Chapter 35:
Aetherlink
“Slater, from what you’ve told me, one of their combatants seems to have a particular interest in you.” Lupus addressed the boy, turning the room’s focus to him. “We can exploit that.”
“What do you mean?” Slater tilted his head.
“If he wants a fight with you, we’ll give him one. Away from everyone else.” He hardened his stare as he gave his suggestion. “And when he comes for you, if we’re lucky, he could even show us exactly where Blitz is.”
“But, Sir, he has a partner who was watching us our entire previous battle. She was making sure I didn’t do anything rash to draw the battle away…” Slater poked holes in Lupus’ plan, but Charlotte chimed in before Lupus could react.
“Yes, and she uses daggers of light that shew throws to attack.” She displayed her bandaged foot. “She got me good with them too.”
“And has she been seen using them for close combat in your confrontations?” Lupus questioned the girl.
Charlotte only shook her head.
“In that case,” He spun swiftly to Cora. “You’ll be accompanying Slater. Keep the dagger woman from meddling. She’ll be all yours once Slater gets away with his opponent.”
“But, Lupus…” Slater stopped before he continued. He looked his boss in the eyes, wondering if he should even voice his question, but went through with it regardless. “What happens if I lose again?”
Lupus softened his expression, granting him a warm smile, as if he was relieved the question was something so simple.
“You don’t have to best him in pure swordsmanship, Slater. As long as you put your soul into your blade, you won’t lose.”
As he dodged a blade of red aiming at his head, Slater dropped to the cold surface of the arch and swung as he went down. The blue sword barely missed its target as Axel generated his second blade in his other hand, extending it to push his assailant back. Slater’s feet dragged against the ground, but planted his blade to stop himself from falling over the edge as he fell to one knee.
“You aren’t paying attention to my form anymore, are you?” Axel readied his blades for another attack, but Slater remained planted on the ground with his sword in front of him.
“However you use your sword doesn’t matter to me, I only need to see where your blade is in the moment to counter it.” Slater replied, his face partially hidden behind the blue glow before him.
Without a reply, the two red streaks painted themselves forward and at Slater, causing a shock wave of crimson droplets to spread around the arch. When the drops had landed, all that was left was the blue glow, now fully concealing Slater as it had taken on a new shape.
“What the hell..?” Axel turned his head, slightly confused at what Slater was thinking with the new shape of his weapon.
Now showing itself was the shining visage of a shield instead of a blade at the end of Slater’s hilt. The few droplets of blood which landed on it steamed as they evaporated from touching the surface. Slater lifted himself up and moved the shield from in front of him, preparing his own attack towards Axel once again.
“I thought I told you we were testing our blades.” Axel looked puzzled, but also somewhat insulted, as he readied himself for any other unexpected strategies Slater could throw at him now.
“You told me to show you my sword.” Slater took an En Garde position, with his blade shifting itself into a new form once again. The aether flowed into an amorphous shape, before morphing into the edge of an axe. “And this is how Slater Ferruccio fights.”
The axe blade bursted forward from the hilt, extending with a string of aether keeping it attached to where it had started. Axel, fortunate enough to have prepared for something so unorthodox in a swordfight, took a page out of Slater’s book and turned his blades into shields, albeit circular and and more like miniature domes. The axe dug into the layer between Axel and death, but the concave nature of the shields let Axel push the blade off to his right before it hit him, slicing his right shield in two.
The side of the shield which had been chopped off burst into maroon rain, much like his blades had before, and with it came Slater, whose blade returned to its natural form, charging through.
A drop of sweat ran down Axel’s forehead.
“I can skewer you with every drop in that rain at once!” He yelled out. “Prepare for your demise, Slater Feruccio!” Axel raised his hands as if to control the rain before him, but all he was met with was Slater’s blade digging into his gut. As he spat out blood, he looked at his opponent, who met his gaze.
“You shouldn’t have left your blood in my sister’s bandages. We studied how your swords work. Those nanobots which you use to control your blood lose all function if its cut off from the main flow, your bluff never would’ve worked on me.” Slater’s face reflected the disdain his tone conveyed to Axel, but he couldn’t help but smirk in return. “While you were too busy trying to get to know my blade, I already learned yours.”
“I see, so you really were worthy, Slater.” His smirk deepened for a moment, before it fell immediately. “Unfortunately, I’ll have to put an end to your little ray of hope.”
A red eruption launched Slater away from Axel, his blade being shoved out of his body and off to the side. Slater looked upon the man standing above him, whose blood was still erupting from his wound. The crimson liquid clinged to his body, solidifying itself into a smooth shell-like armor around his entire body, except for his head, which was open to the air. The red flame of blood which had adorned his eye in their first battle had returned, now flowing even fiercer. His hands no longer held a sword, but when he raised his arm, the blood on his body flowed into it, forming a large sword with his arm itself as the handle.
“You had your fun showing off your unorthodoxy, now, bear witness to how I truly fight, Slater.”
The large blade was brought down onto the arch, sending up a dust cloud from the debris which could be seen from anywhere in the city.
One such place was the entrance to the building which Axel was seen leaping out of only a few minutes earlier, where two figures stood.
“We know where he is now, or at least we think we do… But why did you come with me if we’re trying to split them up?” Charlotte questioned her boss, who stood next to her, only paying attention to the doors of the large building they were about to raid.
“Because of her.” His response was quick, causing Charlotte to turn her head just as fast.
The first thing she saw were a pillar of flame and a pillar of wind bursting from the ground, blocking the entrance. Out of the middle of the two, parting them so that they didn’t hurt their master, was the woman from before. She turned up her head in scorn, looking down on those she saw as inferior before her.
“I see you have returned, aether girl. Let’s make this quick.”
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