The Fall of Adrian

Gwen deflected the sword with the flat of her blade, throwing Adrian off balance. Stepping into his guard, she rammed her elbow into his jaw. The impact snapped his head back and sent a spray of blood through the air.

Adrian staggered back, rubbing his jaw. “You pesky little bitch!”

“Oh, being called a bitch… you found my biggest weakness!” Gwen mocked, waving her hands in front of herself.

The older man growled, his face turning bright red. Purple energy swirled around his feet and blurred forward. He appeared behind Gwen’s back, his blade glowing purple as he slashed downward. Gwen lazily leaned left, allowing the weapon to pass safely.

She spun on her heel and dragged her dagger across his stomach, drawing a thin line of blood. Bringing the dagger back around, Gwen sliced diagonally. Adrian blocked the attack, sending sparks into the air. His arms struggled to hold back the blade as she slowly pushed down.

“At this rate, you’ll never be able to kill me like you wanted,” she taunted, leaning in close to his face.

Adrian snarled and jumped back—disengaging from the clash. “Ugh, you’re like a bug! Every time I try to crush you, you just scurry away. Then come back in the future just to bother me!”

“Aww, thanks so much for the nice compliment!”

“It wasn’t a compliment,” he spat, raising his palm, gathering purple energy. “Shadow Bolt!”

Two balls shot forward. Stifling a yawn, Gwen held up her hand. A golden shield formed, absorbing all the balls with not much effort. She looked ahead and noticed that the older man had disappeared.

“Damien really was your apprentice; you both fight the same way.” She leaped back at the same time Adrian crashed down, just missing her.

A roar of anger escaped his lips as he launched himself at her. He slashed rapidly, his sword becoming a blur as he attacked her. Gwen’s lips twitched upwards. Each strike felt like they were moving in slow motion as she easily dodged them.

“Are you going to actually start trying soon, or should I just end this already?” Gwen asked in a high-pitched voice.

The older man gritted his teeth. Sweat poured down his face, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t touch her. On an overhead swing, Gwen twirled around the blade and cut deep into his side. He attempted to spin, trying to counterattack, but she parried the weapon.

Using the momentum, Gwen drove her dagger deep into his shoulder—receiving a cry of pain. She pulled the blade free, spraying blood into the air. Whirling around, the silver-haired mage drove a kick into his chest, pushing him against the wall.

Bang!

Adrian’s back bounced off the wall with spit flying out of his mouth.

The dagger in Gwen’s hand shot forward, cutting both his legs. Adrian brought his blade in time to block the next slash aimed at his chest. Gwen pushed him against the wall, trapping him there.

“After all the fights I had in the dungeon, you’re fucking pathetic!” She spat, her voice turning cold.

“C-curse you! I should’ve had you killed before you called off the engagement!!” he replied.

Gwen shook her head. “Why? What did I do to you that makes you believe I was such a threat to you?”

“You were always snooping around! Using your engagement to investigate different branches of the castle by saying you were helping the Prince! I knew then I had to get rid of you before you became a threat to my side!”

“What a pathetic reason.”

Adrian replied by stomping the ground. Purple energy rushed from his foot to behind Gwen. It formed a hand that attempted to wrap around her. A flash of golden aura poured out of Gwen and destroyed the surrounding shadows.

Twisting her wrist, Gwen slid the dagger underneath Adrian’s blade and pushed up. Her strength forced his arms upward, leaving his chest exposed. She brought her weapon down across his chest. Gwen ignored the blood that splashed across her face as she brought the sword back down.

The older man brought his sword up, but Gwen rotated her wrist, cutting his hand off. His hand, along with the sword, immediately dropped to the ground.

“Ahhh, fuck you, G—” he paused mid-sentence.

Gwen pointed her dagger at his throat, a golden aura appearing at the end of it. With speed quicker than he could follow, she slammed the back of her weapon into his temple. Like a puppet with its strings cut, Adrain crumbled to the ground. Blood from his wounds pooled all over the floor.

“How disappointing,” Gwen muttered, away from the blood threatening to soak her boots.

“I can’t believe Adrain used to be an A-Rank adventurer,” a deep voice said. Appearing in the doorway was Beth’s muscular form. She had a smile on her face as she glanced around the room.

“No way, with how weak he was, must’ve taken others' credits,” Gwen replied, disbelief in her tone.

“If you would believe it, I wasn’t able to beat him in a fight when I was younger.”

“I-I don’t believe it, actually.”

“It’s true. The old man was strong back in the day.” Beth ignored the blood on the ground and nudged the man with her boot. Adrian let out a small groan but didn’t wake up. “Good, he’s still alive. Would you mind stopping his bleeding?”

At first, Gwen was hesitant, but ended up casting Heal for a couple of seconds. I’m only doing this because Beth listened to me when we appeared outside the dungeon instead of attacking us immediately.

Beth gave her a small nod and picked the man off the ground, easily placing him on her shoulder. She turned to the door. “Let’s go to the Guild; I’m sure your party members are tired of waiting.”

“That’s true,” Gwen sighed, following after her. “Knowing them, they're probably arguing or complaining about food.”

Beth let out a hearty laugh and rushed out of the king’s room. Behind them, blood was still on the floor, and two bed pigs remained in the bed. A reminder of what could’ve happened if Gwen wasn’t convincing enough to get everyone to listen.