[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Guppy

The anime seems to have done it that way for the sake of lengthening the fight and showcasing each of the girls a bit more. Unfortunately, it also makes Margot, Penelope and Doris look like complete idiots for splitting up and being defeated in detail.

Spoiler for novel comparison:

In the novel, Doris and Penelope are sticking together with Margot sniping at Cecily from a distance. Cecily knocks Doris and Penelope down with a shockwave from Aria, then returns fire at Margot and takes her out.

Penelope gets up, hears Margot's scream and rushes forward only to be met with Cecily's "arrow" countercharge and pinned bodily to the wall by her right shoulder (not her left upper arm), leaving only Doris to face Cecily in the final 1v1.

Incidentally, the novel also mentions that between Cecily's loss to the trio and her second fight against them, Cecily and Aria had been meeting up every day in the early morning and after work to discuss strategies and techniques in case they ended up taking them on again.

Yeah it did seem weird that they were all split up. Unless there was a chase scene they cut out. You know a good scooby doo moment with them running through a hallway with various rooms . They were all together, got their weapons at the same time, and then split up....Maybe Cecily ran and they split up to find her.