The sound of shattering glass rang out like a thunderclap across the battlefield.
Kain's heart stopped as the protective container holding Harvey splintered under the beetle's assault. Sharp shards of enchanted glass scattered in every direction, glittering in the dim light. For a moment, it felt as though time itself had frozen. Then, a frightened wail broke the silence.
"Harvey!" Cherry, who seemed to have woken up at some point during the battle shouted, her voice raw with panic.
The beetle's mandibles clicked, its attention shifting toward the now-exposed child. Its monstrous body surged forward, intent on finishing the job.
"No, you don't!" Serena growled, her swords lighting up once more with sigils. She sprinted forward, placing herself between the beetle and Harvey. With a roar of effort, she drove both swords downward into the beetle's jointed forelimbs. The creature shrieked, the harsh screech of metal being shredded reverberated around the laboratory as a thick green liquid spurted from the wounds.
But the beetle was far from done. It reared back, its spiked legs scraping against Serena's swords, creating showers of sparks. It swung the massive horn on its head downward in an arc, aiming to stab straight through her.
Before she could fully retreat, the Starweaver appeared again, weaving a protective wall of light between Serena and the descending horn. The blow struck the barrier, but the force sent both Serena and the Starweaver sprawling to the ground.
Additionally, the beetle was showing signs of regenerating from the severe wound.
"Balins!" Kain called out, his voice sharp. "Nullify its ability to regenerate, but only temporarily!"
Balins hesitated with following the directions of someone other than Serena, but it eventually obeyed after considering that the price of a temporary loss of regeneration rather than a permanent one should not be too steep. To better control the potential consequences, it specified to only impede the beetle's ability to regenerate for 5 minutes. Hopefully, its allies could finish the beetle off in that time.
The insect screeched in anger as the shimmering aura of regeneration faded from its body.
Similarly, Aegis who had already barely been holding on, let out a tortured groan as his stone-like form cracked further. Normally, it could easily reconstruct its form using nearby stone, but it seemed to have lost the ability.
One of Aegis' arms shattered and the walls surrounding the remaining children faltered, exposing more containers.
But despite crumbling Aegis didn't move from his post. Despite the cracks running through his body, he stood firm, what remained of his body standing in the way of the relentless beetle.
Serena, taking advantage of the temporary pause in the beetle's regeneration, charged again. With a cry, she drove both blades down in a single, devastating strike.
The loud screeching of the beetle abruptly cut off as a bloody stab wound was made between its eyes. Its massive body came crashing to the ground with a deafening thud, dead.
Meanwhile, the mantis-locust hybrid, still sluggish from Balins' earlier exchange, turned its sights on the exposed children. Its razor-sharp forelimbs glinted menacingly as it crept toward a container holding another child.
Thankfully, due to its reduced speed, Kain was able to place himself as well as many of the Vespid guards between it and the children.
He also ordered one of the guards to quickly carry the child that had gone crashing out of the container—Harvey, according to Cherry—to Queen, who was treating him with a combination of life-attribute energy and the royal jelly.
Thankfully, the price that had drastically decreased Bea's strength was only temporary.
Bea quickly regained control of the splits that had infected the Doctor and the mantis hybrid previously but had been unable to exert much of an effect. She exhausted all of her remaining energy into causing them to freeze momentarily.
Timed perfectly with the halt in their movements, the Elemental Guardian, who had at some point activated its hybrid form of 2 elements with the help of Starweaver, had finished preparing a grand move.
Unlike the previous fusion that Kain saw at the National Tournament which was a fusion of its water and earth forms, this time it was a fusion of its water and wind attributes.
Its translucent serpentine body shimmered with the fluid grace of flowing water, constantly shifting and rippling as though it were alive. A cold mist trailed from its body giving it an appearance both solid and intangible.
It then encased both the Doctor and the mantis-hybrid in a solid block of ice, although the head of the director was left outside of the ice—after all, Bea still had to rifle through his memories for information.
The aftermath of the battle was a grim, chaotic scene. Kain's breath came in short gasps as he surveyed the battlefield. The beetle and mantis-hybrid lay still, their monstrous forms reduced to lifeless husks. The Elemental Guardian hovered nearby, its watery and wind-infused form still shimmering faintly before it began to dissipate back into its lone water-attribute form.
Serena slumped against a nearby wall, her twin swords planted in the ground for support, their sigils flickering weakly.
Kain turned his attention to the children who were still unconscious but stable. Kain had instructed the Vespids to remove them from the containers after confirming using the Doctor's memories that it was safe to do so.
Kain had exhausted every last scrap of spiritual power that he had to strengthen Bea so that she could break through the Doctor's mental defences as efficiently as possible.
She worked with precision, extracting every scrap of useful information. The process left the Doctor groaning faintly, his features contorted in pain even as the ice kept him immobilized.
After about a half hour, Bea confirmed that she'd stored and made copies of all the memories she considered to be useful.
Kain wasted no time. "Good. Then we're done here." With a swift, deliberate motion, he drove the blade of his spear blade into the Doctor's forehead. The man's eyes widened for a moment before dulling as the light of life left him.