A familiar figure appeared in place of the light.
"...Who's that?" [Wilharrow]
It was none other than the Great Sorcerer of the Moving Tower. In other words, Lapis. Or was it? It looked just like her, but she was made out of… crystal?
"Oh my. I knew this would happen someday." [Lapis]
She took one look around the cavern before spotting me.
"There you are." [Lapis]
With a wave of her hand, I teleported from Jukhan's grasp and to her side.
"Hm?!" [Jukhan]
Jukhan appeared to be quite surprised by that. On the other hand, I was quite relieved. Lapis knelt down and summoned a handkerchief out of thin air.
"Fourth, you look terrible. How did it come to this?" [Lapis]
She wiped dirt and blood off my face with a worried expression.
"Lapis? How are you here?" [Solace]
Lapis smiled.
"I'm not actually here. This is an emergency clone made with my memories and such. If the teleportation crystal breaks, I will appear. I never thought it would activate though." [Lapis]
"I'm glad it did." [Solace]
I thought Jukhan would make his move while we spoke, but he actually just stood by and watched.
"...The Violent Witch." [Jukhan]
"Exchanging pleasantries now, are we?" [Lapis]
She burned the handkerchief used to clean me and stood. Lapis then faced Jukhan with a crystal staff conjured from the palm of her hand. There was also a slip of paper that fell to my side.
("This is…?") [Solace]
It was a note that said: "The real me has been notified and will be arriving soon. The clone isn't as powerful so I may not last that long. Look for openings to attack."
("...So I still have to fight.") [Solace]
I used what little mana I had left to heal my broken arm. The rest of my injuries were minor.
"In any case, I never expected that the fourth would be fighting against you, Jukhan." [Lapis]
"I never expected you to appear either. It's been a very long time." [Jukhan]
"Yes, the last time we met was when Vincent beat you into the ground. Are you not ashamed of going after his disciple instead of him?" [Lapis]
Jukhan grew restless.
"I've heard enough." [Jukhan]
He zoomed at Lapis and threw a mighty punch. However, it only struck air as Lapis turned herself to smoke.
"|Soul Reaper|." [Lapis]
A crystal scythe took form in the smoke before cutting at Jukhan's back.
"Ngh!" [Jukhan]
It left no marks, but the mighty figure staggered.
"RAGH!" [Jukhan]
Enraged, Jukhan swung wide. With just force alone, he pushed away the smoke. This revealed Lapis only a few meters away.
"|Golem Creation|." [Lapis]
Lapis anticipated Jukhan's charge, so she created three rocky human-like figures to hold him down.
"Cheap tricks!" [Jukhan]
With one wide step, he broke the golems. In the meantime, he didn't realize Lapis was charging some kind of glowing red energy ball with the staff.
"|Gravitae|!" [Jukhan]
For once, Jukhan defended. He slammed a fist into the ground, utilizing his gravity magic to pull broken chunks of rock into forming a shield.
"|Lava Pillar|." [Lapis]
She unleashed a beam of molten lava, slowly melting away Jukhan's defenses. I somewhat expected his rock wall to crumble under the lava, but I noticed that he was continuously rebuilding it with his magic.
"|Frost Gleam|." [Lapis]
Continuing on her attacks, Lapis froze the lava. I wasn't sure of what she was trying to do with that until she began to mold the large amount of ice together.
"Your cast time is too long, fool!" [Jukhan]
I think that was my cue. I jumped between them and attacked Jukhan.
"Out of the way, brat!" [Jukhan]
He tried to swat me out of the way, which I countered by ducking and tackling his legs. We both tumbled as I tried to hold his legs down, but it was getting really difficult.
"You dare?!" [Jukhan]
His attention immediately switched to me. As Jukhan began to reach for me, Wilharrow attacked him while we were both on the ground.
"You think I'd let you?!" [Wilharrow]
He brought his divine sword down on Jukhan's head a few times before having the sword get caught.
"Oh no." [Wilharrow]
He locked eyes with a very furious Jukhan.
"...Is it too late to say sorry?" [Wilharrow]
"Perish." [Jukhan]
He yanked Wilharow towards himself before grabbing his neck and snapping it.
"Wilharrow!" [Solace]
Good thing Jukhan thought he was dead since he just released him. Seconds later, Wilharrow got back up thanks to his once-a-day revival skill.
"Back away, now!" [Lapis]
Wilharrow and I immediately bolted away as a massive ice dragon came crashing down on Jukhan.
"Argh!" [Jukhan]
The ice dragon Lapis forged closed its jaws on Jukhan as hard as it could. Unfortunately, I could start to see cracks forming.
"Lapis, try something else! He's going to break free!" [Solace]
"I'm thinking-!" [Lapis]
Within an instant, the ice dragon exploded into a could of snow. As my vision was covered by the explosion, my eyes widened upon seeing Jukhan shattering the crystal version of lapis into pieces.
"Ah, shit." [Solace]
Bloodied and beaten, Jukhan turned towards me.
"We've delayed this for far too long." [Jukhan]
He started to approach me with bloodlust in his eyes. I was considering just booking it until the entire cavern shook.
"Huh?" [Wilharrow]
A rumbling sound came from above, causing the cavern ceiling to split open while revealing the blue sky.
"She's here!" [Solace]
A familiar cylindrical magic tower hovered over us, along with a very beautiful mage piloting it. I'm not glazing Lapis, by the way. I mean every word.
"Did you guys have fun fighting with my clone?" [Lapis]
Lapis stepped out of the tower and descended using some kind of flight magic. Truly, a crystal clone did her true beauty no service. Not glazing by the way. ...Okay, I'm glazing.
"You act as if I've been going all out." [Jukhan]
"You act as if that would make a difference." [Lapis]
And that was the last straw. Here goes round two.