The sun was still laughing brightly not too long, at least until heavy clouds of gray devoured it. The sky then turned a deathly dark.
Icy rain falls and skewers the land, piercing through the stout protection of the trees. The big droplets of water fall like spears on Vienessa. Yet, adamantly standing in the arena, her face remains unflinching.
The wind howls around the girl, laughing at her, trying to gain her attention. But to no avail, she doesn´t notice. The girl´s mind has shut itself from all distractions. It´s as if nothing around her exists anymore.
Nothing other than her, her father and the fight that is about to take place.
The two have not moved for quite a while now, the reason being that one of them was still preparing while the other gave her the time she needed.
Periodically, brilliant lightning would brighten the world for a split second, only to leave everything even darker than it was before.
Though the Demon tries to hide it, her air radiates a faint uncertainty. The poise she had shown in her previous fights is nowhere to be found, understandably so:
Her current opponent is far superior to her in every aspect; His confident yet flawless stand, his eyes that emanate the experience of a thousand battles. It´s as if he sees through her every move before she can even decide on it, before the fight has even begun.
Is that what it´s like when he gets serious?
The Demon Instinctively wants to retreat just by the thought of having to face him.
For once, she can´t even see his Level. This fact alone should be reason enough to give up.
She had to give her all to defeat the Silver Minotaur, but she feels her father would come out victorious even if he had to face a hundred enemies of such caliber. That´s how vast the gap between the two is.
Still, she crouches down and pushes one foot into the muddy ground as a reckless grin appears on her face. With the back of her hand, she wipes away the mixture of rain and sweat from her forehead and forces her excitement to take over, to push back her fear which has been holding her back thus far. The Demon takes a deep breath and exhales with white steam leaving her mouth.
No more running
“Ha!” she blinks in front of the Goblin, looking up at his face, ready to strike
But he doesn´t move, he simply locks eyes with his daughter, as if to mock her.
The Demon presses her teeth together and swings her claws. Even as her razor-sharp talons cut through the air, he still doesn´t take action.
´It´s going to connect–!´ Vienessa thinks for a split second, but then feels a metal grip on her wrist. Her entire momentum disappears
´Eh?´
The Goblin looks down at his little fighter and shakes his head. He sighs, then moves his other hand forward, curls his finger and as if in slow-motion flicks her forehead.
“Agh–!” the girl is sent flying
[HP: 803/803 → 392/803]
“Ouuuuuch!” she cries and rolls in the wet dirt clutching her head: “|Heal|!”
A faint light cloaks the girl. Then she gets to her feet again. She didn´t heal fully to reserve Mana, which is why a stinging pain remains.
Her father, who has his arms crossed again, observes the spectacle while not moving from his spot.
´What the heck?´
Seeing him not make any moves Vienessa slightly lowers her body again, preparing to take the initiative once more
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´But… it´s just as I thought, he won´t end the fight immediately´
The Demon´s pupils slightly contract at seeing an opportunity
´He wants to see more, how far I´ve gotten, right? Or maybe just pay me back for what I did to the three. How childish, but he can allow himself to play with me as long as he wants to…´
Vienessa can´t hide the excitement on her face any longer
´Not that I didn´t do the same, which means I should have a few attempts left before he gets bored and ends the fight´
Once more kicking the ground, she flies at him: ´Let´s see how much I´ll get you to lower your guard for me!´
-- -- --
The day turned into pitch-black night by now. There was so little light, a Human wouldn´t even be able to see their hand before their face. A Human, that is.
That is to say, the change happened rather quickly. It´s not as if much time passed since the fight begun, which is also reason that there is no outcome yet. No matter what, there were neither any openings for the Demon to exploit nor the chance to create them. Rather, the Goblin thinks about ending the fight soon. He felt satisfied with what the Demon showed him.
´Look at you, my little girl. Still standing tall and brave. How many times did I flick you back already? Was it 5, or 10? Even through your |Healing Magic| this should hurt like hell, doesn´t it? But there you are, striking back fiercer each time while patiently waiting for any signs of weakness I´ll show´
He thinks, or at least that´s how his feelings would translate
´Not that this will ever happen though. Yet I must admit, if you didn´t tell me about your fight with the Silver Minotaur, it would be fairly difficult to realize you´re hiding this much more of your true strength.´
Making sure nobody will notice, he smiles to himself
'Ah, this takes me back. We did the same in the war for the Mana-fields, didn´t we? My men and I. Extremely outnumbered, cornered. If we had faced our enemies head-on, we would´ve surely lost. Only by sacrificing and misleading the enemy´s eyes were we able to take out commander Sirius and turn the tides…´
His heart fills with something akin to nostalgia, or melancholy. He shakes his head
´I´m proud to have you as my daughter, I truly am. Your eyes blaze with fire and reveal the burning determination in your heart, and yet your movements flow like water; A rushing river when you see an opportunity to seize, yet calm as the surface waiting for it. Your mind and body resemble the rich earth, your head grows brilliant ideas to deal with stressful… no, hopeless confrontations and turn them in your favor. Your body is healthy and full of vigor, just what you need to see those plans through. But most of all, I see the swiftness of the wind in your decisions, the unwavering trust in yourself that neither doubt nor hesitation stand a chance against. My daughter, forgive this father… Although I trust in you, too, I simply worry too much. That´s why I must teach you this lesson one more time so I can be sure you won´t throw your life away´
The Goblin sees that his daughter recovered again and is about to come at him one more time. He decides this will be the last:
´It looks like you´re ready. Now come! Show me your true colors! Your true power!´
His eyes sparkle as he clenches his hand into a fist.
-- -- --
´Something is off´. That´s what her guts tell her. The fight against her father was absolutely one-sided so far. It´s comparable to her current self facing a newborn Chiropter, a monster with stats in the single digits; It would need a miracle, maybe two or three to win. That´s how unsurmountable of a wall her father is. In addition to that, she is slowly but surely running out of Mana due to the repeated usage of |Heals|. She can´t see a single way that leads to victory.
No matter what she does, eventually, it will be checkmate.
And yet she must do something. Her only glimmer of hope is… is there even any hope she can cling to? No, even if there´s none, she doesn't care. It doesn´t change anything.
Vienessa deeply inhales the cold, moist air that burns up the inside of her throat. She is going to set everything on her next attack, all or nothing.
“|Enhance Cast|, |Physical Reinforcement|, |Enhance Cast|, |Ambush|” she whispers under her breath as she feels most of her remaining Mana being drained. The air around her trembles as she dashes forward at a speed incomparable to before.
Almost instantly she closes the distance between her and her father. Ever so slightly caught by surprise, the Goblin parries the strike she throws at him. He notices too late that he put in more force than needed. But as he touches the Demon, she grins as her body evaporates into a dark mist.
“Got you!” Vienessa´s shouts from behind him:
An Afterimage. He hit an Afterimage.
Her claws are already in a straight line with his back, just a little more and she will connect. But, sensing unexpected danger, the Goblin instinctively uses one of his |Skills|. A |Skill| that is too much for the Demon to take as she is right now. A shockwave generates from his body and hits his daughter straight on:
"Agh!”
It explodes, sends her crashing through multiple trees, obliterating them, not even leaving a speck of dust remaining in the trajectory. Her body hits the ground and rolls, until the momentum runs out and she eventually comes to a stop.
She doesn't move. She remains lying there in a mixture of mud and her own blood.
Cold sweat runs down the father's back. Before he can blink, his wife runs past him and worriedly shakes their daughter in an attempt to get a reaction out of her. His three other kids rush past him as well.
Finally snapping out of it, he starts running too. ´I didn´t mean to´ would be the best words to describe his expression.
His breath roughens, a whirlwind of emotions in his head.
The rain stops