"No, you don't~"
Isabella surged forward like a meteorite, her fist crashing into the atmosphere, and the rumbling in its wake caused every point in space to be affected, revealing the Nefarious Darkwill Rakshasa.
Without missing a step, she then pounced toward it and punched its arm with a bone-shattering force.
*Bang!~* *Bang!~* *Bang!~*
Each blow distorted the very space around them, creating pulses that collapsed the surrounding dark mist into swirling vortexes of empty space. The Nefarious Darkwill Rakshasa attempted to counter, its tendrils weakly lashing out like serpents, but Shirley was already behind it, her spear carving elegant arcs through the air, severing each limb before it could even strike.
The Nefarious Darkwill Rakshasa reeled, its immense frame stumbling under the weight of their combined assault.
The twin forces of phoenix and dragon moved in perfect rhythm.
When one struck high, the other struck low. When struck at the side, the other struck on the other side.
Shirley weaved in and out of the monster's defense like a wraith of frost and flame, lacerating its body with every thrust of her spear. The creature's cloak, once flowing like a liquid shadow, was now tattered and smoking, fragments frozen and burned away by her attacks.
Isabella unleashed earth-shattering blows, splitting the terrain with the sheer might of her chaotic gauntlet-empowered punches, sending the Rakshasa flying through its own conjured mist as if it were nothing more than a puppet.
It crashed through jagged rocks and collided against the walls of its crumbling shadow domain, only to be met by another explosive combo that again kept it in its place.
Isabella launched it into the air, and Shirley was already above it, flipping mid-air as her spear extended in the form of energy and struck down like divine retribution.
*Boom!~*
The creature slammed into the ground with a thunderous boom, a crater forming beneath its collapsing form.
However, it was quickly thrown up when Isabella landed and stomped the ground, causing the ground underneath to elevate and send it flying above.
*Puchi!~* Shirley pierced through the Nefarious Darkwill Rakshasa again and again.
No matter how it struggled, its movements were intercepted, redirected, and punished, each one of their motion feeding into a chain of unrelenting, elegant violence that never let it breathe or escape. Their combination was flawless, speaking volumes of the practice they had together.
At this point, Young Master Ragoon and the others arrived.
It was at this moment that Bylai noticed the strangeness in their body language and instantly understood that they were up to no good. She circled around them with the others and waited for them to see what they were really up to when-
"Trying to be the mantis that stalks the cicada…?"
"I'll let the orioles behind deal with you all~"
Shirley's voice echoed as she mocked Young Master Ragoon and the others, causing them to turn to look at Bylai. Their expressions went unsightly.
"Young Master Ragoon," Bylai started with a surprised tone, "Fancy seeing you here when you decided to leave. Is there something wrong?"
Her voice fell, but Dalila was already standing amidst their group, appearing from nowhere. She waved her hands to the sides as she spun, causing a faint glimmer of tiny flickering stars to spread.
"Poison!?"
The supreme geniuses instantly spread out. However, their knees gave out halfway, and they began dropping like flies, including Young Master Ragoon, who crashed into a rock and twitched.
"Just a paralysis powder refined from the High-Level Empyrean Grade Yin Necrosis Mushroom that is used to nurture and take control of magical beast carcasses~" Dalila echoed.
She then looked around, spotting five supreme geniuses whose prowess was at the Empyreal Sovereign level. They struggled against the paralysis powder well.
Unfortunately-
*Bang!~*
A chop or kick to the back of their neck from five beauties left them unconscious.
Niera, Aila, Flamerose, Frostrose, and even Freya managed to knock them down. The Empyreal Sovereigns lost consciousness, far worse than the other supreme geniuses who remained conscious, struggling to move but couldn't. Even their souls were extremely sluggish, unable to leave the body.
"Be careful. They have high-level defensive and escape talismans on them, so don't make killing moves that don't manage to kill, or it'll give them the edge to escape."
Bylai reminded them through soul transmission.
Niera and the others nodded.
Meanwhile, they saw Dalila walk out freely. Even they didn't guess she had such a thing prepared. She didn't say anything until she unleashed it, making their hearts tremble. As for why she wasn't affected, it seemed like she had already made and took the antidote.
From that- they knew she wasn't just an alchemist but also an apothecary and a poison apothecary.
Bylai made her way to Young Master Ragoon, who struggled to stand up. His body was on all fours, trying to stand up, but he just couldn't, trembling like a leaf that was about to be blown away by the wind.
"You-"
His eyes were bloodshot, unable to believe he was caught off guard. That moment of carelessness from witnessing the terrifying prowess of the Earth Dragon Villainess and the Icefire Phoenix Demoness resulted in this outcome.
'This wasn't how it was supposed to go!'
He roared inside as he thought back to the dream where he was congratulated by the entire world but slowly felt moving towards the ground.
"You dare come back with the intention of harming us after being given the chance to leave?"
Bylai raised her foot and placed it on the back of his head, slowly pushing it towards the ground and burying it into the dirt before she glanced at the battle.
The Nefarious Darkwill Rakshasa almost seemed to be done.
This fragmented shadow world didn't allow it to die, but that didn't mean it was invincible. As long as they could obtain its core, it could forget about reforming, but right now, its core was constantly moving within its body, hidden by its terrifying instincts.
Of course, Isabella could just blow it up into smithereens but she could see they were taking their time enjoying inflicting pain on it.
Eventually, they managed to obtain the core.
Shirley pierced through the outer core of the Nefarious Darkwill Rakshasa, bringing it outside. Once she made contact, she didn't explode with power but formed an encompassing seal with icefire energy, disallowing it from reforming.
Then, she formed basic runes with her hands, sealing them.
Instantly, its soul lost connection with the world outside.
The shadowy realm began to tremble. The dark mist covering the entirety of the fragmented shadow world began to disperse slowly but steadily.
Shirley looked at the dark and reflective silvery sphere in her hands. It was the size of a human head, but other than that, it looked so beautiful, like a giant pearl.
"Careful. It's best to treat it as though it's a cursed artifact that intrudes on one's mental realm and corrupts the soul."
Isabella appeared beside her and reminded, causing Shirley to come out of her reverie. She nodded, stashing it into a jade container and throwing it into the life ring.
For one, a living Nefarious Darkwill Rakshasa's Soul Core was more valuable than a dead one because of its ability to control heaven and earth energy. If used properly, it could sustain an entire major power of a ruler by itself!
Besides, the former glory of this fragmented shadow world was left inside the core, so it was better kept alive instead of causing it to die. It's dark Will contained the source that would nourish Davis's soul.