The Fall

Was Saga as insane as Two or just suicidal?

I thought for a moment she was trying to leap right on top of Two or something, but that was apparently wrong. The moment she jumped off, she then spun around and stabbed her sword into the clock tower itself, stopping her fall. She then let go of the sword, resummoned it in her hands and repeated this.

What the hell?

That was certainly a way of getting down quickly.

My mind boggled at this application of her athletic and physical abilities. Was the sword going to be fine if she abused it like that?

“Remember, C!” shouted Two, “I’m not going down without Kai!”

Would Saga cut down both of them? Despite her cold demeanor, I sincerely doubted that. Also, come to think about it, she might not have realized the full situation yet.

There was probably less than a minute to spare.

—I had a plan.

It was a very crude one, but I decided to go along with it. First, I swung my hand and shot my first attack—which wasn’t an attack at all. It was a splash of water.

“Hmm?” said Two, frowning as she became drenched.

“C, what’re you…?” started Kai, then widened his eyes. “No, don’t use that!”

The timing on this was going to be a nightmare. I swung yet another hand, shooting a blast of electricity as I rushed forward. Two braced herself and Kai gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, perhaps resolved to his fate.

But the crackling sparkles harmlessly bounced over the nearby pavement. A moment later, a rapid-fire of light cantrips hit not Two but Kai himself from the side.

Her grip slippery from all the water, Two widened her eyes as she found Kai thrown away from her grasp. Nevertheless, she was quick enough to still try and stab with her knife toward his neck—

But I got just close enough for my next spell. Spreading my fingers, I covered Kai with a protective film that stopped the attack.

Or rather than actually stop it, it was smashed to pieces by the knife a moment later, apparently due to being made of mogage. Still just enough to save him from worse injuries.

Kai rolled away, grunting in pain. He was clearly hurt—by my own attack as well—but hey, that was better than being dead.

“Hah! Nice trick, but you think you can still beat me?”

“I don’t have to,” I said as a figure landed right behind Two, causing her to turn in horror. She apparently forgot about Saga being there.

The girl landed perfectly and gracefully as a cat, her mostly-dark hair fluttering behind her and her sword poised to strike. There was still some distance between her and Two.

Two used her empty hand to reach for a button at her side, clearly trying to activate her jetpack that I could now see from this angle—but it was no use.

There were some sparks and then the device burst into flames. Two actually yelled in pain.

I’d like to say that I planned this, but I actually didn’t. It was just a lucky, happy coincidence. When I hit them with that splash of water, it caused even her device to malfunction.

Saga was now upon her.

To her credit, Two was no slouch in a fight. She dodged a strike, got parried, and her heavily made-up eyes widened as she slashed with her knife but had it sliced right out of her hand.

“No! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” yelped Two as she began dancing against Saga’s relentless assault. She had great reach, but apparently the woman was acrobatic enough to avoid all her strikes. Not that this left her any openings to attack. “Who are you, anyway! You weren’t supposed to be here!”

“Hah?” asked Saga mercilessly. “You’re an eyesore. Don’t be a sore loser.”

I aimed and shot a few cantrips, but despite being completely engaged with Saga she still twisted and leapt away from attacks.

Kai was groaning on the ground; he was apparently hurt harder than I thought. I’d take care of him once I made sure this battle was over.

In a surprising move, Two managed to not only avoid yet another slash but even use her long, stockinged leg to kick at Saga’s knee, actually causing her to stumble.

She even took the opportunity to grab Saga’s sword right from her hand.

“Die, you freak!” Two shouted. I had no time to even aim an attack in fear of hitting Saga, but that didn’t matter.

The moment Two tried swinging it, the sword puffed away from her hand and instead reappeared in Saga’s. Had Two not known that despite spying on us?

I watched from the side as Saga thrust her sword straight through Two’s stomach.

The woman puked blood and then collapsed, unmoving. At the same time, Saga also tumbled and fell down with a groan.

“This is,” the girl mumbled weakly, “the first time I…”

It was finally, finally over. I rushed over to Saga in order to heal her, pondering about the meaning of her words.

And then had my leg grabbed.

I crashed to the ground.

A madly smiling face appeared above me. Blood dribbling down the sides of her black lips, Two regarded me with mad eyes.

But coming in contact with me like that was a mistake. I used one hand to shield myself and the other to electrocute her.

“Aaahh,” she said, raising smoke and bleeding all over me as if we were in a warm embrace. “Master Three… Please forgive me… I’m sorry I haven’t been able to…”

Her eyes seemed to bore into mine—and then lost the spark of life within them. She collapsed on top of me.

Corpses strewn all around us, we finally defeated the second of the Three Warriors.