Claude tightened the grasp on his sword, fanning out around his two opponents with all four of his forms. Diana the Researcher… What was she doing here? Had she known that he would volunteer for this mission? No, he refused to believe that could be possible. In that case… Claude looked over at where Christoph stood clutching at his head. Was she here for the other-worlder, then? It was true that he had required her aid to slay the dragon, but she had been a platinum-ranked member of the adventurer’s guild at that time. Now, she moved alone.
“Diana,” he called. “You mean to take this demon as your next subject?”
“I do,” she replied. Her voice was clear, cutting through the forest even at low volume, and Christoph felt each word hammer into his skull. Her subject?
“I intend to slay him, and carry his head back to Starthall as proof” Claude said, his four swords rising as he approached his confused target. “I will not allow you to interfere.”
Diana laughed at his proclamation, covering her mouth with her left hand as she stretched out her right, obliterating one of Claude’s bodies with a flicker. “You may be called the dragonslayer,” she said, “but don’t think for a moment that you have reached my level just yet.”
Claude fell silent as he summoned another replica, four shields facing towards the elf as he came to a halt. He would retaliate if she wished to fight, but he did not relish the thought of facing the elf alone.
Diana smirked over at where Christoph was still blinking in confusion, shrugging her shoulders with a sigh. “Very well,” she said. “If he cannot defeat you here, I doubt he’d be worth my time in any case. I promise not to interfere with your duel.” Her arm swept out again, and three of the Paladins vanished in a swathe of flame.
“A duel should be fought one-on-one, though,” she said, stepping back to lean against a nearby tree with a yawn. “Don’t you think, Sir Dragonslayer Claude?”
Christoph shook his head as the Paladin came closer, blinking his eyes to clear his vision. Had everything Diana had said been lies? What should he do? He might be able to take the Paladin, now that there was just one, or he could still flee. Diana had stabbed Emilia! The elf waved to him with a smile, and he felt his anger fading away as his skull flared with pain. He shook his head again, but his thoughts remained clouded even as his headache faded away.
“Prepare yourself, demon!” Claude’s yell snapped him into the present, and he raised his sword as the Paladin closed the distance with steady steps. This was it for now, Christoph decided. He should focus on the enemy in front of him.
He stepped forward to engage his opponent with his crystal blade, Claude’s shield catching his blow before he retaliated with his sword. Christoph ducked away from the blow, kicking out at the knight before launching into a frenzied chain of attacks.
Claude grunted with the force of each attack, moving back to avoid what strikes he could as his shield threatened to buckle under the barrage. An enemy that defeated even the Blessed Execution Gideon… His companions from the Creator’s Willful might not think much of the black-armored Templar, but Claude knew his strength was nothing to trifle with. Christoph’s speed and strength might be incredible, but had Gideon really lost to someone who showed no signs of ever having trained with his blade at all?
Christoph pushed back at the knight, circling around to the Paladin’s left in order to keep out of reach of his sword. Christoph’s blows rained down on Claude’s shield, and he felt the Paladin being to falter, several attacks threatening to slip around his shield and slice off his arm at the shoulder. Christoph continued his attacks without pause, leaving no room for retaliation. If he could only get past his shield, he could end everything right here! His armor might shine in the morning sun, but he had blown Dane away with a single strike, and this time would be no different.
Claude studied his opponent as he retreated, moving in a slow backwards arc to keep Christoph from circling around his shield. Normally, he might have tried to bash the opponent’s weapon aside and strike out with his sword, but this time was different. In this scenario, if he couldn’t cut his foe down with one attack he would lose his life in return. Taking another step back, he felt his left foot slip out from underneath him. The leaves! Christoph’s relentless attack gave him no room to confirm his surroundings, and his armor had not been designed to fight in such terrain to begin with. Perhaps he should have forgone his plate as Gideon had.
Christoph grinned as the Paladin slipped on the loose forest floor, lunging in to smash his shield aside and strike down at his opponent’s metal-clad torso. It was over! The crystal sword swept down towards the Paladin, the blade shimmering as it moved. Claude’s own sword parried it to the side millimeters before it landed, his blade slashing out in a savage riposte as Christoph’s weapon was pushed away. Mana exploded outwards with Claude’s attack, and Christoph was thrown backwards through the air, landing on his feet before falling forwards onto all fours.
Such power! Christoph looked upward at Claude as the knight righted his stance, seeing that his shield was no longer strapped to his left arm. He had discarded the damaged weapon to make a two-handed attack with his sword! Christoph opened and closed his fist, the handle of his crystal blade remaining attached to his palm despite the action. Blood splashed from the gash in his upper arm as he moved, and he was thankful that his skeleton was no longer wholly that of a human. Had his crystal bones not stopped Claude’s blade, he would have been sliced in half by the Paladin’s straight-edged sword.
“That was a good attack,” Christoph said. “Every time I fight one of you, I’m reminded how much of an amateur I am. Did you slip on purpose, too?”
“Of course not,” Claude replied, approaching again. “I’m not that carefree.”
“Carefree enough to ask an elf for help though, aren’t you?” Christoph asked, smirking as his headache receded. “I thought the church didn’t ally itself with non-humans?”
Clapping sounded out from the side, and the combatants glanced over to see Diana applauding from her position by the nearby tree. “Very good,” she said. “I’m no swordsman myself, but that was certainly an entertaining manoeuvre.”
Claude ignored her words, focusing on Christoph’s movements as the fur-clad man slashed out with his weapon. The Paladin suppressed his frustration as the wound he had caused slowly healed over, replaced by untouched skin. Such prodigious regeneration! His parry had been successful even without discarding his shield, so there had been no reason to throw it away if his counter was going to fail so spectacularly. How had Henry faced such an opponent alone?
Claude rushed towards the bloody man, going on the offensive now that he had lost his shield. No, he decided, Henry was far more suited to fight such an opponent. Claude’s armor weighed at his body as he moved, and most of his defense normally revolved around blocking the enemy instead of evading his attacks. In this case, it would be suicide to try and take any of Christoph’s strikes with just his armor. His only option was to keep his opponent on the defensive.
Christoph deflected each of Claude’s blows, forced back as the momentum shifted in the Paladin’s favor. For the first time, he felt the simmering excitement of his impending victory. The knight may be leagues ahead of him when it came to footwork and swordplay, but he had lost his shield now and his attacks were slowing with each step. Christoph parried one of the Paladin’s thrusts, sweeping his blade out in a mimicry of Claude’s earlier counter. Even one-handed, the knight would not survive taking such a blow without his shield.
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Instead of the taking him in the chest, however, Christoph’s blade was deflected by the Paladin’s arm guard and swept harmlessly over his head. The knight had dropped his sword now, catching it in his left hand so he could defend against Christoph’s attack! Had he been baiting him into making such an obvious move? Claude’s left hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, slashing in to cleave deeply into the flesh of Christoph’s right hand as he caught the blade with a grin. Christoph’s own weapon was nowhere to be seen.
“Surprised?” Christoph asked, blood running from his palm as his fingers closed around the Paladin’s blade. “You’re not the only one who can abandon his weapon to block with his right.”
Crystal flowed out of Christoph’s arm, covering his hand like a gauntlet as he tightened his grip. Twisting his arm, he snapped Claude’s weapon into shards of steel, lunging forwards to smash his fist into the Paladin’s torso with a crack of crystal on metal. Claude blinked as blood bubbled from his mouth, staring down at where Christoph had caved in the front of his breastplate.
“It’s too bad,” Christoph said. “I saw that Templar’s armor after Leila was finished with him. I guess smashing a hole in the plate is still a bit too much for me.”
Claude went limp, falling slowly to the forest floor. Opening his eyes, he snapped awake in his room at Starthall, ceremonial candles flickering in the darkness. He had been defeated. Standing slowly, he stretched his long unused limbs out with a clank of metal on metal. He had to report to the Pope, and warn the adventurer’s guild about Diana’s return. Taking a step forward, he looked down at his gleaming silver armor. No, he decided. Most days, he felt nothing but pride from the shine of the steel plate, but today he wanted nothing more than to feel his body moving freely once more. Reaching down, he began to snap open the many clasps which held the armor together, throwing the pieces of steel onto his bed as he went.
…
Christoph panted softly as he watched the Paladin dissipate into nothing. Had that not been his real body, then? No, he might not die unless you killed all of them at once, anyway. He slumped down onto the leaves, feeling his tortured limbs ache as hunger settled over him. The crystal gauntlet flowed back into his arm and he wiped at his face before a sudden thought struck him. What was going on? Diana was-
“Hello,” said Liam, bowing his head as he stepped over Diana’s motionless form towards him. “It’s good to see you again, Christoph.”
Good to see him again? Had he met that man before? Christoph rose to his feet, his sword flowing out as he took in his surroundings. Apart from the man who had spoken, there was a woman hunched over Diana with her hands on the elf’s back. Ah! They were the two who had been summoned along with him and Lucius!
“Why are you here?” Christoph asked. “Did the church send you to kill me?”
Liam held his hands up to show he was unarmed. Reaching down, he drew a necklace from his tunic, a gold medallion flashing in the morning sun. “We aren’t with the church anymore,” he said. “We’re adventurer’s now, although we aren’t here on guild business either. To put it simply, we came to meet with you.”
Christoph didn’t lower his sword. How had they defeated Diana without him even noticing they were there? He had not been keeping an eye on the elf during his duel, but even so…
“Why?” he asked. “If you aren’t here to kill me, then what?”
“It’s about your parents,” Liam said. “Ginger and I… we may know why you were sent to this world with us.”
“What?” Christoph frowned. His parents? Were they talking about his father and his… no, did they mean his actual mother?
“Is your headache gone?” Liam asked. “The elf had cast a large amount of magic on you, but Ginger should have dispelled most of it by now.” The silent woman finished tying Diana arms together and stood next to her partner.
“My headache?” No, it was gone now. Ah, that had been Diana’s fault as well.
“Tell me,” Liam said. “Your father, did he have a twin?”
“My father?” Christoph wondered how much they knew of his past. If they had been part of the Prayer Game, then… “He did.”
“Do you know anyone by the name of Josephine and Daniel?” Liam asked.
Christoph felt his blood run cold. “My… what do you know of them?”
“I thought you might,” Liam said, turning towards his companion. “Ginger, I’m counting on you.”
Christoph raised his weapon as the woman held her arms out towards him, but she didn’t move. Instead, Christoph felt his strength leaving his body, limbs dropping as his vision blurred.
“There’s no need to panic,” Liam said. “It isn’t permanent. Actually, we weren’t sure that Ginger’s gift would even work on you, but I’m relieved it does.”
“What… do you want?” Christoph felt his consciousness fading as Liam knelt down next to him, reaching up to grasp Christoph’s head between his hands. The slightly older man ignored his words, staring deeply into Christoph’s eyes.
“She was your mother!” Liam looked up at Ginger in alarm before, peering back down into his eyes. “The Dollmaker was an enemy of ours. Everyone’s enemy, really. Your father, though… He was a good man. As for you, it looks like you had quite the troubled childhood.”
Liam blinked and shook his head as if he was trying to clear his vision. “Well, this confirms that we weren’t all taken from the same point in time. Here, Ginger,” he said, holding out a hand towards the woman. She allowed him to place it onto her head, and her eyes flashed for a moment before she repeated his blinking motion.
“So we were right,” she said, shaking her head to make sense of the scattered memories she’d been bestowed. “The Dollmaker’s child… I’m glad that the Replicator survived to meet you. He was a friend of mine. What will you do?”
Liam looked down at Christoph with a sad sigh. “Actually,” he said. “I was your father’s enemy, too, for a while. Ginger and I… were not the people we are now.” He looked up at the woman with a smile, and she returned his expression, clutching at his shoulder reassuringly.
“Both Lucius and I have a gift that allows us to absorb the knowledge that others have,” Liam said. “It’s obvious that we’d do well in a situation where we didn’t know much about our surroundings. Ginger can negate the use of mana, and is my companion, forever and always. All three of us are useful to the human race in ways which you will never be. You have nothing but a troubled past and knowledge which makes you a danger to every citizen in this world. There’s only one possible reason I can think of why you would be sent here.”
Liam reached out to close his fingers around both sides of Christoph’s head once again. “Let me help you,” he said. “I can take away your pain, your past, the knowledge you have that makes you Lucius’ target. If Progress sent you here, he must have a reason. The only reason I can think of is this.”
Slowly, he began to tighten his grip on Christoph’s head, Christoph’s arms rising weakly as the pressure increased. Suddenly, mana flared over Liam’s body, and his hands seemed to split apart. He still held Christoph’s head in his hands, but another set of hands had pierced through Christoph’s skull and into his mind. Liam grunted as he activated his gift and reached into Christoph’s spirit with his own. When he was done, this poor soul would be born anew.