The transformation left Selphira operating in a qualitatively different state from what she'd been monts before.
Not just stronger or faster. But fundantally changed in how she interacted with the world. Like viewing reality through lens that revealed layers normally hidden.
And the first thought she processed with new sharpened clarity fusion provided was the need to separate Orion from Victor imdiately.
Couldn't attack indiscriminately when her new primary objective was rescue rather than simply elimination. Needed enough precision not to compromise the safety of who she tried saving. Balance between enough force to overco any defense Orion could deploy and enough control not to cause collateral damage defeating the intervention's purpose.
So Selphira executed an ultra-fast technique she'd perfected specifically for this situation type.
The ice spear launched forward not as a thrown object but as an extension of her will physically manifested. A trajectory calculated to cover the shortest route to Victor's closer safe distance while striking Orion directly with force that should cut him in half or at least force him to drop the hostage.
It was an attack that was strong and concentrated but simultaneously precise.
The spear moved at speeds making it appear to teleport rather than travel. No visible arc, no warning whistle… Just instantaneous relocation from point A to point B with devastating force channeled through every centiter of its length.
An attack practically instantaneous to the point of not giving ti to react. Most tars would be dead before nerve impulses could carry any signals from eyes to brain. Before the conscious mind could process the threat and formulate a response.
But Orion stopped it.
A barrier materialized between the spear and his position with an speed almost impossible seeming to demonstrate it had been active but invisible or that Orion had anticipated exactly this approach type.
Preparation suggesting he'd studied Selphira sufficiently to predict and deploy responses even at speed most would find overwhelming.
And it wasn't an ordinary barrier Selphira could penetrate through elental superiority or fracture through pure montum.
It was a light manifestation glowing with intensity hurting the eyes when focused directly. Purity contrasting dramatically with the purple lines running through its structure like veins transporting corruption contaminating what otherwise would've been an elent associated with healing and benevolent protection.
The light was wrong… Beautiful but diseased. Watching it was like watching a sunset through toxic clouds that turned natural colors into sothing nauseating. Perversion of sothing ant to be pure transford into a mockery of its own nature.
And the purple veins pulsed. Throbbed like living tissue. Pumped corrupted energy through the crystalline structure in a rhythm suggesting a heartbeat. A wrong heartbeat…
Arhythmic and stuttering, but undeniably alive in a way that made her recoil instinctively.
And Selphira had recognized the composition imdiately, her mind processing implications with speed her fusion amplified.
That was the crystal that had belonged to Luna's mother. Lykea's Heart. The artifact she'd left behind when the ruins claid her. Object carrying last fragnts of a happy and loved woman.
Luna's inheritance. The last thing connecting her to the family she'd lost.
And Orion was using it without caring about causing it to wear. Combining its energy with corrupt sources that were absolutely disgusting in nature. Forcing it to serve purposes completely opposed to what Lykea would have fought for.
Luna would be equally or possibly more enraged than Selphira seeing this.
Profanation by the enemy having no right or respect for the aning the object held beyond simple utility. He was using her mother's heart like a very strong but non-renewable disposable tool. Like an expendable resource to be burned through and discarded when no longer useful for his dumb aspirations whatever they were.
It was an insult adding another layer of motivation to the fury Selphira already felt for Victor and Sirius's situations.
This wasn't just a random confrontation. This was personal on levels she hadn't fully processed until this mont. Orion had violated every boundary. Had desecrated every mory. Had weaponized every loss against those who'd suffered it.
And he stood there smiling behind a barrier he'd manifested. Expression visible even through distortion the intense light caused. Satisfaction of a strategy ga player who'd predicted the opponent's movent. Confidence coming from knowing he'd calculated resistance correctly.
"Did you think I would just co out unprepared?" His voice carried through the space between them. Not shouted but projected with the common mana technique that made it clear despite distance and battle noise. "That I'd simply wait for the 'great' Selphira Ashenway to arrive and crush ?"
She knew the mockery in his tone was deliberate. Calculated to provoke and to make her commit more deeply to attacks that he could counter. To turn fury into a weapon he could use against her.
And it was working… She could feel rage building despite knowing manipulation for what it was. Could feel control slipping despite decades of discipline teaching her better.
Because he was right. She hadn't expected this. Hadn't imagined he could field a defense capable of stopping her fusion-enhanced strikes. Hadn't accounted for him possessing sothing of this caliber.
She'd underestimated him. And likely Victor was paying the price for sothing similar to her miscalculation.
'The Light Heart barrier alone perhaps wouldn't have held against Selphira's attack,' Orion thought with analysis that was cold even while experiencing triumph of seeing defense function exactly as expected.
The power the fused tar generated was genuinely formidable. Equivalent to what a Platinum rank tar might manifest. Actual Platinum rank, not so high Gold-rank tar having a good day. The real thing. A force that could level forests and shatter defensive formations from armies.
But with support from the five corrupt hearts he'd integrated into the barrier construction, the amplification the crystals provided was more than sufficient for stopping even an attack of that caliber.
Six hearts total in that barrier. Lykea's Light Heart has a core structure providing the barrier frawork and five corrupted hearts, providing raw power multiplication.
One heart alone might provide defense equivalent to a dedicated mid to high Gold rank barrier. Six hearts working in concert multiplied that by factors that made linear calculation aningless. Each heart making others stronger until combined results exceeded anything individual components could achieve.
It was capability multiplication converting his defense into absolute. Certainty permitting him to maintain position without needing to retreat or evade.
Let the old woman exhaust herself. Let her burn through fusion ti trying to penetrate a barrier that wouldn't break regardless of how much power she invested. Let her commit everything to offense that would ultimately fail.
And when she was spent, when fusion collapsed and left her vulnerable, then he'd finish this.
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