Chapter 192 Limited Rift.
As Atropos floated inside the blue box, the glowing red cuffs around her arms and legs shattering into thousands of tiny light particles, B3's eyes narrowed as she finally understood the reason her opponent was so relaxed despite getting caught.
She always had a way out of her predicament, more than one from the looks of it. It should've been obvious that capturing her wouldn't be so easy.
The lasers fired from the drones hovering behind the Valkyrie in red armor were easily deflated. Atropos remained static for a fraction of a second before the panel behind her disappeared creating an opening for her to retreat. The original drones arrived almost immediately firing tendrils of lightning only to miss the Olympian who teleported away.
"That was close." Atropos said with a voice full of mockery.
The white discs formed again before taking their place around her shoulders. One of them opened up and formed another panel right in time to block a number of lasers targeting her face.
[Those things… they aren't simple barriers, are they?] B3 asked.
[It should be impossible to create a barrier in a place occupied by something of a certain density.] Sitta said. [If it was a normal barrier, it would've formed around the cords instead of cutting through it.]
The white discs creating the translucent blue panels were what aided the Olympian in escaping Sitta's anti-teleportation barrier, however at the time they left the inner side of the rectangular shape they created empty. After a moment of deliberation B3's eyes widened as she finally understood how they function.
[The blue lines…] She said, her eyes on the Olympian. [They separate everything on one side from the other…]
Hearing the Valkyrie's speculation, Atropos seemed surprised for a moment before a chuckle escaped her.
"To think you would figure it out after seeing it only twice." She said. "You have quite the keen eyes."
Once again the Valkyries had a really bad feeling. Of the eight enemies that emerged from the crashed ship, one was already dead while two were being suppressed by JX9 and Juni, and three are caged inside Sitta's barrier. The situation clearly was under their control, however despite that the dark haired one, the Olympian who's an identical copy of their friend Nino, was so relaxed as if she didn't have any sense of fear or urgency.
Her calm demeanor painted her as a confident leader unperturbed By what's happening around her. She seemed so sure of her victory, as if everything was already set in stone from the way she saw it.
"You're correct, this isn't a simple barrier." As she spoke, one of the disks split once more, blue lines connecting the four parts. "Limited Rift, is what I call it. Everything inside the lines is completely separated from what's outside. Anything in-between is cleanly cut with no exception."
[Is that so…]
That short explanation alone was enough for B3 to understand how troublesome the Olympian's ability could get. As demonstrated by how she easily freed herself just now, Atropos is capable of cutting through anything the Valkyries' are capable of creating. Not only that but as long as she has those disks it's practically impossible for any attacks to reach her.
'No, everything has its flaws, even this…'
If the force field has ways to work around it. B3 was sure that she could see through this Limited Rift if she was given enough time, but of course her opponent doesn't plan on standing around and letting it happen.
"So? I did you the courtesy of revealing one of my abilities." Atropos said, her smile an unsettling version of that of their friend. "Won't you return the favor by revealing yours? Please don't say you're only capable of using the 23rd dimension…"
[... Why would I reveal anything to you? Won't that lower my chances of winning?]
"Don't say that. It's not like you had any chances of winning to begin with."
[We will see about that.]
As B3 steeled herself, Atropos fastened the grip on her crimson sword and leaned forward, launching herself toward the three Valkyries. Sitta prepared to provide cover and Ichigo did the same. Although she didn't have a lot in terms of combat skills, she still could help with barriers here and there.
The cylindrical drones chased after the Olympian shaking the ground in their attempt to crush their target. She kept on dodging them, accelerating with each step she took as she approached her opponents. Just when it looked like she was about to make it, new drones spawned from the ground flocking her path from every direction.
Atropos was left with no choice but to teleport, but the moment she reappeared she saw a few dozen lasers about to hit her like heavy rain. Thankfully her choice of putting some distance between her and the Valkyries bought her a precious fraction of a second that allowed her to teleport once more, but the moment she did more lasers were shot at her with frightening precision, the time gap making her question what method the Valkyrie in red armor was using to detect the place she would appear in.
'Is she using the same concept as Actaeon?' the Olympian wondered, narrowly avoiding the barrage of light raining on her. 'No… this one is different…'
There was no need for her to keep dodging everything; her force field was more than capable of withstanding all attacks including the three original drones if she wanted to she could just force her way through and deal a finishing blow to all three at the same time, but there was no fun in that.
Besides, killing the enemies in front of her wasn't her true objective.
'Well, it won't hurt to show off a little…'
Teleporting once more, Atropos appeared beside one of the cylindrical drones, her scissors like sword prepared for a downward swing. Made from the carcass of an A class Calamity, B3's drones were sturdy enough that they could withstand the Valkyries' force field at its maximum output without disintegrating. Anything that could damage them wouldn't be a normal weapon, that's why, even though she could've guided it away from the Olympian, B3 chose to sacrifice one of her main weapons to learn what the crimson blade is capable of.
Atropos moved her arms, gracefully bringing down the blade toward the drone, but something was off. There was no power behind that swing, nor was there speed. The slash missed the target by more than a few inches, the only thing cut being empty air.
B3 couldn't believe that her opponent would miss such an easy hit, but a moment later her eyes shot open as she sensed something.
The cylindrical drone continues its charge, flying away like a launched missile. B3's mental command didn't reach it at all, the line connecting them no longer present.
"I guess it's about time I get serious."
Saying those words in a relaxed tone, Atropos dove down toward B3 and the others. Seeing the Olympian heading their way struck fear inside the Valkyries and for the first time since the start of this battle they all recognized the danger they were in.