Chapter 18: Dance of Love and Fire
She whips her chain at me. It pierces my chest and kills me instantly.
"Murak."
I leaped into the air narrowly avoiding the death strike. The chain howled as it passed through the spot I was standing in. I remained floating above Sirius and met her gaze below. I crossed my arms as I felt anger boiling inside me.
"Seriously? I wasn't looking to fight. I just wanted to end this peacefully and be on my way. Then you go and attack me without any warning? That's just bad form really. If you wanted me to duel you just needed to ask. There's a proper procedure for these things, you know. I was going to let all this go, you know. I wasn't planning on anything besides taking that boy and leaving. He's the one I'm after. Him and him alone. Here. Here. I'll make you an offer, alright? Give me the boy and I'll let this go. I'm merciful like that. You should be thanking me! Such an offer does not come lightly, you know."
"Ahh… Ahahahhaa… Ahahhhahhahaa..." Instead of responding to me Sirius began to cackle as her right arm turned into a tornado. The metal snake whistled through the air after its intended target.
If I didn't have my Authority I'd most certainly be dead right now. That was the grim reality of the situation at hand. As soon as it tipped me off she was going to attack I had drawn my sword to meet the iron snake.
Left. Right. Top. Below. Face. Right arm. Left leg. Decapitated. Eviscerated. Lacerated.
Each image became more gruesome than the last as I barely managed to keep up with the whirlwind of strikes. Parrying some while dodging others she pressed her unrelenting assault. The biggest advantage between us being my own Authority allowing me to see every action, every step, every twitch, and every flick of the wrist. Allowing me to create a perfected strategy to deal with the coming onslaught after onslaught.
"How unexpected! You've survived for this long!"
"Hnk."
Sirius never stopped her attacks even as she spoke. I, however, was too focused on not getting bisected to pay attention to her words. The steel chain sparked brightly as it made contact with my sword and whistled once again as it's direction changed suddenly. A single incorrect movement would result in death.
That was the nature of this fight.
"Hahahahhaa! Hahahahaha! Yes! Yes! Mutual recognition! Mutual understanding! That's the correct form of Love!"
She spewed her wild ramblings through her sinister laughter like a knife cutting through butter. The chain before me dancing just as wildly.
"Ghk. Hn. Ah. Hah."
Strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike after strike. Another anotheranotheranotheranotheranotheranotheranotheranotheranotheranotheranother.
It seemed the being known as Wrath was a creature capable of fighting forever. Throughout the heat of the death dance not once had she shown even the slightest sign of exhaustion. All while Tiga remains bound to her left arm continuing to struggle against the chains. My own exhaustion was beginning to catch up with me as I felt my mana beginning to waver. Murak may not consume much mana, but after maintaining it throughout the fight it had taken its toll. If I didn't lower myself to her I'd die in the air, however, lowering myself to her would also result in the disease known as death.
This was a battle of attrition which I couldn't possibly hope to win. The difference in strength between the two of us was apparent from the very beginning. The realization that this may be my grave was beginning to dawn on me. Every few seconds I'd see my splattered corpse on the ground accompanied by a sea of blood which most likely came from the crowd. My own Authority was demoralizing me.
Corpse appeared. Death avoided. Corpse appeared. Death avoided. Corpse appeared. Death avoided. Corpse appeared. Death avoided. Corpse appeared. Death avoided. Corpse appeared. Death avoided. Corpse appeared. Death avoided. Corpse appeared. Death avoided.
Over and over. My vision would be overlaid in death. Deactivating it would surely lead to death as well. Hope? There was no more hope left in this cruel and unfair world. Gentle world? Lies of a mad woman seething with rage.
"HAHAHHAHAHAHHAA!"
Her laughing only grew and grew. Louder and louder. It pierced my ears, ruptured my eardrums, how I wish I could never hear her voice again.
"Hah- Hah- Hah-"
My mana reserves had reached a dangerous level; remaining in the air any longer was suicide. I let myself fall gently to the ground as I fought off her relentless attacks. The chain of death howled as it sparked against my blade. The fight became far more taxing on the ground now that my weight returned to me. Keeping up with her strikes would become impossible very shortly.
"Vita!"
Using the last bit of magic I could I increased the weight of her chain causing it to slow down significantly. It didn't seem to phase her in the slightest as she kept up her assault. Instead of hampering her I instead accidentally aided her.
"Hahahahha! Yes! Yes! In the heat of battle is yet another way two can become one! This! This! This! This is akin to Love! Ah… such passion, such desire! My heart trembles!"
The chain wraps around my waist and flings me into the back of the tent.
At this point I was far too exhausted to stop it. The chains gripped my waist tightly before I felt the wind glide around me. Crashing into the back I found myself on top of a broken wooden box. My sword fell from my hand as I collided and skidded across the floor of the back room. This was the preparation area for each act before they went on stage. There were a few cages where they kept the animals which remained intact from my sudden arrival.
The most peculiar of them being that snake from before. It looked at me curiously from its cage and wriggled its body back and forth as if trying to call out to me. Letting out a loud hiss before trying to lung forward only to be stopped by the glass that separated it from the outside world.
"Mmmh."
I let out a groan as I got up from the remnants of the shattered box. At this point the best course of action would be to simply leave and let Sirius have her way. However, that would mean abandoning my goal here which is akin to abandoning my brother. That was something I simply couldn't do. I stood no chance against Sirius. That was something I had to admit to myself. Killing her wasn't an option and reason had gone out the window. I went over and picked my sword up off the ground which had landed by the snake. The snake let out another pleading hiss which I promptly ignored and cut a hole through the back of the tent making my escape.
The only thing I could do was hope she'd restart her speech from the beginning due to my interruption. This was something I highly doubted would happen. The only other option I could think of would be to go to Ireyne and get the Scarlet Little Finger from her; claiming I cursed Petelgeuse to get her to hand Tiga in exchange for his life. That, however, would most likely only anger her and cause her to kill me immediately. The one thing that struck me as the most odd out of everything so far was the ringleader was nowhere to be found. I hadn't even noticed him leaving once Sirius's speech began.
I left out the back of the tent and circle back around towards the main entrance. Reentering the tent I could see Sirius pacing back and forth muttering to herself before turning back and addressing the crowd. I couldn't hear her over the crowd's thunderous cheering and applause as she began swaying back and forth before using her free hand to grip the hook on the chain that bound Tiga pulling it out from his ankle while making a motion that suggested apology.
I scanned through the crowd to see if I could spot the ringleader. Just where did he go? Did he not care about Tiga at all? Or did something happen to him? Sirius beckoned the crowd once again, nearly performing the final scene of her act. That was when the ringleader decided to make his appearance once again. I got as close as I could without being noticed and still being able to hear what's going on.
"Gahahaha! Did you get wet at first glance, you worthless piece of meat?"
The man who was the ringleader spoke venomous words at Sirius whose eyes filled with murderous intent.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry everyone. There seems to be a few interruptions today. I'm so sorry. I said that I'd not take up too much of your precious precious time, but it seems like that won't be a possibility now."
Sirius ignored the ringleader and addressed the crowd instead.
"Huh? Don't ignore this lovely lady! Don't try to take love away from me! All the love in the world exists to be monopolized by me! All this stupid talk about becoming one and sharing feelings… You insects just need to learn that this lovely lady is the only one deserving of love. Doesn't the sight of me excite you all? Oh? Is this manly form not suitable? Whatever suits your tastes~ I'll become it and you'll surely love me then~. I am the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Lust. Capella Emerada Lugunica! Love me! Adore me! Admire my beauty! You filthy pieces of trash!"
Every word that ran from her tongue was an insult, even if it maintained some sense of normalcy to it. She spoke abuse after abuse which seemed to rile the entirety of the crowd. The form that was once the ringleader had shifted and transformed into that of Capella.
"Aren't your groins quaking? Trash. Filth. Insects. That's all you all are!" Capella turned towards one of the onlookers and extended her hand towards him. Her arm began stretching far beyond the arm of a natural human. The second it made contact with the man the entirety of the crowd was changed into a swarm of flies. The only ones left unaffected being myself, Sirius, Capella, and Tiga.
The hideous creatures began buzzing loudly as they darted around in a frenzy. Capella then changed her head into that of a dragon and blew black fire upwards scorching away the cloth of the tent. The flames burned away the tent swiftly and continued to burn even without anything to keep them alight. The flies began going in every direction imaginable as they dispersed into the now open air. A few moments later the crowd that once existed had vanished into the orange sky. A ring of black fire created an arena around us which prevented anyone else from getting closer.
"Ruined it. You. You. You. You ruined everything. All that work to affirm Love... Wasted… Ah… Ahhhhaaaa..."
Sirius's tone went cold as she unwrapped her chains from Tiga and turned back towards Capella who was admiring the swarm as it disappeared from view. Tiga now free ran away from the two noticing this I signaled to him and he ran over to me.
"Thank you! Thank you! I owe you my life."
"Yes. Yes. It's still unsafe here, but I just want to confirm one last time. You do have a divine protection right?"
"Yes, I do."
"Great, I don't have much mana left, but I have recovered a little so I'm going to throw you over the flames. Search for Prylla and Ireyne and tell them Deneb sent you. Let them know what's going on here too."
"Got it."
"Murak."
Reducing his weight enough to throw him I grabbed his arms and spun him around before letting go. He sailed through the air before landing gently on the other side of the black inferno unharmed. My mana was back in it's depleted state, however, I figured I wouldn't be needing it anyway.
"Gahahaah! Seeing you so enraged like this is truly gratifying! Only a useless meat like yourself could get so enraged over something like this!"
"I could keep burning and ripping away your flesh, but even that would never be enough!"
Sirius's chains were engulfed in a blinding fire as they raged against Capella. Capella had a dagger in each hand deflecting the chains, yet taking no care in personal injury. Each pass scorched her body, and shortly after the black charcoal skin would transform into normal skin. I knew getting in the middle of this meant death so I simply watched from the sidelines content with spectating while I let my mana recover.
Capella transformed her limbs into various animal parts as she fought off the fiery chains. Burn. Transform. Chopped off. Transform. It was certainly a never ending battle with no hope for a victor. I can't help but be captivated by the display of power between the two.
"Gahaha! This lovely lady will never die!"
"Burn! Burn! Burn! Just die already! Maggot! Fly! Loathsome Bug!"
"You're quite the hopeless meat. Noone will ever love you, you hideous insect!"
"Blazing! Boiling! Burning! Ahh… Ahaaahhh… My heart is trembling! This is Wrath!"
Sirius's attacks grew in ferocity and speed as she tore away Capella's flesh. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air as her blood splattered around the battle arena. No matter how many times Sirius landed something resembling the decisive blow, Capella would regenerate and begin the next assault.
"This lovely lady is tired of your pointless effort. Why can't you understand how hopeless this is? Gahaha! I know! It's because you're an insect incapable of thought! I wonder if you'd still attack me if I looked like your dear insect husband?"
"Don't… speak about dearest husband like that… Rage! Boiling Rage! DIE!"
Capella let out another loud laugh as her form shifted to Petelgeuse's which enraged Sirius as she screamed hate at her.
The neverending battle continued onwards.