Marcus infused his weapon before bursting into battle. Itsuki brought his claymore up just in time to clash blades with him. Since his weapon was a simple longsword, his movements were quicker. Unfortunately for him, Itsuki had experience dealing with faster opponents. However, throughout the Clan Skirmish, he's learned that their numbers wouldn't be a definitive advantage if the opponent was skilled enough.
With their blades locked, Itsuki shoved him aside before Kazeki launched his own assault, a series of quick thrusts. Marcus deflected his onslaught with ease as Itsuki rushed his side. As Marcus backpedaled to his left, Itsuki engaged with a wide swing. Blocking his attack would leave his right side vulnerable to his teammate's barrage so instead, he flipped into the air with an elegant flare, avoiding his attack entirely.
Before he could land, Kazeki's chain began wrapping itself around his ankle. Thinking quickly on his feet, Marcus wedged the base of his sword between his ankle and the chain, allowing him to safely slip his foot out against the flat of his blade.
"He's good," Kazeki noted as Marcus landed deftly on some rubble without so much as a stumble.
"Yeah," Itsuki agreed, dropping into a stance as his face turned more serious. "We can't take him lightly."
Itsuki's arms ignited in a gentle flame of amber, catching Kazeki off guard. Marcus stared wide-eyed at the claymore wielder as he wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at. Before Kazeki could ask, Itsuki interrupted him.
"Let's go." He burst forward, leaving his stunned teammate behind. During their battle with the Fiend patrols, he'd conserved most of his radiance in the event he had to face a stronger opponent.
Marcus swerved his body off center as the claymore drove itself deep into the earth, an ear-splitting boom resounding next to him. His eyes grew wider as he tried to make sense of this unorthodox ability. With each swing, Itsuki's arms flashed with gold and Marcus had determined the man was clearly faster and stronger. He wasn't infusing his sword and he didn't have a conjurer to enhance his physicality.
'Is he...infusing his own body?' he reluctantly concluded.
Kazeki, snapping out of his daze, whipped his dart towards the Fiend. With the combination of lightning-fast strikes from Kazeki and a close-range onslaught from Itsuki, Marcus had little room to breathe. However, during this time, Marcus noticed a subtle detail that could potentially be crucial in winning this fight.
If he wasn't attacking, the amber flames flickering around his arms would extinguish, telling him his infusions were in short bursts. Dodging another enhanced swing that obliterated the wall next to him and parrying the seventh barrage of strikes from the boy, he began theorizing.
During the microsecond pauses that presented themselves throughout their fierce battle, he came up with two possibilities as to why Itsuki chose to infuse in bursts. The first reason was he simply couldn't as leaving his arms in a state of constant infusion would rip him apart. The second reason was to preserve his radiance.
Either way, Marcus had already accumulated a few cuts from the claymore user. If he was going to keep these two away from the palace, it was time he got serious as well.
Dodging another swing, Marcus infused his sword and retaliated. Sliding under another one of Itsuki's swings, he launched a projectile towards Kazeki, forcing him to disengage and take cover.
Spinning around, he swung for Itsuki's leg but during this phase of their fight, the experienced ranger had no trouble avoiding his attacks. He'd already estimated the length of his blade—around 3 feet long give or take—making it easier to stay out of range.
"You'll have to try harder than tha-" Itsuki stopped mid-sentence, feeling a sharp pain on his thigh.
Looking down, there was a cut on his leg that shouldn't have been there. Perhaps he couldn't move out of the blade's path in time, hence why he was nicked. He'd fought multiple opponents before this bout so it was possible exhaustion was weighing him down.
Backpedaling to stay out of range, Itsuki swung his sword diagonally, attempting to force awkward movement from Marcus to throw off his footing but to no avail. Marcus veered his body off his centerline and countered with a slash to his arm, once again drawing blood.
Itsuki's eyes widened in shock. He'd made sure to give himself more than enough space to stay clear of Marcus' blade.
Before Marcus could continue his assault, Kazeki fired his dart towards his flank. Seeing the glint in a shard of glass wedged in the ground, he dodged to his left, allowing the dart to whiz past him. Frustrated by his situational awareness and agility, Kazeki whipped his hand back causing the dart to pursue its target aggressively.
"What a nuisance you are, boy," Marcus remarked, effortlessly flipping and leaping over debris as the dart swerved around the field, homing in on him.
Mid-backflip, he launched an arc of radiance that struck the ground just before Kazeki to obscure his vision. Losing visual, Kazeki began retracting his dart just as Marcus burst through the smokescreen. Before the kid could react, Marcus' heel had already rammed into his sternum, sending Kazeki tumbling.
Impatience welled up inside Itsuki. Infusing himself combined with how physically demanding this battle and the previous one had been began to take a toll on his body. However, if he were to act brashly and end this fight quickly he'd most likely be defeated since he wasn't sure how he'd been injured before.
He looked down at Marcus' amber-colored longsword and confirmed that it was in fact around the same length he'd estimated before.
'Let's try this again.' Itsuki thought as he rushed him.
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The two blades clashed, generating a blast of air pressure. Marcus' deadpan expression showed a trace of amusement as he continued to parry and counter. Like before, Itsuki made a conscious effort to stay out of range but the results were the same.
Marcus managed to cut his abdomen, his arms, and his legs making Itsuki seem like some amateur swinging a big sword. At some point in Marcus' assault, Itsuki decided to test a theory. He observed Marcus' whistling blade as it sliced through the air.
At first, he suspected he was somehow launching small projectiles point-blank. However, that thought was scrapped when he clearly watched the blade nick his right bicep from 4 feet away.
'Wait.'
Itsuki leaped further back but Marcus didn't bother to close the distance. Instead, he swung his sword. That's when Itsuki saw it. It was for a fraction of a second but it was there.
Leaning back, Itsuki narrowly avoided Marcus' blade this time. Putting slightly more distance between them, he wanted to confirm he saw what he saw. Marcus pivoted and aimed for Itsuki's left leg only for his sword to clash with his claymore.
"So that's how you're doing it." A smirk played on Itsuki's lips as he leaped back and regrouped with Kazeki who was still soothing the sharp pain radiating in his chest.
"I take it you figured something out?" Kazeki asked, eager to learn anything that could turn the tide of the battle.
Even when Itsuki stood outside Marcus' range he still managed to graze him. Standing further away proved just as ineffective as well.
"Yeah," Itsuki confirmed. "He's infusing his blade to hide its initial reach and using radiance to subtly extend its length."
Hearing this, Marcus couldn't help but crack a smile, admiring Itsuki's observation skills.
"Very impressive," Marcus responded simply as he dismissed his radiance, the amber tip of his blade evaporating to reveal its original length.
Although they figured out what Marcus could do, that was the extent of what they knew. Obviously, the more reserves he expended, the longer he could extend his blade but knowing that meant nothing if they didn't know how large his pool of radiance was.
Fighting close range was dangerous given Marcus' ability combined with his innate combat prowess and their own reserves were beginning to drop to concerning levels.
"Kazeki. His main ability revolves around close combat so you're the key to winning this fight. I'll do what I can to keep him off your back." Itsuki whispered, adopting a defensive stance in front of his teammate.
"So we're switching roles? Alright then." Kazeki levitated his dart in preparation for an attack.
Taking advantage of their distance, Kazeki launched his dart, it's pathing random to throw off his opponent. It wasn't as fast as it used to be as fatigue began setting in but he remained determined to bring this fight to a close quickly.
Taking that as his cue, Itsuki burst forward just as Marcus dodged the dart, clashing blades with the claymore. Since this was their first time fighting alongside each other, Itsuki knew they lacked the coordination necessary for a flawless victory. But that wasn't to say they couldn't try.
Like before, Marcus blocked and parried everything Itsuki threw at him while being mindful of the boy's dart. Since Itsuki was aware of his little trick, he made sure to back off each time there was an opportunity for Marcus to go on the offensive only to be quickly intercepted by Kazeki's dart.
At the rate they were going, they were at a stalemate. Frustrated and impatient, Marcus leaped back and pointed the tip of his sword towards Itsuki. Pouring more radiance into his sword, the blade extended at blistering speeds, forming a small gale of wind around it. Itsuki jerked his body to the side, allowing the amber blade to pass him and crash into the wall.
Before he could retaliate, Marcus shifted his body weight into the hilt, causing the blade to tear through the building. Kazeki dove for cover as the amber blade, more resembling a beam of radiance, ripped through the fragile wall above him, pummeling his back with exploding debris.
Itsuki rushed him as Marcus dissipated his blade and aimed it at his fast-approaching assailant. With a single thrust, another amber blade came rocketing out from his sword. Itsuki dodged but with exhaustion weighing him down along with his claymore, the attack left a gash on his arm.
"It's only a matter of time before the two of you succumb to fatigue." Marcus taunted, disintegrating the extended blade to conjure a new one.
Itsuki ignored him and pressed forward, knowing that they were to fail, Marcus would retreat to the palace to assist his fellow lieutenant. If that were to happen, Fuyumi wouldn't stand a chance.
Marcus fired a series of stabs so quick, his blade produced a cone of amber. Itsuki's armor took the brunt of most of his randomized thrusts, and he was forced to back off. However, Marcus refused to give him any breathing room and fired a longer blade towards him. Predicting this, Itsuki sidestepped the attack as it grazed his chest plate and slammed his claymore into the amber blade, shattering it.
Kazeki followed up with a barrage of quick thrusts but Marcus, allowing instincts to take control, dodged before his mind could give his body a command. The fight had dragged on for too long and he could feel his reserves depleting.
Fighting two opponents, one of which being high-ranking, was taking its toll. He didn't have time to think so his body was now reacting on its own. His body became hyper-aware of the terrain, making micro adjustments as he chained together a series of acrobatic maneuvers to avoid the boy's barrage that rained from above.
However, as fit as he was, no amount of athleticism could negate exhaustion. Eventually, his foot was caught on loose rubble, allowing the dart to puncture his leg.
"Gah!" He yelled as he stumbled on his landing.
Leaping over the dart that attempted to sweep him, he spun his body in midair while extending his blade to an impossible length. Gravity pulling him back down combined with the spin generated enough momentum for the amber blade to part the air, soaring down towards Kazeki. Itsuki dashed between his vulnerable comrade and Marcus' sword just as the blade smashed into his claymore.
Specks of the amber blade's surface dislodged from the abrupt stop, flinging glistening particles around Itsuki and Kazeki. Even with his top half infused to augment his strength, the shock still jolted his bones and shattered the already cracked ground.
"You're quick for such a big guy," Marcus remarked as his claymore-wielding opponent wavered under the pressure.
Itsuki didn't reply but instead flicked his gaze down and smirked. Confused, Marcus looked down to see a faint light traveling through one of the many fissures toward him. Before he realized what it was, Kazeki's dart erupted from the ground and wrapped itself firmly around both his wrists.
"W-What?!" He stammered, looking up to see that Itsuki had already begun closing the distance. With most of his strength drained, Marcus tugged weakly at the chain to free his hands but to no avail.
Itsuki raised his claymore, preparing to sever his hands from his wrists. Marcus' eyes shot open in horror. The shock of such a drastic measure had paralyzed him so his body once again took control. Out of pure reaction to save himself, he released his sword's handle, the amber blade evaporating, just as the claymore stopped short of where his wrists had been.
By the time Marcus realized his bluff, it was too late. Disarmed and defenseless, he stood helplessly as Itsuki poured radiance into his forearm, cladding it in a gauntlet of blazing gold. With a gale of wind whipping around his arm as he let out a roar, he crashed his fist into Marcus' stomach, blasting the wind out of him.
He soared through the air before colliding through a wall and came to a stop, unmoving. Itsuki collapsed to the ground, gnashing his teeth as the backlash of self-infusion shot waves of unbearable throbbing pain through his bones and muscles. Kazeki wasn't doing too well either as he expended nearly all of his reserves during the battle, lying in a heap of debris.
"Good work, Kazeki..." Itsuki squeezed before toppling over.