Angel's Ascension: Strife (Book Ten)

Chapter 37: Two Sides of a Coin

"How does it feel knowing you can't prevent your home from being destroyed? All your loved ones will be erased and you'll die at my hands." Lucina soon held a hand out and a spiral of dark hellfire spun out from her palm. Once enough was gathered, she slammed it into the ground and craters emerged. Dark energy quickly released from cracks in the sand and geysers exploded before them.

"That's funny, you think we'll just give up and let you win!? We won't let you!" Lucy yelled back. Her arms flexed and she swung her sword back at the dark hellfire. A clash of energy erupted and shock waves flew out. She stumbled back before Yori caught her from falling. "Oh, thanks for the save, sis! I didn't realize how strong these shock waves could get and there's such a small radius to work with."

Yori soon charged up her shield and a loud hum emitted from it. "We'll just have to be careful when we fight her. Now follow my lead!" She tossed it at Lucina with a trail of energy following it. A flash of light emanated and Lucina shielded her eyes before the shield struck her.

Lucy rushed toward Lucina and slashed vertically while splitting the shield in half. A massive explosion ignited and pushed Lucina away. The radius between Lucy and her rapidly increased with a black substance spreading to the middle. "Woah, we gotta make sure this doesn't happen! Everyone stay clear of that stuff!"

"I'm well aware of that but thanks for the refresher!" Ignis yelled back with a grin. His fingers snapped and a few flame portals emerged. With a hand aimed at one, flame spears fired out and entered through the portals.

"Huh, the circles that separate us from those monsters move depending on where we stand." Lucina glanced at the creatures with a frown. Her wings flapped and she hovered off the ground. The circle remained in place as the creatures backed away. "It doesn't matter where I am, the circle will remain in place."

Tex fired two rounds at her from above. "Get down from there missy. We ain't letting you escape this place without fighting tooth and nail!" One bullet ignited with a flame and the other with ice.

Lucina flew backward and flashed a grin. "Nice aim but it'll take a lot more than special bullets and a good eye to put me down. Now, what about this!?" Her finger flicked at the air and a burst of dark energy flew at them.

"Hold it, I can handle this one." Talai summoned an energy gauntlet on his right hand. "I've been testing something out for a while and haven't had much use for it until now." He leaped into the air and channeled light energy into his other hand. Once he reached the burst, he caught it with the gauntlet and punched it with his fist. The dark energy dispersed before he landed on the ground in front of Lucy.

"Hey, that was quite a move, bro!" Ignis exclaimed. "Where did you have time to learn that? I thought your gauntlets were good enough but damn."

Talai rubbed his nose and chuckled. "Well, you see, Ignis, I was able to train without one for a bit while being dead. It's kinda hard to explain but I was able to master just one gauntlet!" He laughed out loud.

Ignis soon crossed his arms with a huge grin on his face. "Nice to know! I think we should have a little fight after this one." His tail excitedly swished from side to side.

"Such fools, they act as if they can win this. That one angel was dead shortly before I arrived so he must be the weak link." Lucina landed on the ground with a thud and rubbed her wrists. "I need to formulate a plan quickly to throw them off their game."

Hanna held a blaster in his hand and bent down to the sand. "We must stay on high alert, Lucina looks like she's thinking of something."

"Ugh, and I'm getting no connection on my phone. We can't get any more updates from Seleph at this point." Cheyanne narrowed her eyes and shoved the phone into her purse.