Zombie Domination

Clarissa's eyes widened as she spotted blood trickling down Sefi's arm. "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice sharp with concern.

Sefi flinched, trying to hide the tremor in her hands. "I—I'm fine," she stammered nervously.

"You're not," Clarissa said firmly, yanking Sefi back with her telekinesis before the eagle's firestorm could scorch her again. Dust and embers licked at the barrier as she dragged the girl into relative safety.

"T-thank you," Sefi murmured, cheeks burning as she clutched at her wound.

Reimon appeared beside them in a flash of light, his portal snapping shut behind him as he barely dodged another fiery blast. His expression was calm but tight. "It's impossible to attack right now. That thing's defenses are too fierce."

"Then we hold our ground," Clarissa declared. She extended her hands, her telekinetic energy shaping itself into a shimmering barrier that absorbed the next wave of searing wind. "Wait for the opening. We'll strike when it comes."

From her belt pouch, she conjured two small glass vials with a flick of her telekinesis, potions of deep crimson, glowing faintly. She floated one each to Sefi and Reimon, her tone softer now. "Drink. It'll keep you on your feet."

Sefi accepted it with both hands, her voice flustered. "T-thank you…" She drank, feeling the warmth surge through her body.

Reimon took his without hesitation, glancing at her with the faintest smirk. "Appreciated, pretty sister," he said in his usual tone before tipping it back.

Clarissa sighed but allowed herself a small smile. "Focus, both of you."

But Sefi's eyes lit up, determination returning. Sparks danced across her fingertips as she whispered, almost to herself, "I… I can use my skill to halt its movements. Just give me the chance."

Clarissa glanced at Sefi, "Can you really pull it off?"

Sefi steadied her breath, sparks beginning to crawl across her arms. For once, her voice carried confidence. "I'll try with everything I have."

Reimon cracked his neck and raised his hand, a faint ripple of light already forming around his fingers. "Then focus only on the target. I'll intercept everything else with my gates."

Sefi's eyes widened at his words, then she nodded firmly. "Alright."

The eagle screeched and unleashed another barrage of scorching wind and fire, but its movements had grown sluggish, wings faltering after its relentless assault. Clarissa caught the shift, her instincts sharp. "Now!" she shouted, her telekinetic shield flaring outward to buy a heartbeat of cover.

Sefi exploded forward, her body wrapped in crackling blue-white lightning. Every step blurred as electricity surged through her muscles, doubling her speed.

"Go!" Reimon extended both arms, and portals bloomed in a dozen arcs around the battlefield like glowing mirrors. Each fiery blast from the eagle vanished into one gate and was spat harmlessly out the other, deflected away from Sefi's path. He smirked as flames whirled past him. "Yeah, I'm useful."

Sefi darted forward, lightning coursing violently across her body, each step exploding with sparks that carved fissures into the ground.

One stray flame slipped past Reimon's gates, roaring toward her. For an instant, panic threatened, but she remembered Julian's voice, Trust your reflexes, not your fear.

Her body moved before her mind did. She twisted, her frame vanishing in a blur of light, the fireball grazing harmlessly past. Electricity surged sharper in response, her speed snapping into something beyond instinct, pure flow.

The eagle shrieked, its predatory eyes widening with something it had never known before: fear. Its wings trembled as flames ignited every feather, transforming them into spears of burning death. With a violent beat of its wings, the creature unleashed a storm of flaming quills, each one tearing through the air toward Sefi like a rain of meteors.

But Sefi didn't slow. She grounded her heel with explosive force, cracks spiderwebbing beneath her, drew a sharp breath, then exhaled. Lightning roared from her frame, her figure flickering like a phantom.

The burning rain closed in, the world swallowed by fire, yet Sefi launched herself forward, breaking the ground with the sheer acceleration. A thunderclap burst behind her as her body vanished in a streak of light, every flaming quill left in her wake.

And in that instant, she was upon the eagle.

Sefi's body crackled like a storm about to burst. Sparks gathered in her palms, molding into a jagged sphere of unstable lightning that screamed with raw power. Her chest rose and fell sharply, then she roared,

"[Skill : Thunder Strike]!"

The condensed energy shattered forward in a blinding bolt, the air splitting with a deafening crack as the thunderbolt slammed into the eagle. The creature shrieked, its body convulsing as electricity coursed through its charred wings.

Clarissa's eyes sharpened. Now's the moment. She clenched her fists, and the countless blades she had kept suspended in the air whirled together, merging into a colossal psychic greatsword. With a fierce, commanding voice, she shouted,

"Feel this!"

The blade descended in a furious arc, the weight of her telekinesis amplifying its destructive force. But just before it could land, the eagle's form pulsed unnaturally.

A dark shimmer spread across its feathers, and in the blink of an eye, flames, wind, and sparks converged into its body. Its molten wings regrew, feathers reforming into a radiant shield that blazed with all three elements. The sword of blades crashed into it, yet the impact only sparked harmless bursts of fire and lightning scattering around.

Reimon's jaw clenched as he slammed a fresh round into his gun, his voice dripping with frustration.

"Are you kidding me?! It's absorbing her lightning now?!"

The eagle's aura erupted, dazzling with violent surges of flame, wind currents, and streaking sparks. Its very presence distorted the battlefield, the beast now a walking embodiment of nature's wrath, an enemy wielding not one, but three primal forces.

Sefi's lips trembled as she stared at the eagle, its aura now blazing with fire, wind, and electricity. Her hands balled into fists, knuckles white, the sting of frustration swelling in her chest.

'It just keeps getting stronger… because of me'.

Through the comms, Clarissa's calm, steady voice cut through the storm.

"Don't lose hope. We'll find another way."

Reimon snarled, ducking behind a half-shattered barrier as a stray ember zipped past.

"Find another way? This doesn't make sense! How the hell can that damn bird absorb lightning like it's nothing?! It's broken!"

Clarissa's gaze never wavered, even as the pressure of the eagle's aura pressed down on them.

"You're right, it doesn't make sense. And that's exactly why we have a chance."

Sefi blinked, confusion flashing in her storm-blue eyes.

"W-what do you mean? I don't… I don't understand."

Clarissa tilted her head slightly, her lips curving into a faint, confident smile.

"If it can absorb, then it must also have a limit. Nothing devours endlessly without breaking apart."

Reimon froze for a moment, then exhaled sharply through his nose, a grin tugging at his lips despite the danger.

"Heh. So what you're saying is… we just keep shoving energy down its throat until it overdoses?"

Clarissa's voice sharpened with resolve.

"Exactly."

Clarissa took a breath and snapped the comm open. "Alright, phase one. Reimon, keep every blast off Sefi's back. I'll steer her strikes. Sefi, you're our battery. Hit it hard and keep hitting it."

Reimon's portals blinked like stars. "I'll swallow anything that tries to cut her off. Don't die on me." His tone was flat but steady, the light in the rims of his gates pulsed in answer.

Sefi swallowed, lightning crawling up her arms like coiled snakes. Her jaw set. "I'll do it" She crouched low, electric energy gathering in her palms, Thunder Strike charging, humming with lethal intent.

"On my mark," Clarissa said, fingers twitching as the knives hovered, ready to redirect or finish. "Three… two… go."

Sefi exploded forward. The first bolt slammed into the fallen eagle hard enough to ring its bones. The beast convulsed, and for a moment its multi-element aura drank the energy greedily, fire sparks fizzed brighter, wind currents rippled, lightning danced across its chest.

Reimon kept his hands moving, folding gates to catch redirected thermal blasts and gusts, spitting them harmlessly away from their position. "Keep pushing," he grunted. "I've got your flanks."

Sefi didn't pause. She poured another Thunder Strike into the creature, then another, each hit faster, each bolt more desperate. The lightning in her veins screamed, sweat stung her eyes. With every strike the eagle's feathers flared brighter, absorbing and reshaping the energy into its aura. Clarissa watched the pattern, eyes narrowing.

"Now!" she barked. The telekinetic knives whirred, not to cut but to force the beast to orient its body toward Sefi, constraining its motion. Clarissa's hands braided invisible threads of force, shepherding the eagle like a net. "Hold it steady!"

The bird snarled, muscles bulging as it drank the pulses. Sefi felt it, each hit recoiled, fed back into the beast and then spat at them in new, twisted currents. Her legs trembled; the electricity in her bones threatened to burn her from the inside out. Still she fed it, trusting Clarissa and Reimon to keep her alive long enough to push the overload.

"Reimon, more gates, catch the rebound!" Clarissa ordered. He obliged, folding a ring that diverted a spiraling vortex of wind away from Sefi and into empty sky.

Sparks began to wink out across the eagle's plumage. The aura that had seemed endless skipped, a stutter, a hiccup. The creature flapped wildly, confusion and panic finally cracking its composure. Clarissa leaned in, pushing with the smallest, sharpest mental prod she had. "Again! One more barrage, full power!"

Sefi gathered the last of her reserves. She screamed, not with words but with thunder, and unleashed a concentrated, roaring Thunder Strike that hammered the eagle's chest. This one hit like a judge's gavel. For a breath the beast shuddered, feathers smoking, its triple-element aura flickering like a dying lantern.

It staggered. The air tasted of ozone and singed feather. Reimon's gates shuddered as they redirected feedback, Clarissa's knives hummed with the discharged energy. Around them, the battlefield quieted a notch, soldiers craned their necks to see if the gambit had worked.

Sefi collapsed to one knee, chest heaving, palms smoking where the bolts had left black scorch marks. "I—" she panted, voice raw, "—I can't keep this going much longer."

Clarissa's face was tight but triumphant. "You don't have to. You did the heavy lifting. Reimon, watch for the collapse. If it breaks, we hit with everything."

Reimon's mouth quirked. "Ready on standby. Don't pass out on me."

On the eagle, the aura finally began to unravel, patches of its elemental shield dimmed and sputtered. The creature's head dipped as though stunned, strain visible in every tremor of its wings. It had been forced to drink more than it could process.