"So you really were here, Tayuya."
"…Fiona. It's you."
Two members of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians met once more at the same park as yesterday's chance meeting. However, the threatening atmosphere and the aura of danger surrounding the two of them couldn't be compared to that of yesterday. It was precisely because both of them had sworn loyalty to Naru that they had the resolve to kill one another if the other were to get in their way.
Fiona wanted to stop Tayuya, who was doing something that ran counter to Naru's will. Tayuya wanted to kill the Seven Maidens of Midgar, even if that ran counter to Naru's will. In order to achieve that, she was even willing to kill Fiona.
The two of them, who were the most alike out of any of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians, had unshakeable wills. That was why they were able to meet again in the same place.
"You're the one driving the townsfolk Berserk, aren't you? Lady Naru doesn't want that… Stop right now."
"From what you said… it seems like you really are here to stop me."
The sinister aura surrounding Tayuya got even darker. In response, Fiona cloaked herself in rainbow-colored fire.
"Do you believe you can win, Fiona?"
"I'm not the same as I was one thousand years ago, Tayuya."
Fiona's surroundings were exposed to the heat of Mesarthim, and they wavered as if they were simply a mirage. The water in the park's fountain evaporated, and the ground was scorched.
Tayuya's surroundings were warped and dyed black. Trees withered, and the bugs that flew nearby died, even though they hadn't touched anything.
"Do you really insist on doing this?"
"This can be easily avoided. You just need to stop."
"Absurd!"
Tayuya thrust out her hand.
At the same time, Fiona shifted. Right afterwards, the place where she'd stood was struck through by a black pulse. The pulse gouged out the ground, breaking all the buildings in its path. Even then, it didn't stop and continued out of town.
"Heh!"
Fiona jumped and unleashed a kick wreathed in fire.
Tayuya guarded against it, but even then just the aftershock of the kick created a crater, changing the park into nothing but an empty lot. However, Tayuya herself was unfazed, and she caught Fiona with a counterattack.
"Grgh!?"
Fiona's small body was blown away. Even after busting through several buildings, Fiona flipped in the air like nothing had happened and landed on her feet.
Tayuya jumped after her, slamming another black pulse at Fiona from midair.
However, Fiona deflected the pulse with a knife-hand. The pulse was deflected off into the air, flew up high, and parted the clouds.
"Haahh!"
Fiona jumped, punching at Tayuya, who reflexively managed to cross her arms in a block.
The atmosphere gave a jolt, as if an earthquake had occurred centered on the two of them. Tayuya was blown away as if she'd been blasted out of a cannon, and passed through the town, through a mountain, and continued on far away.
And Fiona herself was the one who stopped Tayuya. Fiona sprinted past Tayuya and got in her flight path before kicking her upwards, forcing her to fly into the sky.
Then, Fiona leapt. Once again, Fiona got out ahead of Tayuya.
"Take thiiis!"
Putting both her fists together, Fiona unleashed a double sledgehammer!
Tayuya's head was smashed downwards forcefully, and she returned to the ground. As Tayuya hit the ground, it caved in and shook, sending the surrounding animals running.
But Fiona didn't stop. She created fire and threw it at Tayuya continuously. The bullets of fire shone in rainbow colors as they bored through the ground, hit Tayuya, and caused countless explosions.
"…!"
However, an attack like that didn't even seem to cause as much damage as Fiona expected.
Several streaks of light parted the smoke, aiming for Fiona. One was a high-tier spell of the moon element—'Luna Shooter'. It was a highly accurate and highly powerful beam of magical light that shot in a straight line.
There was another high-tier spell of the moon element—'Luna Blast'. That spell locked on to three targets at the same time, unleashing black bullets at them.
And there was another super-high-tier spell of the moon element—'Lunatic Rain'. The spell sent down a rain of magical light reminiscent of moonlight to annihilate all enemies.
Even more high-tier and upper-tier moon element spells continued to be launched blindly out of the smoke.
However, Fiona was moving at the same time she shot fire from her hands, completely avoiding the magic launched by Tayuya. Fiona moved left and right, up and down. Fiona never seemed to lose her calm even while her vision must have been swimming with the dizzying patterns of her flight as she slipped through the narrow gaps between Tayuya's spells.
"Mesarthim!"
Charging in, Fiona's form distorted. She went from a small girl to a giant sheep wrapped in flames, and she continued to accelerate. Fiona changed into a monster covered in rainbow flames in the blink of an eye, tackling Tayuya with all her power.
If Naru were to witness this scene, she might have retorted that this wasn't what that skill was for. At the very least, that way of using the skill didn't exist in the 'game' she was so familiar with.
Tayuya was blown away with massive force. As one might've expected, that attack hurt, and she let out a low moan. However, she was also one of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians. Even while being blasted away, Tayuya raised her hand towards Fiona, unleashing her ultimate skill.
"Deneb Algedi!"
A remarkably large black pulse flew straight forward, engulfing Fiona. The both of them rose up into the air on black and rainbow-colored pillars, having been hit by each other's strongest skills.
A few seconds of silence interrupted the fight. Tayuya stood up, breaking the silence.
Then, emerging from the smoke, Fiona appeared with her clothes in tatters and her shoulder exposed. They were both damaged. However, it wasn't enough to render either of them incapable of fighting.
"…You're good—just as I expected, Tayuya. It seems your magic power hasn't declined these past thousand years, huh?"
"The same goes for you, Fiona. You've become quite skilled."
The two of them laughed, having acknowledged each other's abilities. However, this was the battlefield, and they were both enemies.
The two members of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians once again charged at their 'enemy' in order to express their loyalty and spirit.