’This can’t go on.’

Uriel took a deep breath.

He’d be a fool not to see her speech was, in some way, related to her spark or most powerful ability. Whatever her speech did, it was deadly.

It was almost as if the fabric of the world patiently obeyed every one of her orders. As if every word she uttered was a reality the world sought to embody.

"But, ah, I digress."

By this point, Uriel couldn’t see anything but darkness and her flaming butterflies, the energy in the air having entirely shifted into a storm of fire and mist.

His spell sentry shook, and his aether stirred, his grip on his glaive tightening as flows of light and darkness danced around him.

[First Dark Star Echelon: Shadowy Envelope]

Shadows were amorphous, as darkness was, but they were more fluid, more at peace with the world, dancing across the crevices of light and the folds of matter.

Shadows were in constant movement, constant reactivity and reaction; they were the epitome of reflection.

And as such, so would Uriel’s body.

Uriel’s dark aether shook, tapping into the paths of shadows, granting his flesh the amorphous flow and dynamic movement of shades.

[First Light Star Echelon: Radiant Wisp]

Light was heat, and what ruled over heat better than fire did?

Across stars, light and fire danced in unison, ruling over the cruel dominion of nothingness and illuminating the paths of moons and planets in the dark cosmos.

Light was life, as much as it was guidance, but also as much as it was destruction, distance, and loftiness.

SHOO!

Uriel’s light aether surged, building atop his dark aether, tapping into a strange path—one rooted in flames, destruction, but also life.

He wasn’t sure what path of light he had tapped into exactly, but he felt its power.

Radiant white flames burst across Uriel’s body, dancing along the surface of his shells and filling him with power, tightly wrapping around his blade and pole.

White flame and dark shades danced across his body.

"Ah!"

Uriel swung his glaive in a wide arc around him, his flames sparking through the air and his movements incredibly smooth.

The heat burned through flocks upon flocks of butterflies, the light of his flames finally illuminating his surroundings—just in time for him to gain sight of the rapidly approaching woman.

"How strange. Why do the elements allow you to tap into paths you do not comprehend?"

Miquella, the woman, came to a stop, noticing the oddity. Her butterflies danced around her, regenerating and multiplying as fast as they burned to Uriel’s flames.

They almost seemed endless, flooding the hall both with their presence and the deafening echoes of their fluttering wings.

The concentration of fire aether in the hall was such that the air had become a hellish shade of red.

"..."

She stared at him, her gaze pensive as she tried to peer past the mystery of his spell, almost as if she’d forgotten they were in the midst of battle, almost as if she hadn’t nearly killed him with a single strike.

And yet, he remained unmoving, his stance low and blade defensively aimed at her. Her guard was down, and she was practically begging to be struck, and yet, he couldn’t.

His gaze searched and searched, his mind spinning to find paths, but there was nothing.

His chaos root couldn’t find a single opening to exploit.

Every move he could make would result in injury. Her prowess was of such a high strata that standard defenses and stances lost meaning.

The world was as much her blade as any sharp stick of steel was, so why would she need to block? The world would do it for her if she ordered it.

’If that’s the price, then so be it.’

Uriel made his decision, his jaw tightening as his calves exploded with power and he shot toward Miquella.

BANG!

He burst through thick clouds of butterflies, fire aether exploding across his frame and burning more and more of his reserves, but he didn’t react, focused entirely on the task.

SHI!

Planting a foot forward, he slid to a stop, his flames infusing into his blade just as he activated [Wrath-Bound Sacrifice], his glaive’s enchantment burning his blood and aether to boost his attack.

...

>Enchantment: Wrath-Bound Sacrifice {Gold}

~>Details: A Dragon’s magic, without a heart to anchor it, becomes twisted, and in turn so do the laws of equivalence.

• By burning aether, massively enhance your physical might; by burning blood, temporarily gain power beyond your rank and realm.

• All borrowed power comes at a cost.

... 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

His hips twisted inward, aether rushing across his veins as he then violently unfurled and swung, a savage roar escaping his lips as he did so—both from the pain of his flesh tearing and his deep focus.

His blade’s edge reached Miquella’s neck in no time.

"Hm. I suppose I cannot figure it out. Strange."

But as if she too possessed a light element, her hand shot through the air, moving to easily slap his blade away, fire aether coating her hands and protecting her from the heat.

But, having expected it, Uriel used the momentum of her deflection to spin and step forward, seamlessly flowing into a horizontal cleave, more white flames burning around him to boost his might.

PAH!

Miquella rapidly stepped forward, taking him off guard and ramming a shoulder into his chest, breaking his stance and shattering the momentum of his attack.

With his guard torn open, as he took a step back, he couldn’t defend the kick that came tearing into his gut, followed by a sweep that left him falling to his knees.

His falling jaw crashed into her rising knee, his body surging into the air, caught in time by her dancing blade slicing across his chest.

The sharp tip of her blade cracked his shells, blood spilling as her free hand shot forward and a fire-infused palm slammed into him, sending him flying straight into a thick cloud of butterflies.

The sequence was so fast that Uriel couldn’t react, nor did he have the time to notice that, suddenly, her fire and mist aether had bridged into something new.

Something his void body wasn’t immune to.

"ARGH!"

Uriel rolled and tumbled across the palace’s marbled floors, his blood leaving a trail in his wake, his glaive clinging and scraping against the ground.

Miquella’s butterflies, now of a deep magenta hue, freckled by spots of silver, danced across his body, their wings as sharp as blades, easily slicing his flesh and mutilating him.

He was almost instantly drenched in blood, his body becoming a canvas of torn flesh.

BANG!

Uriel’s body crashed into the palace’s gate, which had closed during their battle, and flung it open. His body was sent flying down the ivory stairs, crashing into the crystal-glass sea.

SHI!

"Finally!"

It wasn’t Miquella’s voice that echoed, but Uriel’s.