The black balls grew to the size of small cars before they fired towards the group who fired their orbs in response. When the orbs collided in the middle of the battlefield, the force created a shockwave that kicked up dust and debris and ripped up the grass below the collision. After a few moments of dazzling lights, the particles all faded away, leaving a deep scar in the ground between them. The group fanned out a little bit while each side stared each other down. Gatrie was the first to react as he started firing bolts rapidly at Selena. Black balls instantly formed behind her and flew out to counter his shots, catching them in midair. Then Sam attacked her from the other side with a similar attack, but more balls were created behind Selena to fend off these too. Perceval unleashed his attacks as well from straight in front of her, yet again, she just made more of her own. The ground rattled from all the explosions which quickly created a semicircle on the ground as it connected with the original groove.
Tana was the first to charge in with her shamshir. She closed the distance in an instant with her sword in a high arc, but when she brought it down, Selena caught the tip of the blade with a magik-covered hand. Gwen, seeing an opening, moved in from the other side with a claw of magik to try to slice Selena's side. Yet, while Selena was still firing bolts from behind her and holding Tana's blade, she also grabbed Gwen's outstretched wrist.
Selena jeered, "So this was your plan? Try to attack me from all angles? Tsk, tsk, you underestimate me." A wave of black magik pulsed out from her body, throwing Gwen and Tana into the air and shoving the others back a few feet. When Gwen and Tana landed, their bodies landed with thuds, but they quickly got to their feet, ready to attack again.
"She's right," Perceval agreed as his body began to glow, "It's time we start taking this seriously." By the time he was finished, his body had transformed into his true form. With a wave of his hand, a thousand green needles flew towards Selena so fast she barely had time to react. She blocked her face and chest but was still driven back several feet. While she was still reeling, Gwen surged forward in her true form as well and clawed across Selena's arms. It left deep scratches in her armor, but they weren't deep enough to cut through to her exoskeleton. Tana also struck Selena with her sword and managed to cut a chunk of her armor off before she and Gwen retreated back. Gatrie brought down lightning from above which collided with another massive pulse of magik from Selena, who bared her teeth as she stared back at the group.
When the pulse hit the group this time, everyone, in their true forms, barely moved an inch. Once it passed, they all created hundreds of orbs behind their backs and fired them in rapid succession at Selena. She shoved her hands forward again to create a wall of Void magik which blocked all the orbs. Then out of her hands came two beams of black and silver magik. Gatrie and Perceval fired beams as well that intercepted Selena's beams and kept them at bay initially. Meanwhile, Sam had soared into the air and began firing bolts from above that rained down on Selena. However, she outstretched her second set of arms and released two beams from those hands to pick off the torrent of bolts. Seeing that all four of her hands were busy, Gwen sped in and launched a fist straight into Selena's torso. When the fist connected, a cracking sound could be heard. Yet she was too happy about landing a blow that she didn't see Selena's leg pop up and stab Gwen in the stomach, straight through her armor. With a light flick, Gwen was sent flying backwards as blood spurted out of her open wound.
Selena hissed, "One down, four to go." As Gwen lay bleeding on the ground, her true form was receding. She stabbed herself with the emergency healing potion before her eyes rolled back in her head. Tana roared before dashing in and slashing across Selena's torso, creating a shrieking sound as the sword cut through the armor and left a deep visible gash. Selena tried to kick her, but Tana was prepared after seeing what had happened to Gwen. The leg connected with the sword but still sent her skidding back at least thirty feet. The chest piece Selena was wearing fell down to the ground, revealing an exoskeleton with a deep cut and spiderweb cracking in the center. Green blood trickled down onto the ground as Selena gritted her teeth. The beams from both sides died down as they all caught their breath except Perceval who stood tall and unwavering. Blood was dripping out of Gatrie, Sam, and Tana's nose, indicating they had already started to succumb to magik poisoning.
"Well, you all have started to take this seriously, I see," Selena growled, "Then perhaps it is time for me to do the same." She roared before her body began to shimmer with black, green, and silver highlights. Then streaks of green and silver wrapped around her body like a candy cane while three more sets of eyes appeared on her forehead. From her waist, she drew two sickle-looking weapons, and a creepy smile grew across her lips. Then, in a flash, she disappeared from view.
Tana barely reacted in time to block Selena's sickles, but the hook of the blade caught Tana's sword and sent it flying out of her reach. A swift kick from Selena connected with Tana's ribs, creating a popping sound as the force made her tumble backwards. Gatrie released another beam of lightning from his palm, but it only caused Selena to pause for a moment. Luckily, that was all Tana needed to roll away towards her sword. Unfortunately, Selena pounced and pierced her legs through Tana's wrists and ankles. As she was raising her sickles, Perceval dashed forward and shoved Selena hard, forcing her to take a few steps back and freeing Tana. Despite being free from Selena, Tana struggled to move and coughed up blood while she crawled out of the fray.
"For all the magik you used in that push, shouldn't you have moved me more?" Selena cackled in a distorted voice, "If that was all you can muster, you've already lost this fight."
Perceval grunted, "Don't count us out yet. I've still got plenty of fuel left to go." He extended one hand towards the ground, causing a thick wooden staff to rise from the ground. The other hand pointed towards Selena and caused vines to shoot from the ground to attempt to bind her legs and spider body. Gatrie and Sam each shot out beams of magik that hit Selena's bare chest, but she hardly winced when they hit her. In response, she launched four beams back at the pair, quickly overwhelming them. Sam was lucky and managed to dodge the beam, but Gatrie wasn't as fast. The beam punched a hole through his right shoulder and made him collapse to his knees.
Running forward, Perceval swung out his staff which Selena blocked with both her sickles. Sam joined him and tried to kick Selena's side, but Selena countered the foot with her metal arm, bending in an awkward way. Flying up, Sam then tried to punch Selena directly in the head, yet the metal arm contorted in a strange way again, landing a punch directly in Sam's stomach. It sounded like a cannon explosion and sent her flying back fifty feet until she skidded to a stop.
"Looks like you're the last one standing," Selena hissed at Perceval, "You're certainly a cut above the children, but you won't last long either now that you're alone."
"We shall see. I will not lose so easily," Perceval replied through gritted teeth. He unbound his staff from her sickles and smacked one of the hands holding them, causing her grip to fail and the sickle to clatter to the ground. With lightning precision, he hooked the other sickle and knocked it from her hand before following up with a clean strike to her cheek. The blow made her reel slightly while the binding holding her snapped. He didn't relent as he continued to jab her torso, driving her back a foot at a time. After the fifth or sixth blow, she managed to catch the staff with two hands. Instead of taking it from him outright, she spun away, trying to fling him while he still held onto the staff. However, his grip remained firm as he clutched it tighter. As he landed on solid ground again, vines sprung up and wrapped around his feet. He whipped the staff around and tried to remove Selena's grip. The two continued to swap positions as they wrestled. Suddenly, the staff shrank to a foot long, slipping right out of Selena's hands which caused her to fall forward.
Perceval took advantage of the slip and threw his knee directly into Selena's torso. It shot her back a few feet, but a drop of blood dripped out of his nose. He brushed it away as his staff returned to its normal length. Then he lunged forward and struck her wounds again, causing more green blood to ooze from her stomach. She hissed and grabbed the end of the pole again but yanked it forward this time instead of twisting it. As Perceval lurched towards her, Selena readied her fist and punched him square in the jaw. While he flew back, vines caught him and cushioned his fall. Still, she had knocked him back twenty feet with a single good punch.
Selena didn't let him rest and quickly scurried on top of him. She tried to hit him on the ground, but vines grew out of the ground and wrapped around her extended fist. He balled up his legs and kicked up against her spider body, sending her up five feet, while he rolled away and stood up. Blood trickled out of his nose, his ears, and the corner of his mouth. Even with his infinite stamina and magik in this form, he was using up his energy faster than his body could handle.
Sam stirred slightly and saw the tell-tale signs of magik poisoning affecting Perceval. She closed her eyes and cried into the void, "Emory, come quickly! Perceval is losing the fight against the Laxtros!" Opening her eyes again, she tried to get to her feet, but the blow to her stomach had done a lot of internal damage. Her consciousness was fading fast as she leaned back on the grass. Just before she passed out, she tried to call out to Emory again in her mind, "Emory, where are you?"
Selena sneered as she landed back on the ground and looked over Perceval, "You're almost all used up. Why don't you just surrender and tell me where the red-haired girl is? If you comply, I'll let you live."
"Not a chance," Perceval huffed, "I've still got plenty of fight left in me."
In an instant, she moved next to Perceval and gripped him tightly around the throat. He struggled as she held him off the ground slightly and squeezed like a vice. With both legs, he kicked off of her chest and finally broke free from her grasp. She stumbled a few feet back as he slammed into the ground. Slowly he got to his feet, but Selena recovered first and punched his stomach with two fists. The blows knocked him back on the ground, and she rushed over the top of him, stabbing her leg through his shoulder and pinned him to the ground.
"You were good, but not good enough," Selena gloated as she stuck another leg through his chest. He coughed up some blood, but a smile slowly grew on his face. "What are you smiling about?" Selena roared, "You're about to die! All of you lost!"
Perceval chuckled, "Not before you do." Selena hissed and raised her fist up to finish Perceval.