"Okay, that's enough for now. Can't be spoiling the performance for the audience" came the voice of my new travelling companion as she stopped her singing.
"Huh, wha- oh. We've arrived" I say, blinking in surprise. Having not noticed any of the walk thanks to her singing distracting me the whole time. Thus only now seeing our destination.
"I know they say music takes you away, but did you really not notice the town in front of us?"
"Apparently. Oh, uh, good job by the way. Great singing."
"Eh? W-well of course it was great. I am an idol after all" I can't help but smile seeing her surprise and barely hidden happiness.
'Shame that was a lie, she sounds terrible. But her singing was tolerable enough to let me not think of anything. Plus someone that bad likely never gets complimented.'
A brief silence falls between us as we walk towards the town, though the longer the silence lasts the more I think on something she said, just a small thing, but something that's begun to bug me.
"You said you're an idol right? I didn't know they had those in this time period."
"Uh they probably don't, or at least I don't think they don't. I don't really know though, since I'm not from this time period."
"You're not from… Oh! So I guess you really are in a similar situation to me then?"
"Well duh, we're servants after all, of course were in a similar situation" she looks at me like I've just said something stupid.
"...Oh right, of course" I look away from her 'Servant… that's the second time she's called me that, why though? I don't serve anyone right? Why do I feel like I should know what she means?'
We once more fall into silence as my mind is occupied with why I feel such a connection to being called a servant. Of course this silence is just as easily broken by the first, though it wasn't broken by either of us, rather a third voice.
"Halt! What is your business here?" A guard steps in front of us, raising his spear in suspicion.
"Ah we're just travellers"/"To perform!" The two of us say at the same time, then immediately looking at each other in annoyance before turning away from the guard and whispering to each other.
"Hey let me handle this, I know exactly what will get us in" I say first, taking the initiative.
"What? No way, you look like some homeless peasant that got the plague, there's no way he'd listen to you."
"You see that's exactly why he'd listen to me, because I look like a down on his luck commoner, whilst you look way too different and strange for him to trust you. Oh and it's a curse not the plague."
She thinks this over for a moment before sighing and waving her hand dismissively "ugh fine, go deal with the annoyance."
"Wow that's kinda harsh" I mutter before turning back to the guard "Ah sorry about that, just needed to have a quick chat" I say laughing awkwardly. "Anyways we're just two normal travellers looking to stay in this town after a long day of travel" I continue, putting on my best fake smile.
"Really? You're just normal travellers? What's normal about her? She's got horns and a tail, not to mention her dress" He replies evidently sceptical of my claim.
"Well I guess that was a little lie, we're not just regular travellers. In fact as you may have heard earlier she is a performer! And a performer must be as memorable as possible right? So that's why she is most definitely, not normal looking."
" I see… I suppose that makes sense. But then what do you do?"
'Geez, who is this guy? Sherlock? Why's he got to know everything?' I think as my smile grows strained.
"I'm uh... her guard? Yeah I'm her guard" I say nodding and gesturing to my sword.
"A guard? You?" He says unconvinced as he looks me over, not convinced. Which I have to admit is fair. I do look very beat up and unkempt, with my sword being the only sign I have any combat ability beyond being a meat shield.
"Of course I am, do you think I always look like this? Of course not! We got attacked by a bunch of dragons, and seeing as I was not in any way prepared to fight beasts like that I got wrecked. Yet because I'm such a good bodyguard my client has not even a single scratch on her" I say, smiling confidently.
"Hmm, alright. I suppose your story makes sense. I'll let you in, besides you don't seem to be with those English bastards." With that he steps aside, letting us proceed forwards.
"Really? Thanks man, you're the best" I say giving him the finger guns as I turn away from his confused expression and face my travelling companion again. "See? Told you I could get us in."
"I'm surprised he even talked to you, considering you look like some sort of plague ridden savage"
"I think I look more battle torn than diseased" I reply dryly, tugging my cloak to ensure it covers up any sign of cursed flesh "And it's a curse not a disease, so can you please stop saying I'm plagued? We're going to end up kicked out if anyone believes you."
"Okay, okay, I get it, it's not the plague" she replies with a roll of her eyes before she walks past me into the town "now come on, I've got a show to set up."
I stare after her for a moment and sigh, is she going to start ordering me around now? Shaking my head I move to catch up with her before a stray thought drifts through my mind and I turn to the guard. "So, uh, what's this place called?"
"This is Thiers" the man says, sighing as he leans against a post. "Please try not to cause any trouble"
"Ah, you don't need to worry about me" I give him a wave before jogging forwards to catch up with my companion, following behind her as I observe the town.
After about a minute I come to a rather simple realisation; this town is what I wanted to see in Lisieux. What I had been looking forward to when I found out I was in the 1400's.
As where Lisieux was a full blown medieval city and Villeneuve was a classic example of a small village, Thiers is the definition of a middle ages town. It truly makes me feel like I'm 600 years in the past, what with the tall and narrow buildings made from bricks and wood, paved roads, and the cleanness of the air. However those simple features aren't what makes this town so different from the other parts of civilization I've been in, no what makes Thiers truly feel like a middle ages town is the people. As in comparison to the other places I have been recently Thiers actually has people walking around and carrying out their daily tasks, I can see people going to the market, people entering shops, and even just people talking to each other. It's rather evident that Jeanne and her dragons haven't made their way to Thiers just yet.
Though yet again this just serves to show me how different my mindset is now. As rather than marvel at the sight of this middle ages town like some sort of time travelling tourist, I'm instead wondering how long this place will last before it is destroyed by that Witch. After all I doubt any town in France is equipped to deal with an actual giant dragon like that one under the control of the Witch, or even the monsters that madman summons. It's really only a matter of time before this place is destroyed.
'Great, now I'm depressed again' I think with a sigh as I catchup to my travelling companion and walk beside her. "So, what are you going to do now that we've arrived ?"
"Weren't you listening? I'm going to set up stage and start performing."
"Ah right, should have known that. But why are you setting up in some random city in this time period? Like, wouldn't it be easier to go somewhere more popular?"
"It's because this place is less well known that I'm starting here, there won't be any competing idols here and I'll be able to turn this town into the next Broadway. Soon enough I'll have fans from all over travelling here just to listen to me" She answers with stars in her eyes.
"I see… well good luck with that, personally I'm going to find a good place to collapse and work through some stuff."
"That's kinda sad" she replies looking at me with something akin to pity. "Well, be sure to attend the show, you don't want to miss it" she finishes cheerfully, walking further into the town and leaving me alone.
I watch her leave and sigh 'I hope she doesn't cause too much trouble here, I don't want this place attracting the wrong type of attention' as soon as that thought enters my mindthe lively atmosphere of Thiers is replaced by the burnt husk of Rouen. Houses are burnt down with smoke blocking the sky and covering the area like a thick mist, all the citizens that moments ago were going about their days are now shambling husks, burnt beyond recognition.
I stumble back in fear and stare with wide eyes at the hellish scene before me, the smell of smoke and burnt flesh filling my nose. Then before I can make any sense of it I feel my arm start to burn as it once more ignites into cursed flames, causing excruciating pain that makes me gasp for air. Something I immediately regret as my lungs fill with burning smoke and I am forced to double over into a coughing fit.
Yet as I stand straight again after my coughing fit, the pain disappears alongside the hellish landscape of Rouen, returning to the normal atmosphere of a medieval town. It was just a hallucination.
"What the fuck was that?" I gasp out, short for breath and trembling. As I look around I'm made aware that the people around me are now staring at me, their gazes a collection of pity, disgust, and concern.
"Ah I'm just… don't… I'll just…" I stammer, unable to put together a coherent sentence with so many eyes staring at me, judging me. I can't take it, it's making my skin crawl, causing something to bubble up from inside me, something I've felt far too often. Hatred.
So when one of the more concerned gazes steps forward, likely in an attempt to help me, I don't accept that help. Instead I stumble away, staggering footsteps quickly growing in speed as I break into a run, with no destination aside from getting away from all those eyes.
Conscious thought fades away as I run, the mist of madness once more enveloping me, my mind only concerned with getting away from the probing gazes. With control of my body ceded to the more instinctual part of me I take turns at random and lose myself in the town. Eventually finding myself in a dark alleyway nestled between an abandoned house and a wall.
Once I come to a stop the mist of madness recedes and my mind clears, bringing back that unnatural hatred. However this time it is much stronger than before, knocking my legs out from under me and sending me to the ground.
I gasp for breath as I feel the hatred burn through me and reach further into me, digging into my mind. I try to fight back against the unnatural hatred, centring myself and focusing on any other emotion, but at best I'm just slowing it down. "What is this?" I gasp out, however I already know the answer, after all I've only felt hatred like this from one other. The Dragon Witch Jeanne d'Arc.
'Is she here? Has she come for me' I panic briefly before my mind makes a few connections. 'No, I've felt her hatred separate from her before' my thoughts drift to the fact that my cursed arm always burns before I feel a wave of hatred. 'The curse! It must be causing this!' Now that I have that in mind I can indeed somewhat feel the hatred flowing from the curse in my arm. Sadly all this tells me is that the curse has both mental and physical effects which doesn't help with my current predicament.
'Shit, what do I do? Can I even do anything? Wait…' if the curse is the source, then perhaps the hatred is just a representation of the curse itself trying to consume me? 'That doesn't help at all! It just makes everything worse!'
Another wave of hatred flows from the curse and rips through my mind, covering my vision in darkness. 'I can't do anything. Have I come this far just to fail like this? Succumbing to a curse?' I feel myself slip away, being washed away by the hatred.
"What did I tell you?" a haunting voice rings out and a pressure forms on my chest, as if it is being stepped on. "You cannot escape your fate" the voice cackles and a dark figure with gleaming yellow eyes forms in the darkness. "So just succumb, give up and let yourself be washed away. After all this is what you-" the figure suddenly stops before it can finish talking and fades away, quickly followed by the darkness retreating and the waves of hatred ceasing, leaving me lying on the ground confused and afraid.
"Fuck… what the hell was that?" I say as I pull myself up and sit against the wall. "I nearly died again" I look down at my shaking hand, trying and failing to calm myself down. "How long can I keep going like this?" I don't think I can take a repeat of what just happened.
Wait… how did I get through that? The curse was winning wasn't it? Why did it suddenly disappear? And now that I think of it, that dull ache that's always been coming from the curse has died down a little. So what saved me?
No answer to that question comes to mind so I just sigh and decide that it will remain a mystery, that is until my attention is drawn to the fact that I'm holding something in my left arm with a death grip. I missed it at first glance considering that it's dark colour blends in too well with my own cursed arm, made worse by the faint black smoke that's emanating from it and obscuring the thing (which is very concerning and something I'm going to try not to think about).
However once I manage to pry my unresponsive fingers off of it the mysterious object is revealed to be a charred cross, the very same one that I picked up in Rouen. I had completely forgotten about the thing, I'm surprised that I didn't lose it.
'Why am I holding it now though? Did it… save me?' I frown as I think this over, the curses onslaught stopped far too quickly for me to just have resisted it and if holding this is the only thing that has changed, then it's probably because of the cross right? 'It makes a certain sort of sense' but it also just creates another question, why did it protect me and how was it able to disperse the hatred?
My mind first jumps to the idea that it's simply because it is a cross and that its inherent holiness is able to protect me, but that just doesn't feel right. I've got an odd feeling that this cross is special, that the protection is unique.
So if it's not an inherent holiness then my next best guess is that it has something to do with where I found it, at the centre of a hatred so strong it lingers in the air, the spot where a witch was burnt at the stake. Undoubtedly the cross belongs to Jeanne d'Arc, but then why did it protect me from the curse? Shouldn't something belonging to her strengthen the curse? Also why can't sense any hatred coming from the thing, you'd think that anything that comes from her would be steeped in the stuff, especially something that came from the spot where she was burnt.
Then of course there's the one thing that bugged me when I found it just as much as it does now, why did it survive the fire? Why would there be something so holy in the most unholy of places? Is it some sort of message from God? But why would he protect a fucking cross over literally anything else? Especially one belonging to that damn Witch!
"Gah! It just doesn't make sense!" I shout as I slam my head back against the wall in frustration, thankfully my head is far stronger than the wall so I don't feel any pain from the impact.
"Damnit, I'm getting nowhere with this" I say with a sigh as I tuck the cross away again. "What do I do now?" I pull my knees to my chest. I can't just continue wandering blindly and hoping something good will happen, cause I'm pretty sure I'm running out of luck and that doing so will get me killed. No, I need to have a goal, something I can focus on.
Of course there's really only one that I need to be doing right now anyway, getting rid of the curse on my arm. It just keeps getting worse and worse and at this rate it's going to kill me.
"Alright, then let's get moving" I say to myself as I grab my sword and pull myself up off the ground.
First step in curing myself, find that idol girl. I don't know anything about curses and she's the only other supernatural person here, she may know something about curses and if she doesn't then maybe she can point me to someone who does.
Stepping out of the alleyway I tug my cloak around me once more, ensuring that it's covering my left arm, and set out to search the town for that idol. 'Okay, finding her shouldn't be too hard, she is very loud after all' all I need to do is follow the sound of terrible music, when she starts singing that is, cause I don't hear anything right now.
'Great, now I have to do this the harder way and actually search for her' I sigh and start walking through the town looking for her, ensuring to keep my ears open for any hint of her voice.
Unfortunately, with how big this town is I don't trust that I'll be able to find her in any good period of time if I just wander aimlessly, which of course I'm not going to do. If I use my head and account for the fact that she is trying to be famous, then it's only logical that she'd go wherever the most people will be. Sadly considering the fact that I have no idea where people gather in a medieval town I'll also have to search for that.
'This is going to be so annoying' it would be much easier if I could get a better look at the town but the only thing around me are regular houses and other buildings with no way to get on top of them. That is if I was a regular human, which I'm not. So getting a good vantage point should be easy enough.
I shuffle over to the tallest building near me, a sort of brick house that seems to be two stories tall and look over it, plotting a path up. I could climb onto the short building next to it and then go from there.
With a nod to myself I approach the shorter building and focus, staring intently at its roof as I take a deep breath, bending my knees and judging the distance.
"Alright, let's go" I say as I breathe out and launch myself into the air, shooting past the roof I aimed for and ending up a good few meters above it. With no way to adjust my position in the air I can't do anything but brace myself as I crash down onto the roof. Luckily these buildings are pretty sturdy so I don't end up falling through the roof.
"Ok a little less jump next time then" I say under my breath as I pick myself up and prepare to jump up onto the taller building.
I am much more successful the second time, managing to only go about one meter above the roof and land on my feet, only stumbling a little bit when I do.
Well, now that I've successfully jumped my way up these buildings (which is pretty cool when I think about it) and secured a decent vantage point I can now get a clue on where to go. First I take a brief moment to just take in the sight of this medieval town, looking at the sprawl of short buildings made from brick and wood and the occasional tower or grand building that stands above them. I can even spot some places that seem apt for individuals to gather at, there's what looks to be a marketplace. Further out is a grand building that stands above all the others and has stained glass windows marking it as a church, an obvious place for people to gather, especially if it's Sunday. There's also a larger more manor like building, probably where the owner of Thiers lives. Oh and there's also a pillar of fire erupting from the other side of town.
Wait fire? Why the hell is there a pillar of fire in the middle of town? I doubt the villagers are starting a bonfire or burning a house down, so this is probably an unusual event. And, well, whilst I don't know if that idol can make fires, or if she's even there, but something is obviously going on over there and I should probably check it out. As I come to a decision another gout of flame rises and then another, and another. Shit, that's definitely some sort of fight, I've got to hurry!
With that I burst into action, jumping off of the roof and dashing through the town once more. Dodging past civilians and obstacles as I make my way through the streets with only a direction in mind and no knowledge of how to get there, made clear by the multiple dead ends I run into.
"Wait, why am I taking the streets? I can jump buildings" This time rather than turning around and taking another path, I jump over the dead end and onto the house before. I take a moment to relocate the location of the fight before once more moving forth, this time running along the roofs and leaping across buildings.
As expected travelling across the roofs of the town is far faster than going through the streets and in no time at all I'm able to make it to the source of the flames. Stopping atop what looks to be a bridge between two buildings. Unfortunately, I'm too late and the fight is already over.
The scene that lies before me is that of the wannabe Idol and some other girl in a kimono lying defeated before some familiar faces. The group that found me in Lisieux, it seems they've followed me once again, 'Why can't I just be left alone!?'
Luckily it doesn't seem that the Witch is with them anymore, and curiously enough they've replaced that woman with the weird hat. Instead they've got a swordsman with a glowing mark on his chest. What's even more curious is the fact that he's cursed, I can feel it emanating from him, the same curse that resides within me. Except his is far stronger, almost as if he had multiple separate curses layered onto him. 'Not really surprised that the Witch does that to her own followers. She really gave off that sort of vibe.'
Of course since I didn't exactly try to be stealthy, they spot me almost instantly and take up ready stances, evidently preparing themselves to fight again. 'Not good, what do I do now? Run?'
'...No, there's no point in just running. Not only are they attacking two possible allies, they'll probably just track me down again if I run now. No, I need to fight here and at least slow them down. Besides, I like my chances.'
looking over them, they don't seem ready for combat, probably cause they're worn out from the fight they were just in. The blonde guy and sword guy look like they can barely stand, the shield girl only has a shield, and whilst 'Senpai' looks ready to fight something tells me that he's no match for me. If I fight smart I should be able to get through this.
"Well, let's get to it then" I take a deep breath and get into a runner's stance, letting my mind fall into that focus of madness enhancement. I ready my sword and exhale before launching myself forwards at the weakest looking member of their group, the 'Senpai'.
"Master!" The cry of the shield girl is all the warning I get before I am intercepted by her and my attack is blocked before I can reach him. 'Guess I should have expected it wouldn't be that easy' I think as I jump back away from the girl's follow up strike and make some distance between us.
"You're that servant from Lisieux right? Why are you attacking us? We're not your enemies!" 'Senpai' (or is it master?) calls out.
"Do you think I'd fall for something like that? I know you're on the same side as that Witch! I saw you with her!" I shout back at him, accusation in my voice.
"You've got it wrong! That Jeanne isn't the same as the Dragon Witch, they're different!"
"Really? You expect me to believe there are two Jeanne's? You'll need to try better than that" 'Seriously are they really trying to convince me that they are not evil?' Though that would explain why they seem so hesitant to fight, why they healed me, and why I found that cross. 'There's no way that's true'
"It's the truth, we're on the same side, we don't have to be enemies" the shield girl interjects.
"Bah, don't bother trying to convince me. I know the truth" Seriously, do they think they can just convince me? They're dumber than I thought.
"Master I don't think he will be convinced so easily, we have no choice but to fight back."
"I know Mash. He's still not our enemy though, so try to hit him with the back of your blade"
"Back of the blade…?" I mutter confused but I quickly abandon that train of thought before it distracts me and focus on the enemy in front of me. Considering her choice of weapon she's most likely a tank or defence based fighter who doesn't do well on her own. All I need to do is get a few good hits in past that shield, which will be easier said than done considering the size of the thing. Seriously it's as big as her! Still of the people I've fought she's easily the least intimidating, especially considering she seems more… hesitant and I something tells me she's not quite as experienced as the other two with her. So I don't doubt that I can take her, but I won't underestimate her, that'd be foolish. Now, with my observation finished it's time to begin, and I'll be the one making the first move.
Without wasting any more time I launch myself forwards, lunging at her with my sword before she covers herself with that shield. I don't connect though as she brings her shield around in time to deflect my attack, which she follows up by trying to slam me with it. In response I continue with my forward momentum and dodge to the side of her, bringing my blade back around in an upwards slash.
However my blade only bounces off of her shield uselessly. She had just barely managed to bring the bottom part of the shield around to block my sword. But that matters little as her shield still isn't in a good position to block me, so I bring my blade around again this time with an overhead slash. For a moment it looks like my strike will make contact with her, but it is easily blocked once more by the shield. She immediately follows up with an uppercut from her shield, the flat part of it crashing into my chin.
I let out a shocked grunt as my head is knocked back and I'm sent staggering, I don't feel any pain from it but getting my head hit like that is still bad to experience. Shaking my head I set my eyes on my enemy, just in time to see her slamming her shield at me again. I barely have any time to react so all I can do is bring my arms in front of me and brace myself in an attempt to block the impact.
It helps a bit, as instead of being knocked off my feet and sent flying, I'm sent skidding backwards and manage to stay standing. Yet again I feel no pain, despite the heavy impact the only thing I felt was the force on my arms. I guess that Madness Enhancement is just completely removing my sense of pain now.
Once I skid to a stop I glare at the purple haired girl and tighten my one handed grip on my sword. A simple plan of action forming in my mind, I don't have enough skill to get past a shield like that, but I think I'm faster than her, so maybe I can just break past her defence if I attack with overwhelming speed and strength.
With that in mind I launch myself at her again with my sword already in motion as I wildly swing my sword at her. It uselessly clashes against her shield again, but that does not deter me. I plant my foot on the ground and bring the blade back down upon her, which of course is also intercepted by her shield. But that matters little as I swing the sword at her again, and again, and again. Each strike growing in speed and strength, an unceasing onslaught of attacks that give her no chance to strike back.
A grin breaks out upon my face as I force her to take a step back and I'm able to take a step forwards. Now I just need to keep this up until I manage to break her guard and land a solid hit.
However that does not happen, as just as I'm forcing her to take another step back I feel a buzz in my mind before something slams into my side and knocks me a few steps away from the shield girl, interrupting my combo. Looking in the direction of the attack shows the blonde man pointing a sort of stick at me, it seems that he still has some fight left in him.
'Two of them? This is just unfair!' My grin fades away and is replaced with a scowl as I watch the blonde man for any more attacks, only to see him almost fall over. 'Oh, I guess he is exhausted from their previous fight. Probably only able to break me out of combos' which at least keeps this fight from being a two vs one.
'Should be safe to just focus on the girl' my gaze returns to where the shield girl is, or where she was seeing as she is now in the air and about to slam me with her shield again. Letting out a startled shout I hastily jump to the side and out of the way, narrowly dodging her attack.
Having dodged her attack I immediately dash back in to take advantage of the slight opening this should make. Knowing that she'd likely still block this I instead choose to use a different approach, that is I kick her instead. As predicted my foot impacts against her shield, also as predicted the strength behind the kick is enough to launch her away from me. Sadly she stays on her feet and it doesn't seem like I did any damage.
My scowl deepens as we start circling each other. 'God damnit! Why's her defence so strong!' I'm never going to break through it at this rate, maybe if I could two hand my sword I could do something about it, but that's impossible with the curse on my arm. That does give me an idea though, the curse in my does have a use in combat after all.
With that in mind I start forming a new plan of attack, one that will get me a direct hit no matter what.
First I focus inwards for just a moment to locate that well of energy within me, my mana. Then I repeat what I did back in Lisieux and start forcing it into my left arm, tainting the mana with curse as I pass it through. Unfortunately the process is rather slow and my opponent seems to have caught on to my intentions, seeing as she is charging at me. Fortunately I don't have to stay still to charge my attack, so I simply jump away from her charge and keep jumping away from her follow up attacks. Once more a grin forms on my face as I realise she isn't fast enough to pin me down.
Soon enough I've gathered all the mana I can spare into my arm despite her attempts to stop me. But I'm not done yet, from what I know the curse runs of hatred and from what I felt back in my fight with the Witch, the fire that I can make from it is that hatred weaponized. So if I want to make this a strong as possible I'll need to fuel it with hatred. 'Heh, lucky for me, hatred will come easy. All I have to do is think about that bastard Gilles de-'
He killed them, he's a monster, a madman, a monster, he killed them, I hate him
I hate him hate him hate him hate him hate him hate him hate him hate him hate him
Hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate
I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him
The red mist blinding me and consuming my mind lifts just in time for me to dodge another shield slam. 'Shit, do I really hate him that much? Damnit, I'll deal with that later' I shake my head and push that disturbing event to the back of my mind. Despite the suddenness of my little episode, it didn't interrupt the spell formation, quite the opposite really. The hatred I hold for that man provided more than enough fuel for the cursed mana, I can almost feel the flames desire to burn all to ash.
"This has been fun, but let's finish this" I declare to the shield girl as I jump back, clenching my left hand into a fist, drawing the cursed flames out of my arm and condensing them into my fist. "Burn to ash!" I slam my hand down upon the ground and release my hold on the flames.
Dark purple fire roars out of my hand and tears across the ground right at the girl, forming into a great wall as it travels, almost like a wave that burns all in its way leaving a path of scorched black pavement. An unavoidable attack to be sure.
So I'm rather surprised when I see that she manages to avoid it.
I couldn't quite see how she managed it, considering my vision was blocked by a great wave of cursed fire, but it looked like the fire just passed through her without doing damage. Almost as if she just phased through it.
Unfortunately for her, simply dodging the attack isn't enough. For the flames of hatred burn with the desire to consume life. So as the wave travels past her it begins to peel back, pulling itself apart so that the wave of fire can reverse and come down upon her again.
I can't help but smirk as I watch this, an act that tips her off to the boomerang effect of the flames. As she glances behind her with a surprised expression on her face, which quickly morphs into a more determined expression before she turns to block the wave of fire. In the next moment the wave crashes into her shield pushing her back and making her grunt in exertion as she withstands it. However it looks like she'll be able to tank it pretty easily.
But she won't be able to tank the second attack.
With my smirk growing into a ferocious grin I launch myself forward at her unprotected back. "You're wide open!" I shout with my blade in mid swing.
The next few events happen almost in slow motion as I process them
I see the surprise and fear in her eyes as she realises she can't protect herself from this attack.
I feel the beat of my heart and the swell of excitement at my imminent victory.
I hear a panicked voice shout "Mash!"
I see a glow of light radiate from the girl before me as the panic and fear in her eyes fade away, replaced with steely determination. Then time resumes it's normal speed and she explodes into action.
With strength that she did not have she breaks the great wave of fire apart, scattering small flames and embers around us. Then with speed she did not have she spins the shield around and swings it at me. With devastating strength it smashes through my sword, shattering its upper half before proceeding to collide with my face, sending me flying away from her and crashing to the ground.
It takes me a couple moments to process what just happened, the ringing in my head not helping at all. Even when the ringing stops and I drag myself to my feet, my body feeling sluggish and weaker than before, I'm still trying to comprehend it. It's only as I see my broken sword does it all fit into place.
'That… that was the best I have. I put everything into that. And she just… turned it to nothing!' I grit my teeth, a low growl coming from my throat. 'This isn't fair! I had her! Why does she get a cheap powerup! I'm not going to fail! Not Again!' My left arm bursts into flames. 'And she broke my sword!' A red mist descends upon my mind, the shackles of madness once more binding me. 'I don't care anymore! I'm going to kill her!'
A roar forces its way out of my mouth as I charge at her. Swinging my broken blade blindly with my right arm as my left spasms, balls of cursed mana tearing their way out and shooting into the sky before raining down upon the girl.
She dashes forward to meet my charge, weaving in between the spray of dark balls and blocking those she can't dodge. As we meet she easily knocks my wild swings to the side and rams the bottom of her shield into my gut, then bringing it up into another uppercut
But as I am now, my mind no longer cares about anything other than killing the girl in front of me, not even bothering to take into account of how such blows should effect me. This allows me to keep pressing forward and to raise an arm charged with curse tainted mana aimed right at her. Before she can react I let out a blast of fire directly into her side, eliciting a pained gasp from her as I finally damage her.
Any enjoyment I gain from that is short lived though, as once the fire disperses two things happen. I feel an aching weakness flow through my body, and I see the flat of her shield smash into me. Then I know no more as my vision fades to black.
A/N: Well, these update gaps just keep getting longer and longer huh?
Anyways it seems that Adam has lost another fight, at least he lost to the good guys this time. Maybe he'll finally get some help.
Now Its time for some more info on Adam's skills, this time its Mental Pollution (E+). For Adam it mostly just makes him believe how he sees the world is the truth, essentially making it much harder for others to convince him of things. For example, being convinced of there being two Jeanne's. Although, it seems that when exposed to certain individual it's effect changes…
Now onto the reviews:
Crown of Reaper – If he doesn't cure it the curse will indeed stick with him, though I'm not sure its worth carrying the curse just to fire cursed fire… He is a Saber for now, and I do intend for him to change class.
Xbox432 – I've put Adam through all of this with the intent of building him up from the bottom, though he still hasn't had time to properly internalise his lessons yet
Bridd – You've actually raised some good points, I even went and changed a bit of the language surrounding the acquisition of Mental Pollution. Essentially it's not a permanent thing and more of a representation of his mental state at the moment. And it will really only trigger when reminded of two individuals, the rest of the time he'll only run when he feels he has no chance at victory.
Anyways chapter 11 will come out… sometime, I'm not making any promises this time.