Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at this statement but the pain throbbing through her body gave this statement some credibility. She looked at her injured hand and sighed.

("I was careless. Her only goal was likely to slice me with the wire in her hands from the start.")

She had a closer look at her hands and gave attention to the sturdy-looking gloves on her hands.

("It seems she is wary of her own poison. I don't imagine she'd want to take chances with wire so sharp and durable.")

Elizabeth launched herself to the maid calmly watching a few metres in front of her. She attacked with a flurry of slices but Avis blocked and parried them all with extreme focus, with her wired-up hands. Elizabeth jumped over her and at the same time flung her sword.

Avis ducked down to avoid whatever attack she had planned and smirked.

("If I remember correctly there's a-")

A kick to the side of the head rocked her and sent her sidewards. A sword soon came down afterwards and she used her hands again to block it. As she struggled holding up the blade she stared Elizabeth in the eyes. Hers were cold but internally she was wondering if she underestimated her opponent.

("Did she dodge and run back to her in that short time frame? No, I didn't even hear her hit the floor before attacked. How'd she-")

Their struggle came to an end when the maid sent the sword to the floor, splitting the ceramic floor. Before she had time to launch a counterattack, in one smooth motion Elizabeth used the momentum from her swing to front flip into a kick which the maid dodged by jumping to the side.

She aimed a punch for the gut but Elizabeth managed to block it with her blade.

As Avis looked at the blade that stopped her fist, she noticed a mark on it. She wondered where it came from before remembering that kick from earlier, that still had her ear ringing.

("Did she use her sword as a platform to jump off the wire I had set up? No wonder she wasn't bisected when she came back to the floor. In the first place how did she react so-")

Deciding to test something, she threw a kick at Elizabeth who dodged it by ducking. She made sure to stop her feet and quickly withdrew before Elizabeth could manage to slice it off. The slice took a strange direction and went further than it needed to. The point where Avis stopped her leg glittered with a reflection of the moonlight.

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"I see, you've already recognised where I've placed the wires," Avis commented.

Elizabeth had no comment on that and continued her attack but with more vigour than before.

("I see. Well, no matter, she'll die soon thanks to the poison.")

Elizabeth decided to resort to a stabbing motion which Avis took no part in blocking. She dodged them without incident but soon realised she was being led into another wire she had set up earlier. ("Hmph, she's using the fact I can't block stabs with how precariously it wrapped the wire around my hands. What a sly little fox. I suppose desperate would have anyone, thinking of all kinds of solutions.")

She backflipped into the string and used it like a springboard to launch herself towards Elizabeth.

Avis soared towards Elizabeth with her arms open and Elizabeth stood steady with her sword in front. Avis flew over her and closed her arms together and Elizabeth ducked. When Avis landed on the floor she saw Elizabeth still had her head intact and quickly released it when she felt Elizabeth pulled it towards her.

She had planned to decapitate her with that manoeuvre and even assumed it would have worked even with her sword blocking. At worst, she assumed she would have cut her legs off if the wire went too low. A glance at her sword gave her the reason the woman still stood unscathed.

("The hilt of the sword stopped my wire from going any lower. She could duck with confidence if knew it wasn't going any lower.")

Elizabeth spun her sword around to collect the wire she discarded in a bundle and continued her onslaught.

("Damnit, it hasn't even been a minute yet but she's proven to be a handful. Even without the poison, I do feel she is the sort of opponent where one of us would be dead before even five minutes has passed.")

Elizabeth had now closed the distance between them and went all out with her slashes. She turned into a hurricane of slashes and Avis was forced to block and parry them with how close they were getting. Elizabeth had also started throwing punches occasionally to throw off her rhythm but not frequently enough that Avis could predict them and wrap a wire around her hand to cut it off.

Elizabeth soon took a blow that nearly left her breathless and Avis was going to make the most of this opportunity.

("Finally, it seems the poison is affecting her stamina. There's a wire nearby so it'd be less risky to kick her into it than trying to slice her myself. She somehow manages to escape whenever I try it.")

She attempted to kick Elizabeth but she had gone further than Avis predicted with that punch and the moment her leg went out, Elizabeth wasted no time slicing at it even with her body in an awkward position.

The maid quickly backed away but Elizabeth rushed her.

("Shit she managed to get a deep cut on my leg. She only allowed me to get that hit to lower my guard. Tch, what an annoying bitch.")

It seemed her mobility had taken a hit as she was forced to stand her ground when Elizabeth approached. She again blocked the slashes coming at her and employed a new strategy.

Elizabeth tried to swing her sword at Avis's throat but it stopped just short and Avis landed a blow to her which sent her backwards. She looked down at her sword and noticed various cuts and nicks along the blade. And stuck in one of these nicks was a wire.

("She... she stopped my blade to guarantee a punch.") Elizabeth noted.

("I don't like wasting these things, but if it's to run out the time until she dies then I'll take it.")