The golden light still shimmered faintly across Wade's vision when a soft crack split the silence.

Sebastian moved.

With a loud snarl, the party leader's muscles flexed against the petrification effect, a red aura appearing around him.

The stone-like rigidity encasing him splintered, falling away in chunks as he forced mana through his veins.

Arytemis kept walking towards them, her glowing eyes narrowing at the sight.

The instant Sebastian broke free, her glass-like hand whipped down, becoming a blur of gold and force.

He dodged just before it hit, and the blow struck the floor where he'd stood.

The impact shattered the ground, sending shards of obsidian flying outwards like shrapnel.

Sebastian vaulted into the air, his body twisting as he spun. His axe ignited, crackling with red lightning that streaked through the hall like veins of living flame.

"Thunder Cleaver!" he roared.

He brought the weapon down with the force of a meteor.

The red lightning erupted in a wave that ripped across the floor, a shockwave tearing through the air.

But Arytemis didn't flinch.

She raised her hand, the light around her condensing into a glowing shield. The red lightning struck… and stopped.

The energy flared violently, throwing sparks, but Arytemis held firm. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she redirected the entire blast upward, dissipating it into harmless motes of light.

Sebastian landed on his feet, skidding backwards across the glassy surface, his expression hardening.

"Of course you can block it," he muttered.

Arytemis moved like light incarnate. One moment she was standing still, and in the next, she was in front of him.

Her palm came down like a hammer, golden energy trailing her arm.

Sebastian blocked with his axe. The sound of the impact roared through the hall. He was sent flying backwards, his boots carving deep grooves in the floor before he regained his footing.

He barely had a second before she was on him again. This time, she had an axe of her own, made of glass and fashioned in the exact image as Sebastian's.

Their weapons collided again and again, every blow deafening. Sparks and shards of glass rained down from above. Each clash sent ripples through the hall, the residual force cracking the once smooth walls.

Sebastian swung wide, his axe singing with power. Arytemis caught the attack on her axe, whose head was almost as big as Sebastian himself.

Then she countered with a backhand that hit him square in the chest.

The force launched him across the room, his body crashing into the far wall.

"Sebastian!" Wade tried to shout, but his jaw wouldn't move. The petrification effect held him in a tight grip of terror, scattering his thoughts just as they were forming.

Arytemis was beginning to stride towards Sebastian, her axe pulled back for another attack, when an arrow whistled through the air.

It struck her directly between the eyes.

The explosion that followed shook the room.

Shards of glass burst outwards in a wave around Arytemis in a brilliant flare of light and fire.

She staggered back, cracks spreading across her flawless face as shards of her own essence rained to the floor.

Ingrid stood several paces away, bow raised, smoke curling from the arrow rest. Her eyes glowed faintly blue as she drew another arrow that seemed to be made of pure mana.

"He's not alone, you fake goddess!" she yelled.

Arytemis turned towards her, the cracks in her face knitting themselves back together, glowing internally with golden light.

Her voice, calm and cold, echoed through the hall. "You dare."

"Yes," Ingrid grinned, "I dare."

Then, she released the arrow in her bow.

It streaked through the air, followed by four more.

Arytemis raised her axe, using it as a shield.

The arrows landed, each one exploded in quick succession.

As the last arrow exploded, the sound of shattered glass filled the air, and Arytemis' axe collapsed to the floor into unusable fragments.

Arytemis reared back, what looked like rage entering her eyes.

She opened her mouth again, golden light flaring in her throat, and Wade knew what was coming.

The sound that had frozen his blood once before was coming again.

Terror seized his heart. If he was hit one more time, there was a possibility that he could die.

The world seemed to slow as instinct screamed through his body.

Move!

Mana surged through his body, breaking through the layers of magical paralysis like a dam bursting. Fire answered him.

Fireburst.

The explosion erupted from his body in a storm of orange and red light. The shockwave tore through the petrification magic, shattering the affliction that held him and Rowan still.

The two men dropped to their knees, gasping as the residual fire burned across the floor.

"Scatter!" Wade shouted.

He dove to the left as Rowan rolled to the right, and a second later, Arytemis screamed.

The sound hit.

The floor where they had stood exploded, splintering into fragments. The walls cracked, and chunks of the ceiling crashed down in showers of glass.

Wade shielded his face with his arm as a heatwave slammed into him.

He looked up through the haze, and saw Ingrid soaring into the air.

Her boots shimmered with faint light, tiny wings fluttering from the heels. The boots couldn't let her fly, but she could leap higher than any human should.

She nocked another arrow in the air, spinning once as she aimed downwards.

Mana gathered at her bowstring, glowing a volatile silver.

Deadshot.

She loosed the arrow.

It streaked towards Arytemis, followed by another, and another.

The first arrow exploded against Arytemis's shoulder, the second hit her chest, and the third struck her cheek.

The combined shockwaves lit up the hall, sending the goddess of glass staggering backwards, the sound of cracking glass filling the air.

Smoke shrouded her in a haze of gold and ash.

Ingrid landed lightly on her feet, drawing again even as her boots' light flickered out.

The entire party held its breath, but a second later, Arytemis' golden eyes pierced the haze.

And she was pissed.

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