Local Netizen Elf’s Life In Another World
Case 354: Cat brawl.

When Sariel is luring Noxus into the sky, another confrontation takes place on the ground.

''...''

Anastasia brings her thin, somewhat bony fists, arming a fighting stance. Her azure eyes narrow, tail swaying.

'This guy...'

Approaching her slowly, the giant figure almost shakes the ground with each step he takes. His face is covered with a broken metal mask, revealing but a piercing crimson eye that is drapered in wrinkled skin folds. Despite such a weathered look on his face, Raval, the third commander, seems more full of life than most.

His deep purple muscles bulge with clear cuts, ripping with veins, and his limbs throb as if bursting with power—no, maybe they are. As someone with an extensive history of hand-to-hand combat, Anastasia is familiar with this kind of opponent. 

He merely wants to fight.

Perhaps that is a reassuring fact, considering the soldiers are still evacuating at the moment. If she can take him on alone, casualties will be minimized.

But her heart is already pumping wildly, her forte burning to maintain the wide-ranged buffs. Fighting will be stressful.

Nonetheless, it is the only way forward, and it isn't as if she has no one to back her up. 

Inhaling deeply, Anastasia soon shoots forward, her figure blurring. Her fists are cradled in blinding golden light, fending almost like knuckles. In half a moment, she pulls the long distance over, firing her arm toward Raval.

With such a thick coating of divinity, Anastasia's fists are practically indestructible. Down to the atoms, as long as she considers them something solid, everything she creates absorbs impact unimaginably well.

''...!''

Yet, despite putting so much power into that punch, Raval squarely takes it in his huge palm as if it is nothing. Even though the air itself churns in front of the pressure, his body never tilts backward one bit.

Something seems to snap within Anastasia at that point.

She lightly conjures a golden chain with her other hand and, with conviction, locks it around Raval's neck, pulling herself violently toward the giant's head. Taking the tree trunk-thick arm as an anchor point, the cat girl nimbly spins her body, letting momentum drive her foot forward.

Sensing danger, Raval's eye lights up.

Something akin to molten corruption runs through his body rapidly, allowing him to react with unreal speed. His palm instantly chomps down on Anastasia's slender calf, fingers tightening with terrifying power. Just the horizontal length of his hand is enough to almost engulf the lower half of Anastasia's leg whole.

''Kuh...!''

Caught in the air, Anastasia unleashes her divinity. Spikes of that same indestructible material sharply rise from the divine coating over her leg, punching through Raval's thick skin and bones. Purple blood oozes out of the wounds, yet there is no movement.

The opponent stays clinical, holding up his other fist instead of letting go.

But Anastasia didn't just trap herself for nothing. Right when she voluntarily relaxes her muscles, hanging herself upside down limply, a snapping screech rips through the air.

A bullet tears into Raval's wrist, crisply crumbles his bones, and, bringing unstoppable kinetic energy, explodes the whole area altogether.

Anastasia falls down with Raval's detached hand. She quickly repositions herself, shoving the clinging palm away.

''As expected of Sylvia... such a scary shot.'' She quietly hisses, thinking about how close that bullet was to her thigh. ''Now then...''

Not a groan is heard.

Raval, like a fighting machine, only glares crazily at the small Anastasia. As his veins begin to pump with more of the star's power, painting root-like bright purple channels across his muscles, his lost hand rapidly regenerates.

Now comes the real battle.

Anastasia radiates even more blinding light on her fists, confident in Sylvia's support. A part of her sparkling eyes turns golden, and so are the tips of her tail and ears. 

The cat priestess is now soaked in divinity.

Soon after, the two plunge toward one another, baring their punches. Anastasia, rather than taking advantage of her slim figure and trying to outmaneuver her opponent, chooses to confront him directly. She is just that confident in her strength, and this way, Sylvia will have a wider window for more shots—the less they move, the better.

The two collide with deafening booms, releasing constant shockwaves that wash away the land's color, with extending residue of divinity and corruption painting the air an undecipherable color. Despite being much, much smaller, Anastasia never seems to be the one losing.

Yet, despite trying her best, and even with Sylvia's bullets grazing Raval's skin numerous times, she can't seem to be able to finish the fight off. The opponent has no tricks, no underlying intentions, yet he is just so resilient and powerful.

To battle against that insane regeneration, she needs to either wear out that ability, or... to blow away his whole existence so abruptly that it never activates.

'If only I can use the domain...'

The situation doesn't allow that.

But she doesn't have enough firepower either. The allies' much-needed buffs will be extinguished if she goes overboard with it. Frustrating enough as it is, her reserve is already running thin.

'Can Christina finish hers quickly enough... no, maybe Sariel will...'

''Oh?!''

A sudden flash snaps her out of it. Something flies boldly between Anastasia and Raval, making them both jolt back and separate. Its speed—estimated—far exceeds that of an ordinary projectile. 

In the corner of her vision, Anastasia faintly spots Sylvia, now with a pristine, quartz-white rifle.

'The railgun!'

Holding it horizontally, Sylvia decisively bolts the gun—loud and clear—giving Anastasia just enough time to recognize the next bullet being chambered—a highly-charged, immensely powerful plasma round. She remembers Sylvia mentioning that it took her almost a day to infuse such power into it.

'Got it!'

As soon as their eyes meet, a silent but reassuring understanding is made.

''Come at me, you big idiot—!''

Anastasia roars to life, burning the last of her available divinity, propelling her thin right arm toward Raval, pushing such force that reality itself seems to crack. But in return, her posture is completely lost, her balance nearly thrown off.

Easily catching that, Raval's muscles swell up, smelling an opportunity. From deep within his heart, the star's essence gushes like a tide, empowering his body.

To make sure his counterattack hits, Raval quickly gives up his left arm, letting it be completely dismantled by Anastasia's punch, while his own right pulls back to its maximum range.

Boom!

''Eugh...!''

Anastasia feels as though her intestines have been blown away, as her body is blown away. First time taking Raval's strike head-on... but now—

''...Got you.''

That's when the crimson eye widens. The lingering dust of divinity veils the two, falling like snowflakes, and, heeding Anastasia's will, they instantly connect, forming inseparable bonds. 

The cat priest pulls her fingers, letting the net tightly cling onto Raval's giant figure, tying him in place.

''Goodbye, big idiot.'' She mutters.

The next moment, the earth rumbles as a colossal ray of plasma rushes through, devouring everything in its path. It blinds the whole area, radiating such immense heat that Anastasia's divine fur chars slightly.

And at the end of it, nothing remains of Raval, the once-demon commander.