Chapter 140: The Stand

Oliver's head was swimming. He'd just regained his sense of consciousness and the most prevalent emotion was annoyance. He was displeased with himself, for being rendered unconscious at the cost of his own magic.

The sensation of grogginess covered him like a shroud, one that he would be hard pressed to lift under normal circumstances. All of his limbs felt heavy and his eyes fought to stay shut, only his strong willpower guided him to consciousness.

He lifted his head, slowly, unsteadily and was treated to a sight that defied common sense. A lone Runemaster going toe to toe with a Grimlock of unknown origin. The dance between both parties was like a symphony of strikes, evades and counters. What's more Oliver's eyes seemed to be playing tricks on him, after images of Bracha would occasionally flare up, making her appear to be in several places at once. The phenomena would fade and flare up again in erratic patterns as Oliver pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.

He called forth a potion and quickly used it. It wasn't necessary to restore his health, but his mana was dangerously low. What minimal relief the potion carried was at least enough to get his senses in order. After a few deep breaths he glanced upwards at the fight carrying on less than a dozen meters away (30-36ft). What he saw was both breathtaking and bewildering.

*What's going on?* Oliver transmitted as she slowly rose to his feet. The answer was nowhere to be found, for everyone nearby was breath taken by the movements displayed by the battling parties.

*It's much faster than before. I can't fully suppress its speed with my time compression.* Bracha thought as she began to push herself to the limits. She alternated between enabling her time compression and going on the defensive, using the additional time to land unguarded blows on her foe. Unfortunately they weren't having the intended effect.

The red rune cast just moments before the current skirmish began was used to boost the strength of the target. Before Bracha deemed it necessary in order to finish off the creature, but now her blows were barely more than a hindrance to the creature. Furthermore the addition of multiple arms made it difficult to connect. A blow to the face might land cleanly the first time, but a second strike would be parried by one forearm and countered by another. Bracha was being forced to continually vary her striking patterns in order to keep the foe suppressed. Unfortunately this was also playing against her.

By using time compression in short bursts she was able to land more hits, but she would be stuck on the offensive for three times as long while the ability recharged. Her Agility rating, relative to her current target was now comparable, or possibly even surpassed stat wise. Time compression was an effective tool for Bracha because she could slow time for any and everyone within her sphere of influence--save herself. This effect was reliant upon the speed of entities within the sphere of influence to add "differential". In other words, if her foe was naturally slower than her it would become like a snail. If Bracha's own Agility was much greater than her foe would slow to a crawl or at times even stop.

The technique was more effective against the Hulking version of the fused Grimlock because the creature seemed to be built for power versus speed. This new version was more balanced and more powerful. Furthermore with each stroke, each movement the creature was beginning to get accustomed to it's new body. Soon Bracha's blows failed to land at all, forcing her to rely on time compression even more.

Meanwhile Oliver was being filled in regarding the transpired events since his fainting spell.

*I see…* Oliver couldn't help but grimace upon hearing more. The others had no explanation of Bracha's sudden appearance change, or her ability to go toe to toe with a creature of such magnitude -- but in the grand scheme of things it didn't matter. To Oliver it was clear what his priorities were, to revive Vivian Lex and Ryo so that they could contribute to the battle.

*Stay ready to act, at any moment.* Oliver ordered the rest as he used two more potions to restore his depleted mana. Each of them silently affirmed this notion and spectated, desperately hoping that Bracha's newly displayed powers would prevail.

Unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case. All of her normal blows were now being blocked, even the active skill Wave Fist was being nullified. With external and internal blows sealed off, the only gambit Bracha had left to play was to go all out.

She fended off blow after blow from the creature as she awaited the chance to activate time compression once again. This time she would push herself to the very limits of power.

*0.65%.* She noted track of her power's limits, one final time before betting it all. Bracha took several steps backwards, creating as much space as possible while still exercising time compression over her foe. She then lifted both hands in front of her chest and focused her energies. Several runic glyphs appeared, overlapping one another in rapid succession. She focused on her foe even as she played her most powerful card, for the creature was still able to move and used this fact to begin bridging the distance.

*0.72%* The colorful set of runes fused together, forming a singular black rune which displaced the active rune floating at a fixed point near her shoulder blades. Bracha then repeated the process, once again pressing several glyphs into one another and producing a white glyph. This one took a place next to the black glyph behind her, both coexisting as her latent abilities began to rise. 30% stronger, 50% stronger, 80% stronger--

The counter in Bracha's view shot up to 1.25% as the power at Bracha's disposal began to normalize. When all was said and done her stats, all save her mana and vitality were raised dramatically by more than 100% percent. Furthermore the two runic glyphs each held a specific purpose.

The black represented an amalgamation of darkness, and appeared in the shape of a crescent moon. The white presented as the sun and each rotated at odds to one another yet perfectly in sync. Bracha cancelled her time compression immediately thereafter, causing the Fused Grimlock to speed up dramatically. The creature swiped at her face, it's intention was to smash a blow into her temple -- but Bracha easily evaded this blow while landing a counter of her own.

She leaned to the side, avoiding the strike and simultaneously defying gravity as Bracha front kicked the creature directly in the chest. The movement was so precise and quick that the creature failed to even react. The impact jolted it's body upwards, lifting it off of it's feet but a second explosion of energy soon followed. The jolting zap of lightning magic surged through the creature's body, causing it's muscles to convulse wildly.

A second unchecked blow caught the creature on the chin, at the moment of impact an explosion of flame took place. This caused the creature to be lifted even further off the ground, blowing it upwards several centimeters more. With each successive strike that Bracha unleashed, the black glyph at her back glowed more fiercely until the energy emanating from the magical construct took the form of a wing. Likewise, with each strike a different element was unleashed, fire, lightning, water, earth -- all in cascading fashion.

Such was the power of her Crescent Moon glyph, it contained all of her elemental touch runes. It became clear that Bracha had no intention of allowing the creature's feet to touch the ground. Each blow was meant to continuously air juggle the creature. The Solar Glyph was responsible for raising all of her stats to the limit, along with another secondary effect.

To those watching the battle a bright white light began to glow in the distance, it was faint amongst the backdrop of misty grey yet still visible. Then a second appeared, this time not far from the scene of the unfolding battle in a completely different direction.

Those watching struggled to grasp the meaning behind this phenomena, and each monstrous blow that Bracha landed distracted their attention even more. All but Oliver Pagnal.

*Get ready to move.* The elven Archmage remarked, his eyes were peeled on the battle unfolding before him as he waited for his best chance to act.

The flurry of blows against the Fused Grimlock seemed endless, yet each was slowly being blocked or at least lessened in damage. Four arms was a huge advantage for deflecting damage, no matter how ferocious the onslaught. Furthermore the creature had begun fiercely guarding its core after a series of powerful strikes aimed towards it. This confirmed it for Bracha -- the core must be destroyed!

The creature's flesh was now beginning to scuff and bleed as scraps appeared on it's forearms. Soon blood splattered with every blow as the creature sought to sacrifice two of its arms to completely guard itself. The other two were devoted to attempting to ward or grab Bracha, but she changed her angle of attack constantly to keep her opponent guessing.

Bracha nervously eyed the counter for her special ability, for it had now risen to 1.63%. She was now dangerously close to her limit and each moment drove the counter that much higher. She would not have much wiggle room, so she needed to time things right.

The moment time compression became available Bracha slowed the pace of her strikes just slightly. This break in the pace was all the creature needed to lash out with both free hands and grab her forearm firmly. It was this moment that Bracha chose to strike.

Time nearly froze for the Fused Grimlock, it's eyes widened as realization crept in. Bracha on the other hand was free to move as she pleased and used the opportunity to begin exerting full power blows. Once more she performed a jumping whip kick, crushing one of the creature's already battered arms. The creature's still body lurched, having been knocked out of stasis momentarily as Bracha continued her strikes. Next came a monstrous front kick to the chin, the blow knocked the creature's head upwards with such force that blood particles momentarily flew upwards--only to be caught in the frozen moment of time.

Systematically she struck, using both the full weight of her body and entirety of her strength in each blow. Soon both sacrificial arms were useless, the bones were obviously broken in several places and the flesh was beaten to a pulp.

*1.79%*.

Bracha reared her fist back and focused all of her intent. The Crescent Moon Glyph phased into existence at a fixed point just above her hand moments before Bracha slammed her fist into the creature's chest. The blow directly impacted the fused core embedded there, and for extra measure Bracha struck as many times as she could muster.

Each blow drove her counter upwards, decreasing both the duration and remaining power of her god-like ability. Only when she saw the crystal begin to crack from sheer force alone did Bracha relent.

Oliver watched on, waiting for the ideal time when Bracha's movements began to defy the laws of reality. The moment he felt a shift in the atmosphere he sprang into action.

*Dealla, Shula, Gates. Stay put! Agni, Katrin -- go and get the Doyenne. Gigi, follow me. Move now!* Oliver transmitted the directions as he began his own mad dash. His pointer finger was the only guidepost which the Scribe and Succubus could use. It pointed far out, into the distance--the focal point was the faint white light glowing there.

Gigi and Oliver dashed quickly, headed towards the other light. If he was right--

All in all, Bracha's fierce attack on the Fused Grimlock lasted for less than two seconds. As Oliver moved for all his worth, he watched the shadow versions of Bracha's movements and the creature's body crunching inward on itself.

When the time compression was canceled the Crescent Moon Glyph was gone, rather it had been transferred through countless punches. The physical onslaught was just the first stage of Bracha's attack -- the storm had yet to gather.

A wild succession of elemental explosions erupted against the creature's body, forcing it through the air in a wild, spiraling fashion. It landed hard, crashing into the ground as even more delayed explosions rocked it's body.

*Keep moving. Don't stop.* Oliver transmitted, mostly for the benefit of the runners. Bracha's show of power was both viscous and unexpected. Even Oliver had a newfound respect for her. The blasts continued for several more seconds, no less than fifteen total and for what seemed like an eternity to foe and friend alike.

The blasts were so powerful, so infused with energy that a persistent cloud of mixed magical energy began to billow upwards, covering their sight as explosion after explosion continued until the last.

Oliver kept an eye on the creature's location, even as he moved. It was a habit from years of battles, one that saved him in the long run. He first saw the dissipating cloud of mana shift in a strange way. Oliver's body reacted on instinct and he halted, quickly changing directions as he did so. A large black mass flew forth from the commotion and landed several meters past Oliver in the process. The shot would have struck him head on like a cannonball had he not adjusted his position.

Gigi, however, wasn't so lucky. A second blast caught her attention just a few moments too late. In an effort to defend the damage, the Spellsword lifted her sword -- her intention was to use her blade as a cushion. The ginger gritted her teeth as the sound of metal shattering filled her ears.

Her movements weren't nearly fast enough and the mass of black matter smashed into her abdomen, pinning both her right arm and her blade between the impact. Magic infused shards of her Rune covered blade flew in several directions as Gigi's face contorted in pain. The blow lifted her off of her feet and sent her flying backwards several meters into the murk of distant grey.