Rudeus

Where the fuck am I running!? There's no way out of this, I'm trapped! Now that I was focusing on it, the vibrations down below not only contained the vibrations of the earth shaking, but real living people. There are people directly traveling under the Earth, and that Tetsudo kid must have been manipulating the rock underground for this to happen.

I assumed that the savage winds outside The Eye would prevent large scale invasions like this one, and if any single person came through, looking for my head, I would simply strike them down, but here I was, like a rat caught in a mousetrap.

The ground right next to me explodes into a spectacular cloud of dust knocking me into the air like a rag doll. From it emerges a very lengthy but extremely thin blade crashing into me like a tsunami. I instantly draw my sword and block the blow midair; however, the instant the other blade makes contact with mine, I feel my arms turn into jelly from the raw impact of the blow. I get sent spiraling uncontrollably through the air. I flail my arms and legs out midair to quickly regain control of the fall and land on my feet.

"The head of the royal guard, Captain Rudeus. You're number 1 on our hit list of targets to take out." A massive shadowy figure emerges from the smoke, holding an equally lengthy blade on his shoulder. Although the sword was very peculiar, normally swords as long as his would have massive bases and a thick interior. However, his blade was as just as thin as mine.

"If I remember your name right, Doronzo, the Dog of Oliviand." I reply back with a fake cocky grin.

"Correct, now defend yourself!" Doronzo, wasting no time talking, takes a step forward and swings his blade.

Taiga

I look down at the pit to see the soldier I knocked out lying down safely on a floating rock. I then use the blade I jammed into the wall to fling myself out of the sinkhole. While I did that, the boy on the other side cautiously levitates the rock towards his side of the hole, bringing the soldier along with it.

"I don't want any trouble; I'm on nobody's side here!" I shout across the hole. However, the boy ignores me as he carefully sets the man down. Then, as soon as the man's back hits the ground, his eyes snap towards me like an eagle hunting its prey.

"Listen too me! I just want to-" I jump away as the ground underneath me erupts into dozens of sharp rocks.

From a single glance I could tell that if one of them hit me, I would be impaled immediately. The sheer power those rocks had rivaled one of Rudeus’ serious blade swings.

The second I land, I immediately turn around and make a run for it. He's not listening to me, there's no point in trying to reason. The second I take my first step however, I smash into a stone wall just as it erupts right in the path where I was trying to run. I turn around and try to go the other way only to find another stone wall blocking my path. The two walls begin to rapidly enclose on me, threatening to squish me flat. I immediately hold my sword horizontally, colliding with and briefly jamming the two walls as I jump and make my escape. I land on a tree, now weaponless. I tense up, predicting another attack from below, and I was right, tiny rocks break off the ground flying at me like bullets. I jump from tree to tree, narrowly avoiding the rocks coming from below.

"I'm not involved in any of this! Stop attacking!" I yell uselessly as the endless barrage of rocks doesn't let up. The trees were relatively safe compared to the ground, however, they were gradually getting uprooted as the ground underneath them collapsed. Draining the places where I could retreat to one by one.

I grit my teeth in frustration and briefly extend my arm out, directly facing the barrage of rocks. I then immediately clench my fist and pull away the moment one of the rocks slices into my palm. I take the rock, and throw it with all my might, aiming straight for the Tetsudo's face. However, just as quickly the Tetsudo recognizes my movements and throws up a rock shield shattering the rock in midair.

But that's not what's important, what's important now, was that tiny drops of the blood from my palm were now scattered on the ground the Tetsudo was standing on.

Polly

I stare down at the landscape that was quickly devolving into chaos. There should currently be twenty-two or so people currently here in The Eye. Not counting Celestia and Toena, who to my knowledge, had already left. So if I had to guess the motive for this attack, I'd imagine that quite a few of the people here have some sort of gripe related to the war, making them future potential threats to Oliviand.

I watch as an invader from down below passes underneath my tree. She briefly glances up, however, ignores me as soon as she sees my face, and keeps walking.

Huh, guess they're just ignoring everyone unrelated. I watch as Taiga and Rudeus both quickly find themselves in fights against tough opponents.

And do I really want to relate myself to this situation for those two's sake? I have a pass to just walk out of here scotch-free like a couple people are already doing. I glance away to see a couple travelers stepping out of the bubble and into the storm. I begin twirling my knife around, in deep thought.

After three seconds of heavy painstaking deliberation. Hmm... Guess not! I smile to myself; I should probably try to scavenge some food and water and get out of here as fast as possible then.

However, just as I was about to make a move, I spot two people walking through the woods, heading for a very particular location, at a very particular house.

I stare at the two figures grimly. You've gotta be kidding me. Torika's one of the targets as well? What could someone like her have possibly done? I take a deep sigh, and then double check all my pockets and compartments, making sure they were fully loaded with all of my weapons, and spring off of the tree.

Guess I'm getting involved.

Taiga

"Listen to me damn it!" I jumped off of the last tree left in the area. The rest had all been uprooted and were lying flat on the ground. There was nowhere left to go except for the ground. I watch helplessly as gravity overtakes me and I fall to the ground. I land softly and stand there alone completely surrounded by rock, like I jumped right into the palm of his hand. For a brief moment the Tetsudo stops attacking for a moment and gives me a smug looking face.

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"Gotcha," He speaks to me for the first time.

I close my eyes and sigh deeply. He couldn't see it, but there was an expression I wore underneath my mask was not of someone fighting a losing battle. I don't respond and take the first step, springing sideways as blades of rock erupt from the ground. The second I dodge it, the rock under my feet grows and encases my legs. I watch as a single massive spear of rock breaks off the ground and hurdles towards my chest. I twist my body just barely enough to avoid it as it passes by, then I send enough power to my legs to break off the rock casing.

Should I do it now? I avoid another set of projectiles. Nah I'm too far away. I slam my hand into a nearby rock, leaving a bloody handprint and then jump high into the air. I watch the ground closely as this happens preparing for anything he might use to swat me out of the air.

Trying to get me when I land huh? I carefully watch his face; he's relaxed. Good, I like it when people let their guard down.

Time was passing by the millisecond, a combination of adrenaline and Anku boosting my eyes. As this happens, I mentally prepare myself for the next sequence of events I would have pull off with perfect accuracy. I watch carefully as a deep pit opens up underneath my feet, gradually extending up, like a jaw of a massive beast, filled with sharp teeth, ready to snap me up.

Alright, time to let loose.

I anchor myself to the bloody handprint I left on the rock behind me previously, sharply changing the trajectory of my fall. I manage to land safely on the ground just to the side of the pit.

Hips, thigh, knee, calf, ankle, sole, toes. Anku flows down my leg like a river. I boost every single muscle in the with the perfect timing and order that they activate, concentrated to the utmost amount. At the same time I anchor myself right to the blood on the ground underneath the Tetsudo's feet. The ground crumbles underneath the force of my foot. My body begins to distort into a blur, all sound in my ears are erased as my body briefly passes the sound barrier.

The Tetsudo in a panic, throws up a flimsy makeshift shield of rock. I punch and smash right through it and land crouching right below his feet.

Huh, this situation feels familiar. I grab the bottom of his shirt, and tuck it over his head, obscuring his vision. Then, instead of running away this time, I tense my hand up like a claw and go for the throat.

Rudeus

Clash, clash, clash, we exchange swords, blow to blow. I duck underneath an overhead swing, and stab up. He rears his head back far enough that my blade misses him. I jump back and hold my scabbard to the side to parry a horizontal slash with it. I attempt pin his sword to the ground with the scabbard, however, his blade slips back like a slippery snake. I follow through with the movement and slam the scabbard down. As the scabbard was on the ground, I shift my stance and kick it, rocketing it straight towards his face.

As soon as it slams into him I move in close for a fatal blow. The second I do this danger instincts flash all over my brain, and I jump back as his sword comes out of nowhere, creating a distortion in the air from its sheer speed.

He had caught the scabbard as it was flying right between his teeth. He spits it out on the ground, and we ready our swords once more.

Who's going to crack first? So far, both of our defenses have been perfect, but all it takes is one opening... I take my palm and slice it open, drizzling blood all over my sword.

"That style huh?" Doronzo eyes me carefully. Indeed, by attaching anku to my blade, I weaken the rest of the anku in my body, trading sheer speed and power for more versatility.

"You got it." I point my sword at him, throw it up into the air and charge in.

Doronzo looks up at the blade, expecting it to start changing directions, but quickly looks down in surprise as I close the distance almost instantaneously.

I smile and drive my fist deep into his gut. Then twirl around and deliver a nasty roundhouse kick to his face. He staggers back in pain; I catch my blade as it falls and follow after him. It was a fake out. When I stained it with my blood, I didn't apply a single bit of my anku, resulting in me being able to move at my top speeds. I swing overhead and slam my sword onto his alongside my full body weight.

Now I have the advantage.

Taiga

I grab the Tetsudo by the throat and lift him off the ground.

"If you're not going to give a single word to me then I'll make sure you never talk again." I snarl. The Tetsudo gasps and flails around blindly before managing to grab my mask with his palm. My head whips back as I feel a force not unlike a bullet from a gun smack me between the eyes. I was only saved from further injury because of the mask.

"Why should I have to talk to my enemy?" The Tetsudo coughs as both of us recover.

"Because I'm not your enemy, I've been saying this since the very beginning." I said.

"How so? You attacked one of our soldiers and have been screwing around with our highest priority target this entire week. If you're not fighting for them, then who are you fighting for?"

"Myself." I said.

The Tetsudo holds his hand up and launches a couple shards of rock. I duck and weave just barely dodging them.

"Not your family? Not your friends? Not your lover? Not your country? I don't believe you." He said while launching attack after attack at me.

"That's alright. You can believe whatever you want; I'm getting tired of trying to reason with you anyways." I watch his hand movements closely, then crouch down low and dash forward, narrowly avoiding a flying rock. As expected, a wall rises up out of the stone, blocking my path. I preemptively tense up my legs and spring up high, over the wall, only to find that he disappeared.

Where did he go? I immediately divert anku to my eyes and scan every last crevice and corner. He's gone!

Just as I had this thought, I laser focus in on the sound of breaking rock coming from behind and turn around in midair, and come face to face with his palm resting directly on my mask.

He's inside the wall?

My head flies back and I bounce off the ground. This time, the mask could not save me from the back of my head colliding with the ground. I bite blood into my tongue as black spots dance across my vision.

YOU DON'T FEEL IT! I scream at myself internally; now is not the time to suffer in pain. I plunge my hands into the ground and stop my momentum, landing perfectly on my feet. I take a chunk out of the earth as I do this, and throw them like a shotgun blast at full speed.

I don't even bother to watch for the Tetsudo's reaction and accelerate forward immediately, nearly surpassing the speed at which I threw those rocks.

I wind up my arm, expecting another wall of rock to block my path, and sure enough it does. I punch right through the wall, and grab something on the other side. I don't know nor care where I grabbed. I pull my arm back through and slam it straight through the wall.

I watch as the Tetsudo's eyes briefly roll up into their head from the shock. He tries once more to reach for one of my body parts. I immediately grab his hand out of midair and squeeze until I feel cracks. His entire body shudders in pain, but he manages to keep himself from screaming out. Instead he stares me down furiously with his mouth open wide. His mouth was directly aligned at my heart. Danger signs flash everywhere compelling me to let go. I shield my heart with my hand as a long spike of rock emerges out of his mouth and pierces straight through my palm.

Screaming out half in pain half in pure adrenaline. I grip the rock tightly with the hand that had the hole in it and raise him up and slam him right again the ground.

I see the whites of his eyes as he immediately gets knocked out by the blow. I then roughly jerk my hand out of the spike, shaking in pain. My legs give out and I drop to the ground breathing heavily.

I adjust my sitting posture and then relax, making sure that I stay conscious and don't drift away.

I should kill you right here and now. You are so lucky that I don’t care about your little war right now. However, in case he tries to resist, I grab his neck with my bloodied hand and let my blood seep right into his skin. There.

Now… wake up you bastard.

After waiting for a good five or so minutes, I see his eyes shoot open.

"Are you ready to listen now?" I say.

"I see... You spared me didn't you." He replies, his back facing the ground.

"Yea. Now let's start with your name."