From her vantage point atop the Golden Empire Building, Envy was startled. It was clear that Scylla had never possessed regeneration abilities, especially since Envy had fought with Scylla long ago during the dark age.
Initially, Envy considered the possibility that this Scylla was the same one from their past encounter, having somehow survived and evolved over time by harnessing an unknown underwater mana source. However, upon closer observation, it became evident that this was not the case.
A chilling realization dawned on her: the current Scylla must be the result of magical experimentation by some mage family. But which family could be responsible for this?
Envy scrutinized the creature once more. It was noticeably different from the Scylla she had faced before. If it had genuinely survived until now, it should have displayed signs of aging, despite its monstrous lifespan of over ten thousand years.
Additionally, this Scylla seemed inexperienced, lacking the instinct to evade concentrated magical attacks like the thunder assault unleashed by Koyuki, something the old Scylla she knew would have handled differently.
On the side of Scylla and Koyuki, the mana constructs of Yamata No Orochi continued their standoff against the regenerating Scylla. Koyuki, observing this, had no intention of waiting for Scylla to fully recover.
She swiftly directed Orochi to summon more lightning bolts to strike at Scylla below. Each thunderous boom echoed as the bolts seared and hindered Scylla's flesh regeneration. However, the lightning's power was insufficient to cause significant damage, as Koyuki needed more time to gather the immense power required to effectively strike Scylla in its weakened state. Time that she simply did not have.
Koyuki exerted considerable effort to inflict significant damage on Scylla, but she couldn't halt its regeneration completely. She swiftly commanded the Orochi mana construct to descend upon Scylla and use its eight heads to tear it apart piece by piece. However, Scylla seemed increasingly active, and its regenerative abilities appeared to accelerate after repairing the burnt areas.
As Scylla's head regenerated, Orochi's head swiftly tore it off, only to be countered by another of Scylla's heads biting into Orochi's head, draining Koyuki's mana and damaging the mana construct. This cycle of tearing, beheading, counterattacking, and regenerating between Orochi and Scylla locked them in a stalemate.
It had turned into a battle of attrition. Would Koyuki's mana deplete first, or would Scylla's vitality exhaust first? Koyuki no longer had any mana reserves to spare for preparing a major move like the thunder strike, as she needed to continuously maintain the integrity of the Orochi mana construct.
Atop the Golden Empire Tower, Envy noticed the predicament Koyuki was in along with michaela who are watching this as well. Envy didn't panic, after she had registered the fact that maybe the Scylla in front of her should be the product from some mage family experimentation she had expected dis result.
The current situation of Koyuki is the most likely to happen, It's not that Scylla are Stronger or Equal to Orochi in Power, but it's because this is outside of Japan and Koyuki only has one Orochi soul fragment within her which made Orochi so weak that Scylla could come into a stalemate with it.
"Michaela, could you go and help..." Envy intended to ask Michaela to assist Koyuki, but at that moment, several cruise missiles approached where Scylla and Orochi were.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Wheeeze—--
The next sound of missiles rushing through the air was heard. Koyuki swiftly used her power to control Orochi, positioning it between Scylla and the incoming missiles to shield against the attack.
Booom! Booom! Booom!Booom! Booom! Booom!
The missiles exploded, spreading magical blue flames over Scylla's body, burning and hindering its regeneration capabilities.
"It worked!" Koyuki thought, quickly dragging Scylla out of San Francisco Bay and attempting to move it beyond the magic formation. This way, Oceanos wouldn't have to deal with the bound field.
Remembering Daniel's told, no bragging to her about Oceanos, Koyuki remembers that Oceanos possessed enough firepower to turn the Earth into a barren wasteland. Her goal was clear: dragging Scylla out of the city area toward the sea, providing Oceanos with a clear line of sight.
"Koyuki... is she... trying to drag Scylla out to the open sea?" Envy uttered after seeing Koyuki action.
— Meanwhile —
On Michaela's side, she had already checked the third location for the most likely magic core and found nothing. With only two locations left, she arrived at a diner. It was a nondescript place, neither remarkable nor terrible, making it a prime spot to overlook. Michaela knew that if it weren't for the paper in her hand, she wouldn't have found this place.
Entering the diner, Michaela was immediately met with a sharp rapier aimed at her with high speed. "So, this is the place," she uttered with a fearless smile, catching the rapier with her bare hand while wielding a flaming sword that burned with purging fire.
"Listen to me, Sinner. Stop what you're doing at once or suffer my wrath!" Michaela declared as the flames from her sword burned the owner of the rapier attempting to attack her.
The customers in the diner stood up, each brandishing a weapon of their own, ranging from battleaxes to swords to spears. It was evident that they were all associated with magic, as regular people wouldn't resort to cold weapons in the modern era of firearms.
"I see... Then, all of you shall face the consequences," Michaela uttered before rushing toward a man wielding a spear, cutting him in half before moving on to the next target. The people in the diner swarmed toward Michaela, but one by one, they either met the edge of her blade or succumbed to the purging flames.
Michaela continued her slaughter, cutting through the ranks of the people that were trying to stop her until she reached the inner sanctum of the diner. There, she penetrated through the illusionary facade and saw the core of the formation. It was none other than a lifeless human body, forcefully embedded with a mana stone within its chest, serving as the core of the magic formation.