THE LESSER RAKSHASA THAT NOBUNAGA released using the power of Vishendu easily towered all of them. It was so large that even Ashe’s azure bird form was just as big as the lesser Rakshasa’s head.

“You have got to be kidding me,” said Silver.

“H-How are we exactly gonna deal with that thing?” asked Cobalt.

“If you two really want to help, then listen carefully and do as we say,” said Miho.

Cobalt and Silver nodded.

The rakshasa exhaled a black flame that almost engulfed all seven of them. But Melody and Ashe extended their arms and an invisible barrier blocked the flame.

“Who’s out of mana?!” asked Ashe.

Pirouette extended her arms as well. She could feel the mana inside the barrier and absorbed them.

“Thanks! I could use some mana right now,” said Pirouette in gratitude.

As soon as the black flame subsided, Nobunaga swooped in and took Melody, separating her from the rest.

“Melody!!” Ashe shouted.

“Ashe! Focus on your twelve!” said Miho.

The rakshasa was now baring its fangs at them.

“Let’s deal with that giant cat first before we worry about Melody. She can take care of herself,” said Pirouette.

“You know the drill!” shouted Miho. “Expose its heart, then crush it. And you two---”

Cobalt and Silver jolted.

“---focus on hitting its head.”

“Piro, Miho, focus on healing your wounds first. Join us when you two are ready,” Ashe suggested.

“No worries. This will only take a few seconds,” said Miho who then sat down, crosses her legs, closed her eyes, and focused.

Pirouette did the same.

Ashe, Catriona, Cobalt, and Silver charged towards the lesser rakshasa.

* * * * *

Nobunaga dropped Melody not too far away from the rest.

“Come on, Melody. Let’s cut to the chase!” Nobunaga taunted. “Show me the power of an enlightened one!”

“No need to ask. I was planning on going all-out on you anyway!” she replied.

Melody’s limbs started to glow. Bright pink patterns --- mehndi --- swirled all over them.

Melody instantly appeared in front of Nobunaga and released a straight punch. Nobunaga blocked her attack but he was still knocked back.

Melody launched herself towards Nobunaga and followed up with a barrage of punches and kicks, all being blocked by Nobunaga. She managed to bypass Nobunaga’s defense and touched him on his chest.

The pink glass-like object started to surround Nobunaga, but he quickly reacted and flew up in the air. He then landed far away from Melody.

“Using your ace when I am not even at your required threshold yet,” said Nobunaga.

“And yet you escaped. Not confident enough?” Melody taunted.

Melody charged towards Nobunaga. As if he was waiting, Nobunaga suddenly dropped to one knee and touched the ground. A large magic circle appeared.

“Let’s try the power of Saravati then!” Nobunaga shouted. “Terraneum Mutacis!”

Melody leaped into the air just in time as the ground suddenly turned into a sea of lava. Before she dropped to the lake of lava, Melody created a column made of the same pink glass-like object where she could stand.

“How convenient...” muttered Nobunaga.

The mehndi on Melody's limbs started to cover her whole body.

“Should I wait until you finally activate your enlightenment?”

“You’re gonna regret it.”

After a few more seconds, Melody’s whole body became covered with mehndi. A cloak of pinkish mana engulfed her, making her long hair float and sway as if she was underwater.

* * * * *

The group fighting the rakshasa was not having it any better. The rakshasa was way too big that their attack doesn’t seem to work. It was making its flame-like mane intensify that it radiated too much heat, making it difficult for everyone to hit its weak spot.

Meanwhile, Alloy and the rest couldn’t do anything but watch from afar.

“I am totally leaving this place once this is over,” said Alloy.

“Count us in,” said Lea and Nick.

Cobalt and Silver focused on the rakshasa’s head just like Miho told them. Every blow they dealt with the rakshasa made it stagger, but only for a short while.

Even though they can still move fast, their weight was still making it difficult for them to move constantly, especially when they need to jump or leap to hit the rakshasa's face. The heat coming from it was not helping either.

Ashe transformed into her azure bird-human hybrid form and uses her sharp talons to scratch the back of the rakshasa.

Miho used her sharp claws and tails imbued with mana to cut and slash the rakshasa while Pirouette focuses on one of the rakshasa’s forelimbs hitting it with her mana-imbued punches and kicks.

Catriona used her Blade Magic to summon daggers and swords to stab and slash the lesser rakshasa, but the flame-like mane was protecting it.

“It’s no use! This thing wouldn’t budge!” shouted Cobalt.

The rakshasa continued to roar, slash, and stomp them with its claws and paws.

“Screw its head! Come on, Cobalt!”

“Silver! What are you doing?!”

Silver changed his stance and dropped on all four. He released more mana and transformed even further. Iron scaled tail appeared on his rear, spines protruding on his back, and he started to look…more like a lizard --- an iron scaled iguana.

“I don't know how will this help at all!!” Cobalt followed Silver and went on all four. He also released more mana and transformed. Frills appeared on his neck, making him look like a frilled-neck lizard.

“Pin down the left paw, I got the right,” Said Silver.

“You got it!”

They charged towards the rakshasa. Despite their weight, they managed to gain momentum, even leaped to the air at the same time, and landed on the paws of the rakshasa, causing it to sink to the ground and carve a crater.

The rakshasa howled in pain as it got hit by the two. It managed to stand on its hind legs, sending the two iron-scaled lizards flying.

Ashe took this opportunity and transformed into a full azure bird form and swooped down the rakshasa. With her huge talons, it hit the face of the rakshasa, making it lose balance and fall on its back.

Catriona was already waiting for the rakshasa. The rakshasa was panicking, losing the integrity of its mane. Using her Blade Magic, she created two giant blades that impaled the rakshasa as it fell exactly to an exposed area --- through the shoulders.

The rakshasa howled in pain even louder.

The pain made the rakshasa lose focus and exposed its weak spot --- its chest where there was less flame-like fur.

Miho ran toward the rakshasa. With enough momentum, Miho curled herself into a ball and spun. Her mana-imbued tails were sharp enough that they sliced straight as she went through the abdomen of the rakshasa.

A black fountain of blood gushed out from the rakshasa.

“Together!!” Miho shouted.

She and Cobalt pulled the skin on the left side of the rakshasa while Silver and Catriona pulled the one on the right side, exposing its huge golden heart.

Ashe flew high above with Pirouette on her back.

As Pirouette jumped and descended, she imbued her whole body with mana in a form of a raging blue flame.

Pirouette hits the heart of the rakshasa and the ground around them cratered.

Melody was already in that form, but Nobunaga, who already got three Ishvaran mana and was in his pseudo-Rakhanos form easily managed to fight head-to-head with her.

With Melody’s form, she was able to withstand any terrain that Nobunaga created --- lake of lava, subzero wasteland, acid swamp, and even a landscape of intense gravity. She was also able to take more hits without caring for any damages.

But Nobunaga has more aces on his sleeves. From Saravati’s mana, the Ishvara of Knowledge, Nobunaga switched to Pashapura’s, the Ishvara of Beast, which granted him inhuman strength and near-invulnerability to magic and power.

The two of them exchanged blows, both not even bothering to block the others’ attacks.

However, Nobunaga, on his pseudo-Rakhanos form, combined with Pashapura's mana, gained the upper hand and managed to overpower Melody.

With a decisive strike, Melody was sent flying back.

Melody dropped on her knee and reverted to her original form.

Nobunaga laughed hysterically. “Face it, Melody. There’s nothing that can stop me from fulfilling my destiny! One way or another, I will be able to collect all twelve Ishvaran mana! And once I do, I will resurrect them!”

“Okay,” Melody replied.

“E-Eh? O-Okay?” Nobunaga stopped laughing and responded in confusion.

“You win this time. But let me just say one thing. It doesn’t matter if you succeed in resurrecting the general of the Avarice Army, because you are all still destined to be defeated,” Melody stood up. “And that’s one prophecy I believe in.”

Nobunaga’s smile disappeared. “I just planned on toying with all of you. But I think I’ll just kill you all.”

As soon as Nobunaga approached Melody, a wall of the pink glass-like object appeared between them. More appeared on all sides --- below, above, on either side, and behind him --- effectively trapping him inside a pink glass-like box.

“Now you are just being desperate, Melody. You already witnessed that no power or magic works on me when I use Pashapura’s mana. And I can easily escape this box using Vishendu’s power. I never expected to see you this low.”

“How ‘bout we put that to a test?” Melody said as she looked at something behind Nobunaga.

As soon as Nobunaga looked behind, a floating pink orb that has cracks all over it breaks and exploded.

* * * * *

The explosion was being contained by the box of the pink glass-like object, but not for too long.

Melody escaped from the proximity.

Cracks appeared from the box and soon, the explosion caused the box to shatter, releasing the strong explosion that was heard and visible all over Pit Valley and nearby kingdoms.

The explosion caused a tower of dust and smoke, a dome of a shockwave that traveled several hundreds of kilometers away, and heat that radiated all over Pit Valley.

Melody managed to protect herself by covering herself with several layers of the pink glass-like box that shattered one by one until only one remained which was filled with cracks.

Miho, Ashe, Pirouette, and Catriona all extended their arms which created an invisible barrier that prevented the shockwave and heat from affecting them.

Alloy, still having a little bit of mana left, creating a light barrier, a Testudo Lux, which protected her and the rest of the bandits.

The remaining members of the Pit Valley Bandits were protected by a Testudo Lux back at their hideout as well thanks to Alloy.

And all around the Pit Valley, the shockwave and heat reached several countries. Houses made of light materials were destroyed. Even buildings made of bricks and stone almost collapsed. Hundreds, if not, thousands of people were injured. Luckily, no one died.

It took several minutes before the explosion completely subsided. And as soon as it did, Melody went to the crater to see if Nobunaga was still there. The ground zero was carved with a vast crater, several meters deep with no sign of Nobunaga.

Miho and the rest approached her while Cobalt and Silver returned to Alloy and everyone.

“Melody, w-what was that?” asked Ashe.

“Damn. I should have saved that sphere of black flame if I knew that it was that strong,” Melody replied.

“W-Wait. You mean t-that’s how strong it was?” asked Catriona.

“I had no idea. I just used it against him.”

“Where is he now?”

Melody shrugged and shook her head. She then sat down and lay on the ground.

“I’m beat. I want to sleep. Wake me up when he’s done collecting all Ishvaran mana.”

Cobalt and the rest of the Pit Valley Bandits approached them.

“Anyone of you care to explain what the hell just happened?” asked Silver.

Cobalt elbowed him. “What my brother is trying to say is thank you for saving us and for dealing with that person who killed our friends.”

Miho faced them. “Nobunaga is far from being dealt with. And we're sorry for your loss.”

“So who is that Nobunaga? And why did he kill our friends?”

“He’s a dangerous man who will stop at nothing just to get what he wants,” said Ashe.

“He’s a psychopath,” Catriona added.

“As for your friends, we are sorry we couldn't save them. Nobunaga would kill anyone. He doesn't care about the life of others,” said Miho.

Melody got up. “We can talk about this later. For now, let’s take care of that rakshasa. We don’t want people scavenging that carcass.”

“What even is that thing?”

“That's a rakshasa. They are an ancient race of parasitic and malevolent creatures that once fought the Ishvaras,” Miho explained

“But that's nothing. Probably one of the weakest among them,” Ashe added.

“You're telling that that monster is just, what, the tip of the iceberg?”

“That's not even part of the iceberg.”

* * * * *

Melody used her power to engulf the carcass of the rakshasa in the pink glass-like object. She then shattered the glass along with the carcass.

Catriona contacted the Supreme Council in the Aeternas Kingdom which immediately sent people to the Pit Valley.

Melody and her friends went to the camp of the Pit Valley Bandits where they rested as they waited for the Supreme Council delegates.

Despite the distance, the people from the Supreme Council only took two hours to arrive in Pit Valley from the Aeternas Kingdom using their highly advanced airship vehicles.

Several magic-users scattered all over the battlefield in the Pit Valley to ensure that no remaining essence and mana from the rakshasa lingered. Magic healers were dispersed all over the affected countries, attending to the injured. More mages assisted in fixing up the houses, buildings, roads, and other architectures and infrastructures ravaged by the shockwave.

However, knowledge about the rakshasas was not common and only a handful of groups of people knows about them. Thus, the Supreme Council covered up the existence of the rakshasa and watered down the explosion caused by Nobunaga’s power as a Rakhanos.

The cover-up ultimately worked and the countries around the Pit Valley bought the idea that the valley was but a dormant volcano that erupted violently after centuries of being bottled up.

Soon, this event will be known as the Pit Valley Incident.

* * * * *

The delegates of the Supreme Council also helped the Pit Valley Bandits by giving them first aid, food, and temporary shelter away from the Pit Valley.

It took a few days for the Supreme Council mages to completely cleanse the area of the essence and mana of the rakshasa, but the effects of the battle have already made the Pit Valley inhospitable.

Now that the Pit Valley Bandits can no longer live in the Pit Valley, they were offered to live on the Aeternas Kingdom personally by Melody.

Cobalt was reluctant to accept the offer. After all, he made a promise to a friend of his that they will meet again.

“And who is this friend of yours?”

“He’s an elf from Maria Island. His name is Daisuke,” said Cobalt, much to Melody’s surprise.