Noctis'' arms were strained heavily as he refused to let go of his weapon. As for his fist, a few fragments of armor fell off.


    Yet, La waspletely fine. A small smirk appeared on her face.


    "Hehe, looks like I''m going to win again!"


    Noctis closed his eyes. He mumbled to himself.


    "To think I have grown so ipetent that I can no longer handle two intruders."


    The pressure he emitted abruptly died down.


    "Forgive me, Yzan."


    Suddenly, a dragon''s roar resounded, causing the air to tremble.


    Violent ck mes burst out from Noctis'' body.


    La spat and batted the ck mes away.


    "Ew, ew, ew!"


    She jumped off, all the while batting away the few ck mes that remained on her.


    Noctis'' armor could no longer be seen. Instead, it waspletely covered in ck mes. The ck mes flickered, taking on a rough shape.


    In ce of Noctis'' head was the head of a dragon, created by ck mes and bright red eyes. Two draconic ck wings, simrly made of ck mes, emerged from his back.


    The dragon head had a gaping maw, revealing a dark void from within.


    As for his hammer, the ck mes wrapped itself around it. The curved spike of his hammer grew in length.


    The hammer morphed into a massive scytheposed of dense ck mes.


    There was a sudden increase in pressure. It was akin to being at the bottom of the ocean. La felt ufortable, iling her limbs around.


    "Mmm!"


    The dragonposed of ck mes stood still for a few moments.


    Then, he dashed towards Hex, without making a single sound.


    Noctis, or what was left of him, held the scythe with both hands. He shed forwards, emitting a shockwave of ck me.


    Hex held his sleeves in front of him. There was a small frown on his face.


    "Big human be big dragon!"


    Purple mist coalesced in front of his sleeves. Right before the scythe reached him, the purple mist pulsated.


    Then, exploded.


    A massive cloud of purple energy emanated from Hex''s sleeves. The shockwave of ck mes immediately dispersed. Violent gales of wind stirred up, pushed along by the overwhelming force from Hex''s attack.


    As for draconic Noctis, he slid back.


    But only by a few centimeters.


    The ck mes he wasposed of flickered wildly under the force, like a wavering candle. However, his red eyes shone with determination.


    The purple energy continued to emanate from Hex''s sleeves. The wind generated made his clothes p around violently.


    Draconic Noctis pushed against the purple energy. He was slower than a snail, but was able to take a step forward.


    Then...


    He took another step forward.


    Hex furrowed his brows.


    "Me think this is bad!"


    The purple energy suddenly cut off. A dense purple ball coalesced in front of Hex before exploding.


    Hex was thrown backwards while Draconic Noctis was thrown off his feet, flying back a few meters or so. However, Draconic Noctis did not fall on the ground. His wingsposed of ck mes pped, keeping him up in the air.


    Hexnded on the ground with a tap. He hummed.


    "...Me think flying will be annoying."


    La tilted her head to the side.


    "Wah, I wanna fly too!"


    Draconic Noctis threw a nce at La before turning to Hex. Even with his new form, he doubted La would go down quickly. On the other hand, Hex seemed to be a mage.


    He did not understand what element Hex''s spells were in, but what he did know was that most mages had weak bodies.


    Draconic Noctis'' ck wings pped silently, causing him to dash forward like a phantom. He was countless times faster thanst time, giving Hex little time to react.


    Hex attempted to coalesce more mist above his sleeves, but a scythe made of ck mes was already descending upon him.


    The sound of crackling mes was deafening.


    Hex was knocked backward. A soft sizzling came from the newly formed small ck mark on his face.


    Hexnded on the ground with his back. The air was knocked out of him.


    After a second, Hex stood up with a pout.


    He rubbed the ck mark on his face with his sleeve.


    "Me no like! It hurts!"


    Draconic Noctis hardly waited another second before dashing forwards again.


    Hex narrowed his eyes.


    "ckie!"


    His shadow suddenly shrunk before disappearing altogether. The ck shadow wrapped itself around Hex''s legs, before traveling all the way up to his hood.


    His clothes rapidly shifted from blue to dark purple, nearly bing ck. Two small bright purple horns materialized on top of Hex''s hood.


    Hex''s face was obscured by the shadow. Tworge eyes along with a smile reced it. The features glowed with a light blue.


    Draconic Noctis was not perturbed by the sudden change. His scythe whipped towards Hex once more.


    But... the results were a little different.


    Right before the scythe made contact, Hex''s figure vanished.


    An uncanny giggle filled the air.


    Draconic Noctis turned around to see Hex floating high up in the air. He immediately dashed forwards, swinging his scythe.


    Yet, likest time, Hex vanished right before his scythe hit.


    Hex reappeared a few meters higher. Likest time, he simply hovered there with a strange giggle.


    Draconic Noctis furrowed his brows.


    There had to be a limit on how much Hex could do that, right?


    Determined to see this battle through, Draconic Noctis continued chasing after Hex. He was ready to fight a war of attrition.


    Draconic Noctis shed his scythe towards Hex, while Hex vanished before materializing a few meters higher.


    Hex began to giggle a little louder.


    The two continued on with their cat and mouse chase. However, it was not clear who exactly was taking on the role of the cat.


    After they had reached quite high in the air. Hex would also appear downwards. His reappearances seemedpletely random.


    It was at this moment, Draconic Noctis wondered.


    Why wasn''t Hex fighting back?


    Well, Hex was.


    Draconic Noctis just couldn''t see it.