I was nearly caught by another flurry of Irun's strikes, which I barely managed to dodge. It seemed my brother was also mildly distracted, as he was nearly pommeled by a rapid succession of incoming hammer strikes that cracked the stone beneath where he had just been. Meanwhile, Irun swung almost as quickly as I did, deflecting, parrying, and attacking as quickly as our muscles could manage.
He was never this good when we trained. I might actually have to use the second stage, but I could die if I lose focus for even a split second, I thought.
Another blow came from above, and while I had blocked the majority of the blow, the sharp point managed to cut into my forehead, spilling blood into my right eye.
Shit, I can't see a fucking thing through my right eye. I've got to do something to clean it, I thought as I struggled to deflect the incoming barrage of strikes aimed at my head and torso.
Irun prepared a crushing blow for me, hoping to flatten me against the stone floor, but I quickly stepped out of its way, putting some distance between us. I ended up using the backside of my gauntlet to wipe away some of the blood during the brief pause it gave me.
"Are you even trying to kill me, Thoma? You know, for someone as blessed as you are, I expected so much more from you," Irun said mockingly as I caught my breath for a few seconds. I spent the next few moments searing the wound with a bit of mana and holding my sword steady as I did so to show that my guard was not being let down at all.
"Oh, you want me to try? As you wish," I replied with a wicked grin. He was taken aback as he watched my eyes begin to show signs of entering the second stage. I could see slight amounts of mana leakage from his rapid transformation. It was like there were side effects to having been changed so quickly, and as a result, I noticed weaknesses in his defense and noted them.
I've never seen him like that. That's more like it, I thought as I watched mana race down his spine.
"You know, I'm sorry we never grew close. We might have prevented this whole situation," I said, shaking my head. "What makes you think that you could have done anything to stop me?" Irun asked after blowing a raspberry, but I could only sigh in immediate response.
Doesn't look like there's anything I can say that will even begin a real conversation, huh? I thought, leaning forward a little in preparation for what came next.
"I'm only going to warn you of this because I once considered you a friend," I began, drawing much more mana from the Ethereal and infusing it into my muscles. "Friend? What could you possibly say to me after all these years that I haven't heard already?" Irun asked, preparing to launch an attack aimed at my clavicle.
"Speed blitz incoming," I said maliciously, my voice oozing with an intense amount of mana.
Irun dashed towards me, swinging his sword directly towards the base of my neck, looking to decapitate me in one, clean strike. However, I felt his panic after his sword was left wanting and met nothing but air. I suddenly appeared behind him with a menacing look, the shadow of the night hiding my features, showing only the glow of my eyes and the glint of my sword.
I could tell he was scared by the look on his face when he turned to react to my initial swing, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me grin. I began swinging my sword more rapidly than before, leaving Irun minimal time to react. He barely managed to get his jagged blade at a bit of an angle to deflect an incoming blow from above.
"You think your speed will help you?" he asked with false motivation, probably trying to shield himself from the fear that began to creep in, but I didn't reply. I didn't have time to, so I continued berating him with attack after attack.
Meanwhile, I saw Ardrin was growing impatient at his brother's ability to block and counter every spell he tried. He yelled as his mask began to glow, spawning a scarlet claw that extended from his hand. Taegin had only fractions of a second to conjure a mana barrier that was only just able to block it, stopping the claw a few centimeters away from his body.
The two of them struggled for a few moments, but Ardrin began to gain the upper hand, using all his might to push one of the tips of the claws into Taegin's shoulder at the joint, causing him to scream in agony.
Master! Shit, this is bad, I thought for a split second as his cry cut through the sounds of my own battle.
It distracted me from Irun's incoming attack, which sent me flying backwards into the nearby pillar. Taegin seemed to be faltering in his defenses, like something was draining his mana right out of his body. "You cannot defeat me, brother! Surrender, and I will let you live!" Ardrin shouted, forcing the claw in a little more deeply.
Taegin looked tempted to simply let go of it all and give up as his strength waned, but he gritted his teeth and began to forcibly remove the claw from his shoulder as his eyes glowed more intensely than before. "I will never surrender to you, brother, even if it means my death," he said with all the strength he could muster.
He used the last of his might to cast the scarlet claw into the ground, nearly severing his arm entirely as it crashed into the stone floor beneath him. Meanwhile, I deflected another set of blows from Irun, who seemed to grow increasingly frustrated with my lack of care for our fight since entering the second stage.
I could only watch as Taegin began falling forward, the blood rushing from his shoulder, far too weak to stand from the blood loss. Ardrin turned away from his younger sibling towards mine and Irun's battle as if he would offer assistance.
Just as Taegin's body hit the floor, Bernar cast an Exar blast aimed at his two foes' heads, blowing their helmets clean off their shoulders, causing them to stagger and group together from the forceful blast.
However, they failed to recover in time, as he had already leaped into the air. His airborne strike sliced both of their heads in half with a swift, spinning motion that sent blood high into the air. He landed like a cat jumping off a high shelf, as the fleshy chunks struck the floor beside him.
"You two definitely succeeded in pissing me off," he spat before seeing how the Master's battle was faring, noticing a slight lull in the mana flowing through the air. That was when he noticed Taegin lying on the floor, motionless and in a pool of his own blood. "Taegin!" he shouted as he dashed to his aid, sliding on his knees before turning the body over, noticing the wound.
Meanwhile, Ardrin approached Irun and I with a menacing aura as tendrils of violet mana lurched out from him and wrapped around my core. I couldn't exactly tell what was happening, but it gave Irun enough of an opening to land a pommel strike to the bridge of my nose, causing my eyes to water.
Through the blurriness, I noticed Ardrin's head tilted slightly, making me wonder what the spell he cast on me was even for. Irun dashed in for another strike, but I immediately returned the pommel strike he gave me earlier after deflecting his blade over my shoulder.
"You fucker!" he shouted, swinging aimlessly through teary eyes. Ardrin saw this and sent out another tendril of his dark mana to help him, which leeched my remaining strength.
Irun must have seen it coming, because he began drawing copious amounts of mana from the Underworld, landing a crippling strike on my guard, knocking me to the ground.
Damn it, I'm losing consciousness and I don't know why, I thought as I felt my eyes begin to cease their glow.
"Irun, it's time to go. If we don't leave now, all of this will be for nothing," Ardrin called out just as Irun was about to land a finishing blow on me. However, as he raised his sword, I could have sworn I saw a hint of either regret or hesitation in his eyes; I couldn't tell which. Whatever it was, it made me sure that he wasn't going to kill me in my weakened state.
He clicked his tongue and turned to leave, and I saw it as an opportunity to get to my feet. He must have known I would, because he quickly turned around and struck me again with his pommel, smashing me in the face and nearly rendering me unconscious. "It seems like you won't have my head today, Lanky," he spat a wad of blood near my face.
Damn it, he's going to get away, I noticed through my blurred vision, struggling to get to my feet once more to head after him.
I was on my feet again, but I was bent over like a drunkard and struggling to keep my balance. My blurred vision didn't help much either, but I knew what I had to do. I drew from the Ethereal to get back into my second stage, drawing my free hand over my shoulder, then flinging it forward to cast my Whip of Doom.
The tendril lashed out and wrapped around his forearm near the height of his elbow, just before I flicked my finger to ignite the mana. I admit I almost chuckled when I saw the chunk of his flesh soaring through the air with a trail of blood following behind it.
Irun screamed in agony as he watched his beloved forearm fly near his face, immediately clutching his new stump tautly as Ardrin seared the wound shut and dragged him towards the swirling, violet portal and threw him inside.
Meanwhile, Bernar was still leaning over Taegin's body, pouring mana into the still-open wound. "Does it look as bad as it feels?" I heard Taegin ask weakly. "It's only a flesh wound," Bernar said as he turned to see that the line outside had kept the creatures at bay. "Pyle!" he called out, prompting the old Synner to look at Taegin in his arms, bleeding profusely.
Disoriented as I was, I fell to my knees, exhausted from the ordeal and the spell the Masked One had cast on me earlier. "One day, Irun," I mumbled weakly as I watched the pair go through the portal that shut quickly behind them. My eyes were heavier than ever, and I could feel the exhaustion hitting me like a fully loaded wagon.
Can't let him… get… away, I thought briefly before collapsing onto the stone floor as the world around me went dark.