The two traveled far and wide, slaying a great number of dragons and other monsters. They gathered a lot of artifacts which Sapphire used for enhancing the ones they used, and fused some which carried useful effects. Both continued to travel, receive commissions from guilds, and grow steadily stronger for a bit over a week before the time finally came.
Both Sapphire and Winter were resting peacefully, not afraid of any monsters as most avoided the two completely. Winter happened to be asleep, peaceful smile on her face, Sapphire lying down beside her, wide awake. She swapped places with a Shadow Warrior and walked away, making her way through the woods far from where Winter slept.
The woods were snowy and filled with cone-shaped trees, reminding her of the first night after she departed. She never could have thought things will escalate to this, having started a seemingly simple journey. She stood under the moonlit sky in a small opening, the full moon shining upon her. Taking a deep breath she raised her right hand up towards the sky as her hair blew to the side from the wind.
Commence challenge. She ordered in her mind as she slammed her hand to the ground.
A large red magic circle appeared around her, spinning and rapidly changing colors. It stopped after a short moment, it's final color being blue, similar to Sapphire's eyes. The next thing she knew she stood standing in some sort of colosseum made for battles.
There were seats for people behind the walls, currently empty, an illusion, Sapphire could easily tell. The stands and everything beyond the battle-ring turned out be just an illusion when Sapphire took a closer look at them. She stood in a pocket world confined to the ring which served as a battlefield. It still appeared to be a night sky however, the moon shining brightly down on her, no wind in the environment whatsoever.
Sapphire turned at the sound of a sigh, finding a girl standing behind her. She wore all black clothes underneath a yellow robe, opened in the front and reaching down till her ankles. A red cloth seemed to be tied around her waist from over her robe like a belt, two metallic clips pinned on it. Her black hair moved slightly as she turned her head, her red eyes with a hint of orange inspecting Sapphire. She looked like an adult, being much taller than Sapphire, around 168cm in height with a muscular physique.
"Are you the one who dares to challenge me?" The Guardian inquired.
Sapphire raised her fists, prepared to attack. "Indeed," she mumbled.
"Very well then, I wish you luck in this battle." The Guardian bowed slightly before taking a fighting stance.
Sapphire teleported behind the Guardian with Shadow Movement and kicked at her back, but the guardian quickly spun around and blocked the attack with her arm. She punched towards Sapphire with the same arm, which Sapphire barely dodged by side stepping. Knowing the surprise attack failed Sapphire backed away while stepping to the side, not moving in a straight line. The Guardian stood at the same place, not bothering to take the initiative.
Sapphire did the same again, appearing behind the guardian. The Guardian swung her arm as she turned and smashed through the Shadow Warrior's body, ripping it's head off it's shoulders. She raised her brow in confusion as Sapphire kicked her from behind, sending her flying into the wall of the battle ring. Blue lines slowly receded from Sapphire's leg after her attack landed and she stood calmly. The guardian looked at her for a moment, unharmed, and thinking.
"You are not a wolf, are you?" The Guardian questioned.
"I am, why do you ask?" Sapphire responded.
"Not completely, you are a Krystallite, explains why your attack was so powerful just now." The Guardian observed walking back towards Sapphire. "Do you know that all guardians have their own strengths and weaknesses?" The Guardian inquired. "Some have strong magic, some have a strong physique, some have many other powers. Which do you think I have?"
"A strong physique?" Sapphire inquired.
"Yes, with one of the strongest magic amongst the Guardians, although even I do not compare to Niko." The Guardian replied as she raised her hand above her head.
A giant fireball formed above her hand, which she shot towards Sapphire at high speed by lowering her hand. Sapphire dashed to the side as the fireball collided with the ground where she stood before and caused a small explosion, not damaging the ground in the slightest.
Magic and strength? Neither can I fight from afar nor can I go too close. Just how am I supposed to kill her even? Sapphire groaned.
"Come now, don't lose hope so fast." The Guardian mocked on noticing her expression.
"You see, I have something even you might have never seen before," Sapphire smirked. "Shadow Play." She called out as thirty-three Shadow Warriors appeared from the shadows, surrounding the Guardian.
"Clones? Made of shadows? That's certainly new." The Guardian nodded, hints of amusement clear in her voice and smile. "Best to be cautious."
As the Guardian said that a surge of water rose from near her feet, pushing some of the clones backwards and filling the arena till Sapphire's knees with water. The Guardian assumed a fighting stance as her fists lit ablaze.
The Shadow Warriors charged in at once, Sapphire standing back and observing for the moment. The first Shadow Warrior got blasted away by a palm strike from the Guardian, other three being destroyed by roundhouse-kick. The Guardian seemed adept at martial arts and took nearly no time in destroying thirty two of the shadows, the one still alive bring Shadow.
"You don't seem to be very offensive like the other thirty two," The Guardian observed.
Shadow parried a punch and flipped backwards as the Guardian tried to leg sweep her. Stepping forward as the Guardian got back up Shadow roundhouse-kicked her in the face before jumping out of reach. As the Guardian remained disoriented by the kick coming out of the shadows Sapphire punched her in the abdomen, sending her flying away. The Guardian bounced off the ground some distance further and landed back on her feet, smiling slightly as she glanced at Sapphire.
Sapphire's body enveloped in a blue aura, her blue eyes shining in the moonlight. "Come, let's dance," Sapphire smirked.
The Guardian smiled back at her as she dusted her clothes. "Certainly."
The Guardian took the initiative this time, dashing to Sapphire and punching towards her face. Sapphire lowered her body to dodge the attack, but the Guardian also changed the direction of her attack, hitting Sapphire and smashing her head into the ground, completely shattering her head. A spray of blood signalled to the Guardian the successful hit along with the feeling of crushed bones on her hand.
The Guardian felt as she got kicked in the chest, lifting her into the air. Sapphire then quickly got up and spinning on her feet punched the Guardian in the chest, throwing her into a wall. The Guardian felt certain the body that punched did not possess a head, confused as to how she survived
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Sapphire stood silently as her head regenerated and the Guardian got up. While she managed to hit the Guardian just now, it only happened due to her knowing exactly where the Guardian stood, but now, she felt clueless of where to attack. She patiently waited for her eyes and ears to regenerate, keeping a steady flow of energy in her body to be able to withstand any attacks.
"You have never fought a Krystallite before have you?" Sapphire inquired after her mouth and nose regenerated.
"No, krystallites are rare, you are the first I am fighting, I was not aware you can't be killed that easily." The Guardian replied, shaking the blood and bone fragments off her hand. "I will wait for your head to regenerate, it will easily get destroyed again anyways."
As soon as the tip of Sapphire's ears regenerated the Guardian dashed towards her and did the same as she did before. Stepping inwards, closer to the Guardian, Sapphire grabbed her hand and threw her over herself, slamming her into the ground.
The Guardian kicked upwards, being blocked by Sapphire's hand. She punched Sapphire's leg outwards, knocking her off balance and causing her leg to slip in the water. As Sapphire's body lowered the Guardian punched her in the face, knocking her backwards. She jumped quickly back to her feet, instantly being kicked in the back by a Shadow Warrior as she turned to Sapphire.
Sapphire already got back on her feet as Shadow kicked the Guardian towards her. She roundhouse-kicked the Guardian in the face, causing her to stumble to the side. Stepping forward she hit the Guardian's chest with both her hands, throwing her far and the crunch confirming that she broke some ribs.
The Guardian rolled to a stop and coughed blood as she tried to get up. Not giving her time to recover Sapphire used Shadow Movement to get to her and kicked her in the face, knocking her back to her feet. Jumping up she kicked her in the chest with a charged attack, breaking more ribs. The Guardian spat blood as she got pushed backwards.
Somehow, the Guardian managed to hold her ground and not get knocked away, just pushed a step back. Stepping forward the Guardian directed an uppercut at Sapphire's lower jaw, knocking her backwards. Sapphire's mouth bled, but not willing to give up she unsheathed her katana and unleashed a Shadow Slash at the Guardian. The Guardian punched it, igniting the slash and dissipating it. Sapphire landed on her feet and taking a deep breath walked slowly forwards. The Guardian prepared herself to engage again, shaking her hands as she smirked at Sapphire.
Shadow Sword Style: Betraying Shadow.
A katana curved towards the Guardian's neck from behind, her eyes still being fixated on Sapphire in front of her. The Guardian ducked underneath at the last second, realising what stood in front of her happened to be just an afterimage. Sapphire clicked her tongue in annoyance and spinning around brought her katana down from over her head with a Shadow Slash. The Guardian dissipated the Shadow Slash with an uppercut, the katana being blocked by her fist.
The Guardian punched at Sapphire's head with her free hand but Sapphire moved her head to the side at the last moment, stepping to the side and swinging her katana upwards and slicing off the Guardian's hand. Stepping forward the Guardian punched at Sapphire with her other hand. Sapphire summoned a barrier to block the hit but the barrier shattered instantly under the attack. By bringing her katana between herself and the fist Sapphire managed to save herself from the brunt of the blow, though she still got knocked far back.
The Guardian healed her arm in an instant with the help of advanced healing magic as she walked towards Sapphire. Sapphire swung her katana through the air and sprinted towards the Guardian, spinning her katana and performing flips and spins. The Guardian looked in confusion as Sapphire approached and charged her fist with lightning magic. She punched forwards as Sapphire got close.
Tilting her body Sapphire dodged the punch, going over it, and kicked the Guardian in the face. Landing behind her, Sapphire struck the Guardian's leg with a Shadow Slash, failing to slice it off. The Guardian fell as her leg got flicked upwards by the attack. Disregarding the leg Sapphire brought her katana down on the Guardian's torso with all her strength.
The Guardian brought both her arms close to the right of her chest and pushed them forward just as Sapphire struck with her katana. Sapphire got pushed back by the shockwave as her Shadow Slash collided with the Guardian's attack, her katana getting tossed high into the air as blood dropped from her hands.
While her attention drifted to her katana the Guardian closed the distance and punched towards Sapphire. Gripping the hilt of her older katana on the right of her waist Sapphire unsheathed it and deflected the punch, kicking the Guardian away and jumping backwards.
The Guardian clicked her tongue and looked to the sky as Sapphire's katana fell downwards. She extended her arm where the katana would be to grab it, but Sapphire instantly dashing towards her to stop her. The Guardian roundhouse-kicked Sapphire into the arena wall and went to grab the katana. The handle fell perfectly into her hand, breaking her fingers without halting and bouncing off as it collided with the ground.
The Guardian's eyes widened as she realised what just happened. While she focused on the katana Sapphire flung her older katana with all her strength towards the Guardian's chest. The katana hit the Guardian, inflicting a shallow slash but failing to pierce as it bounced off.
The Guardian snapped back to attention from the impact, locking her eyes on Sapphire. Sapphire dashed forwards, aiming towards her katana. The older katana she threw knocked into the Blade of Shadows, pushing it towards Sapphire. The Guardian realised this and went to grab it, but got grabbed from behind by two Shadow Warriors.
The Blade of Shadows bounced off the ground again as the Guardian destroyed the two Shadow Warriors and charged towards it. Sapphire slid on the watery ground and grabbed the katana, spinning and unleashing a Shadow Slash at the Guardian. The Guardian crossed her arms to block it, being pushed backwards from the impact, still being unharmed.
A blue glow traveled up Sapphire's neck as she opened her mouth and unleashed a breath attack infused with Shadow Pulse on the Guardian. The Guardian attacked with a strong jet of water summoned from a magic circle, causing the arena to be filled with steam from the impact.
Sapphire activated a large number of magic circles around her and attacked with Shadow Spears. The Guardian did the same and attacked with fireballs, rock spears and blasts of compressed mana.
Bringing both her arms in front of her chest, the Guardian charged a super-compressed mana blast and shot it at Sapphire. Sapphire tilted her head to the side, dodging the blast barely. Her eyes widened on the radius of the explosion which occured as the blast hit the arena's invisible walls.
Sapphire again charged her breath attack and shot it just as the Guardian shot another mana blast. The two collided halfway and caused an explosion, cancelling each other. Sapphire stepped to the side as a rock spear passed through the many attacks from the magic circles and came towards her.
The magic circles were mostly cancelling each other's attacks, but the Guardian's magic happened to be much more powerful and her attacks passed through frequently, most far from Sapphire but some coming very close. Sapphire smiled as an idea came to her mind.
Shadow Manipulation: Shadow Spears, Shadow Play.
Several magic circles appeared on the ground in front of Sapphire, thirty of them, each forming a large Shadow Spear. As the spears were shot the Guardian realised there were Shadow Warriors clinging to each spear. Clicking her tongue the Guardian directed her magic circles to strike down the Shadow Warriors as she shot a mana blast at Sapphire.
Sapphire blocked the mana blast by a dragon breath, the Guardian noticing several moments later that Sapphire replaced herself with a Shadow Warrior. Her eyes darted between the Shadow Warriors and Shadow Spears coming towards her, searching for Sapphire.
The Shadow Warriors jumped between the many Shadow Spears to dodge attacks, one or two being impaled by a rock spear or shot by a fireball every short moment. Grabbing a Shadow Spear with shadowy strings, a Shadow Warrior spun it around and redirected it towards the Guardian, being impaled by a rock spear right after it launched the Shadow Spear.
The Guardian tilted her head to the side and dodged the Shadow Spear while trying to locate Sapphire. A moment after doing so she felt an intense burning sensation in her abdomen, looking down to realise the Shadow Spear she believed to have dodged somehow impaled her. Following the strings attached to it she turned around to face Sapphire, a smirk clear on her face as her blue eyes shone with confidence.
Releasing the strings Sapphire unsheathed her katana to attack the Guardian, but instead brought it to the side of her head to block a kick from the Guardian. Sapphire got flung into a wall and stood there, blood leaking from her mouth from the force of the impact, breaking her control over her magic circles and disabling them. The Guardian removed the Shadow Spear from her abdomen and healed it near instantly, removing her own magic circles as well.
"You have given me the most trouble in a few hundred years." The Guardian grunted with a slight chuckle.
"My pleasure," Sapphire groaned.
"Sadly this is all the trouble you will be giving me," The Guardian laughed.
She spread both her arms outwards as a massive magic circle appeared behind her. A super compressed mana blast formed from the magic circle and shot towards Sapphire, being much stronger and bigger than the ones she encountered before. She attempted to move to dodge, but she failed to, not having recovered enough to move yet.
It won't end like this, I have gotten through similar situations before and I will again. Sapphire grunted as blood flowed from the corners of her mouth.