I fight the daze with all I have and try to turn on my back but fail, feeling the weight of my armor and the rubble in full. As I look for solutions, I notice that the armor-sundering construct lost a few tenths of its energy so I deactivate it, finding at least one good news in this debacle.
That crazy woman blew the damn ceiling on all four of our heads, three of which were her subordinates. At least, I merely feel battered and don't experience the kind of tear-inducing pain broken bones would cause.
My defensive construct is slowly being drained of the three portions that haven't been consumed so I deactivate it as well, experiencing more weight as the cuirass sags and compresses my chest, unable to hold the weight without the construct's support.
I put my two of my three available portions into a strengthening construct, lamenting the fact that I'm still going to end up exhausted despite the fact I did my best not to push my body too hard. I sigh and shorten the timer segment for a short but sustained burst of strength.
I hear someone land not too far from me so I contract all my muscles and push out with all I have. I hear a crumbling sound akin to that of an avalanche would make but harsher and graver.
The rubble slowly gives away until it does so abruptly and I fly backward. I land on all threes but detect tiny silver cubes flying in the room so I push out with my hand and activate the perception construct as well as the defensive one.
I feel a pain in my neck as I raise my chin. I don't pay much attention to it as I would know if I was bleeding, having experienced the sensation of blood rolling down my skin plenty of times.
The woman who tried to pass for Elizabeth Vil is standing in front of me amidst a pile of wood and stone, the sun is shining down on her from a large jagged hole in the ceiling and wall. She's wearing a mask almost identical to mine.
I absent-mindedly remember that the stones that hit me came from the base of the wall, a sort of foundation for the wood which is lucky because most of my bones would have broken if they were directly propelled by the explosion she caused instead of merely falling atop of me.
I watch the woman slowly extend her hand out like she isn't in a hurry, there are a dozen tiny golden cubes floating all around her wrist but, somehow, it feels like their orbit is out of sync with her movements.
With no time to consider it, I run at her. A silver spark arises from the darkness of the first floor. My sight flicks up, catching sight of an average looking man of average size. There isn't anything remarkable about his face either save for the vicious expression.
If it wasn't for my eyes, I wouldn't even be able to see him hiding in the dark or think to look up. The dozen tiny cubes fly at me with the speed of arrows, I instinctively alter the perception construct in the same way I did the strengthening one, compressing the timer segment so that time appears to move even more slowly for me.
I feel a spike of pain in my skull but find no time to pay attention to it even though I've just bought precious seconds for myself because the tiny cubes burst into pale blue flames, cluing me in to the fact that this is a very dangerous hybrid construct.
It would guess fire, air, and kinetic at a first glance. This shit will punch through my armor but the question is, how deeply? I seize the last of my available flow, less than a portion, and use the unstructured energy to make my longsword capable of triggering the blazing cubes.
I swing the longsword down in a up-right to down-left diagonal line, slashing through four of them which causes brief but intense flashes of light as the oxygen contained in the cubes ignites all at once, triggering two more of the tiny cubes who were too close.
The weapon violently shakes in my hand but my thumb's grip doesn't fail me even though the blade starts cracking and chips fall from its edge. I stomp down to pivot my body and slide past the rest of the cubes which attempt to close in on me like ravenous birds.
The woman's eyelids open sluggishly, her eyes widening as she witnesses me slip through her... no, the man's projectiles. Her expression is hidden behind the mask but it is easy to tell how surprised she is.
She starts raising her arms to block my down-left to up-right backhanded slash, too late to succeed but the edge that I'm using is ruined so it's unlikely I would cut her.
Yet, my blade hits a golden barrier that appears out of nowhere a few millimeters from her thigh. Fuck, Suxen or Cenwalh? Liz? Wasn't me, don't know the construct. I meant help! They both told me to rest. I think inarticulate insults in her direction.
My shoulder impacts another golden barrier in front of her stomach and she staggers back but that is the extent of what I manage. I flip the longsword in my palm, changing to a backhanded grip as I spin around.
I slash out before even completely turning towards the tight group of eight silver cubes darting at me. The pale blue blazing cubes feel very threatening because the way they burn looks much more intense than that of normal flames.
Luckily, the hybrid constructs clustered together as they homed in on me after I dodged them. I intercept merely two of them with my swipe but their detonation causes a chain reaction that obliterates all the cubes in a deep red explosion that resounds in my ears with a very long whoosh.
The shockwave hits my chest and throws me in the woman's direction. The longsword in my hand loses all of the front-edge I've been using and jerks inside my hand, causing a sharp flash of pain that makes my mind go blank.
I regain my senses in a moment, knowing that at least one of my fingers broke. I twist my waist to turn in mid-air. I catch sight of the woman drawing a long serpent dagger as I hit the ground in front of her.
My defensive construct is gone, and the man on the first floor is looking down on us while preparing to attack. I'm aware because of the silver streams gathering above me, likely from external storage.
I flip my longsword inside my palm with a flick of my wrist, causing a mind-rending pain that almost makes me lose focus. I ignore the agony to strike out with the side of the longsword that still has an edge.
As the blade indolently cruises towards the woman's thighs, I activate the armor-sundering construct. As she was approaching to stab me, she doesn't manage to step back in time to avoid the very point of my weapon.
Once again, a golden barrier appears to block my strike but, this time, it cracks and I manage to cut a gash into her flesh. Unfortunately, it is relatively shallow and my armor-sundering construct fades away.
The woman staggers, giving me the opportunity to get back on my feet. My headache worsens but I can't afford to stop the perception construct. I throw a quick glance up, finding that the man from earlier is gone and that the first floor is brighter than it was even with the hole they blew in the manor.
I squint, catching moving silhouettes along with a few silver flickers. There's someone else up there. I look back down to the woman trying to impersonate my sister, who is being quite laid back about that now that I think about it. No one I care about would believe that she's me.
The serpent dagger she's holding takes a golden hue. I twist my arm, flicking my blade at her throat from a weird angle. She doesn't react quickly enough to block, yet doesn't try to dodge either in spite of the panic in her eyes.
A moment before the point bites into her flesh, she launches a lion strike that severs my longsword in half. Unfortunately for both of us, the other end keeps going and smacks into her mask, not doing any damage but distracting her for a moment which allows me to dodge her dagger.
I launch forward to stab her with the other half of my weapon and almost manage except her left hand lands on my wrist, diverting my attack. Her serpent dagger lands on the left side of my cuirass, piercing through the steel bulge like butter.
Thankfully, her armor-piercing construct runs out of energy so the point of her weapon is stopped by my riveted chain-mail. The woman jerks and twists the blade to try to injure me as much as possible. For the first time, I feel lucky that I don't have a left breast for her to cut into ribbons.
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I run my steel helmet into her mask, cracking it with a single blow, then knee her crotch, and lastly bring the pommel around to strike the side of her head. The woman takes the three blows with pitiful cries as she stumbles back and then drops to one knee.
I throw a roundhouse-kick but she blocks my foot with her forearm. While she can't react to my attacks, she has been making good use of the lion strike to catch up to them after I launch them, which is only possible because I haven't had the clarity of mind after the explosion to redistribute my energy.
I leap back to buy myself a few moments, which I should be able to afford considering she seems to be running low of flow as well. I deactivate the perception construct, which only has two portions left.
The woman immediately turns around and runs away by jumping through the hole in the wall, surprising me as I was hesitating between taking energy from my perception construct or the three constructs keeping my heart going.
My headache isn't helping and neither is my blurry eyesight. By the time I manage to climb the rubble to pursue her, I find her leaping away in the distance with lion steps. I let go of my ruined longsword, gritting my teeth to push back the waves of pain coming from my hand.
I draw the single-edged broadsword and draw a half-portion of flow from the four constructs anchored to my body. I crouch down and spring up to the first floor, finding the two silhouettes engaged in a deadly fight inside the gloomy room.
The unremarkable man's style is anything but that. He wields two daggers and is swinging them with a ferocious expression. His tall opponent isn't injured or losing, but she seems to have chosen to remain on the defensive.
I try to follow their exchanges as I stumble towards them with the broadsword in hand but the short period of inactivity worsened my state and allowed my daze to return in strength.
The woman's weapon, which I have trouble distinguishing, lands on the man's neck only to be stopped by a golden barrier which loses quite a bit of intensity from the impact. I frown and make an air-blade with two portions I take from my heart's constructs.
“Iiiiiih. Iiiiiih. Iiiiiih. Iiiiiih. Iiiiiih. Iiiiiih. Iiiiiih.” The shrill sounds ring out one after the other from a silver bell located behind me.
The noise makes me flinch as I was in the middle of aiming. A golden wave erupts from the man, impacting his opponent who protects herself in an instant by crossing her arms and wrapping them in flow.
The woman slides back a full meter, giving the man the chance to run away. I launch the air-blade at his back but he makes a turn and it barely catches his flank, likely leaving a wound.
The hammers striking my brain and the alarm construct likely saved his life. My air-blade impacts a fuzzy pillar with a loud crack. The tall warrior rushes behind her target. I lose sight of her silhouette in moments.
As I consider pursuit, I hear more sounds of shattering wood and the blurry roof seems to be shaking. A beam suddenly drops a few centimeters along with the ceiling and the floor. I stumble and hurriedly jump down the hole.
I land in the rubble and roll away. I watch for a split-second as cracks appear all around the hole before slamming my fist, clenched around the broadsword's hilt, and hurriedly scampering away on all threes while biting my tongue from the pain.
A cloud of debris erupts behind me as the manor's entire facade collapses inward. I manage to find a stable pillar to rest on and wait for the destruction to end. I spot a silhouette move in the dust and feel glad my body hasn't reached the limit even though my mind is swimming in agony.
I wait for the person to approach because my eyesight is so blurry it looks like I'm gazing at the dust in the air through a lake. The silhouette is calling out but all I'm hearing is a buzzing sound.
I raise my single-edged broadsword to prepare but the movement makes me waver and causes dizziness. I close my eyes for a moment only to open them and startle as I find Vikiana's face staring at mine.
A burst of terror seizes my chest as she slashes at my throat with both hands on her golden lion sword. I activate my perception construct and slash down to block her blow with as much strength as I can gather.
She hurriedly raises the crude sword in her right hand from its hanging position at her side and blocks my attack. For a moment, I see her with two right arms and two swords. I blink and one vanishes. I'm unsure of what's happening but the response is the same either way.
I take advantage of the fact that she's surprised her attempt to kill me failed or that I tried to kill her to send my knee into her thigh. She barely budges under the blow but it allows me to push her away which provides me with enough space to run away.
I hope she'll lose me in the dust and won't have the guts to kill me in public if I manage to get that far. I rue the fact I can't kill this woman because I lack both the skill and the will but feel oddly thankful that my strike didn't harm her.
My hand feels like it's burning. So much so that I have little choice but to sheath the broadsword and hold my palm against my chest in an effort to relieve the pain. As I step outside, something impacts my back and sends me skidding for a few meters.
I almost lose my mind from the mixture of pain and relief from my hand landing in the cold snow. I hear distorted breaking sounds and look to the manor, finding it completely crumbling behind Vikiana who is ladying over me from above.
“Why?” I ask her with an accusing tone.
She snaps back at me, the wrinkles at the corners of her lips tighten from irritation. I blink, finding the words incomprehensible under the constant buzzing in my ears.
I try to draw my broadsword again but I don't even find the strength to pull my hand out of the snow. I close my eyes, aware that I need to rest if I'm going to survive.
I smile at the irony of the fact that the very action I need to take to survive is likely what's going to get me killed. I feel a hand land on my forehead and another on my wrist, I then receive a messaging construct brimming with six portions of energy.
'I don't have any more flow because I had to hold the damn manor for you to make it out.'
I dismantle the construct before fully understanding the words and apply the energy to heal myself. Viki is saying she was saving us, I think we hallucinated. Now you help? You had it under control.
“You, spared me a couple, additional broken bones.” I mutter. “Thanks.”
“You mean your life?” She replies, her sharp voice sounds distant but near at the same time.
“I wouldn't, go that, far.” I say with a coughing chuckle. “But, why would you, do that? I'm a dead, woman, and you know it.”
“Death and time, death and time.” Vikiana hums in response.
“You're not, going to ask?” I question, wondering why she's helping after I just tried to kill her.
“Don't need to but feel free to explain later.” She grunts back. “Now be quiet for a while.”
I open my eyes and throw my arm around her neck. She tenses, putting her guard up. I pull myself up to a sitting position and then leverage her shoulder to stand up. She scowls at me but doesn't try to stop me, in fact she cautiously supports my elbow.
I shake my head to chase the ringing that remains and turn to leave. I end up face to face with a crowd watching from a very safe distance away. I stand there on my trembling legs with my panging hand against my cuirass.
Their odd expressions that mix worry, admiration, and curiosity only make me feel a bit numb. There are patrols closing in on us from different directions, going across streets, buildings, and gardens to come over.
“The fake is lost to the crowd, likely took the mask off by now.” She speaks up.
“How did you get here so quick?” I ask.
“I saw the fight start from the rampart. I didn't know it was you but I'm not surprised considering no one else would be so stupid as to go inside after being ambushed like that.” She replies with a spiteful tone.
“Isn't it your hope Leomi will move on and have kids once I'm gone?” I question sarcastically.
“... You know her. Now that she's fallen in love, it won't happen again.” Vikiana utters with a tight voice. “If I find you worthy enough to let you marry my daughter, then it won't matter who she picks to have children with in ten years because she'll raise them as if they're yours.”
“I...” I fall silent because a stone blocks my throat when I realize this is what 'death and time' means.
“But, are you so cruel as to inflict this on her?” She asks with a raspy and harsh voice.
“You want me to end it? Or live out what time I have left alone?” I ask mockingly but with tears in my tone because I despair at the fact my selfishness is undoubtedly going to make Leomi suffer.
“No, but it would be convenient if you did.” She responds coolly. “Especially if you're still trying to get yourself killed.”
I sigh and trod towards a bench in the garden with Vikiana following close behind. I sit down and she kneels in the snow in front of me. I throw her an inquisitive look. She answers my silent question by taking hold of my forearm to inspect my hand.
I reluctantly look down at my fingers, finding the last two are twisted the wrong way. The proximal bones broke in half and are protruding as if trying to pierce through my flesh.
“Jessica?” Vikiana calls me. I tiredly raise my eyes up to hers. “This is going to hurt.” She warns me.
“Aaaaaargh!” I scream as mind-twisting volatile pain courses all the way up my arm, stimulating every nerve it finds.