Bab 73: I’ve achieved my goal. It’s good.
As it turned out, Stelcis was not dead. Her silvery hair was fluttering around and each strand moved in a strange way as if it had a will of its own. She crouched down, protected by the fluctuation of her "hair".
However, she was not entirely unharmed and could not seem to stand up. The direct impact of the blast and the sound of the explosion had inflicted damage on her ears. Her semicircular canals had gone haywire, and her vision was spinning and she couldn't move.
While gnashing her teeth, Stelcis directed her eyes, hazy from the impact towards Iberis. In the next instant, the Bandersnatch grew out of Iberis' legs at an unseen rate, creeping along the ground and charging at her. Stelcis' hair shifted to defend her, and both collided, emitting a high-pitched screeching sound.
There were enough sparks to send the area into a bright red. Iberis gritted her teeth as she stomped her bare feet on the ground.
Strong… such amazing power. What the hell is this…
She clucked her tongue in her mind. Even though she ought to have received a considerable amount of pain, the power of the Bandersnatch of Stelcis was still intense.
It was evidently much "sharper" than Iberis'. At the same time, Iberis' non-existent legs were in severe agony.
"Gu…!"
Iberis staggered, grunting in a low voice. That slight slip was the decisive factor. The Bandersnatch of her opponent did not miss it and stormed at Iberis at high speed like a machine gun.
The explosion was deafening, followed by sparks. As if protecting Iberis, her Bandersnatch had formed a round membrane, yet each time an attack pierced it… a scream gushed out.
"It's going to break…!"
Raffi went pale and raised his voice. Iberis was holding her ground, but she was gradually being pushed back.
At the next moment, Stelcis' hair spread wide. Then it extended long into the air, and from an oblique angle along with Iberis, it began to engulf and obliterate the surrounding buildings and even the roads.
As the debris around her scattered, Iberis was forced to lose her stance. Then a spark ignited a neighboring gas pipe. By the time she realized it, it had been too late.
Iberis and Raffi were blasted sideways by the flames. In what appeared to be a reflex, Iberis' Bandersnatch widened, shielding her body from the blast. Then Stelcis' weapon cleaved her right hand.
◇
Iberis tumbled to the ground with a strange thud. Raffi was slammed to the ground as well and his vision became hazy as he looked around. He had no idea what had happened.
He couldn't even determine if they were blown away by Stelcis' attack or something else… But the only thing that caught his eyes was; Iberis was trying to get up, holding her right shoulder with her left hand and clenching her teeth to the point of breaking.
"… Iberis…?" He muttered in disbelief, then turned blue and yelled aloud. "Iberis! You have to stop the bleeding!"
Her right arm was absent from her shoulder cuff. As if it had been severed with some kind of acute blade, it was split clean in half. On the ground, what had belonged to Iberis until a moment ago was lying as a wretched "thing".
Like a fountain, blood was surging out of her right shoulder. Perhaps agitated, Iberis managed to suppress it with her left hand, then gritted her teeth and managed to focus her attention. The Bandersnatch moved a beat later and clung to the missing part of her right arm. With a gruesome groan, probably from the tightening of the wound, Iberis tried to stand up, but failed and crumpled to the ground.
"Ah… Ah… Ga…"
She seemed to be unable to produce any words. Her body shuddered and she clawed at the ground with her remaining left hand. The Bandersnatch on her both feet were flickering white.
–It was disappearing.
Realizing this fact, Raffi let out a yell.
"Concentrate, Iberis! If you pass out now, you're bound to lose!"
"I… understand…"
Iberis clenched her teeth together and planted her claws on the rubble. Then she glared ahead with bloodshot eyes.
At her line of sight, Stelcis was crouched down as well, pressing her side. Her white clothes were slowly being stained with blood.
At last, the men and women of Stelcis' group rushed in, with large stun guns in their hands. They lined up a little further away and aimed their muzzle at Iberis and Raffi. Stelcis snickered and laughed, sweating profusely on her forehead.
"… It's my win… isn't it? How foolish of you to try to fight me at point-blank…"
"…"
Looking at Iberis' arm, which was wincing in pain, she continued to look at her side. It seemed to have been gouged quite deeply.
"I didn't expect you to abandon yourself the moment you decided you couldn't defend against… my Bandersnatch and send your thing flying."
"I didn't expect you to abandon yourself the moment you decided you couldn't defend against… my Bandersnatch and send your thing flying."
While both sides seemed unable to move, Stelcis' followers were inching closer, guns at the ready.
"… Win…? I haven't lost yet…"
When Iberis retorted, Stelcis scoffed.
"What are you going to do with those deep wounds? You can't even move from the pain, can you?"
"…"
"Besides, the odds are against you from the start, in all likelihood."
Clearing her throat and affirming, Stelcis stood up, supported by the man who had approached her. With a hand, she restrained the wound that was running down her side.
"Mock, may I…?"
When she said this, the space beside Stelcis instantly shook like the surface of the water. Then, out of the empty space, Mock Turtle suddenly appeared and stomped on the ground. The Nightmare cast a glance at Iberis and Raffi as if she was looking at garbage, and then faced Stelcis.
"… You've gone on quite a rampage, haven't you?"
"I've achieved my goal. It's good."
Saying that, the Mock Turtle put her hand on the side of Stelcis. The blood ceased to flow as swiftly as it had, and Stelcis' pale complexion returned to normal.
"… What the heck…?" Raffi muttered softly. The ability of the Mock Turtle was supposed to be "concealment of things". However, even just now, it seemed to have appeared from an empty space.
"Don't tell me… you have a composite Seventh?"
If the Mock Turtle has more than one ability, we may have been mistaken from the start.
"… Oh? Didn't expect that, did you?" Stelcis gave a small chuckle and brushed the dust off her clothes. Then she continued, fluttering her tattered rags in the wind. "What makes you think we're going to reveal our abilities to you if we don't know you well?"
"…"
Iberis salivated, gritting her teeth.
"You can't win, though you did a fantastic job of seeing that your central system was already 'dead', did you understand? You have no chance of winning." Stelcis laughed, her glowing red eyes narrowing. "Now… please give up quickly and be killed."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone