The fight between Cattleya and Nyx rages on! And by now, you can probably understand why White Triangle 7-4 mentioned Cattleya's shop being reopened :3
Enjoy!
Onslaught: Mistress of Flame Nyx
“Y-You’re overdoing it a bit, don’t you think?”
Rana clang to the magician’s feet, stopping her actions.
[I was hoping she’d kick Michel out, but not if my house gets destroyed.]
After seeing Funikura release a second, and then a third shot that went on to hit the house, he had started regretting having ever asked her.
“He’s right, Lord Funikura, that’s too strong.”
She appealed to her staff, the so-called Funikura, who was too busy pretending not to hear.
[Don’t tell me Nyx can’t control her magic staff?]
The boy soon began feeling uneasy.
“My mother is there too!”
“D-Don’t worry. Next time will go smoother.”
She spoke as if to convince herself, while pulling away the boy clinging to her, and looked at the weapons shop.
“S-See, they’re coming out.”
Cattleya appeared in front of her, sword in hand, after setting the rubble aside.
“That’s Michel.”
Nyx took up her staff, and stared at the boy besides the mother.
“I-I’m the heroic magician, Master of Flame Nyx! Michel, get away from Cattleya!”
She raised her voice exaggeratedly, trying not to show her inner relief.
She only intended to release a small fireball at most, for the people inside to come out in surprise. That’s how much power she wanted to use, but what her Lord Funikura had released was fireballs with the power to blow the whole house, and not only once or twice, but three times. Even if they hadn’t been hurt, they couldn’t likely have gotten away without a scratch.
As she rejoiced at them not having gotten wounded through the whole ordeal, Nyx started getting an odd vibe about her opponent.
“Something’s... weird?”
Rana noticed the change in Michel as well. His usual self seemed to care about his surroundings, but right now he felt an arrogance he couldn’t very well describe from him.
Funikura whispered something.
“A similar being as you, Lord Funikura...?”
[Maybe Michel isn’t an ordinary human, but is it okay to burn down someone who looks like a boy?]
Disregarding Nyx’ hesitation, the staff released a fireball towards the odd boy.
“P-Please wait, Lord Funikura!”
It was a fireball with enough power to crush a castle wall in one hit.
Cattleya moved before the fireball hit him: with a large swing of her greatsword, she returned the shot.
Struck by the huge weapon, the fireball burst and scattered in midair, becoming a rain of fire that fell between them.
“Eek!”
The expression on Nyx’ face stiffened. Other opponents had dodged the fireballs before, but this was the first who had repelled one.
“Lord Funikura, I-I don’t think this is good...”
“Stooop!”
Ignoring how Nyx and Rana were telling him to stop, Funikura shot fireballs in succession.
The hand holding Funikura got numb; more physical strength was being absorbed than she expected.
Still, the staff didn’t release the woman from his tentacles; with Cattleya as her opponent, the moment the fight entered close quarters, Nyx’ defeat would be sealed in stone.
Before their foe could swing her sword again, the continuous fireballs settled it: the flames wrapped around Cattleya’s body, and she burst into flames.
“M-Moooom!”
Rana broke down, screaming.
“N-No... the kid’s mother, I...”
But their worries were unfounded; Cattleya’s shape could be seen moving on the other side of the flame.
“Haaaaaaah!”
With a sudden yell, the flames died out and Cattleya came charging, her sword poised.
Her body showed not even one burn.
“Eh, i-impossible!”
Nyx had a mind to flee already; if magic didn’t work against her enemy, she had no chance of winning.
It was actually due to the power of the odd boy besides the mother, but the magician had no way of knowing that.
On the other hand, Cattleya was closing in on the magician, but her movements dulled when she recognized Rana crouching by the other’s feet.
“Wah!”
Nyx instantly jumped backwards, to try and keep her distance. The hand that wasn’t holding Funikura grabbed Rana in the process, as well. It would normally go against her pride to use a child as a shield, if only figuratively, but with her opponent acting that odd, she had run out of options.
No matter how many fireballs she lobbed at that mother, she wouldn’t be able to wound her. Cattleya apparently had felt some hesitation in swinging her sword when she—just barely—recognized her son being there, but her expression still looked unnatural.
[Is that supernatural Michel manipulating her after all? Even so, I can’t deal a decisive blow.]
It went for Cattleya too: her foe had Rana with her, and since she couldn’t swing her sword at her usual speed, the opponent would be able to read her moves.
Both of them were in a deadlock that they wouldn’t be able to settle any time soon.
“Miss Cattleya, are you being manipulated?”
Funikura whispered something in response to Nyx’ murmur.
“So it is his doing after all? In that case...”
Funikura’s tentacle wobbled, sending innumerable fireballs at the weird boy. As expected, Cattleya moved to protect him.
[Maybe she can repel a big fireball with her sword, but she can’t shoot all these down.]
Just as the magician guessed, a small fireball the merchant couldn’t bring down ended up flying towards the boy.
...And that was when it too was repelled by something.
“What’s that!”
A mass of flame like those fireballs shouldn’t be something anywhere near easy to repel in the first place. Cattleya had only been able to because of the size and thickness of her sword.
“That’s...”
What had accomplished so this time was a long spear thrown from a distance.
As if someone was there wielding it, the spear rotated and pierced the ground in front of Michel.
“Lady Elina’s spear!”
Seeing the long spear shining in silver under the moonlight made the suspicious shine disappear from the boy’s eyes.
“I finally meet you, Michel.”
The duo of Elina and Melona was who had come to their rush.
“Who are you?”
“The Inescapable Shadow Elina! Michel’s true master.”
The Vance girl answered Nyx’ question with a smile, bringing the spear back to her hand by using the steel wire.
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