"You're alive? But how?" Maria tried to contain her disbelief against what she had just seen. There was no way anyone could have survived that hellish fall into the magma pit but the chimera was somehow alive and well enough to stop Maria in her way.historical

"It's not hot enough to kill me. It's no magma but blood which cannot get hot enough to harm me. Getting out took time since the magma was too hot though" Rocci explained in a calm voice.

It looked as if the female was hurt badly, nothing showed up on her face. Instead of a pained line, a sunny smile showed itself on Rocci's face and it looked out of place there. Instead of being charming, it was horrifying.

What was worse were the swarms of zombies that had started to descend into the blood pool around them. They were not being harmed by the substance and would soon reach the center of the pit. It was a difficult situation and Maria was alone in handling it.

"What are you trying to do?" Maria asked as she took in the scene with wide eyes. This was not good since it would cause a lot of destruction. Maria needed to stop the marching army at any cost.

She wondered what Suna and Nao were doing and she even missed them as well. Stopping this charging army would be so much easier if she had help but Maria was alone in this problem. She could not count on anyone else but herself.

"It's our lucky day since we get to cripple our competition so much in one blow. The node of Germa and the oracle will die in one blow. Die and become the foundation for our new ruler" Maria parried the first few attacks but she was getting weaker by the second.

It did not help that she needed to restrain herself to not harm the place around her. The whole node was sensitive and left her at the mercy of defending herself from the attack. The enemy number was overwhelming as well which made the task equally taxing on her.

"Fine. Bring it on" Maria threw herself into the battle. It was a mindless slaughter that went on for minutes. Maria did not stop.

Maria could not stop or it would spell the doom of everything she cared for. The node could not be allowed to be destroyed but only resealed. And they were already running out of time which was bad.

"Don't try and resist. Once we get the power of this node and use it to revive our master from the previous war, it would all be over. All our suffering would have meaning and come to an end. And for that to happen, you, the Oracle, need to die" the chimera looked mad at the state of the battle.

Maria dodged another attack as she twisted her body out of the way of the incoming attack and charged back with her fist. It was easy to connect and had enough power to send the zombie flying away.

But when one fell, another quickly rose to take its place. It was a never-ending cycle that could not be broken till the center figure was taken down. And Maria also had to take extra care not to hit too hard to permanently damage the people around her.

Maria's opportunity to counterattack came halfway between her punching another zombie away and tracking Rucci close to her. The female was aiming for behind Maria, trying to use her next dodge as an opportunity to press forward. But she was not going to get a chance since Maria deflected her attack at the last second.

The magic blast that was building up in Rocci's hands changed its course and hit Maria which was painful but it did prevent the attack from reaching the node. However, it did not stop the zombies from attacking the node and Maria felt the defenses give way before the roof collapsed.

Debris fell from the sky but the smile on Rocci's face did not falter. It looked as if it had been pasted there by someone.

"Now this is troublesome. I don't want to get buried beneath the rubble. Everyone, cover me" the zombies stopped their assault as they gathered around the chimera in an attempt to shield her.

Maria did wonder why the other did not use her magic to shield before realizing that she could not. The external magic pressure was too much for the shield to handle and Maria deployed her chain in the form of an umbrella to cover herself.

It was not the best defense but it was adequate to protect Maria. It made the rubble slip away from her and helped her conserve strength as well.

But this falling rubble, there was something significant about it. Maria felt like she should be doing something right now. Preventing something right now but she was not able to remember.

It was the worst case of short-term memory loss Maria had had in a long time and she could not find herself to be having a worse timing than this. Something was nagging at her to prevent the fall of something and she missed her system and its ability to remember.

"Suna, Nooooo" Nao's voice echoed and Maria watched as her companions fell.

No, Suna was one falling while Nao was trying to reach her. Maria's vision had changed but for the worst this time. She needed to stop the pair's descent before they crashed into the node but the only option she had was to deploy her chain.

It would hurt the pair badly, maybe even kill them but it was the only choice she had. If they fell into a node and damaged it, then it would destroy the whole of the continent they were standing on.

"Don't get in my way" and of course, the zombies had to join in attacking her at the very second Maria decided to help the falling pair out. She could see Nao trying to reach out for Suna and clutch her arm. Her oldest friend was reaching out for someone she loved and Maria needed to support them.

She needed there to be a world when her two companions arose. (If it was not a question because Maria refused to think of it like that ). She needed to protect the node and that is why she used the remaining of her magic to make a net with her chains.

She would stop that fall at any cost, even if she had to empty herself of her magic. And the pair did stop once they hit her net. Their speed fell and Maria felt relief fill her.

And then she felt someone stab her and the safety net disappeared from beneath the pair.