The creature was sent flying, Nora had used enough force to make it bounce several times against the ground.
"Heh," the girl laughed, as she bent her knees to then launch herself against the being.
She felt excited, it was the first time she felt so alive. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest as she ran toward her enemy, gripping Lævateinn tightly with one hand.
The weapon gave off intense heat, though it didn't burn her. Her golden aura protected her after all.
As the creature stopped its acceleration by digging its claws into the ground, Nora lunged at it, launching an attack with her knee that struck its knee, in an ascending motion that sent it flying backward again.
"Let's see how many more hits you can take, villain!" she shouted with a smile as she followed the creature.
Though this time, the beast stopped abruptly, driving its limb into the ground.
Without wasting time, the creature brought down its arm, tearing through the air, creating a chemical vacuum that absorbed the air.
It was as if it were erasing the air in a specific zone, which moved in the form of knives toward Nora.
With instinctive but precise movements, Nora tried to strike the attacks, but the vacuum blades ignored the sword, as if they were intangible.
The reason was simple, that wasn't air, it was a phenomenon of localized suction, it wasn't something tangible.
The blades kept advancing as if nothing, striking her hand, arm and chest.
The suction of the vacuum blade caused a force strong enough to tear the skin from Nora's hand.
However, the blade that struck her arm didn't have as much effect because her orgone reacted by creating a pressure equal and opposite to the suction force.
The blade that struck her chest didn't hurt her at all.
She had evolved, first she had suffered the attack, then instinctively her orgone had learned to counter it, and finally she herself had evolved to be immune to that phenomenon.
The girl let out a growl as she kept running, lunging at the creature while her wound regenerated.
When she was already within reach, Nora launched hundreds of thrusts at the creature, with brutal power.
Each attack generated a release of heat inside the entity's body, but at the same time the force was controlled to not send it flying.
The creature barely had a way to defend itself, its bones and organs were destroyed and charred until barely a mere shell of it remained.
"Phew, I think that's enough," the girl finally said, watching as the creature's body fell to the ground and turned to ashes. "How's Alioth doing?"
She wondered as she turned around. She had gotten pretty far from him.
The girl started looking for him, and that's when she saw him.
"Oh shit," she said when she saw him.
There was Alioth, pointing at Eirian with an orange light drill that looked very dangerous.
The girl acted on instinct, launching herself at great speed toward there.
The light drill was launched, but before it could hit Eirian, Nora arrived and broke the drill with her sword.
"Watch out!" she said, as she stopped the attack, her golden hair waving majestically in the wind while her weapon was still extended in the air.
Alioth watched as the orange light particles decomposed into red and gold and finally adopted a silver color.
However, Alioth couldn't help but feel confused.
"What the hell are you doing!?" the boy exclaimed in frustration, his black eyes fixed on Nora with confusion and reproach.
Nora simply pointed at him with her sword.
"Idiot! Don't you see that almost killed him? You need to be careful," she said with a reproachful look.
Alioth raised an eyebrow, he was completely confused.
'What the hell is she talking about? He's the one trying to kill me!'
The boy thought internally, somewhat angry at the girl's intervention.
"It's not like we're playing catch either," Alioth commented sarcastically.
Meanwhile, Abzu adopted its blue sphere form again.
"What are you doing? Why the hell are you defending me?" Eirian then asked, with clear confusion in his voice.
Why had she defended him?
Weren't they enemies?
Nora raised a confused eyebrow, as if the answer were obvious.
"Because your eyes weren't those of a villain, and therefore as a hero, it's my duty to save you," she affirmed with pride, and a radiant smile.
Eirian looked at her with even more surprise.
Had she called herself a heroine?
But more importantly, what did she mean he wasn't a villain? Was she looking down on him? Wasn't he strong enough to be considered a threat?
"Tch, whatever," Alioth intervened. "Now what matters is finding Ruth, hey kid, do you know where she is?"
The silver-haired boy asked Eirian.
The young man hesitated at first, however, Alioth insisted.
"You don't want to end up like that pile of crap over there, right?" the boy asked, pointing at the body of the creature that had attacked them.
The one that until recently had been a companion.
"I... no... I'm not a snitch! I won't let you get away with this, whatever it takes, I'll prove I'm strong," the boy said, as he put his hand in his pocket, his fingers reached a pill.
Alioth got on guard, however, Nora seemed calm, as if she didn't believe Eirian's threats.
"There are several types of strength, little one, deciding to do the right thing is one of them," Nora affirmed. "You don't have the eyes of a villain, so don't pretend to be one."
"You'll look much tougher if you fight for what you want."
Nora said with a smile.
Eirian took a step back.
What was she saying? Were his feelings never wrong?
Was it okay if he didn't want to hurt others?
Didn't that make him weak?
Eirian wasn't sure, but something in Nora's words made him take courage.
"Alright," the young man finally said. "I'll take you to the xeno."
And then, right at that very moment... an immense pressure settled over the place.
The battle was far from over.