CHAPTER 223: The Final Decisive Battle in the Clock Tower, Fenix Roger Vs Enid Drakewood

CHAPTER 223: The Final Decisive Battle in the Clock Tower, Fenix Roger Vs Enid Drakewood

Enid launched herself again.

Her enormous shadow covered Fenix when she jumped with both claws forward. Fenix reacted purely by instinct. He twisted his body to one side in the last second and the impact destroyed the floor where he had been an instant before.

He barely had time to get up when he lunged forward and sank his fangs into Enid's arm. He bit hard, sinking his teeth into the tough flesh.

Enid roared, but responded immediately.

She gave him a brutal blow to the snout.

The impact was dry and devastating. Fenix was sent flying backward and crashed against the floor with a thunderous noise. Before he could get up, Enid was already on top of him.

She pressed a knee against his chest and brought both hands to his face.

—I'm going to blind you —she growled.

Her thumbs sank into Fenix's eyes.

The pain was immediate and absolute.

Fenix howled, a heart-wrenching sound that resonated throughout the tower. His claws moved blindly, searching for something, anything. In a desperate swipe, he managed to dig his nails into Enid's chest and slashed with all his strength.

The flesh opened in a long, deep gash.

Enid let out a growl of rage and pulled away abruptly, bringing a hand to her bloodied chest. She retreated several steps, breathing with fury.

Fenix lay on the ground, writhing. He brought a hand to his face, breathing irregularly. When he tried to focus, everything was blurry, distorted, as if the world were covered by a thick mist.

He blinked several times.

The vision did not disappear.

He had lost part of it.

Enid watched him from a few meters away, smiling despite the open wound on her chest.

In one of the corners, Selene moved quickly among old boxes, broken boards, and remains of rusted machinery. She rummaged desperately, pushing objects aside with dust-stained hands.

—There's nothing… —she murmured, without stopping her search.

Joe approached limping, leaning against a wall.

—Let me see —he said, helping her move a heavy box.

Selene pushed aside another pile of scrap and, then, she saw it.

—Wait…

She crouched down and pulled out a flare gun, old, but intact. She checked it in a second.

—It has one —she said.

Joe's eyes widened.

—Only one?

—Enough.

Selene reloaded it with steady hands, raised the weapon, and aimed directly at Enid, who was still standing in front of Fenix.

She fired.

The thunder resonated throughout the tower.

The flare did not hit Enid. It flew past and embedded itself in one of the wooden pillars of the ceiling. For a second nothing happened.

Then, the fire appeared.

The flare exploded in intense flames and the pillar began to burn instantly. The old wood creaked, blackening quickly.

—You missed! —Joe shouted, alarmed.

Selene did not take her eyes off the ceiling.

—No —she replied—. I didn't miss.

The pillar gave way with a dry sound. Part of the ceiling came down at once and fell on Enid, raising a cloud of dust, embers, and burning splinters.

The impact shook the entire structure.

The flames began to spread uncontrollably. The wooden beams caught fire quickly, one after another, and the fire began to climb the walls of the clock tower. The heat increased within seconds.

Sparks, smoke, and burning debris fell everywhere.

The entire tower began to burn.

The fire crackled around him, but Fenix barely perceived it. In his uber lycan form he could not think clearly, not like before. His ideas were fragments, broken impulses that collided with each other as he watched Enid get up among the flames, growling, shaking off the remains of the ceiling that had fallen on her.

Even so, his mind forced something resembling thought.

Not like this… not head-on.

A possibility crossed his mind: launch himself directly at her neck and tear it until she stopped moving. The image ended quickly. Too slow. Enid surpassed him in strength and size. He would die crushed.

Another option: flee, buy time, let the fire do the work. He also saw it clearly. Enid would not die from the flames before he did. She would reach him.

The third idea was worse. Use his entire body as a weapon, a suicide attack, take her with him into the void if the tower gave way. The ending was the same. Darkness.

All three ended with his death.

Fenix growled, frustrated, clenching his claws against the blackened floor.

Enid roared back.

She advanced toward him, slow, sure, savoring the moment. Her enormous silhouette stood out against the fire, her eyes gleaming with a sick ferocity.

Then something clicked.

Not defeat her… immobilize her.

His muscles tensed. If he could hold her, even for a few seconds, if he could block her arms, her neck, limit her movement…

He could finish her.

Not with brute force. With control.

Fenix dug his claws into the floor, lowered his center of gravity, and waited.

Enid growled again and quickened her pace.

Fenix was no longer thinking about surviving.

He was thinking about not letting her move.

Enid launched herself without warning.

It was not a clash of alphas or a ceremonial fight. It was a dog fight, brutal, messy, without honor. Two enormous bodies collided among the flames and the creaking wood, rolling on the ground like wild beasts.

Fenix managed to wrap his arms around her, dug his claws in trying to fix her shoulders, seeking to immobilize her as he had planned. His muscles tensed to the limit, his fangs exposed, the growl coming from the deepest part of his chest.

But it was not enough.

Enid was bigger. Heavier. Stronger.

With a sharp movement, she twisted her body and freed one of her arms. Before Fenix could react, Enid opened her jaws and bit.