Wowie, this was one heck of a skill. Chloe was pretty sure she had never moved this fast in her entire life, and she was pretty fast for a zombie.
She appeared in front of Administrator A in an instant, driving one fist into his stomach before twisting and slamming another into his ribs. Before he could even recover, Chloe vanished from his sight and reappeared at his side, hammering him across the jaw, then darting behind him to drive her knee into his back.
Administrator A desperately tried to block Chloe's attacks, but Chloe was already somewhere else, ducking beneath his swing before rocketing upward and smashing her fist into his chin. The impact snapped his head back, but Chloe didn't stop, because now it was time for the finishing blow. Mainly because she hoped that this last move would really put down Administrator A for good, but also because she could feel that her Power Surge was going to fade away soon.
She twisted through the air, drew one leg back, and kicked him in the chest with every ounce of strength Power Surge had given her. A thunderclap exploded through the chamber as the sheer force of the kick sent a shockwave racing outward, blasting dust and debris from the floor while Administrator A was launched backward and smashed through a wall, one that now had an Administrator sized hole in it.
For all the fun Chloe had been having, it couldn't last forever. The electric buzz surging through her body suddenly began to fade. The lightning crawling across her skin flickered weaker before finally sputtering out, leaving behind nothing but a faint tingling in her limbs. The incredible strength and speed that had made her feel practically unstoppable vanished with it, and Chloe immediately felt the difference. Her legs wobbled. Whoa… whoa, I feel uh… not so good.
She swayed from side to side, blinking rapidly as the entire room seemed to tilt around her. Her head felt strangely light, and a wave of dizziness washed over her. Whatever Power Surge had done, it had clearly taken a lot out of her.
Chloe glanced toward the spot where she'd sent Administrator A flying. Hopefully, that last attack had been enough. She really, really hoped it had been enough. She waited for the familiar System notification to appear, but got nothing. Chloe blinked and waited a little longer… and there was still no system notification in sight.
That was weird, Chloe hadn't gotten any notifications after her last attack. Okay, sure, the robots didn't have souls, so defeating them didn't give her anything, so that made sense. But Administrator A wasn't a robot. At least, Chloe was pretty sure he wasn't. He had a soul, didn't he? And if she had actually killed an Administrator, then surely she'd get something for that. Uh oh.
Before she could think about it any further, something suddenly slammed into her from the side. "Get down!"
"Liz?!"
Chloe barely had time to recognize the voice before Liz tackled her out of the air. The two of them crashed to the ground together, Chloe landing hard as Liz practically threw herself over her. And to make things worse, Chloe's head spun even more violently from the sudden impact, leaving her blinking dazedly at the floor while she tried to figure out what was happening.
BOOOOOOM!
A super big explosion erupted behind them. The blast was so violent that the entire chamber seemed to jump. A deafening roar swallowed Chloe's words as a shockwave tore across the room, rattling the floor beneath her and sending chunks of stone and clouds of dust flying out through the air.
Chloe's eyes widened as she wondered what the heck was going on? She couldn't see anything through the haze, but she could feel the heat of the explosion against her back. Debris clattered across the floor around them while the room groaned ominously, and somewhere beyond the cloud of dust, something enormous crashed into the ground.
"What just happened ?" Chloe asked out loud, still pinned beneath Liz.
Liz finally shifted off Chloe and grabbed her by the arm, helping her back onto her feet. Chloe swayed almost immediately, her legs feeling considerably less reliable than they had a few moments ago. "Whoa… that is uh, pretty different."
Liz steadied her before she could tip over. "You okay?"
Chloe blinked a few times, trying to make the room stop spinning. "Kinda dizzy. But I'm okay! Kinda, probably."
Liz stared at her, clearly unconvinced, before glancing past Chloe toward the other side of the room. The dust was still slowly settling, but whatever had caused the explosion had clearly not ended the fight. "Well, good to see you're fine Chloe, but you're sitting this next one out."
"Huh? But I'm like, totally fine and ready to kick his butt."
"Administrator A is still alive and kicking, and you're in no condition to fight for a while."
Chloe's shoulders drooped. "Aww, man..."
She wanted to help! She'd just spent the last few minutes beating the absolute daylights out of the guy. Surely she could do it again, right? Well, unfortunately, her head chose that moment to wobble again, forcing Chloe to reconsider that line of reasoning.
Liz sighed and guided her toward the wall. "Just sit down for a minute."
"But—"
"No buts, you're on time out for now."
Chloe puffed out her cheeks but eventually gave up trying to argue and let Liz lead her away from the battlefield. Her legs felt strangely floaty beneath her, and the floor seemed to tilt every few steps. Before she knew it, her back was pressed against the wall and she was slowly lowered into a sitting position. Or at least, Chloe was pretty sure that's what happened. She blinked a few times and looked at herself just to confirm that she was actually sitting.
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"Okay," she mumbled, resting her head against the wall. "I'll just... sit here for a bit."
Chloe felt increasingly woozy as she slumped against the wall, the lingering dizziness making everything around her seem pleasantly fuzzy. Her head felt heavy, and honestly, closing her eyes for a little while sounded like a pretty great idea. Maybe she could just take a tiny nap while Liz dealt with the scary administrator. Surely that wouldn't be a problem.
Just before her eyes closed completely, however, Chloe caught a blurry glimpse of Liz moving nearby. She couldn't quite make out what the girl was doing through her increasingly unfocused vision, but she saw Liz reach into her belongings and pull something out. Chloe blinked sleepily.
Then she heard Liz say something. "Percy, cut the power."
***
Liz slipped her phone back into her pocket and waited. One by one, the lights overhead flickered before dying entirely, plunging the entire area into darkness. The sudden absence of light was almost startling but the darkness worked well for her. A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Liz's mouth.
Darkness was where she was most comfortable. As a fallen angel, Liz had become quite proficient with shadow magic. More importantly, darkness gave her magic a considerable boost. The deeper the shadows around her, the more readily she could feel them responding to her will.
And of course, Liz had no problems seeing in the dark, quite the opposite actually. Liz glanced toward Chloe one last time. The girl was slumped against the wall, looking thoroughly exhausted after burning through whatever ridiculous burst of power she'd used earlier.
Liz sighed again, because wow, Chloe really was something else. She'd known the girl for what felt like five minutes, and somehow she'd already managed to become a walking magnet for trouble. Basically, wherever Chloe went, chaos apparently followed close behind.
Still… She'd already gotten involved this far, so Liz figured she might as well see it through. With another sigh, Liz turned her attention back toward the darkness ahead. Guess I'm in for the whole thing now.
Liz moved cautiously through the darkness, her footsteps barely audible against the floor as she swept her gaze across the area, searching for any sign of movement. She slowly turned her head, though Administrator A shouldn't have been particularly difficult to spot; only minutes ago, the man had been practically glowing and even if his aura had weakened since then, surely something that shiny would still be rather difficult to miss. Liz took another careful step, but still found nothing.
Then every instinct in her body suddenly screamed. Her eyes widened as she threw herself sideways, and a brilliant sphere of white-gold energy tore through the darkness a fraction of a second later, blazing past the spot where she had been standing.
BOOM!
The radiant fireball detonated exactly where she'd been standing, flooding the chamber with blinding divine light. Heat washed over Liz as the explosion ripped across the floor, scattering fragments of stone and sending a rolling wave of pressure through the shadows.
Liz landed in a crouch and immediately spun around. She then saw Administrator A near the ceiling, his wings spread wide as he watched her from above. He wasn't nearly as radiant as before as the bluish glow surrounding his body had dimmed considerably, and his once-imposing appearance had been reduced by blood running down his face and staining parts of his clothing.
But he was still flying. And, more importantly, he was still alive. Liz clicked her tongue. "Of course."
Administrator A was about to do something, Liz didn't give him the chance to attack again. She thrust her own hand toward the ceiling. "Shadow Grasp."
The darkness above her suddenly twisted. A massive black hand erupted from the ceiling, formed entirely from condensed shadow. Its fingers spread wide as it descended toward Administrator A, attempting to seize him in its palm.
Liz thought she'd actually caught him for maybe a second, then Administrator A shot sideways with astonishing speed, slipping between the shadowy fingers before they could close around him. The enormous hand snapped shut on empty air, its fingers scraping uselessly against the ceiling as Administrator A flew away.
Liz's eyes narrowed as she tracked him through the darkness. Administrator A swept across the upper reaches of the chamber in a blur of light before abruptly dropping toward the ground, his wings flaring at the last possible moment to bleed off his momentum. Liz straightened, watching him carefully as she prepared to make an attack.
She flexed her fingers, and the darkness around her immediately stirred. Shadows pooled at her feet before surging outward, twisting and stretching as they took shape. One massive wolf emerged from the darkness, then another, then another, each creature easily as large as Liz herself. Their bodies were formed from dense shadows, their elongated jaws lined with jagged black fangs and their empty eyes glowing within their featureless faces.
With a gesture, Liz sent them charging at the annoying administrator. The wolves lunged across the chamber in a blur of darkness, their enormous paws pounding against the floor as they closed in on Administrator A from several directions at once. Yet he didn't move. He just stood there without any reaction, and that was... bad, at least from Liz's experience. The wolves were almost upon him when Administrator A's body suddenly began to glow. Liz's eyes widened.
It started as a faint radiance, but within seconds it became something far brighter. Light poured from his body, growing more intense by the moment until his entire silhouette was swallowed in a light. "Oh, no."
Liz immediately turned and sprinted toward Chloe. The girl was still unconscious, slumped against the wall exactly where Liz had left her. Liz grabbed her beneath the arms and hauled her upright, dragging her away from Administrator A as quickly as she could. She didn't bother looking back, since she already knew what was coming.
Liz threw out one hand, and several dense spheres of shadow erupted around them. One after another, they formed a layered barrier until Liz and Chloe were completely enclosed. Then, even through the layers of darkness surrounding them, Liz saw it. A searing bright light that somehow seemed to seep through anything and everything.
***
Z had remained concealed throughout the entire confrontation, maintaining several layers of invisibility and protective wards around herself while she prepared the spell. It had been a calculated risk. Chloe and Liz would have to hold Administrator A's attention long enough for her preparations to reach completion, and neither girl had been given the luxury of knowing precisely how long that would take. Fortunately, they had exceeded Z's expectations.
Liz had proven capable of keeping the Administrator occupied even after his power had increased, while Chloe's sudden burst of speed and strength had inflicted considerably more damage than Z had anticipated. Watching Chloe tear through the Administrator with that ridiculous grin on her face had been... concerning, to put it mildly. Now it was time for Z to put in her share of the work.
She had delayed long enough, it was time for Z to unleash her ultimate spell. Perdition Rite Number One: Judgment Blade