Narrator's POV
The sound of metal pieces falling to the cold surface of the ceiling was all that echoed inside of Ryan's mind, his blue eyes, completely locked onto the broken shards of the ornament he had on his head just seconds ago, but now, it was completely broken right in front of him.
"...Uh...?"
He didn't even register Jingliu's presence at the moment, the white-haired woman simply stopped her movements as she stared at the young man completely paralyzed, but soon, she frowned a little and immediately moved at him to continue attacking.
"M-maybe I can still!-" Ryan's hands tried to reach out to the fragments.
He could still repair it with time magic, as long as not much time had passed, even if he had to dump his entire pool of magic into it, he had to repair it.
Unfortunately, Jingliu got to him before he managed to grab the fragments, his hand only managing to get a few fragments before the woman kicked him hard enough to send him flying.
This time, the woman's attack was actually strong, Ryan's body slammed agaim into a wall, but this time it went through it, coming out of the other side of the building his body rolled a little on the ceiling he fell onto before he stopped with his back hitting a wall.
Ryan simply remained there, his eyes completely unfocused as he tightly gripped on his hand the few fragments he had managed to get before being kicked away, he slowly opened his closed hand seeing the 2 small pieces he had managed to get, after a few seconds of simply staring at his hand, he just closed it again, letting out a small almost completely silent sigh.
"I'm tired..."
"Are you?"
Ryan perked up a little slowly lifting his gaze up, seeing Ace Chevalier staring down at him, the Chevalier's cold silver eyes looking directly down at his blue ones.
"Not now...Ace" He thought while Ace's eyes narrowed a little.
"Why is that woman still alive?" He asked at Ryan.
"I can't beat her, Ace, she's too strong, and I'm tired...I don't know what to do anymore"
"You're pathetic...that ornament was the only thing keeping us close to Orly and Teo, that woman broke it and you're just going to let her get away with it?" Ace's voice echoed a little angry in Ryan's head. "Aren't you angry? Don't you want to kill that woman?"
"...why do you care? You weren't made to care, you weren't made to get angry, so why do you even care about what happens at this point?"
"...is that what you think?"
"...huh?"
Ryan looked at Ace, and he immediately put one hand around Ryan's throat, he wasn't physically there, there was no way for him to be there, but still, the white-haired boy could feel the strong cold hand going around his neck.
Jingliu jumped through the hole in the wall that Ryan's body had made, her feet fell on the ceiling and she narrowed her eyes.
Ryan had already stood up, some black smoke slowly rising around him before It condensed around him to form a cape and hood, the fragments of the ornament were still in his left hand, though he slowly drove it inside of his kimono putting the fragments in one of his inner pockets.
"That's the power...but there's something wrong" Jingliu's eyes locked directly into his. "There was a mild pressure when he fought his companions in Stargazer Navalia but now...I feel absolutely nothing"
A pair of silver eyes stared from under the hood directly at the woman, he stood silent for a few seconds before finally speaking.
"I...Am tired, you know?" The Moon Spirit drove a hand to his face. "I have acted for so long like I cared, like if I were a good person, I had to smile and fake worry for others, I had to cling to fake feelings I built for myself, but...I don't know if I should continue caring"
Some black smoke formed in front of him, like if it was a portal, he pushed his arm into it, some effort being put into the process as his left arm went deeper into the smoke.
"Ace, I do not remember giving you permission to take back your-"
"Shut up"
In a single movement, he pulled the arm outside of the smoke, and in his hand, he now held a katana, the blade was a little shorter than 1 meter long, the handle big enough for him to grab it with either one or two hands, the black smoke slowly surrounded the blade of the sword as the white-haired boy got ready.
Ace Chevalier had regained his family's weapon.
....
"What do you think we're made for?"
Ryan remained silent at the question, his eyes staring at the sunset at the distance, before his gaze moved slowly, looking at his right, he saw a man standing right beside him.
Short reddish brown hair that was tied in a low ponytail, hazel eyes that stared at the sunset just like how Ryan did before, a small scar in the shape of a lightning bolt right under his left eye, he wore a dark simple and slightly worn out gray shirt, over this he wore a dark cloak and downed hood, a pair of black pants and simple black boots, and on the back of his waist, a pair of daggers were strapped.
"I...don't know, we serve the Emperor"
"No...we Choose to serve the Emperor, but our true loyalty is to someone else" The man spoke calmly.
"...the Goddess of death" Ryan's eyes moved to look at the floor.
"Our Lady, Turzina" he nodded his head at the white haired boy's words. "Because of her we are what we are, because of her we gained strength, and we got rid of what we didn't need"
His gaze then moved behind both of them, Ryan silently followed his stare, and his brows slowly furrowed, not in an expressive frown, but something quite close to it.
"Wouldn't you agree, Ace?" He asked eyeing at him.
Ryan kept himself silent for a few seconds, his eyes moving slowly, recording one by one all the bodies that lay on the ground, completely dismembered, some were burnt, others showed signs of their bones being completely broken and snapped, with a light almost completely silent sigh, Ryan's gaze moved back to the sunset, watching it as the Sun slowly dissapeared in the distance.
"Uncle Dunn..." He started to speak. "I have no desire of following that woman....she can believe she has ownership over me, but I have already pledged my life to this island and its people..."
His left hand silently rested on the handle of the Katana that he had strapped on the left side of his waist,his right hand moved to grab it and slowly unsheat it, the thin edge of the blade letting the remaining light of the sun shine and reflect, before it completely darkened out as the Sun dissapeared completely.
"Dunn Chevalier, under the order of the Emperor of Shion Island, I must execute you..."
The entire place immediately became cold and silent, a mild breeze hitting both Chevalier's before the adult let out a small snicker, he then jumped back, creating a bit distance between both of them.
"Good, tonight, one of us will make our Lady stronger" Dunn's voice came out with a tone full of devotion.
His hands moved behind him, closing around the handles of his daggers, the slow movements of his hands unsheathing both weapons made Ryan's skin go completely cold as a shiver went up his spine.
The white-haired boy held his Katana with both hands, aiming the tip of it directly at Dunn Chevalier's chest even through the distance between.
"Good" Dunn spoke as he rose both daggers in front of him. "That's a good posture, a good instinct, the sword of our family aiming directly at my heart, you truly are a Chevalier"
The black cloak around him started to flutter without wind, a thin layer of dark smoke surrounding it, a pair of fingers pulled the hood over his head obscuring his face though the dim glint of his now silver eyes stood out beneath the darkness of the hood.
"Come forth, Ace"
Both Chevaliers remained still for a second, their eyes focused on each other's movements, the mildly cold breeze stopped hitting, and their bodies stiffened, lunging at each other with their weapons.
And blood started to stain both of their blades.
....
Ace Chevalier's hand tightly held the handle of the Katana, the one his family considered an heirloom, a weapon given to them by Turzina herself.
Jingliu's hand also tightened around her Ice sword, a small almost imperceptible glint of unease in her red eyes, then, in an instant she did an upwards slash, throwing an Ice slash directly at the white-haired boy.
Ace simply sidestepped the attack, his silver eyes locking directly on Jingliu, the woman gave a step forward, ready to lunge at him, but with a hand gesture, Ace stopped time with magic.
"He knows I can move" Jingliu thought inside of her head, her eyes partially moving to follow Ace's movements. "I am slowly getting used to this, the more he uses, the more I'll be able to move, but for now, I have to wait for him to close the distan-"
Jingliu's thoughts completely stopped as she stared at Ace, the white-haired boy was making mild hand gestures, and all around her, various magic circles formed, all of them throwing a fireball, though the fiery projectiles soon stopped mid air by the effect of the stopped time.
"Does he plan to force me into a defensive position?"
Soon, time started to move again, the various fireballs moved towards Jingliu, they were pretty close, but the Sword Master was still faster, her hand moved rapidly, her Ice sword slashing and stopping all the fireballs, she stared bat at Ace, already seeing him in front of her throwing a downards cut, one that she easily blocked.
Then, a pair of ethereal swords formed at the sides of Ace's head and flew directly at Jingliu's head, she dodged them tilting her head to the sides pushing the boy away she jumped, but behind her another pair of swords formed and moved directly at her, she turned around mid air and slashed at the weapons, completely breaking them, Ace yet again closed the distance his right hand formed a small fireball that he threw at her, Jingliu arrived at the ground and saw the attack approaching she tried to step to the side, but the Ice growing on the soles of her shoes kept her in place, she grunted lowly and stopped the fireball by slashing at it, the small explosion clouding her sight for a second.
Ace approached and threw a stab directly at her neck, Jingliu managed to free herself from the Ice and gave a sidewards slash at him, but the weapon went right through Ace.
"Is this a fake?"
From behind the Illusion, the Chevalier's Katana went through him like a ghost, directly at her face, the woman barely reacted and jumped back to dodge and create distance yet again, but she still felt the small cut that the weapon had made on her cheek.
"This young man...at first he was fighting defensively, but now..."
She didn't even have to finish the sentence inside of her head, as she saw Ace rising two fingers of his right hand, creating various Ethereal Katanas around him while other magic circles also started to appear.
The various magic weapons started to fly at her, the magic circles throwing fireballs at her, another one formed right below Jingliu, she quickly moved before a lightning fell on the place where she stood, then she swung her sword to block and destroy the projectiles thrown at her and as retaliation throw Ice slashes of her own at Ace.
The hooded boy jumped high, dodging the attacks and the incoming slashes that Jingliu threw a him while he was mid air, he spun in the air, his right hand made a gesture, forming magic circles on the air where he passed, 4 fireballs moved directly at Jingliu was ready to block them but time stopped again.
Behind her, more magic circles formed, throwing fireballs that froze mid air, all around her ethereal swords formed ready to fly straight at her, and Ace himself reached the ground, grabbing his Katana with both hands as he lunged at Jingliu throwing a stab.
Time flowed again, and every single attack reached her all at once.
An explosion of fire occurred, flames raised and Jingliu jumped out of the fire, now having one Ice Sword in each of her two hands, she had managed to block most attacks, but still, she no had a small cut on the side of her belly that she had gotten by dodging the white-haired boy's Katana.
But most importantly.
"My wounds...are not healing"
Lifelong species healed fast, but her Mara allowed her to heal even faster, and yet, neither the cut on her cheek or the one on the right side of her belly were healing at all, and looking down, she could see the faint traces of black smoke coming out of the cut on the side of her belly.
"That weapon...does it stop healing? Or is it just an ability of his?" The woman frowned a little. "That must be it, the power that could even kill gods...he hasn't shown any other ability similar"
She drove a hand to her head and grunted lowly, her Mara was starting to get worse, she had spent too much time already without the blindfold, even if it had just been a few minutes, those minutes were too much.
Her eyes looked forward, and she saw Ace walking out of the flames, the dark cloak and hood letting out a little more smoke, he slammed his foot against the ground and a massive magic circle formed under him reaching Jingliu, from the magic circle and around Jingliu's feet, various Ice spikes came out directly to impale her.
Jingliu used both of her swords to destroy the spikes before jumping up, Ace kneeled down snd pressed his hand against the center of the magic circle, letting it spin and turn purple, a sudden gravity shift forced Jingliu to crash down on the ground, the circle then spun immediately and turned orange, flames starting to spur out of it ready to consume Jingliu grunted as the fire started to burn her, and even though she regenerated the burns, that seemed to just advance her Mara even more.
The flames then started to spiral and move towards the center of the magic circle, where Ace raised his hand letting all the fire form into a huge fireball that he immediately launched at the white-haired woman who used both Ice swords to launch an X shaped slash stopping the attack, her heels dragging across the floor a few centimeters backwards before she looked up, seeing dozens of Ethereal swords starting to rain down on her.
"This person!—"
Her swords started to destroy and deflect the raining swords, but her eyes immediately moved to the side seeing how Ace jumped at her to attack, she grunted a little and saw herself in a difficult position, one sword clashed against the boy's Katana again and again while the second one deflected all the raining katanas she could.
"He hasn't grown any faster or stronger, but..."
She deflected Ace's Katana upwards, but the white-haired boy pointed his free hand at her throwing a fireball directly at her chest, one that she barely managed to block, but still sent her flying back, mostly unscathed though her frown just grew.
"Does he ever get tired?"
Her body bounced on the ground a little but she quickly regained her footing and looked forward, seeing Ace already forming more magic circles and swords around all around him.
"My Mara is getting worse..." Jingliu let out a soft sigh. "Young Man, I'm afraid the test ends here"
Jingliu's gave one step back, ready to jump away but time was yet again stopped, the woman's eyes widened a little as she saw Ace already throwing more swords and magic at her, fireballs froze mid air, magic circles below her let out Ice spikes that stopped just mere centimeters away from her skin and she saw him momentarily holding the Katana with his mouth so he could form a lightning bow in his hands, shooting a lightning arrow at her that stopped mid-air.
"Ah...I see..."
Jingliu mentally sighed, before time resumed and every single magic attack moved again, the Woman simply used all her possible movement to form a shield of Ice around her, and as soon as time moved, every single attack hit the shield she had formed.
"I was trying to force him into the edge of a cliff" A frown formed on her face. "Did I..."
The ice shield slowly dissapeared, her red eyes locking directly into Ace's silver ones, the white-haired boy gave a step forward, before jumping at her with his Katana being held with both hands.
"Accidentally push him off the cliff entirely?"
....
Jing Yuan was in the middle of a predicament, it had been a long time since the Divine Foresight had such a hard time to make a decision.
"Pork or chicken for dinner?"
Truly a predicament no one could solve easily.
"Maybe both..."
His thoughts were soon cut off as an holographic projection of Yukong appeared on the other side of his desk.
"General, there's an urgent matter you should know about"
"Did the Luofu run out of pork and chicken?" He asked sitting straight on his chair.
"...No?" Yukong raised and eyebrow before sighing "we've been receiving some worrying calls from civilians during the last minutes, a pair having a rather intense fight"
"The Cloud Knights are too scattered to deal with them? What is it? Two drunkards?" He closed his eyes leaning back on his chair.
"Actually...based on the information we've been told, while one of them is covered in shadows, the other one is eeriely similar to the previous Sword Champion, Jingliu" she spoke and Jing Yuan immediately opened his eyes.
"....are you certain about that, Yukong?" He asked, his voice coming out a little more serious.
"I am certain, many witnesses had matched description, female, white hair, using Cloud Knight Swordmanship and they've seen her using Ice abilities"
"I see..." He straightened up before fully standing up from his chair. "Thank you for coming to me, Yukong, I'll handle it"
Yukong just nodded her head silently, before the hologram dissapeared, Jing Yuan's eyes closed for a few seconds before he walked to the window behind his desk, staring at the exterior through it, his eyes opening and his brows furrowing.
"Master...what mess did you get yourself in?"
★ ★ ★
A/N: I could've finished the fight in this chapter, but it would've been quite longer, so I prefer to finish the fight in the next chapter.
Also just finished the Trailblazer Quest yesterday, I love Sparxie, I love mentally unstable girls, I'm a Sparxhead now.
Hope you all enjoyed.