Her body streaked through the air like a cot, aid straight at Lugh.
Between his countless years of inherited combat mory and the Mawglass’ ability to glimpse a few monts into the future, predicting her movents wasn’t difficult. It was child’s play, he didn’t even blink.
She struck the ground hard, like a teorite. Her magically reinforced fra cratering the garden floor. The resulting shockwave rippled outward, hurling Lugh several ters back.
He didn’t stumble or falter, his retreat looked almost choreographed, like part of an elegant, well-rehearsed dance.
Without any delay, she transitioned, darting toward him while keeping low to the ground. She didn’t lunge—she pounced, like a wild predator mid-hunt.
Her claws glead in the light, slicing toward his throat, a single swipe ant to sever his trachea and silence him forever.
Lugh twisted aside, evading effortlessly with ghostlike precision, his blade already moving into position.
She abruptly swerved to the side mid-attack, narrowly avoiding impaling herself on the blade.
It was now his turn.
The longsword spun in his hands, a blur of steel gathering speed and montum.
He charged.
A diagonal slash. A vertical cut. A horizontal sweep—all executed within a heartbeat.
Too fast.
She couldn’t block even one.
Three ghastly wounds and red blood across her midsection.
Lugh drew first blood.
The beastkin grunted as pain jolted through her, but instead of falling back, she surged forward, aiming to close the gap and nullify the sword’s reach.
Bad choice.
She was rewarded with a brutal poml strike to the skull. Her vision blurred, staggered by the blow.
Lugh’s blade arced toward her neck—rciless, clean. But it halted just shy of flesh.
She didn’t understand why he stopped. But she didn’t waste the mont. She leapt back, breathing hard, hand rising instinctively to her throat.
That was too close. One fraction of a second slower, and she’d be dead.
She hadn’t been sure, was he really going to kill her?
He didn’t answer the question burning in her eyes.
She growled low, voice hoarse.
"What are you doing?"
Lugh offered no response. He crouched slightly, both hands on his hilt, raised just above his shoulder, blade pointing forward, tip low. Another unfamiliar stance.
One she couldn’t read.
The beastkin steadied her breath. She couldn’t be reckless again. A single mistake could see her head rolling across the garden floor.
With a deep inhale, she drew on her reserves. Mana flooded her limbs. Bones popped and restructured with sickening cracks.
Muscles thickened, fur surged forth, claws lengthened, growing larger and heavier. Her entire body shuddered.
Partial transformation.
Lugh noted it silently. He had seen similar forms in ancient mories. Which mory, he couldn’t say, but the pattern was familiar.
She approached. This ti not in a sprint, but in a asured gait, raising her massive arms.
When within striking distance, she swung with sudden violence. Fast and heavy.
Lugh parried, deflecting rather than blocking. Still, the force of the impact jolted through his body like hamr strikes.
She smirked and swung again, faster this ti. Then again. Again.
Her claws blurred. Her arms beca shadows.
Steel t claw. Sparks scattered like fireflies.
Lugh moved with surgical precision, parrying each strike with machine-like rhythm.
For a mont, nothing existed but flashes and the ring of steel on bone.
Watching from the garden’s edge, one of the maids—Isolde’s shadow—let her jaw go slack. She wasn’t alone. Others stared in stunned silence.
"S-should we help him?"
The maid whispered.
Isolde didn’t take her eyes off the fight.
"Can you?"
The maid went silent.
anwhile Isolde’s mind whirled. She had known Lugh held so secrets. She had hoped to glimpse so hidden magic, perhaps a natural awakening.
Even if such a thing was a myth, it was still the most plausible theory she had.
But Lugh hadn’t used a trace of magic since the beginning of the fight up till now.
No spells. No incantations.
Just pure skill—inhuman in its perfection.
The beastkin continued her assault, but Lugh guided the battle like a puppeteer, every step and counter smooth, efficient and elegant.
His footwork danced across the grass, each motion transmitting the perfect amount of force, like he had practiced this dance for years.
They’d already moved far from the wreckage.
The beastkin maintained her offensive, but it was obvious to everyone who truly controlled the rhythm of the fight.
Then, an opening. Her persistence broke through. Her claws grazed his cheek.
No blood. No mark.
She blinked.
All her claws... were gone.
Neatly filed off.
Her eyes widened.
Then ca the blow—a sharp, brutal impact to the abdon sent her hurling back.
Lugh stepped forward.
"It’s ti to finish this"
His voice was cold as ice.
He had already learned what he needed. There were few alive who could challenge him in close combat now. This fight had served its purpose.
"Lugh!"
The warning ca too late.
The Anchor, thought long defeated, had dragged his shattered body up for one final attack. He wasn’t aiming at Isolde, he was aiming at Lugh.
If that monster in human skin was slain, nothing would stop the beastkin from claiming victory.
The Anchor raised his blade—
A bird shot through the space between them, breaking his line of sight for a split second
A blur of black. A glint. A glimr of steel placed at just the right angle.
The Anchor felt a sudden weightlessness. His vision spun.
Then darkness.
His head hit the ground before he even realized it was no longer attached.
...
The beastkin didn’t think, she acted. Her body surged forward, reckless, trying to seize the unexpected mont.
But a sudden flock of birds engulfed the space around her. Visibility vanished in a storm of wings.
By the ti the air cleared, Lugh stood before her.
Calm. Unflinching.
Behind him, the Anchor’s corpse lay headless.
That had been fast. Too fast.
A chill crept up her spine.
Lugh tilted his head slightly.
"If you want to run, you can"
He said softly.
"Whether you’ll get away... is a separate matter entirely."
Her jaws clenched. Her eyes reddened with rage.
She let out a feral roar—and charged.
But this ti—Lugh wasn’t ssing around anymore
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