Several projectiles of light flew through Nithya, yet not a single one slowed her advance as she closed the distance on Cydra, who was forced to retreat and reassess her plan of attack.
She unleashed a sweeping surge of iron sand around herself, a storm of metallic grains that Nithya dashed through without hesitation, only to find that Cydra had already swapped places with what appeared to be a simple coin.
'A stolen artifact. Helio's.'
Nithya identified it in an instant, just before the sand detonated in a violent burst.
Above the chaos, at the point where Cydra had reappeared after throwing the coin, an astral whale plunged downward.
Its colossal maw yawned open to swallow Nithya amid the destruction, but the moment its mouth enveloped Nithya, the creature ruptured apart, its form scattering as she vaulted towards her true target.
Cydra reacted quickly, releasing a barrier skill that barely saved her from a merciless strike.
It was a narrow escape, and the barrier shattered under the force of Nithya's second punch, which missed Cydra's head by a hair's breadth.
Rattled by how close the blow had come, Cydra released an artifact in the form of two metal puppets.
'Jack and Jill… Sasa's artifact.'
Nithya recognized them immediately.
Puppets that commanded vertical gravitational forces. One dragging downward, the other pulling upward.
Sure enough, Nithya's body was wrenched toward the ground.
But she never crashed.
Instead, she slipped straight through the earth as though nothing was there, and Cydra dra lost sight of her.
She scanned her surroundings, wary of an ambush, but when she realized Nithya could emerge without a whisper, she commanded Jill to target the ground itself, forcing the terrain to rupture and explode upward in a violent upheaval.
She steadied herself, tracking the flying debris, waiting for the inevitable strike.
And right on cue, a downward blow from above shattered her shoulder, but she had prepared for this.
A marble infused with healing properties broke between her teeth, ensuring the uncontrollable skill wouldn't mend her opponent as well. And the moment she felt Nithya's hand still driving her down, she activated her ability.
But Nithya once again became a streak of motion she couldn't follow, likely sensing her intent.
Before frustration could settle in, a kick slammed into Cydra's back, launching her forward. And it didn't end there. Nithya was already in front of her, poised to let Cydra's own momentum amplify the punishment.
She prepared only a simple punch, but a "simple punch" from the Captain had already shattered the barrier Cydra relied on. She couldn't afford to take it head-on.
The puppets flew before her, their gravitational abilities flaring in an attempt to divert or slow the incoming strike.
But Nithya's arm obliterated them instantly and drove straight into Cydra's abdomen.
The pain hadn't even fully registered before the air was blasted out of her lungs and her abdominal wall crumpled under the force.
Her body convulsed, muscles spasming uncontrollably, leaving her unable to mitigate the damage as she bounced and rolled across the ground.
When she finally stopped, she curled in on herself, clutching her abdomen against the searing pain.
Yet she still heard Nithya closing in, and fury clawed at her chest at the sheer unfairness of her situation.
Cydra was never meant to appear threatening to Nithya at first, and she had relied on that assumption.
Without knowing whether Cydra had allies or hidden contingencies, Nithya would have no reason to use her relic early, much less something as devastating as 'Realization'.
Logically, no sane person would challenge someone like Nithya without either, so the Captain would be forced to act cautiously, inadvertently underestimating the danger Cydra posed.
That was why Cydra had crafted every countermeasure she could specifically for Nithya's Authority, to guard against the unknown factors in the Captain's arsenal that her informant lacked detailed knowledge of.
But if Nithya truly resonated with the fabric of space, as Cydra deduced, then every skill she had stolen for this moment was meaningless.
This also meant that every attack Cydra had landed was permitted by Nithya, because none of them was anything Nithya couldn't avoid.
In other words, she had lost the moment she underestimated the power wielded by Veil's upper echelons.
If this was the capability of the 56th, one of the divisions often overlooked, then she had been the naive one all along.
"What the hell is this?" Cydra spat as she finally forced herself upright. "What kind of monster are you?! Is this the level of power you use to make people suffer?! That's unfair! That's so unfair! Why do bugs like you get to reach that level, huh?!"
Nithya watched her tirade for a moment, then exhaled softly.
"I've realized something," she said. "At first, I thought you were a complete lunatic–someone who lacked even a shred of self-awareness. Or maybe you were pretending to be oblivious just to irritate me. But I think I understand now…"
"What the hell are you on about?"
"…You're still a child. A child with hypocrisy born of ignorance. Selfishness rooted in needless affirmation…"
Nithya walked toward her without hesitation.
"…And a crippling fear of a future that feels far too hostile."
"Ngh!"
"Tell me, out of all the people you've killed while chasing me… have you ever once fought a battle you had no chance of winning?"
Nithya now stood face to face with her.
Cydra offered no answer. She only glared, disdain simmering behind her eyes.
When it became clear she had nothing left to say, Nithya chose a surprisingly simple course of action.
WHAP!
Cydra staggered back, hand flying to her cheek.
She had been slapped, clean across the face, and the shock of it eclipsed the pain.
"How dare you–"
Another slap followed. Then another.
And every time Cydra reeled, Nithya stepped forward, delivering yet another blow.
Over and over, the message was hammered into her, until blood began to streak down her face.
Gritting her teeth, Cydra resorted to the one thing she had hoped to avoid using so directly.
She shoved against Nithya, meeting the conditions for activating her ability.
With all the contact Nithya had made, Cydra should have been able to trap her in an amber. But with the Captain alert, there was no chance her activation of Authority would slip past Nithya's senses, especially since Cydra was notoriously bad at masking her intent.
Nithya was far faster, and Cydra had no idea how she might retaliate if she sensed the trap.
But now that Nithya believed she had already won, the risk was worth taking.
BZZT!
"…"
It worked.
THACK!
At least, the activation did. A marble dropped to the ground, containing nothing but air.
When Cydra triggered her Authority, a flash of light blinked before her, and Nithya stood there, utterly unfazed.
She tried again.
And again.
But Nithya simply let more empty marbles fall to the ground, almost mockingly, without offering retaliation.
In hindsight, Cydra realized it had been nothing but wishful thinking.
Even if her marbles operated on illogical mechanics, the vessel and activation point still existed within the logical framework of the world. Meaning nothing prevented Nithya from escaping the skill exactly as she had the first time.
"Is that all?" Nithya asked before seizing Cydra by the neck, as though the battle had exhausted whatever courtesy she had shown earlier.
"Heh…"
Cydra began to laugh again.
But this time, it was raw, strained laughter forced through frustration and disgust.
"Alicia Damion," Nithya said, ignoring her and returning to her original objective. "I know she didn't die here. You will tell me where she is."
"We both know I'm not doing that. So go ahead–kill me already. If I really look like a child to you, then that'll be the funniest thing your self-righteousness can manage, right?! Absolutely hilarious!"
Cydra mocked her without even attempting to resist.
"Your hypocrisy knows no bounds. What happened to all that talk about officers giving up once we're cornered?"
"Aaaah, fair point. But you know… there'll be one difference between them and me."
Her tone shifted sharply.
"I'll get to enjoy the result of my final gambit before biting the dust."
Nithya noticed the change, her eyes narrowing.
"I'm reminded of something, and the irony is making me laugh. Scar was there too, you know? Four orbital ages ago."
Nithya's grip tightened involuntarily.
"Choose your next words wisely."
Cydra had struck the exact nerve she aimed for, and her goading only worsened.
"Yeah… I remember it clearly now. Those idiots thought they could challenge Degeneration and walk away with their move. I couldn't stop laughing when I heard about it. Serves them right, don't you think? And you went ahead and declared them missing, like you didn't know the truth."
Nithya had been contemplating something.
She was the last person to resort to violence over words, which was a necessity as her branch specialized in handling anthropogenic threats and public relations.
In this situation, striking Cydra for her rambling was the last thing she wanted. But breaking her until she couldn't speak, would that really be so terrible?
She had never been this livid before. Even she couldn't predict whether she could restrain herself if she let her continue.
"That's not even the best part!" Cydra cackled. "You'll want to laugh when I tell you she didn't even get entangled with the Apostle, she lost to a servant! A fucking servant! Haha!"
That settled it.
To save the girl in front of her from herself, Nithya would have to silence her by force.
Stopping within an inch of her life would suffice.
"They said it was such a funny sight. She didn't even last a second before her head was popped clean off her–"
So she struck.
CRACK!
In the same instant, Nithya felt a dangerous force slam into her face, perfectly synchronized with her own attack.
A man had appeared, jumping in front of Cydra and taking the blow.
And as Nithya was knocked back by an invisible force, he seized Cydra and leapt into a rip in the air, a void, the same one he had emerged from, vanishing with her as the tear sealed shut, leaving Nithya alone.
***
"Put me down, you bastard! I told you not to interfere!"
"Argh– that hurt like hell! What kind of monster is that chick? Hot as hell too." Serval snapped his dislocated jaw back into place the moment he stepped into the mostly empty cavern. "Hey, could you stop kicking me and try being grateful for once?! We told you not to try this, didn't we?!"
As the woman thrashing on his shoulder became too much to restrain, Serval reluctantly let her drop to the ground.
"I must agree that was nothing but a waste of time." The man with the Claw strode past them, sealing the rift behind him with a curt gesture. "If this had not been part of your executive wish, I would have had your head. Now we're behind, and I'm certain the boss will not be pleased."
"You should have just let things be," Cydra hissed back. "I didn't ask for your help."
"Need I remind you that the terms of your wish are honored only as long as you remain useful to Scar?" the man replied flatly.
"We're only supposed to help you grow your stash and leave the rest to you," Serval added, scooping up what resembled a metal slab-like blade from the floor. "But if you eat shit before you can even get that done, then you're nothing but dead weight. Grand says he needs your power for something, and we've got no choice but to comply."
Cydra snarled at him, which only made Serval scoff.
But then something caught his eye.
"Hey… is that…?" He stared at the space where the rift had been closed– or where it should have been.
Now, he saw two sets of fingers that appeared to be floating in the air.
"How is that possible?" the man with the Claw murmured, not to anyone in particular.
Even Cydra, who had been a victim of those same hands, could not accept what she was seeing.
"How? There's no logical way her Authority should let her do that!"
Yet those hands pried the gate back open, albeit roughly.
"Shit! Let's–"
Servais never got to finish before his face was palmed, as if every stone in the world had been fused into one and hurled directly at his skull.
He was rammed into the cavern wall, and his body continued to be driven through it as if the rock were nothing but foam.
"If you keep this up, you'll be the one to suffer!" Serval hollered through the agony.
He realized, too late, that he should have expected to be her first target the moment she shot out. He was holding something directly tied to her objective; her second lieutenant's artifact.
"Hey! Hey! Don't you get it?!" he shouted through clenched teeth. "My Authority is sending all this damage back to you double! If you don't stop now– Grrryyyaaaah!!!"
His skull began to fracture within moments. And even though she should have been under twice the strain, Nithya did not so much as blink.
Cydra prepared to move, but the moment Nithya caught the shift at the edge of her vision, she was frozen.
And as the force only grew, Serval resorted to the one card he never thought he'd play.
"Alicia… is alive."
!!!
Without realizing it, Nithya had loosened her grip.
"What?"
"Well, this is quite the predicament."
Before she could respond, Nithya heard an unfamiliar voice, and every instinct she had screamed for her to move.
She dashed aside, but even then her body was riddled with small holes along with the walls behind her.
The attacks shot as countless as rain. And even when she shielded herself, they pierced through without resistance.
Her Authority was ineffective, and she couldn't sense them at all.
They were neither Authority nor Grace, and in all her years as an officer, no attack had ever felt so alien.
It only ceased once every part of her body had been successfully pierced.
And when she lowered her arms, they were gone. This time making sure to shut the rift quickly and completely.
Nithya dropped to one knee as the wounds across her body finally took their toll.
They had escaped. But if she took the criminal at his word, one of her officers was still alive.
She had also reclaimed her precious artifact, which Serval had abandoned in the chaos.
And in addition, Nithya had managed to seize the remaining hidden marbles Cydra carried, unbeknownst to her.
Upon examining them, she found several officers alive and frozen within quite a few.
She should have felt some measure of satisfaction. But instead, she couldn't escape the crushing weight of a loser.
Because now she was forced to confront the grief she had been putting off for far too long.
All hope she had clung to would have to end that day.
"Karma is dead."
It was a statement she had never wanted to acknowledge. But what else could she do when the probable truth finally cornered her?
Trying to deny it at that point wouldn't do any good.
So, with no soul to judge her, and no policy she was pressed to uphold, Nithya cried.
She wept until she could not anymore, in that unfamiliar boundary she was quite possibly trapped in.