Itadaki no Hecate Second

All the Same Creature

A humungous werewolf-like creature with purple fur strafed in the crimson sky as it avoided a stream of silver fire. Having avoided the metallic blaze, the beast opened its maw and let out a blast of purple fire at its attacker.

The knight, clad fully in silver plate armor, continued to climb the sky at a rapid pace, undeterred by the flames pouring right over its helmet. With an inhuman silence, it reached out with its heavy gauntlet in an attempt to crush the beast's vitals. As the gap closed between the two, the wolf intensified its flames, completely engulfing the visor of the knight with bright purple, before narrowly dodging to the side as the knight continued to sail skyward. As it left its back left open to attack, the beast began to chant.

"Mightier than the lance,

Braver than the sword,

Pen of mine unbreakable will,

Become my word!"

A spell circle appeared before the beast's extended paws, and from it emerged a spiral of concentrated energy glowing bright purple; and like a massive arrow bearing an incarnation of utter ruin, it flew straight towards its target, leaving a long trail of purple light.

The arrow scored a direct hit on the back of the fully armoured torso, yet it did not even flinch, let alone suffer a scratch. Without emanating any feeling of anger, pity, or even relief, it halted in the air and turned around. Raising its hand, it began to gather energy into a single point.

"Here it comes!" the Chanter of Elegies predicted as she gritted her teeth in anticipation from within her bestial hide.

Following the hurling motion of the silver knight, dozens of silver fireballs scattered in her general direction. She avoided them by flying higher, diving lower, weaving sideways—and generally abusing all three of the world's dimensions as best as she could, all while closing in on her target gradually.

As the knight unleashed a second volley, Marchosias offered very simple advice: "Don't let any of them so much as graze you, or it's over."

"I know Marco," Margery said with a focused and serious tone. She grunted as she strained to shift her position against her current momentum, and twisted her armor of hide in an unnatural way. While she had barely avoided one cluster of fireballs, another flaming silver missile was already speeding her way.

Immediately, she bailed out of her armor, sacrificing the unnecessary bulk, and dove straight downwards to avoid the attack. As she twisted upright in her freefall and mounted Marchosias, the silver knight raised its hand again, this time forming a gigantic sphere of metallic fire—enough to flatten all of the three surrounding blocks below her.

"Tch!" Margery clicked her tongue as her mind quickly began scrolling through her list of counter-spells.

"Expand, expand,

Like the never youthful sun,

Every king's reign be done!"

Completing her verse, she flicked her middle and index finger forward and shot a string of arcane symbols into the colossal orb. In the moment that the knight decided to hurl the silver bomb, its once-stable form suddenly began to ripple, and at the precise second it left its hand, it exploded prematurely, blasting the silver knight with its own energy.

"If its own power won't put a dent in that stupid Silver, I don't know what will," Margery said, signs of exhaustion all over her face.

Almost as if on cue, the knight emerged from the dissipating silver nova unscathed and charged right at the Chanter of Elegies yet again, this time throwing its arms forward and unleashing yet another deluge of silver fire upon its enemy.