Chapter 264: Diva’s Rejection
"Martin?"
NukEncore’s voice reached them through the rain.
Martin and Alexandra pulled apart, but not nearly fast enough to hide what they had been doing. Alexandra’s fingers were still tangled in his damp hair, and his arm remained firm around her waist. Kumoe stood pressed between them, all three heads caught inside their embrace.
NukEncore stared.
She was already breathing hard from the run. Now every breath stopped somewhere in her chest. Her gaze moved from Alexandra’s flushed lips to Martin’s hand at her waist, then returned to the narrow space between their faces.
She had followed him because Kumoe was in danger. She had expected blood, monsters, or another desperate fight.
Instead, Alexandra had gotten there first again.
Alexandra recovered before Martin did. Her hand slipped from his hair, though she stayed close enough that NukEncore could not pretend the kiss had been some awkward misunderstanding.
"Encore," Alexandra said, still slightly breathless. "Try not to turn this into a scandal."
"You were kissing him."
"I’m aware."
Golden light flickered beneath NukEncore’s skin.
Martin noticed it around her eyes first. The warm gold in her irises brightened until it looked molten, while orange sparks gathered around her fingers.
"Encore?"
Fire burst above both her palms.
The flare woke Kumoe’s middle head. She lifted her muzzle from Martin’s chest, blinked sleepily at the approaching light, and began gathering restoration on instinct. The curious head barked, while the right lowered her body and fixed NukEncore with a hard stare.
NukEncore did not seem to hear any of them. Her attention remained locked on Alexandra.
"You really are a cheating bitch."
Alexandra’s eyebrows rose.
NukEncore thrust both hands forward before she could answer.
Two fireballs formed at once. White lightning tore through them before either spell had fully stabilized, twisting around the flames in violent strands. Fire Thunder Bolt began taking shape, but a translucent barrier swelled around it at the same time.
The barrier folded around the unfinished spell and forced its power inward. Fire and lightning struck the curved wall, recoiled, and tangled together beneath NukEncore’s control.
She clenched her teeth.
"Get away from him!"
The barrier collapsed, and orange-white light detonated beside Alexandra.
Martin reacted before he understood what NukEncore had created. He turned away from the blast, pulled Kumoe against his chest, and curled over all three heads.
The shockwave caught him across the back and shoved him several feet through the mud. Alexandra took the center of it.
Fire flashed across her damaged armor, but the new spell poured most of its force into the impact. Alexandra lifted cleanly off the road and flew into the wet undergrowth.
Branches snapped. Leaves burst into the air, and she vanished between the trees with a distant crash.
Martin stayed bent over Kumoe as green light washed across his back. The middle head repaired the shallow burn left by the edge of the spell, the curious head twisted beneath his arm to see where Alexandra had gone, and the right stared at NukEncore with open hostility.
NukEncore remained frozen with both hands raised.
A window appeared before her.
[You have created a new skill: Diva’s Rejection (Epic).]
[Diva’s Rejection (Epic)]
[Condense Fire Thunder Bolt within Fire Shield and detonate it at a chosen point.]
[The barrier redirects much of the spell’s destructive force into extreme knockback and interruption.]
[Targets struck at the center suffer Fire and Lightning damage. All actions in progress are forcibly interrupted.]
NukEncore stared at the description.
She had not selected the skills from a menu or stopped to test whether their structures could survive the combination. Alexandra had been in Martin’s arms, and NukEncore’s mana had obeyed the only thought loud enough to reach it.
Get away from him.
Another window began opening beneath the first, but NukEncore swept them both aside.
"Alex!"
Martin straightened and started toward the broken undergrowth with Kumoe pressed against his side. He had barely taken two steps before NukEncore marched into his path.
"Encore, move."
"No."
"She just survived a Beastslayer."
"I redirected most of the damage into knockback."
Martin stopped. "Most?"
"She’ll be fine. Alexandra is annoyingly durable, and the spell worked exactly as intended."
"You invented it three seconds ago."
"And it still worked!"
"You threw her into the forest."
"She kissed you in front of me!"
Fire still crawled around NukEncore’s fingers, but the rest of her had started betraying her. Her lips trembled. Her chest rose too quickly, and the hard glow in her eyes made the moisture gathering there more obvious rather than less.
She pointed toward the trees.
"This bitch bewitched you! We agreed none of us would confess!"
Martin stared at her.
NukEncore’s finger lowered by an inch.
Rain ran down Martin’s face and dripped from the ends of her purple hair while the words settled between them.
"What agreement?" he asked.
"That isn’t the important part."
"You said none of you."
"I was angry. One phrase came out badly."
"You also said you all agreed."
"Because she cheated!"
"Encore."
"The rules were clear!" she snapped. "No confessions until we figured out what we were doing. No one was supposed to rush ahead, grab you first, and leave the rest of us scrambling after her!"
Martin could not answer immediately.
He had known Elisebeth wanted his attention. She had flirted with him, jumped into his arms, and revealed the identity she had been terrified to share. She had looked almost painfully happy when he continued treating her like NukEncore afterward.
He had known she was attracted to him.
He had not known the teasing had grown serious enough to need rules.
The others had not been flirting independently and seeing what happened. They had talked about him. They had worried that one woman moving first might force him to choose, and they had tried to control the situation without ever telling the man standing in the middle of it.
NukEncore was not angry because Alexandra had won some harmless round of competition. She looked like Martin had watched someone steal the last seat beside him and only now realized she had been waiting for it.
His stare lingered too long.