As helplessness and anxiety gripped everyone's hearts, while the other Avengers carried out rescues and watched the battle with pounding hearts, the situation at the center of the field was sliding toward an even more despairing turning point.
The consequences of the Abyss-possessed shell's frenzied overexertion were beginning to show.
Wanda's bloated, mutated body was no longer merely "distorted"; it was showing terrifying signs of "withering."
The writhing, proliferating flesh had begun to lose its color and shrivel. Spiderweb-like cracks spread across its surface. No longer did black-red energy gush from those fissures—instead, foul-smelling dark yellow pus seeped out.
Every howl, every outburst, widened those cracks a little further, as if this body were rapidly rotting from within.
Most obvious of all, her life force was plummeting at a rate visible to the naked eye.
This was not an injury. Her very origin was burning away, and the vessel carrying her soul was nearing the brink of collapse.
If this continued, it would not be long before Wanda's existence, along with the mad parasite inside her, was completely annihilated by excessive depletion. Not even a trace would remain.
"Her vital readings... are plummeting!" Erda's voice carried a hint of uncertainty. "At this rate... the vessel will completely collapse in two minutes at most! Can Lady Elysia save her?"
Steve and the others felt their hearts sink sharply at those words.
Subduing Wanda was certainly important, but if the price was Wanda's death... that was absolutely not the ending they wanted!
"Don't worry. That is Executor Elysia," Igolani said hoarsely, yet her tone brimmed with unquestionable pride. "Even under deep parasitization, Lady Elysia's authority over the 'True Self' will pull her back!"
Elysia had clearly noticed that Wanda's body had reached its limit.
A trace of precise calculation flashed through her