At first, Rebecca had some control, managing to dodge many of the attacks. But as the fight progressed, the Aligodon's attacks became more precise, more calculated.
Every move seemed to be an exact counter to her every action. And even with the help of the Titanite shield, which still absorbed a good portion of the blows, the damage accumulated, draining her energy and breaking her rhythm.
The battle, once a clash of impulse and aggression, had now turned into a cruel game of endurance. And to Rebecca's despair, she could no longer keep up. She felt the weight of the battle on her shoulders. Each labored breath was a reminder that she couldn't maintain this pace for much longer.
Then, the critical moment arrived.
When Rebecca tried to approach the Aligodon again to escape the range of its energy beam, she was caught off guard when it interrupted the attack and, with brutal speed, leaped toward her.
The movement wasn't particularly fast, but the break in pattern took Rebecca by surprise and left her unable to react. She barely had time to respond when the beast lunged at her. If it weren't for her sharp reflexes, she would have been crushed.
She threw herself to the side, narrowly dodging the fatal impact.
It was like a repeat of the previous scene, but this time, the Aligodon didn't limit itself to attacking with its mouth and prepared something even more cruel. It raised its massive claw and slashed through the air in a deadly motion, aiming for Rebecca with fury.
Instinctively, Rebecca raised the Titanite shield. The black metal gleamed as the beast struck, and she braced for the impact, but she wasn't prepared for what came next.
It was a trap.
Before she could comprehend what was happening, a beam of energy struck the ground beside her, concentrating into an explosion so violent that Rebecca's vision was consumed by a blinding flash, nearly burning her retinas and forcing her to shut her eyes tightly.
After the flash, the energy explosion generated a shockwave that launched Rebecca high into the air and far away, out of control, along with the shield, which did nothing to soften the violence of the blow.
She was hurled across the battlefield, flying uncontrollably until she was slammed into a tree at the edge of the field, which splintered on impact. The collision was brutal—a deafening sound of wood cracking, followed by the muffled cry of her body being crushed.
"Urrrghhhh…" The air was brutally forced from her lungs before she fell heavily to the ground.
Pain quickly spread through her body, but luckily, she was alive and conscious. Her reflexes and the shield had saved her, but she was in a deplorable state.
Rebecca was still alive and conscious thanks to her quick reflexes with the shield and the well-trained resilience of her body. Even so, her vision was blurry, and pain coursed through every fiber of her being. Most concerning were her ribs, which indicated that some had been fractured.
She forced herself to stand, even though her legs were trembling and her breathing was labored. Limping, she made an exhausting effort to get back up and move toward the battlefield. Each step was a struggle against her exhausted body and the relentless pain consuming her.
But the Aligodon didn't seem to care about Rebecca's condition. To it, she was just another meal standing in the way of its true prey. Without hesitation, it unleashed a burst of energy toward her, the beam shining with lethal intensity.
Rebecca didn't have the strength to run; her heavy, aching muscles barely responded to her brain's commands. She had only one option left: to trust the shield that had saved her so far.
With a desperate effort, she planted the Titanite shield into the ground, leaned against it, and waited for the inevitable impact.
The energy beam approached with blinding speed, and when it hit the shield, a spectacle unfolded…
THHOMPP!
The sound was deafening. A thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield, reverberating through the ground.
But Rebecca's shield remained standing, protecting her like a reliable companion against the energy blast.
The Aligodon was surprised. It had deliberately removed the freezing effect of the attack because it didn't want to disintegrate its meal. Even so, the force of the blow was more than enough to crush stones easily…
Yet, it was as if the energy had met an invisible barrier. The force of the impact made the air around them vibrate, and the energy wave spread out in multiple directions, like a jet of water colliding with an iron bar.
Clearly, the shield didn't absorb the impact but deflected it in a supernatural manner, creating a veil of pure energy that dissipated into the air, so efficiently that Rebecca managed to withstand the residual impact even in her terrible condition.
The redirected energy spread through the air, not dispersing even after forming a veil with a radius of over 30 meters. It created a dazzling and deadly spectacle of lights.
Titanite, the material of Rebecca's shield, is a black metal with golden veins that shimmer faintly when heated. It's a durable, lightweight, and stable material, but it's difficult to shape and rare to find. A noble and expensive material.
But its main characteristic makes it worth the price… The ability to deflect almost all forms of energy—whether thermal, kinetic, or even sonic—with impressive efficiency. This shield isn't just a defense; it's practically a mobile fortress, deflecting the force of attacks directed at it with mastery.
But, as with everything in life, Titanite also has a limit.
Titanite had an incredibly high limit, but it was still a limit. Rebecca's shield, deflecting the concentrated energy beam of the Aligodon, was being pushed to its extreme. With every second under that brutal pressure, its deflection efficiency decreased, and the inevitable approached.
The kinetic energy began to accumulate first. The crushing impact forced Rebecca backward, her feet dragging across the ground, even with her boots firmly planted. Then came the heat.
The shield began to heat up alarmingly, the golden veins pulsing like arteries about to burst. Rebecca noticed this—and knew it was a terrible sign. But there was no escape.
All that remained was to pray that the shield would hold.
Zumm… zumm… zumm…
A subtle vibration ran through the shield, traveling up Rebecca's arm like a static shock, spreading through her body. The hum grew more intense, oscillating in the air like the prelude to something about to collapse.
Zuummm… zuuummm…
Then came the pain. The pressure, the heat, the strain. It was as if she were holding a piece of incandescent metal with her bare hands.
Tssschhhhhhh
The sweat evaporated before it could even drip from her skin. She could barely breathe. The shield radiated heat as if it were melting, even though the energy from the beam was cold—cold and lethal.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
She screamed, closing her eyes tightly, feeling despair crawl up her spine.
ZUUUUMMMMMMMMM!
The vibration reached a deafening peak, reverberating inside her skull like a bell being hammered. The air around her shimmered.
ZZZIIIIIIIMM!
Then, in a moment of pure tension, the hum changed. It became sharp. Almost cutting.
The Titanite had reached its limit.
Rebecca felt despair take over, but there was no time to hesitate. If this was her end, let it at least be with honor…
But just as she was about to lower the shield, something unexpected happened.
BOOOOM!
A deafening explosion tore through the air, accompanied by an overwhelming wave of heat. The energy beam veered sharply, shooting upward at a diagonal angle before dissipating completely.
Gasping, Rebecca looked up over the shield—and froze. Where the Aligodon had been, there was now a massive blue fireball, crackling with overwhelming fury and consuming everything around it.
The flames licked the ground, melting stones and turning vegetation to ash. Just a few seconds were enough to evaporate the moisture in the air, drying even the mist.
The heat was so intense that it could be felt even from the edges of the forest, forcing Rebecca to squint.
Grrrhhgghhhh!
The Aligodon roared in agony, thrashing violently. Its body contorted in irregular spasms as it tried, in vain, to free itself from the flames consuming every inch of its scaly skin.
Even so, its natural armor was resilient enough to minimize the damage. In a few moments, its sharp eyes scanned the battlefield for the source of the attack.
Then, about 70 meters away, it spotted a thin jet of incandescent flames coming straight from Vivian.
There, standing unprotected, Vivian manipulated the thin jet of flames to travel the entire distance and accumulate precisely on the Aligodon's body.