Talwar’s first lunge was easy to dodge. He jumped at a much slower speed compared to the first time, and his grasping hand went straight for Tantalus’s throat. Tantalus suspected that Talwar didn’t want to miss and end up a hundred feet past his target.

Tantalus dodged easily to the left. He brought his Luger up to aim at Talwar’s head. Before Tantalus could pull the trigger, Talwar had slammed a foot on the ground and adjusted his momentum toward Izanagi and Pixie.

“Look out!” Tantalus shouted at the other two.

In an instant, Talwar took two quick strides toward Pixie. He moved with such speed that no normal human could reasonably dodge the attack. Izanagi could only manage to intercept Talwar's attack due to their vast difference in skill. Talwar had little skill in combat, and Izanagi knew what he would do long before he did it.

Izanagi’s katana flashed through the air toward Talwar’s neck. Just like the time before, Talwar pulled back at the last possible instant. Stationary for a moment, Talwar was attacked from both sides by Izanagi’s scything katana and Tantalus’s combat knife.

The Second Dark Apostle grabbed the ground with one hand and pulled himself sideways relative to the two attacking Revenants. When he landed thirty feet away, he looked at the palm of his hand, where a miniscule cut had formed.

“You didn’t use Spatial Rend, I see,” Talwar said. “You had me dead to rights, and yet you didn’t use the one ability that could kill me.” In a voice bordering on an animalistic growl, Talwar continued. “Are you out of mana already?”

Izanagi smiled wryly. “I think you know that’s not true. I’ve still got plenty of mana left. You wouldn’t be dodging my attacks otherwise.”

“You think you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?” Talwar asked rhetorically.

“Oh, I know I do,” Izanagi said.

Talwar stood at a distance for almost a minute. He paced back and forth a few steps, his gaze never breaking from Izanagi. While he stayed at a distance, the sound of a pitched gunfight echoed in the town square. Even though Tantalus and Pixie pointed their weapons at Talwar the whole time, the Dark Apostle seemed to not even see them.

Finally seeming to decide upon a course of action, Talwar put his fists up in a boxer’s stance as he charged once more toward Izanagi. This time, he approached at a significantly slower speed. Though Talwar moved much faster than he should, his approach toward Izanagi was easily perceivable.

Izanagi swung at Talwar’s chest, but the attack was perfectly dodged. Talwar moved with the perfect predictability of an algorithm. He always used the absolute minimum amount of energy to move out of the way of the attack and get himself into a position to counterattack. Izanagi’s blade passed mere inches above Talwar’s head.

Talwar threw a jab at Izanagi. Compared to the dodge, Tantalus thought, the jab was sloppy. It was fast, but Talwar telegraphed his punch enough that Izanagi had no difficulty dodging the attack. Three more punches followed the first attack, and Izanagi dodged them with ease.

Izanagi's blade whipped through the air, and Talwar's fists flew like cannonballs. Seconds passed with the two fighters furiously exchanging blows on a knife's edge. If even one attack made contact, the other fighter would surely be killed. Despite the frantic pace of the fight, both fighters were able to dodge all attacks with ease. Izanagi called upon his years of experience while Talwar called upon the unholy gifts granted to him by GM in order to survive the other's onslaught.

Izanagi was just about to launch a counterattack when he was deafened by the sound of shattering concrete. His stance faltered as the very ground beneath his feet suddenly took on a significant incline. Talwar tore his foot out of the concrete where he had firmly planted it a moment before.

For the briefest moment, Izanagi was on the back foot, and that was a sufficient opening for Talwar. Izanagi held his sword out diagonally in preparation to fend off another one of Talwar’s frontal assaults. Talwar didn’t aim for the body as Izanagi had expected. Instead, quick as a flash in a pan, Talwar’s hand shot forward and grabbed Izanagi’s katana.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

A streak of black flashed through the air as Izanagi wrenched his sword free of Talwar’s grasp. The top half of Talwar’s hand fell to the ground, but Izanagi was unable to strike the Dark Apostle’s body with the rending cleave.

With a cry of pain and triumph, Talwar stepped forward and struck out at Izanagi with his uninjured hand. Izanagi’s sword flashed forward like a lunging viper, striking Talwar in the side of the neck. Sparks flew off of Talwar’s neck as it stopped Izanagi’s sword in its tracks.

Simultaneously, Talwar struck Izanagi in the chest. The Dark Apostle’s fist made the sound of a cannonball striking a dirt mound as it passed through his thoracic cavity. Talwar’s fist, covered in blood and viscera, came out the other side of Izanagi’s body.

“You did well, all things considered,” Talwar muttered. “Unfortunately, you were doomed from the beginning. Someone with your Level could never beat a Dark Apostle.” A rattling, blood-filled wheeze escaped from Izanagi’s mouth. He reached forward with trembling arms and grabbed Talwar by the arm and shoulder.

Talwar took a step back and tried to remove his arm from Izanagi’s chest. He found, however, that he could not move his arm. With a level of strength that should be impossible from such an injured man, Izanagi held Talwar in place. Talwar tried once more to remove his arm, but he was unable to break Izanagi’s death grip.

“Ignis!” Pixie shouted.

For the first time since he had engaged Izanagi, Talwar looked at Pixie. She had already summoned a massive floating orb of fire during the most recent clash with Izanagi, and she had already launched it at the Dark Apostle. The massive Fire Bolt was flying through the air when Talwar saw it for the first time. He tried to dodge frantically, but Izanagi kept him planted firmly in place. The Dark Apostle gritted his teeth. Hardening his body wouldn’t help him against this attack, but the Fire Bolt wouldn’t be enough to deal any more than superficial damage.

The Fire Bolt struck Talwar’s body, causing a painful heat to spread across one side of his body. The Fire Bolt also created a thick cloud of smoke around him. Talwar could see that Izanagi had also been struck by the blast. Much of Izanagi’s body was covered in disfiguring burns, and yet his grip would not slacken.

Rage overtaking him for the first time in the fight, Talwar used his full strength to free his arm. Talwar wrenched his arm to the side, freeing his arm and thoroughly disemboweling Izanagi. Several ribs and pieces of lung scattered out of Talwar’s sight.

Talwar stood in the solitude of the smoke cloud for a moment, trying to think of his next move. His burn wounds and the damage to his hand healed almost instantaneously when he thought to activate his Rapid Healing, though many of his fingers remained missing. The samurai had been a tough one, but he was the last of Talwar’s real obstacles, he thought. He just had to kill Captain Tantalus and the girl, and then he would be able to finish the job he had taken upon himself. He would “bring down the hammer,” and ensure the Dark Apostles long-term survival.

Just then, Talwar felt a weak ping around the back of his head. An attack unable to penetrate his Battle Aura was being aimed there. As he had done a hundred times before, Talwar hardened the part of his body that was being targeted by the attack.

“Checkmate.”

With eyes glowing yellow and a look of grim determination on his face, Tantalus fired his Luger at the back of Talwar’s head. The small nine-millimeter bullet pierced Talwar’s skull, fragmented, and exited with a puff of pink brain matter.

Talwar faltered, but he was just barely able to remain standing. Blood and loose viscera began to trickle down his neck. His vision became blurry as his eyes had lost their ability to focus. Talwar sent the message, in this state of half-consciousness, for his body to activate Rapid Healing. With a dawning horror, Talwar realized that his head wound was not healing.

The Dark Apostle turned toward his attacker just as two more bullets pierced his chest. He stumbled forward, vaguely aware that the gun held in the man’s hand was the source of his pain.

Tantalus, Captain of the West Gate, briefly visualized the specifics of his special ability.

Dead Magic: Upon the activation of this Talent, you create a “dead magic zone” with a radius of ten feet centered on yourself. A “dead magic zone” nullifies all magical or otherwise supernatural abilities or effects contained within. Activation of this special ability costs one mana, and maintenance of its active effect costs one mana per second.

He only had a few seconds left to finish the job.

In a blur of motion, Talwar’s hand shot forward and knocked the Luger out of Tantalus’s hand. Tantalus stepped backward but Talwar grabbed his shoulder and held him in place.

Tantalus reached behind his own back and produced a small matte black object. He cocked his arm at the elbow as he brought the handgun between himself and Talwar, aiming the gun upward. The Dark Apostle dumbly shambled forward, bringing his injured hand forward to bludgeon the man he held in a vice grip. Tantalus nestled the gun’s barrel up under Talwar’s chin and pulled the trigger.

The Dark Apostle’s head snapped back as the bullet minced what was left of his brain. His grip slackened, and his body fell to the ground.

With no sign of hesitation, Tantalus took a step forward and unloaded the rest of the 1911’s magazine into Talwar’s skull.