The Sage of Spirits III

I jump up to my feet. When he sees me standing right in front of me, Zero’s smile widens. I don’t know why. I don’t need to know why. It might just be his nerves. I’m so much bigger than him, and I have a clear advantage if we’re fighting this close. And I really want to fight. He might be able to tell. If you had a man with something like Ascalade so angry with you, of course you would be scared. He really should be scared. I really can’t forgive him.

“Get ready, Zero.” I glare at him as I grip Ascalade tighter. “Dance with me, O Child of the Sun, Ascalade: Sundance.”

Orange and yellow flames pour out of my body. In a lot of ways, they’re more like some kind of liquid coming out of my body than real flames. They don’t flicker like fire, only sway with my body. They aren’t hot either. It’s only the appearance of flames. It’s the proof that I’m using Ascalade’s power now.

“All it takes is a single mention of Alice to set you off. Truly, what a man you are, Dust.”

“Shut up, Zero!”

My body really is lighter now. I’m so much stronger than normal when I use Ascalade’s power. This privilege is one of the things that was supposed to make me a hero. It’s enough on its own to give me the power to fight evenly against even one of the Seven Princes of Evil. It should be enough to overwhelm any human.

Again, just as I did to his illusory body, I pull Ascalade’s edge closer to his side. At the last moment, he vanishes. It was a teleportation spell. The spell that made him a sage. The spell that lets him dominate any battlefield without fear. Another one of Zero’s masterpieces.

I lose track of him, but only for a moment.

I twist my body around and shoot off towards him. I thrust Ascalade towards his stomach, careful to aim it to not hit any important organs. But that care hardly matters. He disappears once more. He reappears right above me, and he begins to float in the air.

“Y’know, I’ve wanted to test my magic against Ascalade for a while now! Don’t think you have a monopoly on fire!”

He points at me as he flies back. There’s a sudden burst of heat, then a swirling vortex of fire. It’s real fire crackling around me. If it were a normal swordsman, I assume they would give up here. They couldn’t escape without suffering burns, and that’s assuming they could even move right in this heat.

But Ascalade is the Child of the Sun. A paltry fire made by man could never hope to stop me.

I swing Ascalade, cutting through the fires. It’s like a whirlpool of draining water as the fire gets sucked up into the blade. Even where I didn’t cut it, the fires flow towards Ascalade. It only takes a fraction of a second for the vortex to disappear entirely.

Before I can attack, he casts another spell. That’s the advantage of magic. I don’t even have the time to move against him. The air grows frigid as he encases me in ice. It’s solid all around me. I’m stuck inside of it, only able to half-watch Zero as he floats closer to the ground. But of course, ice wouldn’t be enough either. In just a moment I melt the ice around me and begin to move. Ascalade is hotter if I can swing it, doubly so after it absorbed that fire. I cut my way through the ice and emerge drenched in the melted water.

Zero is still smiling at me. He still isn’t taking a single thing seriously. He still doesn’t care. Not about this fight and not about the things he says.

I dash forward and swing, but cut through nothing but air. The scorch marks and the melting ice aren’t nearby anymore. It takes me a moment to realize what he had done. He had teleported me by force. I didn’t know he could do that. He really is impressive when he shuts his mouth and acts properly.

I turn around until I find him. He hasn’t moved. He’s still standing near the ice, but now he has such a huge advantage from the distance.

He shoots another spell at me. It’s a shimmering beam, water compressed as much as he can. The air grows hot around Ascalade. I swing in the direction of the beam of water and a wave of pure heat billows out of Ascalade. The water splashes over that wall and turns to steam right away.

I step hard and dash towards Zero. For a normal swordsman it should be an impenetrable distance. A mage should be able to fire on him dozens of times before a sword could reach. For Zero, that number is even higher. From that far away, he should be invincible.

But even if I’m a weakling, I’m the wielder of the Holy Sword Ascalade.

My physical capabilities are absurd, just by virtue of using Ascalade, just by possessing this blessing. It’s a blessing that could even let someone like me fight the Demon King, after all. If it’s just a pure sprint, I won’t do so poorly. Zero only seems to react once I’m halfway to him.

“Spirits of the Earth, swallow my enemies!”

The ground opens up beneath me. The dirt jumps up and surrounds me, threatening to blot out the sun. It’s pointless to fight against it. Until the order is completed, more and more dirt will keep coming for me. That’s what makes Zero the Sage of Spirits.

I get swallowed up. The only thing that remains above ground is my head. The dirt is packed tightly against my body, keeping me from moving. But this isn’t my all. I can’t let it be my all. Zero starts running towards me in a panic.

He’s finally gotten serious.

I burst out of the dirt and drag myself out of the ground, launching myself at Zero with Ascalade in my hand.