Yrix observed the battlefield with a keen eye, her gaze never wavering from even the tiniest detail. Throughout all her years of battle, she was proud to have never seen anything like her students, at least in relation to their tactics. It was a fair day to be a proud Arch-Flayer.
"Interesting." Yrix tilted her head, her long legs dangling over the rocky precipice as she sat on a cliff overlooking the battle-tested cave. "Always so...interesting."
She had figured out the depths of Lila's plan the moment it sprang into her mind. In essence, it required a transfer of memories using Lunae as the bridge. Armed with whatever had inspired the Earthling in the first place, Sonera would be temporarily blessed with even greater strength.
Or at least that was the idea.
"She evokes such crazed passion." Yrix nodded in approval, watching as Lunae hurried over to Sonera, placing a gentle palm against her head. "Not just in herself. But through all those surrounding her. I wonder..."
A loud snap echoed through the cave as Sonera readied herself, her fingers brimming with radiant energy.
"Is she ready?" Ivy complained, weaving her way through dust and rubble as the walls around her quivered under the force of her previous assault. "We need to leave!"
Lila smiled with a mischievous grin. "Oh, she's ready, alright. Ready for any storm."
Sonera drew upon the air around her, calling forth a sea of sparks that coalesced into a solid form. As if unsheathing a blade that had not yet come to exist, she took a solemn stance, inspired by whatever mania Lunae had bequeathed unto her. Only then did the long, curved blade of an ōkatana come into view, glimmering with brilliant light.
"Huh!?" Ivy's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Lila, what did you give her?"
"Hehehehe." Lila giggled sinisterly, grabbing onto Sonera's wrist before blinking out of view.
The Earthling traveled far and fast, stopping just before the edge of the Canere's barrier. With a second, more deliberate Psionic blink, Lila transported Sonera inside the shield just beneath the alien's tendrils before evacuating the space as quickly as she entered. By the time the enemy had even realized what danger had been placed within their protective shell, it was already too late.
"Hmph." Sonera blustered with an unusual amount of confidence, clearly led on by Lila's imagination. "Foolishness."
Swinging her weapon with blinding speed, Sonera began to cut the enemy apart with the precision of a Iaido blademeaster whose spirit she had absorbed, causing both blood and flames to whirl around her as the very air split in two.
"Yeah!" Lila cheered. "Go girl!"
After just a brief moment, the shield around Sonera collapsed, allowing her to step free of its bounds before sheathing her blade with style. The moment she did, however, the true extent of her damage became more apparent as the Canere exploded into an orange mist.
She wasn't done yet.
Turning towards the onslaught of Consortium warriors that still harassed her allies, she refocused her efforts.
Sonera swung the blade.
Dozens of radiant scars cut across the air, leaving a mark on what appeared to be reality itself. And after just another brief pause, they detonated into a fiery explosion, brought about by Sonera sheathing her blade. Again and again, she appeared before her enemy in a flash of smoke, unsheathed her blade, and cut both them and the air in twine.
And after every relentless flurry, she would resheathe that sword.
Whether they be Daregen or Xenquar, or perhaps even a Vesper, the enemy stood not even a moment's chance.
"Show me!" Sonera roared in another unusual display of bravado. "Your motiva-."
Suddenly, her blade dissapeared in a flash of smoke, and so too did her flashy demeanor. Fortunately, the battle had already come to a close, leaving the only remaining danger to be Lila's dissapointment.
"Aww." Lila pouted, ignoring the last of her enemies as they dissapeared into a bloody mist. "So close!"
"What even was that?" Ivy scoffed.
Lunae fell to her knees, panting from exhaustion. Sonera was quick to aid her, forgetting her bloodlust if only for the moment.
"I have you." Sonera smiled, draping Lunae's arm over her shoulder.
Rena's eyes darted around the room, searching for danger. Aside from Yrix, who was creepily watching from above, there didn't appear to be anything left of her trial.
"Well." Rena sighed, flipping Yrix off the moment she saw her roosting there like a vulture. "I guess that's it."
"Now we just...wait out the rest of the day?" Lila shrugged.
Ivy turned towards the Earthling, her breath heavy and labored. With even the slightest notion of victory on the horizon, she wanted nothing more than to hug that stupid girl once again. Such feelings, however, were turned to ash the moment her eyes locked onto the figure behind her.
The trial wasn't over.
The heiress's eyes widened, struggling to calculate the horrifying moment. The other girls hadn't even seen it yet, but Ivy knew. She knew what had blinked behind Lila with a speed only achievable with Psionic power.
"Omizen." Yrix chortled, watching the scene in slow motion using her own superior speed. "Finally."
Behind Lila stood a towering Psion, covered in gold and light-blue armor that crackled with azure lightning. His pose, spread out and strained, positioned him for a devastating kick the moment he reached his prey. There was nothing the heiress could do to stop it.
Lila dissapeared into a cloud of dust, her little body slamming into the nearest wall. It had already happened by the time the other girls had even realized the enemy was upon them.
"Well, well," Omizen laughed, cracking his knuckles as his prey spun around with fear in their eyes. "So much for that challenge."
"Lila!" Ivy screamed as she tried to rush over to the fallen girl, her unconscious body covered in blood.
"And here I thought you were supposed to be Psions," The tall shipmaster boasted, blinking out of view before reappearing in front of Ivy. "I hope you can imagine my dissapointment."
He pushed the heiress over with a single relaxed hand, looking up at Yrix all the while.
"Is this what you brought me? Children?"
Spurned on by the Psion's mocking words, Sonera drew her revolver, firing six bullets at the enemy. But to her dismay, Omizon remained untouched, merely leaning away from her attack with his unmatched speed. He then appeared behind the girl, flicking her in the back of the head with a disdainful finger.
"Cute." Omizen jeered. "Or did you think simply being upset would make you any less pathetic?"
"Goodness gracious," Yrix muttered to herself. "One taste of superiority is all it takes."
"Come on now, TRY to hit me." The arrogant Psion continued, pointing at Sonera with both fingers. "Please. Or I might die of boredom."
Sonera called forth a ring of knives around her, hurling them at Omizen. He, of course, dipped out of the way with ease, even stopping to trip Lunae with his foot.
"Ah!" Lunae stumbled to the ground, her ankle cut by the sharp heels that the shimpaster wore.
Sonera growled like a feral animal.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt your little girlfriend?" Omizen laughed. "Well, I guess that makes two. I can see your minds, you know. The perversions that go on inside them are truly... awe-inspiring. You should write a book about it, really."
Ivy joined Sonera in her fuming rage, using her Psionic grasp to try and hold the shipmaster in place. Such an effort proved futile, albeit momentarily effective in grabbing Omizen's attention. By the time he sped over to strike the heiress, a Psionic barrier had already enveloped her, having been summoned by Lunae.
"Do you think that will stop me?" Omizen loosened his shoulders, shattering the projection with ease. "Please."
His eye suddenly widened with surprise, bringing a swift end to his confident boasting as he realized the truth behind Lunae's trick. Her barrier, steeped in a power he had yet to see from her, had enveloped him in a restraining hold.
His speed was still overwhelming, however, giving him more than enough time to throw a swift kick at Lunae.
"Oh, you little-."
The fire that caught onto his golden shoulder pad silenced the Psion.
"What?"
Sonera stood behind Omizen, her resolve intact as the smoke billowed out of her revolver. With their combined efforts, the girls had managed to, at the very least, put a dent in the shipmaster's armor.
But more importantly, beyond the dim light of hope, they had learned an important truth. Speed came at a cost for Psions. And the shipmaster's Psionic ambience was weak. Too weak for someone of his caliber.
"Oh, so that's how it is." Omizen sneered as he brushed the ash off his shoulder, appearing completely unhurt thanks to his armor. "Very well. Your deaths will be quick, painless, and probably boring."
"Do you hear me, Yrix?" The shipmaster continued, extending his arms as the crackling blue lightning enveloped them. "Your little project ends here."
"We'll see." Yrix tilted her head with a bit of sass.