“That was epic.” Iris declared as she watched the results of Quinlan’s electric smite.
He’d accepted Black Fang’s sign-up bonus with gratitude, which was Volt, an Electromancer in the Greenvale duke’s service. He used the man by forcing him to display his powers so that he could gain a deep understanding of the lightning element, which allowed him to add it to his Elemental Sovereign arsenal.
“Please don’t tell me that you’re falling for him, we don’t need a troublesome woman like you in the harem… It’s already getting too hectic as it is.” Ayame grumbled annoyedly.
The two of them were some of their strongest combatants, so Quinlan asked them to team up alongside Shallan, the Anemomancer, to take one of the guards down.
“Of course not, but I wonder if he would agree with your sentiment.”
“He’s a man, which means that he sometimes deliberately shuts his brain off only so that he can listen to his lower half instead.”
“…” Iris didn’t reply to that, making Ayame ask a question.
“Oh, I’d been meaning to ask; how did it feel to be saved by my ‘useless boytoy’ as you called Quinlan back when we first met? Without him, you would’ve been owned by that Azura woman to a humiliating degree.”
Iris didn’t hesitate with her answer. “I can admit when I’m wrong. He truly is a one-of-a-kind combatant, and not just because of his race that bestows great advantages on him. He has an immensely high combat IQ, he is brave in the face of death, and he adapts to situations with alarming speed.”
“She’s falling for him.” Shallan giggled with an amused smile, followed by a “yep” and a sigh from Ayame.
“The only thing falling will be your heads if you don’t shut up!” Iris hissed.
“Rawr! Rawr! This kitty is so cute!” Ayame mocked her while making high-pitched feline sounds.
Iris grabbed onto the hilt of her blade while bloodthirst oozed from her body.
“Try me, bitch.” Ayame did the same.
“If the master were here, he would tell you to continue this catfight once the situation has been resolved, and that preferably you should do it with him watching while you’re bare-handed, and without any clothes on.” Shallan decreed as she anxiously watched the two fierce kittens glare at each other.
She was saved when the figure of a man clad in pristine armor rushed toward them. “The plan is working, focus!”
“You do realize that you’re attacking high aristocrats, right? We’d already pushed the emergency button, meaning hundreds of high-level soldiers are rushing to this exact location as we speak! Even in the unlikely scenario that you do beat us, escaping will be impossible!”
“Oh no, whatever shall we do…?” Ayame giggled mockingly as she drew her katana at long last and activated her self-buff spell, [Eternal Spirit of the Unyielding]. Iris did the same, buffing herself with the innate spell of the Child of Agony class, [Dangerous Game]. “We’ll continue this conversation once we consume this tasty-looking XP pack.”
“Naturally.”
The elite guard didn’t understand why they were so calm, that was until he thought back to a few seconds ago, and how the man disappeared… from right in front of them…? It was such an insane feat that its implications didn’t even dawn on them. ‘We have to kill them here and now while also protecting the young ladies, or they’ll escape!’ He thought inwardly.
The armored elite guard steeled his resolve and raised his blade.
“You face Aldrin Velsarion, wielder of the Resonant Edge, the blade that sings with death.”
Following his declaration, he vanished in a burst of speed. Ayame and Iris lunged at him, but his speed was faster than they expected. In the next moment, he was mere inches from Shallan with his blade descending on the woman.
Shallan’s sharp instincts kicked in. The wind howled around her as she made a swift gesture with her wand, conjuring a tempestuous barrier. “[Zephyr Wall]!” she cried, making the winds slam into Aldrin mid-swing and forcing him to step back.
“Damn!” Ayame cursed, she was angry with herself for letting their enemy reach the backline without her having the required speed to stop him.
“Let’s take him seriously.” Iris decreed as similar emotions swirled in her mind.
The two women dashed forward to stand between Shallan and the man who speed-blitzed them.
Ayame then lunged forward with her katana flashing in a precise arc, while Iris flanked him. Her movements were erratic yet deliberate as her self-inflicted wounds fueled her devastating power. Shallan remained in the backline as gusts of wind swirled around her, she was waiting for any opportune moment to cast her spells.
Aldrin sidestepped Ayame’s strike with great speed and deflected Iris’ blade at the same time. The clash of steel rang out as each strike of theirs was met with calculated precision. Ayame pressed him from one side with her katana moving at such speeds that it was nothing but a shiny blur, while Iris unleashed her unorthodox and vicious attacks one after the other.
Despite their great teamwork, Aldrin didn’t seem intent on losing. His century of training and high level allowed him to fight on equal grounds in this 1v3 combat.
But then a sudden burst of wind roared from behind him as Shallan unleashed a slicing gale. The air cut through the battlefield, aiming for his exposed back. Aldrin shifted just enough for the wind to graze his armor, its force was enough to disrupt his balance.
Ayame seized the opportunity, she didn’t hesitate for a single moment as her blade immediately whistled toward his neck. He parried at the last moment making sparks fly in all directions as their weapons collided.
Iris dashed in to deliver a brutal overhead strike, the sheer force behind her attack was so mighty that the ground cracked beneath Aldrin when he blocked her attempt on his life. He then retaliated with a wide horizontal slash, forcing the two women back momentarily.
Shallan used the brief reprieve to conjure another attack. “[Wind Surge]!” she shouted, releasing a torrent of air toward him. Aldrin was still mid-attack, so all he could do was brace himself. As he absorbed the impact, his feet slid back on the ground. The momentary disruption gave Ayame and Iris the opening they needed to press him once more, and it was slowly becoming clear that their combined assault was starting to overwhelm him.
Aldrin’s expression darkened. “You’re good, but let’s see how you manage to deal with this before we get carried away.”
He raised his free hand and the air around him began convulsing strangely. “[Magnetic Field]!”
Ayame and Iris froze in their steps because their weapons began to tremble in their hands. Ayame’s katana vibrated violently as its hilt seemingly came alive with a mind of its own while Iris’ blade did the same, making her fingers tighten around it desperately.
“No!” Ayame growled her refusal while her muscles strained to keep her grip. Iris dug her heels into the ground and her knuckles turned white as she fought against the pull.
They managed to hold onto their blades, but then their enemy lunged at both of them, forcing the two women to decide if they wanted to let go of their swords or their lives.
They decided to go with the former, evidenced by their weapons becoming free from their hands as they flew toward Aldrin. However, the blades paused before they could strike the man with their edges hovering dangerously close to his body.
“[Expel]!” Aldrin then released the magnetic field with a sudden push. The blades spun violently, reversing their trajectory as they shot back toward Ayame and Iris with deadly speed.
The two women barely had time to react. Ayame twisted her body with her trademark athleticism while Iris leaped backward, both women managed to dodge their own weapons from bringing their end by the nick of time. They landed with a thud as they regained their footing.
“What now, ladies?” Aldrin grinned smugly as he eyed their bare hands. “Even if you can escape with that Electromancer’s spell, you have to do it quickly before reinforcements arrive. Time is on my side.”
Neither of them reacted to his provocative words. Iris was fine using her fists. As she said during her fight against Azura in the finals of the Phenom Trials, her body was her real weapon – swords were just tools she felt comfortable using. Ayame, meanwhile reached behind her and pulled her wakizashi out of its sheath, which was an eastern-styled short sword, her backup weapon.
“There are no need for words in a beautiful death battle like this, so shut up and let’s dance.” Ayame decreed as her battle-maniac persona was bubbling its way to the front, best evidenced by her crazed grin.