Lila's breath came in ragged gasps.
She was fast—one of the fastest ice mages of her generation. But against Rafaela and Pine Hughes working in tandem, she was quickly reaching her limit.
Her body screamed in exhaustion, her mana reserves dangerously low, yet she refused to yield.
'Just a little longer…'
CLANG! CLANG!
Sparks flew as she barely managed to parry Hughes' crescent blades, but his strikes came like a storm, forcing her onto the defensive.
Meanwhile, Rafaela's Lunar magic bombarded her relentlessly—each spell shining like celestial devastation, threatening to rip her apart.
She was losing ground.
Hughes sneered, seeing her faltering stance.
"Not so tough now, are you?"
And in that moment—he lunged in for the kill.
But suddenly—
His vision spun.
For a brief second, his body kept moving, his hands still gripping his crescent blades—but his head was no longer attached to his body.
A heartbeat later—
Blood sprayed into the air.
