He immediately unleashed a flurry of Rippling Swords at the Amazon, though she was even faster with her reaction. Her cleaver blurred, destroying the magic with ease in an instant. However, the shattered magic obstructed her vision for a fraction of a second, and Adama took the opportunity to throw a Hidden Blade at her head. Alura stepped forward, unaware of the attack, though her eyes narrowed as she saw the displaced air the sword created as it flew toward her face. At the last second, Alura tilted her head to the side to avoid it, yet right as the sword passed by, it rang like a bell. Numerous blades of green light detonated on the side of her skull, slicing into her temple and jaw. Unluckily for her, one of the slashes took her in the eye and elicited a grunt of pain and surprise.

  Adama dashed forward, sword shining with the light of the Flowing Sword, and he struck the Amazon with every ounce of his strength. She raised her cleaver to defend, but Adama wouldn’t be deterred as he swung his sword with shocking might. The off-balance Amazon held firm against the first attack, then the second, but the third swing forced her back a step. Adama attacked with great savagery, slamming into his enemy’s weapon with as many strikes as he could in a short period of time. Their natural strength difference was overcome as he kept the Amazon on the back foot. As Alura traded blows with the man, she was surprised to find her arms trembling from their steadily increasing force, Hearthblade’s light growing brighter by the moment. Eventually, Adama knocked her cleaver away, and he lunged forward with a killing blow.

  To Adama’s surprise, Alura slipped away, his attack swishing through empty air. Her body shone purple as she suddenly became as slippery as an eelfish, stepping away from his swing and hastily putting distance between herself and the swordsman. Hearthblade’s light winked out, since Chain Attack had been broken, and Adama didn’t pursue. Instead, he put himself in a defensive posture and started circulating his magic to perform an Endless Sword.

  Alura took a moment to gather herself before leaping onto the offensive, swinging her weapon with enhanced grace and speed. She moved like amethyst lightning, maneuvering the cleaver with remarkable agility, and now it was time for Adama to go on the defensive. He unleashed the Endless Sword to deflect one of her attacks, but another came as swift as thought. He became the epicenter of a whirlwind of steel, and Adama was forced to use all of his skill to keep from being diced up. The Endless Sword helped, deflecting several of her more powerful swings, and the swordsman further focused on imbuing his defenses with that mystical sensation he felt whenever he trained with Aiz. Adam quickly fell into a battle trance, his footwork taking on a rhythmic quality as he danced within the powerful storm.

  However, Adama was a predator by nature, more inclined to attack than defend. Thus, when his enemy started to tire, he leapt at any opening he could find. A perfect deflection led to a quick slash across her stomach. A well-timed evasion allowed him to score a shallow cut across her arm. He did hardly any damage. Alura’s skin was incredibly tough, even for a Level 6, and she was still quick enough to pull back before Hearthblade could bite deep. Yet Adama could tell that the attacks caused pain, prompting the Amazon to fight defensively. That was a mistake. The swordsman activated his Flowing Sword again, pressing the warrior before she finally got smart and jumped away once more.

  This time, Adama pressed her, grinning menacingly and shooting several Rippling Swords after her. The Amazon’s purple glow had begun to diminish, slowing her movements, but she was still fast enough to destroy the magical attacks and put even more distance between the two of them. His Flowing Sword winked out again, since magic didn’t count as a ‘hit’ for the skill, though that didn’t deter the swordsman as he pursued. If Alura had decided not to fight him after all, she’d have to turn tail and really run away.

  Instead of doing that, the Amazon fixed her furious one-eyed gaze on the swordsman, and she began to chant. Her body glowed an even brighter purple now, and Adama made a special effort to disrupt her chant. He strained to run after her, throwing out more Hidden Blades and Rippling Swords, all to no avail. She was wise to his tricks now, and even with one eye gummed up with blood, Alura managed to spot his Hidden Blades and stay well clear of them. Furthermore, for all his skill, Adama was much slower than the Amazon. She kited him easily, finishing off her chant with a flourish:

  “Zodiac Titan!”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  While Adventurer’s Level’s were public information, their skills and spells were not. Adama braced himself for anything that might happen when Alura finished her chant, but even so, he was somewhat shocked by the results of her magic. Alura suddenly split in two, with her body remaining in place while energy shot out and formed a clone of her to her left. The energy clone was primarily made of amethyst light, though its body contained numerous blips of white light that looked like stars, arranged in constellations. Its face was detailed enough to look like Alura’s, though most of the rest of its body was smooth magic in the general shape of the female Amazon, including a copy of her weapon. Its eyes were unblemished orbs of ivory light, and Adama felt a shiver go up his spine when they locked onto him. Without another word, the duo pounced on the swordsman, cleavers raised.

  Now Adama was truly on the defensive. If battling one Alura was deadly, battling two was downright suicide. It took every ounce of strength and ability he had just to survive the first few moments, the swordsman constantly deflecting overwhelming strikes by a hair’s breadth. Adama danced on a knife’s edge, limboing under one swing, parrying another as he came upright, then dodging to the left to avoid a stab in the space of a heartbeat. He activated a Flowing Sword to try and fight back, but the enemy managed to hit his blade on the flat and disperse the technique. Adama’s abilities were not designed for defense.

  The road’s stones cracked under the force of the Amazon’s attacks, kicking up dust and making Adama’s eyes water. His body creaked from the force of the enemy’s strikes, the webbing in his fingers splitting as he was forced to take them at an awkward angle. Even his battle trance began to waver. Adama held it for as long as he could, wrenching his state of mind into order with unparalleled willpower, but even his iron will slowly began to rust. In a remote sense, Adama recognized that he’d die if the trance broke, but there was little he could do about it as several of the bones in his arms and torso began to suffer hairline fractures. If those got much worse, it would be over, no matter how powerful his focus was.

  Then, a voice cried out above the chaos. In a ringing tone like that of an angel announcing his salvation, it chanted:

  “Mighty Defender!”

  Adama’s body was instantly suffused in bright, silvery light, and the speed increase that light brought allowed him to step away from an overhead swing that he’d nearly been forced to block. Alura didn’t have time to be surprised before a suddenly invigorated Adama turned the tables, the swordsman deflecting another of her attacks and lashing out at her throat. The Zodiac Titan blocked his counter, but now Adama was able to fight back once again. He matched the duo’s intensity, activating Flowing Sword and Endless Sword in a brutal blitz to try and knock aside their guard.

  They defended successfully, but the swordsman was relentless. He threw Hidden Swords in the road near the duo, subsequently activating the Endless Sword and carving a few chunks off the Titan. Adama shifted to wielding his sword one-handed, defending against the Titan with the sword while launching a Rippling Sword with the nails of his free offhand at the remaining good eye of the real Alura. She hurriedly destroyed the magic but was forced to abort her own attack. Over the following couple of seconds, Adama whipped out every dirty trick in the book and applied as much pressure as possible, the music of battle singing in his bones. He knew that time was on his side. Somewhere out there, Emily was preparing her Cornerstone magic, and Adama suspected that it would give him the opening he needed to win this fight.

  Perhaps sensing exactly that, Alura roared and utilized her active skill again, causing both herself and the Titan to glow even brighter. They seized the initiative once more, pouncing on him with terrifying speed and forcing him back on defense. But Adama smelled weakness. Alura was panting even as she swung the cleaver at blinding speeds, and she was bleeding a decent amount. She had clearly been pushed hard, meaning that she’d be more likely to show him an opening. Adama himself felt like his body had been crumpled like a ball of paper, though that was just fine. Alura could theoretically kill him in the next handful of seconds if nothing happened, but Emily’s boulder would get here first. Once it did, he’d turn things around, and-

  "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

  Another voice cut through the din of battle, its tone imperious and clear. When neither Adama nor Alura stopped fighting, a bulky figure fell from the nearby rooftops and interposed itself between them. This time, the fighters jumped back and reassessed their situation, looking around to see who’d dared to interrupt their battle.

  The fighter between them was a dwarf in heavy armor, his bearded figure on the short side yet extremely muscular. Three other intruders stood on the nearby rooftops. These figures were a golden-eyed prum, a jade-haired elf, and a grey-haired, dog-eared cienthrope. The prum carried dual spears, and Adama instinctively suspected that he’d been the one who’d order them to stop. The elf carried a mage’s staff, while the cienthrope appeared to be a gauntlet-clad brawler. Both Alura and Adama recognized these intruders immediately, and the Amazon warrior was the first to speak, “On what grounds does the Loki Familia interfere with the business of Ishtar Familia?”

  The prum stared at the Amazoness, then turned toward Adama, eyes cold as he belted out, “Alura Prince and Timaias Adama. For disturbing the peace and fighting an unsanctioned duel, I hereby place both of you under arrest!”