"And what… is that?"

Jeredal pointed at the spear in my hand. I spun Leviathan around before stabbing it into the ground.

"Why don't you come at me and find out?"

"Hmph, you are a little too arrogant if you think you can beat me with a spear. Guess the rumors were right. Anywho-"

Jeredal shot towards me and I swung Leviathan, hitting the side of Jeredal's hip. He was flung to the side and managed to catch himself. A liquid-like substance excreted from his sai and he launched it towards me. The liquid hit my face and suddenly, it began burning.

"How's that?" Jeredal said as I held the burning part of my face.

Touching the liquid with my hand, even it began to burn. Looks like I was hit with some kind of acid. I'll have to be careful of that.

I stabbed the ground with Leviathan and a wave of water erupted from behind me, rushing over to Jeredal. He jumped into the air, avoiding the incoming wave.

"I see, so that thing controls water." He assumed as he landed and threw one of his sai towards me. I spun Leviathan and shot towards Jeredal, impaling his chest. He stood his ground and laughed.

"Is that all?" He asked and I smirked.

"Of course not, it can do this."

Jeredal's smile then distorted when Leviathan transformed into its True Leviathan form. There was only a slight difference in appearance but a massive boost in physical capabilities.

Jeredal held onto what was now a trident in my hand and attempted to pull it out. However, it was stuck between his rib cage. The more he pulled on it, the more flesh could be heard tearing apart.

"Such an idiotic trick. All it does is change forms."

"Yeah, but in addition, I'm also able to do this."

I pulled True Leviathan out and smacked him away before performing Oceanis Serpent Wave. Another wave of high-pressurized water rushed towards Jeredal. When it made contact, I stabbed True Leviathan into the ground. Right after that, the wave formed a barrier around Jeredal, trapping him in a sphere of water.

With True Leviathan, I'm able to manipulate water to an atomic level. From bending water to shaping their atoms to whatever shape I want them to be. I can even shape them into needles just with one singular drop of water.

Inside the orb, I bombarded Jeredal with countless needles that shot out from the interior of the sphere. I could see through the sphere he was taking damage by all the needles that were rammed into him.

Eventually, I ended it by compressing the sphere, crushing Jeredal with the water. Jeredal fell to the ground and took heavy breaths.

"Y-you… I can see why Hall died now. You're pestering fighting tactics are extraordinary. I didn't even expect that despite being on countless missions. Maybe I'll actually have fun this time. Luckily, I'll be able to hurt you as much as I want until you run out of stamina and can't heal anymore."

Clenching his sai, he shot towards me, aiming for my chest. I spun True Leviathan and slammed the ground, water erupting from the ground, creating countless geysers. Jeredal was hit by them and flung into the air.

I shifted above him before piercing him with True Leviathan, sending him towards the ground once more.

Plummeting towards the ground, I transformed into my Altima form and performed Twisted Chaos Dance, assaulting him with countless Distorted Fists which struck him.

As he landed on the ground, True Leviathan returned to my hand as I descended.

Despite being hit by my Twisted Chaos Dance, Jeredal stood up as if nothing had happened. He was unscathed, even the open wounds caused by True Leviathan were healed.

This is getting a little annoying.

"Well, that kind of hurt, but you'll have to try harder if you want me dead. Why don't you do whatever you did to Hall to me? I'm sure that will be able to kill me, though not without bombing this entire place."

"You're right about that. I can't risk killing you with my strongest attack. Good thing I have other alternatives."

I turned around and faced the fortress. Then, I began spinning True Leviathan, causing water to erupt from the ground and circle around me.

"Huh? What are you-?" Jeredal asked but I quickly interrupted him.

"Shut up and watch."

After amassing enough water, I pointed True Leviathan to the sky and all the water began to merge, creating a giant sphere of water.

"This energy… it feels so ancient."

"You've noticed huh? This is what my weapon can do; draw power from the ancient sea. Now then, let's see what this can do against your hellish ice fortress. Though it should be directed at a target such as you, I'm sure this can do more to structures. Now then, time to destroy it."

I then pointed True Leviathan at the fortress, directing Oceanic Extinction Bomb to the fortress.

The giant ball of water collided with the ice structure and even began to circle around it. The force of the bomb was powerful, causing the ice fortress to collapse bit by bit as the bomb rammed itself into the structure.

Then, the bomb exploded, creating a massive flood within the fortress which was also destroyed due to the sheer force the bomb emitted. Within a short minute, there was nothing but a giant crater in where the fortress once was.

"Now then, that should stop your army from coming."

"So that was your plan huh? Well, not that it really matters since I already have enough units with me."

"Yeah, now let's resume our battle."

"Indeed, I've still yet to try out my best poison. I also want to test my strength against that form of yours."

I looked at my hand. Right, I was in my Altima.

"Alright then, let's see what you got."

Jeredal smirked, rushing towards me as he coated his weapons in his poison. I dashed forward, thrusting my spear towards his neck which he evaded. Jeredal slashed my arms, sending his poison through my body. I felt a small sting in my arm but due to my Altima nature, the poison's effect was greatly suppressed which was lucky for me.

We continue to clash weapons until I managed to break his sai. In exchange, he managed to shatter Leviathan.

We created some distance between us before I equipped Osiris. Rushing towards one another, we collided fists and engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

Jeredal had the advantage in speed while I on the other hand had the terms of strength. I managed to break his bones with every hit but he'd regenerate right after. Even with Twisted Chaos Dance, he was still unaffected and didn't stagger once.

Noticing that I was doing nothing to him, I was planning on using Grim Hydra Fist. However, that would mean risking this entire battlefield. The girls are also in the range of my attack so I won't use it unless they are far away.

Soon, Osiris shattered and I didn't have any other weapons left except my Altima Sword. I drew my Altima Sword and swung it in an attempt to cause some damage to Jeredal but whenever I hit him, he acted the same, unaffected.

Seconds later, my efforts were futile. He was chuckling as he had coated my entire body in his poison. I felt many sensations fill my body and nerves. I could feel much of my legs and I was getting to the point of passing out.

Knowing I had no other option, I rushed towards him and grabbed his face, activating Timeless Purgatory and throwing him into my soul.

Inside my soul, he looked around, exploring the new scenery in front of him. Inside, I was in my imperfect form and began slicing and dicing him to pieces. After many deaths, he was still unaffected.

I stumbled back as he stood, unscathed by my psychological attacks. I felt my vision fade as the poison was getting more effective every second. This eventually forced me out of my Altima.

I tried to focus all my mana inside me to force the poisons out. This technique was something I was taught by Celestia.

Right now, I was trying to force the poison that Jeredal placed into me out from my body. However, the more I did it, the more stamina I was using and my stamina was being drained by the poison he had implemented in me.

I stopped, recognizing that I was unable to drive his poison out of my veins. His poison had clogged parts of my body and paused my blood flow. It was getting hard to breathe.

"D-damn it…"

Fatigue got the best of me and I collapsed. Taking heavy breaths as pain filled my internal organs, then my heart.

"Tch, you even have a poison that can hurt my organs?"

"Well, of course, though I haven't been able to create one able to affect the heart yet."

What? Then why is my heart hurting?

"Are you alright?"

I felt a hand touch my arm and instantly, the pain had subsided. The poison was still in my body but the pain was negated. I turned and Risa had her hand extended towards me, her hands glowing.

"Why… are you here?"

"We're saving you of course. What else?" Cage said, lifting me on my feet. I noticed his other companions behind him, wielding their weapons.

"I don't need your help… I got this." I responded.

"You sure don't look like it." Cage chuckled before being interrupted by Jeredal.

"Ahem! Are these people associated with you?" Jeredal asked me.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Great, then you won't mind if I use them as my test subjects, right?"

Jeredal dropped his sai before drawing two daggers from his back, leaking poison.

"And what's his deal?" Cage asked me.

"He specializes in poison. They are lethal, even to a semi-immortal like me."

"Semi-immortal?"

"I don't know but I'm not complaining. He's also fast, faster than me, so I advise you to be careful and keep your guard up. Weaken and slow him down, then I will deliver the final blow. This bastard is immortal like me so even dealing a major blow won't slow him down."

Cage and his companions nodded before dashing towards Jeredal.

Risa also ran forward but I snatched her arm.

"And what are you doing?" I asked her.

"It's obvious, I'm going to help!" Risa responded, turning around and looking me in the eyes.

"But you can't fight. You are a healer. Unless-"

"Us heroes are able to learn more than one class, remember? Of course, I learned other skills."

Risa revealed a longsword under her coat. I stared at it and then at the confident look in her eyes. I eventually sighed and let go.

"Fine."

I got up but stumbled back, as I couldn't feel my legs anymore. Seems the poison has gotten worse.

"Stay here, Naoko. We will take it from here." Risa smiled before turning to fight Jeredal.

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