On the battlefield, everything shook from the rage of a deity. All combatants fell into a state of disarray, as they found themselves dazed and having painful reverberations inside their minds.
The battlefield was divided into two parts: one at a higher altitude and the other at a lower one. Having prevented the escape of the slippery twinkle, the 3rd step cyclone, left the prey to its offspring for target practice, while itself flew higher and was ready to intervene whenever necessary.
Each of the four second-step cyclones took a corner, boxing their targets inside with no way out, bombarded by relentless wind blades, tornadoes, and steel projectiles.
Tsunami was nowhere to be seen; he had used the [Ghost Cloak], which looked like a piece of flesh with wormy structures moving inside. Though disgusted, since his life depended on it, without hesitation, he placed it on his cheek and vanished from sight.
To the cyclone far above, this level of deception was child's play. However, since it removed itself from the assaults, it never intervened but observed closely.
The 2nd step cyclones, however, kept having a hard time ending the darn twinkles' life. In their initial assaults, they focused heavily on injuring the weak human, but once Pearl manifested her clone, and the human vanished... well, things got complicated.
Making it even worse was the fact that each of the darn Twinkle's form was a second-step peak Favourite; it took two of them to handle just one of her clones. Even then, they had no clear upper hand.
They were adept at long-distance combat, and the darn twinkle clearly in the know, never gave them a chance of retreat. When they gave rise to tornadoes, she would summon a door, expand it to an enormous size, and the attacks of one duo would be directed at the other pair.
Not only were they to fear being injured by their own sibling's attack, but the darn twinkle also wielded the doors like weapons. Every side of the doors was sharp enough to leave severe wounds on their armored feathers.
At close distance, she attacked them with two sword-like doors, striking with frightening precision and always aiming for their weak points; at long distance, their attacks were redirected.
It was so darn infuriating to the inexperienced cyclones.
Pearl, though not bested, wasn't faring well either. Both of her clones had wounds on different parts, and she was getting exhausted.
She had to put on a facade of being reckless while going all out with each of her clones—an act she was initially against—but Tsunami managed to convince her. Since the second step cyclones, would have a hard time figuring out which clone he was on.
A reckless act, which caused Tsunami to get accidental injuries, but he never complained. On his right hand, he gripped tightly his [hand break], patiently observing... waiting. The first unlucky bastard would get a hole through its brain.
He had never been on a battlefield, especially one tainted with magical powers and laws. But his composed and calculated demeanor was that of a veteran. By now, he was no stranger to such feelings.
From the first time he met Pompei in the library to his life-and-death encounter in the dungeon, he realized that sometimes things wouldn't make sense but feel familiar, thanks to the real Tsunami's past life.
He wished to channel any experience he could from the former monster genius — a daunting task it has proven to be thus far.
He concluded that perhaps such feelings and experiences couldn't be forced out, so he decided just to let them happen naturally, like breathing.
But with a third-step cyclone hovering over their shoulders, like a harbinger of death, he had to make arrangements if experience fails.
One of the plans he discussed with Pearl wasn't a good one, and Pearl didn't like it either. But to him, if their lives were pushed into a corner, then it was their only option.
The disturbing sound waves lasted several seconds, creating a window of weakness for every combatant.
Surprisingly, Pearl was the first to regain lucidity, and when she saw the change on the battlefield, all hell broke loose.
Escaping wasn't an option, as the 3rd step would soon regain consciousness, and being far from the mansion, it would catch up in no time.
Being far weaker than the third step, inflicting fatal wounds on it quickly was a terrible gamble.
With a swift, flash movement, both her clones appeared in front of two unsuspecting second-step cyclones. In a ninth of a second, each clone summoned two massive doors, merging them to form an X with the necks of the cyclones at the center.
Shortly after, they began rotating anticlockwise from each other at insane speeds, while contracting.
Painful cries escaped Cyclone's massive beaks, the sound of metal chipping metal filling the air, accompanied by sparks flying as their metal necks fought hard to stay intact.
Though weaker than Pearl, their laws of steel were passive ones. At all times, they remained activated, serving as body armor that could withstand blows from even stronger opponents.
But time wasn't their friend; resistance didn't last long enough to warrant their survival.
When the doors contracted completely, the battlefield was welcomed with silence... before a loud thud could be heard from the fall of two heads.
At this moment, the third step cyclone had managed to regain consciousness, and what welcomed it was the sight of two headless bodies, flapping their wings with purple blood spurting from their necks, as they descended awkwardly.
Tsunami regained his consciousness, almost simultaneously with the third step. His first response was to check whether he hadn't fallen, shocked to find himself alive.
Noticing the awakening of the third step, Pearl summoned her clone back, merging her real body with it.
Her prowess was still at the peak of the second step, but with the strength of two, she charged towards the third step in the sky like a mad bull, with undying resolve.
The remaining cyclones weren't her concern; she was going for a death fight with the inevitable.
Tsunami glanced at the battlefield... and was dumbfounded.
...
" You silly girl, stop what you are doing right this instant! "
Inside the mansion, Katarina was in the third cylinder in the Atomic Splicer room. Only now, there was a real physical body of a young woman, around her twenties, with her eyes shut... sleeping in slumber.
Lord Frederick, in black vestments, summoned his domain of time. On his back, three ethereal round clocks manifested, forming a triangular shape with each clock at a different tip.
The two at the base were golden and larger, while the one at the top was smaller but shrouded in eternal darkness.
While the other two gave off a sense of holiness, this one... was death, doom, and annihilation. Its domineering presence threatened to eliminate all that was holy.
Within the mansion, time stopped for every other beast and locked spirits, but the operation within the Atomic Splicer room never stopped.
Inside the cylinder, Katarina laughed in mockery while her left leg was slowly corroding.
"My lord, do you know why I love God level artifacts? "
She slowly opened her eyes, smiling.
"Because even the might of a Seraphim can't bend it, against its will."