Story

## More Bugs

July 2nd, 1585Soaring through the air was an incredibly long creature with an uncountable amount of legs. Each one of its legs moved in a perfect pattern, each one using Geppo to push the exceptionally long body forward and keep it afloat without ever dipping in altitude. On its back were hundreds of droops, tightly holding onto the body.

Terya ate the Mushi Mushi no Mi, Model: Eumillipes, a fruit of a species of millipede that is true to its name, and boasted over a thousand legs. In her hybrid form, her form bulked up significantly after much more training under the tutelage of Batavia, making her body wide enough to carry up to four regular sized humans on one of her many segments. And sitting on these segments were Terya’s personal troops. Trained brutally and efficiently, just like Batavida did with her, armed with rifles and swords.

While they feared the war that they were going into, they feared what Terya would do to them if they didn’t join just as much. Joining her into the fight, holding onto Terya’s shoulders was Moroway, a man who she had forced to join her troop and ended up becoming her most capable of skilled ally, who now also served as her Vice Commander in this operation.

Their goal was to reach Deadbeard’s base from high up in the sky, take people out from the safety of the clouds, and remain out of reach for most people. What they had in overwhelming numbers, they had to make up for in strategy and individual strength. After everything that Terya has been through, never once did she ever fear dying.

“Keep your eyes peeled, and don’t think we are perfectly safe up here! I need everyone to be able to pull their own weight! That includes you, Moroway!”

Terya warned everyone, with the message only really being reached by half of the soldiers, since those who sat back the furthest could barely hear anything else, outside of the winds blowing past their ears.

“I have been prepared for death many times over the years… Just because this war is greater than all those before, doesn’t mean I need to fear dying more now than in the past. I am prepared to do whatever it takes. My family needs to live in a world free of such tyranny. If it takes my own life to achieve that, then so be it!”

Moroway boasted, sounding much more determined than ever before. Terya tried to look stoic the whole time, but even his words managed to crack her harsh shell and make her smirk. Those words were of a true warrior. A warrior that she bad trained in the time they have spent together to become as hardened and ready for battle as ever. It even got her pumped now. She zoomed through the sky, just underneath the clouds, making her approach alongside her troop without any fear.

Atop a colossal rock, a woman with raven-black hair idled, a sake bottle attached to the back of her hand, the liquid flowing smoothly as she took a swig. The cool breeze barely disturbed her relaxed demeanor; unbothered by the world around her.

"... Wonder when they're gonna show up" Blythe mused, looking around almost boredly as she lazily yawned while sitting comfortably on the rock. But then, her keen eyes caught a growing shadow blanketing the horizon as she squinted, focusing on the silhouette of an enormous creature inching closer in the sky.

A sly grin tugged at the corner of her mouth, her eyes lighting up with anticipation at the prospect of finally getting to cut loose on the battlefield like Deadbeard had promised she would.

Lazily standing up and shading her eyes for a better look, she burst into laughter when she got a better look at it. "Good heavens, that's one repulsive, oversized bug!" Blythe remarked, unable to contain her amusement at the sight of the massive creature soaring in the sky.

Wanting to make her presence known, she looked around her surrondings for a welcome present until her eyes spotted a rather humongous boulder nearby.

"This'll do" She grinned, piercing the rock with her fingers as she hoisted the large and heavy boulder into the air effortlessly with a single arm. Taking aim at the center of the gigantic insect, a mischievous glint sparkled in her eyes. "Let's give them a warm welcome," she smirked as she cocked her arm back. Channeling both her own monstrous strength and the power of her devil fruit, she infused the boulder with enhanced speed and size, amplifying both by fifty times. In doing so, the already large boulder expanded, growing to the size of a massive warship but with the velocity and speed of a bullet as it rocketed towards Terya's form, a lethal greeting from the former first mate of Goddess of Destruction.

The antennae on Terya’s head tingled. Although she did not possess the ability to use Haki, her antennae were capable of picking up the disruption in the air as the gigantic projectile was hurled towards them. As well as the sheer size of that boulder that was coming right for them. The lines of the Marines were behind her, thus she couldn’t allow herself to just avoid it and potentially let it hit them.

“Hold on tightly, everyone! **SENKYAKU: KENZOKU!**”

Terya shifted her body to present the broad side of herself to the boulder. Extending many of her legs and violently slashing them forward to create hundreds of medium-sized slices of air pressure. Hundreds were sent towards the boulder, and shortly even turned into thousands, even though she was only using a few hundreds of her many legs. Using the other legs that she wasn’t using to propel herself backwards to not get hit by it, and to keep up with its immense speed despite its size.

As big as it was, Terya had an immense number of legs and great Rokushiki skill that took full advantage of the many legs that she possessed in her hybrid form. The same legs that were used in order to help cut down parts of a large glacier were now used to cut down a boulder. Within the matter of seconds, the boulder was rendered down to be nothing more than tiny pebbles and dust after being cut thousands of times.

This attack was a clear sign that they had been spotted, and Terya began to move more sporadically, her long body weaving and turning in flexible ways to make herself less of an easy to hit target. The soldiers on her back had to cling on for dear life to not be shaken off.

“Moroway, did you see where that rock came from?!” She asked him.

“We are so high up enough to the point where we should not be visible by troops on the ground! Either someone has eagle eyes, or a very high vantage point!”

The two spoke, trying to figure out where that attack came from. While flying around frantically, Terya kept her eye open to try and see where it could have come from. Moroway now acting as a lookout to spot the origin of the attack. The height at which they traveled also made it difficult to see things at the bottom. Just flying to that point proved to be less easy than Terya initially thought.

Blythe, from her position, keenly observed the intricate display of the bug’s counterattack. The synchronized movement of the thousand-legged creature's legs, each employing the Rokushiki technique called Rankyakyu, was a sight to behold. To be able to utilize that attack with so many legs simultaneously was nothing short of remarkable, earning the woman’s respect.

"Crafty," Blythe muttered, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. She took another swig from her flask, letting the liquid burn down her throat as her mind worked. It was evident that a frontal attack, especially one relying on weak objects, wouldn't suffice against the numerous legs that could each act as a blade.

But there was a vulnerability, a chink in Terya's armor that the veteran pirate captain had observed during that brief encounter. Blythe's smirk grew wider as an idea formed. If the legs were the problem, then why not attack from an angle where they couldn’t be utilized effectively?

"Time to say hello properly." Blythe uttered with a wicked gleam in her eyes. Before that though, she picked up several small rocks on the ground and tucked them away for future use.

Planting her trusted partner and weapon of choice, Grandmark, into the ground, Blythe planned to exploit the power of her fruit maliciously. Tapping into the power of the Moa Moa no Mi, she amplified the sword's size and length exponentially. Gripping the handle tight, the sword rocketed skyward as it propelled Blythe upwards, its enormous form cutting through the air and clouds like a metallic comet.

The suddenness of the maneuver would certainly take Terya and her unit by surprise as while they were still searching for the source of who threw the boulder, Blythe would shoot past them, holding onto the titanic blade. As she soared overhead, she glanced down and shouted "Hereeeee's Blythe!" in a thunderous voice that garnered everyone’s attention as they took in the figure of the grinning eyepatch woman looking down at them like a reaper of death.

Harnessing her devil fruit power once more, Blythe increased her strength fifty-fold in proportion to her weapon as her muscles bulged with raw unbridled power. The might and the weight of the sword, now more reminiscent of a skyscraper than a weapon, was now effortlessly lifted over her head. With a wicked grin, she swung it downward with multiplied speed and momentum, aiming right for Terya's massive back that carried with it dozens of her assumed subordinates.

Blythe knew that in this position, with Terya now below her, the millipede wouldn't be able to maneuver her myriad of legs as effectively as before and she couldn’t turn over her body withot endangering her soldiers; certainly dreaded situation to be in. Blythe’s blade threatened to split the sky as it descended and poised to deliver a blow that was as deadly it appeared.

“**TERYA, LOOK OUT!**”

Moroway yelled as he ended up being the first one to actually notice the gigantic blade coming down on them, and only after Moroway screamed, did Terya actually notice it. The sudden appearance of it and the way the air churned couldn’t have been natural in any means. Especially given the size of the attack.

Terya had to act fast, and her immediate priority wasn’t to save herself, but those riding on her back. She moved her body like a whip at such speeds that none of those riding on her had the chance to hold on and were instead launched like human-sized bullets away. Moroway was the only one who instantly noticed the maneuver and jumped in time to not be whipped away, using Geppo himself to stay in the air. But all the other soldiers were launched towards water.

The gigantic blade struck Terya’s back, the long body of hers bent like a string being karate chopped, instead of instantly being sliced through, but still managing to slice into the exoskeleton itself. Despite the pain, Terya’s main concern was out of the way, which were the lives of her troops. Her own life though, she was a lot more careless with. Her body bent and twisted, so that some of her feet managed to get a grip on the gigantic blade.

“Terya… Our troops!” Moroway said in disbelief as they were all just launched away by Terya.

“They’ll be fine! I’m not letting myself get sliced in half just because I was carrying all of them! Now get back on! Or I’m running off without you!”

Terya yelled at Moroway, who didn’t hesitate as he used Geppo to get back to Terya, tightly holding onto her. She had no other choice but to fling her whole troop away, both for their, and her own sake. It was a shame to now take care of things with a vastly lower number, but it was better than to dying. As more and more of her legs touched onto the side of the massive blade, the faster Terya became. Running down the side of it to run towards the handle.

“**SORU!**”

With even a few hundreds of her legs, Terya was already capable of reaching ludicrous speeds by utilizing Soru. She had so many legs to take advantage of in this form that her leg-based techniques were vastly amplified in effectivity. Had she noticed that blade sooner, it wouldn’t even have been able to hit her. But the speed achieved with her more aggressive maneuvers might have killed her troops anyways.

With Soru, she closed the distance within mere moments. Already staring down Blythe with her monstrous looking face that was a mixture of both a heavily scarred human and a freakish looking oversized millipede. And staring over her shoulder was Moroway, a concerned looking man already past his prime.

“So this is who we are dealing with. “Dreadnought” Blythe. Your former captain died, and now you’re working for Deadbeard? What would your former captain think?”

As Terya hurled her words at Blythe, the latter chuckled, her grip firm on the hilt of her colossal blade that was firmly embedded into Terya's exoskeleton. High above the ground, with winds howling past them, Blythe's amusement was visible to see. "Ah, you know of me? I'm flattered," Blythe cooed, the wind tousling her luscious raven hair.

"I do miss Goldie..." she admitted, her voice tinged with a mix of jest and nostalgia. "But working for Deadbeard? I can’t lie, it certainly has its perks.. He's given me all the freedom in the world to wreak havoc on you dogs of the government. A fitting tribute to Goldie, don't you think?"

She flashed Terya a mocking grin. "Good on you for dropping the excess baggage by the way" Blythe commented, noting the soldiers Terya had jettisoned earlier. "You'll need to be light on your many feet for our little dance."

She then observed Terya's many legs gripping onto the sword, anchoring herself. "Got a good grip there, bug? You'll want to hang on tight."

Blythe's muscles tightened, veins pulsating with rushing power across her arm that gripped Grandmark. Channeling the power of the Moa Moa no Mi once more to magnify her strength manifold, she forcibly lifted her sword with Terya attached to it and began spinning with shocking speed as the Moa’s ability to not only bolster not just Blythe’s monstrous power but also her velocity was a frightening combination to say the least among the many other things it could do.

"Welcome to the Grand Line Rodeo!" she yelled over the deafening rush of wind, her voice echoing with glee. "Yee-Haw!"

The sheer force of her movement created a spiraling vortex, the powerful gusts slicing through the atmosphere, sending shockwaves across the vicinity. Trees below were uprooted, and the ocean's surface churned and frothed as Blythe continued her aerial dance, intending to see how long the duo would last.

Moroway was holding onto Terya for dear life. The speeds and strength at which they were spun would’ve easily flung Moroway away if it wasn’t for Terya being the one who actually got a grip on it. She pushed her whole body down against the blade to try and reduce her surface area and to reduce the force exerted on her, but looking at Moroway, whose mouth was flapping about like he was being blown into the mouth by a leaf blower, she knew he’d be crushed if this continued any longer.

“Hold on, damn it! I just need… To time… This… RIGHT!”

It was difficult to keep her orientation with the speeds they were spinning at. All Terya could see was a moving picture that shifted between the brown of the ground, the blue of the sea, and the whites of the sky. She clenched her teeth and focused as best as she could, her perception sharpening as she used the antennae on her head to somewhat orient herself, despite the speed she was being spun at.

And then, she let go.

With the motion of the spinning blade, combined with the immense strength of the one spinning it, Terya was shot off into the distance like a spear being thrown by a giant. Flying off into the horizon within the blink of an eye, seemingly removed from the island itself. She whipped her body around to grip Moroway with her legs and reduce the pressure of the speed and drag of the air.

Once Terya had slowed down, she and Moroway found themselves in the sky above the sea. They had been flung so far away that the island they were previously flying above wasn’t even visible anymore. As the things finally calmed down and Moroway got a grasp of the situation, he climbed back onto Terya, slapping her in the face since she actually seemed somewhat stunned after what she just had to endure.

“Snap out of it, Terya! If someone can do it, then it’s you! Come on, that was nothing, right?! Don’t give up already!”

He tried to reach her in her stunned state, until she snapped out of it and grabbed him by the arm before he got the chance to slap her again. Already struggling with a massive headache and large body aching, she didn't need Moroway trying to slap her back to her senses.

“...Don’t confuse me even more than I already am! I was focusing… We were flying from… There. Hold on extra tightly. I won’t be able to save you if you fall off when I do this.”

Terya turned her large body around. They had been flung so far away, that they were basically just looking at an empty horizon. Moroway was confused, but held onto her as tightly as he could. Terya straightened out her body, looking into the general direction of where she came from.

*Tacktacktacktacktacktacktack.*

The sounds of her many, many legs cracking could be heard as she was focusing all of her strength into them. Her whole body was trembling as she was exerting herself, clenching her teeth as she physically and mentally prepared herself. She was perfectly lined up, a straight line of millipede.

“**SENKYAKU… DAIKIYARI!**”

In unison, every single one of her over a thousand legs combined the arts of both Soru and Geppo together. Not only kicking off the air, but doing so ten thousand times in a single instance, repeatedly, multiple times a second. Every last leg was being put to work, moving at the same time to also combine their strength into the same moment. The movement itself created such an immense sonic boom that the waves way underneath her crashed.

Terya and Moroway were shot forward, and each time she moved her legs to use this technique, the air around her churned and crashed. The result was Terya moving at hypersonic speeds, her perfectly outstretched body reducing drag and wind resistance effectively, and the sheer amount of power exerted by those many legs pushed her forward with an unstoppable, explosive force.

Before the loud sounds created by this technique could even reach the island, Terya had already returned. Having locked her target from a far distance away due to the large weapon, and now aiming her massive frame, powered up by immense speeds to crash into Beryl with all her weight behind it. Like a gigantic, flying javelin.

High above the battleground, amidst the dancing clouds, Blythe floated effortlessly. She let out an impressed whistle as she looked around, "Damn, looks like I really sent her flying. Did I overdo it?" she pondered aloud, tracing the path she thought Terya might have been flung to. She laughed as she took another sip of the sake bottle strapped to the back of her hand, enjoying the brew that poured down her throat.

Blythe's carefree demeanor suddenly changed however as her Observation Haki sensed an overwhelming energy racing back toward her at alarming speeds.

"Oh? So, she's coming back for more!" she laughed merrily, her grin widening. "You've got spunk, bug-lady. I like that!"

Tightening the grip of her skyscraper-long greatsword, she readied herself, shifting the massive blade to resemble a baseball batter's stance. The thrill of the impending clash coursed through her veins. "Guess the fun isn't over yet!" she shouted to the empty sky around her, anticipating the formidable Terya's return. And return she did, Terya's body, powered by the multilayered Soru technique, darted forward, resembling a gigantic, deadly javelin that emitted an ear grating sound from her thousand legs all kicking the air.

With immense power and the added boost of her Moa Moa no Mi, Blythe waited for the right moment to time her attack before she swung her gargantuan sword in the form of a mighty horizontal slash, aiming to meet Terya's charge head-on.

“**More More Gojubai Hanmā!**” Blythe shouted her first named attack, amplifying the speed of her swing and the power of her muscles by fifty times to meet Terya’s incoming assault.

“**BOOOOOOM**!”

The ensuing impact was cataclysmic as a deafening shockwave erupted around them, tearing through the sky and parting the nearby clouds. Neither side gave an inch as Blythe’s grin widened at the challenge of power she was faced with for the first time in awhile. Multiplying her strength by any less than fifty times could have been a fatal mistake as her keen battle instincts, seasoned from countless battles, had prepared her for Terya’s rather impressive attack.

“**COME ONNNNNN!**” Blythe roared, attempting to overpower Terya as she gritted her teeth, the two remaining in a fierce mid-air deadlock that neither wanted to lose.

“**GRRRRHHHRRAAAAA!!! I WON’T LET YOU TASTE VICTORY, PIRATE!**”

Terya yelled as her bellowing echo of their clash overpowered any other sound that surrounded them. The massive strain that Terya’s body had to endure could not be understated. Blythe’s strength came from the overwhelming power her fruit gave to her right off the bat, while Terya’s strength came from the combined usage of her zoan form’s many additional legs and the Rokushiki training that she underwent to push it to its limits.

From the outside, it would look like Blythe was pushing against a gigantic white cone, as a result of the numerous sonic booms created from Terya pushing the capability of her legs to their limit. The force exerted reverberating throughout every last segment of her long body. It’s like her own body was being vibrated, and just using a technique like this alone put immense strain on her body.

“Hhhaaa…. Hang on… Terya! Don’t give up! Every effort in this war is necessary to win! We are fighting for justice, are we not?!” Moroway yelled at Terya just to make his voice heard. The sheer pressure of the clash was rattling his bones and causing them to crack.

Moroway was far outclassed when it came to the clash between these foes. He always lagged behind Terya, no matter the mission they were in. He knew that, and he knew that he was basically useless at this point. All he could do was talk to Terya, and hope that she did what was necessary to win.

Terya’s eyes were bloodshot. The sounds around her were deafened and were replaced by a shrill sound of tinnitus. Pushing herself to such an extent was really having its toll on her body. At that point, there was no reason to hold back anymore. Instead of straightening herself, Terya twisted her body like a helix. Starting to spin around violently while pushing against Blythe. The shockwaves created were sucked in by a vortex of air, turning Terya into a flying, explosive drill.

“HRAAAAAA…. HRAAAAAAAAAAAAGHH!!!”

Her rage and disdain towards the criminals brought out every last ounce of adrenaline in her heart to give her the energy needed to push on. Her legs kicked off the air even more rapidly. The speed at which she used Soru was ever-increasing to the point where there were no more individual shockwaves to be heard, but a constant, ear-deafening blast that just kept increasing in volume.

“**SENKYAKU: REIKOKUSHIKEN!**”

Every last ounce of power was being drawn out from her legs as she unleashed that spiral technique. Screeching winds and explosive sounds surrounded Terya’s spinning body. Moroway held onto her, even now, even as his body was being shredded and crushed from this maneuver. He wanted her to know that he was with her this whole time. Terya fought as violently and relentlessly as she always did. A massive, white cone surrounded her entire body, spinning alongside her, literally resembling a gigantic drill. The sound of Terya churning up her own body with this technique was drowned out by the sounds of constant blasts.

"This is...!" Blythe's voice trailed off, her eyes widening in both astonishment and exhilaration at the sheer force that Terya was mustering. For the first time, there was a spark of genuine surprise on her face as the usual gleam in her eyes was replaced by a momentarily overwhelmed expression.

The deadlock between the two powerhouses started to shift, the spinning vortex of Terya's form slowly, but steadily, overpowering the strength behind Blythe's gargantuan blade. Finally, in a blinding burst of force through nothing but willpower and resolve, Terya managed to break through and overcome the deadlock and headed straight towards the airborne Blythe.

“Tch!”  In a desperate attempt to mitigate the impending destruction, Blythe activated her Armament Haki, enveloping one of her arms in a dense black sheen as she raised it to shield herself, unable to use both hands as the other was holding onto her massive sword. The immense force of Terya's attack was undeniable as it met Blythe's arm, causing Blythe’s face to contort in pain from enduring such a brutal attack. The sounds of cracking and straining could be heard, evidence of the physical toll the clash was taking on her despite blocking with an amplified haki infused arm.

The sky became a blurry mess of colors as Blythe was catapulted through the air, the wind roaring in her ears and trying to push her further away. Thinking on her feet, or rather, in mid-air, she reached into her pockets, pulling out the stones she had collected beforehand. Channeling the power of the Moa Moa no Mi, she shucked the rocks behind her as they ballooned into gigantic boulders. Crashing into and through them, Blythe utilized the boulders as brakes, the immense collisions reducing her breakneck speed with each impact.

Spotting the ground racing up to meet her, she summoned the strength to grip her enormous sword, driving it deep into the earth below. The sword tore through the terrain like a hot knife through butter, creating a massive trench in its path. Dirt and debris flew in all directions as Blythe, using her sword as an anchor, skidded to a jarring halt.

Panting and slightly disoriented, she dangled from her weapon's handle, taking a few moments to regain her composure.

After a few heaving breaths, she chuckled, her voice raspy, "Heh... what an attack," she chuckled, strands of her raven-black hair covering her face as a trail of blood left her mouth. “ If not for my quick thinking, I'd be a shooting star across the next three islands by now." She admitted before pushing herself up, wiping the blood from her mouth as she grinned at the distant figure of Terya’s bug form still in the air.

“You’d be a charming son of a bitch if it weren’t for that disgusting form” She cackled, the corners of her lips curling into a sly, satisfied smirk. It had been a long time since someone had drawn her blood, and she reveled in the adrenaline, the dance of danger. The very essence of battle was what she lived for.

Reaching back, she intended to celebrate the thrill with a hearty swig of her cherished sake, but as her fingers wrapped around the bottle, they met with a jagged, sharp edge. Pulling it forward, the horrifying reality set in. Her treasured bottle had shattered, no doubt from the earlier collision, leaving behind only the neck and the cap.

Her eyes, once filled with mirth and joy, darkened. The atmosphere around her grew tense, as if a storm was about to erupt. Her body began to tremble, not from the previous exertion, but from sheer, unbridled rage.

"**HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ENJOY THIS WITHOUT MY DRINK!?**" Blythe roared, her voice echoing across the battlefield. The once playful and boisterous pirate was gone. In her place stood a figure of fury and resolve as she tossed her broken bottle aside and stared down Terya from atop the handle of her weapon, her expression promising vengeance and justice for her cherished bottle that had been with her for decades.

Terya’s large form slowly fell down to the ground, like a ribbon being tossed around the wind, shrinking with every second that passed, getting smaller and smaller until Terya had returned to her regular human form. A slash was on her back where Blythe’s sword had cut into earlier. Her legs were so weak that she could barely move them.

Moroway thus instead took the helm, grabbing Terya and carrying her on his back as he used Geppo slowly to safely land on the ground. His own body was in a miserable state, so many of his bones were fractures, muscles torn and churned from traveling with Terya. Her whipping her troops off of herself truly was an act of kindness, because they couldn’t possibly have survived that whole ordeal.

The man now stood several feet away from Blythe, carrying Terya on his back. Despite the lengths she had already gone to, she was still not done. Glaring at Blythe, her messed up face barely told the full story that her body was going through.

“If you wanna drink something so badly… Then how about you go ahead and choke on your own blood, you filthy criminal?! Put me down, Moroway… I’m not stopping until she drops dead.” Terya yelled.

“Terya, I don’t think you should fight in your condition!” Moroway replied.

“**AND RETREAT?! LIKE COWARDS?! NEVER!** I’ve gone all my career doing nothing but chasing after cowards who ran away at the sight of danger. I’ll be damned if I turned one of them! It’s not how I was raised! It’s not how I was trained! It’s also not how I trained YOU! We’ll see this through… To the end!”

Moroway knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince her. He sighed, crouching down and letting go to put her down on her two legs. Her legs were so twisted to the point where it looked like her foot was on backwards. Terya raised one leg and used Kami-e to twist it back into place. Same with the other leg. Stretching and moving her body until every joint popped. Then, she walked forward. Approaching Blythe.

With a single thought, Blythe effortlessly reversed the effects of the Moa Moa no Mi on Grandmark, allowing her colossal sword to revert to its standard size. The majestic blade, now free of her grip, remained staunchly embedded within the ground, serving as an imposing reminder of the battle that had transpired.

Gently, Blythe touched down onto the floor, her boots landing with a soft thud as she also began to approach the marine captain, closing the distance between them before Blythe finally stopped right in front of her; the two women glaring each other down. Even though they were both of formidable stature, Blythe still had a noticeable height advantage, and she cast a long shadow over Terya, making the Marine Captain appear even smaller in contrast.

Moments passed before Blythe's usual smirk resurfaced on her face. "Well, Terya," she began, savoring the name she had overheard the man following Terya call her, as it rolled off her tongue, "You certainly look alot cuter like this. Far better than that monstrous bug form."

Without breaking eye contact, Blythe brought her face dangerously close to Terya's, their noses almost touching. The two powerful women locked eyes, each searching for any hint of fear or hesitation in the other. "Listen closely," Blythe whispered, her voice dripping with menace as you could feel the tranquil rage boiling inside her eyes. "Give up now. I admire your spirit, but there's no way you can win against me." she warned, her voice laced with the utmost confidence despite what just happened. Blythe already knew Terya would never just surrender, especially to a pirate, so it made the words she just uttered even more questionable and ominous.

Terya glared at Blythe, and not once did she take a step backwards as she approached her, looking up at her like the difference in height didn’t matter. Though both of her eyes were staring at Blythe, only one worked, while the other one was completely blind. Her face alone told many stories of fierce battle and brutal combat. She wasn’t even half as old as Moroway, the man who followed her, yet she was undoubtedly more combat experienced.

“I have made older people bend to my will. I have transformed the subterranean nature of my fruit into one that can conquer the skies. I have been through hell more times than hundreds of soldiers combined. You don’t know what a child’s game truly is! You don’t even know what war is! You and your new captain will never know victory, as long as I have even got a **SINGLE** leg to stand on!”

The red part of her still functionable eye shrunk down, as well as her pupil. Making Terya look downright animalistic. She spread her arms apart and flexed them with such force that her jacket tore off, leaving only the white shirt she wore underneath on. Opening her hands, showing off the pitiful state of her hands with some of the digits being amputated or scarred.

“**AND UNLUCKILY FOR YOU, I’VE GOT OVER A THOUSAND MORE!**”

Blythe looked Terya over before her lips twisted into a faint smirk, one that held no malice or hatred towards the enemy in front of her. "I have to hand it to you," she said, her voice dripping with a mix of amusement and genuine admiration. "You've got a bigger pair of balls than most of the men I've come met in my time."

However, her light tone quickly shifted, her bloodlust returning as she spoke her next words. "A thousand legs huh?" she mused aloud, leaning back a bit as she took a stance. "Well, darling, I hate to break it to ya… but sometimes **quantity** isn't as important as **quality**."

Without any warning, Blythe called upon the full might of the Moa Moa no Mi for the first time during this battle as unrestrained power flowed into her veins and muscles. She had always kept her maximum at fifty times whether it was growing her sword or the objects she had thrown as the strain of using the fruit’s full power was agonizing on her body to say the least, but Terya had impressed the former pirate captain enough to warrant a display of her full strength.

And a full display, even for just a moment, was what she was going to get.

Blythe’s figure seemed to blink out of existence as she amplified her speed by an unprecedented one hundred times, a number that would sound insane to any fighter that heard it. The only hint of her presence was a soft flicker of wind that trailed in her wake as she harnessed the power of her Armament Haki, her fist turning a dark shade of black, and aimed her hardened amplified fist directly at Terya’s unguarded stomach with the sheer force and speed of a meteorite as the ground beneath them caved in from the earth shattering pressure.

Terya already had her fair chair of winds churning around herself, and for some reason, she could also somewhat sense that her opponent was holding back. No one just trying to have fun would go all out. For the pirates, this must have been less like a war, and more of a way to vent their bloodlust. She clenched her teeth, the overwhelming anger, strain she felt within her body, and the imminent threat of death and potentially losing a war caused her very mind to ache. An unfounded amount of stress that Terya never had experienced before. A deep, inner sadness in failing those who had believed in her.

A brief moment of darkness overcame her, Terya closed her eyes as she was seemingly ready to meet her fate in the battle she was taking part in. A moment passed like a flash. The sense of the immense strength and speed combined coming from that woman who had fought in the most treacherous seas was something Terya could feel, without even needing to be impacted by it.

Terya stepped aside. The meteoric fist barely grazed past her and the immense wind pressure and intensity caused a shockwave powerful enough to send Moroway flying into the distance. He had been nothing more than emotional support this entire time, but it was the kind of support Terya needed while fighting an uphill body.

The Marine looked at Blythe, the constant expression of anger on her own face having been replaced by one of pure shock due to multiple factors. For one, the sheer strength she had been holding back, secondly, her Vice Commander being sent flying without a moment to even notice it, and lastly, Terya somehow not getting hit by it. It was no twist of fate or coincidence. In that moment, her body acted on its own, reacting to something it could sense.

“**SORU!**”

Terya used the moment of surprise to make a lot of distance between herself and Blythe. Still shaken by what had happened to the point where her expression was still visibly shocked. The adrenaline, the threat of dying, and the war that was at stake pushed Terya’s psyche to a new level. The will within her mind had finally manifested in a tangible way. She perfectly predicted what would happen, and her body reacted accordingly. Terya had just awakened Kenbunshoku Haki. She felt a sense of clarity like she never had before.

“...I was never ready for the danger that this sea had to offer… You have shown me just what it is like here. I see now why all the weaklings I fought ran away instead of wanting to face me. What they lacked was… RESOLVE!”

She just got done with barely escaping death, admitting to her own weakness, yet despite all that, Terya refused to back down. It may just have been a glimmer of hope, but it was enough to keep her going. Backing out now after everything she’s told and taught Moroway… Whose fate was now literally up in the clouds. She simply wouldn’t dare.

“Quantity, quality… It matters little what you use! In the end, only the results matter!”

Terya swung her leg to shoot a crescent shaped wave of air pressure towards Blythe. Although she was only using the strength found within her a single one of her human legs, it still traveled with deadly speed and strength that was capable of cleaving solid structures in half. Terya was so focused on the quantity of her legs that she rarely considered what even one was capable of. Blythe made her realize that as well.

Blythe's eyes widened slightly, the hint of a smirk forming on her lips as her seasoned battle-like mind quickly connected the dots. "Observation Haki, huh? Quite the little surprise," she remarked, genuine appreciation lacing her voice.

But that appreciation was quickly replaced with a fiery resolve. "However," Blythe added, her tone chilling, "you've only just begun to tap into a deeper ocean, doll. It's one thing to dip your toes in, and another to swim with the sharks." She grinned.

In a swift and fluid motion of spinning on her feet to face Terya’s direction, Blythe channeled the power of the Moa Moa no Mi, her body tensing with evident strain but also with immense power. Every fiber of her being seemed to hum with energy, the ground beneath her feet cracking from the sheer force she was generating as she planned on denying Terya the same space to escape with like earlier.

"**More More Hyakubai Ken!**" she bellowed as she cocked her arm back before throwing a straight jab upwards, the very air around her disintegrating from the near godlike strength and speed behind that multiplied punch. The force she put behind it was enough to send a cataclysmic burst of compressed air pressure the size of a ship tearing through the air with a wide radius. Terya’s crescent wave of air pressure might as well have been an ant compared to the blast as it collided briefly before being swallowed, the blast surging forward as it aimed to engulf and deliver its devastating force to the airborne Terya.

Terya’s first tap into the power of Haki wasn’t enough to prepare her for what else the fight had to offer. Though she had the capability to sense what was coming at her, she wasn’t necessarily prepared to have an answer against it. She put her arms forward to protect herself, and hardened her body with Tekkai, becoming completely stationary as Terya was preparing for what was to come.

The resulting impact was so tremendous that it immediately launched Terya into the air. Her arms feeling like jello as the impact shook them to their very core, only being somewhat mitigated due to using Tekkai prior. The force still spread throughout her body, and as Terya was launched upwards, streaks of blood flowed from the edges of her mouth, resembling ribbons flowing in the wind. She felt her brain bouncing around her skull, resulting in multiple concussions.

In mere seconds, Terya had been removed from the Blue Sea, and entered the height levels of the White Sea, her body having pierced through the clouds, and now she found herself way up high, surrounded by colors of white and deep blue. She felt like she briefly blacked out with how for a brief moment, she felt nothing. She had to ignore the aching of her body, she peeled her eyes open and focused on what she had to do.

She felt more comfortable in the sky, and as she was airborne, she transformed back into her hybrid form. Hundreds of segments and over a thousands legs manifesting in an instant as she took on her monstrous form once again. The clouds obscured her from the eyes of those on the ground.

“Haaa… Ghhrr… Gah… Quantity… And quality… Focus on both… It’s what you need in this fight.”

Terya said to herself, as though to make up for the lack of emotional support she had since Moroway had been launched away. She danced around the sky, moving her many legs around with small uses of Geppo to keep herself afloat. Her legs straightened themselves out, and Terya tried to focus more of her power into her legs while the rest of her massive body relaxed itself.

“**SENKYAKU: SHOMETSU KOSUI!**”

A twist on another one of her techniques, but with a new philosophy in mind. Not needlessly straining herself, but instead channeling power into the vast quantity of legs that she had. The resulting attack was like a monsoon crashing down upon the world, but instead of raindrops, there were literally hundreds of thousands of air pressure bullets that passed through the clouds and down onto the ground with such speed and strength that they were shimmerish with a white glow. Piercing through anything that got in their way. Her relaxed body was being launched upwards even further, due to a lack of counter resistance. As the immense attack continued, her actual body only grew more and more elusive as it rose higher into the air.

Blythe's gaze was drawn upwards, catching the bombardment of Terya's attack raining down on the battlefield. A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth, as if she was actually proud. "Quite the show, Terya. That’s what I like to see” she whispered to herself.

But Blythe wasn’t one to be outdone. She didn't just stand around and wait for the onslaught; instead, she tapped into the Moa Moa no Mi’s power once more as she amplified her speed but kept it to fifty times, allowing her body a breather from the strain of her earlier full-powered punch. She soon became a blur on the battlefield, flickering from one side to the other as she skillfully avoided the countless blades raining down.

Still, she was well aware that continuing to dodge was not in her best interests and needed to bring Terya down and end this fight. With a clear plan in mind, she began collecting a dozen or so fist sized rocks on the damaged ground, tucking them away for whatever she had in mind.

With her amplified speed, Blythe then dashed towards her partner, Grandmark, who was planted into the ground as her hands slid over the handle of the blade. Once again invoking the Moa Moa no Mi’s power, she channeled it into her sword, lengthening the blade exponentially like before as the sword carried her through the air like a rocket, piercing through the clouds with Blythe standing proudly atop of the weapon.

While the rain of air blades continued their relentless assault, Blythe coated her left arm with Armament Haki, deflecting each air blade that managed to block her path as she continued rising through the air on top of her sword. Each block scarred her arm a bit but she had endured far worse during her life as she pressed on, soon breaking through the layer of clouds as her eyes narrowed towards the approaching figure of Terya’s bug form.

“**WE END THIS NOW, TERYA!**” Blythe shouted on her way towards her as their showdown was approaching its climax.

When Terya spotted Blythe chasing after her by what looked like pole vaulting into the sky using her sword, she immediately changed her course of direction. She stopped the constant assault of her attack to instead use Kami-e to straighten her body immediately, and then swiftly used Geppo to launch herself into another direction. Flying horizontally as she dashed across the sky. Her body quickly bent itself and straightened to zig-zag across the sky in a difficult to track manner. Once more distancing herself from the pirate.

“I will not be caught off-guard again! Your immense strength, speed and size advantage won’t do you any good up here!”

Terya had to use every tactic she had to use her advantage. While on the ground, she had little to no way to avoid Blythe’s attack. But in the sky, in her hybrid form, she had the maneuverability and speed to actually keep up. Though Blythe may be able to increase her speeds by a hundred times, Terya had over a thousand legs to push herself to an identical extent. Combined with various Rokushiki techniques, Terya could use this quantity to match Blythe in quality.

As she flew away, she continued to thrust some of her legs towards Blythe to continue to barrage her with a hail of thousands of air pressure bullets. Distancing herself with every movement and every attack she made. If she could stay out of her effective range and utilize her own advantage in the sky to its fullest, Terya might just be able to endure. There was still the risk of projectiles being flung at her, but Terya was ready. The way she zig-zagged across the sky was specifically for that reason.

Blythe assessed the situation quickly as she watched the surprisingly agile Terya zigzag through the air in her bug form, creating an unpredictable flight path. She was also unleashing a barrage of air pressure blades, attempting to keep Blythe at bay while maintaining her distance. Although Blythe could use her Moa Moa no Mi powers to increase her speed and dodge these projectiles, she recognized the futility of a prolonged chase.

It was clear that the sky truly was Terya’s domain to control.

But despite the advantage being in Terya’s favor while in the sky, Blythe’s smirk never faltered. Why? Because she was about to show Terya the difference between them when it came to their experience and level of mastery of Haki as she lifted her eyepatch, revealing her covered eye that was scarred.

Opening that eye, Blythe tapped into the spiritual reserves of her Observation Haki, utilizing the next stage of the presence sensing technique known as Future Sight. It required all of her focus into doing and she couldn’t utilize it for very long or see that far, but it still allowed Blythe to glimpse into the future for a few seconds as she saw exactly where Terya’s body would be in a few moments as Blythe’s grin widened at the big surprise she had in store for the zig zagging bug.

When her sword finally stopped growing, Blythe crouched on top of the handle as she summoned strength into her legs, amplifying her leg muscles by 50 times before she blasted off the handle straight towards Terya’s zig zagging form, still deflecting the air blades within her arm.

Pulling out the rocks she had collected before, Blythe showcased another form of mastery over her Haki by infusing the rocks with her Armament Haki, hardening them several times over as they became pitch black and were as dense and hard as steel with the power surpassing that of a large cannon ball.

Blythe then proceeded to cock her arm back, focusing on the spot Terya would be in a few seconds as she channeled the Moa Moa no Mi's full might, wincing at the strain once more as she launched the rocks with godlike force, both their power and speed amplified by 100x while keeping their small size intact to make them even more unnoticeable and harder to dodge.

The blackened stones transcended the speed of bullets as they ripped through the air, aimed at the precise point where Terya would soon appear at as the marine captain was still zig zagging, believing she was safe. But she wasn't as she was soon about to find out as Terya's greatest strength, her bug form, would soon also become her biggest vulnerability when she couldn't use it to evade like normal.

“Kami-e…”

Terya flattened the shape of her body to the point where she looked like she had been stepped on and squashed. She senses the intent, but with how Blythe was doing it, Terya saw an opportunity. The tiny rocks amplified with Haki and the power of her Devil Fruit struck Terya, and easily pierced through her body.

She relaxed her body to the point where piercing through it was like stabbing a toothpick through a wet piece of paper. The ease of how it happened caused little to no tearing or damage outside of the holes that had been created. However, due to the immense size of Terya’s body, such tiny wounds were next to meaningless. She knew that, hence why she relaxed her body and let herself get struck in a way. An attack like that on any other person and less big of a target would’ve been fatal.

“You think… I am afraid of a little damage like that?!”

Instead of focusing on the attack, Terya instead focused more on keeping her distance again. Even as Blythe came closer, the many legs of Terya worked in unison to launch her away at breakneck speeds. Whenever Blythe closed the distance between the two of them, Terya immediately made that distance again. But instead of only distance, Terya also started to add more height. Rising into the air, higher and higher, to the point where she was close to breaching the boundaries of the White Sea itself.

“I am still alive… Despite everything! Anyone else on my level would’ve died! Even after everything, I am still living! Look at me! Even before I have met you, my body has gone through hell! If that hasn’t killed me in the past, then what makes you think that **YOU** are the one to finally achieve it?!”

Terya quickly rolled her entire body up to the point where it looked like a wheel. That pose didn’t hold on for long however, as she opened up her body, swinging the long, slender shape of her body in a whip-like fashion, making an ear-deafening cracking sound and uncurling all of that long body to create a powerful lash that utilized the full length of her body into a gigantic blade of air pressure, easily the biggest Rankyaku that she had displayed so far. An air blade so huge, it was capable of matching Blythe’s blade in size under the influence of the Moa Moa no Mi.

“**SENKYAKU: MUSHI MUCHI!**”

Blythe's eyes narrowed as Terya's massive air blade soared toward her. The sheer size and power of the attack made it a weapon to be reckoned with, but Blythe's confidence never wavered.

"Tch, you've got the resilience of a cockroach ya stubborn bitch!" Blythe shouted, marveling at Terya's determination but unwilling to let it sway her. Blythe had a special fondness for the strong and she wanted to crush Terya not because of her orders anymore, but because she enjoyed fighting those she liked.

With a crazy laugh that roared through the heavens, Blythe taunted, "Oh you want bigger damage? YOU’VE JUST HANDED ME A WEAPON BETTER THAN ANY SWORD!”

Quickly pulling out another rock, she activated the Moa Moa no Mi abilities and let it drop. The small rock ballooned into a massive boulder as Blythe landed on it, creating a stable platform she could use even in the sky. As the gargantuan air blade descended, her arms transformed, covered in the pitch-black coating of Armament Haki.

A deep breath filled Blythe's lungs as both of her arms blackened, Armament Haki infusing her limbs as she dug her feet into the boulder and lifted her arms just in time to catch the massive air blade between her hands. The force was incredible, scarring and bloodying her palms, yet Blythe gritted her teeth and held on as the blade pushed her down through the air. Each wince of pain was replaced by a surge of willpower as the words of her former captain echoed in her mind.

"Blythe, you'll reach untapped heights if you learn to use others' strengths against them in addition to your own."

She felt it then, that untapped reservoir of power, and she tapped into it.

“**HAAAAAAAAA!**” Blythe roared like a thunderous beast, the boulder below her shattering from the immense force yet she remained airborne, her hands now fully gripping the air blade suspended in the air. It would have looked like an insane sight to anyone observing from afar as the huge compression of air was just suspended in the air, unmoving. If that wasn’t already insane enough, what Blythe planned to do next surpassed even that as she grinned wickedly.

The Moa Moa no Mi's power surged throughout her body, magnifying her strength and speed by 100x as she swung the massive air blade around like a spinning top, a miniature tornado being summoned around Blythe from the sheer wind pressure. Her hands bled profusely but she didn’t care, fully absorbed in executing this attack to crush Terya once and for all by utilizing the marine captain’s own strength to do it.

“**MORE MORE HYAKUBAI GYAKU!** (*Reverse*)” Blythe screamed, hurling Teryra’s massive air blade right back at her, both its speed and strength amplified by the powers of the Moa Moa no Mi. What made the fruit so frightening is that Blyhe could not only magnify her own abilities but also the abilities of anything she could touch and thanks to using her haki to grab onto the air blade, that applied to Terya's attack as well.

The blade cut through the air with a deafening sonic boom, breaking the sound barrier as the gigantic force of compressed air flew like a soaring rocket towards Terya, magnified beyond its original deadly form that Terya had birthed. It’s size was cataclysmic, dwarfing Terya as all she could see was the vacuums of wind barreling towards her from below. The marine captain couldn't have imagined someone capable of performing such an outrageous and ridiculous feat; catching her own massive attack against her and then making it even bigger and faster.

Terya’s eyes widened as she saw her own attack coming back at her. The panic that she felt made it hard for her to properly work out a tactic to try and survive it, but in the end, she simply moved while only barely thinking. She turned her large body into a circle, bending her back up and around until the end of her body was above her head. Forming a circle with all of her legs being pointed outwards.

“**HRRAAAAAAGHHH!!!**”

She let out a furious battle-cry, not even being in the correct state of mind to call out the technique name. But it was one where she started spinning around in the air in this circle shape, all her legs aimed outwards and viciously slashing. Terya’s innovation with her body showed no bounds, as she turned herself into what was the equivalent of a gigantic saw blade, violently spinning in the air.

As her own gigantic attack came flying back towards her, it was suspended in the air as it impacted with the many legs that Terya had and was using to keep the attack at bay. It sounded like a saw blade relentlessly cutting into a piece of metal, a noise so irritating that it could make someone’s head hurt from just listening to it. A large, spinning wheel of constant cuts, fighting against a single blade of colossal size and power.

**ZZRRRRRRRRRR!!!**

It continued, and the air howled like it was in anguish. Screeching winds and the ear-deafening sounds that resembled grating mettle filled with the heavens that echoed beyond just the skies, but all the way to the ground as well. A clash to be heard for all those participating in the war.

And in an instant, it was all over. The gigantic slash seemingly dispersed into nothingness, and Terya’s violent spinning came to an equal and abrupt halt. Terya’s hybrid body floated in the air, eyes covered in a shade casted by her hair, clenched teeth and a stiff body. The slightest twitch made themselves noticeable, her body trembling as the furious look remained unchanged on her face.

“Tch… Th-Urgh… GHK–!”

Suddenly, a massive laceration showed itself on her body, as though the entire length of her body had been cut. Blood leaked from that unspeakably large wound, as Terya’s body became limp and plummeted downward, loose and without any sort of control in it, like a string just crashing down from the sky.

Past the clouds, Terya fell back down onto the island, with their fight having ended up all the way to the shorelines, that’s how far they traveled as they fought. Her large, hybrid form impacted with the ground, creating a massive burst of dust and a deep crater. Once the dust had settled, Terya, back in her regular human form, was lying in it.

The wound she received in hybrid form was translated into a gigantic slash across her entire torso, all the way down to her right leg. The kind of wound that will undoubtedly leave a scar, the biggest one on her body yet, and yet another addition to the unsightly collection of injuries that Terya had collected over the course of her career.

“Ghh… TCHH–!! Haaa… Haaa… HHRRKKK–!!!”

Every little movement made more of her blood gush out that massive wound. Despite the sorry position she was in, Terya somehow managed to stand back up, properly displaying the unsightly injury that scarred her whole torso and leg. Standing in said crater, Terya’s body could only twitch and tremble. Breathing heavily, her face drained of color and life to the point where she looked like a corpse, it was nothing short of a miracle that she could stand up, let alone even live in this condition.

Ignoring the searing pain from her bloodied arms, Blythe employed her own version of Geppo by using the Moa Moa no Mi’s amplification on her legs, kicking off the air as she flew straight towards the area where Terya had landed. It didn’t take long before Blythe found herself approaching solid ground, skidding to a stop at the edge of the crater that Terya's fall had created as dust and debris flew around them.

Looking into the crater, Blythe's eyes widened as she saw Terya's battered form struggling to remain standing. "Well, I'll be damned. You really are a cockroach" she called out with a crazy laugh, her voice tinged with a kind of respect she had rarely offered to anyone. She hadn’t found someone this resilient and stubborn since her former captain and Blythe admired the grit and resilience that Terya displayed. It would be a waste to snuff out such a bright flame, she thought.

"I didn't hold back, you know” Blythe said, beginning her walk down into the crater. “Had you fought someone else, this battle might've been different" she said, now just a few feet away from the corpse-like Marine captain. It was only by the grace of some god that Terya was even moving given her condition and injuries. Blythe had taken damage as well, but compared to Terya she was still more than capable of fighting at an optimal level.

"You'll die if you try to continue with your injuries. That what you want?" She asked. "There's no shame in admitting defeat when you're facing someone stronger. Not all walls can be overcome in the midst of battle," she told her, her words and eyes filled with nostalgia as she recalled many of her past defeats where she simply didn’t have the strength to overcome them.

“Hrrr… Ha-ha-ha-ha…. Hrr… Ha-ha-ha-ha…”

Terya was trembling, the last remaining bit of her strength being used. Blood leaked from that massive wound of hers, the white shirt she wore had been completely coated with red. Any needless movement would just risk more damage being done to her already thoroughly messed up body. She raised her head to stare directly into Blythe’s eyes. Though she looked like she just went through hell and back, she still refused to fall over.

In one moment, it seemed like Terya had finally reached her breaking point and nearly fell over. But she immediately caught herself, firmly planting her two feet into the ground. Tenacious, even though her body was seemingly ready to give up. But Terya was simply too persistent to just fall over while face to face with an enemy. Even now, she glared into Blythe’s eyes with the same angered expression as before.

“Re… Remember… What I said earlier?!”

She said, her voice clearly much weaker and faint sounds of gurgling could be heard as blood was in her lungs due to numerous internal damage. The sorry state that was visible on her body failed to tell the full story of the vast amount of punishment Terya had to endure. But despite that, she stood before Blythe. Her eyes sparkled with one last flash of resolve.

“You and your captain will never know victory… As long as I have even got a single leg to stand on! This was never about my victory… But the victory of the world as a whole! Mark my words, pirate… **WE. WILL. WIN.**”

Terya closed her eyes and raised her head to face the heavens above.

“**HRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!**”

With the last ounce of her strength, Terya unleashed a monstrous battle cry that would echo across the entire surrounding area. Like a beacon to be heard by her allies to share her relentless spirit with them, the fury that lied within Terya was released for all those who fought for her side to hear and have her spirits lifted by it, and find the inner will to keep fighting, while also serving as a reminder for the enemy that their enemies will not go down easily.

And following that yell, Terya’s consciousness slipped away. Her mind went blank, and the last bits of her strength faded. And despite that, even without any strength remaining to realistically keep her up…

Terya was standing on both of her feet.

A final act of defiance. A monument to the Marine’s tenacity, a heart of an unrelenting warrior, surrounded by the shell of a fierce woman.

Blythe stood there, her eyes wide, as Terya's final battle cry reverberated through the air, shaking the very core of her being. The words hung in the atmosphere, mingling with the smell of blood, sweat, and gunpowder that permeated the battlefield. Blythe had fought countless battles, faced numerous foes, but this—this unyielding spirit—was something she had rarely seen.

"Hahaha! Well, aren't you something?" Blythe burst into a fit of laughter, the sound tinged with an odd sense of joy and respect.

As she looked at Terya's figure that was still standing despite her being unconsciouss, Blythe felt something resonate within her; her own warrior spirit admiring the display of defiance against someone who they could not overcome. In that manner, Terya surpassed even Blythe.

"You may have lost the battle, Terya, but your spirit kicked my ass. And that's worth something," Blythe declared. With a newfound sense of purpose, Blythe stepped forward and hoisted Terya's limp body over her shoulder. She couldn't help but marvel at the irony of the scene before she stared at the unconscious face of the unconscious marine.

"We can't have you dying here, can we? I'll forgive you for destroying my booze if ya let me fight ya again sometime" she smirked, wincing a bit as she could still feel the pain in her arms from the gashes she sustained from Terya's final attack. Looking in the direction of where her weapon was, Blythe would go to collect it before focusing her attention on bringing Terya back to her base to get treated as a prisoner of war wasn't much of a prisoner if they were dead.