Chapter 21: Twin Swords

“Her weak spot?” Aria whispered into Nic’s ear as he set her down. Her quiet voice was courtesy of the fact that Narissa was floating down to them.

Nic eyed her warily as he responded. “Her connection to her wings is partially held together by Irradiation.” He pointed his sword at the sky. Its tip lined up perfectly with Narissa’s heart.

“Hmph. So Verilo came to join in as well?” Narissa stopped descending as she spoke. In the end, she was still more than five mer above Nic and Aria on the roof. Her silently beating wings kept her afloat.

“I couldn’t just leave you two alone, could I?” Nic eyed Aria. She had already regained her composure from the tumble. Her armor made of wind had reformed and two transparent wings were unfurling behind her back. It was a mirror of the Demi-Human above him.

“And you think you can do anything?”

“We’ll just have to see, won’t we.” Aria raised her own sword in her left hand. The two swords aimed at Narissa in unison.

Two swords, siblings in a sense, made by the same blacksmith at the same time. One held Nic’s magic in its crystal while the other held Aria’s. The pair that wielded them was the most opportune.

Narissa scoffed from above before outstretching her own hand. A torrent of wind was unleashed from her palm.

Nic and Aria split without a single word. Aria flew into the sky, quickly gaining the upper ground on Narissa. Nic jumped off the building to escape the torrent. A small green blob appeared beneath his feet. The wind around the spirit condensed until Nic had a soft spot to land.

The moment his feet hit the stone, Nic was running down the street. Narissa was right about one thing- as long as she was in the air, he couldn’t do much.

He needed to wait for the right moment.

A moment that his partner had to make.

In the skies above him, Aria was already on the offensive. Her strikes were wide and untrained. But they were good for applying pressure.

Aria was augmenting the weight of the blade with the wind around it. So while her swings were wide, they were also fast. Narissa had her own blade to block and parry Aria’s attacks. The shrill ringing of the blades clashing pierced even Nic’s ears.

Narissa’s main form of counter-attacking was through wind-based magic attacks weaved through her defensive swordplay. Aria was too focused on attacking to go on the defensive. The first few magic attacks managed to hit her, forcing some grunts of pain.

Aria backed away from Narissa, granting them both a chance to orient themselves.

Nic stopped running. He had gotten quite a distance away from the two. Nearly thirty Mer stood between Nic and the spot that the two were above.

Nic and Aria locked eyes for a split second.

They had never voiced a plan. They didn’t need to. As soon as Nic informed Aria that Narissa’s weakness was Irradiation, the two had the same idea.

“AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Aria let out a war cry far more primal than anything she had ever released. She shot at Narissa far too fast for a normal person to react.

Narissa was able to just barely get her sword out in front of her.

SHRING!

Aria’s sword slammed against Narissa’s… But that wasn’t the crux of the plan. With the two swords interlocked, Aria grabbed Narissa’s collar with her free hand and began to push her down.

The sudden velocity threw Narissa off center. She began to beat her wings incessantly, fighting against the wind dragging her down.

The two finally leveled out just two mer above Nic’s head. They were still flying at quite the speed towards him.

There was a broken cart nearby. Nic ran at it and used it as a springboard to jump even higher. His sword flashed through the air as Aria and Narissa flew by; followed by Nic falling into a pile of rubble.

Narissa fell to the ground. Her body tumbled for a few seconds before coming to a stop. As it did, Aria stopped herself and landed past her.

With Nic fishing himself out of the pile of rubble, Narissa was now surrounded on both sides.

“What did you do to me!?” Narissa screamed out in pain as she tried to stand up. One of her wings was conspicuously lethargic in its movements. At its base was a long red line of blood leaking out.

“I thought you said that I couldn’t do anything in this fight?” Narissa snapped her glaring eyes to Nic. He flourished the sword in his hand, Irradiation still being sucked into the crystal inlaid on its hilt.

She knew what that meant.

“You-! How did you know?!” Her form was lopsided as she stood up. The lethargic wing was dragging down half of her body. Her knuckles had grown white from gripping her own weapon too tight. “Who told you?!”

Narissa was demanding an answer.

“Solus.” Nic didn’t mind giving her the answer she wanted. As he watched her face twist in disgust at the name of her betrayer before turning to shock, Nic let out a soft sigh. Neither Aria nor Nic was expecting what Narissa decided to do next.

“If that’s the case, then I don’t have a need for this,” Narissa raised her sword and slashed down on the wing. With a disgusting tearing sound, most of the wing was cut off in a single slash. Only a bit past the connection point remained as an elongated stump. “I’ll finish you two off first, and then I’m going to go find that light bastard and kill him!”

Narissa rushed Nic, her sword swinging in as soon as she was in range. Nic’s sword collided with hers, sending it to the side. Narissa wasn’t fighting like normal though.

With one of her wings gone, Narissa couldn’t fly. So instead she used her one remaining wing to her advantage on the ground. After Nic had blocked her sword strike, she rolled her body and struck with her wing.

It was a strike that came out of left field. Nic was hit in his shoulder and sent tumbling back. His shoulder ached in dull pain, causing Nic to shake his arm out.

Another sword slash.

This time Nic was barely able to get his sword up in time.

Narissa was putting her all into each strike. Nic’s sword wobbled in his hand. His unsteady grip was threatening to let go of the hilt.

Narissa would drive her sword at Nic again.

The tip of the blade stopped mere cer away from piercing Nic’s skin.

Narissa’s face was contorted in anger as she struggled against an invisible barrier. Her sword would not budge forward anymore.

Aria had stopped her blade. Using the wind around it she had locked it in place.

Nic gratefully took the opportunity to step back, regaining his footing and breathing at the same time.

“There are two of us, don’t forget.” While he said one thing, Nic was fishing for the opposite reaction. He was trying to keep Narissa’s focus on him. Just those three strikes were enough to tell Nic that she was almost on par with Yuuki when the latter was serious.

That meant that she was still stronger than Nic, even on his good days. Her strength and technique were nothing to scoff at. Aria wouldn’t be able to last very long if Narissa focused on her.

Aria let go of the wind around the blade, which started the dance between Nic and Narissa again. Nic had to opt for mainly dodging while on the defensive. He blocked as many of her swords strikes as possible, but her wing attacks forced him to stay mobile.

The few times that Aria found a spot to jump in and strike with her own sword, Narissa was fast enough to completely parry the sword trainee and still attack Nic at the same time, forcing him to stay on the defensive.

After a minute of this dance, the only thing that Aria and Nic had to show for themselves were a few shallow cuts on Narissa.

“Hmpf.” Narissa snorted as she unleashed a powerful downward strike at Nic. He jumped to the side, avoiding a direct impact. “This is all you can do? I guess I can’t be too surprised. After all, you Verilo’s are simply one trick ponies.”

Narissa spun around and with a flick of her wing sent multiple arrows laden in a dark miasma at Aria. Nic watched in horror as two of them cut straight through Aria’s Spirit King armor, causing large gashes in her side and arm, while a third punctured her skin in an unprotected section of her abdomen.

Nic ignored his opponent and rushed to her side. He was quick to pull out the feather in her abdomen before putting his hand on Aria’s chest and absorbing the new Irradiation in her body.

“Like I said, a one-trick pony.” Narissa sneered at the two of them.

Nic’s heart was beating faster than normal. Sweat was finally beginning to dribble down his face. His eyesight narrowed as his face turned more and more sour.

“So she can create Irradiation- ow ow ow,” Aria stood up behind Nic and clutched the spot in her abdomen that had been punctured. “Just like Jack.”

Nic realized it as Aria said the connection out loud. The group that had betrayed Crystalia was the same group that had recruited Jack. At the very least they had the same technology.

He looked at Aria with concern. She looked at him with a scant bit of worry on her face before sighing and holding her sword’s hilt out to him. “I’ll stay in the back. Ranged attacks and keeping you safe.”

“Then I’ll be taking the brunt of the attacks.” Nic grabbed the second sword’s hilt. With the magic loop no longer in effect, Aria’s Spirit King armor disappeared as she moved away from the fight area.

“Splitting up?” Narissa watched the two of them with a creepy fascination.

“Nah, just going to our best-suited roles for now. Aria still hasn’t learned the sword that well. I’m your only opponent for now.” Nic raised the sword with the black crystal and pointed it at Narissa. The second hung in his left hand.

The extra weight was off. He needed to make small adjustments to his movements as he fought.

“Hyahahahahaha! Fine then! Come to your death. Your skills are not as refined as Ito’s! I know I can beat you.” Narissa didn’t let Nic have a chance to strike first. She moved as she talked. Another of her deadly strike was fast approaching.

Nic dodged the first one.

He used both swords to block the second.

Narissa was right about his skills. He was simply doing as he had been instructed by Yuuki this entire time. He was copying someone else. And he had never reached that person’s level of expertise.

Narissa wasn’t as strong as Yuuki. Both Nic and her knew this. But she was still powerful. With the intent to kill, she was stronger than Yuuki had been on that day that Jack attacked. The first, and only, time that Nic beat Yuuki in a duel.

If Nic wanted to win, he had to take all of his knowledge and truly make it his own.

His key to victory was the second sword in his hand.

Twin swords, forged of the same metal and tempered in the very same flame. One held his own magic while the other held the magic of the one he loved.

Nic wasn’t used to fighting with two swords. He had done some practice when first starting but had quickly moved to a single sword as that was what Yuuki had known best.

With these twin swords, Nic would learn to adapt the sword skills that he had been taught to work with two swords.

Narissa attacked again. This time Nic deflected it with one sword while he closed the distance and struck with the second. A red line appeared on Narissa’s shoulder.

“So you’re changing up the tempo? Tsk.” Narissa clicked her tongue as she quickly adapted to the new method of attacking that Nic was using.

Between deflecting her attacks and dodging them while using one of the two swords to quickly counter-attack, Nic was beginning to see more and more cuts and gashes on his opponent.

But that wasn’t the only damage that Narissa was taking. Aria was also fighting. Nic would occasionally find his opponent gasping for air, being lurched in a sudden direction, or even wildly missing their swings. Each time it was thanks to Aria manipulating the air around the two.

“Why are you so much harder to hit now?! What changed? Changing your sword style mid-combat should result in your being less effective! Not more!” Frustrated, Narissa began to complain in the middle of their fight.

Nic actually wondered the same thing himself. He was feeling far more comfortable fighting like this than he had expected to. Because of that, he was moving faster than before and was striking fairly hard for only using one arm for each sword.

Narissa flicked her wing at Nic, sending a wave of black miasma at him. A single cut of the black crystal sword caused it to vanish. With a flick of his other wrist, the green crystal sword created a thin blade of air in much the same way. This blade hit its mark, creating a gash in the remaining wing of Narissa’s.

She cried out in pain. Her attacks became less refined as time went on. Each strike more wild than the last. Her attacks with the wing were more and more reliant on Irradiation instead of the physical wing itself.

The two’s fighting styles continued to contrast with each other the longer the fight went on.

“Isn’t this starting to drag on? Won’t you surrender?” Nic wove his words in between the constant barrage of strikes coming from his swords. In between each word, a blast of air hit Narissa in a random spot. Aria was weaving her magic in from behind Nic the entire time.

“N-Never-Ah!” Narissa tries to refuse Nic but was cut short when he simply hit her sword out of her hand. It clattered to the ground as Nic kicked Narissa down as well. “No no no no! This was supposed to end with your death!”

“Stop complaining. As long as you cooperate, you get to live.” Nic wanted to kill her. That was the truth of the matter. But he also needed her alive- if for nothing else than to confirm some of the things that Solus had said.

“Live?!” Narissa scoffed as she scuttled backward. “You call living in shackles life?! All you’re gonna do is interrogate me then it's off to the gallows for my death. That isn’t life,” Narissa spat in Nic’s general direction. “That’s an extended death sentence.” She lifted her body up just enough to move the still-in-motion wing. “One that I won’t accept!”

Her wing expelled more Irradiation.

Nic was faster than her. His sword pierced through miasma and flesh, finding its purchase in the stone beneath.

Another cry of anguish.

“This… won’t stop… me!” Nic looked down as a sickening sound filled his ears. Before his eyes, he watched as Narissa pulled her body away from the pinned wing. She used enough force to tear the skin and bones keeping the body part attached.

He stood there motionless, unable to fully grasp what he had just seen.

Narissa took the opportunity to make her escape attempt. She pulled herself to her knees and was about to get to her feet fully when she stopped.

Her hands scratched at the air around her neck almost like there was something invisible there.

“Ug- A- Eh- Kcchk!” Blunt noises came out of her mouth. Was she trying to talk? Nic couldn’t tell.

Her hands became more chaotic. She scratched faster. Harder. Her nails managed to draw her own blood as she tried to remove the invisible hand there. When she looked at Nic, her eyes were already bulging out of her head. She looked at Nic with intense fear.

Or… Was she looking past Nic?

He turned around and found Aria still standing a few mer away. She wasn’t making any noise or any visual movements, but even Nic could see the movement of air around her. Not only that, he could feel the magic flowing through the air.

“Aria, wait!” Nic raised one of his hands. “We need her alive, at least to verify some stuff.”

Aria ignored Nic. Narissa continued to choke on nothingness as the air in her lungs was forcibly removed by the Air Spirit Queen herself.

Nic walked up to Aria and grabbed her shoulders.

“Aria! We need to keep her alive!” Nic shook her shoulders slightly. He needed her to not kill Narissa.

Behind him, he heard the sound of Narissa’s body hitting the ground. He started to rush over to her when he was stopped by Aria finally speaking.

“She’s just unconscious. While I wanted to kill her, I agree that we need to let her live, at least for now.” Aria let out a soft sigh as she shrugged her shoulders. “At least this way she won’t put up much of a resistance.”

Nic let out a short breath in relief. He continued over to where Narissa’s body was and checked its pulse just to be safe. There was a soft beat. It was slow but there.

He needed to tie her up. Nic looked around for some rope, hoping to spot any in the rubble.

“You see any rope? For tying her up?” Nic called out to Aria as he looked in his general vicinity.

“Ah! Got some here.” Aria had found a small spool near a crashed stand. The stand had probably once been a small storefront. Nic gratefully took the rope as Aria rushed it to him.

It was singed in multiple areas and had already frayed at both ends, but it was better than nothing. Nic just hoped that it would last once she woke up as he tied her hands and feet together.

Once that was done he turned to Aria and handed out the second sword to her.

“Here you go. Once we get back to Sanum though, It’ll be practice from dawn to dusk.” Aria took the sword with a soft smile on her face. She slid it into the sheath sitting on her waist before giving Nic a small nod.

Nic slid the other sword into the sheath at his own waist before squatting down and picking up their new unconscious prisoner.

With Narissa slung over his shoulder, the two started their walk back to the area that Aria had left the rest in. The two were able to follow the connecting path near the castle walls.

As they made their way from the western road to the middle road, a runner in leather armor came bursting through wreckage blocking the way to the eastern road. In his hand was a bloody short sword, still dripping with fresh blood. Nic and Aria only exchanged a split-second glance before the runner was stopped in their tracks by the wind around them.

Unlike Narissa they still had the ability to breathe, they just couldn’t move their limbs anymore. Which was most likely the one thing they didn’t want as a berserk Yuuki quickly rushed into the area behind him.

Tears were streaming down her face as she tackled the runner to the ground. She had her sword in her hands in an instant and was getting ready to stab the man in the back.

“Die! Die! Die die die die die!!!” Yuuki’s voice cracked as she screamed at the runner.

“Yuuki?” Aria was the one who spoke up between the two of them. Hearing her voice seemed to shake Yuuki enough to stop her mid-downward thrust.

“Aria…? Nic?” Yuuki looked between the two of them confused. Her eyes were bloodshot and there was a spray of blood already caking half of her face.

“Hey, what happened? What did this man do?” Nic kneeled down next to her. His gut was already telling him that whatever was going on was bad. He had to figure out the truth as soon as he could.

“He… Crystal… He stabbed… She’s bleeding out!” Her voice was confused like she didn’t fully know everything herself. Yet she said those phrases with such confidence that Nic realized what she was saying.

That bad feeling in his gut- why was it always right? His heart began to beat faster. His breathing quickened.

Aria put her arm on his shoulder and motioned for him to get past the barrier. He nodded and ran towards the gap in the debris blocking the way. Behind him, Aria took care of both Yuuki and Narissa, whom Nic had dropped when he had knelt at Yuuki’s side.

Nic burst into the small clearing. It wasn’t hard to tell where Crystal was. There was a crowd forming. Her subjects were crying as they looked on at their dying queen. Rust was at her side, trying to stop the bleeding while Cyril was talking with her.

Cyril was the first to notice Nic and motioned for him to take his place. Nic hurried over and knelt by his dying ancestor. When she saw his face, Crystal smiled as sweetly as she could.

“Is that Nic… I see? Or… Noah?” Crystal reached up and cupped Nic’s cheek with one of her hands. The feeble digits trembled as they touched his skin. Nic grabbed it with his own hand.

“Nic.”

“I see…” A fit of coughing racked her body in pain. “The assailant… got me with… a strong poison. There is only so long… that I can survive. Even with the slowing of… my blood.” Blood came out of her mouth as she coughed again.

“Just rest. If we get Sarman over here, he can help.” Nic tried to get Crystal to calm down by offering a small hope but she simply shook her head.

“If I’m gonna die… I need to do this first… Nic, cut your hand… please?” Nic stared at her. Cut his hand? Why did he need to do that? That was when Nic realized it. The person in front of him was the only known person who could manipulate another’s blood.

With that realization in his mind, he unsheathed his blade enough to be able to tightly grip the blade. He squeezed until he felt the blade cut the skin on his palm.

Crystal grabbed the bloodied hand and closed her eyes.

Nic felt something change in him. His mind grew foggy. His body felt light. It was like he was in the clouds, but he couldn’t focus on anything.

The feeling disappeared in an instant. Nic was brought back to reality. The sudden shift caused his stomach to lurch. He nearly threw up on Crystal right at that moment.

“What…?” Nic felt his body over once but felt nothing physical out of the ordinary. It was simply an internal feeling that something had changed.

“Aerial has broken his 500-year pact… so I lived up to my end… of the deal.” Crystal smiled at him. Nic realized what she meant. He would be able to absorb more Irradiation at once.

“Thank you.” The words were sincere as he bowed his head to her.

He wouldn’t be able to absorb all the Irradiation in the world, but he could now absorb a major city's worth at least. If nothing else, that was a great boon to Nic.

“Cyril! Over here!” Nic looked up as he heard Aria calling out to the person standing above him. Yuuki and Aria had brought back the runner and Narissa’s bodies. Both were still alive.

After Cyril took the runner off of Yuuki’s hands, she looked over at Nic kneeling next to Crystal.

Nic motioned for her to take his place, just as Cyril had done for him.