Arthur vs Selphine

Of course, to sorcerers as powerful as these two, enhancement would be childs play. They weren’t as good at it as Louise had been, since she was a complete specialist who trained in nothing but that, but they were as close enough as possible.

I wasn’t surprised to see that the battle had now shifted to a physical one, which further confirmed what I’d been telling Selphine just mere moments earlier. The pain she would be feeling every time Arthur’s fist connected would be the sole reminder of her humanity, it would be the only time she could truly feel alive, which is why she actively sought out the pain, even if unconsciously. Her body needed the confirmation, and this was it.

They exchanged punches with exquisite technique, Arthur slipped one of hers easily and countered with a ferocious uppercut, slamming her backwards as she fell to the floor, but she quickly got up, ignoring the blood flowing from her mouth. As Selphine kept attacking, the smile on her face never seemed to fade: For every bit of exhilaration and joy that The Void was draining, it would be immediately replaced by another rush.

However, despite enjoying the physical battle, Selphine’s main goal was still to win, and she wasn’t going to sacrifice her win for simple pleasure. She was clearly losing ground to Arthur, so she switched back to a magical battle, sending an ice spike straight towards him, but he reacted quickly and slashed it with a flame blade he immediately conjured up.

Selphine jumped up and landed on the balcony overlooking the area, wanting to take every advantage she could get. She’d already run away from Arthur last time, but now there probably wouldn’t be space for her to run. Besides, she wouldn’t want to, either, this would be the final time, and whoever won now would decide the outcome of The Void.

Six pillars formed up from the debris in the room and surrounded Arthur, then closed in on him with shocking speed, but he was ready and jumped up as the pillars collided into each other and broke. Unfortunately for him, Selphine had planned for him to do just that, she sent a wave of pure white light towards him, and since he was in the air he couldn’t dodge, so he created a shield using as much energy as he could, but it wasn’t enough as the light easily smashes through the shield and struck him right in the chest, sending him tumbling back to the ground.

Arthur groaned and clutched his chest which was now burning hot from the light that had struck him, but he easily shrugged it off and got back up to face a smug Selphine.

“Alright, I think that’s enough fun for now, don’t you think?” She said.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He answered.

“I’m saying you never had a chance of winning this. I entertained you for a bit, but It’s time to wrap it up.”

“Are you dumb? Just because you got me once doesn’t mean shit, I’m way stronger than you and we both know it.”

“Of course you are, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Selphine snapped her fingers, and two masked men suddenly entered the room, holding two captives: Louise and Emmett. They were tied and gagged with chains.

Shit, they got em!

Calm down.

“You….You’re really going this far?” Arthur snarled. “You really have no shame, don’t you?”

“I don’t care about shame, all I care about is not letting you destroy this world we live in. You should know that, you aren’t like the other one. You’ve lived here your whole life, so why fight me? All you’d gain out of this is losing your home.”

“I don’t care about that, like you said, I’ve lived here my whole life, so none of this particularly interests me. All I want is my body back, and the only way that happens is if he goes back to where he came from, and that’s not happening if you keep stopping us.”

“What’s the point of getting your body back if that means you’ll die, you fool?”

“I won’t die, I’ll just be somewhere else.”

“You don’t know what it’s like to live in that place. You don’t know what it’s like to-to…”

“I don’t care, I’ll deal with it.”

“Enough!” Selphine then signalled the masked men who had entered. “Take him.”

“Don’t come close!” Arthur warned them.

“Fool!” Selphine bellowed furiously. “You’d let your friends die?”

Arthur was about to nod, but suddenly froze in place. The binding contract finally affected him. It seemed like the clause I’d put into place during our negotiation was well thought out.

“If given the option to kill Selphine at the cost of Louise or Emmett’s lives, you will prioritize those two.” That was the clause I told Arthur I wanted to add, which he’d reluctantly agreed to, which was a good thing as it came in crucial right now.

Arthur grinded his teeth silently, knowing that the contract was forcing him to bluff, but hopefully Selphine and her minions would fall for it.

“Yes, the important thing is to get to you first.” He tried to sound as convincing as possible, which seemed to have an effect, as Selphine looked visibly agitated after hearing those words come out of his mouth.

I have an idea.

What is it?

You’re going to have to trust me.

Arthur then started muttering something under his breath, quiet enough for Selphine to be unable to hear but loud enough for her to know he was saying something.

“Speak louder, I can’t hear you!” She now looked very frustrated, unable to predict what Arthur’s next move would be.

But then, I realized something. Those words were familiar to me, I’d hear them before. No, I’d spoken them-no wait, that’s wrong too. I didn’t speak them, but I have a recollection of….Arthur’s memory! He was using the same spell he used back then!

Suddenly, light enshrouded everything.

I found myself inside a physical body, a female one, I opened my eyes to realize I was tied up and gagged while being held.

Right in front of me stood Arthur’s body in the same place, grinning as he nodded at me.

And then, the memories all flooded into me at once.