Velzari walked through the forested section of the floating island, yellow essence glowing around his hands as his eyes scanned the surrounding area. The sound of the trees above rustling caused his hand to snap upwards, shooting off an essence blast where it came from. The trees were blown away, but as the smoke cleared, there was nothing or no one there.
"Kaeline! Where the hell are you? Stop hiding behind those shadow tricks and show yourself!" He said, his frustration coming to a breaking point.
His words echoed through the trees only to be met by the mocking sounds of unseen animals.
The ground trembled violently beneath his feet, catching him off guard. He staggered, trying his best to get his footing.
"What… what is happening now?"
Suddenly, a sharp whistle cut through the air.
His eyes widened and he leapt back, just in time as a kunai struck the ground, embedding itself in his shadow.
"Again? I'm not falling for this cheap trick!" He screamed out as his yellow essence surged around him.
"Oblivion Rending Gale!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
A blast blew nearly half of the floating landmass apart, sending trees, rocks, and debris flying everywhere and falling to the ground below. Velzari smirked, as if he won, but his victory was short-lived. The ground began to quake again, but this time much more violently.
"What the…?" He gasped, struggling to maintain his footing against the crumbling ground beneath him.
His CPI scanner flickered erratically, displaying numbers he could hardly believe.
Talon: 11,200,000 CPI
"Eleven… million!? Who over there could wield such power!? This can't be the captain? And... Aqua's supposed to be far to the east with Nara. Why would she be over there? Did she lose control of that thing inside her somehow again? No, it can't be. So who–"
His eyes drifted to the central floating land breaking apart. Amidst the chaos, he caught a glimpse of Talon hovering in the air wrapped in swirling pink essence.
"Her?! That elf brat!?" He thought to himself in utter disbelief.
The land beneath his feet suddenly vanished and he found himself being pulled upward by a force beyond his control.
"Wh–What the!? What's going on? My body, I feel weightless?"
The floating landmass he once stood on began to crumble into countless rubble and be pulled upward by the same unknown force. Amidst the swirling rubble, he spotted Kaeline crouched on a floating tree high above, watching him calmly.
"There you are…" He seethed.
Fueled by frustration, he unleashed a barrage of yellow orbs of essence.
Kaeline didn't even move, instead she just crouched there… menacingly. Each blast missed her, unable to stabilize his aim as he floated higher into the sky. His frustration boiled over even more and he screamed from the bottom of his stomach.
"KAELINE YOU DAMN WITCH! YOU WON'T ESCAPE ME!"
As he said that, Kaeline leapt from the tree, blitzing through the air with blinding speed. Before Velzari could regain his composure and make a move, she speared straight through his lower chest. The sheer force and momentum of that spear caused them to screech downwards, fighting the gravity that once had them floating in the air.
Despite the mind numbing pain, Velzari's next instinct was to strike, but Kaeline was already ahead of him. In one fluid motion, she grabbed hold of him, her arms tightening around his arms and body preventing him from attacking.
Velzari was dazed and struggling to comprehend what was happening. Trees and debris blurred past.
As they descended, he was finally able to move his head slightly, only to catch sight of a group of Kaeline clones standing in a circle on a large floating rock. Their shadows seemed to stretch and merge together unnaturally, forming a larger, much darker shadow that looked like a kiddie pool of darkness and despair.
Before Velzari could comprehend what he was seeing, Kaeline leaned in closer, whispering in his ear.
"I'll fight you, but not here..."
The next moment, both of them fell into the kiddie pool of darkness, seemingly disappearing from the world itself.
Sera stood frozen in shock as she stared up at the hundreds of Kaeline clones.
"Binding of Erebos… jutsu?" She repeated subconsciously.
Suddenly, she noticed her own shadow on the ground slowly creeping up her leg like it was a living being.
Her heart dropped to her feet. She tried to step away, but her body refused to obey due to the gravity pressing down on her from Talon's ability. Panic surged through her body instantly.
"What kind of ability is this?! Let me go, you weirdos!!" She screamed, her voice cracking.
But that panic multiplied as she watched every single shadow around her—clones, rubble, trees, everything—begin converging towards her.
She lifted her right hand, slashing at the closer advancing shadows with dozens of strings. Rocks and trees split apart behind the shadows as her attack cleaved through them, but the darkness was unphased and continued its advance.
"Impossible. I can't hit them..? They're actually real shadows... How is that even possible? How do you fight... nothing?"
The shadows began to climb her body, coiling around her legs then up to her waist , inhibiting her from running whatsoever.
"GET OFF ME! LET ME GO!" She screeched out.
"Shut up." Talon's voice replied bluntly.
Sera's panicked cry paused momentarily. She looked up to see Talon floating towards her, stopping a few meters in front of her. The contrast was stark as they stared at each other in silence for a moment… Sera's panic and fear etched face, against Talon's calm composure.
"You used people like puppets for your blockbuster show, tossing lives aside like meaningless props. You've destroyed families… manipulated lives... left an entire world scarred… and for what Sera?" Talon asked calmly.
Sera said nothing, only trembled as she met Talon's gaze. She couldn't say anything… She was terrified.
"Nothing huh? Oh well… Truthfully, I could care less for your pathetic reasons. What I do want to know is who and where this so-called Grand Order is so that I personally make sure they're next." Talon stated calmly as she slowly floated closer.
Tears streamed down Sera's face and her body shook uncontrollably.
"W-What... what will you do with me?" She barely choked out.
"Oh yeah. The shadows around you? They're not just for show. Apparently it's some sort of a sealing technique called a jutsu. It holds you, binds you until you're... well, until everything goes black."
Sera's voice trembled.
"Bl–bl–bl–black...?"
"Yeah. She said it'll feel like death, but it's really a deep sleep. No dreams, no sense of self, no sense of time, nothing… So basically death."
Before Sera could process what was said, Talon continued.
"But that's not all… The three floating lands around us, including the one we once stood on, will be used to complete the seal. The rocks, dirt, trees, all of it—they'll be your grave."
She pointed towards the sky.
"Then I'll launch you into space until you begin to orbit, becoming a new moon for the very world you tried to destroy."
Sera stared at Talon blankly after processing her words, her face contorting in silent terror at the thought of her near future.
"Or I can launch you out into deep space if that tickles your wings better. What do you say?" Talon continued with as she wiped the tears silently flowing from Sera's horror filled eyes.
For a fraction of a moment, Sera's throat went dry. The idea of such a fate, drifting alone and forgotten for countless of years was something her mind couldn't even fully comprehend, yet the thought of such a thing filled her with a cold dread. Her trembling became much more violent. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out—just a choked noise.
Talon raised an eyebrow at the sight of her panic and sighed.
"Pathetic."
But that silence didn't last long whatsoever…
Sera's voice finally broke through and she let out a scream of bloody murder that came from the depths of her soul.
"AAAAAAAAHHH! AQUA! AQUA HELP ME! PLEASE AQUA! AQUA! AQUAAAAAAA!"
Even Talon was slightly startled by the ferocity of her voice, causing her to float backwards several meters.
"Oh, for crying out loud… there's nothing your bestie can do to help you now." She said with a disappointed voice.
Her multi-pink essence flared around her as she raised her hand towards Sera.
"This is the end, Sera."
Unexpectedly, a barrage of large sharp ice projectiles screeched through the air blitzing towards Talon before she could use her ability. She was barely able to dodge them as she flew backwards.
"Ice? Who the hell—"
CRASH!!
On a large floating rock over a dozen meters wide all around, there was what seemed to be a small explosion, destroying the last remaining trees left on it.
"What in the stars is going on now!?" Talon frustratingly shouted out.
She looked over to the sight of the loud crash. As the dust cleared, the source of the crash became apparent.
It was Aqua, locked in a struggle with… Nara??