Alicia Chapter 14.3: Adventures in Manegia - Conflict
H̴̻̫́Õ̵̗̦̻̋͐W̴̙͉͗͛̕͘L̸̡̹͉̐͑̇͛
Get ready. (Haruto)
Blobs of maneg of all Elements was excreted from the wolf's body, it numbered thirty. It fell to the ground like a water balloon.
41.92% integrity left.
Then, the blobs of maneg rise up forming smaller wolves. Twenty of them sprout wings on their back and flew.
So ten for each of us?
It seems so, kill them quickly, they are simply distracting us while the bigger one tries to recover. (Haruto)
I'll keep pressuring the Maneg Amalgamation. (Owen)
Please do. (Haruto)
Hey, are there any mini-wolves for Emile!?
I do not think it even recognizes his existence...
Poor guy...!
They're coming. (Haruto)
Ten wolves are rushing after her. Two wolves, of a mixture of ice and nature maneg, and of a mixture of water and death maneg shot a ball of maneg from their mouths.
Alicia responded with a [Barrier] on the more maneg-dense side so as to not break, thus damaging her instead.
BOOM
BOOM
Loyal maneg, return.
Alicia, try that Order!
Another carving of her Catalyst shined red. From the battery, fire maneg rose up, covering the longer side of the baton and upward until it was twice the length, converging at the tip.
CRACKLE CRACKLE
It had become a sword of a fiery blaze, with fire maneg stored within the Catalyst as the blade.
We got thirty seconds, beat them up!
I hope this works. I only had a week and a half worth of sword training...
Alicia readied the crackling blade, with a ninety percent efficiency on the Catalyst, the Order would only last for half a minute. She will need to defeat all ten wolves within that time frame.
Thirty.
She launched herself towards them.
Twenty-nine.
A wolf of ice and nature maneg howled at her and jumped.
Twenty-eight.
The blade met the torso of the wolf.
Twenty-seven.
Alicia brought the wolf down. It was not dead, however.
Twenty-six.
A wolf of ice and death maneg lunged at her while she was occupied with the other wolf.
Twenty-five.
"I'll take care of it!"
Emile rushed in front of her and slashed the wolf. It disintegrated in a single swing.
Nine wolves remain.
Twenty-four.
Alicia pulled her Catalyst out of the wolf's torso. The wolf tried to scratch her but was out of reach.
Emile slashed the air which formed a crescent that flew towards a wolf of nature and ice maneg.
Twenty-three.
Alicia swung her sword twice towards the wolf during the second.
The crescent of fire sliced the wolf in two and disappeared afterwards.
Eight wolves remain.
Twenty-two.
Alicia stabbed the neck of the Maneg Beast's spawn, killing it.
Emile blocked a bite from a wolf of light and lightning maneg but let another wolf of water and earth maneg towards the Fire Court Wizard.
Seven wolves remain.
Twenty-one.
[Fireball] 30 cm diameter.
Emile kicked the wolf off of his sword.
Twenty.
The wolf of water and earth maneg sidestepped the incoming [Fireball] and pushed forward.
Emile slashed the wolf while it was down.
Six wolves remain.
Nineteen.
The wolf of water and earth lunged at Alicia. Alicia prepared her Catalyst.
Another wolf of life and air shot a ball of maneg towards Emile.
Eighteen.
Alicia batted the wolf to the side. The wolf tumbled to the side.
Emile activated an Order on the carving of the blade which was a [Barrier].
Seventeen.
Alicia rushed to the downed wolf with her sword ready.
The ball of life and air maneg crashed against the [Barrier] Emile erected.
Sixteen.
Alicia stabbed the torso of the wolf and pulled it out. The wolf was not dead.
Emile came face to face with the wolf who jumped at him with its sharp claws.
Fifteen.
Alicia stabbed the wolf again, this time on the head. It was dead.
Emile thrust his sword to the chest of the wolf. The wolf was dangling in the air.
Five wolves remain.
Fourteen.
Alicia began to rush to the eye-patched hunter's side.
Emile threw the wolf to the ground. The wolf howled as it dies.
Four wolves remain.
Thirteen.
Alicia and Emile dashed to the next wolves.
Twelve.
Alicia caught up to Emile as two wolves, of death and light, and of lightning and fire are approaching them.
Eleven.
They met the wolves.
Ten.
Alicia thrust the torso of the wolf of death and light as it jumped.
Emile slashed the other by the stomach in half.
Three wolves remain.
Nine.
Alicia threw the wolf down and pulled her Catalyst off of it.
A wolf of fire and nature jumped behind the disintegrated wolf of lightning and fire.
Eight.
Watch out!
Stabbed the wolf but it was still alive. The wolf howled as a ball of maneg materialized.
Emile made an opposite swing towards the wolf trying to surprise him. It too suffered the same fate.
Two wolves remain.
Seven.
Alicia barely dodged the wolf's attack at the warning of Voice, it grazed her hair a bit. She felled to the ground.
One final wolf of water, fire, and nature howled as it charged towards Emile. This must be the alpha.
Six.
The wolf opened its fangs in which chewed Alicia's fiery Catalyst which burned it.
Emile stood his ground against the wolf which would have been a B+ rank.
Five.
Alicia wrestled the wolf to the side, pinning it down.
Another carving lit up and Emile's Catalyst was bathed in fire.
Four.
Alicia pressed down her sword against the wolf. The wolf howled in pain, if it could feel it anyway.
Emile swung upwards and a fire crescent flew towards the alpha wolf.
Three.
"Ah!"
Alicia!
Alicia continued to press down the wolf as it tried the scratch her in which it succeeded in doing so. It scratched her left cheek. She backed away as blood fell from her cheek, relieving the wolf.
The fiery crescent had missed its target as the wolf ducked under it. However, Emile took the opportunity to jump at it.
Two.
Don't let go!
The wolf then dug its claws on Alicia's hands holding down the sword against it. She lost her grip on the Catalyst and fell on her butt.
Emile flipped his sword upside-down as he came crashing down on the alpha wolf.
One.
The wolf tossed the Catalyst to the side and lunged at Alicia.
The alpha wolf's head was met with a burning blade that melted its skull if it had one.
One wolf remained.
Zero.
Watch out!
The Order on the Catalyst expired, not that it would help its wielder in this situation anymore. The one last wolf opened its jaw to the defenseless neck of the girl clad in a red hood. Emile rushed to help her, but he could not make it in time.
"Agh!"
It dug its fang deeply to Alicia's right arm which she lifted instinctively. There was not enough time to give an Order. It also pressed down her left arm with its claws. She felt a pain greater than what she had experienced before. That's not all, the wolf injected death and light maneg, increasing the damage.
"Ahh!"
Although it was only a few seconds, it felt long for her. A very long and torturous pain.
Claws and fangs tearing her flesh. Light maneg burning in high intensity like Haruto's [Beam].Death maneg killing her cells but somehow spared the nerves.
If her emotions weren't suppressed, she would have felt fear, but...
Am I going to die?
A̴m̷ ̶I̵ ̸g̸o̶i̶n̷g̶ ̵t̵o̸ ̷d̶i̸e̵?̷
A̴͙̍͗m̶̰̱̓ ̸͍̓̀Ỉ̶͖͠ ̵̡̊͘g̷̗͗ō̷̯͗i̵͕͛ͅn̴̤̔g̵̦̊ ̴͎̝̈t̸͓͌̎o̶̪͠ ̵͉͈̀̅d̷̨̼͠í̴͈̼͛ē̴̮͉?̴̺͗͠
For the first time, her Maneg Soul could not hold back her fear.
Actually, she did not just felt fear. There was something else that she felt, and it was familiar. She had felt it before, but where?
Well, it doesn't matter as she was going to-
"GET AWAY FROM MY MASTER!"
Voice?
Although still in her head, she could hear it outside. Emile seemed to be staggered by that shout. Voice had just suddenly roared.
It was a familiar voice, where had she heard it?
Oh, that's right, it was the same voice as the day when she awoke to her Maneg Soul. Back then, it was the pixie's voice calling her in the brink of helplessness, when she watched her friend almost died saving her. It was also the same familiar feeling she just felt besides fear.
But this voice was not the same as that time. It was aggressive, very aggressive. Not the cool angelic-like voice nor the cheery/obnoxious tone, just pure aggression.
It was as if a switch had been flipped on the little pixie in the sense of her master's life being threatened.
BOOM
WHIMPER
Her arm had burst fire. The wolf that was biting her arm had taken the full brunt of it. The resulting fire had destroyed the wolf's grip and was knocked away to the ground.
Voice had taken control and directed her loyal maneg towards her arm. She had then ordered the loyal maneg to explode around her arm to drive out the assailant.
"DIE!"
KABOOM
The fire loyal maneg from her arm shot out to the wolf, creating an explosion. The wolf disintegrated completely under the blazing fire. It was very bright.
Zero wolves remain.
Alicia felt 20 percent of her loyal maneg was being directed. Now that was an insane amount of loyal maneg used. By context:
[Fireball] only took 0.1 percent.
[Barrier] only took 1 percent.
[Burning Fist] only took a minimum of 1 percent of activation and from it, expends 0.05 percent per hit, making 20 hits.
Voice had at the very least, used 20 times more loyal maneg than Alicia usually uses. It was not 5 percent like what Voice was told to limit.
"Whoa!"
From the deceased wolf whose corpse no longer exist, the fire rose and sought its next threat that could endanger its master, the eye-patched man with a sword gasping in awe.
"GET AWAY!"
"Crap!"
Fire loyal maneg tried to crash into Emile, but he manages to evade it. But it stopped in its tracks and moved backwards as if it were a homing projectile.
"Voice, stop it!" Alicia screamed.
Voice did not listen and Emile barely rolled out of the way, sheathing his sword and put a distance between him and Alicia. Voice, however still directed her loyal maneg after him.
Her loyal maneg relentlessly chased after Emile, who was panting evading the mass of fire. Alicia tried to tell Voice to stop, but she wouldn't listen.
The pixie was getting annoyed with Emile's dodging as more loyal maneg was released from Alicia and-
"Maneg Soul of Alicia Bell, your master is no longer in danger, cease your defense!"
And every loyal maneg stopped in its track, just as Emile was about to be hit. He sighed in relief.
WHOOSH
That came from Owen who had landed near Alicia.
Slowly, her loyal maneg returned to its master. Also, Voice materialized herself.
"Alicia, I-"
"Not now Voice, give me your hand, Alicia." Owen interrupted. "Voice, don't block it."
"Okay..." Voice said.
Slowly, her bloody arm that was bitten was covered with layer upon layer of ice gradually forming. It was cold, but it did not remove the pain which she was getting numb to. Owen also covered her left shoulder as well.
His face is close to me, wait, why am I asking that!?
"There, it should at least stop blood loss," Owen said. "Thank goodness your okay."
"Voice, what just happen?" Alicia asked, looking at Owen. "Owen, you are hurt!"
Upon a better look, Owen fared much worse than her. His attire was in shambles: one part was burned; another part was torn; the hood looked dissolved. She could see several parts of his skin, covered in ice. He must have been hit by the Maneg Beast.
"I'm fine."
"No, you are not!"
"I said I'm fine."
"Owen, I-"
H̴̻̫́Õ̵̗̦̻̋͐W̴̙͉͗͛̕͘L̸̡̹͉̐͑̇͛
The Maneg Beast howled. It was now about a quarter of its original size. Owen and Haruto made a good job whittling it down, the latter which is still in the air.
27.32% integrity left.
"We'll talk about it later, once this is over and your arm healed. Voice, go back to Alicia."
Owen looked at Haruto, probably giving [Telepathy].
Haruto launched himself high in the air and looked down on the Maneg Beast. Then, he pointed his arm in its direction.
But nothing happened.
H̴̻̫́Õ̵̗̦̻̋͐W̴̙͉͗͛̕͘L̸̡̹͉̐͑̇͛
But it showed otherwise.
CRACKLE CRACKLE
The sound of burns was heard, but there was no fire. The Maneg Beast was burning, but no flames are in sight of it.
Whatever it was had caused the wolf to shrink further in size.
23.42% integrity left.
20% integrity left.
14.83% integrity left.
10.1% integrity left.
And then as it shrunk to the tenth of its original stature, it suddenly dispersed completely.
0 integrity left.
S+ rank wolf-type Maneg Beast defeated.
"What just happened?" Alicia asked.
"Er, you know what microwaves are right?" Owen said.
"Yes, the heat from the microwaves and ovens, right?"
"Yeah, and microwaves are electromagnetic waves in the electromagnetic spectrum or stuff like that, right?"
"Um, what?"
"Eh, I don't really know."
Alicia and Owen have not learned about electromagnetic waves yet.
"Basically, Haruto ordered his light maneg to turn into microwaves and cooked that thing."
"What? Is that possible?"
"Yeah, apparently light maneg can do that."
"I see, ow!"
"Alicia, don't move too much. Come on, let's go back and heal. We'll take care of everything else afterwards."
"Right."
PIING
Haruto had landed and caught up to the two afterwards. Owen called for transport and the circle appeared beneath the Court Wizards. They disappeared fifteen seconds later.
PIING
"I got left behind!" Emile exclaimed.