Chapter 26: Mia Vs Noctlisa
Noctlisa knew her melee style had a natural counter: fighters like Mia who kept their distance. Anyone able to keep her at arm’s length was her worst enemy. So even she found it odd that she’d drawn her weapon.
Why did I draw my weapon when she counters me? She stole a furtive glance at Jett and caught his smirk. Right—wanted Master to see my battle stance.
Heat rushed to her cheeks, her lids lowering in a brief pout before she shoved the sword back into the shadow cleft at her neck. Black coils seeped from her pores, wrapping her from head to toe. In an instant dark plate formed, its seams glowing with icy blue light that matched her aqua eyes. Her helmet gathered her white hair into a long tail trailing behind her like the shadow‑cape at her shoulders.
BANG!
She exploded off the ground, sprinting toward the moss‑covered wall, then sideways along its face as though gravity meant nothing. To a human eye she was no more than a streak of darkness, yet Mia’s crimson gaze never lost focus.
The elf bent a tree until its crown swept the ground, then swung it like a giant club. Wood and moss cracked, scattering stone and knocking Noctlisa off the wall. Unfazed, the dullahan dissolved into shadow, ricocheting through the debris before springing back onto the vertical surface.
Spears of polished wood whistled in, thudding deep into her plates—only the tips pierced narrow gaps, drawing no blood.
Mmph. I would’ve finished her if she’d fallen into the pond. Mia’s mind raced. I planned to trip her at least three times, but her speed surprised me. A few more strikes and I can breach that Shadow Armor— she’ll blitz straight through this wall.
Knowing Noctlisa had no choice but to charge, Mia unleashed another volley. The knight barreled through, shards of cracked armor dropping behind her and dissolving before they touched the pond.
The moment her boot hit solid ground, roots burst upward. Branches wove into a living birdcage, then morphed into spears that stabbed through the rents in her armor and bit flesh.
"Nnnghhh—!" Noctlisa’s grunt turned into manic laughter. She tipped her neck forward, letting the abyss inside her collar gape, and slid her weapon free. One sweeping spin scattered wooden spikes, and Shadow Weaver’s dark arcs rose into a tornado that blasted the cage apart.