The falling meteors charged at the complete variants of Legris, and all of them equally expressed shock.

Perhaps it stemmed from a place of surprise, as none of them expected their target to be so powerful. It could have also been due to joy, considering the amount of Aether they would be able to consume if they absorbed the Spell in its entirety.

However…

‘It’s too big!’ Legris found all versions of himself panicking.

The sizes of the meteors were too large. Plus, while they were created by Magic, their force was definitely real.

In essence, absorbing all of them would be a tedius use of time—especially since it wasn’t made up of the purest form of Aether, but instead… it was Serah’s fiery one.

“I’ll go on the defensive, then.”

Whispering silently to themselves, all nineteen variants shrouded themselves in their respective cocoons of darkness, completely cut off from the imminent destruction that was bound to take place.

And then…

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!~

… The DESTRUCTION began. 𝚘𝒱𝓛xt.𝗇𝓔t

Everything in the landscape was wallowed by the plumes of fiery judgment, completely eviscerating alll that was in the path.

The last bit of cold vanished from the world, turning it into a complete hellscape.

Smoke, crimson embers, and remnants of fire danced in the air as the earth sizzled with destruction.

Within this devastating canvas of chaos, however, the foes who were engaged in battle remained intact.

On one end were the group of Legrises who were unaffected by the explosion, all thanks to their formidable defenses. And on the other?

Well, high above, amidst the clear skies that toppled the smokey world beneath, was Serah Crimson.

Her arms were folded as she watched the destruction beneath her. Dissatisfaction was etched on her lips, a sigh escaping them.

“Hmmm…” Serah murmured, her gaze flickering. “It seems that wasn’t enough.”

She recognized that Legris remained unaffected thanks to his dark cocoon, a new technique she was just witnessing for the first time.

It troubled her greatly.

‘So he can defend himself against Magic Attacks, huh? Even something of this scale…’ That was enough to soldify her rationale.

‘I can use Spells for diversions, maybe. But… I guess that settles it.’

The only thing she needed to use in order to win was her body. Once Serah realized this, a fearless smile took over and she stared down at the cloud of chaos beneath her.

‘It’s so quiet here…’

However, the silence was just about to be interrupted. After all, the fight was far from over.

~WHUUUUUMMMM!!!~

All of a sudden, several hands of darkness broke through the smoke and lunged at Serah. They were massive hands, all completely blackened.

‘That’s… the same kind of energy Legris oozes out!’ Serah’s senses instantly sent her body into overdrive, igniting her motion.

Fiery flames burst forth from her already crimson form, propelling her even higher above.

The dark arms wriggled in the air, all chasing after her relentlessly. Their long reaches, along with their flexibility and numbers, made them difficult to evade, but Serah was superior in speed, thus giving her the edge.

~WHOOOOOOSSSSHHHH!!!~

She glided through the air, twisting her body to the sides, and even curling it up at times in other to cleanly avoid even the slightest scratch from the darkness.

Ascending even further, she could feel something… a barrier that began to slow her down.

‘Ahh…’ Serah smiled in realization. ‘I’m reaching the edge of this dimension.’

She pushed past the surface tension that tried to stop her, charging straight for the barrier itself. Unsurprisingly, the hands did the same, all of them fast approaching her.

Still ascending at a fast pace, Serah rolled in the air, evading the assault of multiple attacks at once. As she concluded this, she finally found the sole of her feet reaching the barrier that separated her dimension from the others.

In that split second, she had two options.

One was to escape using this pathway and meet up with another ally. Combining their abilities, there was a good chance that they could defeat the enemy together.

It was a viable plan, but there was a fatal flaw associated with it.

‘I don’t know who I’ll meet on the other side. If it’s someone weaker than me, then they’d only hold me back.’

In such a situation, her ally would be a liability rather than an asset.

Since there was no way for her to know for sure, it was going to be random. Serah instantly realized that she could not afford that.

That left the second option.

~WHOOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHH!!!~

Using the barrier as a propeller, and the surface tension as a boost, Serah allowed herself to descend from her heights at unfathomable speeds.

‘I just have to toughen this out and beat him myself.’

None of the dark hands even stood a chance to catch up to her, so she kept falling in a straight line. Everything became a blur, and for a moment, time seemed to be nothing but a lie.

Once she plunged into the smoke, she used the pressure of her Aether to clear it all out since it obscured her view.

‘You’re in the way!’

~WHUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMM!!!~

Once she did this, however… she was met with the most unexpected sight.

‘What?!’

Of course, she met nineteen Legrises, all of whom were still controlling the dark hands that were still high up in the air. However, besides them, the sight of something else shocked her to her core.

‘A-another group?!’

There was a second group of Legrises, about ten, who seemed to be waiting for her in the darkness.

“Time to die, Serah!” The Legris variants smiled, stretching their hands towards her.

The darkness around them flared up, and it all charged at her with the same ferocity she had as she descended.

The collision was inevitable, and that meant one thing.

Serah’s defeat was assured.

*

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*

A

/N

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