Page 185 of Barbi and the Villain

At this rate, I doubt there will be a winner. One strikes, the other parries. One injures the other, then gets injured in return.

But as they notice the battle stalling, they finally call upon their spiritual energy.

Nykander ditches his sword, letting his dark shadows envelop him. The stranger summons his own energy, a dark magenta with specks of silver.

“Be careful, Nyk,” I whisper.

Despite having full confidence in his abilities, I fear for him. He is getting tired and he needs to feed. The stranger, on the other hand, seems to have a strong supply of energy. It’s almost like the more Nykander strikes at him, the stronger he becomes.

Damn it!

He must be some type of high-level god. Even Damien with his all-encompassing supply of souls had not been this strong.

A loud blast reverberates in the forest before something drops to the ground, creating a deep crater in the soil. Nykander claws his way out, wobbling on his feet. His face is covered in blood and his injuries heal slower than before. God, that must be incredibly painful.

The stranger lands a few feet over, his breathing shallow.

“Where is Mideros?”

“I do not know,” Nyk grits out, unleashing his tendrils upon his opponent. While some slither from the front, distracting him, others appear from the back, disguising themselves as the shadows of trees.

While the man fights the ones he can see, the inconspicuous ones curl around his feet, traveling up his legs. He fights them off, using his energy to blast them away, but Nykander reinforces them.

Once he has a good grip on his opponent, Nyk pulls hard on him. He brings him toward him at the same time as he builds a ball of energy in his hands. As the man reaches Nyk’s side, he pushes the ball of energy into his gut.

My eyes widen as I see the way the brass armor snaps, shards of it falling to the ground. The energy eats at his flesh until there’s a gaping hole in the middle of his torso.

With a feeble blast of energy, the man manages to extricate himself from Nyk’s hold, only to collapse a few feet over.

He takes a deep breath as his flesh slowly mends.

Nykander is also breathing hard, his shield flickering in and out and denoting he’s close to his limit.

This is it.

I clasp my hands to my front as I watch them breathlessly.

The next clash will denote a winner.

“You can do this, Nyk.”

He half-turns toward me, his lips curving in a lopsided smile. Blood drips down his chin. He looks sexy and battered, but still sexy.

He winks at me. But that second of inattention is about to cost him.

“Nyk!” I call out as the man gets to his feet, ready to launch another attack.

Just as they summon their last bit of strength, a loud thud resounds in the forest as someone drops down from the sky.

What the…

28

“Oh my, I really need to work on that landing,” the girl who just fell out of the sky mutters. She slowly gets up and dusts her clothes. She’s on the taller side, dressed in an off-white regency-style dress. Her bright red hair is gathered atop her head in an elegant bun, with a few curls falling down her forehead.

She blows air upward to move the hair from her eyes. Then she glances around until her eyes find the stranger.

He straightens his spine and brings the back of his hand to his eyes to wipe the blood dripping from a gash in his forehead.

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