"You… I know you." The hooded figure narrowed her eyes at Selen who frowned at this promation.


    "I don''t believe we''ve met."


    Depending on who was under that hood, Selen might have to give up on this fissurepletely and take care of them.


    If they are part of the Zenias, both her and Alice''s safety is at risk.


    "You''re part of the Zenia family, aren''t you? I''ve heard of a fighter who could manipte the flow of time to a near halt. A woman treasured yet given away as a reward." The woman jumped down andnded not far from Selen.


    "You were quite the hot topic a while ago. What happened to you? For you to be here in the North and hindering our ns?" She questioned, not showing signs of wanting to fight just yet.


    Furrowing her brows, Selen was silent.


    The woman wasn''t part of the Zenia family but the fact that she knew about the incident where she was ''gifted'' away meant that she was somewhat in the know.


    Not enough to truly understand what''s at stake but enough to hear about certain events.


    Meaning… If she were to inquire about why she was here, the Zenias would find out that she was still alive.


    *Sigh~


    "Seems like I have to take care of you before I take care of that fissure." Selen sighed as she grabbed her de.


    Narrowing her eyes at the woman, Selen hopped on the spot, confusing her enemy.


    ''She doesn''t have her guard up properly. It''s a bit cheap but I can''t afford to let you spread the news!''


    *CLANG!!!


    Flickering in front of the woman, Selen released a horizontal sh at her neck only for it to be blocked by an armoured cor.


    "Tsk!"


    "You b*tch!" The woman widened her eyes in shock seeing Selen attack her out of nowhere.


    Jumping back, she mmed her hand against the ground and began to pull out a metallic material.


    Not wanting to let her get a chance to recover, Selen rushed forward, activating eleration on her own body. Appearing in front of the woman, she jabbed her hand against her throat before attempting to sh down but it was toote.


    Pulling out a bestial head from the ground, energy converged around the woman and released a single st of energy towards Selen''s stomach.


    *BANG!!!


    Barely blocking the attack with the face of her de, Selen was forced back as the st threatened to break her weapon.


    "ARGGGG!!!" Letting out a cry, she parried the st aside and watched it obliterate a house and leave behind crackles of lightning energy. Turning her attention back at the woman, Selen noticed that she was now covered with jagged ck armour, looking as though it was freshly carved from the body of a beast.


    Mounted on her back were two bestial heads, resting on her shoulders and controlled by her hands. Pirs of metal stabbed into the ground behind her, acting as a support frame.


    Pulses of crimson energy flickered through the gaps of the armour, condensing around the jaw. Forcing the mouth to crack open, two streams of raw destructive lightning energy rushed towards Selen.


    Widening her eyes, she didn''t hesitate and immediately conjured a staff.


    While her personal realm my have been broken apart by the woman''s first attack, she could still use the residue power left behind to conjure one more time stop on arger scale!


    mming the staff down, the sound of a clock could be heard momentarily before colour drained from the sts and it came to a near halt.


    Crouching down, she rushed forward, twisting her body and kicking the back of her de, sending it towards the woman''s head.


    Just as she tilted her head to dodge the de, Selen activated eleration on herself for a second time and grabbed the de.


    Narrowing her gaze, she shed at the woman diagonally, hoping to take out one of the bestial heads but she grinned.


    From her shoulder guard, several beams of energy exploded out, piercing Selen''s body as she tumbled back from the attack.


    Blood poured from her wounds.


    "me yourself for attacking me." The woman aimed her cannons at Selen and prepared to attack.


    "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU''RE TRYING TO KILL!?!?" An angry roar could be heard from above.


    *BANG!!!!!


    Crashing down from above, Egil mmed his fists into the woman who blocked with a metallic shield.


    *CRRRR


    The sound of metal bending cried out as the woman gritted her teeth and pushed Egil away.


    Landing in front of Selen, he tossed her some healing vials before ring at the armoured woman.


    "She''s the reason why the seal went down right?" He asked as Selen nodded, drinking the vial and watching her wounds heal.


    "Alright, let me deal with her quickly then." Egil cracked his knuckles.


    mming his fists together, he activated his resonance as spectral animalistic traits appeared across his body.


    "Careful of her cannons. They hurt like a motherf*cker." Selen warned, pping her hand on his back and giving him eleration.


    "Don''t worry about that, I trust in my own toughness." Egilughed as he twisted his body and punched at the sneak attack the woman hadunched.


    *BANG!!!


    Widening her eyes in shock, she didn''t think the barbarian would just punch the energy st apart!


    With a single step, he left a crater in his wake as he appeared in front of the woman and mmed his fist into her chest.


    *CRACK!!!


    The armour began to fracture from the force of his fist while the woman''s eyes turned bloodshot.


    Crashing into a building from the punch, she pulled herself out from the rubble and red at Egil who blinked his eyes.


    "Is that it?"


    With all the defences around her body, he thought she would at least defend herself like Alice would. Redirect his strikes or dodge.


    But she just sat there and took it.


    This confidence in her armour was truly astonishing to Egil. For Selen, this kind of opponent was the worse since she didn''t have much in the defensive department.


    But for him who''s all about physicality, this is probably the easiest match up for him.


    Hearing his nonchnce, the woman felt like a vein was about to pop.


    "Is that it huh? I''ll show you what I can do you brainless barbarian!"


    Sigils red across her body as the metallic armour began to shift and morph. From a stationary turret, her form began to mutate.


    Unlike the beasts they saw during the ambush, she transformed into a metallic dragon littered with weaponry and mechanical joints.


    Each segment of the wing held a different cannon while crimson lightning crackled through the gaps and pulsed with eerie energy.


    Looking at this beast, Egil felt calm.


    Compared to the aura Alice passively exuded during a battle and the strange beasts during the ambushes, this one felt like a kitten.


    Baring its tiny fangs and reaching out with its ws to seem frightening despite its size.


    Giving her a taunting smirk, Egil massaged his shoulder.


    "Tell you what, I''ll give you a chance. One hit is all you get so hit me with everything you''ve got." Egilughed.


    "Are you stupid???" Selen cried out.


    Even if Egil was confident in his body, this was beyond reckless!


    Right after she lectured him about taking care of his body too!


    "It''ll be fine~ Don''t worry about it."


    Feeling speechless, Selen wanted to smack him on the head and crack it open to see if he still had his brain or not.


    "I swear to the gods you have two brain cells and they''re both fighting for f*cking second ce."


    Blinking his eyes in confusion, Egil shrugged.


    "Just watch, I''ll show you something fun."


    Taking a deep breath, emerald energy began to cover Egil''s body as spectral armour manifested on his arm, waist and shoulders.


    As for the woman inside the dragon, she prepared her own attack as well.


    Since he dared to challenge her firepower, she was going to respond in kind.


    Crouching down, energy pulsed out from each of her cannons while the dragon''s head cracked open to reveal a hidden cannon.


    Energy coalesce towards the opening, a spiral of multicoloured rays of destruction. The metal around the draconic body began to heat up as the ground beneath her bubbled and boiled.


    Once the energy reached its apex, the st disappeared momentarily before exploding towards Egil.


    Watching the torrent of raw destruction rush towards him, he let out a heartyugh and stomped his foot down.


    *BANG!!!!!!


    Before the energy could collide, an emerald avatar manifested around them, blocking the strike. With each second that passed, the outline would fluctuate and threaten to break apart but it held on.


    After a few seconds, the torrent of energy disappeared leaving a line of ss andva on the ground before being split apart to reveal apletely safe Egil and Selen.


    "Is that it?" Egil grinned as he asked those words for a second time.


    "ARGGG!!!" Unable to hold back, the woman lunged towards Egil with the mechanical beast but he simply pulled his arm back.


    All of the damage that his ''shield'' withstood, he''ll send it back to her!


    Flickers of blue and purple danced across his fist as he parried the mechanical beast''s first strike with his left arm. Twisting his body, he swung his fist from below into a devastating uppercut.


    The release of energy caused a pir of light to explode from his punch,pletely tearing apart the head of the dragon and piercing the clouds above them.


    With the sudden explosion of energy came the copse as the sound of an explosion echoed throughout the battlefield, causing everyone to turn their head towards the pir of light with confusion.


    Meanwhile, Selen was speechless.


    ''I''m surrounded by powerful idiots.''