Discordance V / Last Will

The searing pain emanating from my abdomen overwhelmed my mind, and it took everything I had just to remain conscious. I felt something hot rising up my throat, and I coughed violently to free my airway. My vision was so unfocused that, for better or worse, I couldn’t tell how much blood was mixed in with my expelled intestinal fluids.

Hesitating for a moment, I reached down and pressed a hand to my stomach to assess the damage. A new surge of agony pulsed through my nerves as the fingers brushed across my shirt, but, by some miracle, the flesh felt intact, though I couldn’t guarantee there was no internal damage.

I can’t tell if I’m impressed or let down by Professor Anellia’s enchantment…

If I were a smarter man, I’d concede here. I couldn’t fight at full power with such a debilitating wound; if I tried to do anything more, I’d only humiliate myself and my friends further. But I was a reckless, stubborn fool, and I couldn’t forgive Vandan for what he’d said.

A series of thumps pulled my attention away from my injury, and, through blurred vision, I made out a blot of something growing rapidly in size.

Looks like he didn’t expect me to give up, either!

“Loablis anfuniosor!”

Flinging my free arm out to the side, my body blasted across the floor before Vandan’s sword could make contact.

As the force of the magical propulsion died down, I kicked off the ground to land on my feet, ignoring the fierce burning from my abdomen. I blinked several times, hoping to restore my eyesight, but I was still seeing double as I looked back toward my foe.

For some reason, he hadn’t moved from that spot, but I soon realized what he was doing.

Shit! The spear!

I didn’t know how many throwing weapons were stored within his arsenal, but there probably weren’t many. If every piece of ammunition was precious, I’d made a terrible mistake by allowing him to replenish his stock.

Cursing my stupidity, I increased the distance between us while he was occupied. I needed to buy time for my senses to stabilize, and, based on my experience battling Mara, maximizing travel time was my best bet against projectiles. At the moment, I was focused purely on staying in this fight; winning was a matter to handle later.

Our gazes locked as both sides tried to predict their opponent’s game plan, and as the javelin vanished in a flash of white, I determined his.

Come at me, then!

As if reading my mind, Vandan blasted off the ground with incredible force, closing the distance between us in a heartbeat. His saber began morphing mid-stride, but whatever it became was irrelevant; I wouldn’t be able to match the strength of any of his attacks, so dodging was my only choice while on the defensive anyway.

Hold… hold… now!

Despite being hindered by my fuzzy eyesight, I waited for the perfect moment to leap aside before his hammer smashed into the ground. The instant it struck the dirt, he curved his body and swung again, barely missing me as I leaned my torso backward.

Thrown off balance, I began to stumble, giving him yet another opportunity. From this position, dodging normally would be out of the question.

“Anfunios!”

A scalding pain shot through my brain, as if someone were pouring boiling oil into my skull. I wanted to scream as the air pushed me to safety, but I resisted the urge. Although I’d been working on improving my mana capacity ever since my battle with Raplin, I was firing off high-power spells too quickly for my body to keep up. Even if they were one of the strongest tools at my disposal, they could prove to be my downfall if I wasn’t careful.

Relying on just my muscles, I rolled out of the way of his next attack, and I slid past the follow-up with ease. If anything, each subsequent strike was getting easier to avoid.

Is he getting tired? Or…

Suddenly, a thought struck me. Vandan’s extensive pool of weapons made him unpredictable and versatile, but being a jack-of-all-trades meant prioritizing breadth over depth. When it came down to it, his attacks were simple and easy to read, and the more he relied on a single weapon, the quicker I adapted to his habits. While his strength might’ve been impossible to match, his technique could be outsmarted.

Slipping past swing after swing, I could tell he was growing frustrated with the lack of progress, and for the first time since he’d conjured his spear, I felt a tinge of hope.

With each second I stalled, the afterimages in my vision drifted closer into alignment, further improving my precision. I’d be put at an immediate disadvantage if he conjured a new weapon, but whether due to tunnel vision, pride, or something else, his approach remained consistent. As my senses became fully operative once more, I decided to bring an end to this repetitive dance.

As he swiped down at an angle yet again, I twisted around the hammer’s head, hugging its arc so close that it grazed the fabric of my jacket. It was a risky maneuver, but a necessary one, nonetheless.

After observing a dozen-odd hammer strikes, I’d developed an accurate enough internal clock to gauge how long it would take him to reset his stance.

And that huge thing is way too slow!

For the first time, I pushed forward instead of back, sliding past his weapon to enter my own, shorter attack range. He attempted to reverse the momentum of his hammer to intercept my advance, but I was far too close. Even his conjuration magic, although quick, would be too slow to intercede now.

I let out a roar as I slashed straight down, my emotions getting the better of me.

Finally! Finally, I’ll—

Suddenly, my blade was brushed aside, his arm slapping the flat to deflect it. For as much as I looked down on him for the simplicity of his attacks, I had been no different, striking in such a straightforward manner that he didn’t even need a weapon to repel my feeble attempt.

I should’ve had enough time to react to a riposte, but my mind was still frozen in shock as an axe manifested in his outstretched arm.

My brain thawed in the split second before impact. “Loablis anf—”

The steel wedge smashed into my left shoulder before I could finish the incantation, sending me hurtling backward a great distance.

Every inch of my body screamed in agony as I crashed into the ground, and I couldn’t stop myself from howling at the pain. I could feel something obviously wrong with my shoulder, likely dislocated from the intensity of the blunt impact.

I bit down as hard as I could, urging my body to rise.

“I still… have… one more… chance…” I moaned aloud, trying to convince myself.

Unlike before, Vandan did not charge at me as I slowly rose to my feet, despite having more than enough time to do so.

Why? Why now? If he just shows me mercy like this, that defeats the whole point! Why won’t he… huh?

I expected his gaze to be filled with pity and condescension, but as I met his eyes, I realized they were watching me intently, as if cautiously awaiting my next move. It was not a look of scorn, but one of self-preservation that sought to find and abuse the surest route to victory.

So even if it’s only a tiny, tiny chance, he thinks there’s the slightest possibility that I…

I grinned in spite of myself. Though I was barely hanging onto consciousness, I took a shaky step forward, then another. I had exhausted every trick at my disposal, and my body was too weak for any fancy maneuvers or calculated strikes. And so, with no other option left, I trudged straight ahead.

Vandan unconjured his weapons, manifesting the spear in their stead. Whether it was because he, too, was out of ideas or simply because he felt no further effort was necessary, he did not conceal his intent as he pulled his arm back.

My advance and his throw. Both of our strategies were naked for the other to see. But as he focused strength into his arm, ensuring the pitch would have enough backing velocity to make evasion impossible, I had a stroke of inspiration.

Though I was practically a corpse at this point, I broke out into a sprint. He would have more than enough time to lob his weapon before I reached him, but that was fine; I just needed to be close enough.

I repeated the words in my head, over and over. I estimated the distance between us, the time to utter the incantation, and the moment when he would unleash his killing blow.

I was banking everything on these volatile variables aligning with my predictions, as if reality would bend itself to match my vision. But by now, I’d fought enough battles to understand that this was the essence of all combat. Or, really, of any contest of wills.

So perhaps it was fitting that our final clash would be head-on.

I could feel an intense, impossible power emanating from his weapon, like I had with Mara’s arrow on my first day in this world. With that much energy, his javelin, when released, would be too fast to dodge and too powerful to deflect. Even if I tried to block it, the recoil would be nearly as strong as the attack itself, and it would easily take me out.

If I was holding the sword while striking it, that is.

Sucking in one final breath, I readied my play. Although I had only shown promise in a single genre of incantations, I could still do more than just zip around.

Wind was the magic of movement. These spells could do many things: propel the caster, push foes, and, of course…

“Aghhhhhhh!” Vandan bellowed a guttural war cry as he lunged forward and let loose his spear.

… they can shoot objects!

“Ablisves!”

I slung an overhand throw as I shouted the incantation, the physical and magical forces combining to thrust my sword ahead with incredible speed. The power didn’t compare to his, but that was irrelevant; I just needed to curve the path by a few degrees.

Barely a yard ahead of me, the two projectiles exploded against one another faster than my eyes could perceive. But even if I couldn’t observe the conclusion by sight…

Thwoom!

… the seismic wave erupting at my flank told me everything I needed to know. Through the cloud of dust washing over us, I clenched my fist and took one final leap at the silhouette ahead.

It wasn’t a weapon, but that didn’t matter. I doubted Vandan would disregard the results of the battle, even if it ended this way.

“Raghhhhhh!” I screamed with every breath remaining in my lungs as my fist struck skin.

And as the smoke cleared, everything became clear, both to us combatants and the spectators watching this horrific show. At that moment, the match was decided.

“God… dammit…” Though I could barely speak, frustration leaked from my mouth anyway.

My hand had been caught by Vandan’s, just an inch from his face. A fair block, to any reasonable judge.

He flicked his other arm into my chest, sending me reeling backward one last time. There was little force in his assault, but that was because there was no need for it.

Three.

Hit number three.

A fraction of a second away from snatching victory, and it all came crashing down.

I’m sorry.

My body collapsed, the fierce will that puppeteered my corpse evaporating.

I failed you. All of you.

“You’re all useless. I don’t know why I expected anything less.”

I’m sorry, Shina.

Succumbing to my pain and misery, I blacked out.