Chapter 19
Rin emerged from the dissipating smoke, a cruel smile on her face as she brandished another throwing knife. “How does it feel, Tsarina?” she taunted. “Not so smug now, are you?”
I glared at her, gripping my sword tightly as I tried to think of a way out of this situation. But with each passing second, my options seemed to grow increasingly limited.
Rin's smile widened as she took aim, her arm drawing back to throw the knife. I braced myself for the impact, but there was nothing I could do to avoid it. The knife flew through the air, sinking deep into my shoulder with a sickening crunch.
Tsarina- 650/3,000 ~~ Rin- 700/2,400
Rin pulled another knife out, playing with it on her fingertips, a cruel smile over her lips. “Well, not the most climactic way to end things, is it? Oh well, a wins a win.” Her hand shot forward, the knife coming off her fingers and hitting my other shoulder.
Tsarina- 500/3,000 ~~ Rin- 700/2,400
I gritted my teeth, my eyes tearing up from the pain. Or maybe the satisfied look in her eyes is what hurt even more than my wounds.
“What the hell did I do to make you hate me so much!?” I yelled at her.
“It’s not about hating you,” Rin said, shuffling another knife between her fingers. “Don’t you remember how this started? I was trying to pay you back, then you got that condescending tone and tried to play the hero by giving the silver back to Leon. Like you were buying my freedom or something. Just who the hell do you think you are?”
“I didn’t want the damn money! I thought of you as an ally, even despite our arguments. All I ever tried to do was help you!”
“What did you call me earlier? A dog?” Another knife sliced through my arm as I failed to parry it and she instantly replaced it with another. “You think I’m a helpless little girl who was swooned by a player whos going to take advantage of me? Leon loves me! He wants me to stand with him and fight alongside him! My place is with him!”
“He risked your life!”
“No, he knew Alura could handle the healing. That’s what we were talking about in the cave when you ditched us! He apologized for putting me through that but said he would feel worse for making all our hard work in that fight meaningless! He would have stepped in if I was really going to die, but he knew I wouldn’t!”
“You’re being reckless by trusting him, Rin!” I yelled, my voice cracking, my eyes stinging. “You’re going to throw your life away!”
As I spoke those words, a sudden flash of a memory rang through my mind. I was on a battlefield, surrounded by death. The roar of the crowd melded into screams and gunfire. I was reaching out to someone. Someone who I loved, charging headlong into danger. I would have chased after them, tried to save them, but looking down, my leg ended in a bloody stump with charred skin leading under torn pants.
Another knife whizzed through the air. This time, I parried with my sword, but it still nicked my ear. The burning in my chest grew hotter, and I lifted my hand, gripping at my chest and breathing hard.
Tsarina - 220/3,000.
It was hot… so very hot… as if my entire body was burning. I barely felt the next knife sink into my shoulder as I let out a scream of rage, pain, and frustration.
Tsarina – 90/3,000
Then, I heard Rin. “W-what the hell!?”
Something coursed through my muscles, and looking at my hands, flames licked from under my gauntlets. Had I accidentally used my imbue skill? No, that wasn’t right. It would only affect my sword.
The final knife that would mark my defeat whizzed through the air at my face, but my flaming gauntlet moved on its own, catching the hilt. The blade stopped just short of the bridge of my nose. I looked past it, seeing yellow light flicker across the battlefield, reflecting off of Rin’s blood-soaked body. Her eyes were wide with shock and horror.
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Strength returned to my leg as I propped it under myself and stood. Had I been healed? Was the battle over? I could feel heat around me, and my eyes glanced up toward the screen, but I became distracted by something else.
Flames. There was fire all around me, engulfing me, but it did not hurt. I felt the heat, but it was not burning me. It extended outward, eliciting deafening cheers from the audience that even drowned out the announcer, and as the flames continued to extend, they formed wings. Each flaming tongue blew like feathers in the wind, and a massive bird-like head formed from the center of it all, a blazing red eye set in the middle of its face.
The pain vanished, and my eyes focused on the screen, the numbers next to my HP rotated, changing, quickly raising over a thousand!
The flaming bird screeched and pulled back into my body, yet I was aware of its wings still fully formed, dancing behind my back, and allowing their yellow hot tongues to lick over my shoulder guards.
The pain was now completely gone, and the numbers on the display finally set on a solid number.
Tsarina - 2,550/3000 Rin – 700/2,400
Whatever was happening had given me more than half my hp back!
I smiled, steadying my sword, which was likewise covered in fire. I now could end this. With a ferocious battle cry, my strength sounding out from my lungs, I lunged at Rin and fire burst around me in tandem with my attack!
Rin stood frozen, considering an evasive maneuver, perhaps, but uncertainty flashed across her eyes, not knowing where to run.
I lunged forward and drove my flaming sword into her stomach and that's when a bell rang out.
Rins health came back as I withdrew my sword from her gut. She collapsed to the ground, on her hands and knees before me, frozen in silent defeat. Even the crowd must have had to catch their collective breaths, as not a sound remained inside the arena.
As the flames dissipated, and I resheathed my sword, Rin stared up at me, horrified.
“W-w-winner, Tsarina!” The announcer suddenly bellowed.
I reached out a hand to help her up, but she recoiled, still staring at me with a mix of disbelief and terror. “What... What are you?” she stammered.
I looked down at my gauntlet as the last of the flames retreated under my armor. “I’m not sure,” I said, my mind drifting away from the battle. The memory that had passed over my mind… what was that?
I was snapped out of it when the crowd finally started to cheer. Looking up, the flames had completely dissipated and I was back to normal. Glancing at the display above us, I saw both of us were back to full health.
“And there you have it!” The announcer’s voice boomed. “What an incredible match! Two fierce warriors! Two rare blessings! Was Tsarina aware of her power, or have we just witnessed a stunning moment of history in the making!? Only one week since arriving in Goliath and these two incredible wielders have undoubtedly caught the awe of our entire city! I’m speechless! I’m absolutely SPEECHLESS! Ladies and gentlemen! Let’s hear it for our winner! The stunning! Decisive! Wielder of Flames! The Smoldering Red Knight! THE PHOENIX EMPRESS! TSARINA!!!”
The crowd roared with applause and cheers. I turned my gaze back to Rin, to acknowledge the fierce battle we had been through. Her gaze avoided mine as she stood, brushing the dirt off her side before walking away.
I walked over to my discarded shield, returning it to my arm. As I left the arena, the adrenaline began to fade, and I found myself increasingly preoccupied with the memory that had surfaced during the fight. It was a scene from a different time and place, one that seemed to belong to another life entirely.
As I stepped into the corridor, Alura, Chris, and Victoria were there waiting for me. Alura instantly ran up to me and put her arms around me, pressing her face into the cold steel of my breastplate. “I'm so glad you're okay!” she said, her voice shaking with relief.
I returned her embrace, appreciating the warmth of her concern.
“Talk about finishing with style!” Chris said, putting a thumb up. “You hear that crowd out there? We’re pretty much famous now!”
“We?” I said, smirking at him. “You can take it if you want, though.”
“Your group never fails to impress,” Victoria said, blowing out a puff of smoke. “Of the nine siblings of the Leviathan Crew, 3 have rare blessings. Quite interesting.”
“Do you know what that was, Victoria?” I asked.
“It’s the blessing of the phoenix. Mathew can tell you more, but I believe it can only be triggered when you are near death.”
“So similar to your blessing?” I asked.
“Perhaps. But mine simply brings me back if I am to die. Yours heals you and grants incredible power for a short time. I might see your blessing as a higher class than even mine.”
“Hey, Zelik and the others are waiting for us,” Chris said. “I think we need to go finish our celebration after this! Not to mention Leon’s got to pay up. Please make sure I’m there when that happens! I want to see the look on his face!”
“I’m actually tired,” I said, letting out a breath. “Not to mention we should get back to work tomorrow, and it's already getting late.”
“Eh, buzz kill.”
“Tsarina’s right,” Alura said, speaking up in my defense. “It was a big day already. I don’t want her pushing herself. Let’s go settle in for the night.”