He brought his sword back into a defensive position and looked at the scene laid out before him. Lana, the assassin, had just used her skill a little while ago. Meanwhile, Johnny had been grievously wounded by the new Arthur and Elle. This was a very good development. While the towering assassin would not be killed so easily, it would help them in the long run since he would keep losing blood.

  Vil did not have a lot of time left, though. His stamina had fallen below 50 already, which meant he only had his mental fortitude to back him up. His health was at a good spot, but that was only because of his armour. Well, the stamina being lower than normal was also because of his armour, but that was something that he liked not to think about. That is what Knuckleduster Joe was for.

  Ah, how he wished that majestic beast were with him right now. It would make all of this much, much easier. But it gave up whenever it considered a situation too dangerous. The horse was not one raised for combat. The sight of blood made it queasy, which made it neigh and run away.

  Regardless, he brought himself back to the moment. Lana had only one katana left now, which was a good thing. The new Arthur had quite a proficiency in stealing her swords, which pleased him a lot. It was helpful in more ways than one. Right now, having to deal with a single sword rather than two was all he needed to clear out his mind and land the winning blow. This assassin had dared to kidnap Celia Ingram, and they would pay dearly for it.

  The knight started to run forward, sword ready to strike. As Lana got closer, she smiled like she always did, as if she couldn’t believe how stupid he was to even try. As their blades met, she started her dance. That was the only way her movements could be expressed or explained. She was a master of the dance of the sword. The dance of the body, really. Every single one of her movements was filled with grace and understanding. Her comfort level with every strike and her confidence with every stride were what really threw a warrior off.

  Vil changed his stance and kept attacking. He could not let her go on the offensive. That would be disastrous. Right now, as she was still counting down her five-minute timer, he had to attack and attack. Then, she would start attacking with her skill, and he would defend until they broke up. That was the rhythm that they had non-verbally decided upon. That was how this fight would go until one of them lost their stamina.

  A battle of attrition.

  Behind him, he could hear Johnny still struggling to break out of his new wooden chains. Elle and new Arthur looked like they were just sitting down and waiting for that moment to come. Good for them, since it would also get their stamina up. As far as Vil knew, Elle only carried a single full stat reset potion, and he had used it on new Arthur during the battle of the school.

  Suddenly, Lana attacked, pushing forward, and his concentration was broken. He stepped back, slipped on some of the slick flooring, and almost ate her entire blade. Luckily, he sidestepped it and moved behind her. Taking the small advantage he had, he swung, but missed all of her body as she jumped back once more. What was this? What had she done? Breaking the rhythm in a battle of attrition was a cowardly move. But then again, she was a cowardly person who had made a job out of killing other people.

  Vil went for her knees, immediately slashing downwards. The woman responded by jumping up, getting on his sword and using the momentum to rise up and kick his face. Before she could hit him, though, the knight tilted the sword and made her lose falling. While she was falling to the floor, he swung up, right between her legs. It made him almost squeal, too, but that is where the sword had decided to go.

  Panicking, she put her sword on top of his at a right angle and started pushing down. Locked in that position for five seconds, Lana finally made her next move up. Jumping up, she got on her sword and used her feet to thrash through his once more. This time, it worked. As his grip loosened to make sure it didn’t break, the assassin went flying backward and landed on her back. This was the opportunity. This was what he needed.

  Vil picked the sword back up and ran up to her, ready to slash through her hand before she got back up.

  What followed that was the first sign that the woman was hiding more tricks up her sleeve than she had shown him in their past five confrontations. Doing something she had never done before, she took the hair stick that had been stuck in her ponytail forever, and threw it forward. It was a blade. A pointed stick, much like a flat spear. It reached straight for his eyes, and he used his sword to throw it to the floor. Using that time, Lana jumped up, picking the dagger up on the way.

  The fight had been reset once more. This is how it always went. At least this time, he had forced her to reveal another card in her deck. How many more had she been keeping secret? She might have been a coward, but she was also a good warrior. Limiting her tools so that she could use the best ones at opportune moments was a sign of experience.

  “Three hundred.” Vil suddenly whispered, which caught her attention.

  A pitiful smile spread across Lana’s face. She was trying to make fun of him for counting. For looking out for the cooldown of her ability. It did not matter, though. This wasn’t something to be ashamed of. It was a normal, smart thing for a warrior to do. Knowing when your opponent would use their strongest move was of the utmost importance in a battle like this.

  Lana shook her head and turned. As soon as she did, her plan made its way into Vil’s mind. Of course, she was going to pull that move. She could not afford to let her actual target keep resting while she was busy fighting him.

  “Elle!” He shouted, warning his friend as he ran up to interrupt her.

  But the three seconds had started the moment she turned. Jumping up to angle her attack, which was a trick she had come up with in this very battle, Lana unleashed her sword across the air.

  Skill Activation

  Atomic Resonance

  A blade of air flew towards the two sitting beside the locked Johnny. It was a masterful angle and positioning. As Lana came back to the ground and immediately shifted her focus to blocking his attacks, Elle and the new Arthur jumped out of the way to opposite sides. The attack missed them, but managed to cut through one of the wooden chains that Elle had created.

  Once shattered, it let Johnny’s left arm rise up free. With a grunt, it started using it to free itself from the other chains.

  Vil ignored him, however, and came back to his own fight. He had five more minutes to deal with her, and then she would get her skill back. Five minutes to come up with an attack that could truly immobilize her once and for all. It was a difficult conundrum, but not the worst he had ever faced. It was still possible.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The trading of blows continued as she grit her teeth, and impatience grew. A slight roar from the other side, and Johnny broke the chain on his other hand. All the while, he kept thrashing around to keep Elle and the new Arthur confused. They were able to land attacks on him, but a few puny cuts were not going to make any difference.

  Lana’s defence slowed. She kept fighting, but she stopped being aggressive. Suddenly, as soon as he made any move, all she did was perpetuate it. She was stalling for time. Something to do with Johnny, then. She was waiting for him to use his skill, maybe.

  That would not be enough. She needed to understand that. With a tougher slash, she pushed her backwards. But as she went sliding back, the smile on her face was still undeniable. Johnny broke free of his third chain, and the stomp of his feet sent tremors through the floor. In the distance, even Celia screamed as she lost her balance and almost fell into the pile of cardboard packaging all around her.

  Johnny closed his eyes and raised his fist. Here it came. Last time, when he had swirled all around the room, Vil had gone prone on the floor along with Lana to avoid his attack. This time, it was left to be seen what kind of damage he would do. Two. Three.

  Skill Activation

  Enlargement

  What happened was unexpected, to say the least.

  Not his fist, not his leg. What expanded was Johnny’s head. Ballooning into a titanic size, it moved around in the air without control. Then, he smacked it against the wall to the right. Bringing it back, he threw it at the wall to the left. Then the one to their front, and then to the back. The ground and ceiling began to rumble as he moved. Elle and the new Arthur tried to find their footing. While Vil was doing the same, Lana came back and started attacking once more.

  Relentlessly, she kept going over and over again, truly unleashing her rage in an uncomposed manner. There was no pattern to her all of a sudden. Her dance had turned into an outburst. Her poetry had turned into a rant. She threw her sword at every part of his body, and all he could do was hastily dodge. Johnny’s head smacked the wall one last time and then went back to its original position, covered in thin lines of blood.

  But he had done what he needed to do. A crack in the ceiling became more pronounced and creaked. The weight of the shelves above it began to weigh it down. Their plan became more obvious, but why? When it happened, it would affect all of them. It would get them all down. Why was their answer always to break everything all around them and then hope for the best? At least the school had been survivable. They could not survive hundreds of thousands of kilograms of weight being dropped on them at the same time.

  Still, the ceiling cracked, broke into pieces, and everything came crashing down.

  Skill Activation

  Barrier

  _____________

  When Vil fell to the floor, he had expected death. But that was not what he got. Instead, there was a disturbing lack of light, and that was it. Because right before everything could fall on them, Dee had burst through the warehouse and placed himself right above them. Everything had fallen, but it had fallen on top of him. The dragon was injured to no end, but he was still standing, huffing and panting as it tried to make sense of its pain.

  The knight stood up and looked at the others. Elle and new Arthur were also just standing up. The two assassins, however, were in an interesting position. They were standing straight, with translucent blue barriers around them. Lana had a crooked smile on her face. It was her skill. Her second skill. Of course, she had been hiding another. A warrior who had a hidden dagger obviously had a hidden skill.

  She sighed and looked all around them. Nothing else remained. Only the five of them right below the heaving dragon.

  Wait. Only the five?

  “Celia?” new Arthur whispered as he stood up against Elle, looking at the corner where she had been standing.

  Right. Celia. She had been there. She had…

  They all looked, but found nothing. Nothing but darkness and rubble surrounded them. It was not right. It made no sense. She had to be alive, right? All of this had been for her. And if she had died, it would mean it was their fault. Unrelated to all of this, and yet, she had died? Crushed by the weight of everything falling around her?

  Vil looked at his sword as Elle and new Arthur devolved into chaos. They exchanged a few words, but he didn’t hear any of them. This just kept happening, over and over again. No matter how many times he tried, he always lost her. To these cowards. The ones who couldn’t attack straight or make an honourable move. Why? Why was he like this? Why were they like that?

  He closed his eyes and kept his sword at the ready. The world went silent. One.

  He had vowed not to use this in battle. It was dishonourable. Cowardly. Two.

  But sometimes, it was just what people deserved. She would pay. Lana would pay for what she had just done. He was done losing her. He was done. Three.

  Skill Activation

  Voice of the World

  The world turned transparent.

  Every single bit of electricity moving inside everyone’s body gained a distinct blue colour, while the rest of the world became a blur of black and white. He could make out who they were and their general positions, but not all the details. Because he didn’t need all the details. Not anymore. He had figured it out a long time ago while sparring with Elle, but had decided it was too much. Too overpowered. Not befitting a royal knight like him, who could rely on his skills.

  Vil walked forward without another thought. He raised his sword and kept moving toward Lana. She readied herself, too, as the barrier around her collapsed. The impulse travelled from her brain to her right hand, and then to the muscle in her leg, which would help her turn to the left. An attack on his neck. Childish and expected. He blocked it before it could even come. She winced on the inside. Her nerves went into a disarray because of his response time.

  Elle had been clear. They needed her alive. Fine. She would pay even then. She would pay by living.

  He kept dodging with the proof he got. Every time she decided to attack, her body’s impulses betrayed her. They told him exactly what she was going to do. Quietly, he moved through her attacks as if it were a game. She panicked, but she was stuck in her dance. That was Lana’s true weakness. She only became wild when she wanted to. When she was truly panicked, she stuck to her rules.

  Through the last attack, Vil walked straight to her side and put all of his strength into smacking her head with the hilt of his sword. Then, before she could fall, he hit her once more. And then a third time for good measure.

  The assassin collapsed to the floor, and he turned his skill off.

  “Celia! Oh, thank you!”

  New Arthur’s voice filled his head, and he looked in its direction. There she was. Celia was just standing there and giving him a hug as if nothing had happened. Then, Vil looked back at the corner she should have been crushed in. Dee’s tail had been right above her to make sure she didn’t take any damage.

  Then, he looked at his sword’s hilt, which had a little bit of blood on it. Then, he looked at Lana on the floor, already unconscious. Celia was fine, though.

  “Oh…” Vil sighed, “Well…”