Chapter Two-Hundred Fifty-Seven


    <strong>Nova</strong>


    Nova isn’t so sure she’s cut out for fighting, no matter how potent her name is. Voice Teemo smoothly deflected the Redcap’s opening attack like it was nothing, and he’s supposed to be bad in a fight! When he called for her, she rushed to help, but only made a mess, at least at first.


    A lot of magma would keep the Redcp at bay, right? But he didn’t sound worried, didn’t stagger back or gasp in surprise. He just calmly watched. She needed to do more than just mound a bunch of magma if she wanted to achieve anything!


    Her first idea seemed silly, but she didn’t see anything else to do. So she shaped the magma like she had in the shortcut. She hadn’t expected to bring a sculpture to battle, but the approval from the Guide encouraged her. It’s unorthodox, and the Guide embraces the unorthodox!


    She loomed dramatically, only for the Redcap topliment her kobold statuette? What was he even talking about? Whatever his intention, he still didn’t seem intimidated! Then Ragnar charged, and the scion produced some wicked looking chain, and she had to intercept it!


    With her and Ragnar acting as distractions, Voice Teemo, Aranya, and Yvonne were even able to team up for an attack. It even hit home! When he pulled out the arrow and stepped back, she thought the Redcap was on the ropes as Rocky might put it. But Rocky always warned about a situation like that. A foe could be about to lose, or they could be preparing something nasty. A Rope-a-Dope, if she remembers right. Then the Redcap spoke, and now she knows he’s up to something nasty. She can hear a rattle of chains from one of the nearby little kobold homes, which seems odd. The kobolds should be staying still. Then a snap. Then a thud. Then stillness.


    It takes her a moment to realize what’s happened, and Teemo can hear her cry. What can she do?


    “Nova, push him back! We need to keep him away from the kobolds!” shouts Voice Teemo to her as the delvers withdraw, having to leave the fight to her if they’re going to save anyone.


    Her?! She can’t face the Redcap! She barely has her first title, and what’s an <strong>Artist</strong> supposed to do against a <strong>Conduit</strong>?!


    “Y’ got this,ss,” encourages Ragnar as he withdraws, and she can feel even the Guide’s warmth trying to give her hope. But what…


    <em>rattle</em>


    <em>snap!</em>


    <em>thud</em>


    Another one! Indecision and uncertainty gue her as she tries toe up with something to stop the Redcap.


    <em>rattle</em>


    <em>snap!</em>


    <em>thud</em>


    Do <em>something</em>! Anything is better than nothing! She’s just d she doesn’t actually have knees to knock together in fear as she charges her magma sculpture forward. Heat pours off her from her fear, but that at least gives her easier ess to more magma! She opens her wings wide, physically blocking the enemy scion from advancing, and tries to ignore the gruesome cadence ying out in the hidey holes nearby.


    The redcap shifts his weight, and she can hear something heavy and metallic scrape the floor before a huge axe takes off one of her sculpture’s forelegs! She manages to keep it together and stumble forward, instead of just copsing into a loose flow again. The axe swings again, removing the other foreleg and dropping the thick neck of her creation near the metal fey.


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    She gets an idea as her sculpture falls, and when the axe follows with it like a guillotine, it’s the Redcap who is at a loss. She could melt that wicked chain and im it, so why not this axe? And whoever said her sculpture had to be static in form? The neck almost catches the axe, deforming and slowing it until it sticks, instead of letting it slice cleanly through.


    She regathers the removed magma limbs, reforming her creation and standing tall once more.


    The Redcap chuckles. “A very impressive piece. But you are not the only artist here. Let me show you some of my work.”


    Two swords plunge into the eyes of her effigy, and though she jumps in surprise, Nova is quick enough to engulf the weapons. Then more start plunging into her, and she swims through her work. She’s pretty sure the Redcap can’t sense where she is, but a moving target is probably better than just sitting still, right?


    “I know you’re in there somewhere. I just need to find you.” Morerge des sh, opening brief fissures in the magma effigy before Nova closes them. She does her best to catch the weapons, and she makes sure to spread their melted remains around. The redcap hasn’t shown any ability to manipte molten metal yet, but she''s not going to let it pool and give him a chance to try.


    Then the weapons cease. Has she won? The hope is dashed as she feels a weight of mana descend on her, and she realizes the Redcap has fully embraced his <strong>Conduit</strong> title. Even with that, her bond with the Guide still feels hopeful. He actually seems <em>happy</em> the Redcap is going all out! Nova is not! Nova is the <em>opposite</em> of happy!


    The onught resumes, with the metallic implements piercing deeper before they melt fully. He might actually hit her! She can’t just stand there and take his attacks. She needs to attack back, somehow! She only has one idea, and it doesn’t seem like a good one, but nothing else ising to mind right now!


    Her creation leaps at the Redcap, the head scraping against the ceiling as she tries to get away from the probing attacks. He darts back, flinging more dangerous metal into her effigy as itnds, and she lets it copse into a formless flow. The dragon sculpture is interesting, but the magma is easier to manipte like this.


    Now there’s no defined form, there’s a lot more ces she can hide, and it’s a lot more difficult for the Redcap to try to dig to them! Not that he’s against trying.


    “Desperation, perhaps? Did I manage to hit you in there? It’s difficult to tell, you know. I hope I can make a hat of you, Sculptor. It seems I’ll need to learn magma as a medium for that. No time like the present to learn…”


    New weapons appear, though hardly traditional ones. As far as she can tell, he’s summoned some kind of sharpened shovels, or maybe even wider axes? Whatever they are, he’s able to scoop out a piece of magma and fling it aside, sttering the walls and quickly cooling.


    “Heavy and hot. Do you know how long it will take me to remake the des I’m using for you? But I think you’ll be worth the effort, Sculptor.”


    She redoubles her efforts, moving the magma faster, more desperately, trying to somehow corner the Redcap so she can actually hit him! But he’s incredibly quick, dodging any tentacles she tries to make, avoiding any surges, and slipping past any blobs she might throw at him.


    She’s losing magma, and starting to get low on mana, too. Onest chance… she hurls onest blob of magma, and the Redcap doesn’t even need to step back as it falls short. She can practically hear him smile as he stands there, his attention squarely on herstrge blob of magma.


    “Nowhere else to hide, Sculptor. You weren’t easy to best, I will give you that. I shall make a glorious hat of this battle, either from you, or from yourpanions. Perhaps from that oddly-furred one. I haven’t seen something like her before. Good bye, Sculptor.”


    Nova feels the magma part around three huge des, or possibly just one moving incredibly fast. Herst hiding ce is sliced into eight even pieces. A few more des are summoned to further dice and separate the magma as the Redcap looks for his prize.


    “Hmm… were you a slime, instead of a dragon? I’m not sure if that would be more impressive, or less. Agh!?”


    Nova grins to herself as her supposedly-failed projectile finally hits its mark. With his attention on therger pile, she could slowly inch it closer until there was no way for him to dodge! The smaller blob pounces on the Redcap’s feet, encasing them and holding him fast. She bursts from the ceiling where she had hidden, having escaped through the head when it scraped. The Guide likened her to a strange flying bomb when he first saw her hit a fire elemental like this. They never see iting, and she’s pretty sure the Redcap is the same.


    The Redcap can’t move his des in time, and Nova hears hisst word before her jaws close around his head, her momentum dragging them both through the floor as she melts the rock around them.


    “Beautiful…”