Dunkirk had imagined countless scenarios of her generous sacrifice. She envisioned her own death, placing all her hopes on her noble death. She believed that once the time came for her to sacrifice for her country, all her past sins and guilt would be forgiven in one stroke.
"But it's not time to die now, mate.
Definitely not the time to die now.
Dying at the hands of Oedipus would be the most meaningless thing."
"Bomb Rush!"
Dunkirk suddenly appeared behind Oedipus, her face as cold as a millennium-old ice. She extended her right hand, which transformed into a long and sharp fang-like boar tusk, pierced with twelvefold malice aimed at Oedipus's heart.
However, the strike missed its mark, as Oedipus utilized a backdrop; there was still some distance between Dunkirk's actual position and the illusion of the backdrop.
"Agio's men really have a sense of humor..."
"What good would that do, even if you did manage to hit me?"
With a slight pursing of her lips, Oedipus subtly restrained the oppressive intensity in her eyes, lifting her right hand casually towards Dunkirk.
"It seems you're one of the few pitiful orphans left in the laboratory."
"Let me witness your caliber."
A twisted spiral manifested on Oedipus's fingertips, wailing freely like a newborn baby. Suddenly, a kind of energy emitting scorching destructive intent, or vortex, erupted on Oedipus's hand.
However, Dunkirk did not choose to dodge the attack, nor did she choose to flee. Her body lunged straight at Oedipus, elongating in mid-air and transforming into a large web that almost enveloped all the space above Oedipus's head.
Witnessing this scene, Oedipus felt a sharp pain in her eyes as a massive data flow entered her bloodstream through her eyes. It penetrated her mind like an eel squeezing into a crevice, ruthlessly wreaking havoc.
"Oh? Though you're an ant, you surprisingly have some brains."
In that moment, Oedipus understood Dunkirk's plan. After all, the Incandescent Spiral was a columnar attack; if the opponent spread themselves wide enough, it wouldn't be easy to eliminate them in one move.
Judging from the chaos caused by the data flow in her own body, the opponent had implanted a mechanical divinity on her body and concealed it with a backdrop. If she launched an attack but failed to hit where the mechanical divinity was hidden, she would likely come into contact with Dunkirk’s mechanical divinity and get scratched.
When that happened, it wouldn't be as simple as just getting injured.
As for Dunkirk, being a half-angel, how could she not have been harmed by the mechanical divinity? It was likely that Maria had secretly retained some new laboratory technology that could block the connection between the mechanical divinity and its user.
"Hehe, seems like I should be wary of you."
Oedipus ceased the release of the Incandescent Spiral, swiftly planting her feet firmly on the ground. As the ground cracked and burst, Oedipus quickly retreated twenty to thirty meters.
However, Dunkirk was relentless, bouncing up like a huge slime on the ground, stretching herself into elongated, circular, and square shapes. Except for retaining some parts of her body that couldn't deform, Dunkirk stuck to Oedipus like a ball, unwilling to let go.
Even Oedipus, was left temperless by this life-and-death battle.
"The Heart of the Furnace..."
A crisp and gentle incantation interrupted Dunkirk's relentless attacks. A rock wall over ten meters high shot up from the ground, blocking Dunkirk's imminent strike.
Dunkirk burned with rage, already becoming somewhat impatient with Oedipus's evasive fighting style. Losing sight of her opponent now only fueled her impatience further.
She gathered all the strength she could muster, adopting a vicious stance, merging her waist and horse into one. With a chilling resolve, she extended her scythe-like claws and, with a mighty force, aimed at the top of the rock wall, bringing them down.
"Chop down like a falling axe!"
With one swift motion, the entire rock wall was torn in half.
But Oedipus, who should have appeared behind the wall, was nowhere to be seen.
Surveying her surroundings and failing to find Oedipus's figure, Dunkirk, consumed by her anger and the pain of losing friends, suddenly snapped out of it. Cold sweat began to trickle down her back like intricate spider webs.
Dunkirk knew that the slight advantage she seemed to have just gained was merely because she was buzzing around Oedipus like a mosquito. After all, if she were to swat the mosquito, she would also swat herself, so she refrained from making a move.
However, now Oedipus had distanced herself. Having lost the close-quarters advantage, Dunkirk might as well be no different from a real mosquito to Oedipus at this point.
