The large and wide crescent wave of water flowed toward the red-armored man; Elizabeth's vast control of water, thanks to her Elemental Spark of water and Greater Knight Exalt powers, allowed her to command the ocean itself. As the crescent wave slashed at him, the red-armored man swung his two swords in a criss-cross; the flaming white hilt spun around, releasing dense white flames along his slashes.

He invoked a spell, and balls of flames flew out from his body to bombard the waters. The crescent wave split apart and became nothing but mere drops, falling like an ordinary spring shower with rainbows forming in the air between him and Elizabeth. However, he looked shocked as the drops that fell upon him sliced at his body, drawing blood for the first time in their battle.

Elizabeth charged ahead and swung her cutlass, only to be blocked, but she smirked as the drops that fell from her cutlass formed more slashes that cut into her foe's figure. The melding of her anima into the cutlass granted her the power to transform all the droplets of water from her spells into tiny blades that cut into her enemies. It did not matter whether her enemy blocked her cutlass or destroyed her spell; the drops would continue the attack.

Realizing the horrific powers of Elizabeth's Meld Stage, the red-armored man burst with flames surrounding and forming an armor of fire. The little water slashes evaporated from the heat, and he answered in kind. With their blades locked against each other, heat rose from his two swords, distorting the air and expanding toward Elizabeth.

Although the powers of anima could not be seen with the Prinstyct, Elizabeth's instincts screamed at her to fall back. She stepped back, but some invisible heat waves touched her, and she felt her skin burning as she was cut on her shoulders, but no blood spilled as the wounds burnt instantly.

'His Meld Stage makes the heatwaves emanating from his swords into a sharp blade of their own.' Elizabeth poured water on her wounds to cool them off. Her face remained cool even through the burning pain from her shoulders.

'Each drop of water becomes a blade. How tricky.' The red-armored man narrowed his eyes under his helmet; flames still burned brightly on his armor. He raised his blades and used a spell to create large blades of flame that stretched out several meters and swung.

Elizabeth saw the heatwaves from the two large burning blades extending out further. She dodged long before the fires could reach her because the invisible heatwave blades closed in on her.

"Hmph!" The red-armored man turned his swords and changed directions toward her. He did not need to move his swords widely, only adjusted them slightly to let the large heatwave blades reach her.

Staring coldly at the heatwaves that continually chased her and at the red-armored man who leisurely twirled his swords around lightly like a composer of an orchestra playing a soft, mellow song while she moved around like a headless chicken, Elizabeth clenched her teeth with unbridled rage. This man with a lower grade-two anima dared to behave so arrogantly. She would let him know the true difference between their powers.

She clenched her sword with her hands and dashed through the air, cutting through the heatwave; the constant droplets that fell from her blade sprinkled all around her into slashes, parting the heat. She arrived before her foe in mere moments and stabbed her cutlass straight.

The heatwave became more intense the closer she got, but her endless droplets rained down on them. Elizabeth clashed against the red-armored man with a vicious smile. Her grade-seven meld powers easily overwhelmed his paltry heatwave and rained down more slashes which failed to get through his flame armor.

Heatwaves fought against water droplets. Cutlass sparked against two swords. In the end, Elizabeth overwhelmed him and cut off his arm, which became a shredded mess from the droplets.

"Kuh!" The red-armored man groaned in pain and tried to fight on, but his other arm was cut clean off and met a similar fate to the other. His figure looked weary, with no arms.

Elizabeth did not let up and slashed ahead, intent on cutting the man's legs off. She had to take this person alive to interrogate and find out everything about their operation and, most importantly, who they worked for.

As her cutlass sliced a leg off, Elizabeth heard the defeated laughing of the red-armored man. He suddenly burst into flames in front of her eyes, and his Ein spiked erratically.

"You've won. Truly a master of swordsmanship. I spent many years honing myself while progressing slowly, but it was all for naught." The red-armored man spoke as his armor melted.

"Killing yourself? I won't let you!" Elizabeth unleashed a large burst of water to wash away the flames.

"You won. But this is only the start. We have already finished our objective here. This beast tide was nothing more than a distraction. I may have lost, but the victory will belong to us. Hahaha." The red-armored man exploded.

Elizabeth cut through the explosion and closed in, but it was too late.

Elizabeth wiped her sweat from her brow and gazed at the ashes of the red-armored man; not even his armor was spared from the horrific flames that consumed their master. Her mind filled with worry about his ominous words before being engulfed in flames, a whisper that refused to go away, telling her that this was only the beginning of something more. With a forceful shaking of her head, Elizabeth tossed those words to the back of her mind for later and stared at the pulsing stone pillars, glowing with streams of Ein connecting them.

"Destroy." Elizabeth slashed a full circle of water, and every drop transformed into deadly slices, overwhelming the stone pillars and reducing them into nothing but dust from the innumerable slashes. As the pillars fell, the sandy island and the waters around it trembled as a loud groan reverberated through the ocean. She nodded in satisfaction at the desolation and turned toward the direction of Portland Island.

"Need to help with the clean up." Elizabeth burst ahead, flying so fast the waters underneath parted into waves. She could only pray that Little Em, the others, and Portland Island were still fighting on. "Please be alive."

…….

The battle at Portland Island raged on as they continued to fight for their homes and lives. Celestina breathed heavily. Despite her use of 'Ein Awaken' and the short rest in between each battle, the continuous fighting had taken its toll on her.

An Exalt Beast crept up behind and opened its jaw.

"Sister!" Charles charged in and sliced the beast apart. His face no longer held the same calm he usually had but exhibited the ordeals they had gone through. How many beasts have they killed? So many, yet they were neverending.

"Charles, if the situation gets too bad. Flee." Celestina clasped her brother's shoulder and stared dead into him.

"But!"

"That…is…an order." Celestina turned around and fought with her dragon anima. She refused to give up here.

"Report! Another wave of Exalt Beasts is coming!" A scout relayed the situation to her.

"Damn." Celestina panted. Was Portland doomed to fall here? She gripped her rapier to the point of drawing blood, but a glimmer of hope finally showed itself.

"The Exalt Beasts are acting strange…." She saw the Exalt Beasts before her shake around as though struggling with something until they stared blankly around as though they were lost.

"Update! The incoming waves have retreated! They've scattered and are going back into the depths!" Another scout shouted.

"How is this possible?" Philip looked confused.

"No time to figure that out!" Eleanor shouted. "Keep fighting!"

"The situation is still bad," Serena threw her two axes.

"Thank goodness." Celestina looked relieved, with tears streaming from her eyes. She quickly wiped her tears and stared with fierce eyes. She turned to the scouts. "Relay this to all battlefields. The beast tide had stopped. These monsters here are the only ones left. Tell them to hold on."

The scouts bowed and sprinted off.

Celestina laughed and fought with renewed hope. Charles, Phillip, Serena, and Eleanor rushed out with her.

In the Knight Exalt battlefield, Robert decimated his foe, leaving only squished remains. He chuckled at the Exalt Beasts in the distance that scurried away from Portland Island. Many Knight Exalts were exhausted, so he held back as many Knight Exalt Beasts as possible.

"Hold on!" Robert shouted. "Hope has been rekindled!"

"UOOOOOO!" The others shouted in response.

Rufus laughed with tears in his eyes, choking through some blood. The fearsome foe in front of him was riddled with wounds. "Portland Island shall not fall! Do not let these beasts pass to our homes and families!"

The fighting grew more fierce as the humans fought with all their strength, with a vision of victory. The confused Exalt Beasts, freed from the pillar's effects, staggered but regained their ferocity and fought back. Despite their newfound hope, the defenders fell one by one as they were still outnumbered.

But at the late hour of the day, the sound of a horn reverberated from a distance. In the skies above, three massive airships bearing the draconic flag of the empire appeared from the clouds.

"Look!" Someone called out. Tears streamed from his eyes. "Reinforcements! Our long-suffering is over! Look up at the skies and see our salvation."

"Took them a while," Celestina grumbled while being carried by Charles. She had overdone it and could not move.

Atop the main airship, soldiers clad in armor stared down at the horrific bloody waters around Portland Island. An eerie silence enveloped the air. They made their way over with no rest, exhausting a lot of Ein.

"Soldiers! Our brethren have suffered long enough. Let our blood be mixed into the waters. No fear. No retreat. We fight!" The commander shouted, and the armies leaped down at his command to join the battle.

The overwhelming power of the reinforcements washed over the beast tide and relieved the brave defenders of Portland Island. Valiantly, they fought for their fallen, not allowing a single Exalt Beast to escape the fury of the Brilliant Drake Empire.

By nightfall, peace returned to Portland Island, but the red waters, a reminder of the battle, remained for all to see and weep for those whose lives were lost.