Chapter 83: Risk Of Death.
Naomi growled and charged recklessly at Vincent. Halfway through the charge, her body suddenly dissolved into black sludge, the black mass spreading across the frozen ground before spiralling upwards into a violent whirlwind.
Ice boulders were ripped free from the surrounding walls one after another and hurled towards Vincent without the slightest pause. He didn’t retreat. The glowing runes beneath his cane flared brightly as he swung with all his might.
The first boulder exploded apart. He pivoted and shattered the second before it reached him, but the third wasn’t thrown to crush him. It burst apart on its own, using the cloud of frozen debris as cover.
Naomi exploded from within the white mist, one arm already solidifying into flesh while the other remained dissolved into a long black blade that shot towards Vincent’s neck.
Vincent leaned back just enough for the blade to skim across his throat, drawing a thin line of blood. Before Naomi could press the advantage, the base of his cane drove into her ribs with enough force to fold her body sideways.
The impact launched her several metres away, yet before she struck the ground, her body dissolved once more. The black sludge split apart in midair before raining down around Vincent from every direction. Half a dozen black hands burst from the ice simultaneously, clawing at his legs, his back and even his face. Vincent spun his cane in a brutal arc, glowing runes smashing apart every arm that came within reach, but another wrapped itself around his leg.
The corrosive sludge hissed the instant it touched his flesh.
Vincent’s muscles bulged as he ripped his leg free by force alone, tearing the sludge apart before driving his cane into the frozen ground. The impact sent cracks racing beneath the battlefield. Naomi barely had time to retreat before the entire section of ice beneath her exploded upward. She was thrown into the air, but instead of falling, two long sludge tendrils shot towards a nearby ice pillar, wrapped around it and violently changed her direction.
She swung around the pillar like a pendulum before releasing it entirely, using the momentum to launch herself feet-first at Vincent.
"I’m gonna kill you, and then I’m gonna find that psycho and I’m gonna finish the job my sister couldn’t".
He caught the kick on his forearm.
The force pushed him backwards several metres, his boots carving deep trenches through the frozen ground. Naomi landed lightly, dissolved again and vanished beneath the ice. Vincent’s pitch-black eyes swept across the battlefield. Then without warning, his cane smashed into the ground beside him.
"Your grudge against Damien appears remarkably personal. Looking back, I believe I selected the wrong opponent. I should’ve fought the Therizon... and left you to him."
"BOOM!
The frozen surface erupted.
Naomi screamed as blood sprayed from her mouth. The blow had struck her while she was travelling beneath the ice. She burst onto the surface, then immediately dissolved again before Vincent could close the distance.
Black sludge surged across the battlefield like floodwater, swallowing everything in its path. Wherever it flowed, the frozen ground softened into black mire before hardening again a heartbeat later.
Vincent suddenly lost his footing.
That single moment was all Naomi needed.
She erupted directly beneath him. Both dissolved arms wrapped around his waist while another pair formed behind his back and locked around his shoulders. Before Vincent could break free, she swung him overhead and smashed him through a towering wall of ice. The wall collapsed on top of him, burying him beneath tonnes of frozen rubble.
Naomi didn’t wait.
She tore several enormous boulders free and flung them straight into the pile.
"Die.. Die, Die, DIE".
Each collision shook the underground world, finally the relentless barrage stopped.
Naomi stood there breathing heavily, black sludge dripping from both her hands, she knew that was far from enough, especially against an opponent like Vincent, and as expected.
The rubble suddenly exploded.
Vincent burst through it like a wild beast. Blood ran freely down his forehead while pieces of ice slid from his bare shoulders. He covered the distance between them in an instant. Naomi barely raised her arms before his fist buried itself in her stomach. The air left her lungs as she folded over. The glowing base of his cane immediately followed, smashing into the side of her face and launching her spinning across the frozen ground.
She hit the ground once, but then quickly dissolved again.
The battlefield instantly became chaotic once more. Black sludge erupted from every direction. Ice boulders flew through the air. Vincent shattered them one after another, each explosion sending white mist across the battlefield while Naomi continued attacking from every blind spot she could create.
Neither side could gain a decisive advantage. Every successful strike was answered with another. Blood stained the once pristine ice while the frozen cavern shook beneath the violence of their battle.
Soon enough, the underground ice world began to give in, mostly because there was a madman riding the Therizon and destroying the majority of it, but Vincent and Naomi’s battle contributed considerably to the large fractures overhead.
Naomi swung around Vincent using the uneven terrain, her eyes were bloodshot as she fixated on Vincent’s every move, their eyes were actually locked together, because Vincent never let her out of his sight.
"If you’re done running around, you can come down here so we can finish this". Vincent said coldly.
Naomi gradually began to regain her composure. A battle between her and Vincent was never going to be settled within a single day, and with the risk of death hanging over both of them, she decided it was best to calm herself before making another mistake.
She came to a stop atop a nearby ice boulder.
To Vincent’s surprise, Naomi returned to her human form. She slowly raised one hand, allowing it to dissolve into black sludge, but that wasn’t what caught his attention.
A small vial containing a crimson liquid slowly emerged from within the sludge.
Vincent raised a brow.
He had always assumed everything Naomi touched simply melted away. It was only now that he realised she could actually control the corrosive properties of her sludge.