Countless golden swords bore down to impale Lusya. They sang for her blood, and there was nothing she could do to stop them. She wouldn’t be able to stand in time. There was no blocking or dodging in time. Even if she managed by some miracle, she was in no shape to keep doing so. She would try, but, realistically, she was just waiting for those swords to find their mark. They never reached her. A white cloak fluttered in front of her, and every sword was frozen in a single solid block of ice. Lusya stopped halfway through standing, on one knee. The ice shattered a moment later, allowing the swords to clatter to the ground together in a discordant symphony and dissolve in a blizzard of light.

Falin snarled. “Didn’t I tell you to stay out of this, Seventh?”

“I don’t remember agreeing,” Azure replied. “And I don’t take orders from you.”

“Do you think there won’t be any consequences for this?” he demanded as new swords appeared upon the anvils that formed the walls of his Full Release. “Do you think I’ll hesitate to cut you down for defending a demon?”

Azure shrugged. “You couldn’t do that if I let you. I’ll deal with anything else when I get to it. Now, you wait your turn for a little while.”

She hit the butt of her icy spear on the ground, and a dome of ice formed around her and Lusya just as Falin let the new swords fly. Lusya could hear the golden blades batter the dome, a lethal rain against a steadfast wall. The ice gave no signs of breaking.

Azure turned and looked at Lusya with a soft smile. Lusya averted her gaze, though she was not sure why. She simply found she could not meet Azure’s eyes.

It was obvious Lusya could not win this battle. She had already lost. Now she was tired and injured. A short respite in this dome wasn’t going to turn the tide. Unless Azure intended to take full charge of the battle, this was pointless. It was only a matter of when Lusya fell, not if.

Azure took a couple steps closer and knelt beside Lusya. She put a hand on Lusya’s shoulder. Lusya stiffened as Azure leaned in to speak in a low, quiet tone, almost whispering.

“It’s okay,” Azure said. “He’s strong. But, you know, your parents were really amazing people. I know you can be at least as great as them. So, go show him, Lusya.”

Azure stood up, and Lusya looked up at her smiling face. Coming here out of practical concerns had been a lie. Fighting to spare Azure had been a lie. The latest in a long list. Lusya had done those things for the same reason she was standing up now. Why was still a mystery, but she did not want to let down Azure. She wanted to fight, win, and show Azure how strong she could be.

The ice wall started to crack. Azure’s First Release standing so firm against Falin’s Full spoke volumes of her power and the gap between them, but it still couldn’t hold forever. Before it gave out, Lusya needed to speak the words. She didn’t know where they had come from or how, but they bubbled from within as unassailable truths.

“I feel neither joy nor sorrow. I know neither hope nor despair. No matter how many times I speak such hollow lies, my empty heart wanders on. Lunera Asvixi.”

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The ice shattered under the weight of the blades battering it. Those that had struck it dropped to the ground. Their replacements were close behind, but they stopped an instant later as Lunera vanished from Lusya’s hand.

“What?” Falin exclaimed, taking a step back in surprise. “What’s happening?”

The dome of anvils cracked. Not individually, but the whole thing, as if it were a painting on the glass of reality. The countless swords hanging in the air shattered and dissolved. Then the entire dome broke apart, illogical chunks falling, but they too dissolved into motes of light before they could hit the ground.

For a brief moment, clear blue skies were visible again. Then dark violet crept up from the ground until it had enveloped them in a new dome. Innumerable pinpricks of light winked into existence from that backdrop until the starry sky was complete. Only a small patch overhead was left barren until the moon filled in, beginning as a crescent and progressing to full in a matter of seconds. Then it waned until it disappeared and repeated the process.

Falin’s head whipped to and fro, mouth agape as he gawked at his new surroundings. He seemed to try and fail to find the right words to say several times before he regained his senses and glared at her and Azure, hatred burning in his gaze. Azure, still looking at Lusya, smiled and walked around her, heading back toward Ariya without a word.

“Impossible,” Falin growled. “I could accept if it was the hag’s, but a new Full Release can’t overpower mine!”

When two Full Releases were unleashed in the same place, one tended to overpower and destroy the other, or, under certain circumstances, they both collapsed. It was possible to prevent this and force them to coexist, but that took significant conscious effort on the part of the overpowered party, and required the gap in strength not be too large.

“I see no point in denying the reality before you,” Lusya said.

She had known this would happen. She did not know how, but she had known her Full Release would win. As soon as the words had come to her, that fact had been just as clear.

Falin gritted his teeth. “Stasio!”

He charged as his golden sword appeared in hand. All six copies materialized in a circle around Lusya as he prepared to strike.

Lusya curved space around her. There was no need for a sword strike or any other gesture. All she needed to do was will it. As far as Falin was concerned, he traveled in a straight line. Yet he ended up facing away from her, swinging through empty air. His sword copies likewise traveled through a curve and ended up striking away from her.

Falin turned to face her, stunned, with eyes wide as the sun. With a thought, Lusya severed space midway down his arms. They abruptly flopped to the ground from the elbows down, taking his sword with them. He screamed as his stumps sprayed blood.

Lusya could not say she was not tempted to toy with him some more out of spite, but she knew any short-term satisfaction she got out of that would be outweighed. She did not enjoy cruelty. In fact, she rather disliked it. Killing her enemies wasn’t a problem, but making them suffer more than necessary felt, not just impractical, but…wrong. Though she couldn’t explain why, she was comfortable with that.

So, as he opened his mouth to scream or curse at her, she severed space through his neck. His angry, agonized expression had an instant to shift toward dismay before his head slid off his body and they fell to the ground in a staggered pair of thumps. His sword and its copies dissipated. The Thirteenth Paladin was dead, and the battle was over.

Lusya dismissed Miudofay and her Full Release, returning the world to daylight, and allowed herself a rare sigh. Her legs felt weak beneath her, and they gave out a second later. She almost fell to her knees, but someone caught her.

“Easy there,” Azure said. Lusya looked at her. Her smile was bittersweet but filled with pride as she helped Lusya stand again. “You were amazing out there. Great job.”

Lusya shook her head. “I am not so certain of that. Killing a Paladin will have ramifications. Even if you do not report what happened here in full, it will indirectly draw more attention to me.”

“You let me worry about that,” Azure said. “I’ll handle it somehow. Right now, you just enjoy your win, and be proud of beating a Paladin.”

Lusya’s eyes widened a bit and she nodded. “I suppose I will.”