A bit after Nathan's and Geel's fight
"Oh? That's what happened?" Blake and Gwyn muttered in unison after listening to Nathan explain how he beat Geel while that was going on Nash was being useful by pulling Geel's armor out of the road making space for the next set of fighters.
"By the Goddess' light, you two are so idiotic that it pains me!" Nathan scoffed finally getting his plan through these numb skulls, holding the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "Hmm?" When he looked back at the two, he found them staring at the now-cleared battlefield. "Simple-minded fools." He muttered under his breath, leaving the two to prepare.
"Well, then it appears the field is open for you two," Weiss appeared in Nathan's place after checking with Geel who was slowly starting to get his voice back. "And it's the moment of truth, smith, will you be using all three of those lovely ladies or leave a few out to face me?" He asked, looking over at Risabeel, Saffire, and Baba.
"Heh! You act like you're getting a fight," Blake laughed in the knight's face then turned to Gwyn. "I hope you don't hold back like when we were arm wrestling before. If you do, I wouldn't be happy when I win!" He walked off to the girls after that.
"Holding back?" Weiss turned to Gwyn with a raised brow only for her to do the same as Blake and walk off. "Such strange friends..." The white knight was left scratching his head, never having heard Du being one to hold back on anything. "Hmm? Just as I thought this is a battle to see,"
"Huh? You want to use me too?" Saffire asked after Blake came over to choose who he was going to use against Gwyn and ended up picking all of them. "You really need all of us to deal with her?" She added, looking over at Gwyn swinging her sword around. "I was kind of hoping to get some fun for myself!"
"Well? You're welcome to have some fun with m-!" Blake was about to make a flirt when Saffire snapped her eyes on him. "Look she's gonna come at me with everything she's got, and I want to do the same."
"~Oh~ come now, Hot-head, can't you see Hubby's being a bit more manly right now?" Baba cooed, floating over to Blake's left side wrapping herself around his arm. "But I can understand how you feel I don't want him impressing her either. You, Risabeel, and that fishy are enough for my tastes."
"Wh-what are you on about now?" Saffire asked, shuttering a little at first with Baba grinning at her. "Tsk! If you think that then just leave this to Scaleless and Risabeel!"
"Hey, hold on!" Blake shot his hands up when it looked like Baba was considering Saffire's offer. "Come on, guys! I knew at some point you'd not want me to use you, but this is not the time!"
"Sir Blake is right," Risabeel spoke up, getting the others to turn to her. "Not only is this a guild battle tasked to us by Lord Stefon to end a dispute with his younger sister..." She paused as the fact that they were all here fighting tooth and nail because of those two fighting hit them came to their minds. "...but Sir Blake has a deep rivalry with the knight Gwyndolin going all the way back to their time as children, and as the blade that allowed Sir Blake to best Sir Reiner's greatest work and made him a master blacksmith, I will always help him in his dreams!"
"At least you have my back, Risabeel." Blake was thankful for her words as he held Risabeel's hands in his. "Huh?" Then turned to find Baba and Saffire getting closer to him as well. "Yea.?"
"Can't let this one have any more of a head start as is." Baba was the first of the two to speak, monitoring her head towards Risabeel. "And what are you doing here, Hot-head?"
"If he loses without me, he's gonna keep nagging me about it, and I'd rather not eat him if he does that..." Saffire backed off a little once she answered the Ala.
"Heh, he's as popular as ever?" Gwyn smirked at the sight of Blake surrounded by girls. "Hmm?" Then looking at Blake's side, she found Nathan leaning up on a wall with his face stuffed in one of his spellbooks. "Hey, mage, ain't you gonna give your boy some words of wisdom?" She asked after coming up to him and leaned against the wall as well while her sword was stabbed into the ground.
"Hmph, any words I would give him would be thrown back at me," Nathan looked up from his book at Gwyn seeing the knight looking down at him. "If anything, I should be giving you some."
"Huh? Me? Are you trying to say I am weaker than him!? What gave you that idea mage!?" Gwyn asked, bearing down on Nathan but pulled back once the only thing keeping them apart was the mage's book.
"Quite the opposite, Knight, if I had to say you two are more than likely to be even in most ways if you are any stronger than the time we met..." Nathan started to explain, then looked at Blake. "...however, despite my better judgment or lack of luck I have spent some time with that Smith and can say for certain that he is not one for giving up easily which you should know all too well, yes?"
"Heh, been butting heads with him since we were kids!" Gwyn rubbed a thumb to her nose which got a small laugh out of Nathan. "What's so funny, bookworm!?" She grabbed Nathan's collar and lifted him into her face.
"Ugh, it's quite simple really, I found it assuming that my rivals have such similar manners," Nathan answered, having a hard time breathing as Gwyn held him aloof like a side bag until she let him go.
"Rivals? Now, what are you on about?" Gwyn asked, at first she felt insulted, but now she was just confused, which meant Nathan was making fun of her. "You better not be laughing in that head of yours or else!" She warned going for her sword.
"Not at all," Nathan held a hand to stop her. "While I do seek to become the greatest of all spellcasters, that does not simply mean defeating other spellcasters mind you. Knights, blacksmiths, monsters, and many more are all my prey until all of the world can look on to me as the greatest that magic has brought forth!" He announced with a hand going to his chest. "And seeing as you wish to be the greatest of knights and that brute marches towards being the greatest of smiths, you two are my rivals on a road to greatness."
"Heh, so you think I can be the best knight ever, huh?" Gwyn sent a hand through her hair, trying to make it look better for some reason, and looked slightly red in the face.
"But of course! Anyone with enough conviction can reach their goal, such as myself! So be prepared for you and that Smith to be felled by myself!" Nathan took little notice of the things going on with Gwyn choosing to praise himself some more. "Hmm?" Until he had a sense of great danger coming from Gwyn. "Knight?" He looked up to see her face set in stone.
"Thanks for the words, Mage, but the only person that gets the right to take Blake down...is me." Gwyn's voice was as deadly as her blade then tore it out of the ground and left Nathan's side with the mage sliding down to the ground.
"That is a beast of a woman..." Nathan whimpered, letting out a sigh of relief once Gwyn was gone from his side.
After both Gwyn and Blake were all set and ready, the two faced eachother on the battlefield with Weiss standing between them, acting as the signaler this time. "Now then, as with every one of our past matches, I must say that you both fight with all of your might until your opponent can not continue, am I clear?"
"Hope you're ready to give me 'my' pendant, Blake?" Gwyn taunted, holding up her half of the pendant in her left hand while the other was used to swing her sword over her shoulder.
"Heh, as if! This thing's mine and you're about to hand over the rest of it!" Blake shot back at her, bringing out his half. "Risabeel, Saffire, Baba!" He called out to the girls standing around him, and all three transformed, covering him in a twisting pillar of darkness, fire, and wind. "Rah!" Until Blake cut through it with Risabeel and stood fully equipped.
"Tch, show off," Gwyn muttered under her breath far from impressed by Blake's battle intro while all she did was put on her helmet and tighten her grip on her sword. "Let's show him our stuff," She whispered to the blade then nodded to Weiss followed by Blake doing the same.
"Then with that, the 4th of our guild matches shall..." Weiss held Aofie up high, the banner of Ovis blowing in the wind. "BEGIN!" He brought Aofie down like lightning striking the earth.
"RAAAH!" And even quicker than that were the swings of Blake and Gwyn, clashing their blades and sent sparks flying along with unleashing a small shockwave around them. "COME ON!" The two shouted in the face of the other as they broke off.
"Let's go!" Gwyn went back on the attack first, charging forward and swung at Blake from the left.
"Gale Shield Wall!" Holding Baba up, Blake put a wall of wind between him and Gwyn's swing. "Tck!" But it did little to stop the force of the attack from sending him sliding across the ground. "My turn!" He ducked under the out swung blade moving in to thrust at Gwyn's side with Risabeel.
But the knight despite her armor and wielding such a large sword jumped back. "Slow!" And only got a scratch on her chest plate as Blake went by. "Got you!" Then without missing a step, she rammed her knee into Blake's face knocking him back. "Done already?' Taking the chance she swung down on Blake.
"Just getting warmed up!" Blake smirked, catching the falling strike with Risabeel and Baba but was still put to one knee as the ground under him cracked. "Guess things are heating up!" In the hand holding Baba, he made a fireball. "Ah!" And as he threw Gwyn back, he jumped back to toss it. "Dragon Fire Ball!"
Which was swatted away with the flat side of Gwyn's sword. "That all you got!?" She smashed her shoulder into Blake's chest, throwing him into the wall of a building. "Cause I was expecting a lot more from you!" The next attack came in as a straight thrust going right for Blake's face.
"AH!" Blake snapped his head to one side, getting a nick on his cheek as Gwyn's stab partly destroyed the wall behind him. "Stronger than ever, huh?" He thought, rolling out of there and back to the main street. "If you want more, then take it!" Dark mana wrapped around Risabeel's blade as Blake pulled her back. "Demon Slash!" And sent a slash of purple at Gwyn.
"There we go!" Gwyn braced herself for the attack, choosing to block it with her sword. "Ngh!" And was rammed by Blake's Demon Slash. "Rgh!" Until she sent it skyward by swinging her sword up and then held it there. "Alright...Blake...you showed me yours now here's mine!" She tightened the grip on her flamberge even more and held up her right foot. "Black Blade!" Slamming it forward she brought down a massive two-handed swing, leaving behind a trail of black as the dark blade came down, and with it came a violent torrent of air that ripped its way towards Blake.
"Wha!" Without even thinking, Blake jumped to a side, letting the blast of air tear passed him, and watched it scar the ground he was standing on with a clean cut and slashed a house in half. "What was..."
"That?" Mordecai finished the same question Blake was asking after seeing the attack Gwyn pulled off. "Does she have a Demon sword like Blake?"
"You are quite wrong in thinking that," Nathan spoke up, holding a pen and notebook as he watched the fight. "Nor is it some kind of monster able to control the wind; in fact, that sword is other than its size and design perfectly normal." He pointed out, taking down a few notes as he looked at the damage caused by Gwyn's Black Blade. "It's stronger than the last time we met."
"Huh? Then she's a monster like that Mimic or a mage like you?" Mordecai asked, thinking of the best answers he could come up with.
"Wrong again, thief," Weiss corrected Mordecai, making the thief look at him. "She's as human as they come and doesn't know a thing about magic." He explained, leaving Mordecai far more confused than he already was.
"Okay? Then how? You expect me to believe that she swung her sword so fast and so strong with enough skill that she can send out flying slashes?" Mordecai asked, shrugging his shoulders at how stupid that sounded. "Huh?" But when Nathan and Weiss stared blankly at him, he left like he was the stupid one. "Wait, you're not saying?"
"What's so unbelievable? Storms can uproot trees, earthquakes can shatter buildings, and great waves can wipe out entire towns, all it takes is a little effort." Weiss stated, seeing the look on Mordecai's face. "Even my speed is something anyone can do if they try hard enough." He blinked away soon after speaking now standing on the building behind Gwyn.
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"So you finally got that move down, huh? 'Miss. I don't need an item or magic'." Blake muttered, the shock of seeing Gwyn's attack leaving him and got into a fighting stance.
While Gwyn, on the other hand, kept the stance she had after using her Blake Blade. "Got that right! Unlike someone who has to get a helping hand whenever he can!" She spat out, eyeing the items that Blake was using. "But not like I'm mad about it, that's how you fight and this is how I fight!" She launched into the air getting as high as possible then rolled to come down with a massive slash. "Black Blade: Befallen!" Again a trail of black was left in her wake as she came down on Blake.
"Good to know! Demon Slash!" Blake met Gwyn's attack with his own, covering the two in a blast of black and purple as the area around them shook and left a cloud of smoke in their place.
"RAH!" The first to emerge out of it was Gwyn with bits and pieces of her already broken armor falling off. "Come out!" She yelled into the cloud, ready for whatever Blake had for her.
"Fine!" Blake answered her call as the cloud was blown away by the green winds of Baba as Blake shot at Gwyn. "Gale Shield Bash!" With his left arm wrapped in screaming winds, Blake threw a twisting punch at the black knight.
"Fine by me!" Making a fist in her left hand Gwyn threw her own punch at Blake's attack and met hey mark against Baba. "Ngh!" Winds were whipping around the two with Gwyn getting pushed back. "Gaaaah!" Until she gritted her teeth and stepped forward, throwing Blake back at the cost of destroying her one good gauntlet and left her now bruised hand out in the open. "Fuck! That hurt like hell!" She waved her hand around, trying to lessen the pain, even blowing on it a little.
"Then why the hell did you do that!" Blake yelled at her as he flipped backward to land on his feet. "But I didn't think she'd outpower that one? That thing sent Gram flying one time..." He rolled his left shoulder around while Gwyn got her hand back in working order. "Ready!?"
"Anytime!" Gwyn answered, running up until she stomped down hard a few feet away from Blake. "Black Blade: Battering Ram!" She slashed at Blake from the right.
"How is that a battering ram?!" Blake blocked it with Risabeel and Baba. "Wha?" Then started going backward and fast.
"Like this!" After Blake stopped her slash, Gwyn held her sword near its tip and then pushed Blake back as hard as she could which resulted in him barreling backward with no sign of stopping. "And you're the ram, jackass!" She kept at it as they neared a building with Blake getting pushed right through a solid stone wall.
"Gaugh!" Blake felt his back nearly break and it might have if it wasn't for Saffire and it looked like Gwyn was intent on keeping this up as they went from one side of a room to the other, scaring off the poor people who were inside. "Not again!" He ducked down to flip Gwyn off her feet and right on top of his. "Hey! Remember flying dragon?" He asked, looking up at Gwyn as flames were starting up at his feet. "Up you go! Dragon Flamethrower!" Before the black knight could answer, he shot her up with his feet aided by a stream of fire that put Gwyn through the ceiling.
"Hah! That'll show her!" Saffire laughed as Blake flipped back to his feet with burning bits of wood and stone falling around him.
"She's not done yet!" Blake warned, looking up at the hole he made with Gwyn as a black sword swing came out from above him. "Shit!" He had time to block it with Baba, but that didn't stop him from being picked up and put through the ceiling as well. "Gack!" He coughed up blood once he slammed into the roof of the room he sent Gwyn into.
"Yeah! I do! Those were good times!" Gwyn answered, thrusting a hand to Blake's neck and held him in place. "Now what game should we play next?" She asked, starting to sneeze the air out of Blake.
"Ggh! H-ugh-ot potato?" Blake offered a fireball to Gwyn, bringing it to her face and set it off.
The 2nd floor of the house was engulfed in smoke and fire with the only things surviving the blast being the two people that wrecked the place, to begin with. "HAH!" They went into a wild clash of sword swings each impact shook the entire building until it started to crumble under it all. "Huh!?" Forcing them to leap out of the destruction.
"You're...pretty...tough." Blake was trying to catch his breath with some of the scales around his neck getting ripped off by Gwyn's earlier choke hold.
As for the black knight, she was partly on fire with most of it centered around the right side of her. "Same to you!" She smirked Blake's way while putting out the fire.
"Something is not right with this chick..." Both Mordecai and Azul thought after watching all of that go down, Blake got a pass because of his items, but Gwyn was a whole other story.
"So if I'm right next up should be a good old tug o' war..." Gwyn marched into the center of the road. "Rah!" Once she was there, she slashed at the ground making a line. "Wanna go for old time's sake?"
"Heh, you might be older, but you're more of a kid." Blake chuckled as he came up to the line with each step he let off mana from Risabeel, Saffire, and Baba, getting covered in a purple, red, and green aura. "But this isn't kid's stuff anymore!" He held Risabeel out in front of the line with both hands as her blade was nothing but a mass of darkness, wind, and fire.
"Got that right! I'm coming at you with my best shot!" Gwyn warned, stabbing her flamberge behind her back and reached overhead for its handle. "NGH!" She snapped her hands around it as tight as possible. The simple act of doing so rattled the blade seemingly making its wave-like edges straighten out. "Ready..." Gwyn started, looming over Blake like an executioner at the ready.
"...Set..." Blake followed by raising Risabeel high as Gwyn began flexing every muscle on her, appearing to double in size.
"GOOOOOO!" They yelled out to the high heavens as they brought out their strongest and final attacks.
"Black Blade: Breaker!" Gwyn ripped her sword out of the ground, taking an earth-breaking stomp forward as she swung with such speed and power that everything around her was trapped in a black storm of fury. "Hah!" getting stronger and stronger as the attack came down on Blake with only one outcome desired by its user; a single strike to utterly destroy her opposition.
"Gale! Inferno! Demon!" Blake being that opposition brought down a swirling mass of wind, fire, and darkness, all combing into one strike filled with the bonds he made with the 3 women fighting at his side. Who each brought out as much of their power as he could handle. "RAAH!" His horns got longer and more defined as his mana got darker, his scales grew out more and hardened as his flames got hotter, and red feathers appeared around his head as his winds got wilder. "SLASH!" Blake paid no attention to what was going on with his body, only looking to crush the black knight in front of him.
"HHHOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!" The two powers clashed to settle the wishes of their two masters in one monumental act as a tremendous roar hit the battlefield, town, and surrounding area even greater than Geel's Grand Boom yet caused less damage as the aftermath of the two attacks' battle was seen only by those there to see its beginning.
"Is it over?" Azul poked his head out from behind Geel's massive shield there with him were a still-out-cold Rouge, Geel, and Greenbit eating a burnt stone.
"I think?" Mordecai answered, hiding behind Nathan who put up a mana barrier protecting the recovering Lu, Rena, Nash, and Blake's cart.
"Even I wouldn't want to get hit by either of those." Weiss had Aofie held in front of him as if ready to block one of those attacks if it came his way. "But it looks like we're done..." He gazed over at the spot where Gwyn and Blake once were.
Left there was a twisting cloud of smoke while around it were dug-up dirt, pieces of Gwyn's armor, and worst of all were Risabeel, Saffire, and Baba all tossed back along with Gwyn's flamberge stabbed into the earth right down to its parrying hooks.
"...or not?" Weiss questioned his own words as two figures were still standing tall inside of the cloud which blew away, showing Blake and Gwyn stripped of both weapon and armor left with only the ripped clothes on their backs. Their bodies were too wounded for them to be standing. Their strength was far too gone for them to move. Their minds left without a thought.
"GWYNDOLIN! BLAKE!" Yet their wills did not yield as the broken, weakened, and mindless bodies each made a fist with their right hand and smashed them into the face of the other with bone breaking, flesh tearing, blood splattering force. "Ugh..." That finally put an end to the standoff as the two warriors collapsed, each hitting the ground at the same time and each making it over the line for their tug of war.
"A draw...eh? Guess it's not the time for you two to settle things." Weiss appeared over them with a solemn look on his face. "Hmm?" Looking down between their smiling faces the two halves of their pendants were inches away from touching. "Maybe that's not the point?" He held Aofie up to spin it around, and then stabbed it into the ground to gather the attention of the two guilds. "Now that the final match of our guild battle has concluded our winner has been decided..." Aofie was held up and spun again then pointed it at the side Blake was lying on. "Congratulations to the guild of Blake, The Smith-knight! You have won!"
"YYYYAAAAAAEEE!" Shooting into the air was Mordecai and Rena high-fiving eachother by Rena calling a vine to clap Mordecai's hand.
"Hmph, idiots," Nathan put away his notebook, having a small smirk on his face.
"Welp, guess listening to Scaleless was a good thing," Saffire muttered, holding up Risabeel and Baba after getting back up, all three were covered in dirt and bruises. "But damn that girl's something else." She eyed Gwyn still holding a tight fist as she lay next to Blake.
"Even you're impressed by her, eh?" Baba mused, wrapping her arms around Saffire's neck when the Dragon tried to bush her off her shoulder. "Now, now, stop that I might be a shield, but I'm still not as tough as some other people." She whispered into Saffire's ear. "How are you doing, Risabeel?" She asked, resting her head on Saffire's shoulder.
"I am alright. However, Sir Blake and Knight Gwyndolin are a more pressing matter..." Risabeel was looking worryingly at the two unmoving fighters even though she was relieved that they won. Blake's current well-being was much more important to her. "Rena? Could you use that plant on them as well?" She turned to Rena all smiles with Mordecai and pointed at the Sanjeecovery Lu was in.
"Sure thing! But they're gonna owe me big time, hehehe!" The Fairy giggled, throwing around Fairy Dust willy-nilly to sprout off plants randomly.
"HOLD IT!" Azul ran into the middle of all this with his arms outstretched, stopping everyone in whatever they were doing then wheeled around to Weiss who was carefully moving Blake and Gwyn into the grassy patch Rena was making. "Ahem! Captain, isn't there something you're forgetting here?"
"I don't think so...?" Weiss answered, unsure of what Azul was going on about. "...are you worried where the money for the repairs is going to come from? Since the loser pays the bill?" He asked, knowing that the blue knight was likely more than annoyed by that.
"Yes, but that hasn't happened yet cause the guild battle isn't done!" Azul screamed, causing everyone there to stare at him in shock.
"Uhm? What do you mean by that, my dear knight?" Weiss asked, letting Blake and Gwyn down gently and waited for Azul to answer.
"Remember when you set up the rules of this little fight? Each guild was supposed to send out one member to fight if they won they couldn't come back for another fight, and we would keep going until no members were left. The winner being the guild with the most wins, right?" Azul retold the rules of their guild battle with Weiss nodding along.
"Yes, yes, and your point?" Weiss asked, agreeing with the blue knight for the most part.
"You haven't fought yet, captain..." Azul slowly spelled it out for the white knight, rubbing his temples at how dense his captain was right now.
"Oh? You're quite right, Azul! Thank you for reminding me! Well, then I should get to my bout then!" Weiss thanked Azul as he stepped onto the battlefield swinging Aofie around.
"Captain? They're out of members, so you win by default which makes this a tie." Azul pointed over at Blake's guild, all of whom had fought be it as support or an actual fighter. "But that doesn't matter cause her ladyship and her brother are gonna come up with something weird for us to do instead."
"That's not going to happen quite yet, Azul, the Smith's guild still has one more member among them." Weiss corrected Azul much to his confusion then the white knight pointed at Nash eating some of the grass Rena had grown around Blake and Gwyn, who were being held up by two Sanjeecoveries.
"Captain? That's a horse?" Azul pointed at Nash with said horse coming over to the two knights. "You didn't have to come here? Go back!" He tried, waving Nash away but the horse blew air at him and then locked eyes with Weiss. "Huh?"
"You are a member of the guild, right?" Weiss asked, staring Nash down with the horse nodding slowly then dug up some dirt at his hooves. "Oh? Eager aren't we?" He complied with Nash's answer by holding Aofie at the ready.
"Captain, are you about to fight a horse?" Azul looked at a white knight and a black horse standing off against eachother. "Should I hold up my hand and start things?"
"What? Of course not!" Weiss yelled, dropping his stance and turned to Azul while Nash dropped his tough guy act to start sweating waterfalls. "That would be one of the stupidest things I have done in my life! Can you not think better of me?" He berated Azul for even thinking that he would do something like that. "Now then good horse..." He turned back to Nash, who quickly put his battle face back on. "...I must say you are a truly fine animal, but I can not bring myself to harm you so...I surrender." He bowed down to Nash.
While Nash simply blew air from his nose and walked off sacred out of his mind.
"Hmm? That would make it 1 win for us, a draw, and 3 wins for them, we have lost quite thoroughly." Weiss muttered, smiling even at the outcome. "Now then Azul you go confirm what needs to be repaired around town while I inform her Ladyship of her defeat...unless you'd like to do it?" He offered the magic mirror used to speak with Angelica to the blue knight.
"Nope! Nope! Nope! The last time I gave her bad news, I didn't get paid for half a year!" Azul and Greenbit backed away together, shaking their heads and hands held up. "Why are you following me! You won your fight!"
"I don't want her to see me!" Greenbit snapped then ran away when it looked like Weiss was about to use the mirror. "I'll check the west side you go east!"
"Uhhhh? Whatever..." Azul walked off without saying much, all that meant was less work for him.
"Heh, good work, horse! You're not just emergency food." Saffire went up to pat Nash on the head, getting air blown in her face. "On second thought!" She snapped her fangs at him, and he promptly lowered his head under her. "Heh, kidding! If I eat you Scaleless' gonna have me carry that thing." She flicked a finger at the cart. "Speaking of which how is he?" Turning around, Blake was being looked after by Risabeel.
"You know you could do the same?" Baba cooed right in the Dragon's ear, getting flames blown at her. "Oh, my? Touchy much? Or should I say trochy?" She teased but didn't get much out of Saffire as the Dragon went back to staring at Blake. "He'll be fine; you protected him after all." The Ala assured the Dragon, looking at Blake as well while the Smith-Knight calmly slept not even aware that they won.
Chapter End