Across the battlefield, the soldiers of Taskforce Upsilon fought bravely to survive the onslaught. Pierce's beam clashed with the Shiseiten's own wave of devastation, even as it forced its way through Slask's frozen shield, the two pushing and pulling against one another as it spilled across the frame of the Grungust, searing it, threatening to engulf it. Yet, even in that moment of desperation, the two would find there were not alone either, as a sudden jet of lavender signaled the arrival of Juliette's Selvius II. Spreading its hands wide, holographic 3D printers came to life, rushing to repair the damage caused by the monster's devastating strike, small beams of light working their way into the scratches and scathing marks left by the black flames.
Its fingers brushed against the surface of the two machines, transmitting a simple text message across their screens via contact.
Hang in there, guys.
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Shiseiten, the Pontiff leaned back, closing her eyes as she sensed the life forces across the battlefield beginning to wane. Even the Granzon, mighty as it had been made out to be, was crumbling before their might.
"
...Hm hm. Struggle all you like. The result will be the same."
Almost lazily, she raised an index finger. Above Taskforce Upsilon, the skies darkened, as the mountain of corpses' maws began to grind open for what seemed to be the very last time as it prepared to unleash an even more devastating rain of absolute annhilation. Cassilda paused momentarily, savoring her victory, offering a short, silent prayer that would dedicate their souls to the great Lasfitot.
"
Sleep in the stillness of eternity..."
…
And then...
All of a sudden, in that oppressive silence...
There came a
shout.
Clear and clarion, so much that it caused even the Pontiff to pause in disbelief as she raised her eyes to the source, as her dismayed ears heard:
A lance of emerald green light punched down out of the heavens, slicing aside her own corrupted clouds like divine thunder. It slammed into the center mouth of the creature, a concentrated beam of dimensional energy - and, to Cassilda's everlasting horror, the jawbones about the creature's throat began to bend and compact, slamming its mouth shut. For the briefest of seconds, time seemed to stop as her eyes widened into saucers, the only word passing her lips being a faint:
"
Oh-"
And with that, the volatile energy the Shiseiten had been storing...
Now had only
one place to go.
With a riproaring scream of flame, the blast backfired into its host body in an explosion of bone and sinew. Black fire and smoke billowed from every eye socket, every ribcrack, every mottled pore on the creature's body, as it belched flame and teetered haphazardly in the air, blackened chunks of flesh and marrow now cascading from its surface as it shuddered. Within the creature's "throne" room, Cassilda screamed in unison with the monstrosity, as her skin seemed to boil and ripple with the Shiseiten's own, a clear, not-quite-blood like substance running from her nose, her eyes, her eyes, as she clasped her features in agony.
"
Who...?" - She rasped; "Who DARES...?"
Through one scrunched eye... She saw them.
It. Descending from the clouds - and as it did, the darkness faded, and the golden mist that had encroached upon the ocean began to recede, as rays of sunshine began to shine through.
It was all white, save for a red mask that concealed its features, adorned an emerald green slit that served as a visor of sorts. Its body was made of segmented plates, terminating in a pair of thick, winglike binders and a long, dangling tail that flicked out behind it as it hovered, almost
serpentine in its motions. It was like... a holy knight, a paladin, riding forth from the kingdom of Heaven to strike down the unrighteous and malign, and it looked so at home clad in radiant sunlight that it was almost as if it
commanded the sun to follow it.
The Asclepius released its hold on the long, smoking cannon it carried, the G-Dimension Liberator fading back into its pocket dimension as its pilot
spoke:
"No-one of consequence."
...And in that exact moment, the world became filled with sound as the Sphere's power waned. Radios crackled to life, the whine of engines, alerts, speech... A cascade of sound. Cassilda turned her head from one side to another, clasping her hands over her ears as
sound, horrid, offensive
discord, assaulted her senses.
"
The Sphere...! How...?"