Terrhina, the Forbidden Beauty

While Mivangeline and the friends huddled with the thrashing Shien/Iagen fusion, Shien battled Iagen in a martial arts duel in the mental realm. Soon, General Saitori's cardinal fighter landed beside the commotion. A Vulpi woman with a dizi flute played a soothing melody, making Shien's body cover his ears and roar uncontrollably.

"Grandmaster!" Oreic and Inveticus shouted.

You all did a great job holding Iagen off. Aian's voice sounded in everyone's mind via telepathy as she finished her tune. Keep supporting Shien, and I'll do the rest.

"Take me too!" Oreic requested. "Shien is my responsibility. I promised Isrina to keep him safe."

"You can take a maximum of two others, correct?" Inveticus asked Aian. "Then count me in to kick Iagen's butt!"

After Grandmaster Aian nodded, she, Oreic, and Inveticus dematerialized into light and entered Shien's mind. With one final screech, Shien's body shut down unconscious.

"Hang in there, my Little Chickadee," Isrina hugged Shien.

Mivangeline patted his head. "Shien, God has sent help. You're in good hands. Everyone will stay with you here until you're awake."

***

The Grandmaster and the two masters entered Shien's mind in a flash of light. Aian interrupted Shien and Iagen's duel by slapping the demon with her flute staff.

"Ouch! W-who goes there?" Iagen shuddered to see Grandmaster Aian standing in front of him. "O-oh shoot... Not Aian!"

"You alright, Shien?" Oreic asked.

Shien hugged him. "Yeah. I tried my best, Master Oreic."

"And you did great," Oreic stroked his head. "You don't have to fight Iagen alone now. We're here to help. Oh, and that's Grandmaster Aian."

Aian's telepathic voice made the demon whimper. Iagen! I've had enough of you! You brag about being the rightful Grandmaster, but you're a scared little thief, depending on lies and deceit to get what you want! Makiyu's creations are not for sale!

The demon crawled away.

"Hey, Iagen. Remember when you boasted about how easily you could beat Aian in a duel?" Inveticus taunted. "Well, you got your chance, big mouth!"

Aian will banish me in the Darkness Beyond Music. I don't want to go back to that place! What should I do? Iagen squirmed when Aian jumped on him. I'll let Terrhina secure Shien's body for me! She can hold Aian off, and I can fight someone manageable like Fanghui. I don't know why I sense Delmisa struggling, but how hard can Fanghui be? It's better than being burned to ash in Aian's hands!

"Terrhina, retreat!" Iagen bellowed. "Defend Shien's body from these foolish masters!"

When Aian swung her dizi staff onto the demon, the Earth Sister quickly left her battle with Psyinen and Seniel in California, leaving Abriyamu to do her dirty work.

Terrhina zoomed past Shien's friends as a dark smog and dove into Shien's mind, blocking the Grandmaster with her qanun leaf blade. Iagen snapped his finger, leaving Shien's body and turning into a shadowy fog. The cloud screamed at Shien's friends before flying to Delmisa's support.

Come back and face me, coward! The Grandmaster held a fist.

Shien blinked. "Iagen's gone to Loserville."

Oreic, Inveticus, Aian, and Shien faced Terrhina in a standoff.

"It's been hundreds of years, Aian," The Earth Sister pointed to her eye and nostril horns. "The day you cursed my beautiful face into this ugly mess felt like yesterday."

That beauty isn't yours to take, Terrhina. Why can't you be satisfied with your own? Aian asked. Makiyu made you beautiful, and you should be happy with who you are. Beauty isn't something you steal from other girls! It's what you find within yourself!

"She steals other girls' beauty?" Shien turned to Oreic.

Oreic held his saxophone staff. "Terrhina is a greedy woman who has devoured young girls for centuries to enhance her body's glamor."

"That's horrible!"

"You think so, sweet little Shien?" Terrhina licked her lips. "Your blood has already helped me gather many pretty souls! Do you want to see them?"

The Earth Sister lowered the collar of her robe to reveal her cleavage. Everyone cringed when they saw young girls' faces screaming from her breasts. Terrhina showed them her waist and thighs that bubbled with more crying faces.

"They serve my body, making me the most attractive in the world!" Terrhina giggled. "I'm a perfect woman deserving of all men's gazes. I have unrivaled beauty! Do I look attractive, Shien?"

"Ew! No way!" Shien glared. "It's disgusting!"

Each lovely girl you ate was a precious creation of Makiyu, and they had their purposes in the world! Why would you rob them for your selfish gain? Aian wielded her dizi on her shoulder in a striking position. I don't tolerate that kind of tyranny! We'll defeat you and set the souls free!

"Then we battle for Shien's mind!" Terrhina played notes on her qanun strings. "Mivangeline has blue eyes and brown hair, yes? After I win, I'd love to add her lovely face and attractive body to my collection!"

"Avian Form: Blackhawk Missile!" Shien spun into a cyclone that launched him into Terrhina and knocked her back. "Don't touch Mivange!"

"That's the spirit!" Terrhina's wound regenerated with demonic arts. "Let's change the battlefield into something pretty!"

When she played the qanun, the dark mental realm shone brightly with a sun engraved with a red pentagram. Red sunset skies glared over the prismatic floor that rose into rocky canyons that knocked everyone except the Grandmaster away. Purple trees and flowers rapidly grew into a jungle, changing the plain battlefield into Terrhina's earth dimension.

"Give me your beauty, Aian!" Terrhina slashed her qanun leaf blade against Aian's dizi.

Release those poor souls! The Grandmaster striked with her staff. I hear their cries for freedom. You won't get away with the millions you've slaughtered!

Inveticus shook Oreic and Shien up. "Come on! We have to help Aian!"

"Omaunukai demons are defeated by decapitation!" Oreic ran with the two across the jungle towards the high canyon where Aian and Terrhina fought.

The purple foliage whipped the three with sharp vines. Giant rafflesias budded from the vines, firing venomous darts at them. Oreic summoned Enbu Fenix to burn the sinister flowers while Inveticus called Des Manthesia. The ice mantis sliced down the large bloodthirsty Venus fly traps as spider-legged pitcher plants spat sludge bombs at the trio.

"Avian Form: Peregrine Landing!" Shien stomped his feet to crack the ground, letting the pitcher plants fall within the fissures. "We're too far away from Aian!"

"Terrhina's trying to separate us from her," Oreic commanded his phoenix to burn the deadly trees. "We got to blitz through! Inveticus, get you mantis to shovel these weeds!"

"On it," Inveticus led Des Manthesia to freeze the foliage with a frost breath.

Aian and Terrhina pricked each other with their instruments, but Terrhina's wounds regenerated while Aian's didn't. The Grandmaster blinked her blurry eyes, feeling dizzy from the poison inflicted by the qanun's leaf blade. Her wounds turned purple as the venom slowly affected Aian.

"Look at me. My wounds healed while yours didn't," Terrhina laughed. "Why surrender your life to Makiyu as a Grandmaster? You gain nothing from it while I gain beauty by consuming others. Why don't you become an Omaunukai like me? Let's share Shien's body and live eternally!"

I refuse! Aian took deep breaths, trying to hinder the poison's flow. No matter the reason, I'll never choose a dishonest life feeding off innocent souls! We'll kick you out of Shien's mind!

"Then you'll die by my poison, and your pretty body will be a part of mine!"

When Terrhina saw Shien, Oreic, and Inveticus approaching she played her qanun strings. The desert music ordered the bright pentagram sun to blast a giant solar beam at them. Enbu Fenix shielded them from the sun's attack as the monstrous jungle grew and pushed the trio back. Des Manthesia protected the group by cutting the aggressive vine whips down.

"Terrhina's sun will fry us to a crisp if we get close!" Inveticus summoned crystal butterflies to attack the arachnoid pitcher plants. "Oh, no. Aian's stung! We got to help her fast!"

"This jungle is making everything difficult!" Oreic and his phoenix burned the poison rafflesias.

I wish Mivange were here. She would come up with an insane strategy! What would she do? Shien plucked the evil Venus fly traps off the canyon floors. Lord God, how do we beat Terrhina and save those girls from her torment?

When you taught me that martial arts is about reacting, I learned it's similar to adapting strategies in combat. Shien remembered his girlfriend telling him. Using brute force from fists isn't the only solution, but using our palms and bodies to redirect the enemy's attack. It's similar to how we attack the bosses with surgical strikes and divert their attacks instead of forward assaults.

So that's how! Thanks, Mivange. Thank you, God. He took time to think like Mivangeline, dodging the angry vine whips. "I have a plan to behead Terrhina! We can win this! God will help us!"