Chapter 112 – Vortex.

Noxx spread her hands almost on instinct.

Sun in one.

Moon in the other.

It was what she had done in her last few fights, and seeing Elyra raise that scythe had nearly made her do it again.

But she stopped before summoning them.

'No, I can't.'

Her fingers closed on empty air.

If the queen saw both weapons with her, she might realize that Matt didn't have any ego weapon.

The problem was that she had the queen in front of her.

And the queen had a scythe.

All because she didn't want to give her a hug.

Noxx looked at the edge before raising her eyes again.

"So now you're going to use violence to impose your authority…?"

Elyra smiled.

"You can see it that way if that's what you believe."

Noxx had no time to answer. The queen turned her waist. The movement looked fairly small, but Gula's blade swept across the space between them all at once.

FWOOSH!

Noxx jumped. The edge passed just beneath her feet. It had been aiming at her waist.

'She was really going to cut me?!'

Her body kept rising while Elyra finished the movement. Noxx pulled her legs in and used the momentum to flip backward.

This time she held out only one hand.

Sun appeared between her fingers. Noxx gripped her tight and started charging her before she touched the ground.

She could feel her weapon waiting.

She could also feel the blood leaving her to feed the shot.

She needed time.

Not much.

Just enough to—

The queen raised the scythe.

Noxx had barely set one foot down when she had to throw herself to the side.

TAK!

The end of the shaft struck the spot where her head had been.

Noxx stepped back again.

Elyra changed her grip without stopping and attacked again.

This time with the blade.

Noxx ducked.

The edge passed over her, so close she felt it stir her hair.

She didn't try to get up right away. She took a short hop backward, keeping Sun close to her chest so the queen couldn't knock her loose.

The blood kept flowing in.

It still wasn't enough.

"Good choice," Elyra remarked.

Noxx didn't answer.

She was watching her hands.

The right one held the shaft higher up. The left had slid toward the end.

When the queen moved her shoulders again, Noxx was already getting out of the way.

Gula passed in front of her face.

Then it came back.

'Again!'

Noxx pivoted on one foot and let the blade cross where her neck had been.

She had dodged the first strike.

The second had nearly caught her.

Elyra wasn't giving her time to settle.

Every time Noxx found a spot she could aim from, the queen forced her to move again.

'I can't just watch the weapon.'

Matt had told her that plenty of times.

He'd also had to kill her a few times before she stopped doing it.

Noxx tried to keep her eyes on Elyra's body.

The arms could change direction much faster than she expected. The waist gave her some warning. So did the feet.

The problem was that Elyra knew that.

Noxx saw her bring her left foot forward and got ready to move aside, but the scythe didn't follow the movement she expected.

The queen spun it between her hands.

The shaft came first.

Noxx leaned back.

The tip passed in front of her nose. Then she had to jump sideways to avoid the edge that came up from below.

Noxx landed next to the chair she had been sitting in. Elyra closed in again, and Noxx got to the other side of the chair before the next strike could reach her.

The queen stopped for barely an instant.

Noxx raised Sun.

Not yet.

She lowered the weapon when Elyra moved the scythe again and got clear with another jump.

The hem of her dress lifted with the movement.

Noxx barely noticed.

All her attention was on the queen.

On the distance.

On the time Sun needed.

She couldn't afford to get distracted thinking about the hug.

Or about how unpleasant it was to be fighting someone who had been laughing with her a few minutes ago.

"You're doing quite well."

Elyra said it while attacking again. Noxx had to duck once more.

"Matt couldn't dodge this many attacks in a row in our first fight, years ago."

The comparison made Noxx tighten her fingers a little more around Sun.

She didn't look up at the queen's face.

The edge came back and she moved aside again.

'Don't get distracted.'

Matt hadn't started out knowing how to fight the way he did now either.

Elyra had just told her as much.

He had arrived not knowing many things, he'd had to learn, and he had still ended up falling over during a ritual because he was arguing with her.

Noxx had been at it a lot less time.

But he had trained her.

A lot.

Enough that she had learned to move even when she was afraid.

And right now, she was quite afraid.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Elyra asked.

Noxx twisted her body to avoid another strike. The blade passed by her shoulder.

"No."

The queen smiled a little more.

"Why not?"

Noxx had to jump before answering.

Elyra was sweeping the floor with the scythe.

"I'm busy."

The queen let out a small laugh.

Noxx landed closer to the window.

The blood was still leaving her.

She could feel the pressure building inside Sun. The weapon weighed the same, but her hand felt a different resistance every time she added a little more.

She was close.

Noxx raised her eyes to Elyra.

The queen didn't look tired.

Her expression hadn't even changed much.

That was what bothered her most.

Noxx was doing everything she could not to get hit, and Elyra kept talking as if they were still sitting across the desk.

'One shot.'

She only needed to land one.

She didn't have to defeat her.

She didn't have to make her surrender either.

The queen herself had set the condition.

Noxx held on to that while she dodged another attack.

If she managed to hit her, she could put an end to this nonsense.

The scythe came from her right.

Noxx stepped back.

Elyra advanced with it.

The shaft spun again.

This time Noxx didn't try to get as far away. She ducked, let the edge pass, and took a step toward the queen's side.

It was risky.

Very.

But if she kept backing away, she was going to end up against the wall.

Elyra turned her head to follow her.

Noxx felt Sun finish charging.

'Now…!'

Noxx raised her arm and aimed at the queen's head.

She didn't hesitate.

BOOM!

The shot kicked her hand back and made the floor shake under her feet.

Noxx kept her arm steady.

For an instant all she could see was the glare in front of her.

Then she made out Elyra.

The queen was moving Gula.

Very fast.

The blade passed in front of her body once.

Then again.

Noxx lost the ability to follow it with her eyes.

A purple whirlpool appeared in front of Elyra, spreading wider with every turn of the scythe.

Sun's shot reached it.

Noxx expected an explosion.

Or an impact.

Something.

But the attack vanished completely. The glare sank into that vortex and didn't come out the other side.

Noxx stood staring, her arm still extended.

Sun was no longer charged.

All the blood she had used had just disappeared in front of her.

'What...?'

Elyra spun the scythe one more time. Then she closed her fingers around the shaft and stopped it.

The vortex came apart almost at the same moment.

The queen was still in the same spot.

Without a scratch.

Noxx lowered the weapon a little.

She didn't want to.

Her arm simply stopped aiming as high.

She had used that shot because it was the strongest thing she could prepare without summoning Moon as well.

The queen rested Gula on her shoulder.

"Good."

Noxx didn't know what to say.

"Now tell me," Elyra went on with a smile, "what are you going to do when your strongest attack doesn't work?"

Noxx looked at the weapon in her hand.

She could charge another one, but that didn't mean it would work.

She could also get close and try to hit her directly, but the queen had stopped that shot from so close that Noxx had no reason to think a punch would be any harder to avoid.

'Matt...'

Noxx didn't know how she was supposed to land a hit on that woman, but now she understood Matt's complaints a lot better.

Elyra lowered the scythe from her shoulder.

Noxx raised Sun again.

She wasn't going to stand still and wait.

The queen took a step, and then—

BOOOOOOM!

The floor shook.

Noxx's eyes went wide.

One of the documents Elyra had left on the desk slid to the edge. The window glass rattled, and the noise that came from outside was much louder than Sun's shot.

That hadn't happened inside the office.

The queen stopped.

For a few seconds neither of them said anything.

Noxx looked toward the door. Then toward the window.

Elyra let out a sigh. The smile had disappeared from her face.

Noxx didn't wait for her to say anything. She went to the window with Sun still in her hand and leaned out.

She had to see what had happened.

Especially because, after hearing that explosion, she could only think of one person.

Noxx looked down. She didn't manage to understand what she was seeing before something crossed in front of the window.

Noxx raised her head.

A white-haired figure was still rising through the air.

Noxx recognized him immediately.

"Matt?"

He wasn't on the ground.

He wasn't at any of the windows on the other side either.

Matt...

He was flying upward, toward whatever had caused the explosion!