"Ww... What a pretty lady?" Alex whistled, his golden eyes gleaming under the dim red light.
He twirled a thin dagger between his fingers, its edge gleaming like liquid silver. "I can sll the treasures on you. You’re quite rich, aren’t you?"
Martina’s eyes narrowed. Her grip tightened on her sword. "You talk too much," she said sharply.
The next mont, her blade flashed through the air. The strike was clean and sharp, cutting through the wind with a violent hiss. But instead of flesh, it t nothing.
Alex’s figure blurred like smoke and vanished.
Martina spun around instantly. Her instincts scread. She slashed again, aiming behind her. The blade tore through the air—but again, she struck empty space.
A faint chuckle echoed from her left. She turned just in ti to see Alex leaning casually against a wall several ters away, holding sothing between his fingers.
"A human command badge," he said, examining the ornant that used to rest in her pocket. "Quite decorated too. You really are soone important."
Her eyes widened. "You—"
Before she could finish, Alex moved again. His body flickered like a mirage, splitting into afterimages that darted around her. Each movent was accompanied by faint whispers of air and the flash of his daggers.
Martina raised her sword to block, sparks flying as steel t steel. She tried to predict his next move, but his speed was unreal. He attacked from every direction with his blades slashing at her legs, arms, shoulders—then vanished before her counter could connect.
Clang! Clang!
Every block sent a jolt up her arm. She staggered back, her breathing growing heavy.
"Tch. You can’t even keep up," Alex mocked, appearing right in front of her and slicing across her cheek. Blood trickled down her face as he grinned. "So slow, lady knight."
Martina clenched her jaw. She could barely see his movents. Every ti she blinked, he was gone. The only thing that gave him away was the faint hum of the air and the glint of his daggers.
She took a deep breath and steadied herself. Her eyes darted around, tracing the flickers in her surroundings. Then she realized sothing—the air around her rippled faintly every ti he moved. It wasn’t teleportation. It was just inhuman speed.
’If I can’t see him,’ she thought, ’then I’ll feel him.’
Her sword trembled slightly as she planted her feet firmly on the ground. She closed her eyes, letting her other senses guide her.
Alex appeared behind her again, confident and smiling. "Giving up already?"
The sound of his voice gave him away. Martina swung her sword upward, and for the first ti, her blade grazed his arm. A thin line of blood splattered in the air.
"Tsk!" Alex hissed, stepping back. His eyes glead with sudden respect. "You actually nicked ."
Martina didn’t answer. She tightened her grip and lowered her stance.
Alex disappeared again, his figure blurring into several afterimages. He struck from the left, the right, above—all at once. Martina twisted her body, barely managing to block one hit while another grazed her ribs. Blood soaked through her armor, and she stumbled, gasping for breath.
Alex appeared beside her, whispering mockingly. "You’re too slow for ."
Martina gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to collapse. Her sword felt heavy, her vision swaying from fatigue. But she wasn’t done yet.
When Alex darted forward again, she didn’t try to block. Instead, she slamd her foot into the ground, shattering the stone beneath her. Dust and debris exploded outward. The sudden burst blinded him for a split second.
And that was all she needed.
Her sword shot forward like lightning, slicing through the air toward his chest.
Alex twisted at the last mont, avoiding a fatal strike, but the blade still tore through his shoulder. He winced and leapt back, blood dripping from the wound.
"Hah," Martina exhaled, her body trembling.
"You can move fast... but not faster than instinct."Alex spoke.
Alex chuckled darkly, wiping the blood with his thumb. "That’s cute. Let’s see how you can last like this."
He disappeared again. But this ti, Martina was ready. She watched the distortion of the air, the faint glimr of dust swirling unnaturally. She moved even before his dagger appeared.
Their blades clashed in mid-air, the shockwave blowing away the dust. Alex’s speed gave him an edge, but Martina’s precise timing began to match his rhythm.
He struck and she parried. He vanished.
Her armor cracked. Cuts lined her arms and face. Each movent sent pain shooting through her muscles. Yet, her focus only sharpened.
Alex, however, was growing impatient. His movents beca sharper, more aggressive. He wanted to end it.
He rushed in again, faster than before. But as he moved, he noticed sothing strange—Martina was retreating, drawing him deeper into a narrow area.
The terrain shifted. Walls of broken stone surrounded him from three sides. It was a triangular dead end.
He stopped abruptly, realizing too late. The only way out was forward.
Martina stood there, bloodied and bruised, but smiling faintly. Her sword glowed faintly with energy as she raised it high.
Alex tried to dash past her, but the confined space restricted his movent. His speed worked against him.
"Got you," Martina whispered.
Her blade slashed downward with all her remaining strength.
.......
The battlefield trembled under their feet.
Kael and Roman faced each other at the center of the ruined plain. The snow around them had long lted from the heat of their aura. The ground cracked, black smoke rising where their power clashed before.
Roman stood calmly, his expression cold and arrogant. Two short swords rested in his hands, crossing in front of his chest. The silver blades pulsed faintly with red energy, forming an "X" that shimred like molten glass.
"Human," he said slowly, his voice deep and filled with pride. "You should have stayed away. Facing will only lead you to despair."
Kael didn’t answer. His eyes glowed faintly, his aura rising. The air around him rippled like a storm about to burst. His sword pulsed with black energy, crackling faintly like lightning trapped in steel.
Then the ground shattered beneath them.
In the next instant, both moved.
Bang!
The air exploded as Kael’s sword t Roman’s twin blades. The impact released a blinding shockwave that tore through the land. The frozen hills in the distance cracked, and the soldiers watching from afar were forced to retreat, shielding their faces from the pressure.
Sparks rained as tal scread.
Roman’s movents were clean and ruthless. His swords moved like an extension of his body, forming arcs of silver light that cut through everything in their path. Kael t each one head-on, his blade striking like thunder, the ground collapsing beneath each step.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Their swords collided dozens of tis in the blink of an eye. The sound of steel against steel was deafening, echoing like constant thunder. Every strike was ant to kill. Every step shook the earth.
Kael swung his sword downward, sending a black wave of energy forward. Roman crossed his blades into an X and slashed outward. His red aura exploded, splitting Kael’s attack cleanly in half.
BOOM!
A massive explosion ripped the field apart. The shockwave sent both fighters flying backward, but they landed at the sa ti, already rushing forward again.
Roman appeared before Kael, faster than before. His short swords flashed in a blinding flurry of strikes, one after another, like lightning cutting through the air. Kael parried with desperate precision, each strike creating a burst of sparks.
Their faces were only inches apart.
"You are strong," Roman said, a cruel smile forming. "But strength without pride is aningless."
Kael growled, his veins bulging as he forced back the twin blades. "And pride without strength is just arrogance."
He twisted his body, slamming his shoulder into Roman’s chest. The impact sent Roman sliding back several ters. Kael followed, his sword blazing with dark energy. He swung in a wide arc that split the air apart.
Roman blocked with both blades crossed, but the force behind Kael’s attack sent cracks crawling across the ground beneath his feet. Dust exploded around them.
"You really think brute force will beat ?" Roman said coldly.
Before Kael could answer, Roman vanished. His image blurred, and Kael’s senses scread in warning. He turned just in ti to block a strike aid at his neck.
The two clashed again.
This ti, Roman’s blades left trails of red light in the air, slicing the space itself. Kael fought with raw power, his sword cutting in wide, destructive swings. Every clash between them bent the light, warping the world around them.
BOOM!
Another explosion erupted as their weapons t again. A huge crater ford beneath them. Wind howled wildly, throwing up dust and snow in all directions.
Kael’s sword vibrated violently as he forced his energy through it. The blade roared, surrounded by a black storm that devoured the light around it. Roman’s twin swords glowed even brighter, forming an "X" pattern that extended into the sky like two burning scars.
Their auras collided.
For a mont, the world went silent. Then—
BOOM!
The explosion that followed split the sky in half. The earth beneath them cracked open for hundreds of ters.
Kael was thrown backward, blood splattering from his mouth, but he caught himself midair and dashed forward again. Roman was waiting, smiling confidently.
Their blades t once more, the collision shaking the heavens.
Kael’s sword left a shadow trail of darkness across the air. Roman countered, spinning his blades in a cross pattern that blocked and redirected the energy. The clash sent black and red waves shooting in every direction, leveling the terrain.
Even from afar, soldiers and mages fell to their knees, unable to withstand the pressure.
Kael’s breathing grew heavy. His armor was cracked, blood dripping from his side. But his gaze burned with fury.
Roman, though unscathed, had a faint cut across his cheek. He touched the blood with his thumb and smirked. "Finally drew blood from , did you?"
Kael didn’t speak. He raised his sword, pointing it at Roman. The black energy around him surged again, darker and wilder than before.
Roman’s smirk widened. "Good. Show your pride."
The ground shattered once again as they vanished, colliding midair in a flash of black and crimson light. The shockwave rolled across the field like a tidal wave, tearing through everything in its path.
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