Asterio and Carnivora

"You're so boring," I commented, stepping over the traffic lights to get closer to Obsidia.

"Maybe you're just too fun."

I summoned another saber and slammed it straight down onto Obsidia's head. The problem with the attack is as soon as it touched her hair, her entire body turned into a liquid-like Strands, flowing in multiple directions behind me.

I hadn't seen the prowess to destroy a body like that before...but now that I have, I can chalk up her ability to mimic one of the bloodlines. Probably that Raiden girl with the wine.

From behind me, almost before I could react, several sharp fragments of bone almost entered my back. I was able to block each of them with a single Strand of gold. Before I knew it, I found my back activating in the same way Illya once had. Sixteen Tendrils shot out of my back, all aiming straight for Carnivora.

As soon as she saw them, her emerald green eyes phased out of existence, gleaming a bright red color, and blocking the projectiles...

Faith...

I warped behind her and grabbed the back of her neck, tripping her and pushing her into the ground with an explosion of Iridescent Strands fixated on her neck.

I had noticed that, at least on the boat, Faith would rub her neck a lot when talking about things that made her nervous. She mentioned how Finlis could always find her, and I immediately jumped to conclusions. 

Striking her in the back of her neck caused a shriek like being burned alive. With a simple kick upward and then to the side in quick succession, Faith was sent bouncing off of the floor, grinding against it with her fingers.

They slowly ground down to the bone, regenerating soon after. When I looked at Obsidia next, I could clearly see her appearance changed.

Her face was more round, almost childlike. I couldn't look at her without seeing Faith...

"D-Dad..." She muttered. 

The emerald green eyes were pulsing out of existence and back in. During the small bouts of red eyes that I could see, she whimpered.

"S-Save...me...please...dad..."

Something snapped in me when her appearance changed back to Obsidia and that wild smile reappeared.

Her teeth grew, along with her horns, and the ribs along her back shot out to be used as supports for wings. I focused, unable to perceive a reality in which I live without Faith.

No...no...

I smiled, clutching my hand so tightly that Iridescent Strands were spouting out of the wounds I squeezed into the palm of my hand.

[SYSTEM CORRUPTION: MAXIMUM +3]

Red Strands illuminated my body. Enough Strands lit my body and controlled my body to the point of no return. I wasn't breathing properly.

[Heart Rate: 200]

Hearing her voice...hearing her ask for me...

I instantly warped straight in front of Obsidia with my fist cocked back. The Iridescent Strands in my fist struck Obsidia in the bottom of her jaw, sending her straight through the clouds above the city.

I knelt down, forcing my knees to push me up to her position. The ground cracked and buildings lost their foundation as I met Obsidia face-to-face in the air.

I grabbed her arm and launched her back at the ground. Everything erupted into a flurry of concrete and broken metal pipes and supports as she bounced. My foot was already pointed at her face once more, however, Obsidia finally found time to retaliate. 

She cut my leg straight off and impaled my body with several of the metal pipes, launched with Khalil's Aura directly to me. Just as I warped behind her, Obsidia was already breathing down my neck in midair while I was mid-flight. 

"GONE!"

[DEFLECTION ENGAGED]

I shot back the instant kill of a wound she threw at me, and her arm was thrown straight off of her body, stunning her with the force and pain of impact.

The fight didn't stop there, as I struck her in the stomach three times, kicked both sides of her head, and sunk my foot into an ax kick above her head. She blocked it but was launched off of the ground once more.

All accumulated destruction followed the guidance of my fingers thanks to the Strands controlling it, and I launched an entire city's worth of debris toward Obsidia as she closed the distance once more.

She rapidly turned into a liquid and countered all projectiles thrown at her, coming within fifty feet of me. I changed the direction of the debris and the way it flew, surrounding Obsidia and me within the entire city.

The debris remained there as she used her bone-fragmented arms to try and get a hit in. I retaliated with even force, striking down each piece of the fragments that fell off of her skin, and landed three clean hits on her leg, stomach, and arm. Each time I hit her, I felt her bones turned into the liquid, and the energy was redirected elsewhere.

Her masterful use of every ability from every bloodline was...astonishing. She had little time to figure it all out, and I'm sure it wasn't easy. However, Faith Asterio was my daughter, and Obsidia was stealing her talent.

"Come on Sky! You can't take me out if you don't start mutilating your daughter!" Obsidia screamed.

With another attack I missed, Obsidia cut my arm off and held me by the throat, slamming me into the ground. With her final move, I strapped her body to the ground and sent down all debris onto our exact position. 

Obsidia was hit with multiple pieces of debris, breaking bones and causing her consciousness to falter for one moment. 

I was stuck as my fist cocked back once more. My left hand was stained in blood and Iridescent Strands, waiting for another opportunity to strike with such a powerful amount of force. 

However.

If I hit Obsidia and saw Faith again, I wouldn't be able to connect the punch for fear of ending her life.