Nyx felt the weight of Maris' words pressing down on her. She knew that the tide of this battle was shifting, and her usual strategies were becoming less effective. Every teleportation, every spatial tear, was t with a surge of new marionettes. It was a ceaseless wave of pressure, wearing down her defenses and limiting her options.
But Nyx was not one to give in easily.
The sealed battlefield shimred, and Nyx's narrowed gaze flicked to Maris. "You think your little army will be enough to stop ?" she taunted, though her voice lacked its earlier confidence.
Maris, standing tall and poised, responded only with action. Her hands glowed with the radiant light of her magic, and the marionettes responded. The ground trembled as more and more of the eerie, puppet-like figures appeared. One by one, they erged from the shadowy corners of the battlefield, their wooden bodies animated by divine energy.
There weren't just hundreds now. There were thousands.
Nyx's eyes widened as the sheer number of marionettes sward across the battlefield. One thousand marionettes, each imbued with holy magic, their movents coordinated with frightening precision. The puppets glided across the field with unnatural speed, their blank eyes locked on Nyx.
Their holy-infused bodies flickered with golden light, and their very presence seed to constrict the space around her.
The battlefield had beco a chaotic sea of moving bodies. It was almost as if the ground itself had co alive, writhing and shifting under the force of Maris' magic.
Nyx imdiately recognized the threat. She couldn't hope to keep dodging with teleportation alone. She needed to adapt—and quickly.
Nyx's eyes glowed with dark energy as she focused her spatial power. The first wave of marionettes lunged at her with terrifying speed, their wooden hands outstretched, aiming to tear her apart. But before they could reach her, Nyx summoned a massive rift, slicing through the front line of puppets like a hot knife through butter.
The marionettes were torn to pieces, their limbs and torsos sent flying in all directions.
But it wasn't enough.
The mont the first group was destroyed, more marionettes filled the gap. Nyx gritted her teeth and created a cluster of smaller rifts, teleporting the approaching puppets to random spots within the sealed space. The marionettes reappeared at the edges of the battlefield, but they continued their assault, undeterred. For every marionette Nyx displaced, another took its place.
"I can keep this up all day, Nyx," Maris called out, her voice calm but laced with a warning. She was standing at the center of the battlefield, her hands outstretched, glowing with holy light as she controlled her army with perfect precision.
Nyx clenched her fists. She teleported herself out of imdiate danger, appearing on the far side of the battlefield. But even as she reappeared, the marionettes were already converging on her position.
Enough of this, she thought. If these marionettes were going to overwhelm her, then she would simply have to divide their attention.
With a sharp flick of her wrist, Nyx summoned multiple clones of herself, six in total. The clones were perfect duplicates, each imbued with a fragnt of Nyx's spatial power. They moved in unison, teleporting across the battlefield with blinding speed. The marionettes hesitated for the first ti, unsure of which Nyx to target.
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But Maris was not so easily fooled. "You think that'll work on ?" she muttered. With a wave of her hand, she commanded the marionettes to spread out. The wooden figures adjusted their formation, dividing into groups to pursue each of Nyx's clones. The battlefield beca a dizzying whirl of movent, with marionettes swarming in every direction, chasing after the elusive Nyx and her duplicates.
Nyx used this mont to strike back. From her new position, she summoned a barrage of spatial rifts, each one aid at Maris herself. The rifts sliced through the air, distorting reality and warping the space around them as they hurtled toward Maris.
But Maris was ready. She raised her hand, and a glowing shield of holy light materialized in front of her. The spatial rifts collided with the barrier, distorting and scattering harmlessly to the sides.
Nyx growled in frustration, her mind racing as she considered her options. The marionettes were closing in again, and her clones could only hold them off for so long. The battlefield was becoming more chaotic by the second, and Maris seed to have complete control.
No, Nyx thought. I won't lose like this.
Her mind flashed with a desperate realization. If space magic wasn't enough to win this fight, then perhaps it was ti to use sothing she had been saving. Sothing even more dangerous.
Ti magic.
Nyx's hand trembled as she prepared the spell. Ti manipulation was not sothing she used lightly—it was risky, and it drained an imnse amount of energy. But at this point, it was her only chance to break free of Maris' overwhelming assault.
The marionettes were re monts from reaching her. Nyx could feel the weight of their presence pressing in on her from all sides. Their blank, hollow eyes were locked on her, their wooden limbs reaching out to tear her apart.
In the last second, Nyx released the spell.
A shimring wave of energy washed over the battlefield, and for a brief mont, everything seed to slow down. The marionettes' movents beca sluggish, their attacks delayed by a fraction of a second. Then, with a sudden jolt, ti rewound.
Nyx found herself standing five seconds earlier, before the marionettes had closed in on her. The battlefield reset, the marionettes still far enough away for her to breathe. She had bought herself a mont of reprieve.
Maris frowned. She had felt it—Nyx had just manipulated ti itself.
"So, you're using ti magic now," Maris said, her voice calm but with a hint of intrigue. "Interesting. But how many tis can you rewind before it starts to break you?"
Nyx didn't respond. She couldn't afford to waste energy on words. Ti manipulation had its limits, and even though she had bought herself a few seconds, it wouldn't be enough to win the battle. She needed to use this ti to plan her next move.
The marionettes were advancing again, their numbers seemingly endless. Nyx could see the strain on Maris' face—controlling so many puppets at once was taxing, even for soone as powerful as her. But Maris was relentless. She was determined to finish this.
Nyx's mind raced. She had already used her ti-rewind ability, and she knew she couldn't rely on it again so soon. It drained too much energy, and the risk of causing a temporal backlash was too great. But there was another way—another way to turn the tide in her favor.
If she couldn't defeat Maris through sheer power, she would have to outsmart her.
Nyx focused on the battlefield, her sharp eyes scanning the movents of the marionettes. She could see how Maris was controlling them, how they moved in sync with her commands. And in that mont, Nyx saw her opening.
With a sudden burst of energy, Nyx teleported to the far edge of the battlefield. She summoned another wave of spatial rifts, not to attack Maris directly, but to distort the space around her marionettes. The rifts tore through the ground, creating pockets of warped reality that disrupted the movents of the puppets.
The marionettes faltered for the first ti, their coordinated movents thrown off by the spatial distortions. Maris' control over them weakened, and for a brief mont, the battlefield descended into chaos.
Nyx seized the opportunity. She teleported herself directly in front of Maris, her hand crackling with spatial energy. She struck with lightning speed, aiming to pierce through Maris' defenses with a concentrated blast of power.
But Maris wasn't caught off guard. She raised her hands, summoning a radiant shield of holy light to block the attack. The two powers collided in a brilliant explosion of light and darkness, sending shockwaves through the sealed battlefield.
Nyx snarled, her attack deflected, but she didn't retreat. She pressed on, launching a series of rapid strikes, each one aid at finding a weakness in Maris' defenses. But Maris held firm, her control over the battlefield unwavering.
"You're running out of tricks, Nyx," Maris said, her voice calm even as the battle raged on. "And you're running out of ti."
Nyx's breath ca in short, sharp gasps. She could feel her energy waning. The constant teleportation, the spatial rifts, the ti rewind—it was all taking its toll. But she refused to give up.
With a final surge of power, Nyx summoned her clones once more, sending them to attack Maris from all sides. But Maris was ready. She raised her hands, and the marionettes sward in response, surrounding Nyx and her clones, cutting off every avenue of escape.
Nyx's eyes widened as the marionettes closed in. There was nowhere left to run.
Maris stepped forward, her eyes glowing with holy light. "This is the end, Nyx."
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