Year 2: The Battle of Rhodes - Chapter 3

Hilda, The Satyr Knight, was strong.

Stronger than any other enemy Dante had fought.

He, who had slain dragons and beasts larger than cities, lost a limb to the Satyr Knight.

Even with his Arts and the power of his liquid metal arm, he could only fight her to a stalemate.

Now.

His scythe and her spear’s blades locked, each pushing back against the other fiercely.

Let’s see how round three goes!

Dante used his arts to push her blade back, then swung his scythe at her waist. Hilda blocked it with the shaft of her spear, then chopped the point down at his head. Dante dodged, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp edge, as Hilda swept for his legs. He jumped over them, pulled his scythe above his head, and thrust it down at her face.

Hilda sidestepped the attack, keeping Dante in front of her, then kicked him in the stomach, staggering him a little as she repositioned her spear for a forward thrust. Dante twisted his body out of the way, then caught the shaft between his arm and his chest. He generated Arts around his left leg and kicked up at her crotch.

Hilda released her spear temporarily, dropped to a crouching position, then launched a palm fist at Dante’s chin. The blow startled him and her spear shook free from his grasp.

Not wasting a single moment, Hilda picked her spear up and started rapidly slicing and stabbing at Dante.

Dante was at a bad distance. He was too close to properly manoeuvre his scythe and they both knew it, which was why Hilda pursued him relentlessly as he drew further and further back in the grand chamber.

Dammit! Dante clicked his tongue as his back hit the wall. She knows I’m weakest like this from our previous fights and always tries to force me into this situation!

Hilda thrust her spear towards his heart, but Dante dropped his scythe and rolled to the side, then grabbed her left ankle and pulled her onto her back. Hilda, who hadn’t expected such a move from Dante, was stunned for a second as he leapt over her, reclaimed his scythe and blasted a powerful wave of wind at Hilda, sending her rolling across the room and almost out of a tall standing window.

The glass shattered from the impact, but Hilda swung her legs around and leapt up onto her feet, just in time to avoid Dante’s follow-up Arts attack.

He then began blasting furniture towards her, forcing her to duck and weave out of his relentless assault, allowing Dante to analyse and strategize for a few moments of respite.

However.

She’s fast, she’s strong and she’s been bred to kill people like me.

The Demon Emperor said as much on the day he sacked Themis - is it really impossible for me to defeat her alone? What about the Dread Knights?

Are they all like her?

If so, Themis and all of the Gods in the sky, give us strength!

***

The Blades of Yun were the finest warriors of the Shogunate, and yet.

Another man screamed in agony, his last dying act, as the trident pierced his stomach. The Dread Knight, with a violent twist, withdrew their weapon and began fighting Captain Hu.

The one with the bident had taken a wound to their shoulder, but the one with the chakram had covered their retreat. Every time they threw their weapon, it bounced manically along the corridor and always returned to its owner’s hand.

The female knight with the sickles sliced through her third victim’s jugular, allowing his blood to pour over her chest piece as Akechi could only watch from a distance, trapped in an engagement with two Dread Knights at once.

Yet.

The one with the poleax swung it sideways again, but Akechi cleanly rolled beneath it onto his feet in time to parry the one with the bident’s follow-up attack. He pushed the bident to one side and drove a blade into the Dread Knight’s heart.

The Dread Knight grunted in pain and pushed Akechi away as the poleax came barrelling down at Akechi again, this time aiming for his head with an above-head swing.

Akechi pulled his damp blade out of the gap between the Dread Knight’s armour, spun out of the way of the poleax again and cut the bident Dread Knight’s stomach, shoulders and neck.

The Dread Knight, bleeding from multiple areas, fell down dead.

Before, when Akechi had stabbed the bident Dread Knight in the heart, the plate armour had just about been thick enough to ensure Akechi’s full strike wouldn’t pierce his organs.

Akechi, however, realised this and adjusted his attacks so that they would find the larger gaps in the armour and cut much more deeply in those places.

The Dread Knight with the poleax seemed unsettled and took a step backwards, but angrily caught itself and roared.

Akechi flicked his swords to the side, splattering the fresh blood into the carpet; then, he shifted into another stance.

“That’s one.”

“A weak one,” the man with the chakram retorted. He threw his mighty weapon again but, this time, it was shot out of the air before it could fly more than two metres. “What the-?”

Laughing, Princess Hiiragi stepped forward, her tattoos glowing bright pinks and deep purples. “I hope you didn’t forget about me.”

“I hadn’t, but your spells can’t pierce our armour.”

“True, but they can do this.”

Hiiragi fired a pink arrow made of magical energy at the Dread Knight fighting Captain Hu, disarming the knight of his trident. Captain Hu wasted no time exploiting the opportunity and thrust his sword at the man’s neck.

Unfortunately, the strike hadn’t cut the Dread Knight deeply, so they retreated, reclaiming their weapon.

There were only five members of the Blades of Yun left standing alongside Lord Akechi and Princess Hiiragi, and there were four Dread Knights left.

One had fallen and two were wounded.

They’re far above the calibre of the average soldier and only our best could prove a match, in groups at that, Princess Hiiragi analysed. Dante speaks highly of the Satyr Knight, which means that there’s a very real chance these Dread Knights could one day reach that level with enough time and training.

“Husband.”

“Yes?”

“Kill my enemies.”

Smiling, Akechi brandished his blades. “Yes, your majesty.”

***

Focus.

Observe your opponent.

Analyse them.

Decide what the best course of action is.

Ewan Walsh remembered every lesson that Dante had ever imparted into him. They had been reassuring words of encouragement once, but now they unintentionally mocked him.

Xi Shi.

One of the Four Beauties of Ancient China.

‘Fish dive, goose fall; moon hide, flower shame' - women like no other, captivating without even trying.

Xi Shi took a solitary step forward, her halberd dragging along the bloodied carpet.

One weapon, no other equipment.

She isn’t wearing any armour, but she was lightning fast at the Rivers House.

If she keeps the pact that she made with Dante, then she won’t kill me…not until Dante’s won or lost against the Satyr Knight. Ewan aimed Gungnir at her chest, moving his legs into a stronger, defensive stance, and he swallowed hard, sweat dripping down his face. She’s far more powerful than me, so I just have to focus on surviving and stalling.

“What did you mean before?”

Xi Shi titled her head and took another step forward.

“What did you mean when you said I’m like you?”

“Oh, that?” Xi Shi stopped her foot mid step and smiled seductively. “Should I tell you?”

Left!

Ewan didn’t see or hear her move, but his whole body contorted and shifted his spear to his left flank, just as the heavy halberd’s blunt side swung at him.

Gungnir shook so much Ewan feared it would shatter as the impact blasted him into the far wall, dropping him onto his back in a small crater. The wall shook and pictures and ornaments fell from it, just as Ewan spat blood.

Shit. He looked down at his spasming hands and the aching pains radiating from every muscle in his body. Slowly, Ewan forced himself up onto his legs, but he nearly collapsed onto his knees; he was shaking too much to stand properly, let alone hold his spear correctly.

Xi Shi laughed as she slowly began to walk towards him again.

She’s enjoying this - dammit! Ewan conjured his Arts around the tip of Gungnir, thrust his spear forward with a great roar, and a blast of wind pierced the air towards the demonic woman.

However, Xi Shi playfully side stepped it, then threw her halberd at his head.

Ewan just barely avoided the sharp axe blade; he only saw it at the last possible second, so it cut his cheek as he threw himself to the floor to avoid a fatal injury.

“Impressive.” As if she had teleported, Xi Shi appeared at the wall where her halberd had implanted itself, ripped it free, nearly bringing the wall down with her weapon, and turned to Ewan. “Dante might want to hurry.”

“You-You swore…you swore you wouldn’t-!”

Xi Shi brought down her halberd from overhead, right between Ewan’s legs, leaving less than a millimetre between her blade and the armour protecting the most vital vein in his thigh.

The fright proved too much for Ewan.

Warm liquid poured from his lower body onto his armour and into the carpet, much to Xi Shi’s amusements.

“You can’t take it, but you can hand it out.” Xi Shi rested her halberd on her shoulder, giggling at the trembling hero before her. “We Four Beauties were many things in life, many more in death and legend, but there was one thing that united us all.” She crouched down to his eye level and smirked. “It was the feeling of elation we had when controlling others.”

“…Eh?”

Xi Shi licked her lips. “Zhaojun enticed birds to fall, Diaochan eclipsed the moon, Guifei brought shame to flowers and I made fish sink.” Xi Shi giggled. “Do you have any idea how much fun it was to watch men and women drop to their knees in tears at the mere sight of us, willing to forsake everything for us, to indulge our every whim was the greatest of all pleasures known to us.

“The world was ours to play with and no one could refuse us. Not even the great Lu Bu could resist Diaochan, nor could the tyrant Dong Zhou. When I first came to this world, I sought such people to play with again, that is until I met his majesty. He and he alone can command us - we, the Four Beauties, reborn in this form of Xi Shi were made to serve. However.” Xi Shi leant in close and gripped Ewan’s neck roughly. “We only serve him and no others. Everyone else is our toy unless we are told otherwise.

“Ewan Walsh - tell me, does any of this truly not ring a single bell for you?”

“W…what are you-?”

She shushed him as a strange lavender fragrance emerged from her body, soaking into Ewan’s core.

“Think - remember,” Xi Shi whispered. “You are just like us.

“You someone who lived for pleasure.

“You are someone who lived for control.

“You are someone who cared for only yourself and the toys in your playbox.

“Remember.”

***

A lecture theatre.

It was empty, aside from the chairs, desks and the lone man behind the podium, readying his laptop and papers for the lesson.

He cleared his throat, straightened his tie and checked his appearance in his laptop’s webcam, combing his hair and straightening his clothes.

With a broad grin, he said, “Perfect,” and checked the time. “Everyone will be here soon enough, so-huh?”

Ewan stopped himself and touched his body.

It felt both familiar and alien to him.

“Where…am I?”

Then, the doors opened and his first student of the day came in.

A seventeen-year-old black-haired girl with a cute face, dressed fashionably, carrying a bag of textbooks and pens, and she warmly greeted her teacher with a smile.

“Good morning, professor!”

“…Good morning…Elysa.”