Vale had really hoped the shield would end this battle with ease, as it had almost been responsible for Salome's defeat.

Sadly, Vale didn't know how to control the thing, if controlling it was even possible.

He'd started to hurt Awilix more than Ophelia, so he had to turn it off and decided to abandon it.

It's not like they'd get no gain or advantage if he kept using it, but he felt he'd have a bigger impact in the battle by joining the fray directly.

Vale drew his whip and sent a lash at Ophelia.

In response, a tower shield sprang from her arm and covered her form.

The razors at the tip of the whip bit into the viny shield, but barely put a scratch on it.

'How'd she get so strong so quick?!'

Well, Vale knew that one…

She'd amassed her power in a matter of days, as she'd had the entire village cull monsters of the forest and feed her Aether — enough to saturate her Aether Core.

Thankfully, she'd yet to reach the Emergent state, or Vale would be screwed right about now.

Vale drew his whip and sent another lash at Ophelia to keep her hidden behind the shield.

At the same time, Awilix charged on all fours from the side, her iron nails glistening upon reflecting light.

Ophelia spawned a second shield from her wrist and held it up to block Awilix's slash.

But Awilix's claws rended through the shield and bit into the tall woman's arm.

"Argh!"

Ophelia rolled back and away from Awilix, which also meant into the open, allowing no protection from Vale.

Vale cracked his whip again, this time the razor tip opening a gash on Ophelia's thigh.

Awilix continued pressing the attack, pouncing on Ophelia.

Ophelia stood and stomped on the ground. A column of intersecting roses shot into Awilix and pushed her back, while another wall appeared, blocking Vale's view of her.

'Her Aether…'

Vale wasn't the best at sensing Aether, especially when not in a serene state of mind, but he'd been able to tell that producing such an effect wasn't a minor strain, no.

To produce a wall of thorns or a gigantic rose, Ophelia needed to expend a vast amount of Aether.

Not only that, but Vale had been able to tell that the girl wasn't even at full capacity to start the fight.

'She's emotional…'

Ophelia was powerful, but she was weak.

She'd never fought in a battle that pushed her to her brink.

She'd never fought until the last drip of Aether drained from her body.

Vale would make her face the consequences of her callowness.

Vale cast his whip to the side and began trekking around the wall she'd built while sharpening his claws via shapeshifting.

It was time to spout some cheesy villain lines. Get her riled up even more.

"Laertes… did you really care about him if you left his corpse behind like that?"

Ophelia stared at Vale, armed with a green sword and red shield, and injuries healed.

Her fury was palpable.

Vale laughed as their eyes met.

"Seriously, did you think you were doing something grand by taunting us with the corpse of a man we killed? Kind of nonsensical if you ask me."

Ophelia began marching toward Vale, dragging the tip of her vine-crafted jian on the ground behind her.

"Shut up."

Vale laughed, the pink aura of his eyes flaring.

"If you cared so much about him… why not give him a proper burial? Why give him back to us, knowing we were just going to toss him away and desecrate his corpse further?"

Ophelia screamed as she jumped in the air, her jian raised.

"Shut up, filth!"

Vale smiled as he watched Awilix barrel into Ophelia from the side. The two women sent rolling to the floor in a grappling match.

'Worked better than expected…'

Vale charged after the two, and as Awilix got launched away by a column of roses after getting a good swipe at her face

As Awilix flew by Vale, Vale launched himself down at the rose-themed woman and cast a nasty gash on her right shoulder.

Ophelia screamed at Vale as she warded him away with the jian.

"Filth!"

Vale jumped back and took notice of the blood dripping down Ophelia's arm and face, only for the nasty gashes to repair themselves with a slight green glowing effect a moment later.

Vale remarked upon the sight:

"If you were this strong, why did you let your brother die in the first place?"

Vale had already heard from Mias that she'd only gotten her power after her brother's death. He'd also learned of her partial responsibility for his death.

Ophelia's rage flared:

"He wouldn't have to die if it weren't for you!"

Vale laughed:

"Were you not the one who messed with the ballot? Did he not take the fall for your mistakes?"

Ophelia's glare shot back at Mias, who shrugged with an amused grin, then he said:

"He asked me to tell him about you. I couldn't lie, else he'd figure out my plot."

Ophelia turned around to face Vale just in time to see both of her foes reeling back their claws and sending a devastating cross swipe her way.

It was at that moment that something flipped in her mind.

As if her sanity decided to take a nice vacation.

Instead of going on the defensive, Ophelia transformed the shield on her left hand into a dagger and swung the jian in her right at Vale.

Already too far to back out, Vale did his best he could to direct the blow into his shoulder while dishing out a much more damning attack, shoving his claws into her gut.

Awilix held up one claw to catch the stiletto, which rammed through her palm, but in return, she was able to nearly separate Ophelia's left arm at the bicep.

Ophelia, with blood pouring out of her mouth, Vale's fist in her gut, her left arm dangling by the nerves and muscle fibers, smiled.

She gave her enemies a bloody smile as her body began to heal, the reforming organs and muscles trapping Vale's arm.

'T-this is inane!'

Awilix was also held still as the stiletto had transformed, trapping her hand in a green cage.

Vale was able to shrink his hand and tear it free, but Awilix was nowhere near as lucky.

With wide eyes and her bloody grin, Ophelia dropped her jian and drew a dagger from her right hand.

While still holding Awilix with her left, she began stabbing into the cat's stomach repeatedly.

"Ack!"

Awilix screeched as the blade slipped in and out of her intestines, but by the fourth stab, she managed to grab Ophelia's right wrist.

Vale, who'd been stumbling back during this exchange after ripping his arm out, lunged back to try and save Awilix.

He'd been swiping at Ophelia's neck, ready to finally end it all, when he saw a red spike growing from her stomach, aimed at Awilix's.

'Shit'

Vale barely managed to dive into the two in time and catch the rose spike as it formed.

Ophelia's wicked glare spun to Vale.

Vale began to bring his left claw down on Ophelia's neck, but a viny helmet sprang from her body, covering her head and connecting to the rest of her armor.

Vale's claw bounced off, but he immediately reformed his hand into a mallet and began clobbering Ophelia over the head.

Finally, the psycho showed some response as she began to wobble around, and blood spurted through the gaps in her rose armor.

Yet, alongside the blood, a green glow showed she was constantly healing any damage she received.

Awilix coughed up blood as she jumped and kicked at Ophelia.

The cat tried to scream out, curse, but she was much too weak with blood pouring out of her form.

Vale wound his left arm back, still holding the spike with his right, and brought down the most devastating slam he could upon the tip of her helm.

At last, Ophelia staggered and lost her hold on Awilix, the prison becoming undone.

Awilix stumbled back and fell to the ground as Vale stood over Ophelia, raised his foot, and stomped on her chest.

Ophelia coughed, and a fountain of blood shot up.

'Finally…'

Yet no green glow with it. Her Aether Reserves seemed to have finally reached their end.

But as Vale lifted his leg again, perhaps to deal the finishing blow, he noticed Mias move out of the corner of his eyes.

Vale barely reached in time, changing his right forearm into a fleshy shield as a smoky sickle scraped along his hardened arm.

"Mias! What do you think you're doing?!"

Vale looked down at the tiny smoke Demon who positioned himself between Vale and Ophelia.

The Reaper of Knowledge smiled back and calmly said:

"I told you, didn't I. This girl is much too fascinating for me to…"

A slight shock appeared on the boy's face.

"Ohhhhh… fascinating. I keep saying fascinating."

Vale swung at Mias, despite knowing the futility of such an attack.

Mias, not wanting to let the attack pass through him and hit Ophelia, formed a solid wall of smoke and shoved Vale away.

As Vale fell back, Mias crouched, took Ophelia in his arms, and turned away.

"Well, I'll be off then. Good luck, Vale. I don't know if we'll ever see each other again. But don't die. My life depends on it."

Vale screamed as Mias began walking away.

"Bastard!"

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