As Ike said the word, both he and Wisp launched out of the hole. Lord Nors’ eyes narrowed. He gestured, and the sword flew forth, soaring toward Ike’s throat.

Lightning flickered. Ike snapped his hands out and caught the blade in midair, clapping the flat of the blade between his palms. Electricity crackled down the length of the sword. Up close, he could see it was a single-bladed sword, sharp only on one side. He grabbed the sword from the top, gripping the dull end, and threw it back at Lord Nors, point first.

Lord Nors waved his hand, knocking the blade aside. It clattered to the ground without harming him. A second later, shock crossed his face as he realized what he’d done. He looked up to see a small woman closing in on him.

“Hah, idiot,” Wisp said, and punched him in the face.

Lord Nors staggered. Even as he fell, he threw his hand out. His blade jumped up and leaped toward Wisp.

Ike’s eyes narrowed. I don’t think so. He dashed in, lightning chasing his heels, and batted the sword aside again.

Wisp punched Lord Nors’ face again. The man shoved her away and jumped back. Wisp chased after him, only to smash face-first into a wall. She drew her head back and shook it, rubbing her nose. “Ow.”

“Duck!” Ike called.

Wisp dropped.

Ike unleashed the horizontal strike of the River-Splitting Sword, then two vertical slashes. He kicked the wall down.

Wisp launched through. Another wall loomed. She lowered her shoulder and smashed through. Ike slashed apart the next wall, and Wisp crashed through the one after that. Ike lifted his sword again, only to find a spire hurtling toward him pointy-end first.

He jumped to the side. “Watch out!”

Wisp kicked off it and hopped forward. She ran ahead of Ike. Behind the spire, a wall laden with spikes hurtled toward them. She smashed it with a punch and ran on.

As she ran, a chunk of castle slammed down toward her head. Ike grunted and kicked it away. His foot stung, but the chunk fell to the side harmlessly. He activated the Body Reforging Art and ran on.

His feet landed on nothing. Ike began to drop, then bounced back up on something stringy and flexible. Wisp laughed. She ran ahead on her string. “Trying to catch a spider with a pitfall trap? What a fool.”

From a crack in the next wall, a blaze of silver shot forth, seeking to skewer both of them. Wisp hopped up and gripped onto the ceiling with her finger and toe tips. The blade closed in on Ike.

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He snatched it out of the air. Using the full force of his Lightning Clad, he snapped the blade over his knee and let the pieces fall into the darkness. “No more sword for you.”

A muffled shout of rage sounded from the other side of the walls. Wisp smashed through the next wall and grabbed ahold of Lord Nors’ collar. She drew back her fist.

Ike charged in, drawing back his fist. As Wisp unleashed hers, he did as well. Both of them slammed Lord Nors in the face.

Lord Nors’ head snapped back. He stumbled. The wall gently met him and pushed him back upright. Underneath Wisp and Ike’s feet, the stones sunk. Ike jerked to a halt, yanking his feet up before he barked his shins on the stone.

White thread shot forth from beside him. Wisp threw herself into the air. She fired a blast of thread at Lord Nors and yanked him toward them.

Ike whirled. He swung his sword with all his might. The blade cut into Lord Nors’ throat. It severed through the hollow porcelain and slashed out the other side. Lord Nors’ head went flying. His body hit the ground.

Ike panted. He stared, waiting. Rosamund got back up.

Wisp nudged him. “Don’t you have to put that needle in him?”

“Oh! Right.” Ike ran over. He paused. Where the hell do I put this?

The body started to stand once again. Killing his hesitation, Ike slammed the needle into the puppet, center-of-mass.

Energy streamed out of the puppet, so thick that it blasted Ike back bodily. The needle shook. The puppet grabbed the needle and pulled it out of itself. It threw it to the side and stood again.

“Shit!” Wisp dove for the needle.

Walls slammed up, isolating Wisp and Ike from the puppet. Ike ran at Wisp, only for another wall to rush at him. Spikes jutted from its surface. He leaped back, forced into retreating. The wall gave chase. Behind it, the heavy THUMP THUMP THUMP of walls falling echoed out.

“Wisp!” Ike shouted.

“I’ve got the needle. Just smash until you find him!” Wisp shouted back.

Ike laughed. “That’s right. He can’t throw the whole castle at us if there’s no castle left.” He lifted his fist and unleashed a shockwave at the approaching wall. The stone shattered, but another wall rushed up behind it. He gritted his teeth and jumped back, launching another shockwave at the wall. Again, it crumbled, only to reveal yet another wall beyond.

“Fuck!” Ike snarled, frustrated. He launched punch after punch, but the walls continued endlessly. The ruined chunks of wall lifted up into the air and surged at him. He blasted them away again, but the smaller pieces slipped through the shockwaves. Little bits of stone pelted Ike. They sliced him and punched him hard enough to leave bruises. He threw his hands up, not seriously injured, but annoyed.

Ike turned and ran. The walls chased after him. From the other side, another wall closed in. He whipped around and punched the wall to the left—the wall that wasn’t closing in on him. He burst through into a large, dusty storeroom. Armor sat on the ground, disused and rusty. A rack full of weapons stood beside it. He quickly extended his awareness, but sensed no aura from any of it. He sighed. Non-magical armor and weapons might as well be made of paper.

Out in the hallway, the walls continued to thud past. Ike raised his brows. Looks like he’s lost me, if only for a moment.

Perfect. He hunkered down, holding his hands out. He activated Tempest. This time, he put his all into it, activating it with all his strength.

The Tempest where I held back didn’t destroy the castle. I might be within its walls, now, but it’ll do me no good if the walls contain the skill. I need to blast Tempest with all my power. Destroy this whole castle, once and for all!