NOVGO.NET Chapter 102: Angry Valkyrie
’An Angel.’
Malik looked up at her.
’A human Angel.’
His golden eyes reflected the figure descending toward him.
’Finally, a real fight.’
Devil’s Footsteps bloomed around his feet.
’Come, let’s see what you can do.’
He had only one minute with that Soul Glyph.
The Rune was ready to launch him across the sky, but he knew that it would not be enough.
If he truly wished to end this fight quickly, he needed more than speed. He needed overwhelming, unstoppable power.
To reinstate, Malik was facing an Angel here.
Someone much like himself, likely with incredible tricks and decades more experience.
Mata likely had been fighting long before Malik had ever heard of Angelhood. She had honed her Runes and mastered her Holy Relics.
His only advantage was that when he activated his Soul Glyphs, unlike Mata, he did not need to worry about conserving Rukh.
The Soul Glyphs did not draw from his reserves.
They simply... worked.
That was his Divine Kingdom.
Malik could go all out with every single attack.
He could spam his way through her spells and tricks without ever growing tired.
So, after only a moment of consideration, he activated Ember’s Touch as well.
The white fire joined the flames at his feet, spreading across his body, settling into his hands, chest, and eyes.
With both Runes active, he could combine them to create attacks that neither Rune could produce alone.
In a moment, Malik stepped forth.
Devil’s Footsteps launched him upward.
The ground cracked for a mile beneath where he had stood, the hoofprints left behind burning bright as Hellfire.
He was upon the descending Mata in the same moment, his white sword already formed in his hand—a blade of condensed flame, sharper than any steel, hotter than any forge.
Malik’s white fire met her lance, the impact sending shockwaves rippling through the air, visible even from the ground.
They were locked together, eye to eye, neither giving ground.
’More.’
Then Malik pushed harder.
His flames surged, prompting Mata’s eyes to widen.
Her steed struggled to regain control as she was shot backwards, higher into the sky.
Malik wasn’t about to let her recover.
He blasted fire from his hands, propelling himself upward, closing the distance before she could stabilize, and struck again.
Yet this time, she was ready.
Managing to balance herself in time, her lance swept up, perfectly blocking his blade.
A thunderous impact rang out once more, and they stood still in the sky, suspended between earth and Heaven.
That was when the world filled with lances.
Many thousands of them, tens of thousands.
They were constructs of pure Rukh, each one pointed at Malik.
A floating forest of light.
Opposite them, flame orbs materialized.
White spheres, the size of a man’s head, each one burning with the same fire that had consumed the base earlier.
They spun in circles around Malik, waiting.
"Fall."
"Pierce."
The two Angels bombarded each other.
Lances shot forward.
Flame orbs shot forward.
It was a sky no longer, becoming a canvas of destruction.
White fire and Rukh collided in endless bursts of light. Each explosion carved new craters into the ground far, far below.
Malik pushed through the chaos.
The flames from his body devoured the lances that came too close. His sword cut through those that slipped past even that.
He advanced step by floating step, yard by yard, driving Mata backward across the sky.
She was surprised; he could see it in her eyes.
Mata had expected a newly made Angel to be cautious, conserve his strength, and fight with the economy of someone who had to make every drop of Rukh count.
Instead, Malik was spending it like nothing.
Every attack was full force, and every movement was at maximum speed.
He did not feint or probe; he only acted to overwhelm.
"Get back!"
Mata raised her lance and sent a wave of Rukh crashing towards him. A wall of holy light that would have flattened an entire mountain range.
Malik raised his sword and cut through it.
The wave parted around him, splitting into two streams that passed harmlessly to either side.
He emerged from the gap and swung at her.
She saw the attack coming, her lance moving to deflect the blow.
But Malik’s speed was near instant, Devil’s Footsteps carrying him across the remaining distance in a blink.
She was barely able to react in time...
Except that the blow was not aimed at her.
Malik’s sword switched direction mid-swing, curving around her guard and slicing through the neck of her steed.
The Rukh construct dissolved instantly, its form unable to withstand the devouring flames.
Mata stumbled as her mount vanished beneath her, her body suddenly unsupported.
Before she could punish him for the killing blow, Malik swung at her as well.
Flames burst beneath his sword, snapping it back up in that same terrifying speed without even a change of stance.
His sword caught her across the chest, but not deep; her armor absorbed most of the impact.
Still, the force sent her flying upwards, spinning through the air, barely able to hold on to her lance.
She caught herself a thousand feet higher, her armor scorched. Her brown hair had come loose from its bindings and now streamed behind her like a banner.
Malik did not follow.
He hung in the air, his golden eyes fixed on her.
They were way higher than the mountains now. The peaks that had once seemed so massive were tiny specks below.
The clouds had thinned to nothing, and the sky had darkened, the blue of the upper atmosphere giving way to something colder.
Even then, from the ground far below, their battle could be seen for thousands of miles.
Malik’s white fire painted the sky like a third Sun.
Mata’s Rukh blazed bright, a star fallen to Devil’s Maw.
Sighing out loud, she spread her arms wide.
From her back, wide, beautiful wings erupted.
Not constructs of Rukh like her steed’s, but something much stronger, a new Rune.
Each feather gleamed with the same light that had filled the sky moments ago.
There was no saying otherwise.
At the moment, she was so breathtaking.
Yet terrifying and very, very angry at the same time.
"Now, we fight properly."