Chapter 59

“Waaah—!” The Ancient Ark took the brunt, its guard making the Little White Dragon’s blocks feel lighter. Even so, Lilith still caught a nick. Her blade was a slender longsword, not a door-sized greatsword. She itched to swipe the Devourer’s massive blade and use it on the sly, but it wouldn’t come free—her least favorite kind of episode.

Kris’s magic laser dragged on like a storm that wouldn’t move. At first, the Little White Dragon couldn’t parry with ease. She noticed the black beam splatter off her blade, then re-thread itself, hunting her silhouette like lock-on. It chased Lilith as if guided by a hawk’s eye. Luckily, once it washed over her, the spell’s force bled away; she could take it head-on.

Even “light” impact eats at stamina like waves gnawing a cliff. After a stretch, the Little White Dragon had burned through more than half her strength. She steeled herself to grit out the rest. The enemy’s magic sputtered out first.

“Freeze Ray!” She wasn’t just turtling. While taking hits, she had been pooling Star Energy in her palm. The moment Kris stopped, she’d fire back and let the librarian taste a faceful of laser—even if Lilith had started it.

“Still got stamina?” Kris hadn’t expected a counterstrike. The librarian couldn’t find a blade to parry with. She tried to conjure a shield, but Lilith’s spell was faster than her will.

“Wagh!” The shot smacked the same gut she’d just protected, and Kris let out a very unladylike yelp. Lilith’s blast landed square on the librarian’s stomach, locking her in a heavy stagger.

Kris reeled, feet skidding like leaves in wind. She wrestled her floating grimoire, raised a small magic circle, and drew out a ghost-blue shield. It met the Freeze Ray aimed at her midriff, turning the beam aside with a cold flare.

“We’re not done.” Lilith held the running spell with her left hand. The Ancient Ark vanished from her right. In its place, her Astrolabe bloomed. The white marble staff spun up a tiny sigil-circle. This time the aquamarine gleam didn’t mark the shielded belly, but the head exposed above it.

“Meteor Cannon!” the Little White Dragon cried. A white lance of energy slammed into Kris’s face. The Wraith librarian ate it head-on. Her grip slipped; the shield fell away. Twin beams, above and below, hammered her at once, frosting her body in a shell of white crystals.

“Damn.” Lilith’s barrage ran shorter than Kris’s. Two guns at once burn fuel fast, and her stamina was scraping bone. She needed a breath, and for now could only fling quick, simple spells.

She hadn’t finished Kris, but she’d cut deep. Frost locked half the Wraith’s body like iron bands. She could barely move, and drawing on the magic within was like pulling a net through ice—misery for a spellfighter.

“You’ve got some bite.” Kris stood, breath a cloud of cold. The Little White Dragon watched, wary as a cat by water, and stole a heartbeat to recover.

“Seems I can’t treat this like a hunting game.” Kris slipped out a hair tie, sweeping her hair into a high ponytail. Solemn now, she bit her thumb. Ghost-blue mist coiled up her frame. Armor of Moonswallow Mist plated half her body, and ghost-blue, cold flame climbed and burned.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself.” The grimoire vanished. In its place, a spear of jet and ghost-blue formed in the gauntlet of her armored hand. Eyes closed, she drew a long breath. “Before you stands not the Undead royal librarian Kris, but the strongest mage under Eternal Life, second only to Lord Eternal Life in war. Dying by my hand will be the honor of your life. Come, Lilith, dragon who came to the Grand Mausoleum. This tomb will be your final home, and I will be the one to end you.”

“Remember it. Remember my name.” Kris opened her eyes. Ghost-blue fire of the Moonswallow Mist flickered in her gaze. She grinned, wild. “Kris Cheltina. I will be the one to deliver your death!”

Defiance surged before thought, like a drum in the ribs. “My life and death aren’t yours to decide!” The Little White Dragon knew she was a little dramatic, yet Kris’s fervor hooked her blood like a hook in a river fish. Pressure rolled off the Wraith, and Taint wrapped Lilith in slick scarlet flesh. She didn’t notice. She only smiled faintly, eyes locked on Kris like stars fixed on a pole.

“Kris Cheltina, I will grind you to dust. Then I will defeat Eternal Life. The Moonswallow Mist will be cleansed. The Grand Mausoleum will return to the Undead.” Only then did Lilith feel the Taint bubbling from her skin. This time, she didn’t push it down. Ever since the journey with Morris, the Little White Dragon had shed her prejudice. She could accept it as part of her power—hard to steer, but hers.

Now she chose something bold: she would seize the Taint completely.

“If even the Demon King can do it, why can’t I? No reason I can’t!”

White scales glazed Lilith’s hands. Tender palms turned to keen dragon claws. The white marble Astrolabe slid away. In her grip settled the pink longsword that had stayed with her for so long.

Bone-white wings unfurled behind her. A fallen angel wrapped in scarlet Taint, holiness stained a touch wicked, yet breathtaking as dawn on snow.

The Little White Dragon raised her sword and flashed a dopey grin. Half-draconic, white scales rimmed her cheeks, making her already young face even younger. What she thought was a dashing smile read to others like an adorable, foolish smirk.

Kris didn’t let the cuteness fog her sight. She knew Lilith wasn’t an easy foe. The Wraith only tightened her spear and held her ground like a rooted pine.

“I don’t know Eternal Life’s scheme. I don’t know why It swallowed the Grand Mausoleum, even the whole Necropolis Keep. But I will stop It. I’ll shatter every plan. I’ll take Its head. The Moonswallow Mist will drown in history.” The pink blade in Lilith’s hand turned prismatic. Kris saw the mist thinning around the dragon, while ghost-blue hues deepened on Lilith herself like twilight deepening to night.

“I’ll stop all of it.” Her wings opened to their span. White pinions shone in the dim, a lone bright sun in a dark sky. Filthy crimson overran the age-old ghost-blue, and even the omnipresent fog bent to become part of her.

The Little White Dragon raised the Ancient Ark crosswise before her. Half-dragon Lilith moved first.

“I’ll set everything back on its rails. I won’t allow anyone to step outside the order.”