Three detonations resound across the empty streets, one after another. The first two spheres pop when they’re shorn through by Chie’s chakrams, two small explosions that leave behind wispy trails of black smoke. Crystal handles the third, the last blast ringing out as her weapon collides with the projectile, leaving her injured for her trouble.

The Void is in far worse shape though. When Aoife demands that it kneel the monster has little choice in the mater, the jet of water channeled by the newly arrived Ars Magi striking its leg and sheering through its dark flesh with the sheer force of the current. The creature pitches forward, brought low from the powerful blow.

Its arm rises again, slowly, and slower still as Chie’s magic begins to take effect. The weight of gravity bears down on the Void, gripping and holding it tight as the seconds tick by. Long enough for Crystal to engage it, her sword thrusting deep into the spindly monster’s core. Frost quickly begins to form and blanket the tall monster’s dark form, and soon it’s entombed in a shell of ice, frozen from the core outward. 

And when Selma arrives it shatters, fracturing into frozen chunks when the green-haired girl collides with it. 

“Gottem!” The blonde girl, Noel, announces with a pump of her armored fist.  

This time it doesn’t reform. There’s a few seconds of pregnant silence before an operator’s voice crackles to life in Aoife’s ear: “Spike is gone. Nox levels are dropping—diffusers are back online. You’re clear.” The message comes through to the rest of the girls and their original operators soon after, once radio channels are switched over.