From the soil, massive grave hands clawed upward, monstrous and skeletal, their fingers curling around screaming zoners. They lifted them high, crushing flesh and bone until bodies burst like overripe fruit. Blood rained down on the battlefield. Limbs dangled. Faces twisted in silent agony. It was a slaughter.
Pita, Levin's oldest friend, watched with a sick churn in his gut. "Levin... are you sure this is the right thing?"
"It is not about wrong or right," Levin said, his voice calm and hollow. "It's about what is practical."
A tremor rippled through the air, heavy, fast, and violent. Levin's eyes widened. Instinct took over. He shoved Pita back with a blast of Abi just as a bronze blur came screaming down from the sky.
The ground cracked as Naggí landed in front of him, bronze sword drawn, eyes burning with rage and heartbreak. She swung immediately, the blade whistling toward Levin's throat. He ducked under it by inches, his staff forming in his grip with a hiss of Abi.
The blade of his staff clashed with her sword in a shower of sparks, both forces pushing against each other, neither yielding.
"You've gotten much stronger, Naggí," Levin grunted as he twisted free and spun his staff in a defensive arc. "But you're not a man."
The blade of his staff clashed with her sword in a shower of sparks, both forces pushing against each other, neither yielding.
"Good," she snarled. "Because a man wouldn't be doing this."
Her next slash ripped through the air. Levin blocked, but the force behind it rattled his bones.
She pivoted, kicked off the ground, and spun into a shoulder check that smashed into his chest. The impact launched him backward. He slammed into the dirt, rolling until his body skidded to a stop.
Naggi "Gone are the days when I was nothing but a body to you."
Levin spat blood and rose, fury flashing in his eyes. He raised his staff high. "Grave Hands!"
Dozens erupted from the ground and emerged from the air, clawing and lunging with monstrous speed.
Naggí darted between them, flipping, rolling, spinning like a serpent weaving through a nest of predators.
One hand changed mid-flight, morphing into a colossal fist that crashed toward her. She twisted out of its path, but it smashed into a nearby zoner house. The explosion of debris swallowed her whole, collapsing the building into a mountain of dust and wood.
Pita lifted his mancer staff, panic tightening his chest. "We should finish her now!"
"Stand down, Pita." Levin barked, not taking his eyes off the rubble. "This is my fight. I will be the one to put her down."
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The wreckage shifted. Splinters and dust fell away as Naggí rose, blood streaking her face. She wiped away the blood.
Her bronze sword still clutched tight. Her breathing was heavy, but her eyes burned hotter than ever.
"Where is my son?"
"He's safe," Levin spat, venom dripping from every word. "Safe away from you, a reckless, inconsiderate, whore of a mother."
"I am sick of your insults, you sad sack of shit!" she screamed, thrusting her hand toward the sky. "Art of the Knight, Python Sword!"
The ground quaked. A roar of dark blue Abi exploded from her chest, spiraling around her body like a living storm. Her armor shifted and grew, bronze melting into the likeness of scales, her hair length grew.
The blade in her hand elongated, taking on a sinuous, snake-like form.
Levin's grip tightened. For the first time since the battle began, fear crept into his heart.
"How did she get this strong..." he whispered.
"What's wrong, Levin?" Naggí sneered, stepping forward as Abi hissed around her. "Afraid of a woman?"
Then she was gone.
In a blink, she was in his face, blade slashing in a blur too fast to follow. Levin barely raised his staff in time to block, but the force sent him staggering. She spun low and swept his legs, then slammed the hilt of her sword into his jaw, sending him crashing into a wall. He felt ribs crack. Blood filled his mouth.
She didn't stop. Naggí lunged again, sword flashing like lightning.
Levin summoned an electro-shield.
With a desperate roar, it shattered on impact as she punched through it with raw, furious strength.
He flew backward, crashing through a market stall and tumbling into the street.
The ground shook as she landed in front of him, blade poised over his chest.
"GET UP!" she roared, and her next swing carved a crater in the earth where his head had been a second before.
Pita cried out and thrust his staff forward, summoning another grave hand. Naggí's eyes flicked toward him. She hurled her sword in a vicious arc. It sailed past his face and slammed into the ground inches from his skull, humming with residual Abi. Pita froze, trembling.
"Mind yours."
Levin groaned, dragging himself to his feet, his body shaking. "We could have been a happy family." His Mnacer staffed illuminated .
"No. You wanted to live in a delusional world where our son only embraced your idea of what being useful was."
"Being an Artimancer is useful. It's the most useful use of Abi in this entire world."
"I was not an Artimancer," Naggí hissed. "I was a Zoner."
"You could have lived with us. In peace. And nobody would have known."
"I would have known, Levin. That's the difference. You are okay with others suffering. You are okay with the injustice of this system."
Her voice cracked, tears streaking through the blood on her cheeks. "I am not okay with that. I am not okay with the lies you feed our son about who I am, who women are, who artists are."
"I am trying to protect him!" Levin shouted back, slamming his staff into the ground.
Grave hands shot out. Naggi waved her sword shattering them completely.
"If he doesn't hate women, if he doesn't hate art, then he will grow up and become an enemy to the royals. Look around, Naggi, the zoners, the animals, they will all be executed. Is that the future you want for our child? Or do you want him to stand beside kings and rulers?"
"And be known for what?" she screamed, voice cracking. "Kneeling to authoritarians? Dictators?"
"Those who live get to rewrite history," Levin growled. "Even if that's the case, the books will say the Artimancers fought beside the greatest to rule the Skylands."
Naggí's sword hand trembled. "I thought you loved me. You said you would give the world to me."
"I did lie," Levin said, his voice flat and cold. "I was talking about the world of an Artimancer."
He lifted his gaze, eyes now devoid of warmth. "Naggí... you've turned your back on the King. You've sided with artists. And for that reason, you must be executed."
"Then I'll drag you with me," she whispered, fury shaking her body. "I will not let you corrupt my son any longer."
"You've already corrupted him," Levin roared, thrusting his hand toward the sky, Abi flaring like a storm. "Grand Mancer — Terra One!"
The air cracked open with power. The ground beneath them heaved and split, chunks of earth rising like islands into the sky as Levin's spell began to unfold.
To be continued...