76th Move | Renege
Then.
"Jeanne, I need to talk with you. Privately."
Scientia said just as the meeting that introduced Kathy had ended.
"Right." Jeanne nodded and sat back down in her seat as everyone else left the room.
"..."
The Perfect Homunculus then sighed, her head was unable to move very well thanks to the current predicament, "That includes you too, Arcueid."
"No." Said predicament being Arcueid locking Scientia's head in a hug, her arms snaked around the ashen blonde in an unbreakable grip.
Scientia sighed again and hung her head, "fine."
The sight of the 'terrifying and intimidating Director' being wrestled in place by Arcueid was almost comical. It certainly surprised Jeanne, pretty much destroying her mental image of her Boss.
The demon had to pinch her arm discreetly to stop her from laughing out loud at the scene.
"Anyway, ignore what's happening right now and focus on my words. Got it?" Scientia's serious tone snapped Jeanne out of the urge to laugh. Nodding along, Scientia continued, "I want you to protect her."
"Protect who?"
"Kathy. I want you to do everything in your power to ensure she remains unharmed. Protect her, but do not let her know."
_____________________________________________
Rondo, the capital city of the Kingdom of Blumund. Late at night.
Jeanne looked out beyond the railing of the balcony she was on in boredom, in her hands was a glass of the finest wine in Blumund. She was currently sitting cross-legged by a table and chairs with two Special Circumstances Operators by the bright doorway to the balcony, both clad in sleek black armor that seems to blend into the night.
Apparently, Sarion is marching its troops through the shattered remains of the old Thelium Kingdom towards Blumund, utilizing their 'neutral' status in this war as plausible deniability with their Foreign Affairs Bureau claiming it's just an 'exercise to show the world that bringing the war to Sarion is in nobody's best interest'.
Even Jeanne, someone who couldn't care less about politics, could smell the stink of bullshit in that statement.
Knowing that something is bound to go down, the President decided to send both her and Kathy to Blumund as a statement of reinforcing their allies. A single Primordial Demon has historically slain many overly ambitious Demon Lords that dare summon them, subsequently causing their nations to collapse. Tempest reinforcing Blumund with two Primordials is the equivalent of the United States gifting 1,000 ICBMs to their oldest allied nation right before WWIII starts.
Normally, someone like Jeanne wouldn't have cared to listen to anyone except her summoner, but since the Yellow Primordial made a promise, she intends to keep it.
The cool breeze coming at night caused Jeanne's bangs to flutter like wind chimes. Frowning, Jeanne's got a gut feeling that this is the calm before the storm. Her experience is telling her to not relax despite being in friendly territory.
"I hope the accommodation is to your taste?" The King of Blumund, Bulud von Blumund meekly asked. The man was standing by the door to the balcony, most likely still afraid of one such as her as he cast a long shadow due to the way the light is positioned behind him.
Looking down at the wine, Jeanne moved the glass in a circular manner, swirling the liquid inside it and taking a sniff.
"Eh, it's fine."
Jeanne's tasted this type of wine before. Right before the Yellow Primordial first meeting Relentless, back when she was known mostly as 'Jaune, the Golden Terror'. Jaune had snuck into the Royal Cellar underneath the remains of the Thelium Kingdom's capital and 'liberated' several barrels of wine. One of that barrels, she never bothered with the label, had tasted almost identical to the wine right in front of her.
"I am glad that it's to your taste," the man bowed, "it's a wine that's hundreds of years old. My grandfather's father bought it from a merchant who claimed it was the last barrel of 'Soul Wine'."
Ah, so that's what it's called.
Jeanne finally took a good look at the supposed King.
He was rather short and old, probably someone in their 50s or 60s. Even while wearing such fine and luxurious clothing, he could not be more unassuming, more... peasant-like, as if someone went down to a random village and randomly picked out a person to be their king.
Jeanne leaned back on the chair. Due to the World War, all corporate personnel that works outside of Tempest have been called back, citing potential danger. As a result of this, what used to be the brightest area within Rondo, the 'little slice of Metropolis', is completely dark.
All the Primordial Demon could see from the balcony was the starry night sky above an abyss of darkness, only occasionally pierced by rays of searchlight coming from what few remaining tripods the Tempest Military possesses. Of course, with [Magic Sight], Jeanne could see much more, but there's just something unique about temporarily blinding your extra senses, similar to how a human closes their eyes to better process what happened during the day.
Turning it on, Jeanne saw the one hundred thousand souls within Rondo.
And the other Primordial Demon in the city.
Tilting her head up, Jeanne saw the Purple Primordial lying on her back, on the roof above the doorway, the edge where the two slanted rooftops merge. Kathy was staring above at the night sky.
A normal human might find such a sight odd but Jeanne has seen stranger things.
'Protect her.'
Jeanne's eyes twitched at the reminder before calling out to Kathy in a strangely formal tone.
"I trust you had fun observing the movement of their army?"
Getting up and turning to look at Jeanne, Kathy wore the same gothic lolita-like dress she's always had, and with her hair done in a ponytail trailing off to her left. Her yellow eyes showed only confusion at the tone used. Turning her head slightly while staring intently at Jeanne, Kathy's eyes then narrowed and her lips pursed as though she's suspecting something amiss or bad is about to happen.
"...Yes," she finally spoke, "they're about a day's out the last time I checked. I don't think I've seen that many homunculi gathered in one place before..."
There is a reason why the Sorcerous Dynasty Sarion was commonly thought of as one of the Four Superpowers in the World. Beyond being the leader of a power bloc, Sarion was the primary exporter of magical items and products, such as golems, enchanted weapons, and homunculus— anything related to Magic that is made in Sarion is bound to be of high quality.
The homunculus part is of particular interest to Scientia. It is known that there exist different levels of quality for homunculus and just like how Scientia restricts the really powerful technology, Sarion must equally hide the process of making the strongest homunculus. Out of interest for not making her out into a traitor, Commander Scientia did not ask Captain Eiwald to confirm nor deny this fact.
Since the magical capacity of a homunculus is changeable, the files about Sarion state that it should be easy for Sarion's military to specialize different homunculus into specific roles like the colony ants.
"Who are they led by?"
"Oh you know, that Prince who was disgraced because of some documents leaked of his deviant and frankly perverted even for my taste, behaviors with his servants. Nobody knows who leaked the documents but man the chaos it caused was the biggest crisis within Sarion ever since Relentless was still around." Kathy replied casually, as though she was gossiping instead of talking about armies marching upon their doorstep, "I guess the saying to roll dice whenever an Elven prince or princess is born is right, they'll be either as mad as a hatter, fade into obscurity, or approach their First Emperor in terms of greatness."
Shifting her attention back to the city, Jeanne couldn't help but shift her jaw in deep thought, "so the disgraced Prince wishes to get back into the limelight? This would make an entertaining play."
The way that Jeanne's speaking is seriously throwing Kathy off. The lack of swearing, the formal tone, and the sheer politeness in her voice is making the Purple Primordial really think of Blanc since she acts the most like a Noblewoman.
"Yeah, but with the two of us here and the System ending, it'll likely be a tragedy. Or a story of karmic retribution, 50/50 really."
Jeanne paused to look at the King of Blumund for any reaction, finding his jaw clenched shut and his rate of perspiration heightened.
About an hour after the meeting concluded, Rimuru sent out a top-secret request for a meeting among all the leaders of nations within the CCTO. One can easily connect the two and two and figure out Rimuru just told the leader that the Voice of the World is dying and that there's an Ark waiting for them after the war ends.
Jeanne saw it as Rimuru using a carrot and stick strategy, subtly telling members of the CCTO that if they want to survive, better work harder on being a good ally.
Still, the Yellow Primordial was surprised by such a ruthless tactic coming from the slime of all people. Jeanne would expect it coming from her Boss, but Rimuru?
Perhaps she should reevaluate her opinion of him.
"Right..." Taking a sip of the Soul Wine, Jeanne felt her mind clearer. The balcony fell into silence, the SC Operators stood ever-vigilant as the King took his leave.
*Thump... thump... thump...*
Soft thumping suddenly echoes through the entire castle as one of the tripods entered the courtyard, causing Jeanne to turn her full attention onto the massive machine.
Before sending the two Primordial Demons, there were already troops stationed within Blumund.
In total, there are 50 Tempest Officers within the Kingdom of Blumund with an additional three tripods, 20 Autonomous Military Drones, and 200 Autonomous Marines. It's designed to be a rapid response and support unit, as the small size of this force allows quick movement to areas that are being invaded. In case the fighting is too intense, the three tripods will serve as the cavalry.
*Thump... thump... thump...*
With the speed of a human's run, the tripods passed over the balcony.
The tripods are like a symbol of Tempest's military might. While they're nowhere near as strong as a Primordial Demon, their sheer size gave them an intimidating presence, one that was exploited by King Bulut when he asked them to patrol the city at night.
Crime rates have never been lower.
The tripods served as a temporary distraction from the awkward silence that hung between Jeanne and Kathy.
"So," jumping down from the roof, Kathy walked over before conjuring up a chair and sat directly across from Jeanne, "why are you talking like that?"
Kathy leaned on her right hand with a puzzling look on her face. It would've almost looked cute.
"Talking like what?"
"So formally. It isn't like you. In fact, you haven't sworn once ever since we came here."
Kathy gestured animatedly at Jeanne, who merely took another sip before resting the glass on the table.
'Protect her'
"I don't know what you mean. I'm trying out something new."
The Purple Primordial narrowed her eyes, "like hell. I've known you longer than the lifespan of most stars in the night sky: you're never like this. Not even when you're losing against Rouge or Noir after a fight. Has your 'Boss' really made this much of an impact on you? In such a short span of time?"
Jeanne felt her eyes twitch.
'Do not let her know.'
Chewing on her lower lips, Jeanne felt her anger rising before quickly calming down.
"Why yes indeed. I thought why don't I clean myself up a bit? Something like those New Year's resolutions that some of the newer Otherworlders are talking about."
"..." Kathy's mouth was hung open, and her face showed a deadpan expression as if asking whether or not Jeanne is serious.
"Man, you've really, really, REALLY changed. I'm almost freaked out by how different you are. Your tone reminds me a lot of Blanc, did you use her as a model?"
Jeanne wanted to curse at Kathy, only to freeze as she felt a familiar magical pulse wash over her before continuing through the city and beyond.
Kathy mumbled as she too froze when she felt the pulse, her face paling, "T—this is—"
"—Blanc" Jeanne finished, her fist discreetly tightening, "the White Devil has finally made her appearance after so long..."
The air started heating up as wisps of nuclear fire erupted from Jeanne's clenched fist. A savage smile formed on her lips, "I almost forgot what it's like to fight against someone like her. I needed stress relief anyways."
The Yellow Primordial felt her magicule pumping through her entire spirit. Her mind recalled back to the last glorious battle she had with Blanc decades ago right before she had gone and murdered an entire province. During the last fight, the entirety of the Underworld sang of their battle, there was likely not a single place within that dimension where one could escape the tremors moving across the medium of existence itself that both of them had caused.
Jeanne wet her dry lips in eagerness. Rimuru told them to run if Velgrynd or Veldora appeared, but he said nothing about another Primordial.
Animals all over the city woke up and started going into a frenzy trying to escape, the bloodlust coming from Jeanne was like a blanket covering the entirety of Rondo.
'The Demoness Trio', was what the Underworld had called Violet, Blanc, and Jaune since they bickered and fought the most. Violet was easily the weakest among the three, but she made it up with sheer spite and an unrelenting will. Between Blanc and Jaune, both are considered the most destructive demons within the entire Underworld, and neither is really stronger than the other.
One would expect such a Trio to get along as well as oil and water, yet that's not really the case.
What united the Trio was a feud and the nature of being the apex of the demon society.
Demons follow Racialism to its logical endpoint. It can't really be called a 'society', instead, it's better to call it a complex 'food web' with the top predators being the Seven Primordials. The average survival rate for a normal demon is no more than a few hundred years before they're eaten and absorbed.
The Seven Primordials stood as the apex of the demons. They were so powerful that the entire population of the Underworld bar other Primordials could challenge just one and still lose. Since Veldanava molded them to be like humans, the Primordial's power allowed them the privilege of viewing other non-Primordial demons as nothing more than ants, background characters to be forgotten, and getting attached to a specific demon subordinate is like getting attached to a single bubble on a beach: transient and innumerable.
Seeing this power, the demons split themselves into what modern magic casters recognize as 'color lineages', where the demon would try to mimic their specific Primordial to try and gain power, much to the Primordial's amusement before that too dried up and became boring instead.
Time erodes away everything, just as how time eroded away the memory of what exactly started this feud between the three. It is theoretically feasible for any of the trio to remember, but sorting through billions of years worth of memory is a hassle none of the three wanted to deal with, and more importantly, none of the three cared. It happened so long ago that most stars in the night sky were still in their infancy.
All the three demons cared about was that they had a Casus Belli for fighting, a proper reason to fight.
The air around the balcony started to become unbearably hot as flames sprouted around Jeanne's feet. Stones started to gain the texture of wet clay. Just as it was about to reach a crescendo—
'Protect her.'
—That memory was like a bucket of cold water, dosing the flames of bloodlust and causing Jeanne to pause just as she was about to blast off to meet Blanc.
Turning to take a glimpse at Kathy, Jeanne found the child-like demon fidgeting around with her dress as if she were trying to determine whether or not to fight against Blanc.
Jeanne found it strange, if anyone was the most eager to fight, it would be Violet. Back in the Underworld, the Purple Primordial spent her every waking moment scheming on how to take her revenge.
The air quickly cooled as Jeanna calmed down, raising a hand as if to offer Kathy something, "if you want, you could go and alert President Rimuru that we've received visual confirmation that the last of the Seven Primordials are on the enemy's side."
Kathy recoiled in disgust, her mouth quickly forming into a grimace as her eyes stared intently at Jeanne.
"I am the Purple Primordial, not a wimpy lower demon who shies away from an open challenge. Likewise, Diablo gave us operatives from his agency specifically for this task." Kathy then snapped her left hand before pointing at the operators, "You two, contact Diablo and tell him what's happening. The White Primordial has finally made her appearance."
With unflappable discipline, the SC Operators saluted, "Yes ma'am." Before running off.
Even when the SC Operators were given new weapons in the form of this 'Macron Rifle' that shoots out millions of microscopic carbon tubes containing fissile material at speeds fast enough to cause nuclear reactions, they were still no match for a Primordial Demon.
There was still a bit of hesitation in Jeanne, though that was quickly erased once Kathy blasted away like a rocket, magicules coating her body had allowed her to move at hypersonic speeds without the sonic boom, in complete silence.
It was like raising a red flag at a charging bull, Jeanne could not help but take Kathy's action as a challenge, and thus, ignoring that memory, Jeanne rocketed up.
Four long trails of plasma hot enough for fusion to occur came out behind the Yellow Primordial as she shot off, each corresponding with one of her limbs. The magical plasma thrusters were like a makeshift Orion Drive, each trail releasing the power of a small atomic bomb every second.
Due to air friction, a sheath of superheated air formed around Jeanne's body with how fast the demon was moving.
As a result, unlike Kathy whose flight was a tiny whisper that no one hears, Jeanne was like a meteorite flying across the sky from east to west, lighting up the ground underneath her for miles around as she passed by.
It took mere minutes for the two to reach their destination at the edge of Blumund's territory.
As they slowed down, Jeanne's clothing was untouched despite the cooling superheated coat of air that surrounds her.
Right there, underneath them, was Blanc situated in the middle of a forest clearing about half a kilometer wide, on the top of a small hill.
The White Primordial stood out like a white peaked mountain amidst a sea of trees, her hauntingly alabaster clothing did nothing but separate her from the dark greenness.
Seeing how Kathy seemed nervous, "You sure you want to fight? I mean you've only had your physical body for a very short while—"
"Fuck you, I don't need you to hover over me protectively like I'm some kind of delicate sculpture that'll break at the slightest touch. I'm following."
Taking the initiative, Jeanne landed 50 meters away from Blanc with a 'thud' with Kathy following closely behind. Approaching the enemy, Kathy tensed up while Jeanne felt giddy.
As the two neared, Jeanne found Blanc sitting cross-legged on the grass and calmly knitting a piece of clothing with two knitting needles the length of her forearm.
Both Kathy and Jeanne had to take pause at the absurd sight.
Blanc, the White Primordial, one of the Seven Primordials, was physically knitting clothing like some grandmother, the only thing missing is the rocking chair that swings the person back and forth.
It's like seeing someone like the Storm Dragon Veldora personally washing the dishes after a meal.
Blanc stopped knitting. The clothing in her hands evaporated like water under a summer's sun, but Kathy could easily sense that Blanc had just dropped it into an adjacent pocket dimension.
What power! Kathy took a small step back after the display while Jeanne didn't seem too bothered. Inside Kathy's mind, her eons of fighting experience took over, and she analyzed the whole situation.
Blanc didn't merely drop the clothing into her own pocket dimension, she turned it into pure information and then dropped it into a static pocket dimension, a place without entropy and thus the information needed to rebuild the clothes atom by atom could always be retrieved.
It was on par with rebuilding a person that's been molecularly disassembled with not a single atom out of place.
The only act that's greater than this would be rebuilding an individual's soul from pure Essence.
The Purple Primordial's lips thinned as she tightened her fist. Even before the battle, Blanc is already showing off her power... she's showing them the pecking order.
Jeanne strode forward fearlessly with her hands in her shirt's pocket, completely unperturbed by Blanc's display of absolute confidence in each of her steps.
Kathy felt a bit in awe, feeling a bit ashamed at the unease in her stomach when her rival was nonchalant.
The Purple Primordial pondered what would be Jeanne's next move—
"Yo," Jeanne casually waved with her right hand with only her thumb, index, and middle fingers sticking out, it was like she was greeting an old friend, "long time no see Blanc. Neat trick with the clothing by the way."
Kathy made a quiet choking sound. Her mouth was ajar, wondering if Jeanne realizes the magnitude of what had just happened.
Then it dawned upon her that Jeanne almost always fights first and asks questions later.
Blanc made no obvious move.
"Greetings Carrera. My name is no longer Blanc, I am Testarossa." The White Primordial gestured to herself, "And hello to you, Ultima."
"Huh?" Jeanne tilted her head, "My name is Jeanne, not Carrera. And Violet's Kathy."
The aura around Testarossa shifted, becoming more dangerous. "I'm sure you're wondering who named me, who gave me this wonderful name? It is—"
"Literally never went across my mind."
Kathy wanted to scream at Jeanne, only to realize she didn't know.
A flash of annoyance darted across Testarossa's albino features. "Her Authority—"
"I'm just here to fight. I don't care if your master is Velgrynd or Chronoa or whoever, I just need a good place to vent," a pair of golden gauntlets materialized into her forearms, "and you're looking like the perfect target. See, Rimuru instructed me to run if Velgrynd or Veldora came, but even if Sarion does decide to invade, their army won't even serve as an appetizer."
At her core, Jeanne is an adrenaline junkie. In the void of a meaningless eternity, Jeanne fights in order to chase that high, to feel her magicules pumping across her entire spirit like how flesh and blood humans feel their heart pumping.
Golden in color, the gauntlet was rather large and bulky, looking like it belonged to an Orc instead of a human-sized wearer, Kathy thought as she took a quick glimpse at the weapon Jeanne carried. Lines of neon light spread all over each gauntlet, with all of them originating from this ring-like protrusion on the back of Jeanne's hand. The quality of the gauntlet was unbelievable, easily in the Mythical-grade range.
Testarossa raised an eyebrow at the action.
"Antimatter? How quaint. To be able to produce large enough of antimatter on demand..."
"Antimatter?!" Kathy was shocked. Antimatter was one of the most difficult things to manipulate with magic, that's why there's only nuclear magic and no antimatter magic despite, if it existed, the latter would be much stronger than the former.
So to see it right here...
Jeanne's grin transformed into a crescent moon, "I know right? I was surprised my Boss had given me this 'Conversion Gauntlet' to play around with. These gauntlets can on-demand produce antimatter on an industrial scale by reversing the time symmetry of atoms. I don't really know what it means but whatever, I'm always forced to hold back, but against you? I don't think I need to."
According to CPT Symmetry, particles that move backward in time behave exactly like their antiparticle counterpart. To produce antimatter on a truly industrial scale, one would have to induce enough of an asymmetry within a particle to flip its inherent time symmetry. The laws of thermodynamics would normally prevent any large-scale symmetry break analogous to Quantum Decoherence but since the asymmetry is induced through a magicule manipulator powered by Jeanne's enormous magicule supply, what would usually be a moon-sized facility is shrunken down to where one could wear it on their hands.
Testarossa then placed a hand on her chin, letting out a nostalgic sigh.
"Ah, antimatter, so much power, so volatile... It is interesting to see someone other than Her Authority possessing the means to produce so much of it. I've only used it once and I can say, even with my eons of existence, no explosion is as strong as that. Just one kilogram and it's already capable of destroying even the largest constructed object in the world."
For some reason outside of Kathy's comprehension, Jeanne froze, her features hardened as she stared at Testarossa.
The Yellow Primordial's eyes narrowed into sharp slits, bloodlust started emanating from her body.
"Hey, you're not responsible for the Space Elevator Bombing, are you?"
"You mean that cable thing connecting from an orbital platform down to the planet? Of course, Her Authority commanded me to do it, so I did. In fact, it was Her Authority who gave me the means to do it."
The way Testarossa replied was as if she was talking about an everyday occurrence.
"..." The tension between Jeanne and Testarossa was palpable, one could almost touch it. All strength left Jeanne's arms as they went limp, and the demon draped her head as a dark shadow covered her eyes, her face a mask of stillness.
Kathy didn't understand too much of what was being said since she wasn't there when it happened, but Jeanne...
"So it was you. Why? Everything, all this suffering, all this death, all of it connected to that singular event— Why? —Why did you do it? —Damn you WHY?!"
Testarossa looked baffled, "'Why'? Because Her Authority commanded me so, there is no more reason for 'why'."
Jeanne's mouth hung open, her eyes showing only cold fury as she raised her head to glare at the White Primordial, "Hah... Hah... Hah... You fucking bastard..."
The death of her Boss could be traced back to the Space Elevator Bombing.
The entire world war could be traced back to the Space Elevator Bombing.
All of Tempest's woes could be traced back to that singular event.
Kathy opened her mouth to speak—
"You fucking bitch!" Hatred rolled off of Jeanne like products on a conveyor belt, howling, "You're responsible for everything! My precious! My favorite! No more games, no more competing for the most powerful of the Trio, I was planning on merely bruising you but Nah, I will murder you!"
Two Primordial against one, it is easy to imagine how it'll go.
Testarossa seemed confused, "Are you truly so hung up on your summoner? You? Whose bloodline within the Underworld is known for being unruly? Of being unnegotiable? Who if summoned would have the summoner seek to banish them back? I came here to offer you a new name after your last one died, since if the namer dies the name becomes obsolete. Why are you being so angry? The System is dying, Her Authority has a way to survive this. You should be glad to be on the winning side—"
"RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Jeanne made the first move and blasted forth, the only thing on her mind was to kill this insult.
Faster than a normal human eye can see, Jeanne pulled back her right fist and threw a punch right into Testarossa's face.
An instant later, as Jeanne's fist met Testarossa's cheeks but before the effect of such a punch could be realized in reality, a burst of gamma rays erupted from the point of contact as freshly produced antimatter touched normal matter.
A fireball consumed everything in front of the fist, quickly encompassing Jeanne's field of view as it expanded even more.
Until finally—
*KABOOOM*
—The sound of the fireball finally reached Jeanne's ears milliseconds later.
The trees around the edge of the clearing buckled, flattened and vaporized as the shockwave from an explosion comparable to Hiroshima washed over the forest behind where Testarossa had stood.
The explosion was odd in the sense that instead of expanding omnidirectional, it was a cone of destruction that shotgunned everything in the direction where Jeanne had punched.
Once the flash of light died down, Kathy saw how there was a wall of dust, debris, and smoke in front of Jeanne.
Antimatter was dangerous not only because it couldn't touch normal matter, but it was highly dangerous to spiritual lifeforms due to the number of highly energized photons a single matter-antimatter annihilation reaction creates. It is one of the most effective ways to kill spiritual life forms.
Kathy's [Magic Sense] could tell the gamma rays that passed through her body were but a tiny fraction of what Testarossa felt. Somehow, the gauntlet could concentrate gamma rays created from the annihilation reaction and focus it in front of where the wielder was punching, creating a literal gamma laser on par with the energy released from 100% matter-energy conversion.
*Click—Click—Click*
A metallic clicking sound drew Kathy's attention back to Jeanne's gauntlet as she drew her right arm back. Multiple flaps opened all over the gauntlet, allowing one to see the intricate inner workings of this machine.
"Is she—"
(AN: Play: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance OST It Has To Be This Way Extended, loop until otherwise said)
A sudden change in the direction of the wind blew away the cloud of dust that had covered Testarossa's form, answering Kathy's question. The ground around the White Primordial was a field of melted rocks and soil while she was standing on a pillar of dirt completely untouched by the explosion.
"Impressive, those—"
"Fuck you, I don't give a shit."
*KABOOM*
Whatever Testarossa was about to say was drowned out by another antimatter explosion as Jeanne used her left fist to punch once more. Once the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Testarossa caught Jeanne's punch, with visible first-degree burns covering Testarossa's hand.
It was almost funny how the small Blanc's hand was compared to the gauntlet.
"Now, I'm trying to be civil—"
"Fuck you."
Jeanne yanked her left fist out of Testarossa's grasp just as she punched again with her right.
*KABOOM*
Before the smoke could clear again, Jeanne reversed her action and punched again with her left and pulled back her right like a boxer in a ring.
"Fuck you."
And again.
*KABOOM*
"Fuck you."
And again.
*KABOOM*
"Fuck you."
And again.
*KABOOM*
"Fuck you."
And again.
*KABOOM*
"Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck youfuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyou——————————!"
With every punch that Jeanne threw, the next came faster, quickly becoming a blur before disappearing entirely as the naked human eye could no longer catch up. What was just two or three punches a second turned into dozens, then hundreds, and then thousands, there were so many punches that the afterimage made it seem like Jeanne possessed multiple arms— the explosions grew smaller and smaller as Jeanne hit faster since each antimatter particle took longer and longer to react with normal matter. Due to every explosion pushing air away, there wasn't enough time for the air molecules to settle back in before the next punch came.
All the while this was happening, Kathy was stunned into silence at the liberal use of antimatter, the shockwaves of pressurized air and fireballs caused the skirt Violet was wearing to flutter about like reels in a hurricane, but the Purple Primordial didn't seem to care. The rest of the world didn't seem to matter anymore with the powers both Testarossa and Jeanne had now achieved.
It was like seeing the worst student in the entire school completely ace a test while the rest of the class failed. So much antimatter was used that Kathy was surprised the atmosphere didn't just get blown away, what's more, how Testarossa is just standing there, taking all of these punches.
So much has changed. The rarity of antimatter was like an unbreakable iron-clad law, yet the scene in front of her killed the law and desecrated its corpse with graffiti. A feeling of uncertainty dominated Kathy's mind as she wondered if it was best she just go and leave the Titans to duke it out on their own.
After all, Testarossa, if she survives this, is dying to that fleet of her s—
"—FUCK YOU!"
With one final curse and punch, Jeanne slammed both her fists into Testarossa, "Uh!" finally pushing the demon out of her pillar and forcing her to fly.
The Trio's clothes fluttered about as air crashed back in.
*Hiss*
White gas came out of the gauntlet's opened flaps, enough that it covered the area in the immediate vicinity of Jeanne in a layer of white helium cloud.
"Hah... hah... hah..." Jeanne's mouth was wide as she breathed heavily, sweat visible on her brow as her eyes reflected pure hatred, "Why won't you die?!"
Large swaths of the White Primordial's skin had third-degree burns with areas around her cheeks and fingers burning so deep it showed pale bones.
Testarossa had the audacity to smirk as she hovered there, as though Jeanne's barrage of assault simply didn't matter. Her wound started healing, flesh and tendons knitted together to form muscles, and the skin grew like ice above a lake in winter, wrapping around said muscles.
"I am no mere Demon Peer. By Her Authority, I have achieved the highest evolution possible for a demon: a Devil Lord, a race only Rouge has achieved. I enjoyed our fights in the Underworld, so this is your last chance, join me or..." Testarossa tilted her head in an infuriatingly provocative fashion as if alluding to Jeanne being too weak, "do you want your promise to her to break?"
Jeanne paused, finally realizing how the surroundings had changed.
The dark night sky was no longer dark.
They weren't at the border of Blumund anymore.
They are isolated inside a pocket dimension.
Looking around, Jeanne found the usual greenery and foliage nonexistent, what used to be a grassy plain turned into exposed rocks, all around the Trio, and rivers of lava snaked all over the place.
It was like someone had taken a part of the Underworld and slotted it into the world like an out-of-place jigsaw puzzle piece.
More importantly, she can no longer feel the outside.
But in Jeanne's enraged mind, it didn't matter. The world didn't even register as a thing. It's the effect of an unknown skill, they're not in the Underworld.
However, what did register, was what Testarossa had said. The Yellow Primordial took a pause, before disregarding it entirely. She was unable to conceptualize how two Primordials couldn't defeat a single Primordial, even if the latter was higher on the evolutionary staircase.
"Fuck you."
"Is that all that you can say? What are you, a mindless beast?"
*Click—clack—click—clack*
Instead of verbally responding to Testarossa, Jeanne's gauntlet shifted and transformed. All the flaps opened on the gauntlet made it look larger than normal.
*Vrrrrrrrr*
"Heh..." Jeanne grinned as she lowered her body, her posture reminiscing of an Olympic runner before the shots from the starting gun fired, "Heheheheheheheheh— HAHAHAHAHAHA— I am going to enjoy taking down your arrogant attitude."
It's been four months since Jeanne's had a proper fight that isn't a spar. The longest period of time the Yellow Primordial had gone without a proper fight was five days, and that ended with Jaune blasting El Dorado with the nuclear barrage of the century as hundreds of house-size bolts of nuclear magic literally rained down from the sky like it was the start of the Apocalypse.
The only thing inside her mind, the only thing that was allowed to exist, the only thing Jeanne could perceive at the moment was Testarossa. Athletes would call this 'being in the zone'— a zen-like state in which Jeanne is fully immersed.
Powered by cold fury and excitement, Jeanne had long familiarized with herself how to constructively control one's hatred and rage and wielded it as one would a weapon instead of having it go wild.
(AN: end BGM]
"[Poison Bullet]"
A blob of magical poison formed in front of Kathy's index finger before it shot forth at Jeanne's back.
The magical poison bullet sped forth with the force of a railgun round, pushing past the sound barrier with ease.
Since the Yellow Primordial is completely focused on Testarossa, she wasn't able to sense the attack as it neared.
"ARGH!"
The sound came from Testarossa— behind!
Jeanne whipped her head to look behind her, finding another— the REAL Testarossa, who was just about to do a sneak attack if the fact that a flare of hellfire was at the center of her palm was any indication.
Jeanne and Kathy's minds both stopped working the moment they saw hellfire inside the material plane.
*Hiss*
Testarossa's back burned from the poison. It was strange, somehow she let out a grunt of pain when Kathy attacked but not Jeanne.
The sound helped snap the Yellow Primordial out of her daze.
It took a few milliseconds for Jeanne to fully process that somehow Testarossa had used a fake body and sneaked up behind her and that the Purple Primordial somehow saved Jeanne from a sneak attack. What's more, hellfire persisted despite the fact that they weren't in the Underworld, just an imitation of the place.
Testarossa turned her head to glare at Kathy, but before the glare could continue, her attention returned to Jeanne as the latter threw a right hook.
"Die!"
Immediately, Testarossa used her Ultimate Skill [Belial | Hellish Connection]
Before the gauntlet could touch Testarossa, the space around her changed as an image of Hell itself seemed to almost overlay the White Primordial's body in a translucent manner. It looked almost like bad Photoshop.
The gauntlet hit and... lay just shy of actually touching the physical form of Testarossa before spewing out antimatter.
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No effect.
There was none of the expected annihilation reaction.
Time seems to almost stand still as Jeanne's attack was nullified.
The only evidence of the attack was Jeanne's stance and memories.
In less time than it took to blink, Jeanne jumped back 10 meters away from Testarossa, who no longer had an image of Hell overlaying on top of her.
Testarossa looked both amused and disappointed, "My, I didn't realize you didn't have an Ultimate Skill, Carrera." Taking a glance at a nervous Kathy, "It seems Ultima beat you to it this time."
"My. Name. Is. Jeanne!" The Yellow Primordial shouted through gritted teeth, trying to move in and punch Testarossa once again, only for the White Primordial to catch the gauntlet and crush it, rendering it nearly useless before a single swipe with her other hand threw Jeanne away.
A long ethereal snake coiled itself around Kathy's body while this was happening. The head of the snake was a human skull and it ended around where the Purple Primordial's right hand should be.
Testarossa recognized it as the Ultimate Skill [Samael, Lord of Poison].
"I got it back during Relentless' Rampage." A magic circle then appeared in front of Kathy's left eye, superimposing upon it like a hologram.
"What are you? [Samael | Weakness Identification] is going all over the place! You're like an evershifting puzzle, your weak points are everywhere and nowhere at once!" A panicked expression dawned upon Kathy's face as she spoke, "damn it. [Samael | Ultimate Poison]!"
The snake took off with the speed of an ICBM, but before it could cross the 40-meter gap, Jeanne capitalized on a distracted Testarossa and launched a left hook in hopes of a double-team.
The two attacks neared in less than a hundredth of a second, both were less than half a meter away and both were slated to hit at the same time.
Wordless, instinctive coordination at its finest.
Just as the fist was about to connect, Testarossa disappeared and appeared behind Jeanne and grabbed her by the blonde's hair. Dragging her as one would with a sack of potatoes, Testarossa made a human shield out of her fellow Primordial when she pulled Jeanne by her hair between herself and the incoming snake.
Jeanne didn't even have the time to scream out in pain from the rough hair grab before the snake pierced her chest.
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PAIN.
"Kffff..."
Coughing, lines of black blood dripped out of Testarossa's mouth and down her chin.
The snake had passed through Jeanne harmlessly before opening its jaw wider than any human skull had any right to be and sinking its fangs deep into the White Primordial's chest, injecting the poison.
The snake with a human skull as a head then faded away like a hot day's mirage during a thunderstorm.
PAIN!
"Auuuugh..."
So much pain. By Her Authority it was just so painful!
Black blood started pouring out of Testarossa's nose, ears, and eyes. Her every orifice started bleeding. The albino demon wanted to scream, but no words would come out as her throat was unmoving, the most she could let out was a useless groan that did nothing to really signify the amount of pain she was under.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAHHH AAAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHH.
Testarossa screamed inside her mind instead. Trickles of the pitch-black liquid trailed down her head as even her hair pores started bleeding profusely. Strands of her beautiful white hair were swept away and down Testarossa's head like cars during a flood.
It was the most painful thing she had ever experienced. More than hellfire. It was as if someone injected liquid fire or white phosphorus into a normal human's veins. The pain rose and fell like tidal waves, between bouts of such incredible pain was a tiny outcrop of lucidity. Using this outcrop, Testarossa couldn't help but ponder if this was the level of pain one of her favorite spells— [Death Streak]— would cause.
Testarossa felt her mind buckle from the assault of this poison. Using her will, Primordial Blanc tried to command her Ultimate Skill [Belial | World of Hell] to change its laws so the poison no longer affected her, only to realize before another surge of pain that this poison came from another Ultimate Skill.
"Auuuggghhh..." The despair Testarossa felt at that moment was almost enough to overpower the pain coming from the poison.
Her clothes were ripped as the White Primordial continuously scratched her body in a vague attempt to distract herself from the godawful pain. Frequently, her nails would cut deep enough to draw more blood, more crimson blood.
It was pure torture. It was much more painful than the depraved things she forced the ruling family of Silberia to go through for daring to kill her perfect vessel.
"Hak..." The White Primordial coughed out even more black blood.
That's when another wave of pain rose again, and Testarossa lost the ability to think.
Then she howled as her throat finally moved, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
Feeling her grip loosen, Jeanne turned around and blasted a disorientated and extremely disheveled Testarossa who hunched forward and was scratching herself profusely with a casting of [Nuclear Cannon].
Testarossa was launched several hundred meters away. Rolling down on the ground, steam rising out of her body due to the attack, the Primordial still screamed as the poison did its work. The feeling of being on top of a moving river of lava was nothing next to the pain this poison had caused.
[Samael] was an Ultimate Skill specialized in the art of poison crafting. Not only could [Samael] make any poison, this adding the [Weakness Identification] to point out any flaws would result in the creation of the perfect poison for every opponent.
However, it takes time to synthesize specialized poison from nothing, so in case of an enemy that's strong and the specialized poison would take too long to synthesize, Kathy prepared the most lethal poison [Samael] could produce and stored it as the nuclear option, the ultimate escalation prevention weapon, the [Ultimate Poison] attacks not only physically, but on a spiritual level as well.
A normal human soul would corrode away before its might, breaking down and dissolving into the smallest, most basic thing out there: Information Particles, or Infotrons that are unaffected by time and space.
"Aaaaaahhh..."
Even so far away, Jeanne could still hear Testarossa's painful screams.
Should I...? She wondered.
Deciding to silence her once and for all, the Yellow Primordial will use the most powerful nuclear magic she's developed, something that easily reaches into the fabled 'Ultimate Class' magic that could affect even those with Ultimate Skills.
A spell that would be normally unfeasible to cast in Realspace, but since this is a reflection of Hell, it was perfectly viable.
Straightening her back, the gauntlets dematerialized into her own pocket dimension.
(AN: Play: Kalwaria No Hoshi)
"I hereby give an offering to the Abyss." Jeanne spoke in a formal tone completely alien to the normally straight-forward demon, "I wish for the annihilation of my enemy, a Primordial, the White Primordial— Blanc— in exchange, I offer my magicules to fuel your appearance." Magical circles erupted from Jeanne as she chanted, all of them starting to swirl around the Primordial Demon akin to planets around a star, "O' Lord of Magnets, the Lesser Devourers, erupt thyself, delete everything in my sight, let not even ashes remain— return all to nothingness."
As she chanted, more and more magic circles appeared and orbited Jeanne. After the chanting had been completed, all of those magic circles each collapsed into a ball of nuclear energy, miniature stars.
The crystallization of all of Jeanne's life's work, billions of years, the power of the demon with the most magical capacity, all of her magicules poured into this one, single spell.
There were enough stars that the ground underneath the Primordial's feet started boiling away like water in a pan, but that didn't matter as the demon continued floating there in midair without any problem. Even Kathy had flinched at the heat radiating from Jeanne.
Like a conductor directing a choir, Jeanne's hands suddenly went up as if asking the hundreds upon hundreds of stars to increase their volume. At her command, the stars flew upward higher and higher until they could no longer be seen.
"Witness the death of all."
Off in the distance, Testarossa's screams can no longer be heard. If one looks carefully, one would find a flicker of hellfire.
"Moment of birth."
The Yellow Primordial's face showed only determination.
"[Apocalypse Realized:—"
As though holding a baton (the stick thing that conductors use to point at musicians), Jeanne pointed her hands and her imaginary baton down at the tiny flicker of flame that one could cover with their thumb if they stretched their arms to the fullest, subsequently snuffing out that candle fire from her sight.
"—Star of Destruction]"
White.
The crimson hellish sky was completely replaced as though someone had painted it white.
Or rather, it was more accurate to say that a magnetar had suddenly appeared directly overhead.
Then, the magnetar cracked like an egg, and the sky fell.
The sky fell like shattered glass in front of Jeanne, starstuff erupted from above.
The most energetic event in the universe right after the Big Bang is when black holes collide. Merging supermassive black holes can outshine all the stars in the Observable Universe for a week in terms of energy released. After that is a Hypernovae explosion that could hit upwards of 3x10^47 joules of energy. The fourth place lies Magnetar eruptions. Magnetars are neutron stars that possess an extremely strong magnetic field. When they erupt, they can consistently release at least 10^38 joules of energy or about as much energy as the sun releases in 100,000 years.
[Apocalypse Realized: Star of Destruction] is a nuclear magic spell on par with Milim's [Dragon Nova] that's supposed to rain down bright pellets that cause a supernova at its intended destination with a super-high compression. This magic is the ultimate technique belonging to the Yellow Primordial that mimics the power and principle of a Magnetar eruption.
In the brief few instants, before the light touches the ground, air rushed out from underneath it so quickly it formed a pressure wave that flattened any outlying peaks coming up from the ground like a roller of god.
Everything was smeared outward as though a painter had blended wet paint together.
It was so loud that a normal human would have their organs liquified from the other side of the planet.
Nothing material could survive in such environments. A Magnetar's normal magnetic field measures about 10^15 Gauss. A field having 10^9 Gauss would be instantly lethal to any organic life as such fields compress an atom's electron clouds into long cigar shapes, with the longer axis aligning itself with the field. A Magnetar a mere 1,000 kilometers away is enough to cause such a compression of the electron cloud which would render all electromagnetic-based chemistry impossible.
This isn't even mentioning the energy present within a Magnetar eruption. Within that wall of light, atoms distorted and broke down, and their nucleus melted away into just protons and neutrons before that too is dissolved by the heat until only their quarks remain. At the center of that downpour was a soup of Quark-Gluon Plasma or 'Primordial Matter' since during the first few moments of the Universe, all that was was such a soup of Primordial Matter.
There was so much energy that physics inside the falling star matter started to change as Fundamental Forces began to merge. A topological defect known as a 'Domain Wall' separated the region of changed physics from the rest of the pocket dimension, isolating the asymmetry like nation states quarantining people infected with a virus.
The vertical downward torrent of starstuff coming from above released so much energy that the pocket universe created by [Belial] started crumpling like a piece of paper, and the gravitational radiation coming from the Domain Walls became too much for any attempts at compensation.
The World-type subskill of an Ultimate Skill specialized in 'Hell' was breaking down in the face of the most powerful attack coming from the Yellow Primordial.
The radiance from her ultimate magic spell was so bright all of Jeanne's senses were blinded before she shut those off.
All that Jeanne could perceive were her own thoughts.
(AN: end BGM)
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Once her senses returned, Jeanne found herself lying on the ground, in a field of grass with a black sky above. Realizing that she probably couldn't see the stars because of the brightness coming from the spell, Jeanne tried to get up—
"Hisss!" A flash of intense pain shot through her bones like electricity through a power grid.
—only to fall back down as her muscles felt extremely weak. She was absolutely drained of any magicules. Exhausted, Jeanne stared at the sky, pinpricks of light finally appearing as the cool night breeze blew across the forest's clearing.
Under the clear night sky, lying on the grass, feeling the cool wind blowing, Jeanne could almost forget that a World War was happening.
"That was something."
Jeanne heard a familiar voice. It was Kathy. She walked right up to Jeanne's head, her foot mere centimeters away, the Yellow Primordial could see up her skirt. Normally a human might get embarrassed, but they have known each other for eons.
"Yeah, that was my strongest spell. Never actually used it in the material realm, or against anyone to be honest. I developed it too late to use it on Relentless."
"... Thank you."
"Eh." Jeanne tried to shrug, but since she was lying down, she wasn't able to move much. Seeing her current predicament, Kathy lends a hand.
Jeanne's eyes widen in surprise. It was rare for a demon to help another. Taking the hand, Jeanne took in several deep breaths before pulling herself up using Kathy as leverage.
Her legs felt incredibly weak. Fortunately, as a Demon of the Primordial rank, the regeneration rate of her magicule was extremely quick, but that spell required more than just magicule. It was taxing on the spirit itself.
"Hah... hah... hah... Man, I could use a drink. Several drinks. Some gourmet food would do me well." Jeanne spoke lethargically.
The forest around them was completely untouched by the fight between the three Primordial Demons.
"Is that the only way you think of relaxing you hedonist?"
"Hey, don't judge me. I saved our ass, let me have my reward."
"I'll remind you, if it weren't for my poison you wouldn't have had a chance."
"Bah, I saw how Blanc got up from that poison. Its effect was wearing off. If my [Apocalypse Realized: Star of Destruction] came any later, I think the demon would've recognized what's happening and teleported out of there."
"I'll remind you again: if it weren't for my [Ultimate Poison], you would've never had an opportunity to chant and cast your Ultimate Class spell."
"Yeah, and did it finish off Blanc? No, it didn't. I was the one who scored the killing blow. What's more important, stunning an enemy or killing an enemy?"
Kathy stomped her feet onto the ground like an angry child, "That's taken way out of context! You're only able to cast that spell because I helped you! It's like asking which type of matter is more important in an Annihilation reaction, matter or antimatter."
"Yeah yeah," Jeanne chuckled a bit before patting Kathy's head, "whatever helps you sleep at night."
Kathy grumbled before pouting.
Just as she was about to open up her mouth, a sudden wave of heat passed the duo.
Burning metal chains came up from the earth, each link jiggling about like the rattle of a rattlesnake about to strike, all of them immediately wrapping around Jeanne's limbs and neck as though they were pythons.
Before any of the duo could let out a sound of surprise, the chains pulled and forced Jeanne onto her knees, with one coiling around the neck area demanding that she couldn't straighten her back. Normally the Yellow Primordial would've put up more of a protest, but since she's exhausted, the Primordial Demon is about as strong as a B-rank human.
In other words, Jeanne is more vulnerable than she'd ever been during the entirety of her existence.
Jeanne hissed out in pain from the burns the chains are inflicting upon her skin.
"How pathetic, even a tiny bit of hellfire is affecting you. [Belial | Hell Chain] normally wouldn't even be able to restrain an Archduke-level Demon," Testarossa said as she walked out of a portal that was radiating intense heat. To Jeanne, it felt like being next to a bonfire.
"[Toxin Bullet]" The ethereal snake with a human skull coiled itself around Kathy once more as she launched three dark green bullets. Just as the bullets were about to touch Testarossa's skin, a surge of hellfire blew them away.
She now was covered head to toe in hellfire like a person inside a massive bonfire, only it didn't look like it was hurting the White Primordial.
"How are you still alive?!"
Jeanne hissed through the pain.
Testarossa didn't bother answering as all her focus was on Kathy, her face showed only a hateful scowl. "Don't even try to escape. It should be obvious that I'm faster than you on every level. If you teleport away I'll kill Jeanne, and I don't think you have the time to wait for her resurrection, do you? Calling for help won't help you either with the interference field I've put in place.
With a single swing of her right arm, the ground all around Kathy started to glow red hot before exploding, showering the Purple Primordial in columns of hellfire.
Hellfire is a unique type of fire that exists only in the Underworld. Ironically, it can't be classified as an actual fire since it doesn't use oxygen, hydrocarbon, and heat. It is only called a 'fire' because the principle behind it is the same as a normal fire in the sense that it uses Essence and magicules as fuel, space itself as 'oxygen', and the lack of normal matter as 'heat'.
Once the fire subsided, a dark sphere stood where Kathy was before being consumed by the fire. Like popping a bubble, the sphere disintegrated to reveal Kathy was inside it, protected by a shell of anti-fire poison.
As a side effect of the explosion, the grassy plain on which the trio stood was set alight with normal fire.
"It took all of it," Testarossa sneered, "all the souls I collected, all of it in order to light a pit of hellfire strong enough to burn away the poison before using [Belial | Hellish Connection] to protect from that falling starstuff before I made my escape."
The Primordial then chuckled a bit as she raised her left arm, palm facing Kathy, a stream of intense hellfire quickly crossed the distance between the two. Kathy created a reflective shield composed of a magical toxin that poisons hellfire.
"Did you know in an environment as intense as the inside of that falling starstuff, space itself will turn crystalline? It's true, any particles responsible for light passing through that crystallized space in order to reach me get birefringent as though they were passing through a mirror, crystal, or water! Hahahahaha!"
Testarossa appeared more unhinged, maniacal even. The noblewoman-like demure was completely gone, replaced by that of a deranged and crazed mental asylum patient with the power of a Primordial Demon.
The crimson eyes of the White Primordial shone a sheen of madness as they reflected the fire raging around the forest. Kathy let out an audible gulp as she's never seen Blanc like this before.
Instead of holding back like before, Testarossa let out a delirious laugh as she threw more streams of hellfire at Kathy, who was now struggling to defend herself.
Jeanne could do nothing but helplessly watch on as Testarossa pressed her advantage more and more, closing in on Kathy, the one who she promised to protect.
Looking down at her chained body, Jeanne struggled uselessly against her current predicament. Her strength and magicule have finally regenerated enough that the chain's fire is no longer burning her.
Pulling on her chains with all of her current might, Jeanne realized it'll take another few minutes for her to recover enough to fully break it.
Damn it, using a bit of the regenerated magicule, Jeanne tried sending a message to anyone in Tempest, only to get no response.
"AAAAAHH!"
Kathy's scream jerked Jeanne out of her mind. There was a small crushing feeling inside the Demon Peer's chest.
A flood of hellfire finally broke through Kathy's defenses and burned her arms. As a spiritual being, any damage to her spirit will be reflected upon their body.
Ironically enough, hellfire can barely affect fully material existences like humans since their souls are buried deep inside their bodies. In fact, normal matter is like the antithesis of hellfire as they extinguish the flames. That's why hellfire is so rarely seen outside of the Spirit World, it's like trying to use a flamethrower underwater.
But somehow Testarossa was still able to use it. She was covered head to toe in it and she wasn't even hurt.
"Hahahahaha! I will make sure you experience every bit of pain I had experienced from your fucking poison! And once you're withering on the ground like a worm, only then will I grant you the sweet release of death. I know, I am merciful."
It doesn't seem like Kathy is able to hold on much longer, she had already used her trump card in the form of [Ultimate Poison] and is now just desperately shooting out all kinds of poison in the form of phantom snakes with normal snake heads at a slowly approaching the burning Testarossa who is just taking her time toying with her fellow Primordial. Kathy wasn't able to use any of the more destructive magic since, at the moment, Jeanne is probably only as strong as an A+ rank human.
It was almost jarring to see, that every time a snake bites at Testarossa's form it leaves a mark, but moments later that mark is burned away with hellfire, leaving untouched skin underneath. Not to mention how the head of the snake would also catch on fire, forcing Kathy to dispel it lest the hellfire moves down the body and reach its owner like an explosive fuse.
A thought crosses Jeanne's mind as she continuously pulls at the chains, her normally perfectly smooth skin showing scars and lacerations from the scratches that the metal links had caused due to the excessive pulling. Somehow, Testarossa is able to manipulate hellfire to burn away the poisoned part of her spirit before regenerating it. It was such a stupid thought that wasn't even worth finishing since it's so counterintuitive.
Blood started pooling around where Jeanne had kneed as the weaken Primordial literally destroyed her muscle and ripped her tendons trying to pull to remove it. The pain is nothing compared to if a promise she had made were to be broken.
Still, the damnable thing kept Jeanne trapped on the spot, making her into dead weight. Any attempt at escape is impossible if Jeanne is trapped, calling for help also won't work because of the field.
The irony wasn't lost on Jeanne. Usually, it would be other people who are taken as hostages, not a fucking Primordial Demon.
With another swing of her arm, Testarossa releases a veritable wall of hellfire, so wide was it that Kathy is forced to blunt it head-on.
"[Frozen Hell]"
Hellfire consumed Kathy's form while at the same time, ice erupted. At the same moment, the crushing feeling inside her chest spiked so much it caused Jeanne to pull so hard that the bones in her hand broke, and the sleeves, the skin, and bits of the muscle on her arms were painfully torn off like the skin of a banana so they could finally be free.
The pain was secondary to the thought that the one thing she held sacred would be gone.
Clutching the chain that coiled around Jeanne's neck connecting her to the ground, blood dripping down her arms, the Yellow Primordial could not help but continuously watch with a perpetual crushing feeling of helplessness inside her stomach.
Third-degree burns completely covered Kathy's form, her clothes were mostly gone if not blackened, and her left eye was closed probably blinded as well. The demon was breathing heavily, her movements were sluggish.
Due to her panicked state, it was only now that Jeanne tried to materialize her only functional Conversion Gauntlet, the one on her left hand. The gauntlet also allowed her to use her broken hand again, acting as a makeshift cast. Tilting her body to the left side so it wouldn't be caught in the explosion, the Yellow Primordial could only convert micrograms of antimatter with the pitiful amount of magicules in her reserve.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Gritting her teeth, Jeanne saw no other options and clamp down with her gauntlet hand upon the chain and started chipping away with it, focusing on one of the links and steadily blasting away. Frustration was clear on her features as her mind recall a specific phrase Scientia had once used which could describe her current situation: first-world problems.
Jeanne was so used to magic and magicules that without it she started fumbling about like a fish out of water. Yet so many humans live their lives rarely interacting with magic.
Taking a glimpse at the battle, Jeanne saw Testarossa's confident advance toward the panting Purple Primordial, exhibiting just how little of a threat Kathy truly was.
"[Poison Cannon]" In response to the advance, Kathy raised the arm least burnt by the hellfire and unleashed another attack.
The stream of poison deadly enough to corrode away an entire arm was merely vaporized before any droplet could even touch Testarossa's skin.
*Tang*
At the same time that was happening, Jeanne finally managed to blow away one of the metal links which made up the chain, finally allowing her to straighten her back. All that remained were the ones connected to her legs.
Without thinking it twice, Jeanne placed her gauntlet next to one of the chains that bind her leg and fired—
"—URA—aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhrrrrgh———"
The pain was blindingly intense, as she was literally detonating the equivalent of many kilograms worth of TNT at point-blank range. Jeanne squeezed her eyes shut and had to bite down so hard that her teeth almost fractured in order to stop herself from screaming too loud.
She did not think this through.
Opening her eyes once again, Jeanne found herself crying due to the pain.
She, a Primordial Demon, crying?
How pathetic.
Looking back at the fight and seeing how Testarossa is doing nothing but steadily approaching Kathy like death steadily approaching a human, none of the Purple Primordial's attacks seemed to even faze the Devil Lord.
Damn it.
Quickly, Jeanne removed her tie, balled it up, and bit into it.
Taking several deep breaths, the Primordial reassured herself that these wounds are just temporary and that she's experienced much worse pain than this, like 400 years ago.
She purposefully neglected to remind herself that the pain during that time was blunted due to the heat of the battle.
She only needs to break the first loop.
Carefully lining up her shot at an angle parallel to her legs so any excess explosion would hit the other links in the chain, Jeanne fired—
"——————————MFFFFFFFFFFFF———"
Toes curling inward, teeth coming together, head smashing into the ground, Jeanne screamed into her tie.
"FFFFFFFFFFFFF——————fuuuuuuuuuuuck."
The sound of fighting between Kathy and Testarossa was drowned out by the boiling pain Jeanne was in.
For some reason, as Jeanne lay there, her mind looked back on the times she blasted El Dorado with nuclear magic for funsies. Just how many humans had to experience what she's going through because they were trapped by falling rubble and help is too far away?
That thought brought out long-buried memories.
'Forgive God.'
Moving her leg, the chains fell right off like a snake whose head has been severed.
The blast had cauterized the wound, so no additional blood had been spilled.
One more.
Getting up, Jeanne's legs felt especially wobbly before applying basic healing magic and removing most of the cauterized wound, smoothing out her legs.
That was painful.
Feeling much more of her magicule return, Jeanne estimates she's probably about as strong as Rubedo around now.
Taking several deep breaths, Jeanne silently cursed her nature as a spiritual lifeform since she couldn't just blot out her pain receptors using some mental magic.
Biting into her tie once again, the Primordial Demon squeezed her eyes shut and readied herself before pulling the metaphorical trigger—
*Splurt*
"AAAaaaaaaaahhh..."
That wasn't her.
That scream didn't belong to her.
Jeanne prayed, for the first time in her memory, she prayed to a nonexistent higher power that wasn't who she thinks it is.
Because if it really happened, it would mean the last tether she had to a meaningful life would be gone, and the last thing she truly cherishes would be gone.
'Forgive God.'
But deep down, her mind already knew and was just trying to deny reality.
Looking over to where the sound originated, Jeanne found an impossible sight, something that really shouldn't have existed: Testarossa standing over Kathy, her right arm through her chest, the blood-soaked hand clutching not the core, but the Purple Primordial's Conceptual Core, the center of an immortal spirit's Nucleic Heart.
"[White Flare]"