"First things first, Shari, please put some clothes on." Seeing how awkward Shari's situation was, Nana took off her own outer garment and draped it over Shari's shoulders to cover her body.
"Shari, what is that on your back? Where did these wings come from — are they from that giant bird?" Kallen stared at the six feathered wings on Shari's back with wide-eyed curiosity, unable to resist reaching out to touch them.
"That tickles." Shari shuddered, and the wings on her back suddenly spread open, flicking Kallen's hand away.
"Ah — you can actually feel that?" Kallen pulled her hand back with an embarrassed look and scratched her head.
Shari turned to look at the wings on her back and said with a puzzled expression: "How strange. I feel like I can somehow control these wings. And for some reason, I feel like a lot of strange memories and knowledge have appeared in my mind. What happened to me? How did I end up like this?!"
"It's quite a strange story — just now, Rulu…" Kallen was about to tell Shari what had happened, when W.W.'s stern voice cut in from beside them: "Now is not the time for this. It's dangerous here. We must leave immediately."
"Right, of course." Kallen snapped back to her senses. She scanned their surroundings with a wary eye, taking in the Strange beasts all around, and said to W.W.: "There are so many monsters here — how do we get out?"
W.W. said: "Get onto my body. Six-Tail and I will take you out of here." With that, W.W. lowered her enormous serpentine body to the ground near Nana and the others.
"Everyone, get on quickly." Kallen said. She hoisted the unconscious Rulu onto her back and placed him on W.W.'s coils. Nana, though frightened, climbed on, and C.C. climbed on as well. Kallen then leaped onto the back of the giant-form Six-Tail.
Once everyone was in position, Nana noticed that Shari was still standing motionless on the ground and called out to her: "Shari, get over here — we're leaving!"
Shari looked at Nana with a dazed expression. She gave a light push off the ground with both feet, and her body rose into the air, hovering suspended in midair.
"It seems she's capable of protecting herself." W.W. said. Her great serpentine body lifted off the ground and floated into the air. Nana and C.C. hurriedly tightened their grip on W.W.'s body, each freeing one hand to hold onto Rulu so he wouldn't fall off.
"Your Imperial Majesty, they appear to be attempting to flee." Shunaizel approached the Emperor and said, watching W.W. and the others in the distance.
"They won't get away." The Emperor said coldly. He thought to himself that Rulu had now fallen unconscious, so he no longer needed to worry about a mental attack from him, and aside from Rulu's Spiritual-power attacks, none of the others posed any real threat to him.
"Hold on tight — we move now." W.W. said. Carrying C.C., Nana, and the others, she began flying rapidly through the air. Six-Tail, with Kallen on her back, galloped at high speed across the ground, racing in the direction W.W. was flying. Shari flew swiftly through the air as well, moving alongside W.W. toward the distance.
A flash of white light — a spear formed from a beam of white light streaked through the air at terrifying speed, flying straight toward W.W. The razor-sharp white lance struck W.W.'s massive body and pierced clean through it in an instant, leaving a bloody wound in her side.
"Watch out — they're coming after us!" C.C. spun around to look behind them and cried out in alarm. The Sanctuary's Emperor had left the circular stone slab and was flying rapidly through the air in pursuit. Around him, spears of white light continued to materialize and hurtle toward W.W., launching a relentless attack on her and the others.
W.W.'s enormous size and her need to protect Rulu, Nana, and the rest made it nearly impossible to dodge the white-light spears. They struck her body again and again, inflicting wound after wound.
At the same time, the dozen or so Strange beasts on the ground were surging toward Six-Tail, launching an attack on her and Kallen on her back. Though Six-Tail was massive, the sheer number of enemies was overwhelming, and she could barely hold them off.
"This isn't working — there are too many of them, I can hardly keep up!" Kallen shouted as she fought back furiously with her spear against the Strange beasts lunging at her. Despite Six-Tail's giant form and formidable power, the number of enemies was simply too great. Under the ferocious assault of over a dozen Strange beasts, Six-Tail began to sustain injuries and her speed started to slow.
With a thunderous *boom*, an enormous swath of crimson fire burst into existence in the air above Six-Tail and swept down over the Strange beasts attacking her. The scarlet flames engulfed their bodies, forcing them to break off their assault on Six-Tail and scramble to avoid the fire. Kallen, seated on Six-Tail's back, looked up — and saw that Shari had appeared in the air above her, seemingly out of nowhere.
"I'll cover you — go, get out of here!" Shari spread all six of her wings wide. Hovering in the air above Six-Tail, she called down quickly to Kallen.
"Alright — Shari, you… you be careful too." Kallen had wanted to ask how Shari had become so powerful, but with the situation so dire, she held back the question.
"Trying to run — it won't be that easy!" A fierce gleam flashed in the Emperor's eyes. Five spears of white light materialized around him and shot toward Shari in midair at terrifying speed.
Shari sensed the spears flying toward her and immediately moved to dodge them in the air. But she was still not accustomed to flying and her movements weren't yet fluid. On top of that, there were too many spears coming too fast — Shari couldn't fully evade the attack. Two of the white spears struck her, one through the chest and one through the abdomen. The razor-sharp lances pierced through her body in an instant. Like a kite with a snapped string, Shari plummeted from the sky and crashed to the ground.
"No — Six-Tail, go help her!" Kallen saw Shari get impaled and fall, and cried out urgently to Six-Tail. But Six-Tail paid no heed to her command and continued running after W.W. toward the distance.
A flash of crimson light — Shari's body, lying on the ground, suddenly blazed with red radiance and ignited. Her entire body and the wings on her back were enveloped in scarlet flames. The wounds on her chest and abdomen healed rapidly. Shari transformed into a humanoid column of fire with six wings and rose once again from the ground, hovering in midair.
"This woman has actually inherited the full power of the Flame Bird. No wonder he is my child — to think he could create such a being!" The Emperor's face showed a look of astonishment as he gazed at Shari suspended in the air. Then his expression shifted to something cold and ruthless, and he murmured to himself: "But if that is the case, then I cannot allow you to live."
With those words, the Emperor summoned some twenty spears of white light around himself, their tips aimed squarely at Shari.
Golden light flared — just as the Emperor was about to launch his attack on Shari, her entire body erupted with an intensely brilliant golden-red radiance. The light shot in a straight beam toward the Emperor and the Strange beasts on the ground below. It was more blinding than the light of the sun itself. Under the searing brilliance of that light, the Emperor felt a piercing pain in his eyes and could see nothing. He had no choice but to turn away and shield his eyes with his hand.
The Strange beasts on the ground were likewise blinded by the powerful beam of light, and began stumbling about aimlessly — like headless flies. Unable to see anything, the Emperor and the Strange beasts were forced to halt their attack on Shari and the others. It was nearly a full minute before the Emperor's vision returned and he could see his surroundings clearly again — but by then, W.W., Shari, and the rest of them had long since fled into the distance and vanished without a trace.