Three Spheres

Chapter 92 - Claustrum

_ I am what you, Witches, hate most, am I not? The epitome of the Evolutionary Spheres, allied with legendary beings that rival your power... A powerful woman, with no precedents.

She walks, making sure that her footsteps are as irritating as possible. Miriam stands firm and silent, facing her opponent without blinking. Godeve takes a deep breath, holds the sword close to her waist and whispers:

_ Let's go.

Quicker than an arrow, she approaches Miriam and lunges deep into the other's abdomen. Her counterattack is immediate, but the Dragon defends Godeve, biting the Witch's arms and dragging her away. With the enemy's wine-like blood on her sword, Godeve conjures something with mysterious words, turning the liquid into a translucent powder. She says:

_ May the remnants of your former magic be the guides of my own power.

She imitates the gestures and magic words that the Witch had used to open the crack in the perfect cube, manipulating the spiritual energy extracted from her own vital fluid to mimic the entire enchantment. Miriam realizes Paragon's intentions and brutally esgorges the Parasitic Dragon empty-handed.

To her dismay, the distraction had been just long enough for a new creature to be able to enter the impenetrable hall: Shaped as colossal iguana, shrouded in shimmering crystal scales, the Glass-Shard Dragon introduces itself.

Godeve touches it just as Miriam smashes her against the wall.

However... The Witch feels a stinging pain in her back, and steps away. Godeve, with blood running from her lips, smiles, at the limit of her patience:

_ My pact with Jelly-bean here is the power that only the damned mirrors have: Return my injuries to my own aggressor. But beware, Miriam, that it is a division based on the principle of equity... Since you are stronger, most of the pain belongs to you.

The Witch feels the other's blade penetrating deeply into her neck. She is confused... The plan should be perfect; this wasn't supposed to be happening. She always obeyed and followed all instructions literally, unlike her sisters whose failures only accumulated. She just can't handle the lack of control.

Holding the blade with her bare hands, Miriam causes it to be enveloped in the slime she incessantly secretes. Godeve jumps away, but her hand is caught by the ensuing explosion. The one who roared, however, was Miriam, seeing her own deformed limb. Godeve's black cloak was almost completely destroyed. "I need this to end soon", she thinks, letting the Dragon heal her wounds with its thick saliva.

The two advance. Godeve realizes that her melee attacks are ineffective, while every Miriam's blows would be instantly fatal if she weren't protected by the spell. "At least she ceased the explosions for now", Godeve thinks, as her Dragon climbs over her back and completely embraces her like an armor made of mirror shards.

The sequence of attacks that follow are punches and kicks that, with each touch, make glass flowers sprout from the Witch's flesh. Miriam feels humiliated. Each of her injuries heals almost instantly, but that battle is irritating; Godeve's skill is irritating; that bastard Paragon's voice is irritating!!

Her shadow expands and envelops almost the entire interior of the hall. The Dragon's armor layers thicken as quickly as possible and Godeve summons a spherical barrier around herself blowing a thick mist into it whose sole purpose is to hold back the...

...Flames.

The explosion takes on surreal proportions, destroying the entire interior of the castle. The violet and red colors of the light that spreads make everything seem like a dream... The terrible pain that Godeve feels, however, assures her that all of that is the most terrible reality. After flying several meters, she falls into the claustrum of the palace, over the water of a lake that floats in the air. The Dragon, extremely wounded, moves away from the woman, and she makes a gesture. Obeying the command, it becomes invisible and departs.