CHAPTER 128: LUST & MAID VS NECROMAGE (2)

The claw hovered over the Necromage’s shoulder, as Nyrel’s skeletal arm coated itself with a black hue.

The Necromage swung, the maid leaped away, dressed, and wheezing through the air before landing gracefully.

"You..."

Nyrel squinted with suspicion, eying Nyxia’s purple hair. "It can’t be... a Voidling?"

Despite knowing how every Witch accessed a strong familiar, a Voidling was another level of absurdity she didn’t expect to encounter.

A summon levelled above other summons. A formless entity that was ’born’ an Exarch rank, until it met the form it wished to mimic.

The Master of Mimicry; the aptitude to ’mimick’ every ability in this World without fail, despite the caveat within.

"Was it your Master’s talent in summoning?" Her skeletal arm stretched as she shifted around to face the maid.

"Or perhaps something drew you to her?"

"Ask for my Master’s permission to speak, worm."

Nyxia tilted her head, grey eyes sweeping over Nyrel’s figure.

Groans of Undeads lingered as they perished, bondust marring the iceland with rough patches of grey-white that matched Nyxia’s glare.

"I would give you a chance."

The maid’s waist bent, ready to leap as she expected rejection from her enemy.

She stated, voice cold and steady. "Master taught us no mercy but leniency for the worst like you; we promise fair punishment once you surrender."

"Oh, please."

The Necromage scoffed, her skeletal arm, still coated in black hue, hid itself in the cloak with a twist of her body.

"Mercy is only so useless when you couldn’t recognise who will truly judge me."

A defeated chuckle escaped Nyrel; she knew the consequence of a failed move here.

Despite being prepared for it, the last thing she readied for was what the White Demon had in store for her.

Regardless, her gaze held firm. "Come. Or would you rather have me stall for more time?"

"Hm." Nyxia’s face relaxed. "Admitting your intent here, then?"

"Of course," Nyrel smirked. "I wouldn’t mind being spared, however."

Mel watched in amusement as the maid dashed to Nyxia with an annoyed frown.

Then, the Necromage exposed her black-coated bone, her palm open as a small magic circle formed.

"Undead Summon: Black Serpent."

Small dark-skinned serpents shot out like swarms desperate for escape, their fangs dressed in violet poison as they lunged for Nyxia.

Nyrel gritted her teeth; against Voidling with ability related to Realms, her Mastery of Space was practically nullified.

Nyxia, indifferent, ran into the swarms, her face covered by the snake swarms.

Every beast passed through her, and as the swarm reached its end with their corpses flopping on the ice, the maid emerged unscathed.

"Damn your Warp-"

Then she froze; no time itself froze, spilling the World grey.

As Pride’s familiar, her Master’s Time Mastery saved Nyrel a blink; then she managed to shift her body to behind-

And caught Nyxia’s sleeve, a claw inch away from her face.

"Shame." Nyrel scoffed, the skull’s teeth unmoving as her right lips moved for a small smile. "Too bad your Drifter’s Gaze was a byproduct compared to my Master’s."

The World soon returned colored in moonlight shade, ice glittering as Nyrel prepared another summon-

Before a chaotic, off-tune chord shook her mind.

Twisted melody edged her madness as Nyrel gritted her teeth, eying the violin clowns who played.

Their Master smiled as her hand loosened on Nyxia’s.

And the maid’s claw sliced her chest, shoulder-to-waist.

No blood spilled as she fought the panging pain in her head, before raising her hand in panic.

Mel observed as bone walls rose from the ice, humming as she signaled the steel talons.

A few large arrows bolted; the walls broke to reveal Nyrel now surrounded by magic circles.

The walls bought enough time, as she yelled.

"Summon: Undead Giant!"

Nyrel needed one moment; one confirmation.

She stalled not just for time, but for spectacles so that ’she’ will witness.

So, a giant surged up with patched black skin, towering over the maid.

Mel’s brows knitted together; Nyxia lept back from a fist-thrust, the ice splintering by the punch’s impact.

She began to worry; unsettled by Nyrel’s peaceful expression.

From start to finish, Nyrel’s moves were nothing but suicidal.

Not judging how she didn’t escape, Mel thought it was weirder that Nyrel confronted Mel herself.

Not with a puppet body or through underlings, no.

As if she herself needed to be here.

Soon, the Undead giant was cleaved, two halves toppling to reveal an indifferent maid.

The Witch squinted as Nyrel’s hand clenched on her cloak, before swiping it off herself as the cloak disappeared into thin air.

"Come!"

Like a fighter on overdrive, her orange hair fluttered like a wild woman; two hands coated in black hues as her face strained against Nyxia.

The maid merely... observed, her gaze unbothered by Nyrel’s taunt, but rather curious about where the hood had disappeared.

Then, realisation hit her as Nyxia’s cheeks flushed in panic.

"Master!"

Mel jolted, her body tumbling as it caught onto the ice ground...

...as a brief shimmer of a blade passed where she was.

"Wow."

A nervous chuckle escaped Mel; her hand gestured as an Owl Knight rushed in.

Her Witch sense felt the blade near her head, then a truck-like Knight ran over the assailant.

"My goodness..."

She glanced at the fallen Undead, now draped over by Nyrel’s hood, prompting Mel to organise the sequence of Nyrel’s action.

Earlier, Nyrel first threw the hood over her head, a mocking hot-blooded move.

In reality, the moment she threw, she summoned an Undead beneath the hood while simultaneously activating the Hood’s ability.

All for this sneak attack that almost paid off if not for Nyxia’s call and her better-than-normal Witchly sense.

[ Never again underestimate my Family, child. ]

’You sound rather... prideful.’

A cold-unfunny joke shivered her awake from the trance, as Mel stood and brushed off the snow gathered at her skirt.

Her eyes swept over the battlefield, and with one more arrow, one more lich pierced through as her beloved Iceland was finally emptied of Undead.

She then glanced back at the smirking Nyrel, whose throat was clutched by a rightfully angry Nyxia.

Is this...it?

Mel tapped her chin; her thoughts were a jumbling mess.

Everything came all too easy until the very last move; a cunning and sneaky one, but ultimately at a frightening ’fairness’ that was unsuited to Nyrel’s vile ways.

"Hm..."

Readjusting, she breathed the frosty breeze again, reminding herself of the cute Lila-

...wait, Lila?

She blinked, a theory forming in her head as her eyes darted.

The snows fell silently, indicating how Lila’s magic reached even here.

Then hypothetically, it is also possible...

"Oh..." Mel seethed her teeth as she glared at Nyrel with anger.

She watched as Nyrel’s motuh gaped, words almost slipping out of her mouth for what she assumed was her final chant, her final move.

"Nyxia. Let her go."

Mel’s call loosened the maid’s grasp, the clarity reeling back Nyxia’s force on Nyrel.

A silence was prompted as Mel waved her hand, casting a spell sneakily in the process.

The moment she pried open Nyrel’s true malice was the moment her mind stormed for a revenge that satisfied her own pettiness.

She approached Nyrel, the mock-coughs from the Necromage too low in her ears.

Stopping, she kneeled before Nyrel, unafraid as her maid’s arms wrapped around the Necromage’s upright.

Nyrel groaned, her palms unable to harm her as Nyrel would easily debunk her attacks with her unpredictable skill sets.

This... this is her end.

"I see." Nyrel’s low and calm voice steadied with a hint of disappointment. "I have lost, so utterly and uselessly."

Mel almost clicked her tongue as the Necromage’s lips curled down, the act so apparent she almost threw up.

Despite wishing nothing more than to knock her out, Mel needed Nyrel to be taught a lesson.

And showed Pride just how far down the Necromage has gone.

Deciding to turn ’cruel’ in her heart, Mel smiled with ’arrogance’. "Any last words?"

Nyrel’s right lip paused in the air, pursed together.

The skull dangled loosely as her body relaxed, her breaths too thin to be accepting of her defeat.

"I’ve lived my life being a scum, Witch." Nyrel breathed out. "I’ve done so, so many things my Master would not approve, one that would’ve shed my title as Pride’s familiar."

Her gaze sharpened, however, as it faced Mel with a newfound determination.

"However, I held no regret."

Even with her body restricted, that one ruby eye glimmered with some misplaced sense of justice.

It disgusted Mel to the core, so much so that she, for the first time, considered murdering her right then and there.

"My schemes are my pride," Nyrel continued to stall, hoping Mel wouldn’t recogise her thoughts.

"And what defined me was not solely my Master’s sin, but the selfishness to serve her the only way I knew how."

She glanced up at the snow, still falling with indifference.

Closing her eyes, it was as if years of peace finally washed over her figure, the snow gently caressing her cheek.

It reminded her of only one thing.

That Envy was also listening.

That Envy’s magic also reached here; hearing this conversation was key to her final bow-out on the stage.

"And for a Witch who only knew her sin..."

She puffed out her chest.

"She shall finally rise as the proper, first disaster."

So, a mumble finally left her mouth; the revelation would’ve surely brought her what she wanted.

A disaster to show upon the World, to disrupt whatever Mel was planning, and to buy her comrades time against the ’White Devil’.

"I was the one who poisoned your sister, Envy."

She smirked, confidence arose to greet the snowy sky again with an open confession.

"So kill me, Lila Vexara."

Reveal your nature, and drown in madness as you would have frozen the World from rage, Witch of Envy.

With that, Nyrel awaited her end.

An end... that never came till even the last moment, as only Mel’s contorted stare glanced down upon her.