“What!? Why am I here!?!” Claudia questioned as she frantically looked around at her new surroundings, finding them incredibly familiar and nostalgic.

  Suddenly, the door opened and in walked Claudia's little sister, greeting her with a big smile. Claudia smiled back and said hello, feeling a warm calmness come over her as she watched her sister approach. However, this touching moment didn’t last long at all, as the doors to her room suddenly flew open. Faceless men that were shrouded in darkness, walked inside; their footsteps sounding incredibly heavy. They approached and violently took hold of Claudia’s sister, placing a burlap bag over her head in the process.

  “No! Stop!! Unhand her this instant!!” Claudia yelled and screamed, angry that anyone would dare put their hands on her family.

  As they dragged the little girl back, Claudia noticed that she couldn’t move from her position and that her cries were completely unheard. She was simply a bystander that had no influence on the situation at all. The faceless men proceeded to beat the little girl with large hammers, brutally murdering her in horrific fashion. The sound of the actions taking place were incomprehensible as Claudia could hear every squelch and snap.

  “BRIDGETTE!!!! NO!! HOW COULD YOU!!!?!?!”

  Claudia was absolutely horrified and devastated at the sight of her now dead sister, having no words for the atrocity that just occurred in front of her. When they finished, the faceless men walked out of the room and closed the door, shutting it incredibly slowly. Once the lock caught, the scenario stopped and shifted, putting Claudia into another familiar location.

  She looked to her left and saw her family members all seated at the table. Her father, mother, elder brother, and little sister were enjoying a meal together. Just as Claudia began to calm down from the prior nightmare and felt the comfort of her family, faceless men arrived into the room again. Her parents looked panicked as they were violently ripped from their chairs and thrown to the ground. Once again, Claudia desperately tried to help, but she could do nothing other than watch everything unfold before her.

  The entire family was slaughtered in front of her, blood and flesh flying in every direction as the faceless men used severely unconventional methods to dispatch them. Claudia cried out as she became overcome with incredible grief, terrified by everything that was happening. The scenario ended and unsurprisingly, another scenario occurred. Claudia was now forever trapped in her mind, witnessing horrible nightmares for the rest of her life.

  Claudia’s body dropped to the ground completely lifeless. Her eyes were wide open as drool dripped from her slightly agape mouth. Claudia’s Manifest faded away and the pillars she summoned retreated back into the earth below, no longer having a master's orders to follow. Zalthia stared at her before suddenly stumbling to the ground, unable to stay on her feet.

  The eye sockets of the skulls on her scythe glowed a deep black as Zalthia’s head began hurting. She started to witness the brutal killings of the little girl in Claudia’s nightmares, seeing every grizzly detail as though she were there herself. Zalthia couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like if that little girl was Carmen or Nyanza, unwillingly putting herself into Claudia’s shoes.

  “Damn it all.. Why did she have to make me use my Manifest?” She softly muttered under her breath as tears began to well up.

  The visceral screams of those perishing in Claudia’s nightmares were absolutely haunting and Zalthia felt terrible for her fallen opponent, fully regretting that the battle had turned out this way. However, just as she wiped her eyes, Zalthia sensed a massive surge of Core Energy explode in the distance. The pressure in her chest felt incredibly sinister, causing her to grow worried.

  “Whose power is this??” She wondered as she slowly got to her feet, looking in the direction of the burst of power.

  Trevor watched in fear as the eclipse continued to drip black ink all over the ground, making the entire area incredibly dark and slick.

  “I’ve never felt Core Energy like this before. It feels p-pure evil!!” Just what is this girl!?” He questioned, slowly backing away from Carmen as she glared deep into his eyes.

  As he looked on, he noticed that Carmen began to change before his eyes. Her silver hair had transitioned to a bright white color, her eyes were completely red, socket to socket, and her skin grew significantly more pale. While she still looked like a young girl, Carmen certainly didn’t seem human at that moment. But, despite the impressive nature of her transition, it appeared rather incomplete visually.

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  When she finished her transformation, without warning, the whole battlefield was flattened by absurd levels of gravitational force. The size of Carmen’s new gravity field was simply remarkable, affecting multiple miles worth of land. All soldiers in the surrounding area, the Holy Core Saints, and the members of Six were immediately pushed to the ground.

  The earth below crumbled and shifted under the immense pressure, unable to withstand the weight being asserted onto it. Trevor slammed into the ground, face down and completely unable to move an inch. Zalthia, who wasn’t much further away, was also tossed to the dirt. She could do nothing but watch as her sister slowly walked towards Trevor.

  'What the hell is going on!?! Did she go berserk again?? But, that shouldn’t be possible anymore! Gah, I've gotta do something!'

  Zalthia tried to lift her body upwards, but to no avail. Carmen paused her approach a few meters from Trevor and she lifted two of her fingers. She pointed them towards him and slowly motioned inwards. Trevor immediately levitated off of the ground and was put into a standing position. He tried to shake free, but he couldn’t willingly move his body at all.

  “What are you doing you stupid girl!?!? Let me go!!” Trevor yelled with an angered expression, upset that he was being absolutely embarrassed by this teenage girl.

  Suddenly, his stiff body slowly floated towards Carmen. She brought him within a couple arms length before stopping his approach. Trevor’s angered frown quickly changed to that of fear as Carmen continued to stare him in the eyes, not breaking contact for even a second.

  “L-Look, I’m sorry for hurting your friend. Truly, I am! So please, just let me go!” Trevor said, losing all of his confidence from earlier as he pleaded for his life.

  Carmen remained silent and curiously aimed her right palm at him. She slowly began to close her hand as though she were squeezing something. Trevor screamed out in pain as his body was being crushed by an invisible force. His bones popped and contorted under the pressure, slowly breaking in the most gruesome and disgusting way possible.

  “P-PLEASE!!! STOP-”

  Carmen quickly closed her hand, squeezing her fist tightly together. Trevor exploded in extravagant fashion, flesh and blood splattering in all directions. It was as though Carmen had crushed a handful of grapes, squeezing every ounce of juice out of them. Zalthia, the members of Six, and the other Holy Core Saints looked on in horror as they witnessed Carmen completely eviscerate this man with no remorse.

  His mangled body of broken bones and limp flesh dropped to the ground, making a sickening squish against the solid terrain below. As everyone laid there in stunned silence, still unable to move from the gravity field, Carmen turned her head slowly towards the remaining Holy Core Saints. The ink that rained down from the sky suddenly raced towards Carmen’s shadow. It began to increase in size and came to life, appearing as a massive pool of black ink.

  “W-What is she doing now!?!” Cassandra asked, looking over at her comrade.

  “I’m not sure, but I don’t like the feeling of this.” Riegard replied, growing more concerned as each second passed.

  Carmen's shadow quickly darted towards the remaining four Holy Core Saints, splitting off into multiple directions. It snaked and rushed like a raging river, consuming everything it touched. With the rate it was spreading outward, the shadow took no time at all to reach those laying on the battlefield.

  “What is that stuff?!?” Asiah questioned, wondering if they should be as concerned as their opponents.

  Before she got a response from anyone, the inky shadow curiously snaked around her and Vera, showing zero interest in them. She looked over in confusion, surprised that it seemed to have a mind of its own. The shadow continued to go around the other members of Six and Moments later, it reached its target.

  Cassandra, Riegard, Byron, and Simone were all covered in a pool of black ink as they laid there on the ground. The Holy Core Saints yelled out in a panic as they noticed that they were sinking into the pool, being pulled further down into the dark depths. Within a few seconds, their bodies completely disappeared from the ground and their cries could no longer be heard.

  The ink receded and dissipated, revealing the barren earth it was once covering. There wasn’t a single body or trace of the Holy Core Saints left, as though they were never there in the first place. Jordan of Five looked terrified as Carmen’s shadow shrunk back to its normal size, absolutely shocked by what he had just witnessed.

  “S-She just k-killed five Sapphire Class Vestas like it was nothing… W-what??” He muttered, unable to get his thoughts together.

  As he continued to look on in shock, Carmen turned around and quickly made her way to Sarah. She lifted her up and leapt into the sky, heading in the direction of their base camp. When she left the area, the gravity field subsided and the large eclipse consuming the sun disappeared, brightening up the battlefield once again. Zalthia and the other members of Six got to their feet with confused expressions on their faces.

  “Commander… What.. What just happened?” Ka-leel asked Zalthia as he dusted off his uniform, still playing back the events in his head.

  “I have no idea what that was, but we need to get back to the camp. Quickly!” She replied, grabbing her tattered robes off the ground.

  However, before they left, Vera noticed someone approaching them from the rear. Everyone turned around to see Caleb slowly walking towards them, limping with each step. He was still alive from the sudden blow he received, but he certainly didn't look good.

  “Prince Ravenfell!?” Felicity yelled out as she rushed over, helping him stand before he collapsed to the ground.

  He gave her a pained moan for a response, not feeling up for any kind of conversation.

  “Asiah, have Vera carry him and let’s hurry back to the base.”

  Asiah agreed and after loading him up, they dashed towards their base, not wasting a single second.