That's So Wizard

Chapter 87 - Hell on Earth

Lucy knew that Anzu wasn't incorrect about her predicament. It had been ages since the need for her to handle a battle firsthand. She felt sluggish—rusty, down to her senses and joints—but she was worst of all bogged down with intense, confusing emotions. It didn't matter to her in that moment, or perhaps her mind was too scattered to worry, because she knew she had to stop her own sister there and then unless more people were to be hurt.

A fire burned in her eyes. More literally, up her hand. The fingers on her right began to glow like hot iron, with the heat warping the air around her skin. Like a wild animal, she lunged a quick step forwards before slamming down her hand, and from it came huge blade-like waves of fire that burned trails in the dirt behind them. Hellfire Claw!

Four in total came careening towards Anzu. Immediately, she brought up her hands like a cross before her chest, and she stood her ground like a statue in the sand. Her eyes flashed, and ice materialized rapidly in front of her to form a towering shield of frosted crystal. Two of the fiery blasts collided with and shook the barrier. Though it didn't break, it cracked, and steam shot off to cloud the area around them.

She was quick to retaliate. Anzu slammed her right palm down to the ground as the shield before her crumbled into chunks of ice. From her hand, a web of white lines trailed out to cover the entire area around them almost immediately. Frozen Maiden!

As she tensed her arms, the true power of the attack unleashed itself. Thin but tall spikes of solid ice began shooting up from the ground, like spikes of iron meant to impale her victim. They started slow, but the frequency and speed of the icicles increased. All Lucy could do was dodge, and was nearly skewered several times. Before she could be, her fire burned hot and bright, and with an aura of raging flames, she charged straight through two of the towering spikes and towards her opponent, leaving only shattered, sparkling crystals drifting down in her wake. Her hands were shaking, but she came to a halt to unleash an inferno of fire from the flat of her palm, like a sideways tornado of the hottest flames.

Anzu shielded her body from the painful burning, and managed to glide on ice she generated from her feet off to the right in order to dodge the bulk of the attack. But she was singed, and Lucy was wounded as well. Both were tired, yet the battle of ice and fire continued.

"Please. None of this is right," Lucy managed to utter through deep, struggling gasps for air.

"You're right. None of this is right. That's why it needs to be changed. And I know that you know that too. So don't spit in my face while you go and do the exact same thing!"

From Anzu's hands, a spark of ice became a javelin-like shard of ice. It shot like a bullet towards her sister, but it was aimed rather high. She managed to duck beneath it by bringing herself low to the ground. However, that was the plan all along. Lucy glanced down to see her own feet frozen to the dirt. When her eyes turned back up, they widened in surprise as Anzu was skating towards her across frozen sand at an alarming speed.

"It isn't like that!" Lucy shouted.

"It's exactly like that!" Anzu dashed through the flames that burned like an aura around her foe, and dug her knee directly into her solar plexus. As the ice shattered, she brought Lucy down to slam into the ground, and she pinned her down with a hand to her neck.

Lucy didn't immediately try to fight back, but Anzu didn't immediately lop off her head. They both paused for an unexpected moment.

"I've been thinking about this meeting for a long time, Lucy." The violet maiden stared daggers down at the woman pinned beneath her. There was a sudden, growing frustration in her face. "I visualized it many times. So why then, Lucy? Tell me this. Why, unlike all those times in my head, are you crying?"