Now the remaining dual-beast tars carried more load on their beasts. Compensation for the companions who had fallen or who were too exhausted to continue contributing effectively.
It was a redistribution of responsibility amplifying the stress on exactly those who were already operating near the limits of sustainability.
anwhile, so teachers and even so professional guards were also running out of energy as the battle prolonged itself.
They were veterans with considerable experience. But experience didn't create mana reserves from nothing… Decades of training couldn't conjure energy that simply wasn't there anymore.
Defending the students in various ways also ate through the reserves of many. Even so dual-beast tars exhausted themselves through continuous use of both beasts for defense without the opportunity to recharge appropriately.
The rotation strategy that should have preserved their stamina broke down when threats ca too fast to permit alternating. When both beasts were needed simultaneously just to maintain the defensive line. When choosing to rest one ant accepting breakthroughs that could kill dozens of students.
So they fought with both beasts active and burned through reserves at unsustainable rates. Watching their mana dropping toward critical levels with growing desperation.
Ren observed the situation unfolding with increasing concern that he barely compartntalized appropriately.
His parents, the princesses, and his closest friends were near him. His beasts, being among the most powerful and versatile, were having a large impact on the defense.
But even he was becoming exhausted.
The Wolverine had been fighting for hours. The Hydra had eliminated hundreds of mutants. His reserves, while enormous for his age and rank, weren't infinite. He could feel the drain accumulating with each mont of sustained high-intensity combat.
How much longer could they hold? The math was brutal when he calculated consumption rates against their remaining reserves. And the mutants showed no signs of stopping.
♢♢♢♤
Selphira possessed a vitality that was enormous even for the few tars of her rank.
Her endurance wasn't low even compared with her enormous offensive capabilities. In fact, it was considerably better than the destructive power she could project.
It wasn't really a deliberate construction… She'd never specifically focused on building stamina over damage output, her beasts were just like that from the start. But it served her purposes because for her it was better being soone who remained on the field for an extended period than being soone who collapsed after a single brilliant burst.
Glass cannons had their place in warfare. Overwhelming force applied at critical mont could turn entire campaigns. But Selphira had learned through decades of actual combat that sustainability often mattered more than peak output.
Better to operate at fifty percent power for an hour than at one hundred percent power for five minutes. Better to be standing at the end of the battle than to have delivered the most impressive individual strike before falling to exhaustion.
She rose fast from the distant position where the impact had buried her. A crater that conveyed the enormous force the beam had contained. She was already healing herself completely with her own mana as she erged. Regeneration utilizing a combination of water and light to accelerate her repair well beyond her already rapid natural rate.
The water nded torn tissue and the light purified corruption that the black-purple beam had tried introducing into her system. Burned away foreign energies before they could establish themselves in her mana channels.
Within instants, the damage was gone. Not just patched but genuinely healed as if the hit had never landed.
And she was ntally prepared to stop or dodge the next beam that she anticipated Orion would launch. It was logical recognizing the pattern of the opportunistic enemy who wouldn't delay repeating the attack when the opportunity presented itself.
Hit her while she was down, press advantage before it disappeared... Basic combat doctrine that any competent fighter would follow.
But Orion didn't fire again.
Instead, he began speaking with a tone that was conversational in a way that was almost insulting considering the context of the confrontation they'd just exchanged.
"Are you ready to negotiate now?" he asked with a voice that projected sufficiently to reach across the distance without needing to shout. A control that conveyed a calm he shouldn't possess in the middle of a battle of this level. "Or do you need another lesson about the reality of the situation before you're willing to discuss my reasonable terms?"
It was an offer presenting itself as if it were generosity rather than a threat. Phrasing that suggested Selphira was the one being irrational by attacking instead of Orion being the one who had created a complete crisis through deliberate actions.
Like she was the aggressor. Like he was the victim defending himself against unprovoked assault. Like Victor's semi-crystallized body and the mutant invasion and everything else were just unfortunate misunderstandings that could be resolved through calm discussion.
The audacity was staggering….
Selphira launched forward in response. A movent that communicated exactly what she thought about any negotiation proposal.
But while closing the distance, she allowed her voice to project a warning that was clear in intent even if the tone remained controlled through iron discipline.
"There's nothing to negotiate," she declared with a finality that admitted no debate. "The only thing you can gain from is a faster death if you surrender right now and release Victor without additional resistance."
It was her own ultimatum. An inversion of the dynamic that Orion had attempted to establish. She was the one with power here. She was the one who would determine outcos. But Orion didn't seem intimidated by the declaration. Nor did he appear worried by the approach Selphira was executing with huge speed again.
"Then you haven't understood the situation completely if you still think that way," he responded with a tone that was almost pedagogical. Like he was explaining a simple concept to a student who'd failed to comprehend the obvious lesson.
The condescension was deliberate? Calculated to provoke and make her attack more recklessly? To turn fury into a weapon he could use against her again?
While maintaining the barrier protecting his position and Victor behind him, the six crystals floating around Orion began spinning with increased speed.
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