The imitation crystal successfully interfered with the Avatar's protective barrier, and I made a tentative slash at that enormous, distorted face.
My solidified light sword did strike something.
But a violent reaction followed immediately.
The already warped, deformed face collapsed completely, turning into black mud that shrank inward like water draining from a sink with its plug pulled. Its volume dwindled rapidly, too.
Had I cut through something?
Would this stop the Avatar from absorbing those three...?
"Miluno, watch out!!"
As Alpha shouted her warning, a filthy black stream shot out of the collapsing darkness and exploded squarely in my face. But a light shield I hastily raised blocked the blow.
Before I could catch my breath, a pitch-black figure burst out and lunged at me at an impossible speed.
A Shadow Soldier?
No, the Avatar!
"She's moving!!"
Terra shouted inside my head, "I'll interfere with teleportation in this area! We can't let her escape! Her strength is still quite limited!"
Barely dodging her flying tackle, I shot back:
"It's not that easy! She's already using Time Acceleration!!"
About six times normal speed?
I could still keep up...
We had nothing but top-tier fighters here, too. Breaking through us wouldn't be that easy! You mud person!
The Sanctified Magical Girls, led by Heat Haze, sealed off the core chamber's only exit. Alpha drew her wand without hesitation, gathering an enormous amount of magic in the red stone at its tip, but we had to stop the Avatar from darting around.
So SpiCa's Black-and-White Silk began winding and stretching through the core chamber, gradually weaving a massive encircling net.
Liuzi kept her occupied until it was complete.
She switched into that thoroughly feminine suit of armor, sharp punching blades springing from both arms. Even without entering burst mode, she could keep