Champions are extremely rare.
They don't receive a conventional Devastra, they receive an authority.
In other words, champions are not limited to a concrete type of channeling or mantra.
That results in a huge advantage, but at the same time, in their greatest disadvantage.
They're not limited, but at the same time they must find and fabricate their own way of channeling their power.
In that world, words have much power. Unlike on Earth, making a promise is much more significant.
Breaking a pact could become catastrophic for the one who breaks it.
However, it can also have its advantages.
On the day of baptism, Nora swore she would sacrifice everything for her desire to be a heroine.
This made her unconsciously make a pact with herself.
She sealed her authority, in exchange for being able to manifest her power when fighting for her convictions.
Ka and orgone are closely related to willpower, while a Devastra is linked to someone's desires and goals.
The Devastra then becomes a way of channeling Ka through a divine power but also, through an objective.
A Vanir can also command others with the word. Imposing their will over another's so they fulfill their desires.
Instead, Nora managed to create her own way of channeling her power.
Her objective. Being a hero.
Making her power increase as she's more aligned with that goal.
Nora could feel her power growing inside her and being expelled by her body, creating a golden aura around her.
The air was pushed by her energy, emitting a small whistle.
"Come, villains. I'll teach you a lesson," Nora announced seriously.
At that very instant, six air projectiles came out of the house, from behind Rat.
They were spheres of rotating air, probably launched by the curly-haired boy.
Nora flexed her knees and shot out toward them, ignoring all survival instinct.
The spheres hit her fully. However, Nora was able to pierce through them without a scratch.
Friction is the opposing force generated between two surfaces, generally due to irregularities in them.
However, the air didn't manage to touch Nora. Her orgone prevented it.
It created forces that canceled and repelled the air's movement, as if it were a magnetic field.
In other words, that attack had become useless against her.
"Eat this!" the girl shouted as she jumped against Rat and threw him a punch.
However, a purple shield manifested around the thug.
Nora's fist hit the shield, and unlike last time, the latter broke.
The reason was simple.
Last time, the shield had transmitted the force of the blow equitably, making the impact spread throughout the surface.
Instead now, the force of the blow was channeled into a very small surface, smaller than the octagons forming the barrier.
Because of that, the octagon itself broke, causing a weakness in the entire structure.
When Nora pushed her fist against the barrier, it collapsed, breaking as it could no longer efficiently transmit the blow and piercing through the dome.
In other words, that defense no longer worked against her.
Her fist continued its path until reaching Rat in the face, who shot back into the house.
"Those cheap tricks don't work on me anymore," Nora affirmed confidently while coldly looking at her enemies.
It was the power of her conviction. The power of a hero.
Or at least that's what she believed.
Really her power increase was due to her authority, the power of evolution.
Both defending herself from the spheres and breaking the barrier was something she had done unconsciously and interpreted as the power of her courage.
"I see. Then perhaps I'll have to use external measures to deal with you," Aizel then said. "Agneyastra: Fulminating Meteor."
A quick flash shot out from Aizel to Nora.
Even if now her ability to capture fast objects had increased, she could barely react to the attack, moving her neck slightly to one side, while a red light projectile cut her cheek.
She felt the cut begin to burn terribly.
Before she could react, a blast was heard.
Aizel appeared right behind Nora, holding the elongated light projectile that had wounded her an instant ago.
Upon stopping glowing, the projectile turned out to be a spear made of blackish wood, twisted to form a sharp point at its end, which glowed with a vivid red.
The instant Aizel appeared, he rotated his hip to throw a back kick to Nora's back.
The girl felt her spine bend backward as she went flying back to the house.
Her body was stopped as it went through multiple walls formed by purple light octagons.
"See? It's not the only thing I can do with my shields," Ronald boasted.
Nora extended her arms upon falling. When her palms touched the ground she bent her elbows as if she were going to do a push-up, and before falling she extended her arms propelling herself upward.
"Grrr," she growled as she fixed on Ronald and launched herself toward him.
He reacted by extending his hand. Small octagons joined in bars that in turn joined together and elongated.
The bars grew until they could rest on surfaces of the house, positioning themselves between the girl's joints to impede her movement.
"What the hell?" she exclaimed surprised.
"What do you think of my tricks? They're not so useless after all, right?" Ronald mocked, while a small octagon-shaped tattoo glowed purple on the back of his neck.
Nora growled, trying to struggle, but then Rat extended his fingers still on the ground, managing to touch her heel.
"Immaterial rotatory pulse," the boy pronounced with difficulty.
In an instant, Nora's leg twisted unnaturally, breaking in several places, even making the bone pierce through the skin, causing a golden liquid to start falling from the wound.
The girl expelled a muffled scream, without air to scream. The pain was extreme. She had never experienced such pain.
"Sonic pulse!" the curly-haired boy shouted.
From his hands shot out a wind projectile that impacted against Nora's face.
However, instead of friction, this time the air generated sound waves that burst her eardrum.
The girl felt dazed. She was starting to feel tired.
Her power came from her confidence and her courage, so if she started to doubt her victory, she would start to lose power.
The girl clenched her teeth. Was she really going to lose like this?
"Damn, the brat is really resistant. I don't think she'll surrender unless we kill her or at minimum leave her crippled. A shame. It's never pleasant to spill Vanir blood," Aizel said as he re-entered the cabin. "I guess you brought this on yourself. You should have followed my warning."
Nora growled. She couldn't win. It was pathetic.
But at least, at least she should know how Ruth was.
"What did you do to her?" she said with a weak voice. "What did you do with Ruth?"
Aizel raised an eyebrow as he leaned toward the girl and put his hand behind his ear.
"What did you say? I didn't hear well," Aizel said in an innocent tone, though one could intuit he was mocking.
"S-she's alive... for now," Eirian responded, who had stayed timidly in a corner during the entire combat.
Nora let out a sigh.
It was a relief, but she still needed a miracle to beat them.
What would she do now?
"Eirian, don't encourage her. Don't you see—"
The sky roared, interrupting Aizel and making the entire cabin tremble.
In a blast, the roof was destroyed into hundreds of rubble.
Everyone fixed their gazes upward. There, an enormous serpent with jade-colored scales twisted, holding and coiling between the beams that were still standing.
Its multicolored mane waved in the air, while the serpent looked fiercely at those present with its blue eyes.
"Did someone order reinforcements?" a voice then said.
A voice only Nora recognized.
Alioth had arrived.