POV: NOAH WILLIAMS.
Still unsure about the woman's defeat, I remained there without moving for a few seconds, keeping my eyes on her motionless body on the floor.
The thick smoke filling the second floor still made it hard to see; gray particles danced in the air, illuminated by thin beams of light filtering through the destroyed ceiling.
The smell was a heavy mix of rust, burnt leather, and smoke.
My heart beat out of rhythm, as if trying to match the vibration still emanating from the runes of the Babel Tower, now slowly dissipating behind me.
Every breath brought a bitter taste of dust and blood.
I kept my attention on the fallen woman in front of me, her disheveled hair stuck to her pale, damp skin.
The purplish veins that once pulsed with shining energy now seemed to dissolve under her skin, disappearing slowly.
Still, something about her unsettled me. The way her chest rose and fell in irregular intervals, the faint tremor in her fingers, the stiffness of her body.
'Don't trust the stillness.'
Miguel's voice echoed in my head, a piece of advice he'd repeated on dozens of missions.
With some effort, I reached the side holster and pulled my pistol. The cold metal contrasted with the warmth still radiating from my hands.
I took a deep breath and aimed at the body. The barrel shimmered for a moment, reflecting the bluish glow of residual energy still floating in the air.
I stepped forward twice, steady, the sound of my boots sinking into the debris. My finger slid over the trigger.
"If you're still conscious, it's best not to try anything," I murmured, more to myself than her.
But before I could complete the motion, something cut through the air behind me.
A high, fast, and metallic sound.
Then, a sharp pain shot through my wrist.
A thin and incredibly strong chain whipped through the air and struck my hand, snapping the pistol from my grip.
The blow was so precise the weapon clattered to the ground, ricocheting and vanishing under a pile of rubble.
"Damn it…" I hissed, twisting around immediately.
I saw the golden glow of the chains again. They rose from the ground, materialized spirals of energy tearing through burnt concrete.
At the center, the woman, now standing, breathing with difficulty.
Her body trembled, those veins pulsed once more, but her gaze stayed... with that vacant look now taken over by unbridled fury.
The runes that before seemed unstable now spun around her in choppy circles, filling the air with a feverish yellow light.
The sound of chains dragging across the floor echoed through the hall, a constant scraping that made my teeth clench.
Without my pistol, the fight was far more complicated. I could feel fatigue weighing down my muscles.
The energy of the Babel Tower still coursed through me, but the earlier effort was taking its toll.
My body burned, and the energy flow flickered in chaotic spasms.
Still, I couldn't retreat.
I forced my focus, adjusting the energy flow within my palm. The runes began to form on the ground again, slowly but with steady rhythm.
The woman charged, chains whipping the air around her.
I reacted out of instinct, channeled energy, and projected the translation field in front of me.
The symbol of the Babel Tower reappeared, weakened, but it still worked. The chains smashed against the translucent shield, scattering golden sparks everywhere.
The force of the blow pushed me back a few steps. The friction between our magics thundered, and the heat spiked instantly.
Each of her strikes seemed to hit harder than the last.
"You don't understand what you're doing!" I shouted, hoping for a glimmer of consciousness in her. "This energy will destroy you!"
No answer. Just another crack of energy, the chains returned, multiplied, slicing the air in erratic moves.
I dodged the first strike by instinct, rolling on the floor. The second grazed my arm, opening a shallow cut.
I felt the hot blood trickle, but I pressed on.
I turned and channeled energy into my free hand; I fired a short sequence of containment pulses, small blue beams that, colliding with her chains, generated a friction field.
The beams weren't lethal, but worked as a distraction. She hesitated, trying to decipher my magic's pattern.
I took the opening and moved in.
The surroundings were nearly unrecognizable.
The metal tables had been destroyed, broken tubes and glass flasks littered the floor, catching fragments of light, creating an illusion of movement in every corner.
Drips from the ceiling fell rhythmically, mixing with the sound of chains, and the soaked floor reflected magical glows like a trembling mirror.
The woman spun, whipping her chains in a wide arc. The strike brushed just centimeters from my face, smashing into a beam and showering sparks.
I seized the motion, darted underneath, and struck her wrist with the side of my hand, enough to break her focus.
She screamed and staggered back, but recovered fast. The chain whipped back as if alive, snaring my ankle and yanking me with force.
I fell flat, the impact knocking the air from my lungs.
Before she could finish her attack, I activated a quick Babel command.
Runes flared under my skin, and with a thrust, I projected a sphere of energy that exploded in waves, breaking the chain.
The metal shone briefly and dissolved into the air like golden smoke.
I rose, panting. My hands trembled, my body felt heavy.
The burning cut ached, and the relentless hum of magic made me dizzy.
She watched from afar, body arched, breathing raggedly. Part of her skin was cracking where the energy concentrated.
Whatever was controlling her was pushing her beyond the physical limits.
I pointed my right palm at her, invoking the Tower symbol again. The runes spun in a spiral around me, creating a translation field.
The field warped sound, turning her shouted words into meaningless echoes.
That gave me a small advantage. She attacked again.
Chains shot at me like lances, zigzagging through the air in chaotic patterns.
I weaved between them, my body acting on instinct faster than thought. Every dodge felt like it took twice the energy.
I got close enough to strike, but the floor gave way slightly, the aftershock of the earlier blast had weakened the structure. I had to brace myself against a twisted beam to keep steady.
She seized the moment, lashing down with her chains, converging them in a single spot.
I triggered the Babel field at the last instant.
Runes flared over my head, forming a curved shield.
The impact was devastating, the sound of metal on pure energy echoing through the hall, golden fire from the chains bursting in circular flames.
The shock nearly buckled my legs, but I kept my feet.
I redirected magical flow, reversing the pressure pushing down on me.
The Babel Tower responded, its runes spinning in reverse, absorbing part of her spell and returning the excess as pulses.
One of those pulses hit the floor at her feet, exploding in a wave of light. She flew backward, crashing into a pile of metal boxes that crumpled on impact.
I seized my chance and ran to where the pistol had fallen. The ground shook with every step, cracks widening under the building's weight.
The smell of smoke and ozone was stronger.
I found the gun half-buried in rubble, covered with dust. I grabbed it with effort, wiping the barrel on my jacket sleeve.
The metal was hot, like it had absorbed some of the ambient energy.
I spun quickly and aimed. She was already up again, swaying but determined.
The chains whipped around her, more out of control than before. The power seemed to surpass her body's capacity to contain it.
In a flash, I fired three times. The shots echoed, metallic sounds reverberating off the warehouse walls.
Two bullets bounced off her chains, the third struck her shoulder, spinning her and dropping her to her knees.
The pain didn't stop her. She screamed, a mix of human voice and energy noise, and the chains lunged again.
I managed to evade the first, but the second snared my leg. I fired again, trying to break her concentration.
The bullet skimmed her cheek, hitting a rune and making it burst into sparks.
I used the blast's instant to channel energy and project a new field.
The runes of the Babel Tower wound outwards in a bright blue spiral over the floor.
They translated every magical vibration in the air, decoding and reversing the flow for me.
Each step toward her, the pressure grew. It was like walking into a headwind.
Energy radiated from her in waves, bending the light and air around us. Shadows flickered, walls groaned, and the ceiling threatened to collapse at any moment.
I drew close, almost able to touch her.
She looked up, her eyes entirely filled with the glow of runes within.
For a heartbeat, I saw fear amid the rage.
Maybe a flicker of consciousness or just a reflection of pain.
"It ends here," I murmured.
I channeled the last of my remaining energy and let the Tower do the work.
The runes spun around me in a spiral, translating her flow, unraveling it, breaking down each layer of spellcraft until only raw energy remained.
The result came in a flash that lit the entire hall. The chains disintegrated into golden light.
The shockwave swept over the floor, raising dust and debris.
When the brightness faded, she was on her knees, breathing hard, body trembling.
I stood only by sheer will, pistol still tight in my grip.
Silence returned, broken only by drips from the ceiling and the creak of unsteady beams.
Smoke thinned gradually, revealing the chaos around us.
I didn't know if that was truly the end, but for now, it felt like enough.
The second floor was destroyed, magical energy dissolving into the air and, beneath everything,
Miguel was still waiting or fighting somewhere in the darkness below.
I took a deep breath, heart still racing, and finally let the Tower fade completely.
The runes vanished, dimming out.
I survived, just barely. Even so, at that moment, it already counted as a victory.