Shards of Ice erupted and spiraled up Jala's sword. Eyes focused. He lunged at the Azar impostor, blade arcing in a blur of motion.
Enocht stood and caught the sword again. She squeezed, digging her nails even deeper into the blade.
"Fascinating. But still, how many times will you use this trick?" she mused.
A sudden spike of ice shot through her chest, catching her off guard. "Ah. A feint." A smirk played on her lips. In a single motion, she hurled Jala into the hall's stone pillar.
She balled her fist and drove it at Jala. He dodged, and she punched through the pillar, shattering it. Her eyes darted to Jala's shimmering ice armor and raised her spear to block, clashing against his blade.
The air snapped cold, spiraling with frost that coiled around Enocht, glinting in the light.
She pushed Jala away with a wave of her pulse, a burst of fire smothering his frost clouds around.
"Grr!" Jala lunged back, his sword slashing across her hips, then kicked half her body across the hall. In a flash, he thrust out his palm and unleashed a torrent of blue fire at her bottom half. Hope of burning her asunder vanished instantly as she spoke.
"Clever demon."
A pillar of earth shot past his fire and struck his chest.
Sensing danger, he glanced up and found Enocht, now full swinging her water disc.
He jerked back, the disc scraping across his ice armor. His back slammed into another pillar. Gritting his teeth, he rolled aside just as Enocht's relentless assault hammered down where he'd stood.
With another pillar vanquished, Enocht spun and leapt at Jala, cutting into the floor below. With a sly chuckle, she ripped the disc back out and swung her arms, laughter echoing off the stone as Jala dodged and weaved, desperate for an opening.
He clashed with his sword. But looked on, startled as the disc began cutting through. He grimaced beneath his helm and pulled back, once again cornering himself. "
Desperate Jala raised his arm and mustered his magic. In an instant, the disc shattered into pieces of ice.
"Oh?"
Like before, Jala pointed his hand and spewed blue fire at the angel, burning a chunk off her. "
Through the flames, Enocht's hand shot out and seized Jala by the throat. Her smile broke through the fire, sending a chill down his spine.
"I'm not interested in your fire magic. Show me more of that strange Ice magic you carry."
Reacting fast, he tore his hands free from the ice gauntlet and jumped back from the angel. To his shock, Enocht absorbed the ice gauntlet into her own form as if it were nothing. "Mm hmhm. Delicious."
"How are you not burning!?"
Enocht perked a smirk. "Unlike before, I have more than enough years to spend." In an instant, she lashed a water tendril at him. It smashed against a hastily conjured ice wall, splintering it. Without pause, she yanked the tendril back, smashing it into another of Jala's barriers. "Aha~ Finally! More of that magic~!"
Jala grunted and dodged the last attack, quickly breaking into a sprint. Determined, he spun and shot ice spikes, forcing Enocht to raise her arm, countering ice with fire as Jala darted around the room, launching a relentless flurry.
Fires flared.
Earth smashed.
Water sliced through stone walls and pillars as their magic collided with a chaotically fierce intensity, sending debris and spray flying between them.
"Fascinating. Truly Fascinating." Unconcerned, Enocht's playful smile never faded. She took hit after hit with knowing amusement. "Your ice hits hard as earth, but it's as fast as fire. Perhaps you rely on two elements. Perhaps water and earth?"
Jala closed the gap and sliced through her with his ice blade. But to his shock, Enocht continued to ponder. "No," she said. "But that doesn't explain how you manage to freeze things. So very interesting-"
Enocht's eyes twitched, and the joy she once showed faded, replaced by a solemn disappointment. Cautious, Jala leaped away, re-engaging in his icy assault of spikes that shot into her.
"Shame. I wanted to play a little longe. But so be it."
With the sweep of her arm, she conjured a stone wall in Jala's path.
"Tch!" He slid to a halt and spun to escape. Suddenly, another set of walls surrounded him, followed by invisible strikes that slashed across his arm and body, suspending him mid-motion.
He forced his eyes open, reeling from the pain, then dug his hands down. Below him, his ice wall was erected, taking the hits.
"A very stubborn demon," Enocht mused. "Unlike you, I have all the time in the world."
Enocht waved her hands, and the
Gust slicing at the wall became even fiercer.
Chunks of ice scattered and shattered across the room.
Unexpectedly, the wall bulged out and shot at Enocht. To her shock, the ice completely consumed her, trapping her in an icy prison.
Using this opening, Jala broke from his containment and swung his blade, shattering the angel into hundreds of pieces.
He wrenched his fingers and back, then sprayed an ocean of blue fire into the particles of ice.
"Too slow," she echoed.
"
He clenched his teeth and snapped his attention to the fallen piece of the angel. He aimed.
Too late, an arm formed, followed by the body and head.
Before then, he realized his fire was smoldering against an erected stone wall. Frustrated, he pushed harder, as if trying to melt the stone itself. The fire narrowed, concentrated more directly on one spot.
"You're a clever demon, Jala, I'll give you that. Looking at all those memories of demons who looked up to you, I think I can now understand why they felt honored by your presence. Still..."
Suddenly, his arm exploded. His heart stopped, and from within his ice helm, he paled.
"I can't wait to fully learn this strange magic you hold." From the wall, Enocht broke through and grasped Jala by the neck. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to end it here. Cassell doesn't like it when we play with our food."
Jala swung his sword, the blade carving halfway into Enocht's grinning face. She seized his wrist and snapped it with a sickening crack.
Jala's blood-curdling screams echoed through the halls of the castle.
With fierce resolve, he bared his teeth through his melting helm, glaring at the angel. Ice spikes spun around him, then shot forward in rapid succession, each one piercing Enocht's form in a last-ditch attempt, stemming from a deep desperation to win. Yet Enocht only smiled, unfazed and amused.
She chuckled, amused by his fierce resolve. "What a funny thing to do," she remarked as each spike continued to shoot into and through her. Slowly, the ice absorbed into her being, and with a salivating mouth, she brought Jala closer to her.
"Thank you for the meal~❤"
Enocht's arm fell, and Jala came free, gasping.
"Oh?" pieces of her arm followed suit, one after another, with her body following and turning to a pile and slime, reforming,
Without hesitation, Jala distanced himself, but quickly stumbled to his knees, holding his stubbed arm and gasping. Stepping to his side with eyes glued to the reforming Angel, Lillian stood, aghast. "An angel?" she uttered.
Jala grimaced. "So… You finally came…"
Lillian stared at the hole in the wall, then the room itself. "J-jala… What did you do to this room?" Her voice trembled with a quiet rage, seeping through. Jala could only glance back, stunned as Lillian stared on with trembling lips.
She then darted her gaze at the newly formed Enocht, as she gasped at the sight of her form resembling Azar. "I see. So, Azar is dead now."
"How nostalgic. I was just about to look for you, Holder of the holy light…"
Still strained from pain, Jala glanced in confusion. "Holder of the holy light?"
Lillian took a deep breath. She frowned and stepped forward.
"Hmph!" Enocht whipped a vine of water at Lillian. It splashed away with a violent torrent.
Relentlessly, fire spat, and earth spikes flew at dizzying speed, each one countering Lillian's own magic. Explosions, smoke, and debris filled the air, every blast bringing Lillian closer to the edge.
Eventually, she aimed her hand and formed a ball of contained yellow fire with smothering black earth. Her eyes flashed black as she snarled. "How dare you destroy my precious memories!!"
The yellow ball flew.
Enocht smirked. from the smoke, a familiar yellow glowed.
Suddenly, two yellow balls collided head-on with each other. Each is the same shape and size.
An explosion rang, and the pillar, once holding the room, collapsed.
"Trying to blow me out of the castle, are you. Sorry. That won't work with me."
Lillian cringed and staggered back as Enocht lunged, hands outstretched. Lillian hurled a spike at the angel, then shoved Jala out of the room with a desperate burst of wind.
Indignant, he stood at once. "Let me help-"
"NO! Find Lucius! I'll hold this angel back!" Lillian dodged a spike that struck the wall behind. She growled, with blackening eyes and a flurry of wind blades at the angel.
Unconcerned, Enocht absorbed each of Lillian's attacks with mild amusement. With a flick of her wrist, she hurled fire and earth, matching Lillian's fierce counters in a dazzling, relentless exchange.
Despite the immense focus, A blast quickly broke through, flickering past Lillian's defenses. Desperate, she leaped in its way and took the hit head-on, pain lancing through her shoulder.
Jala took a step, but before he could move, Lillian snarled, arced her arms towards him, and, with calm authority, conjured a tight prison of earth. "I said LEAVE!"
The earth prison plunged straight down through the stone floor, sealing him away.
Now alone, Lillian squared her shoulders and advanced. Her fingers curled in anguish. With a furious cry, she unleashed a barrage of earth spikes at the angel, each one shaking the ground with its force.
Enocht Spewed towards Lillian, forcing her to conjure a barrier of water.
Steam exploded, billowing clouds that obscured the room. From within the haze, a searing yellow ball hurtled towards Lillian like an arrow, crackling with dangerous energy.
Acting fast, she clenched her teeth and conjured water. Desperate, she wrapped her water barrier around the explosive ball and took the hit head-on.
"Grk!" water exploded, wetting the stone as she slid back to the wall she tried defending.
Earth spikes slammed into the wall in rapid succession, splintering stone and sending shards flying. Cracks spiderwebbed outward as the defenses buckled under the onslaught.
"Stop that!" Lillian raised a stone barrier, protecting the wall. "If you're going to attack, do it to me!
Waves of wind blades sliced at the angel, who laughed on. "It sounds like you're trying to hide something, holy light holder."
"Shut up! You took Kalika! I swear I'll defeat you and take her back!"
"Oh? Is that why you're so angry?"
Foaming at the mouth, Lillian lunged back at Enocht, only for an intense wall of fire to separate them.
"Sorry to say, but we haven't taken her… yet… But we will soon enough."
"You must know where she is, then. Tell me!!"
Enocht placed a finger on her lips. "God, Cassell wants us to keep that secret. Even from you, holy light holder. I was only told to stay here and have some fun. And while I'm at it, if I can return your soul to the cycle, I'm sure my master will be more than pleases"
"Fun?" Is this what you call fun!?"
"That depends." Enocht raised her hands, and Lillian followed.
In an instant, an explosion of magic consumed the destroyed intersection. The fierce heat of the magic and the number of spikes slowly dwindle from Lillian's ability.
Beads of sweat rolled down Lillian's face, her determination faltering in the face of the unfazed angel.
She pushed harder.
Fire on fire.
Earth on earth.
Even water and wind filled the frigid air as Lillian searched desperately for an opening. "Lucius! Where are you!?"
of elements, the intensity of attacks slowly grew.
Enocht's smile widened as her magic broke through first.
Fire zipped past Lillian's face, then a spike of stone cracked the wall behind her.
Lillian jolted.
She clenched her fists fiercely and pushed even harder.
"You're a very powerful Holy light holder. But I think you and the ilk you've chosen to follow have severely underestimated me. Unlike before… I have more than years to fight you and that Demon king fifty times over."
The balls of fire doubled behind Enocht, along with the other elements, visible to the naked eye.
Lillian's breath caught, her eyes widening in shock as Enocht stood like a goddess ready to deliver final judgment. Lillian's eyes drooped with a calm resolve.
Panicked, Lillian conjured a barrier of water and stone, forced to endure a hurricane of attacks that hurled her back.
Stone spikes pierced through, shredding her shield. She gritted her teeth and bore the pain, trying to regenerate her barrier as the attack broke through.
Her back slammed against the wall. "S-stop it!" she cried, the stone cracking deeper as the onslaught pressed harder.
Her back shot past her stone wall. "Please stop! It's the only other place I have left!"
Lillian's strength waned as the cracks rippled behind. "The only thing I left for-"
Enocht's giant fist crashed into Lillian, slamming her hard into the stone wall and shaking the entire room.
She crashed into the room, splintering chairs and tearing deep gouges in the carpet.
Enocht entered the cloud-filled room, then raised a brow with piqued curiosity.
The room was that of a child's. Well maintained with an illustrious bed, a chest, half broken, filled to the brim with girl toys, with floral decoration in the colors of white, yellow, and pink, with a purple standing as the standard color throughout.
Lillian's lips trembled, and her eyes fixed on the now ruined carpet as blood slid off her.
"This room belonged to the evil one, didn't it?" Enocht said.
"Kalika's my sister!" Lillian snapped.
"Merely by oath. And yet… You still cling to her. The very women who stole your life. Defamed you. And ended you." Enocht stepped down from the rubble.
A memory flashed in Lillian's mind of Kalika's Desperate face as she pleaded for mercy. The blood, the intense Anger of betrayal, now woven into like a second skin.
"A-and I'll never forgive her!" Lillian shouted.
Enocht cocked her head, puzzled.
Echoes of the past hazed over Lillian's vision. Times of simpler days, laughter without worry, adventures with discoveries. She longed to grasp those moments again. "Even so…" Pained, she pulled back, her eyes now laser-focused on Enocht. "She's the only family I have left. The only thing that kept me grounded in this shifting world."
"Is that so?" Enocht chuckled. She raised her hand, as if ready to smite.
Fire shot from above.
Reacting, Lillian blocked the fiery rain with water stretched above. "Leave this room alone. I'll fight you anywhere else in the castle. But this room. It's the only thing I can give to my sister!!"
"You mortals make no sense. You fought so fiercely before, but now you'd rather die protecting stone and wood?"
"It's not stone and wood… It was my life. Our life." She aimed her on her free hand. "And I refuse to let even an angel of God ruin it!"
Lillian gasped. "My magic! It-" A suddenly sharp pain tore through her.
The water above fell like a downpour over Lillian and the room, drenching everything.
From within, a spiked white arm pushed deeper into Lillian's stomach, bringing her to her knees. Her breathing grew shallow; pain reeled through her as numbness crept in.
Satisfied, Enocht licked her lips. "What fascinating memories."
"N…No," Lillian wheezed.
Enocht smiled. "So, these are the memories you want to protect most? How trivial. These childish memories with your so-called sister are no different from a peasant."
"A-an angel like you will never understand... You've never lived those lives."
"But I can observe it. Just like yours-"
Unexpectedly, half of Enocht's face slid off, and her arms separated.
"Seems I've underestimated your ilk again…" Enocht said.
A large, red-stained sword stabbed into the stone. And Lillian crumbled in Lucius's arms.
His fingers wrenched, Fury growing in him as he glared fire at the angel.
"Bastard!!"
Enocht's face returned, along with her playful smile. "Hmm~… So you've finally arrived too... Perhaps I'll kill you with the Hol light holder."
A large yellow ball of fire formed above Enocht, Ready to kill.
Suddenly, she flinched.
"Hmm… Are you sure?"
Enocht blinked, staring at Lucius, who held the bleeding Lillian.
"If you're sure, Karocht."
The magic dissipated. And Enocht turned, leaving.
"Stop! Where are you going!?"
"Nowhere do you need to know. If you still value that so-called dream to conquer these lands, you might want to move fast. Terrocht and I indulged ourselves a little too much. So now your army is about the size of a small group of rebels. Barely enough to fend against the Celestine empire's upcoming invasion."
Lucius clenched his fist. His eyes blackened. He moved to stand, stopped only by Lillian's pained groans.
"Perhaps I'll stop by another time to have fun again. Until then…" Enocht sprouted angelic wings and, with a single beat, departed, leaving Lucius with a half-conscious Lillian.
Blood ran thicker on the floor. Her eyes dimmed with a single name in mind. "Kal…ika?"
"Lillian! Stay with me! Lillian. Lillian!!"