Succubi Chapter 123. Stubborn Arcana
Lightning magic sparked around his fingertips, but his hands were trembling now. His body moved slower. The scorch marks on his side weren't small.
He launched a spell. The Hexblade dodged. Then closed in again.
Blade down.
-Clang!
Blood splattered.
I flinched.
Adrian staggered backward. Clutching his side. Breathing shallow.
"Damn it," I whispered.
The necromancer was quiet for a moment. Then said, "He's not just aiming for the rune."
My chest tightened.
I'd been thinking the same thing.
"I can see that," I muttered, watching the screen. "That guy's not fighting for points. He wants to break Adrian."
"Looks like someone," the necromancer said with a crooked grin.
I cringed.
Yeah. Yeah, I got it.
"I… forgot," I muttered.
He chuckled. "You forgot it wasn't a deathmatch."
"I said sorry already."
"You didn't."
"I felt sorry."
The undead gave him a grape from a summoned fruit plate. I almost punched him.
But then I looked back up at Adrian.
He was still standing.
Still casting.
Still breathing.
Barely.
But I knew that look. That stubborn, reckless, screw-you-I'm-still-here kind of look.
I'd worn it before.
He wasn't gonna surrender.
He'd go down swinging if he had to.
And the Hexblade?
He wasn't gonna go easy on him.
Not now.
Not after seeing the fight Adrian was putting up.
"I don't like this," I muttered, standing slowly, fists clenched.
The necromancer glanced at me. "You gonna jump in?"
"I'll wait," I said. "I believe in him. But if that guy goes too far…"
I didn't finish the sentence.
Didn't need to.
My mana hummed low under my skin. Restless.
Every muscle in my body was wired tight, like a trap waiting to spring. My fingers flexed unconsciously, aching to summon something, anything, even if I wasn't sure what I'd do with it. The sensation of a fight already won faded fast when someone you cared about was still bleeding, still on the edge.
I kept my eyes on the screens.
Kyra moved like a storm bottled into a human body. Sharp lines of frost curled around her fingertips, her breath misting with concentrated lunar magic. The Spirit Channeler lunged, trying to pierce her barrier with a chain of mana tethers.
Kyra spun.
A halo of radiant ice erupted from her feet, a circular detonation of crystal magic. The tethers froze in mid-air, shattered instantly.
Her hand raised with grace, no wasted motion.
The final incantation whispered between her lips like a curse of judgment.
Then…
-BOOM!
A geyser of silver magic engulfed the Spirit Channeler and sent him flying backward. His rune, centered on his chest, cracked, then exploded into shards of glowing blue.
Cheers erupted across the arena.
I blinked.
"Holy crap," I muttered.
The necromancer whistled. "That girl's terrifying."
"She's ours," I said with a grin.
But the victory didn't last long.
Top left flickered.
Felix.
His platform was already a wreck. Smoke clung to the ground like mist from a horror movie. The banshee hovered above the rubble, her claws sparking with mana, her shriek fading in the aftermath of one final attack.
Felix stood there.
No more shields. No more snark.
His mask was cracked.
And his rune… centered dead-on over his crotch… was glowing with dangerous instability.
Then…
Shatter
A small, pitiful ping echoed out as the rune burst into light and dust.
I winced.
The necromancer let out a sympathetic noise. "He fought well."
"He died like he lived," I sighed. "Dumb, dramatic, and mildly inappropriate."
The banshee flipped her hair over one shoulder and did a small bow to the crowd.
Felix collapsed on his knees, wheezing.
But then my eyes shot to the last screen.
Adrian.
Still standing.
Barely.
His arm was bleeding heavily now. His mana aura flickered like a candle in the wind. His clothes were torn. The rune on his collar was glowing faintly, no cracks yet, but one hit away. The Hexblade loomed in front of him, unmoving.
Then he moved.
Slow.
Controlled.
And terrifying.
His blade lifted, rising high above his head. He took a step forward.
Not aiming for the rune.
No.
The angle…
My eyes widened.
So did the necromancer's.
"Oh no…" he muttered. "He seriously couldn't hold himself back, huh?"
I didn't think.
My heart pounded like a war drum in my ears.
I felt it rise in me. That snap. The burn. The pressure in my ribs like something inside me roared at the sight of Adrian's body, tired and open and about to be cut down.
I took a step forward, ready to summon the orbs, maybe my blades, anything.
But then…
[System Notification: Surge of Wrath and Pride detected in host]
[Emergency Defense Skill Unlocked: Infernal Barrier]
[Infernal Barrier – A reactive burst-defense spell formed through raw emotion and high demon-mana flux. Forms a layered wall of shadowlight capable of halting most physical and magical strikes. Duration: 3 seconds. Strength: Scales with Wrath and Pride affinity.]
The skill shimmered across my vision like a warning. Like instinct coded into mana.
My hand moved on their own.
I raised my arm.
The necromancer noticed. "What are you doing?"
I gritted my teeth.
The platform under me lit up in black-red spirals.
[Skill Activated Infernal Barrier]
My entire body thrummed with force.
Then…
A flash of light.
A blink of movement.
And Callahan was there.
Right in front of Adrian.
He had teleported mid-blink. Fast. Clean. Efficient.
His hand was raised, palm open.
The Hexblade's sword, mid-swing, slammed into invisible resistance. The entire arena seemed to vibrate from the impact.
My eyes flared. Because I saw it. Both things.
Callahan's hand was glowing.
But so was mine.
And a shimmer of energy danced between us.
My barrier.
Callahan's mana.
I didn't know which one actually stopped the blade.
Maybe both.
Didn't matter.
The blade stopped inches from Adrian's chest.
Adrian gasped, half-fallen, blinking like he didn't understand why he wasn't dead.
Callahan didn't blink.
His voice was sharp, low, dangerous. The kind of voice that didn't yell but still cut.
"This is not a deathmatch."
The Hexblade didn't lower his blade.
He stared straight at Callahan, cold and sharp.
"No. But he loses," he said, "the moment you stepped down."
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