"Damn it! Damn it!! Damn it—" Magic surged from her body, blasting away and shattering every piece of rubble pinning her down! Minerva climbed to her feet, her expression so dark it looked ready to drip. Her eyes gleamed with bitter hatred as she stared ahead at the broad, unobstructed "street" that had opened before her.
Or rather, a "street" someone had leveled by force.
It was the aftermath of the enormous Cero Angel had unleashed moments earlier! Although Achill had redirected and neutralized ninety percent of its power, the remaining ten percent had still almost pierced straight through Crocus from west to east—
It had linked the western district and the eastern streets opposite it into a single straight line! Every building along the Cero's path had collapsed into rubble, creating the broad "street" Minerva now saw!
Despite the resentment and hatred in her eyes, shock and fear outweighed them both! If she had not reacted quickly and instinctively dodged aside, she would probably have been eliminated on the spot—the outcome she could least accept!!
And if she remembered correctly... a flicker of terror crossed her eyes. She had distinctly felt the threat of death in that magic, in that terrifying, eerie purple radiance that seemed capable of annihilating everything!!
She did not understand why its actual effect had ultimately seemed weaker, or far weaker, than the threat her senses had initially registered! Yet the overwhelming aura of destruction it had carried in that instant remained seared into her heart!
Whatever Minerva might have been thinking, however, the little one had begun preparing another magical attack after Achill's reminder—
She raised her hand, and a rapidly gathering crimson orb began stirring above her soft, spread palm, madly and eagerly condensing. Once the crimson sphere had reached a dangerously concentrated