Flipside: The Worst Foe Possible - Part 2

“I’m moving on, Shorty!” The rampaging brawler shouted to the person she knew on the area the moment she got the last invader down. “The less I’m idle the best right now…”

From what Karim could guess, fighting was the way Colette was keeping herself away from noticing the fact she was in a ship. It was a functional method, but it wasn't the best for the priestess' goals.

If it was by her wishes, they would be helping the wounded right now instead of running around. Especially when Colette was already moving further and further away.

Like this, she lacked the time to explain anything to the confused sailors they helped and had to instead rush away. The best she could do to them was hope someone else with medical knowledge would appear.

So, the petit priestess turned heels and started to run too, not stopping her singing all the while, of course. But then, before she could reach the next blocker or even approach the running Colette, a massive shiver ran through her spine.

It wasn’t a sudden cold breeze or anything natural too, and the feeling alone was worrying. The only way Karim could describe it was that she somehow could feel that something very scary was closing in.

It wasn’t even hard to decide to stop her chanting and try to quiet her steps as much as possible. Whatever was closing in wasn’t good news and ever her inflated courage wasn’t enough to jump into it.

Trying to move around in silent and reaching her more fighting-focused friend was better than engaging here. Even if, to be honest, it was just way too scary.

Even the day Annabeth threatened blowing her head off was less scary than whatever was approaching now.

Worse even considering the fact that, from how the shivers were growing, this thing was coming to her position. If it was as bad as it could be, then it could even be directly aiming at her.

And as time passed, Karim’s heart rate and her worries were only worsening as she tried her best to, not only advance quietly, but hide the best she could.

Using the buildings and crates laying around the area worked enough for it. Still, she wasn’t even able to fully comprehend what exactly was happening by this point due to overwhelming fear.

“You can’t hide from me, priestess.” A chill-giving voice called out and, almost faster than Karim's reaction, a projectile burst through the wall. A sword the tore through the steel and embedded itself on the floor centimeters away from her body. “Now surrender quietly and let's avoid bloodshed.”

This blade was a good-looking rapier made of steel and decorated with details in some bluish material across the guard and the blade. If there was something to say about it, it would be that using such a beautiful blade as a projectile was a waste.

Before the blondie could ever react though, a nearby wall was obliterated by slashes and a man white greyish hair, a trench coat and a fedora appeared. He didn’t seem like more than a common swordsman in appearence and neither he seemed like a dangerous person. A normal human even.

He even lacked a weapon as closed in.

But that was only if someone could ignore the massive and almost visible aura surrounding him. An aura so oppressive and scary that it was almost impossible for Karim to ignore or even look directly at. Even holding her dark blade and keeping her prayers in a silent voice was starting to get hard as time went on.

It was even worse than Anna's eye, but his had no effect or real presence.

“I w-will not surrender to a terrorist…” She squeezed out the best she could, failing to show much confidence but still taking a stand somehow.

It brought no joy to her opponent though, and he only sighed as he drew a blade from thin air. Now something that looked like the kitsune-made katanas the priestess had only saw in cultural exchange events.

“So be it, priestess.”

Then, with a booming charge, the katana held in a single hand came in a swing that with such a stength behind it that Karim had to use both hands just to deflect it. She was sure her sword would turn into dust if she tried to block an attack like this head-on. Only the small hit she used to throw the attack off was already enough to chip it a little.

At least her enemy's posture should be broken now, or that was what crossed Karim's mind for a moment.

Right as she was thinking of a counter-attack, a magical circle appeared on the man’s free hand. A magical circle made of pure energy and one that came in existence way too fast for anything the petit girl knew about. And that was, as obvious as it could be, way faster than she could react to it.

The best Karim could manage was to brace herself for impact.

“Kuh!” The air left her lungs as the explosion created by the magical swordsman impacted her on the closest assortment of containers in her path. It wasn’t the fast she ever saw someone thrown around, but Karim could feel a good chunk of her body broken and could see the bents on the metal box she landed at.

She could still move because she was a spirit, but this much would kill any human and even make a good number of weaker spirits vanish right away. And for her foe, this much was less than an effortless attack. For one, it was a small explosion spell that even the cop, and her limited knowledge of sorcery, knew was very simple.

He didn’t even see to care that she wasn’t finished off and was only approaching with slow steps to finish the job. The first ever proper reaction he gave was a glint of surprise crossing his neutral expression when Karim got up and tried to take a stance again.

“Staying down would hurt you less.” He spoke while repeating the same stance from before. “But alas…”

“Don’t think I’ll fall for the same trick twice.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He shrug off the girl’s warning and, without even bothering to use a different move, came with the same overhead strike from before. This time though, as if she knew how to deal with the attack, Karim stepped to the side just enough to dodge it and sent an instant counter to the man’s free hand.

She wasn’t under the effects of prayers anymore due to losing focus earlier, but she somehow knew how her foe’s moves would go. They matched weirdly with one of her sparing partners even if the weapons were different. She was even sure that his main attacks weren’t the blade, but the spells that came after.

That was the only reason why she had managed to pull this one stunt off. A weird recollection that was telling her that she knew this fighting style and the fact that her opponent was overconfident.

Still, that didn’t seem to be enough at all.

“How’s that…?!” Karim uttered as her curved blade got stuck halfway through the man’s left arm as if he was made of stone. And that was only the beginning of the unbelievable things for, right at the next moment, he turned his arm around and turned her blade into pieces.

“I said you should’ve surrendered.”

Then, without a care about his wounded arm and using the sudden break on Karim’s guard, the swordsman went to finish the little girl off with his blade. She had no way to defend from it and, as things were, this would surely be the end of the fight.

That was, if the blade hadn’t stopped halfway by a woman pulling a massive gale on her way.

“What you think you’re doing to my little friend here, you bast...” Colette started to say as she punched the katana to pieces and jumped away with Karim, but lost her words as she looked to the person she was fighting with. “W-wait… I-it can’t be… A-are you …?”

“You’re early for once… and I was thinking I could be done here before you noticed anything.” He spoke while drawing a new blade from nowhere, a standard knight’s sword this time. “Can’t you turn a blind eye, Col? I’d hate to have to fight you…”

“I don’t… I don’t think I understand… You're… But… But we… And Anna...” The confused brunette kept trying to make sense of the situation in her head, going deeper and deeper until she had to give up and ask straight all that she cared about. “Is that really you Ben?!”