Defeat

“I knew this was a trap.” Nia gnashed her teeth. And yet she had no choice. “Let’s get her!”

There was no answer. Nia whirled around. The others were gone.

“Did you really think, I’d just tell you all of this without having a plan?” Saesquar laughed.

Shit. I have to end this. Quick.

Nia strengthened herself and started to dash. Hopefully she’d still be able to hurt Saesquar by simply touching her.

The dark lady jumped back. A bolt of lighting shot past Nia and impacted a bed post. The floor cracked. Nia felt the cold rush of adrenaline. She was so not ready to fight a goddess.

“Tsk. I forgot that I can’t use lightning indoors.” Saesquar shook her head.

Nia jumped forward with all the might she could muster. She pushed her magic and her body as far as they would go. One punch. One touch.

A sonic boom shattered more glass panes, ruffled the bed.

Saesquar caught the fist in a gloved hand. “Nice try.”

Nia felt herself lifted and thrown backwards. Again she pushed her magic to the limit, strengthened herself, made herself more resistant. A moment later she crushed through a thick pane of glass and fell to the asphalt floor outside. It hurt and the ground cracked beneath her.

It took her a moment to get her bearings, to realign the magical harmonies around her. Saesquar came flying down at her, fist first.

Nia rolled to the side. The goddess punched a hole into the ground, the asphalt splintered and was thrown into the air.

“Your world must have a pretty powerful god.”

Something brushed past Nia. Then she felt something wet on her face and arms. She was bleeding.

“But I have lived for millennia. Everything you can do, I can do better!”

Wind magic? It was so fast, I didn’t even notice it …

Nia slowly stood, running completely on her magic now. I hope my power won’t run out.

“I don’t believe in a god. I never saw one before coming to this world.”

“You … didn’t?”

Nia stormed forward again, applying all the magic she knew at once. Strength, Healing, Stone Skin. Saesquar shook her head and a fireball exploded between them. Nia got a glimpse of how the magic was constructed, but her mind screamed from the exertion. Her punch didn’t hit. The dark lady had dodged her attack.

Keep attacking her. Don’t allow her room to breathe. Then, maybe you have a chance.

She looked around. Where had Saesquar gone- A fist hit her in the face and sent her flying. Electricity ran through her, numbed her muscles and mind.

The goddess shook her hand. Her gloves had holes in them. Maybe burned by her own fireball, and smoke was rising from it. “I still don’t get how you’re able to do this. Or how you were able to kill Qiin.”

How … The sword. Maybe I can use it. She hadn’t gotten that many lessons from Ralf, but maybe it was Saesquar’s bane. It had been drenched in her blood.

Nia stood, panting. Saesquar didn’t attack her. The calm on the dark lady’s face made it seem as if she was just playing with her. Nia drew the sword. “I have no idea. Seems like I’m some kind of anomaly.”

“I’ll find out once you surrender your essence to me.”

An invisible force grabbed her throat. Nia fought back, the same as she had done with Mira.

Chunks of asphalt rose from the ground around the goddess and a pillar of light formed above Nia. Circles of Light formed. “Oh no.” She heard the power of the song around her, felt it built to a crescendo.

I don’t want to be here for the base drop.

She could only hope that the power had a lot of inertia. She jumped forward and was thrown back by a chunk of asphalt. She tried to escape to the side but was hit by another chunk. After the third, the magic reached its peak.

An opening. I need a gap. I need to be somewhere else!

Glaring power exploded. Nia was thrown back. She somehow had managed to move, but the explosion caused by the magic threw her against a stone wall. Sparks rained down. The asphalt glowed orange-red, the air smelled of ozone.

Her strength started to fade, but she refused to give up. Why does this have to be so one-sided?

“That’s another thing about you that I don’t get. How are you able to teleport?”

I don’t know either, or I would’ve used it to attack you.

Nia stumbled forward, away from the small crater in the wall. She willed her magic around herself. I don’t care how. But I need to override reality. I need to override this reality. I can’t run out of energy now.

“I tire of this game.” Saesquar started to float. Energy build up all around her and the traffic lights were pulled out of the ground.

Nia ran forward, gathering all her strength. She wouldn’t let this end here. Her vision began to swim as one of the traffic lights flew at her. She tried to block it with the sword, it cut right through the metal.

That’s not normal.

She couldn’t think properly. No, she couldn’t breathe properly. The air was so thin …

“Don’t worry, I won’t reduce you to dust. I don’t like waiting,” the goddess teased.

Nia grit her teeth. Just one hit. She wanted to get just one hit in. Just one … hit …

The magic around her didn’t even form properly. It was more disharmonic than anything. But it was magic. She stormed forward. She stayed in place. She skipped distances. It was like a lagging video, a glitching game. Her sword was directly in front of her, aimed at the dark goddess. Only ten meters separated them. Six. Seven. Three. Five. One.

Something hit her on the neck. And her magic fell apart. Her consciousness fell apart. Had she glitched past the goddess or had she teleported as well? Nia crashed into what was left of the asphalt floor without knowing the answer.