Maiden’s Of The Phenex

The battlefield of Kuoh stretched into a hellish panorama skies scarred by divine and draconic power, the very air trembling beneath the weight of celestial warfare. Buildings cracked under pressure, the earth splintered from the violence above and below. Screams of supernatural beasts echoed through the city as chaos reigned.

Above them all, Riser Phenex soared like a blazing comet, locked in a brutal clash with Vritra himself.

But below, in the heart of the storm, where mortals would have fled in terror or frozen in despair, three Maiden's stood firm.

Thalia.

Artoria.

Merlin.

The first, his Bishop of thunder.

The second, his knight forged in lion hearted fire.

The third, his eternal Queen sorceress cloaked in mystery and loyalty.

They stood side by side, poised on the fractured rooftop of a collapsed school building. Around them, shadows stirred three of Vritra's eldest children, each a monstrous reflection of the great dragon's will.

These were no mere beasts. These were avatars of destruction, ancient and prideful, born in the abyss between creation and chaos.

Thalia gave a sharp exhale, spinning her lightning charged spear with a flare of bravado. "Three of them?" Her smirk widened, lightning dancing along her skin. "About damn time someone tried to make me break a sweat."

Artoria stepped forward, her sword humming with demonic energy. Her lion familiar snarled beside her, golden eyes fixed on the enemy. "Don't be reckless. These aren't the usual weaklings."

"You're always so serious," Thalia quipped.

"And you're always underestimating things," Artoria countered.

Floating just behind them, Merlin's eyes gleamed like stars. She held her staff loosely, as if this was all a formality. Her Black purple hair whipped around her as magical glyphs spun lazily through the air. "Children of Vritra," she murmured. "They are more than strong. They are born of corruption itself each one is a splinter of Vritra's consciousness."

She paused, looking up at the sky where Riser battled like a god of fire. Her voice softened. "They are pieces of the monster that dares threaten our king."

Thalia's grin faded, her expression sharpening.

Artoria's grip tightened.

Merlin's voice turned cold. "We will not allow them to touch his light."

Their foes emerged ready to corrupt

Zartryn the Venom Maw a sickly green drake with fangs dripping corrupted ether. Even the air around his mouth sizzled as the poison ate through reality.

Mouranak the Flesh Shaper a grotesque wyrm of shifting, mutating limbs, constantly reshaping into abominations of screaming mouths and gnarled claws.

Velzira the Howling Gale a dragoness wrapped in swirling black feathers, her wings blades of air, her form more storm than flesh.

They roared in tandem, the sky shuddering in response.

And the battle began.

Thalia vs. Zartryn

"I'll take the ugly lizard with the halitosis," Thalia said, stepping forward without hesitation.

Zartryn hissed and lunged with terrifying speed, fangs snapping for her throat. But Thalia vanished in a burst of lightning, reappearing beneath him with her spear angled upward.

CRACK

A thunderous boom echoed as her spear shot through his chest like a divine lance, arcs of electricity tearing into his organs.

Zartryn shrieked, flailing as corrupted venom sprayed wildly.

"You call that a scream?" Thalia taunted, flipping onto a nearby rooftop. "My morning alarm's scarier."

Zartryn opened his jaws, spewing a fog of burning venom that turned buildings into sludge. Thalia's eyes narrowed then she jumped high, her hawk familiar screeching above her.

Together, they formed a spiral of pure lightning.

"Judgment Surge!" she shouted, hurling her spear.

The weapon became a bolt of divine retribution, crashing into Zartryn's face. The drake slammed into the ground, shaking the battlefield.

"Lightning," Thalia said, landing beside the crater, "is faster than your rotting ass."

Artoria vs. Mouranak

Meanwhile, Artoria faced a nightmare made flesh. Mouranak slithered across the broken cityscape, his body a grotesque ocean of eyes and limbs.

Her lion growled, leaping forward to tear into one of Mouranak's many arms. It ripped clean off only for another to sprout in its place.

"So you can regenerate," Artoria muttered. "No wonder you're cocky."

The beast surged toward her, shifting into a wall of writhing flesh. Artoria met him head on, her blade glowing with darkness.

"For Riser," she whispered, then roared, "I will not yield!"

She charged, her sword cleaving through limb after limb. Blood not red but a nauseating black splattered the earth. Mouranak countered with tendrils that whipped through buildings and sent stone flying.

But Artoria didn't falter.

Blow after blow, she pressed on. Her lion joined her in perfect sync, biting through limbs as she carved a path straight through the monster's core.

"You think chaos is strength?" she cried, her voice rising above the destruction. "I've seen strength! I've served it!"

She spun, delivering a divine slash that tore Mouranak's upper body clean in half. The beast roared, writhing to reform.

"You want to know true power?" Artoria raised her blade skyward. "Try standing beside a Phenex."

EXCALIBUR MORGAN

Bringing the sword down with divine judgment, engulfing Mouranak's entire body.

Merlin vs. Velzira

Above the battlefield, a dance of wind and magic unfolded.

Velzira shrieked, her wings generating sonic blades that shredded the sky. Waves of cutting air struck Merlin's barrier, causing it to shimmer under the pressure.

But Merlin remained calm.

"You're like a hurricane with no eyes," she said softly. "Violent and directionless."

Velzira howled and dove. But Merlin was already moving vanishing in a blur of mist, reappearing above with a conjured circle of stars.

"Twelve Spears of the Celestial void" she chanted. "Fall."

From the heavens, lances descended like judgment. Velzira screamed as several tore into her wings, blood raining in droplets.

"You're not a true dragon," Merlin continued, her voice colder now. "You're just a wind given shape by madness."

Velzira twisted to counter, but Merlin raised her hands and the air froze.

"Celestial Seal," she whispered.

Dozens of magical chains erupted, binding Velzira in place, pinning her mid air as her wings spasmed.

"You thought you were fast," Merlin said, descending slowly. "But I control time itself."

A rune appeared in her palm. "Void Compression."

With a flick of her finger, a condensed sphere of annihilation struck Velzira's chest silencing her roar as she was blasted back into the mountainside.

Smoke still lingered as the three women regrouped atop the highest rooftop, the wind carrying dust and the smell of burnt blood. Around them, Two dragons lay broken, defeated, and howling their last breath. The one Artoria faced completely disappeared after her final attack.

Thalia panting, but grinning. "I give that freak a six outta ten. Sparks were flying, but the chemistry was off."

Artoria leaned her sword against her shoulder. "You're insufferable when you're pleased with yourself."

"I'm always pleased with myself."

Merlin floated down last, silent for a moment before whispering, "They were strong. But they lacked heart."

There was a long pause between them. Then Thalia spoke, quieter this time.

"You think he's okay? Riser?"

Artoria's eyes turned to the heavens. "He's up there. Burning like the sun."

"He better be," Merlin said with a soft smile. "We did this for him."

The three women looked at each other. Different in so many ways but united in one truth.

He was their reason.

Their fire.

Their king.

They turned toward the broken battlefield where the dragons roared one last time.

And together, without hesitation, they struck.

A bolt of lightning that cracked the sky.

A lion's roar that shook the mountains.

A spell of burning light that erased darkness itself.

The dragons were gone.

And on there side silence claimed the city once more.

Standing above the battlefield, the three women stood tall, unbroken.

Their eyes turned once more to the heavens.

"For Riser," they said in unison.

No gods, no dragons, no chaos would take him from them.

Not while they still drew breath.