The instant Shuo roared, "Attack!", all the Fragments moved.
They did not scatter in panic. It was as though they had received the same command, their movements so synchronized that it made the heart clench.
Hand Princess Small charged out first, its little white body scrambling across the ground straight toward the black light fired by the Ten-Tails, planting itself in front of the unconscious Hand Princess Big.
The black light slammed into it, sending it flying instantly. It landed beside Hand Princess Big, the eye in its palm shut tight for good, and never moved again.
Hand Princess Three sprang up right after it. Rather than crawl, it jumped upward with all its might, higher than the ruined rooftops, and hurtled straight at the Ten-Tails' body.
The Ten-Tails immediately opened an eye and fired a beam of black light. Before Hand Princess Three could even scream, it was blasted into the shattered walls and rubble, never to move again.
Hand Princess Four did not charge headlong. Instead, it floated into the sky, higher and higher, until it hung above the Ten-Tails' head.
The next second, a dazzling light burst from its entire body, like a miniature sun, searingly bright enough to force eyes shut.
The Ten-Tails threw back its head and roared, countless eyes fixed on it, but Hand Princess Four said nothing. It only kept shining. The instant its brightness peaked, it suddenly dispersed-not bursting apart, but turning into tiny points of light that filled the sky. Like cold fireworks, they drifted down onto the Ten-Tails and burrowed into those pale golden eyes.
The Ten-Tails let out piercing screams, their overlapping voices unbearably shrill. The eyes struck by the points of light either squeezed shut or burst, oozing bloody mucus. Hand Princess Four was gone without a trace;