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"Crystal!"

Chie arrived at the base of the tower, relief washing over her when she saw one of her fellow Ars Magi safe. Chie couldn't stop the oncoming smile on her face, saying "Thanks goodness you're okay... When I saw that explosion-" with her sentence left unfinished. The cause, of course, being the loud crash that occurred behind her. Chie turned and readied for battle. On instinct she re-summoned her gladius, the ambient Nox gathering in her hands to form her two Chakrams. Good thing that she had a moment to do so, as the void was busy repairing its damaged limbs.

[i]"This thing... Earlier, the way it attacked..."[/i] Chie's thoughts began to race, adrenaline pumping through her as she readied for the inevitable split-second reaction that she would need to follow up with. The void conjured up an attack; three balls of Nox in a volley. Chie's focus sharpened. She tossed her chakrams, one and two, to intercept the balls. Unfortunately, two is still lesser than three. Even when Chie hit had her two targets head-on, causing a shockwave mid-air, she couldn't take care of the third.

It was a small blessing, then, that she had Crystal there to help block the last. Well, as much of a blessing as going up close to intercept it could be. "Crystal!" Chie worriedly yelled as the other girl had gotten scarily close to the blast radius. Chie didn't have the time to worry, though. She had to focus on the target, already readying another attack. Chie tried recalling her chakrams, but they were too far away. The world had slowed down for her when she'd realised that fact. It was going to take no more than a split second for the next volley to be readied... and Chie, without her chakrams, would be unable to block it. All she could do was brace herself for the coming impact.

But that impact never came. Chie watched in awe as a new Ars Magi, one she'd never met before, leapt out of an alleyway and took care of the problem before it could [i]become[/i] a problem. Chie caught her returning chakrams safely, then continued to observe. The lightning-coated magi called for a certain Aoife to join the fray and join the fray she did. With a veritable ocean of water conjured around her, Aoife was floating in the air. This Aoife bent the water around her, a thread separating itself from the mass to be used as a weapon to-

[i]"...Focus! This is your chance,"[/i] Chie chastised herself to snap out of her daydreaming. She turned her focus back on the void. Chie figured she could hurl her chakrams at it again, but that regeneration was a problem. The other magi were doing a good enough job cutting off its limbs already, Chie wouldn't be much help there. No, what Chie needed to do wasn't aim for the kill. It was something else. She breathed in, feeling the ambient Nox in the area course through the gem lodged into her body. [i]"One more time... just like before,"[/i] Chie steeled herself as she reached out her hand: First an open palm, then a clutched fist. As Chie closed her hand, the area around the void began to heavy. The movement of its (and, by virtue of proximity, the lightning magi's) limbs slowed down; the very ground beneath the creature pulling on it to pin it to the concrete below. The monster could put up a bit of resistance at first, but it would find it harder and harder as Chie's magic continued to grow in strength. The flipside of that coin was that this particular spell acted more like a grapple; she needed to maintain her hold at all times unless Chie intended to let the creature to break free.

A feat made exponentially harder by the pain coursing through her back, hitting her like a recursive brick at the worst possible time. "Attack it... while I've... got it locked up!" Chie's strained voice called out to... well, anyone who had the ability to follow up, really. She couldn't exactly turn her sights away from the target, finding herself equally brought down to her knees from the effort she needed to put in.