"W-wait a second, Fiona! Where are we going?!"
"Huh? We're meeting back up with Lady Naru, of course."
Fiona was still carrying Wendy as she jumped through the tops of trees in the forest, trying to get away from Suigetsu. At the very least, Fiona would never lose to Suigetsu, but there was no doubt the current situation was rather troublesome. Fiona couldn't discount the improbable happening if she tried to fight while protecting Wendy, so she decided to prioritize the mission given to her by Naru; she prioritized Wendy's safety. She'd actually wanted to have Wendy fight and win so she could gain some confidence, but now that there was serious danger to her life, she couldn't afford to do that.
I need to meet up with Lady Naru to make sure Wendy's safe.
"Meet up…? But what about everyone else?!"
"Hmm? Well they'll just have to do their best to run… No, I guess that's impossible. That water is increasing faster than they can run."
"Then don't we have to go back?!"
Fiona didn't really care about some humans who she didn't actually know. To be perfectly honest, she didn't even really care if this country got wiped out or not either. Fiona was fundamentally calm and peaceful, and she was one of the easiest to negotiate with among the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians. But the basis for her motivations were in the following order:
1) Naru
2) Naru
3) Naru
4) Naru
5) Everything Else
On top of that, the 'everything else' category was eighty percent friends and family. She actually allotted almost no emotional space for anybody outside of that. In the end, Fiona was a sheep. She prioritized her herd. Fiona was the type to watch the leader make a mistake and do the same thing right afterward anyway. Basically, she just didn't care much about anyone outside her circle. But for all that, she'd be willing to go to the ends of the earth for a person once she warmed up to them.
"Everyone else is still there. We need to save them!"
"You want me to buy time for them to escape? That much water is gonna be a huge pain…"
"But you can do it. Right, Fiona?"
"Well, yeah…"
"Then please!"
Fiona was happy to put her life on the line for people in her circle, but in her mind, fighting for anyone outside of that was just a waste of effort. On top of that, the hero was there. And the hero was basically Naru's enemy.
Why do I have to pick this meaningless fight to help the enemy? Fiona wondered sincerely. But if I don't do this, Wendy might be hurt emotionally…
After a bit of thought, Fiona decided to try to maintain Wendy's emotional state.
Judging by how they were fighting, the hero will be easy prey.If they show any signs of opposing us, I can just kill them somewhere Wendy won't see.
"Okay… I'll go back!"
Fiona kicked off a tree and changed direction, turning back to the sacred mountain. She made sure to drop off Wendy at the very edge of the water's attack range.
"You make sure they get away, Wendy. I'll go play with that thing in the meantime."
"O-okay, got it."
Having dropped off Wendy, Fiona kicked off the ground, traveling even faster than she had been before. Then, with plenty of momentum, she enveloped herself in fire and tackled the mass of water. Fiona pierced through both Suigetsu and the mountain itself, coming out again on the other side. Then, she turned around and charged in a second time. Once again, she went straight through and came out the other side, evaporating any water in her path. But right after, the water filled back in.
There was looking to be no end to this battle. It seemed to be converting nearby mana into water to add to its mass, so burning it would effectively do nothing if something wasn't done about the mana in the area as well.
"Well then, it looks like I'll just have to try some stuff out."
Fiona once again charged in, but this time she swung her fist up towards the sky. The shockwave generated huge winds, forming a tornado that launched Suigetsu upward into the air. Fiona jumped after it, slamming several dozen kicks wreathed in fire into it in a single second. Fiona continued to kick, punch, and tackle through Suigetsu, all the while using trees and boulders as platforms to jump off of, continuing to attack the blob of water faster than it could fall. From the outside, it looked like a bullet of rainbow-colored flame was zooming around freely, showering a huge water monster with blows.
Dodging a tentacle of water that was launched at her, Fiona shot fire from her hands like a vernier thruster to accelerate in the air. She closed the gap between them. Then, Fiona put her all into a single kick. The resultant shockwave sent Suigetsu flying. As soon as that happened, Fiona wasted no time in stretching out her arms.
"Haaahhhh…!"
Fiona shot out a hail of fire bullets. She fired, fired, and fired some more! The plan was to see if it was possible to evaporate the water faster than it regenerated or maybe even completely disintegrate it. The bullets of fire Fiona shot carved out chunks of Suigetsu over and over, the evaporated water returning to mana once it could no longer maintain its shape. The mass of water, which was bigger than the mountain, visibly shrink until it was eventually about the size of the original Suigetsu.
It didn't matter to Fiona how big Suigetsu had gotten. After all, Fiona's attacks all inflicted percent damage. It worked equally well on all things, no matter what they were.
"Mesarthim!"
Fiona raised both hands, generating a giant ball of fire. This fire was the source of Fiona's percentile damage and her special ability. Its effect was to deal percentile damage to any enemy touching it, which meant that long, drawn-out battles were in Fiona's favor.
Fiona threw the ball of fire, enveloping Suigetsu with it. If Naru were watching, she may have retorted, "I told you, it's not that kind of skill."
"O-Oogghhhh! OOOOOGGHH!" Suigetsu screamed his death throes as his body disappeared.
As long as the flames didn't disappear, he would continue to burn forever. It was probably hell for him. By continuously dealing percentile damage, the opponent would eventually be left at 1 HP, which wouldn't be able to be taken away by percentages. The flames that continued to burn Suigetsu were basically an attack that would continuously apply percentile damage as long as it wasn't extinguished. It was much scarier than any normal amount of fixed damage.
Eventually, Suigetsu was shrunk to a tiny fragment of water, his HP obviously at 1. Fiona shot a single flame bullet, evaporating the last bit of water and completely obliterating Suigetsu. Normally, that would have been the end. Suigetsu had been completely evaporated, so there was no way for the fight to continue.
"Ah… Yeah, I figured this would happen."
But Suigetsu was no longer normal. The surrounding mana once again started to change into water, and Fiona scratched her cheek, wondering what to do.