Hermes entered the middle turret.
The air changed the moment he stepped in. No longer erratic like the outside Void, it was thick and humming—like the room itself was casting a spell.
Shadows moved on their own across the floor. Candles hovered mid-air, spiraling like lazy stars. Books muttered secrets in forgotten tongues, and the smell of brimstone was masked faintly by burning sage.
Trivia stood at the center.
She was tall, robed in midnight indigo and veiled in gold-threaded lace. Her eyes were pitch wells of moving symbols, ever-shifting.
Her hair was tied back in three braids, and her hands were already aglow with chalk-white symbols drawn midair. A trinity of circles revolved behind her head like a halo—a triangle, a crescent moon, and an ouroboros snake eating itself.
The infamous Void Witch.
"So," Trivia said, her voice echoing in thirds—three distinct tones layered atop each other. "You’ve arrived. State your purpose."
Hermes stepped forward. Magni, behind him, casually munched on a firecracker fruit, leaning on a floating lantern.
"I’m here to challenge you to a duel," Hermes said firmly. "If I win, you’ll lift the curse you placed on Eirwyn."
Trivia raised an eyebrow. "And if you lose?"
Hermes took a deep breath, then said: "You can curse me. Or kill me. Whichever suits you."
Magni whistled. "You have balls of steel, Brother Modi."
The Voidlings around them—a strange crowd of cobbled creatures, shifting shadows, and skeletal nobles—gasped and hissed, some laughing, others whispering. The dome of the turret became a coliseum of anticipation. Above them, three moons rotated like spotlights, casting different colored beams onto the dueling space.
Trivia’s expression soured. "You will stake your life and fight for that man?"
Hermes didn’t flinch. "Yes."
Trivia suddenly cackled, the echoes making it sound like there was three women mocking him in this moment.
The weight of her voice pulled at his resolve like gravity. "Why?"
"Because he belongs to a world that judges worth through accidents of birth." Trivia spat. "Because he is part of a system that decides whether one lives or dies by which quirk of magic touched their blood. Because he smiles sweetly, but his honor is built on blood and lottery."
Hermes frowned. "You’re talking about how people value power above all else. I get it. But there are good people trying to change that."
She chuckled, and it sounded like three people mocking him at once. "Naivety... so pristine. So soft. It can be just as dangerous as malice. And deserving of death."
Magni looked up. "That’s one hell of a thesis for a duel."
Hermes didn’t back down. "I still believe we can make things better."
"Then come, Hero." Trivia raised her hands, casting out a ring of fire around them. "Let’s see what your belief is worth."
The moment the match began, the three moons flared.
Trivia launched her first tercet:
"Salt of bone and silver tongue,
Warp the air and cut the lung,
Let no truth be ever sung—"
A wave of sonic pressure crashed toward Hermes like a banshee scream. He rolled to the side, narrowly dodging it. He clenched his fist. His left arm hardened into iron.
He grabbed a nearby floating chair and transmuted it, flinging it like a spiked mace. Trivia split it midair with a whisper.
Hermes followed up, blinking to her left. A high-pitched whine echoed as his eyes turned cold. Two shards of Cryoshift launched from his gaze—ice daggers glowing blue.
She parried the first with a flick of her robe. The second grazed her arm.
"You bite, little dog," she smirked.
He pulled out a camera lens embedded in his palm—Cam’s Snapshot. He flashed it directly at her, creating a blinding burst of light.
Hermes surged forward and grinned. "Got you—"
Because behind the flash... Trivia had finished a new spell.
"Mirror’s mouth and liar’s gate,
Borrow light and bend their fate,
Trap the fool who sees too late—"
A mirror emerged midair, catching Hermes’ charge. Too late, he realized—it wasn’t a flashbang. It was bait.
He slammed into the illusion. The air twisted. His limbs slowed. His breath caught.
Sirentone, he thought.
He forced his voice into a steady tone—precisely pitched. "You will stop now."
Trivia paused. Just for a second.
Hermes snapped his fingers. Behind her, a skeletal arm exploded from the floor. Victorina’s Necromagia had fused with the Void’s energy—he didn’t need a corpse anymore. Just residue. Just memory. And this place was full of it.
The arm grabbed her ankle.
Hermes twisted. "Now!"
Three more limbs clawed at her, pulling her down.
Her magic circle flared.
The room trembled as heat and chaos exploded in every direction. Hermes flew back, hitting a stone wall. His ribs cracked.
Trivia floated above him, her hair now burning with flame.
"You’re strong," she said. "But you rely on borrowed things."
Hermes’ eyes glowed again. "I make do with what I steal."
His pupils became shards of ice.
He summoned a ring of frozen air around her, condensing pressure. She hissed in pain as her flames began to dim.
Still, she chanted through gritted teeth.
"Child of teeth and ice-born bane,
Bring him down with cursed flame,
Return his blood to smoke and stain—"
The fire cracked through Hermes’ shoulder. He screamed.
A second spell was already forming on her lips.
Magni sat on the edge of a floating book, munching his snack. "Now would be a good time for a cool comeback, Hermes."
Hermes growled, blood dripping.
Cold spread through his skin. The second layer. The frostborn monster. His breath misted, his limbs crackled.
He lunged forward. Ice spiraled from his feet. Trivia stepped back, summoned a barrier... too late.
Hermes collapsed the frost around her like a net, freezing her in mid-air.
She burst out, but it was what he wanted. She came close.
And when she was within his grasp, he grabbed her and bit!
His fangs pierced her neck. Her spell ended mid-word.
The entire room dropped in temperature. The Voidlings around them gasped. The moons flickered.
Her blood tasted of smoke, salt, and sorrow.
The crowd fell silent. Trivia slumped, eyes wide.
Hermes, breathing heavily, whispered: