Sho wrote, the earth beneath her shifting as she used her crafting skill to forge new weapons from the surrounding dirt, rocks and sticks. She formed a sword—simple yet deadly. With swift precision, she used the newly crafted blades to knock Reyna's katana from her hand, disarming her.
"Wind_Lash," Sho wrote, pulling Viri, Reyna, and Sera toward her with a gust of wind, only to push them back with even greater force. The wind swept us away, sending us crashing back to the ground.
Sho stood, unphased, as Eli walked up to her, picking up Reyna's katana in the process. Reyna, Viri, and Eli were unconscious from the battle's toll. Sera stumbled to her feat.
With a simple flick, Sho wrote, "Cancel_Mana_Bind." The invisible chains that had bound me dissipated, and I felt my energy return, flowing back into me. My body relaxed as I slowly regained control.
The sword that Eli held was encased in flames that seemed to burn her hands, but as Reyna's consciousness faded—more importantly, as her mana faded—the flames extinguished, and the sword returned to normal.
Eli, however, appeared different now. A sense of eerie confidence crossed her face as she turned to me and Sera.
"It's... over," she said.
Sho laughed at her, but remained calm. The sword she had created crumbled and shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces, scattering across the ground.
"TheoreticalSkill_Skyshatter (player: Eli)," Sho wrote with a grin.
The air around us began to grow cold, a chilling wind cutting through the atmosphere. The clouds overhead darkened, turning an ominous shade of black as lightning crackled across the sky. Strikes of lightning seemed to appear everywhere, flashing through the air, striking at Sho. Despite the barrage of lightning hitting her, her barrier remained intact for now, but the power was overwhelming. Suddenly, Eli was encased in a powerful, ethereal aura, her energy radiating as she launched herself at Sho.
The strike landed, sending Sho flying backward. Her barrier cracked momentarily, blood pouring from the impact.
Eli flew toward Sho, her speed unmatched..
Eli landed gracefully on her feet, but she was not done. With a snap of her fingers, she swapped places with Sera. Sera, now in Eli's place, activated her own skill: "Hydrax_."
Sho was sent flying backward, more blood spilling from the barrier cracking. Sho quickly activated a healing spell, patching herself up as her. However, Eli, with relentless determination, put her hands on Sho once again, but the barrier blocked her attempt.
With a look of focus, Eli activated a new skill. "UniqueSkill_Railgun (player: Eli)."
A pulse of lightning surged from her hands, arcing through the air and breaking Sho's barrier with a deafening crack. The force of the attack sent Sho stumbling, but the strain was too much for Eli. She collapsed, exhausted from the excessive mana use.
Sho, laughing softly, stood up, wiping the blood from her face.
"That skill uses too much mana," she said, her tone teasing. "I could help you fix that." She smiled confidently, knowing Eli was at her limit.
Sera, still recovering, tried to launch a sneak attack, but Sho grabbed her effortlessly, throwing her to the ground. The impact left Sera unconscious.
Sho frowned. She turned toward us, her gaze steady, as if the battle was already over. I could feel the weight of her presence, her confidence radiating in a way that sent a chill through me. I knew then that she wasn't worried. We had lost, and she knew it.
I couldn't help but feel a knot in my stomach. G2 had pushed themselves to the edge. They used every skill, every ounce of mana they had, and it wasn't enough.