The bat came swinging wildly, Luizitine stepping back only to feel the wall trap him in place. He pushed off just fast enough to avoid another blast of gale magic. The first at least. The second he had to block with a quick cast of Soul of Cold, an icy pillar stopping what would have been a swift beheading. There was no doubt in his mind. This woman had his soul in spades.

Every battle was different. Some souls were more aggressive. Some souls were passive. Some were more tactical. And to Luizitine’s misfortune, this particular instance of the wizard had as much aggression as a raging griffin, though she seemed tactful enough to plan in the moment, as he quickly found out.

He’d tried to trick her. To bait her into traps. Wards he’d set up throughout the building to aid in his battle. But the wizard was smart. Every time she came crashing through a room she’d cast a burst of restoration magic to cancel out any wards he’d placed. In fact, she even seemed to predict his movement patterns, quickly closing the distance every time he attempted to utilize agility to his advantage.

It didn’t matter that he’d memorized the layout of the station from top to bottom. None of it made a difference. When he tried to use cameras and equipment as a distraction, she simply blew them away or smashed them to pieces. Computers and wire scattered the area, walls being torn apart as they clashed again and again. Luizitine managed to grab her and toss her through an open window, but she just came crashing back towards him, bat slamming him to the ground in the process.

Dammit. Dammit. Wizard.

He felt it come down again and again, but endured it long enough to blast her with a shot of icy magic.

It wasn’t enough to put her down for good. Nor were the hits he’d taken enough to take him out of the fight completely. A hand came to his head, gashes slowly closing themselves as he healed what wounds he could. Soul of Decay always took a bit more energy to heal the self, but he knew it would be useless to try such a tactic against his opponent. Not in the conventional sense, at least.

“Friggin’ demon,” the wizard said, healing her own wounds with restoration magic. “Really wish you’d just up and die already. Save us the trouble.”

He scoffed at that. “And let you run free in this world? I think not.”

“Pff. So says the ultra-demon.”

They both finished healing, Luizitine watching the wizard carefully for her next move.

At the rate they were going, he doubted the fight would end without the entire tower coming down. They’d already wrecked the third floor to the point that the streets of Angelas were clearly visible outside, along with something else that briefly caught Luizitine’s interest. A shimmering translucent barrier. One that he doubted the civilians outside it would recognize.

They’ve trapped us. Probably for the human’s benefit.

Alice lunged forward, Luizine readying for the assault.

Better fix that.

As her bat came swinging, he jumped into her.

“Spirit of Gale!”

As expected, she was quick to blast him backwards. And he took full advantage of that for an easy boost.

His body careened through the air, hands out and ready as he found himself flying through one of the holes the wizard had created. But he didn’t stop there. Her blast was more than powerful enough to send him miles away. Yet because of the barrier, his momentum was stopped dead, Luizitine’s body falling against it as the gale kept pushing him forward.

It wasn’t his best strategy. Nor the most painless, magic ripping through his skin from the attack. But it was the easiest method to put strain on the barrier casters below. Especially as he sent decaying magic flooding into the whole system.

Thank you, wizard. I’ll be sure to pay back this debt tenfold. I promise that.

There was a scream from below and then he felt the barrier break under all the energy forced upon it.

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Gale magic flung him forward, down to the streets below where he could finally break free from the wizard’s grasp. When he looked back, he spotted exactly where the scream had come from. In the midst of all the fighting, it seemed the Felissa woman had been in charge of barrier defense, her body now doubled over as he could see her fighting back the pain. But he wouldn’t get to enjoy that sight for long as the wizard came flying down at him.

“Demon!”

He quickly fled in the opposite direction.

***

Given the wizard’s propensity for aggression, it was doubtful fighting in an enclosed space would bode well for anyone in the kingdom. All it took was one misplaced spell to rend Gingee or Karla into tiny bits. And it wasn’t as if Luizitine could properly fight if he was too worried about destroying the tower anyhow.

But they were outside now. There were no minions or mages to get in either of their way. And from the smell of it, very few humans remained in close proximity to the tower. For the time being, they had the streets to themselves. And Luizitine relished the freedom.

“Soul of Decay.”

He struck his hand against a rail, causing both it and the system of ladders above to come crashing down. An easy distraction. As the wizard tried to cast, she never saw the vehicle coming, front bumper meeting its mark much to Luizitne’s satisfaction.

She spat in anger, jumping and grabbing a fallen ladder to use like a javeline. He wouldn’t fall for the same trick. He slammed both hands to the ground, an icy shell rising in all directions.

“Gotcha!”

Fear ceased him. The shout was above. He whipped up in shock to see a shadow of wheels flying towards him, metal crashing over his head as his horns impaled themselves through seat cushioning. It didn’t hurt much physically, but the laughter that followed filled him with equal parts rage and bloodlust.

“You ain’t the only one who can throw cars, demon,” the wizard said in mocking voice.

He broke through the vehicle, claws slashing a path through metal and ice. Was she toying with him? Almost as if in response, he saw the wizard raise her bat over her shoulders, one hand healing the few wounds she could.

“I can keep going like this, y’know,” she said. “Fun as this is, I’d be cool to just throw cars at each other until one of us dies. Would probably be a pretty cool way to go.”

His gaze narrowed. She was definitely a strange iteration of the wizard. In fact, now that he looked at her more closely, he realized that he’d seen her before. A few times, even. She was there in the alleyway. And the junkyard. Maybe even more than that. Had she been at his school? He never did pay much attention to the many students at Justin’s college.

“Or maybe you just wanna get this over with duelist-style,” the woman offered. “Something tells me we keep going like this and we’re gonna end up wrecking the whole city. Which actually might be pretty fun, I guess.”

Luizitne stared at the woman, the urge to attack still lingering though he didn’t act on it at that moment. Why was she suddenly trying to talk to him? After spending so much time attacking, it seemed odd to make conversation now of all times. Was she trying to distract him? That would have been likely.

“You would condemn your city so easily?” Luizitine asked.

To this, the wizard gave off a snicker.

“My city? Like I really give a damn what happens here.”

Her gaze turned thoughtful, at least for a moment, as her voice briefly lowered.

“Not like there’s anyone here I really wanna save now.”

She quickly returned to the same bravado as before, Luzitine only noticing at that moment it was anything but the truth. Whoever the woman was, he didn’t get the sense that she went against him out of sense of justice or the desire to protect the innocent. No, he could see it. Her eyes told the full story. Someone he doubted would be on the field of battle if not for her obligation as a wizard.

Yet another person bound to the cycle.

Luizitine looked back to the tower. To the destruction they’d already caused and would more than likely continue to cause as their battle raged forward. It was indeed inevitable. A endless duty they’d never be free of. And as he looked at the wizard, he finally realized why she had decided to speak to him out here.

She must have felt it just as he did. Their battle was soon to end.

“Wizard,” he asked. “Girl. What is your name?”

She snickered again. “Didn’t even bother to learn it, huh? Figures.”

She brandished her bat forward, the glow of magic rising through her body once again. Yet even then, he could still see the regret in her eyes.

“Alice,” she said. “And don’t worry. I already know your name is Luizitne.”

He smiled at that. At least this time it seemed their battle would not end with the bitter taste of humiliation. For all he did not know of the woman, he was fine referring to her as an enemy worthy or respect. His hand rose, claws sharpening into daggers as he let his own magic rise through him.

The wizard Alice’s expression turned grim.

“Ready?” she asked.

Luizitine answered in kind. “Ready.”

They both lunged forward and for the final time that day, the wizard and hellspawn clashed.