Evading the red beam fired in her direction, Trenta drew her blade and sliced the Stone Giant’s. She immediately moved away just in time as a squadron of Nephilim came down with their swords and spears hacking at it until it was nothing but a pile of rocks.𝒪𝗏xt.𝔠𝑶

While they were perfectly in sync in their assault, she couldn’t help but feel they were purposefully ignoring her presence, going after her targets instead of choosing others.

‘Ah!…’ she suddenly came to the realization. ‘Am I the nuisance in this case?’

She looked around her and studied the rest of the battlefield. Unlike her friends, she was the only one without a gigantic creation of some sort. Juni’s robot and CS’s Sabertooth were easy to spot and no one bothered to get in their way. Even the ships and aircrafts up above avoided the areas they were in, recognizing them as allies and not getting in their way.

She on the other hand was all alone. The Nephilim, those fighting with normal abilities and weapons, showed smoothness and high level coordination, owing to the fact that they were a trained army. Her movements didn’t match theirs causing her to be the hindrance, getting in their way and stealing their kills.

‘Maybe I should look somewhere else…’

She considered just kicking back and leaving the work for everyone else, but the idea was tossed right away as she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The battle was far from over. Just because the Nephilim showed up, it doesn’t mean their victory was guaranteed.

‘I hope those things don’t spawn anything new…’

The last time she and her friends dealt a lot of damage to the Stone Giants army not only did the alien beings above replenish their ranks but they spawned the Demons as well. With how powerful they were, she expected the next new types to be much more difficult to deal with. They knew nothing about the limits of the eyes in the sky, and as long as they were up there, there was a high likelihood that the battle could keep going until All Valkyries and Nephilim were defeated.

I hope your plan works, Nino…

Trenta’s concerned voice arrived through the communicator, but the Japanese doll didn’t respond. She continued observing the battle and waiting, focusing on the movements in her field of vision and trying to sync them to what she witnessed on the path she saw on the Tapestry of Fate.

The number of Stone Giants has dwindled quite a bit. An enormous humanoid lizard bit the head off of one before slamming another with its tail. A different beast created by a Nephilim was ripping and crushing the black giants with its tremendous jaws, this one looked a lot more animalistic and mechanical, like a giant robotic dinosaur. To the left a similar one was dashing around, stabbing its three horns into anything blocking its way like a mad bull. Looking up Nino saw what she thought was an aircraft making a free dive toward the enemy, but upon closer inspection it turned out to be another type of reptile, although this one had wings.

With each passing second, another Stone Giant was destroyed. In a matter of minutes, the army that had surrounded the airport, casting a shadow of death on the Valkyries and their Doctor, was rendered into nothing but gravel. Only a few were left, and Nino held the communicator up preparing to give the signal as she looked at the last titan to be destroyed before the Ancient Horror looking down on them moved to create a new army.

A bolt of lightning smashed into the Stone Giant shattering it to pieces, but what followed was nothing but an eeriely cold silence.

‘… Huh?’ Nino’s eyes slowly widened. ‘Why isn’t it-‘

Her thoughts crashed to a halt as a devastating cry shook both heaven and earth. She looked up and the horror clawing at her suddenly grew stronger, her stomach dropping as she watched the tear in space steadily grow wider.

It shouldn’t have been possible. They were too far from the crimson tower and the ritual had yet to be completed. The monstrosity shouldn’t have the power to cross, and the planes should still be separate from each other.

‘Why…’ Nino thought, her breath becoming strained. ‘Why is it crossing over already!?’

The Ancient Horror was attempting to invade their plane of existence. It tore through the fabric of space and was slowly pushing itself through the hole. This didn’t happen in the future she had envisioned. There was no such Divergence in the path she had had observed and yet it was happening right in front of her eyes.

‘What should I do?’ she thought, the hand holding her Yari shaking. ‘This wasn’t supposed to happen…’

The Fallen, which had been silent for a while now, suddenly began screaming and screeching. Ichigo recoiled at their outburst. They were still targeting her, their eyes burning with hatred as they spilled tears of blood.

The Ancient’s influence was getting stronger by the moment and Nino was slowly panicking. She had to make a decision and fast; should she give the signal to activate the Purge? Or should she gaze at the Tapestry of Fate once more to see the possible outcomes? Would the second choice even change anything? Time was running out, and the Ancient Horror had already shown its ability to create Divergences and forge Paths different from the one they were currently traversing. Once it crosses over to their plane, nothing she does will have any effect. The path will be set and it’ll only lead to their doom. She had overestimated her ability to manipulate the Threads, and because of that, Fate decided it was time for her to pay for daring to mess with its work.

It was hopeless. Even if it wasn’t one of the Outer Gods, their enemy was still an Ancient. It should’ve been obvious that nothing she did would result in their victory. Their demise was set in stone, and even if she tried to walk down a different Path, Fate will weave its Tapestry to ensure she couldn’t escape.

“What are you doing!?”

Just as she was about to resign herself, the communicator she held slipping away, and an angry voice yelled at her from behind before a cold hand wrapped around hers.

Looking behind her, Nino saw the Doctor gazing down at her with an equally pale complexion.

“Doc-“

“Just do it!!!”

With the order shattering every ounce of doubt she had, Nino felt herself regaining the absolute confidence she had before. She brought the communicator to her mouth and, with a mocking grin spreading across her face as she gazed at the Ancient Horror, she yelled with everything she got.

“NOW!!!”