"Erza!"
Hearing Erza's scream, Mirajane realized she was in danger and immediately tried to go help.
Bang... Bang...
A large number of magic books slammed into Mirajane.
"Weren't you supposed to be my opponent? You still have the mind to worry about that woman. She's doomed for daring to fight Kyoka-sama."
Mard Geer saw the time drastically reduced and smiled. "Well done, Kyoka! Keep going!"
Takeshi saw this and wanted to help, but having just created 3,000 Shadow Clones in one go, his magic power consumption was quite heavy, and he needed a moment to rest.
Crack!
Kyoka stomped on Erza's abdomen.
"Ugh!!!"
Erza screamed out.
One could feel the depth of her agony just from the sound.
"Armor doesn't suit you. Your body is beautiful."
As she spoke, Kyoka used her claws to strip away all of Erza's armor, not even leaving her undergarments, leaving Erza completely naked.
"This is the final ordeal for you, who are about to leave this world. Experience deeper despair, Erza. First, I will strip away your sight."
Erza's pupils shook, and then she was plunged into darkness.
"Next is touch, taste, smell, and finally, hearing. This will be the last thing you hear in this world."
"Hahahaha! With this, we have completely won! Even if I die, there is no future for you humans!"
"I won't kill you. I will make you experience a Hell more painful than death. I will keep you like this, as Tartaros-sama's toy. He will patiently dote on you every day, destroying your heart and body bit by bit. I'm so envious, hahahaha! You're happy, aren't you?! Well?! Say it! Say you are honored! Say it! Hahahahaha!"
Erza said, "How pathetic."
"Huh?! What did you say?!" Kyoka's expression changed.
"Oh, right. You can't hear."
Erza continued, "It's truly pathetic. Even though I cannot hear or see, I can feel just how pitiful you are. You have no thoughts of your own, you cannot dominate your own fate. You are like an abandoned child, only wanting to return to your mother's embrace."
Erza's words completely enraged Kyoka. "Bastard! I've changed my mind. I'm going to kill you right now!"
Kyoka's claws shot towards Erza's chest. If this strike hit, Erza would surely lose her life.
Just as Takeshi was about to intervene, Erza suddenly sidestepped, then punched Kyoka in the jaw.
"How is this possible?! You shouldn't be able to see!"
"This can't be! I've sealed all five of your senses, and I've maximized your pain using my Curse! You shouldn't be able to see me nor should you be able to hear my voice. How do you know where I am?"
Kyoka looked at Erza. At this moment, Erza's eyes were vacant, as if she hadn't heard her words. In other words, her Curse was still maintaining its intended effect on Erza.
"A lucky guess? Then die!"
Kyoka charged at Erza again, but unexpectedly, Erza also charged towards her.
A long sword appeared in Erza's hand, which she swiftly swung.
Clang!
Kyoka raised her claws to block.
Immediately after, Erza began a relentless assault, leaving Kyoka somewhat unable to keep up in her haste.
"How?! Impossible!"
As Kyoka defended, her mind was shaken. The opponent shouldn't be able to see, so why did it seem like she could, attacking so sharply that she found it hard to parry?
Squelch!
A wound was slashed onto Kyoka's body by Erza. Kyoka quickly retreated, putting distance between herself and Erza. She then saw Erza standing in place, not continuing the pursuit.
"Damn it, how is this woman detecting me?!"
Kyoka's face darkened, but she quickly realized that the other party would only counterattack when she was within a certain distance.
"In that case..."
Kyoka's claws rapidly extended and then swung swiftly.
Squelch!
"Gyaaaaaah!!!"
Erza clutched her abdomen, screaming in pain.
A smile appeared on Kyoka's face. "Just as I thought. Are you relying on a sixth sense to defend against my attacks? But the range of perception is limited. Farewell then, Erza."
Kyoka's claws rapidly extended, piercing towards Erza's body.
Just as she thought she was about to impale Erza's body—
Crack!
A stone was shattered by Kyoka's claw.
"Who is it?!"
Kyoka's expression changed drastically as she shouted loudly.
"It is I!"
Minerva appeared.
Her condition wasn't great either. She had taken Takeshi's Big Ball Rasengan head-on and was seriously injured. However, fortunately, this had also allowed her to break free from Kyoka's control.
"Minerva? It's you?! You dare betray me?!"
"Don't talk about betrayal. I was never loyal to you from the start. You killed the people of Succubus Eye and forcibly kidnapped and modified me. If not for my potential, I would have long since followed in the footsteps of those from Succubus Eye."
After regaining her senses, Minerva hated Kyoka to the core. If not for her severe injuries, she would definitely seek revenge on Kyoka.
"And because of that, you choose betrayal?"
"I said, this isn't betrayal. This is revenge!"
"Revenge? Hehehe! With just you? In that case, you and Erza can both die."
Kyoka immediately wanted to finish off Minerva.
At that moment, Mard Geer's voice echoed in Kyoka's mind.
"Kyoka! What are you dawdling for?! Ignore those guys, hurry up and accelerate the time!"
Hearing the voice, Kyoka couldn't help but look up towards the main core lacrima and her face instantly changed. The originally dense cluster of 3,000 light points representing the Faces had already disappeared by half, and the number was still continuously decreasing.
"How can this be?!"
The speed at which the Faces were being destroyed was too fast. A little longer and all the Faces would be annihilated.
"Hurry! Kyoka! Do you want all our efforts to be in vain?!"
Kyoka could no longer spare a thought for Erza. She immediately landed on the main core lacrima, exerted her power, and activated the time acceleration. The numbers grew smaller and smaller.
Minerva noticed but was powerless to stop it now.
Simultaneously, the light points representing the 'Faces' were also disappearing in large swathes, now less than a third remaining.
Seeing this, Kyoka's expression turned ugly. "Then let's see who is faster, you or me!"
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
Just as there were only about five or six hundred light points left for the Faces—
Beep! Beep!
[00:00]
The Faces were activated.
"Hahahaha! It's over! The Faces have been activated! Magic will disappear from this world! Hahahaha!" Kyoka laughed loudly.
At the same time, she felt her life force draining away. Her Curse could no longer be maintained, and the five-sense-depriving Curse she had cast on Erza was also dispelled.
Erza looked at the scene before her, her expression changing.
"In the end, we didn't make it in time?"
At that moment.
Swish!
Another light point representing a 'Face' went out.
Immediately after—
Swish! Swish! Swish...
One after another, the light points representing the 'Faces' were being extinguished, signifying one 'Face' after another being destroyed.
"No! How is this possible?! The 'Faces' should have been successfully activated! The magical power around the 'Faces' should have been neutralized. Even if the human Mages nearby aren't dead, they shouldn't be able to move or cast magic. How can they possibly continue destroying the Faces?!" Kyoka shouted incredulously.
Hearing Kyoka's words, Erza suddenly realized: the continent's magical power was to be erased, but that process took time. For instance, she could still feel magical power now.
Moreover, that effect required all 3,000 Faces. Now, with only a fifth of the Faces remaining, it would take a very long time to erase the magical power of the entire continent.
Most importantly, Takeshi was special. What Takeshi received wasn't like Mirajane or Elfman's transformations. He received characters from another world, possessing a power system from another world.
Faces could erase magical power, but they couldn't affect power from another world. In other words, Takeshi could ignore the disappearance of magic and continue destroying the Faces.