A small breeze of wind passed over as Unda stared down Ser and Pier. Like lightning, Unda surged forward, his blade clashing against Ser’s. Unda’s and Ser’s blades clashed against each other for a short while before Ser paced back–spacing himself out from Unda. Pier soon took his place, though he struggled to match Unda’s swordsmanship, forcing Ser to soon join back in. As Ser, Pier, and Unda all exchanged blows, Lyos sat in the back preparing another spell.
“Bright. Blight. Blaze. Collapser!” The blinding flash of light as the mass of energy spawned on top of Lyos’s staff signaled to Pier and Ser to leap out of the way. Unda simply watched as the ball of light was launched at him, waiting until the very last moment to make a move. With one swift movement, Unda sliced the ball in half, causing it to explode regardless. He leaped through the smoke in pursuit though not for Pier or Ser, but instead for Lyos.
“Impressive, but you lack proper technique,” Unda said as he came to a sliding stop with his sword at the ready. Before his right swing could make contact with Lyos, Gourd came crashing into Unda, breaking his stance and pushing him back. Positioned himself between Unda and Lyos, his shield held up to cover his torso. “Tsk, such a nuisance,” Unda remarked before slamming his sword down onto Gourd’s shield. Gourd took the opportunity to counter, but this would prove to be a fatal mistake. Before his sword could pierce Unda’s armor, he took hold of Gourd’s sword by the blade and hurled Gourd over himself. He continued his attack with one slash, severing Gourd’s left arm and taking his shield away from him. “How unfortunate, it seems you aren’t even able to protect your loved ones in the first place,” Unda sneered as he placed the tip of his sword over the left side of Gourd’s chest–just over his heart. The light of another Collapser spell caught Unda’s eye before he quickly removed his sword from over Gourd’s heart to cut it in half. Ser ran into the smoke of the following explosion in an attempt to catch Unda by surprise. In the end, both of their attempts to stop Unda proved futile. As the smoke cleared, Ser was on the ground and covered in blood. “I must offer my condolences, you and I are so similar in our inability to protect that which we love, but this is simply the way of the world and who am I to disobey it?” Metallic clattering could be heard as Unda finished his short monologue coming from Gourd as he took up his shortsword and lunged at Unda in a moment of desperation. With one simple step, Unda dodged and Gourd came crashing down onto the floor. “Please, do not make this harder,” Unda commanded as he pointed his finger in Pier’s direction.
“Haven’t we already answered your question?” Pier asked through gritted teeth.
“Yes, yes you have. This is now only a matter of my own selfishness. I wish to know if there are people capable of protecting their loved ones to the fullest, even if it’s beyond the grave. Especially so if it’s beyond the grave. It is this same selfishness that has found these two incapable of answering my insecurities,” Ignoring Unda’s warning, Pier began to run towards him. “I thought one of your origins would be more understanding.” Unda deflected Pier’s flimsy attack and began an extensive counter made up of constant strikes, all barely blocked by Pier and his amateur swordplay. With a kick to Pier’s gut and an upward swing, Unda disarmed Pier and took a stance to launch his sword into Pier’s chest. The tear of cloth and sight of crimson red encompassed Pier as he watched Unda impale Lyos in front of him. “How interesting…”
“W-Why?” Pier struggled to ask.
“Please… Take care of Reice, won’t you Pier?” Lyos solemnly said as a small stream of blood made its way out of her mouth, “Tell everyone… I’m sorry.” The red-coated blade retracted from Lyos’s chest, her body falling to the ground in response. Pier could only watch as the remaining life in her eyes dissipated, his mind still shocked from the scene unfolding in front of him. Pier could hear someone cry out from behind Unda, prompting the knight to turn his back to Pier and march his way over to the writhing messes of red. The sound of Unda’s sword being plunged into Gourd’s chest penetrated deep into Pier’s mind.
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“Stand up, Homunculus. You can grieve all you want in your grave.” Unda commanded Pier. Pier knew that he had to continue, even if his struggle was futile at this point. “How will you face them if you don’t go out fighting to the end?”
“I know…” Pier meekly said with a single tear running down the side of his cheek. He took slow steps as he approached his sword, picking it up with a weak grip by the end of its hilt. “I swear… By my, Lyos’s, Ser’s, and Gourd’s last breath, I will kill you.” Pier announced with gritted teeth, a furrowed brow, and a grief-inspired resolve.
“Yes! There it is! Reveal everything and answer our question, Pier!” Unda yelled out in jubilation as his and Pier’s swords clashed against each other. Unda’s manic laughter and the sound of clashing metal filled the empty air as their duel continued seemingly without end. In spite of his inexperience in swordplay, Pier had begun to match Unda in skill. “While you still hold the rationale of a human, your growth is unmatched! Haha! You are just what I’ve been looking for! Someone with the capability to protect everyone!” In Unda’s moment of split concentration, Pier found a rare opening. With an upward swing, Pier forced Unda’s sword upward before dragging his blade through Unda’s side. Unda collapsed onto his knees as he registered the injury to his body. “Well… Would you look at that? It would seem this body isn’t the most efficient. Ahhh… It would seem my question will go unanswered, what do you think Pier? Are you capable of protecting everyone you know and don’t know?”
“Is- Is that what all of this was for?” Pier’s words came out quickly like daggers.
“Of course… I fought a war to protect those I loved and while I saved hundreds of strangers, I failed in protecting the ones I had started the fight for. I failed, but you- you have the potential to protect everyone.
“Is that so?” Pier said, his head turned towards the bodies strewn about the floor a distance away.
“Of… Course…” Unda’s words slowed as he followed the direction Pier faced, “Hm… Then, have we both failed? Haha… What a cruel twist, caused by my own hand…”
“I’m going to kill you now,” Pier sternly stated, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
“Ah, yes… I will pay the price for my fallacies, I wish you lu-” Unda’s words were cut off as Pier preemptively cut his head off. As if something had broken, the gray grass that had been swaying with the wind paused in motion–as if paused in time. The sky began to twist, the clouds drooping down and falling to the ground like melting metal, all the while the still grass began to wilt at rapid speeds going from lush to pruned within just a few seconds. The ground slowly dissipated into an impenetrable darkness, and even that darkness soon disappeared in place for the stone floor of the church. At the front of the church, Pier found there were two people sitting up against a large statue of a deity unknown to Pier. Once closer, Pier found that both of the individuals were unconscious though one of them seemed to be holding a crystal of some kind. The individual to the right was suited in iron armor, her sword still sheathed in its holster.
Clearly not a mage. Probably Harris’s partner–Pier thought as he turned his attention to the individual holding the crystal. Her hair was brass with an underside coloring of a dirty pink that extended down to the mid-section of her torso. She wore a simple shirt and shorts covered over by leather armor. Pier took the crystal out from her hand, Finding that it was the Crystalline Butterfly Lyos had used to find the dungeon in the first place. Hello, Reice.