Lemi was extremely skeptical about fighting such an obvious red flag.

Not only was he the First Seat, but they were currently not at full strength as a group. Jared was missing, and so were Aloe and Serah.

'We're not the ones who are meant to be handling this dude!' Her thoughts rang.

Then again, now that she was confronted with such an obvious foe—one they could not escape—the only thing she could do was plan how to fight him.. and how to win!

'This is the guy that destroyed an entire civilization without batting an eye. He'll be ready and willing to kill us at any time.' To Lemi, that meant they couldn't pull their punches.

~We're going all-out, guys! Use your Arcanas!~ Lemi found her mind connected to her other two colleagues thanks to Ciara's Mind Magic.

Since communication was scrambled, and Resonance was risky in such a situation, Ciara's ability was the perfect alternative.

It was fortunate that each of them had Arcanas;

Edward had [Justice].

Lemi had the [Wheel of Fortune].

And Ciara had [Judgement]

~I've tried trapping him in the Mind's World, but it's not working. I guess that's out of the picture~ Serah's voice echoed within the minds of the other two as she sighed.historical

It seemed she would have to make use of the other ability of her Arcana. If she coordinated it well with the attacks of the other two, then perhaps they could stand a chance. There was, however, a problem.

~We still don't know what his Arcana is!~

"Here I come." The Martial Blade God announced, taking a step forward as casually as possible.

Everyone's eyes immediately narrowed in his direction, as he instantly vanished before their thoughts could even process it.

And then—

>FWOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHH<

—The first target met her end.

"LEMIIIIII!!!" Ciara and Edward yelled, their eyes widened in shock.

Right in front of them, Lemi had been sliced into two equal pieces, courtesy of their opponent.

It didn't even take a moment before she met her end. It just.. happened.

Amid the carnage and floating entrails, the Martial Blade God stared at the other two. His unfettered gaze told them they were next.

"Hmm.. strange ho—"

>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!<

A massive explosion descended upon the Martial Blade God, covering everything around him in plumes of flame and smoke. The shockwave spread out to a wide distance, and the two who would have been caught in the blast were miraculously dragged away.

"Haa.. that was a surprise." Lemi heaved a sigh of relief.

"L-Lemi?!" Edward's eyes widened in shock.

He had just seen her get cleaved into two by their enemy. How in the world was she still fine?

"I got lucky.. I almost died, damn." Even she had a bothered expression on her face, so that meant the horror wasn't over yet—no, it was far from it.

Ciara, who was still recoiling from the shock, realized how Lemi must have used her Arcana to escape death. That was certainly a convenient ability to have, wasn't it?

"He's coming!" Edward glanced in the direction of the blast and watched how the flames and smoke parted, as a figure emerged from within.

The Martial Blade God was unscathed, as he simply held his unsheathed blade. His blue kimono contrasted with the crimson embers that glowed in the background, and his calm gaze drove fear into the hearts of those who saw him.

"Shiiit!" Ciara swiftly activated her Arcana before whatever attack could come.

>WHOOOOOSSSSHHHH!!!<

Instantly, a fortress built with golden light emerged. It covered Ciara and her comrades, and it seemed several layers thick.

"This should buy us some ti—"

>BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!<

In one clean swing, the Martial Blade God broke through her defence.

"Crap!"

Many projectiles made of golden light appeared out of thin air, each doused with immense power—Aether, of course.

She resumed her projections and created even more barriers to shroud her and her teammates.

"Guys.. going all out means going all out. This guy is dangerous!"

Edward and Lemi nodded at Ciara, swiftly connecting their Mana with the nature of their Arcanas—just as Jared had taught them.

In a flash, their bodies were transformed, and their abilities were heightened.

Be it Mage Mode, Fusion Mode, Martial State—and for Ciara, Original Magic—the group of three donned their best in order to defeat their most powerful opponent yet.

Lemi was shrouded in black and white light. Her outfit had a similar glow, and she held a wand meant to control and direct both aspects of Mana and Miasma. However, considering neither of these were useful for fighting an opponent with Aether, a new ability sprang from it.

By using her Arcana as a conduit and base, she was finally able to complete the process of combining Mana and Miasma to form something new.. and no, it wasn't Anti-Magic.

'By condensing the two to their limits and extracting the purest quality they can produce, I am left with one element. And by adding the element in combination with my Arcana, I get..'

Lemi pointed her wand at the projected wall in front of her, waiting for the appearance of her opponent. And, as expected—

>BOOOOOMMMM!!!<

—He broke through the walls with ease.

'... Aether!'

>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!<

Lemi poured out a pure beam of Aether, sending it charging at the enemy in front of her.

Space warped, and the blast definitely moved faster than light. It surged through the area in a straight line, focused only on the target.

"I think this is enough."

>SWISH<

The Martial Blade God swung his blade only once, and the wave of Aether was extinguished. In a single slash, all of that power.. was gone.

"You three.. do you really not know how to fight?" The Martial Blade God sighed as he stepped forward once more.

Lemi, Edward, and Ciara huddled together, ready to attack together if necessary.

"You with the Mind attacks.. your projection ability comes from your Arcana, does it not? And you with the black and white hair, your Arcana influences causality, doesn't it? Luck, perhaps.." The Martial Blade God finally glanced at Edward who tightly clung to his blade.

"I sense Vaizard's Arcana on you. Why do you choose not to use it? Ah, [Justice] is subjective, isn't it? Does your personal inclination allude to the unfairness of three against one? You'd deem it more appropriate if it was just me against you? I see.. that's your subconscious limitation."

The Martial Blade God stared at all three of his opponents—no animosity or kindness in his eyes. It was simply blank.

"You three have potential. You can become really strong. Fighting you then would be entertaining, but.."

At this point, the Martial Blade God sheathed his blade.

"... You three are not worthy of my blade."