Imgelan was the first to move again. He rushed forward, his massive hammer raised overhead. Miudofay’s flames could have warded him off, but the humans were still behind him. Lusya did not care what happened them, but Ariya would be upset if they were incinerated. Even if her eyes were closed, it would be difficult not to reveal what had happened if she asked. That meant Lusya needed to be careful not to kill or injure them. In other words, she had to hold back as long as they were in the way.
She swiped Lunera through the air instead, appeared behind Imgelan, and whirled to slash at him. Lunera clanged off the haft of his hammer as he twisted to block, but that was acceptable. Miudofay still sang for his throat. He lurched backward to avoid the blow, allowing the sword of ruin to draw a thin red line along his jaw.
It was clear that had been a desperate defense born of surprise. That wasn’t strange. Muscle memory pulled a lot of weight during a fight, and most opponents couldn’t attack twice at once. Even consciously knowing she had two swords, it wasn’t surprising that he had been caught off-guard by the second strike. Despite all that, he was able to lash out with a kick from his awkward position before Lusya could react, catching her in the stomach. The blow and accompanying shockwave sent her tumbling back through the air. Then, in a testament to his combat ability, he was upon her again, prepared to bring his weapon down on her.
She managed an air jump to dodge the blow, allowing the hammer’s head to slam into the ground with a spray of dirt. That should have been it. It should have bought her the space to counterattack or think about her next move. Instead, she plummeted to the ground with unexpected speed. Everything suddenly felt heavier, from her clothes to her body itself.
She landed hard on her feet, but the extra weight drove her to her knees the moment she was on land. Imgelan drove his hammer into her face while she was attempting to recover, once again launching her back. He followed her as she sailed through the air, and her head swam as she tried to formulate her next move. Her enhancement had spared her any serious injury, but a hammer to the head would still stun anyone.
Luckily, reflex turned out to be enough. She righted herself and lashed out with Miudofay, sending out an arc of violet flame. Imgelan ceased his charge to dive to the side and avoid the attack, leaving him unharmed but giving her time to stop her flight. Her fire had been weak enough that it dissipated before coming near the humans.
From what she could see, the woman had helped the man to unsteady feet. The woman carried the infant and the man the older child. They had gotten the unresponsive teenager to his feet, and, though he still seemed to lack any sort of awareness, he allowed the woman to lead him away by the hand. She hoped they would move quickly, so she would not be hindered by them any longer, but she wasn’t counting on it. None of them were in any shape to be quick, and their current pace bore that out. She still had her doubts they would survive even if they got away, but she didn’t much care either way as long as they left and stopped obstructing her. She did prefer that they got out of sight before dying. It would be much easier if she could simply tell Ariya they had been alive last she had seen.
Not wanting to give Imeglan a chance to resume his charge, Lusya slashed Lunera to warp him in front of her. His eyes widened in surprise, soon joined by a cry of pain as she ignited Miudofay and stabbed it into his belly. He threw a desperate, blind punch, forcing her to back away to dodge rather than press her advantage.
Rather than allow him to recover, she closed back in and threw a high kick into his chin, launching him up high into the air. She warped in front of him at the apex of his flight and stood on air to slash at him. However, he was quick to regain his wits and air jumped away, forcing her to give chase.
A sweeping hammer blow came at her from the side as she drew near. She jumped over it into a flip and brought her heel down toward her opponent. When he backstepped out of range again, she turned her momentum into another whirling kick aimed for his head. This one connected, sending him sprawling through the air to the side. She warped to him with Lunera, but he had already recovered and brought his hammer down toward her. She sidestepped the blow, only for the world to grow heavier once more.
They both dropped to the ground like shooting stars and landed in a spray of dust. He recovered first, as was to be expected. He was bound to be accustomed to his own power, and it probably didn’t affect him as much to begin with, though the way he had dropped suggested he wasn’t completely immune. It was possible he could control how much it affected him. She was still able to dodge the first hammer blow. Now that she knew what to expect, she could move even under the power of his Blade, though she was hindered. The effect had not ended yet, so it did not seem to be strictly linked to the downward movement of his hammer, thought that may have been necessary to trigger it.
His next attack, however, struck true. He swept her legs out from under her and slammed the hammer into her belly. She kept her wits about her, keeping track of when her weight seemed to return to normal as she sailed back. It was difficult to keep track of distance at the angle she was flying at, but the radius seemed to be about fifteen feet.
The humans had not fled yet, but the fight had moved away from them. That meant Lusya could be a bit more liberal with her destruction.
As Imgelan pursued her, rather than stop herself, she righted herself and pushed off the air, the momentum from his last blow helping carry her out of range of the next. She continued with the next step, and the next, moving away from him and weaving around any blows that came too close. It was not a viable strategy long term. It was successful because she focused only on matching her defensive movements to his offensive. That meant she could not counterattack unless he left her an incredible opening, which was unlikely from an opponent of his prowess. For now, though, it would serve her purposes.
Just as planned, he growled in frustration after the dozenth time his attacks whiffed through open air and slammed his hammer into the ground. Against most opponents, that would have been an opening, but his abilities made trying to capitalize too risky at this stage. She leaped back and stopped herself at the edge of the area and observed everything that might offer a hint. The way his clothes hung off him, the movement of the grass. Fifteen feet, just as she had thought.
“This is a fight,” he said. He was more exasperated, almost plaintive, than angry. “Not a dance.”
“They are more similar than one might think,” she replied.
She was not as skilled at “choreographizing” as Danfia had called it as her mentor. Danfia had been able to make an entire battle, from first exchange to final blow, look like a preplanned sequence with the flawless synchronization of her movements to her opponent’s, allowing her to defeat even enemies significantly more powerful than herself unscathed. Lusya had never mastered that skill to the same extent, so she avoided relying on it, but it did have its uses even in its lesser form.
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At a more basic level, it was true that the skills demanded of dancing and fighting had much in common. There was a reason Danfia had been trusted to teach Lusya how to fight. Reflexes, coordination, the ability to chain together motions and keep moving, even the ability to match one’s movements to a partner of sorts. All were skills needed for both. Aside from the obvious, there was the key difference that dances were typically preplanned, with success hinging only on the dancers’ execution. Battles were more freeform, both what one did and how well they did it being critical.
Regardless of the truth of Lusya’s statement, Imgelan scoffed and charged again. She swiped Lunera through the air, extending the space between them to slow his approach. With Miudofay wreathed in flame, she slashed it down, sending a massive gout of fire toward him. He cut off his charge and leaped high into the air to avoid the attack, as anticipated.
She warped him in front of her, but, rather than go for a killing blow, she aimed Miudofay for his raised arms, driving him back and keeping him from lowering them. As she suspected, he had to swing the hammer to activate its ability, probably downward. A typical limitation of most Blades’ First Releases, but confirming it rather than assuming was still wise.
She did not pursue him. He had ample room to use his Blade’s power now if she did. Eliminating him at range with Miudofay would be ideal. Its flames might not have been as powerful as in Father’s hands, but they could kill this demon.
She opened a rift leading behind him and launched an arc of flame through it. He moved to the side to avoid the attack, but she launched another to cut off his escape route. He jumped into the air rather than keep scurrying around on the ground. There was no point in sending flames after him. He was too mobile in the air to have any hope of success.
At the same time, his own Blade had less immediate effect in the air. With that in mind, she warped behind him. He was aware enough to dodge her first attack. He also caught the second downward kick on the haft of his weapon, but it accomplished its purpose of driving him back toward the ground. She sent a wave of roaring violet flame to chase and devour him. He landed with a boom on his back on the ground, but he managed to push up and dive aside before the flames hit, turning well over a hundred feet of land into ash and soot.
Yet he had escaped with only a burned shoulder. He clutched it and gritted his teeth in pain, but it would not hinder him for long. She warped to the ground and he dashed at her. She sent out a wave of flame to stave him off, but he kept running, only moving enough to let the flames graze him rather than engulf him. He surprised her again by slamming his hammer into the ground well before reaching her, but within range. She struggled to stay standing, giving him an opening to close the distance and throw a vicious punch square into her chest. She tumbled back through the air.
By the time she righted herself, he was upon her again, striking down. She had little choice but to guard, crossing her swords overhead to catch the hammer. Her arms shook with the force of the attack, his hammer’s power forcing her to kneel. He took the opportunity to throw a knee into her face, followed by his hammer into her stomach.
She threw out a wave of fire as he gave chase. He tried to dodge as before, but she opened a rift behind him and to the side, redirecting the attack to cross in front of him and force him to stop.
He clicked his tongue. “You can take a beating, huh? What a pain. It’s gonna take so long to kill you.”
“That will not happen,” she replied.
Her entire body ached. It wasn’t just the hits she had taken. Every time he used that ability of his, her body strained to support itself. She struggled to maintain proper breathing, resisting the urge to gasp for more air. Despite her assertion, she was far from confident. Like she had thought, he was strong. Not insurmountably, but plenty strong enough to defeat her. That didn’t matter, though. No matter how possible it was, she wouldn’t let it happen. She needed to finish this. She didn’t see any way Lunera would help her. Miudofay was the key. Yet even with a full power blast, he would dodge unless she boxed him in somehow.
She had a few ideas on how to do that, but no guarantees. That was the best she was going to get right now, though. There was no room for guarantees in this fight. Nor was there any room for doubts. She just had to do her best and win. No matter what happened, the next exchange was going to decide this.
She rushed forward and threw out a rapid series of slashes. A few landed shallow cuts, but he dodged or blocked most entirely. That was fine. Their purpose wasn’t to hurt him, but to make him think she was on the offensive. After several seconds, she left an opening in her guard for him so seize on, baiting a downward strike. He happily seized upon the bait. More eagerly than she had thought, in fact. A fish on a hook would have been embarrassed for him.
She warped behind him, out of range, as the attack hit, then whirled, Miudofay raised to strike. Predicting her actions, he moved to the side, falling for her feint as she lowered Miudofay. Another swipe of Lunera brought him in front of her, back exposed. She brought Lunera back the other way, aimed for his throat. Wreathed in flame, Miudofay came up, ready to unleash its wrath upon the heavens. He had three options: he could let her take his head off, let her incinerate him, or dodge to the left, a move easy to predict and react to.
Then he threw himself backward in an awkward tackle, driving them both to the ground in an uncontrolled tumble, ending with him on top of her. It would have been a stupid move in any other circumstance. Most opponents would have been better off trying a futile dodge or block. There were myriad ways she could finish him off in this position.
She did not know if he had thought ahead or not, but it was his luck that he had the one ability to make this situation advantageous. Over and over as he stood, he slammed his hammer into the ground, making standing or attacking slower and more laborious for Lusya than it should have been.
When he got to his feet, she was still lying on her back. He swung his hammer along the ground and slammed it into her. Before she had any chance of recovering, he went after her and struck her down into the ground. He swung his hammer down again as she tried to stand driving her back down to the ground, then a heavy foot stomped on her back to keep her there. A kick hit hard in her side, sending her rolling and bouncing along the ground. She dug her swords in to slow down her flight and stop herself faster.
She was going to lose. That was obvious. He was already closing in again. It was not in her nature to engage in pointless action, yet she she found herself trying to stand again anyway.
It was not a blow from Imgelan, but her charge that stopped her. Ariya was moving toward her.
“Lusya!” Ariya called.
Lusya dared not take her eyes off her opponent to see what, exactly, Ariya was doing. Whatever it was, it was suicidal. Imgelan wasn’t paying her any mind, but that was probably because he didn’t want to take his eyes off Lusya. If he killed her or Ariya got closer, that would be a different story.
“Stay back, child,” Lusya replied. Ariya stopped for a brief moment, then resumed her advance, albeit slower.
Lusya started to stand again. If Ariya was going to do something foolish, that was all the more reason Lusya had to find a way out of this. An assault on her senses made her stop as sure as it froze him in his tracks. Another powerful Malice signature, this one mortal, was closing in at incredible speed. No, powerful didn’t do it justice. Overwhelming would have been closer. It was almost to her sense for Malice as staring into the sun would have been for her sight.
A gray blob blurred through the air, and then there was spear embedded in Imgelan’s shoulder, sending him reeling backward. A moment later a figure was kicking him, using his body as purchase to pull the spear out as they sent him flying away.
The white-clad figure landed and swiped the spear through the air with an unnecessary flourish, flinging the demon’s blood off the blade.
“Hi there, you two,” the woman said. Her tone was almost friendly, but not quite. There was something condescending, mocking about it. “I’m going to interrupt here. I’d say I’m sorry, but…well, I’m not.”