Peace Conference III

After Zeno suddenly appeared out of nowhere and boldly announced his presence on the ground between Katerea and Azazel with his hands on his hips. The descendant of Leviathan merely turned her disdainful gaze towards him while the Governor General smirked in amusement.

"I don't know who you are or what you think you are doing here, but you made a grave mistake if you thought you could get in my way without any consequence!"

Katerea said with a sneer before she pointed her magic staff at Zeno as a magic circle materialized on the tip of the staff before a dark serpentine beam shot towards him.

"Whoa~!"

Zeno swiftly jumped back as he dodged the beam, which ended up hitting the ground in the place he previously stood, causing a big explosion and blowing up a cloud of dust. 

"My turn...!"

Zeno said while activating his Touki before the black-purplish aura emitting from his body, then he moved at great speed and lunged at Katerea, who was in the air with his right arm arch back and fist clenching, ready to introduce her to true equality. 

"What...?!"

Katerea's eyes widen in surprise at Zeno's unexpectedly great speed. She is barely able to react as she raises her staff to defend herself with a barrier spell that she fortunately manages to conjure up in time before Zeno's Touki-infused fist collides with her barrier spell.

"Nghh?!"

The barrier only managed to last for one second before it was shattered as Zeno's fist continued to hit her magic staff, causing her to fly backward from the impact. However, this wasn't enough to injure her, as the barrier reduced the force of his casual punch by half.

Well, he obviously is not going to go all out here, as there are too many eyes watching him..

Katerea quickly regained her posture and prepared to counterattack him with a dark serpentine beam if he continued to attack her. Her arms and hands still feel a bit numb after that punch she blocked.

"You... I had underestimated you."

She muttered as she looked at Zeno, who started falling to the ground with caution. His physical strength made her wary of fighting him in close quarters.

Zeno smirked underneath his SS suit as he landed softly on the ground in a crouching position while the black-purplish aura distorted the space around him, creating quite a menacing sight.

Katerea narrowed her eyes behind her glasses as she decided to take him more seriously and conjured up six magic circles to prepare for his next move. 

"Hey now, no need to be so wary; I'm just a normal bounty hunter who is also now a part-time security guard, you know?"

He looked up at the fully alert Katerea and said it with amusement in his tone before getting up slowly as he pretended to pat the nonexistent dust off of his body.

Azazel, on the other hand, was intrigued by the unique aura that clad Zeno's body. It feels like a Touki aura to him, but it is also very dense and heavy compared to the usual Touki he knows.

"Is it some kind of technique based on Touki?"

Azazel muttered with curiosity as he observed Zeno's aura while holding his chin in a universal thinking pose.

"Governor General, you can leave her to me and return to the conference room; this is what they are paying me for."

Zeno turned back to look up at Azazel as he told him to fall back and leave the fighting to him while also being mindful of Katerea, who might attack him at any moment.

"What? But would it be easier if we ganged up on her?"

Azazel raised his eyebrows as he wondered why Zeno wanted to fight Katerea alone rather than double-team her with him.

"If I let the people who I suppose to protect fight with me, then my rep will take a hit, you know?"

Zeno quickly thought up an excuse as he shook his head in a helpless manner while explaining to Azazel that his reputation, which he depends on in his line of work, will drop if he doesn't do his job properly.

"Just leave the fighting to me."

Zeno needs some privacy to prolong the fight between him and Katerea so he can clone her without someone, or, to be specific, someone named Azazel, who might interfere with the cloning process.

"But can you defeat her alone, though?"

Azazel questions him with a doubtful expression, and Zeno just shrugs his shoulders with a hidden, annoyed expression underneath his SS suit. Why can't you just go already? Zeno thought.

"If I am about to lose, then you can just join in to help so my rep will not take too much damage."

He sighed and then tried to convince Azazel again.

"Well, suit yourself."

Azazel nodded, finally giving up on fighting Katerea with Zeno, and then turned back, his black wings fluttering slightly, before he flew back to the conference room through the hole that they first came out of.

"Finally..."

Zeno muttered in relief as Azazel finally went away before he turned back to Katerea, who wisely chose not to interrupt them so she would not get ganged up on.

"Well then..."

Zeno muttered as he approached Katerea with calculating steps, now that he sensed the immense power radiating from her body. It looks like she already used Ophis' snake to boost her power before she arrived. He will have to be careful of her beams since he is not sure how much they can actually harm him.

With a calm demeanor, he prepares himself for battle as his body bulks up suddenly and a demon face starts to form on his back. The coat he wore ended up torn to pieces from his bulging muscles, and his physical abilities multiplied numerous times.

"You fool, do you think you can win without Azazel around?"

Katerea sneered while she pointed her magic staff at him, not seeming to be concerned about his transformation. Then immediately, the magic circles light up before dark beams shoot towards him from the six magic circles. Zeno's eyes narrowed as he watched the dark beams coming towards him.

As the dark beams approached, Zeno quickly acted. He leaped backward and did a backflip in the air, avoiding the first two beams that hit the place he was earlier, and when he landed on his feet, he saw the other dark beams coming towards him in four directions.

With a display of unnatural agility, he dodged the four beams in bizarre movements, like he had no bones inside his body before he jumped away to the left as he dodged the last beam that missed him by hair's breadth. The four missed beams hit the ground far away in four directions, causing quite a big explosion.

Zeno landed gracefully on his feet, his eyes focused on Katerea, who was floating in the air with a frustrated expression since all the beams didn't even manage to graze him.

"Care to try again?"

Zeno mocks her with a playful voice as he tilts his head while gesturing for her to "bring it" with his hand.

"I kill you...!"

Katerea got so mad at being ridiculed by Zeno that she conjured up many magic circles around her as they aimed at him. Zeno's eyes narrowed as he watched the magic circles light up around Katerea.

"Heh, bring it on."

He chuckled as he prepared himself for whatever attack she was about to launch at him. Then, without delay, Katerea unleashed a powerful beam from all the magic circles that were surrounding her, aiming straight for Zeno. The numerous beams were fast and contained a massive amount of energy thanks to Ophis' snake power boost, but it was still the same old beam attack.

Zeno remained calm as he saw many dark beams heading towards him. He then quickly sidestepped to the side as the first beam missed him by a hair's breadth, followed by a backflip as he avoided another beam, and then he jumped up again before he spun his body in mid-air to dodge the beams. When he finally landed on his feet, he immediately ran, as too many beams were coming straight towards him.

The beams kept missing him because of his speed and agility, causing many explosions behind his trail as he ran.

"Grrr...!"

Katerea was surprised and frustrated that Zeno was able to dodge all her beams so easily. She wasn't expecting him to be this slippery and fast with his large, bulky body. She gritted her teeth, feeling the anger boiling inside her. 

"You think you can dodge forever?!"

Katerea said with a snarl, her face morphing to become more serpentine. Then, she started channeling more of her demonic power into her magic circles to launch more powerful and faster beams at Zeno.

Seeing that it might become too troublesome to keep dodging all the beams of Katerea, Zeno decisively decided to change tactics.

"Wait!! Did I ever tell you about the definition of insanity?!"

"Huh??"

Zeno suddenly yelled out and caught her off guard, making her pause and look at him with confusion. Seeing that he was successful in distracting her, Zeno smirked secretly underneath his SS suit and continued to speak.

"The definition of insanity is-"

But he was interrupted by a powerful beam that shot at him as he swiftly leaned his body to the side, unnaturally, to dodge the beam without falling to the ground.

Katerea, with a deadpan expression, conjures up even more magic circles, as she is not going to listen to his nonsense for no reason in the middle of the fight.

"How rude..."

Zeno smiled wryly with a bit of disappointment that Katerea was not going to play along and listen to his random "definition of insanity" rant. He now knew how Vaas felt.

"Oh well, do it, White Dream."

Zeno muttered with a hidden smirk while Katerea snorted, as she was going to ignore him and continue to attack, but then suddenly she felt a faint, ominous feeling coming from behind her.

"What... Kghaahhh?!"

When she was about to look behind her, suddenly a white beam cut through her arm that was holding the magic staff apart as her arm fell down on the ground.

"Aaaahhh! Who is?!"

Katerea cried out in pain as she held on to what was left of her arm and quickly tried to cast a spell to stop the bleeding, but stopped as her wound was already cauterized by the beam. She turned to look behind her with bloodshot eyes and saw the culprit, White Dream, who was floating in the air from a distance with her white sniper rifle, currently aiming at Katerea.

"You will pay for-ughh?!"

Before Katerea was about to finish her threat, Zeno, who was waiting for this chance, immediately launched himself off the ground towards the distracted Katerea while leaving behind cracks in the ground and a cloud of dust. When she was in range, Zeno immediately punched her in the stomach with full strength, even causing a sonic boom to resound through the school.

Katerea was sent flying from the force of impact with great speed as she spewed out blood from her mouth and nose while her face morphed into a serpentine face.

Not letting her have the chance to recover, Zeno quickly cast a temporary Touki platform spell underneath him and then used the platform as a support to launch himself off at blinding speed, following behind Katerea, who was still flying away in the air from his punch.

Zeno's speed was so fast that he flew past her and landed at the place where she would likely land as he waited for her to come to him. When she got close enough, Zeno quickly and masterfully delivered a roundhouse kick to her back.

"Argh...?!!"

With a loud grunt, Katerea, like a pinball, was sent crashing into a nearby building, creating a large hole through the building's walls until she crashed into a classroom as she landed on her face among the desks and chairs that scattered away from her.

"Ughh... ah..."

She groaned in pain as she tried to get back up but found herself unable to move properly due to the pain and concussion from Zeno's combo attacks. She was twitching on the ground and trying to get up very slowly. Even if she had a power boost from Ophis' snake, it doesn't mean that her durability is getting the benefit too.

Zeno followed her into the classroom from the hole that she created as he observed her condition. Seeing that she is still conscious, Zeno immediately lunges towards her and delivers a punch to the back of her head, not wanting to give her any chance to do anything.

"Ugh..."

With a powerful blow to the head, Katerea got hammered to the ground as she helplessly lost consciousness with broken glasses and a broken nose.

Zeno stood over her body as he looked down on her with relief as he managed to incapacitate her without her escaping or blowing herself up. Now he only needs to figure out how to clone her somehow without being interrupted.

"Hmm..."

He rubbed his head in a thoughtful manner as he bound Katerea's body with his tendrils, while White Dream appeared behind him as she silently floated in the air.