"Are you a mber of the Undying Fla Sect? I've never seen anyone with your abilities while being a fabricator. The only one I can think of with such strength is Orden from the Earth Core Academy." Regis asked. It wasn't their turn yet, so they had idle ti to talk. Regis seed interested in Demon. It was natural to assu Demon's affiliation from how he killed the other three factions and to be confused about who he was.
"You don't talk at all….Shouldn't you show proper respect if you are indeed one of us? I am one of the leaders for the Middle Elite Exalts. Take off that mask and identify yourself." Regis's snake-like eyes flickered with icy malice. His Ein emanated a fierce killing intent. He was prepared for a fight, void of fear and apprehension.
Facing Regis's hostility, Demon felt nothing. Perhaps the pressure would have built if it were Oscar, but Demon was not Oscar. Demon faced Regis and said without emotion, "I recognize you as Regis Hyrin, the swordmaster. What's the purpose of revealing my identity? This ga wants us to kill each other, regardless of faction. You would strike down as a fellow mber of the Undying Fla Sect."
"PLAYER TEN'S TURN"
"True. But, at the very least, I should get your na and face regardless of faction. Soone as strong as you has contributed enough by killing off the others, making an easy pathway for to progress. So are you on my side?" Regis drew closer, stopping before the barrier between platforms.
'Contribution? Easy pathway? If that's how you see it, I'm already ahead in one way.' Demon sat down and closed his eyes in ditation, ignoring Regis for the second ti. Regis's cold remarks about his behavior didn't faze him as Demon reflected on how Oscar won during the Desert Realm duels.
The Demon Deer Eirin Mantle was too showy and would render him useless to complete the ga afterward. For this battle, he had to consider the costs to himself. Regis's power had grown since the last ti Oscar fought him. Demon needed every second more to absorb the Ein and train. The risks of fighting against Regis were far too high.
"PLAYER ELEVEN'S TURN!"
Neither paid attention to the other players. Regis continued to watch Demon, and Demon delved deeper into ditation. The other players had no more uses. A few squares away was the end goal, a square platform with a flag hoisted as a beacon in the red sea of magma and death.
"PLATER TWELVE'S TURN!"
Everything had gone as Demon wanted. He beca the last wall, blocking Regis's path to the exit. Thanks to the unexpected teleport square, his plan went smoothly and accelerated. Reaching into his pocket, Demon felt the thin augnt cards, preparing for the mont of battle.
"PLAYER THIRTEEN'S TURN!"
Finally, the ti had co.
Regis rolled his dice and approached. The pathway to the exit was a single lane, like a straight bridge atop the magma. Demon exited his ditation, seeing the ice swordsman on the platform before his.
"You're the only one left in my way. I don't know if you're with the Undying Fla Sect. From what I've seen, asking you to concede is impossible. Before we fight, tell your na." Regis refused to take the step forward for the ti being. He was very persistent in knowing Demon's na.
Was it so form of honor? Struck by an ember of interest, heating up from the gut, Demon tilted his head in confusion. "By what criteria am I judged for you to want my na so badly? There is no aning for you to know my na."
"PLAYER THIRTEEN! ADVANCE WITHIN THE NEXT MINUTE!"
Regis ignored the announcent. He smiled, an unsettling display with his snake-like eyes. "We might be enemies, but as a swordsman, I must rember the nas of those I think of as strong. There are so I've co to rember during my ti here. The most notable is soone who ca from nowhere."
"Oh? What was their na?" Demon asked. He had an inkling of Regis's answer.
"So bastard from the Blue Ocean Pavilion. He's only a grade four. I was hoping to et him and fight again." Regis sighed. The tir was ticking down, forcing him to move onto Demon's platform. "It's odd. You give off a similar feeling. You're not him, but there's sothing about you…."
'He's quite perceptive. I should be drastically different from Oscar, but he still feels a similarity. I wonder in what ways we're similar.' Demon thought as he got to his feet, clenching his hamr. The countdown to the start of the battle began, and Regis assud his familiar quickdraw stance; this ti, he did so with both blades extending into long ice swords.
"BEGIN!"
At the signal, Demon stayed where he was, not rushing in or slowly walking toward Regis. He knew Regis's range from all previous battles, including Oscar's. If he stepped forward, the frigid temperatures would assail him, followed by Regis's instant quickdraw swords.
'Then let's prepare….' Demon took out his various augnt cards: alacrity, defense, strength, copy, and overlay, holding them between his left fingers. At this ti, Regis followed suit and activated his argunts for sharpness and strength. Regis' face shuddered as Demon didn't use his augnts.
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They had no ti limit, but Regis had been tricked into using his augnts while Demon had the leeway to pick and choose during the battle.
'Everything's gone according to plan. All that's left is to kill him.'
Demon entered Regis's range with a forceful stomp, wanting to unnerve or stress Regis. Unfortunately, Regis showed no reaction after his initial shock, clenching his blades to the point of bleeding. Demon understood Regis's thoughts. Yes, this battle would be settled in an instant.
Either he or Regis would die when he decides to attack for real.
Demon gripped his hamr and lowered his stance, imitating the crouching start of a beast. He felt the freezing air threaten to turn his body into a block of ice if he relaxed his Ein. With a scraping of his feet, Demon sprinted, readying to bash Regis's head into a bloody pulp like the others.
A blue, icy gleam entered his peripheral. Regis released his first blade, sending the platform into a harsher chill. Demon kept an eye on this with his Prinstyct, unable to see its path because it was the anima, not the armant.
'Alacrity'
Right before the sword could reach him, Demon activated his first augnt card, ducking below the incredibly sharpness-empowered sword. The freezing Ein around the blade failed to do anything to his unfeeling body. With one quickdraw done, the other released at the opportune mont.
The second quickdraw released to slice Demon as he was in an awkward position due to his dodging. Even with the burst of alacrity, he couldn't make up for horrible footing. But it wasn't worth worrying about. Demon activated two more augnt cards: defense and strength.
The shrieks of ice and Eirin pierced through Demon's ear as his hamr, infused with Ein, deflected Regis's second quickdraw. With a single final step, Demon cleared the distance between him and Regis. Finally, he reached close range. His victory, however, wasn't secured. Regis's competency in swords made him a fearso foe to fight evenly against Demon Deer Eirin Mantle.
'Your Ein is stronger than mine, but I'm using Eirin combined with the augnts. I should have evened the scales with this.' Demon bashed his hamr repeatedly, clashing and clanging against a pair of icy blades. The boost of alacrity made his swings light, the increase of strength boosted his Reis, and the defense diminished so of the brutal icy air.
Every piece had been gathered. However, Regis's swordsmanship was still unbreakable, leaving shallow cuts which froze instantly on Demon. Demon followed Regis with his Prinstyct, exchanging blow for blow. Hamr stuck against sword. He lost count of how many tis he heard ice ringing and dull tal clunking.
All of this within a few seconds.
"Where is it?! Where is your anima?! This weapon isn't the anima! What about your spells? Don't tell you're holding back because of so idiocy!" Regis unleashed his arsenal of Hyrin sword techniques. His slashes ford into serpents of frost, intent on biting their prey to death.
'Steel Prison'
Oscar hadn't mastered this spell yet, and Demon didn't either. However, it worked enough to contain the serpents for the mont and to obscure Regis's vision before crumbling apart on its own. Demon used Silver Burst; his speed went beyond the norm with the boost of alacrity.
…….
"Shit!" Regis couldn't keep his Prinstyct on the enemy due to the weak beams of steel that encased him. He wondered what this crazed madman was thinking. His respected enemy still had two cards left to play, the overlay and copy. What could the fabricator do with those?
Freed from the weak prison, Regis smiled, feeling the heat of the battle. He hadn't felt such against an opponent, not since the one who defeated him in the Desert Realm. Again, he was reminded about Oscar. Sothing about this stranger reminded him of Oscar.
'Their fighting styles are different. They use different armants. Though, their elents are the sa, which isn't a lot to go on.' Regis scanned the area, searching for his enemy. Realizing he couldn't find him, Regis buckled his knees and focused his Ein behind him.
His two swords hit sothing. Regis turned to see the fabricator fall back, a large frozen cut across his chest, nearly splitting him in two. Regis smiled and shouted, "I comnd you! Nice trick!"
He turned with an improvised quickdraw stance, seeing another fabricator. Regis swung his two blades, and the fabricator was cut twice. He clicked his tongue at how none severed his enemy's body, only inflicting more deep frozen wounds. It was enough.
"You dodged well; however, you're done. Let put you to rest. Be grateful to fall before my swords." Regis truly respected his adversary to have pushed him to this extent, although with the boost of augnts. Suddenly, he heard a sound to his right, shocked at the third fabricator.
"What?!" His hands moved fast and sliced the third fabricator apart. His heart sank, and his mind thundered with alarm as it dissipated. 'Was this one the copy? Then that ans the other two are..!'
"The first one was ," An evil whisper ca from behind.
Regis wanted to move. He had to move. But his timing couldn't be worse off after already attacking. It felt too slow. First, his back stung, then a searing pain followed into his lungs and heart, and finally, a silver tip protruded out of his chest. It was over….
…….
"Thanks for being the fool," Demon said.
"Y-you took my attack?" Regis's words were ssy, warped through the blood flooding his throat, but still understandable. "How can you get up…from such a wound?"
"Pain is foreign to . Next ti, make sure to sever the body before moving on. Although, I never gave you a chance to do so." Demon withdrew the Silver Lance. Showing it once to the audience wasn't an issue. He rubbed the long frozen wound across his chest. This will take so ti to heal.
"What was the overlay, and what was the copy? How can the second one be hurt?" Regis asked pleadingly, wanting to know the reason for his defeat.
"My anima. I overlaid an illusion of myself on the anima and used the copy for the third. I acted as a distraction for the first to let your guard down and to make you believe I couldn't be the first one." Demon explained as his deer anima, disguised as himself, disappeared. "Now, take your knowledge in peace."
Regis fell to the floor, staring up at Demon. His eyes widened. "The feeling of that lance….y-you!"
"Realized it? Too late," Demon didn't give Regis another chance to say anything and crushed his head with the hamr—another grueso kill to add to his list. Demon looted Regis, taking away his prized sword.
"PLAYER ONE HAS WON. HE CAN ADVANCE THREE MORE STEPS."
"Three steps…." Demon struggled to his feet, sensing his body couldn't keep up. The wounds were too great, slowing him down. Despite the advantages of feeling nothing, he couldn't go beyond what the body would fail to do. The battle against Regis required him to use everything and sacrifice much self-harm to win.
'How would you have done it, Oscar? The augnt card for overlay from the slain Blue Ocean Pavilion mber was the difference that made this match. Even with the full force of Eirin and spells, would you have won without the mantle?'
Forcing himself, limping across the platforms, Demon reached the exit platform. He won this ga.
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