Nil broke the stalemate by throwing a few knives at his grandmother. His has improved. In the instant he broke the stalemate, Ein hopped on Lux and the two spirited away as Ekard covered the retreat. What I was trying to figure out was how Nil figured out how to counter the . He did spend a lot of time in the library. The two of them fended off Grisbane for a few seconds before Nil grabbed Ekard and used to disappear. Grisbane pursued Nil and Ekard, who checked the watches. What are they timing?

What are our children doing? Senna asked me, sounding more amused than annoyed.

Avenging their previous defeat at the hands of your mother. What they consider victory is beyond me, maybe proving they could take her if they weren’t caught off guard? I answered, watching Grisbane’s increasing anger.

Why haven’t you stopped them? Senna pressed with a pleased tone.

I feel there was serious effort and preparation put into this plan, and I want to see it unfold. I replied seeing her mother absolutely seethe.

You are just happy Nil is retaliating on his own to avenge his defeat. Senna sighed with a chuckle.

Perhaps. Why aren’t you stopping them? I asked back, curious as to why Senna was okay with this.

Honestly, this is the most Nil has ever misbehaved. I am curious to see how far he is going to go. And it’s not like my mother is innocent here either. Senna answered, with a tone that let me know she clearly told her mother to drop her passive aggressiveness several times.

What makes you think this is Nil’s doing? I pressed, no matter how obvious that fact was.

The level of preparation and thought put into this. Nil just seems to possess the kind of intelligence and deviousness to think of something like this. Senna retorted. I could feel her you know why stare.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you all are in?” Grisbane roared at them.

“A lot.” the two answered in unison, much to her chagrin. My boy! I am so proud.

I am so proud of them. They are so dead after this, but I am so proud of them. Senna told me, relishing in their open defiance of Grisbane.

Nil checked his pocket watch and smiled. I have a distinct feeling Nil played this way dirtier than we realize; he should know this is a losing battle if he plays for time. Grisbane was glaring at the two of them, standing behind their expensive painting shields with massive grins. Nil would occasionally throw another knife at her, just to keep her annoyed. It was a bit of a stalemate, but the kids seemed confident in their victory.

“Put down the paintings, and you can make it better on yourselves.” Grisbane tried coaxing them.

“We do not negotiate with the enemy!” Nil declared. Ekard nodded in agreement.

“It is only a matter of time before your parents get here.” Grisbane warned, sounding utterly incensed.

“It’s only a matter of time before the special ingredient that was in your tea and in that tar take effect. Time is on our side, grandmother.” Nil shot back with a wicked glint in his eyes.

“WHAT?” Grisbane snarled at them as Nil had an amazingly evil smile.

“It is supposed to make you see a bunch of really bright, pretty colors.” Nil told her. He drugged his own grandmother. How? She makes her own tea. Better yet, that is ruthless. Nil looked downright villainous at the moment.

Definitely Nil’s plan. Azkar and Senna told me in almost unison.

We all kind of glanced at each other, somewhat caught off guard by how underhanded Nil was being. We are going to need to address this, we definitely should not encourage this type of behavior. At this point, Grisbane looked ready to absolutely explode with anger. To his credit, it’s the only way to even the playing field he can likely do.

“YOU DRUGGED ME?!” She roared, with her eyes beginning to truly twitch.

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“I handled that tar!” Ekard snapped at Nil, who gave him a what? expression in response.

“With gloves, in a container. I told you to wear them for a reason. You did. You were safe. I couldn’t ask Ein to do it” Nil replied. Ekard gave him a dirty look.

“WHAT DID YOU GIVE ME?!” Grisbane asked, trying to contain her anger.

Nil just shrugged in response with a smirk. Grisbane. Lost. Her. Shiza. She lunged at Nil, who was expecting the attack. Nil ditched the paint shield upon realizing his grandmother lost the ability to care about the collateral damage. She threw the painting to the side, which luckily collided with a wall and bounced to the floor. Nil used to slam Grisbane down. She caught herself and continued trying to capture Nil. Ekard jumped in, knocking Grisbane off balance. Nil quickly grabbed Ekard and used to get out of there immediately. Unfortunately for them, Grisbane used at the last second, substantially shortening the distance they traveled. Ekard was ready, deflecting Grisbane’s lunge. Nil came up with a legitimate way to deal with the . Did Nez teach him how to counter it? His lessons should focus heavily on the basics and laying a solid foundation. Senna and I knew Nil was highly talented when it came to . We suspected Nil was highly intelligent, but this was next level. Hopefully he remains obsessed with , because if this energy turns elsewhere, that will not be good.

“Don’t worry grandmother, I even prepared some special for this occasion.” Nil taunted as he checked the pocket watch, and then motioned Ekard they needed to move.

Grisbane was beyond reason. Nil and Ekard continuously dodged Grisbane, alternating who was deflecting her. Her rage is making her sloppy. He might have lied about the drugs just to anger her. Ekard took care of blocking her physical attacks, while Nil deflected and stopped the based ones. Their coordination and teamwork were superb. Where are Lux and Ein? There was no way Nil wasn’t going to use Lux in this gambit. Ein was definitely able to heal them and keep them going as well. The rest of us slowly followed them, as Nil and Ekard led Grisbane somewhere. Soon, we were outside. As soon as Grisbane stepped out of the corridor into the courtyard, Lux blindsided her with a drop kick to the head. Lux was fully covered in . That’s where Lux went. Before Grisbane could grab Lux, Nil used to pull Lux back as Ekard countered with a hook.

They are incredibly coordinated. They are timing their moves towards something as well. Azkar commented, sounding pleased with the events.

This is impressive planning. I replied. Nil was seven, how did he think of this? A kid shouldn’t be able to plan like this.

Azzeck, are you witnessing this? Senna asked me. Having a hard time believing it but witnessing it with my own eyes.

This coordination and planning. Using priceless items as shields against his grandmother. Figuring out a way to spike her drink. Throw her completely off her game and not rationally approach this. I still cannot figure out his endgame. I replied. It was impressive.

How about the fact Nil has found a way to neutralize the ? Senna snapped. He clearly researched how.

“THIS IS ENOUGH!” Grisbane roared at them.

Nil leaped back, and his began fluctuating immensely. My eyes must have been tricking me, as it almost looked like a was forming around him. His eyes were glowing with , and the air took on that creepy sensation when Nil was about to use some terrifying . Grisbane tried to stop Nil but was hit by a tag team of Lux and Ekard, who were glowing for some reason. Wait, when did Ein learn ? Grisbane looked around and saw Ein using to strengthen the two of them. She was clearly torn on which to go for, but Ekard and Lux were relentless. It was an endless assault, led by Lux, with Ekard supporting. Lux was using everything, conjuring so many it was impressive. She was alternating the size, shape, and manipulating ones she wasn’t physically touching to keep Grisbane in place. Her armaments augmenting her kicks and strikes gave them a clearly large impact when they met with Grisbane. Whenever Grisbane could almost grab her, Ekard would intervene to save her. Grisbane was clearly trying to figure out whether Ein or Nil was the larger threat, but Lux and Ekard were applying a ton of pressure. Unfortunately for her, Nil finished the he was preparing.

“!” Nil roared, and there was a loud slicing sound.

He collapsed, breathing heavily, with a wide grin on his face. Nil was sweating profusely, looking absolutely labored by the . The other three fell to the ground as well, all of them panting. None of them had much left in their . They each slowly stood up, shaking and barely on their feet, and began giving each other high fives. The team was celebrating excessively, looking ecstatic they won. Grisbane was going ballistic, looking like she was screaming, and smacking thin air.

Lords above. Nil put her in an isolated space. I admired. It was amazing.

“Try all you want grandmother; you aren’t breaking free of that. A beautiful construct of dead space, completely separated from everything else. Now team, time for the victory achievement.” Nil declared happily. Wow, the four of them look exhausted.

They pulled out a bunch of fireworks from the rings they had, and slowly set up a display in front of Grisbane, who was going absolutely ballistic. She was roaring furiously, having turned utterly crimson in the face as she yelled at them. Nil drew a bunch of small by them as well as set up some small circles around them. The four of them walked back a hundred feet before sitting down as the fireworks started going off. Nil, Ekard, Lux, and Ein looked excessively pleased with themselves as Grisbane was slamming against the prison Nil made. I wonder if they're aware just how much trouble they're in.