She used the momentum to roll backward, springing up from the ground with her twin blades spread at her sides like a pair of silver wings.
Hela's spear did not stop.
She pursued 2B as she rolled back, bringing the spear down from above—not a thrust, but a cleaving strike.
The shaft, wreathed in black energy, crashed toward 2B's head. If it landed, her skull would be pulverized.
2B did not dodge. She crossed her twin blades above her head and blocked the spear shaft.
Black energy and her Eternity Flame erupted into a ring-shaped shockwave in the Golden Palace's hall, blasting every scattered fragment from the floor.
2B's feet sank into the ground. Stone slabs shattered beneath them, and her knees bent slightly, but she did not fall.
She raised her head and looked at Hela's face over the crossed blades.
Hela's face was close to hers: green eyes, pale skin, dark-red lips.
2B shoved her twin blades forward. Hela's body leaned back slightly, and her spear was forced aside.
2B pulled her feet free from the cracks in the floor, her twin blades spinning as she launched three simultaneous attacks at Hela's neck, armpit, and knee.
Hela blocked two with her spear, but for the third—the strike aimed at her knee—she was one-tenth of a second too slow.
The tip of the short blade pierced the side of her knee. Black energy poured from the wound and splashed onto 2B's hand, scorching hot like lava.
Hela clenched her teeth.
She did not scream or shout. She merely gritted her teeth.
She retreated two steps.
2B gave her no chance to catch her breath.
She chased after her like a black whirlwind, her twin blades carving one silver-white arc after another through the air.
Every strike landed precisely on