"The wall has been breached, Guardians have been born anew, the Seven Seraphs have risen to rebel within the City, and you've managed to free the last Hunter," Cerin continued, his voice ragged. He gave a short, mirthless chuckle. "Congratulations, Clara- you've earned not only my respect, but my contempt. I dare say I detest you more than him at this point."
"It's over," she called out firmly, standing in the center of the trio of Guardians. "You've lost."
"And you think you've won?" he asked incredulously, emitting a sharp bark of laughter. "Until I'm dead, you haven't won anything."
In the blink of an eye, he lashed his hand out towards them. Bolts of arc energy sped away from his fingertips, finding their marks squarely in the chests of Sive and Mathias. Both were sent flying backwards, landing hard on the ground and rolling several times before coming to a stop. The Keeper groaned in pain, but the Hunter, still recovering from his time in the Nine's restraints, did not stir.
Cerin held his shimmering blade up to his eyes, inspecting it casually. "I'm going to put an end to this fantasy of yours once and for all. Once I've killed you, I'll finish what I set out to do so many years ago." His voice took on an unusually enthusiastic tone as he laid out his sadistic plans. "My father, all the Guardians who arose today, anyone who dares to defend the Light- I'll slaughter them all before I let it destroy us."
"Well, there's one major flaw with that plan," she growled.
"And what might that be?"
"You have to kill me first."
With a snarl, he charged at her and she responded in kind. When they were roughly two meters away, he yelled and swung the sword towards her midsection. Dropping to the ground, she slid forward and leaned back, barely avoiding being cut in half. He had seemingly expected such an evasion from her, and was already moving into another attack as he used his past momentum to arc the sword upwards and then back down on her as she slid by.
She rolled to the side, but could not escape being grazed by the weapon over her right bicep. She yelped as it cleaved through her armor and the metal of her arm effortlessly, leaving behind a sensation not unlike burning acid. Throwing herself backwards, she leapt out of his range and placed her hands flat against the ground as she landed, launching herself back and onto her feet once more in a combative stance, though her right arm shook involuntarily from the pain.
"Thrice now, you've escaped death at my hands," he hissed. "The Hunter saved you at the Iron Temple, you managed to cling to life on Felwinter peak, and my dear sister put her own life on the line for yours." He flourished his sword with a flick of his wrist. "There's no one left for you to hide behind."
His hands ignited into flame, and he began lobbing fire at her haphazardly. Ducking away, she dove behind an outcrop of debris for a moment- only to jump away again as Cerin continued his assault and blew her cover apart. From within the cover of the dust that he'd inadvertently thrown into the air, Clara pulled her bow off her back and let loose an arrow in one smooth movement.
Cerin howled loudly as her arrow sank deep into the meat of his upper chest, then looked at the wound with some level of incredulity that she'd managed to hit him. Facing her as the dust disappeared, he gave a bellow of rage and launched into his attack anew.
She rapidly backpedaled, attempting to slow him down with more arrows which he either deflected with his blade or sidestepped away from. Thinking quickly, she concentrated on infusing her next arrow with some of her own Light, and released it towards him. When he attempted to block the incoming projectile, its contact with his blade created an miniature explosion of void energy which stunned him and charred the front of his helmet and robes.
Reaching up to his head, Cerin grabbed the now cracked and blackened shell of his mask, and tore away pieces until the helmet broke apart and revealed his face underneath, his vision no longer obscured. His skin was marred with scars of ancient conflicts, and his hair hung low over his brow. His eyes were like his mother's from how Mathias had described them, a brilliant amber color that almost seemed to glow- except Clara was fairly confident that Scorch's had never been filled with the murderous bloodlust that she saw in his.
"ENOUGH!" he shouted, advancing quickly with tangible hatred in each footstep. Swinging his sword down, she positioned her hands on either side of the bow and raised it defensively to block him-
The blade tore through Le Monarque, severing it cleanly in two. Clara staggered backwards, then looked in disbelief at the two halves of her once beautiful weapon that she'd spent many hours intricately crafting.
"What now, Exo?" he taunted. "You stand alone- no weapon, no allies to call on for help …"
She looked back up at him, fury beginning to overtake all other emotions now. She lowered her hands to her sides, and let the Light take over as spectral blades appeared within them.
"I don't need help to kick your ass."
In a flurry of motion, she leapt into the air and twirled towards him with arms outstretched. He stepped back hastily, his demeanor changing as he realized the extent to which he'd provoked her.
Landing nimbly before him, she began to hack and slash at him from all directions. He did his best to counter her strikes, but she moved far too quickly for him to react in time to all of them. Soon, one of her ghostly void knives bit into his shoulder, and he instinctively twisted to throw her off. The movement only left his other side unguarded, and he found himself with another wound as Clara slipped the second knife between his ribs before retracting it.
The Guardian swiftly gained the upper hand, refusing to yield and leaving the Balance with no opportunity for respite. Eventually, his endurance would wane from fending off death by a thousand cuts, and she knew when that moment came that she'd be ready to end this monster once and-
In a turn of events, Cerin held the flat of his palm out right before her knife pierced his chest. The spectral blade went through his hand, breaking through the other side- but remained stuck. Clara had but a moment to register the fact when his hand blasted her with a wave of void energy and sent her reeling backwards.
He gave her no pause as he moved in again, both hands on the handle of his sword once more, and sliced upward across her torso. She felt the tip of his blade tear through her armor and body, humming and sizzling as it did so.
She was thrown backwards and onto the snow from the sheer force of the blow, and whimpered in pain from the all-encompassing stinging effect that followed. She craned her neck shakily to look at the wound, and found a deep laceration stretching diagonally from the bottom of her stomach up through her breast. She tried to move, and cried out from the agony that came with the attempt.
Clara shrieked as she felt a boot press down on her chest, aggravating her wounds and torturing her further. Cerin raised his sword high into the air like an executioner, and flashed her a cruel smile as he brought it down on her. She glared at him defiantly, opting to face her end head-on as it quickly approached-
BZZZTTT.
The sword's downward path was suddenly and instantly interrupted by a glowing blue staff held protectively over her. His smile quickly changed to an expression of outrage as he and Clara looked to its wielder.
Mathias' body crackled with electricity, arc energy radiating off him and the bladed-staff of Light he held firmly in defense of his protégé. Cerin bared his teeth, his eyes looking quite unhinged now.
"Come to save your apprentice? Or will you run away as you always do?"
"I'm done running," the Hunter said simply, his grip unwavering. His tone was low, but not malicious, and threw both Clara and Cerin for a loop. There was no trace of the fear that he'd shown before, his aversion to fighting his adoptive son … and the Balance's grip on his blade wavered.
Yanking the staff upward, Mathias pulled the sword's edge away from Clara, and kicked Cerin backwards. His nephew stumbled slightly, but quickly recovered and brought his weapon to bear. Stepping forward, the Hunter entered a series of combative aerobatics, dancing and twirling through the air around his opponent like a live current. He repeatedly dove in for a strike, only to be rebuffed and dart away again in a style of hit-and-run tactics.
Cerin, who was growing more fearful by the passing second, roared mightily as he pulled his arms back to his right side, generating a purple orb of pure void energy and allowing it to grow in his hands before launching it forward at Mathias. Bracing his feet against the icy ground, the Hunter began spinning his staff rapidly in a circular motion, passing the staff from one hand to the other, his wrists never leaving contact with one another.
He held it out defensively as the Nova bomb made contact, its essence stripped away and shredded down by the speed at which the staff spun, the arc energy reacting with the void in the form of lightning that shot away from the point of contact in every direction. When Mathias stopped spinning, he launched back into his artistic attacks once more.
Clara feebly tried to claw her way onto her hands and knees, the wound in her chest practically screaming in protest as she watched her mentor and foe combat each other. The two exchanged blows, each attempting to gain ground on the other- but neither made any progress. Each was far too evenly matched for any outcome other than a draw.
The Darkness's equal to the Traveler's chosen. The Stag and the Last Hunter … the dark and light perfectly balanced at last.
This was why she'd become a Guardian. She had to be the outlier, the outside help the Light needed to prevail. She just needed to … to get to her feet …
In his peripheral vision, Mathias saw her struggling to rise to no avail. The wound on her chest needed healing, but if her Ghost had any sense at all, it would stay hidden- there was no telling where the Nine might be, waiting to destroy their Ghosts as they had been proven to be quite capable of. Without her bow, there was nothing she could do to help.
He thought back to Cerin's threat, his promise to Clara; Once I've killed you, I'll finish what I set out to do so many years ago. My father, all the Guardians who arose today, anyone who dares to defend the Light- I'll slaughter them all before I let it destroy us.
He had no doubts that the Balance would make good on such a promise- he'd personally witnessed the end of one era of Guardians at his nephew's hand. He refused to let that happen to another.
There was no saving Cerin- he knew that now. Deep down, his nephew believed himself to be right- and that made him dangerous. He would never stop until either the Light was destroyed … or he was.
The Hunter furiously thought of a way to win, any way to win, as he and Cerin continued to make no headway against one another. In the centuries that had passed since the death of the Guardians, neither of them had ever been able to get an upper hand- not without outside intervention. Cerin had the Nine- he had Clara. But now, it seemed as though they would be left to deal with the other on their own, which left the two of them in a stalemate-
The answer came to him so quickly, so simply, that he was astonished he'd never considered it before. He'd always known there would be an outcome to this eternal feud between them- but he'd always pictured one of them walking away. Sometimes it was himself, most of the time it was Cerin- but now he saw the only path forward, the path that wasn't even really a path so much as it was simply an end.
He knew now what Cerin was. He was the Balance, yes- but he wasn't meant to prevent the scales of light and dark from tipping; the scales were meant to be destroyed altogether.
He backed away from Cerin, the latter watching him carefully as they both breathed heavily from exertion. Slowly, Mathias turned back to look at Clara, still trying to lift herself to one knee out of sheer determination. She fell back to the ground, and looked up at him. His sudden gaze caught her attention, and she tilted her head quizzically, likely wondering why he and Cerin had stopped fighting.
He stared into her electric blue eyes, focusing in on their color, then the white and silver plating of her face, not unlike someone close to him …
"Y-You … have t-to … run …" she gasped in pain, her grip around his hand tightening momentarily.
"I'm n-not going anywhere," he replied, rejecting the notion shaking his head vigorously. "I'm n-not abandoning you!"
"You're .. t-the last … Hunter," she continued, her strength fading. "Only … y-you can … can s-still … save …"
I know what I have to do. I'm coming, Ash.
Clara was bewildered with the way he held her gaze- but she could have sworn that his one working eye became a more vibrant green than she'd ever seen in it, as though new life had blossomed within it. She watched as he turned back to Cerin, the latter raising his sword once again, and then leapt at his nephew one final time. The staff came down as Cerin struck out with the blade, and-
Her mouth parted in shock. Cerin's face held an expression almost identical to her own.
She stared unblinkingly at the scene before her. Mathias stood strongly and calmly, impaled through his chest on the shimmering sword that the Balance wielded. Cerin evidently had expected his uncle to parry the attack as he had done so many times before- and instead, the Hunter had simply let himself be skewered.
It felt like the world had fallen silent- no longer could she hear the gunfire of battle outside the wall, the exploding ships in the air above the city, the hum of Mathias and Cerin's weapons clashing. The entire world, for a few moments, ceased to exist except for them.
"I love you, Cerin," Mathias said simply. "I always have. And I always will."
Reaching behind his nephew, the Hunter lifted his staff high, angled it vertically, and then thrust it downward and towards himself. A small gasp escaped Cerin's lips as the blade on its end pierced his back, passed through the other side and out his stomach, and then made similar progress through Mathias' body.
The sword dissipated into nothingness, Cerin's concentration broken. Now, the only thing keeping them together was the arc-staff connecting them. He looked down at it weakly, and then up into his uncle's eyes. For the first time, the Hunter saw a particular emotion cross the Balance's face- regret.
"I … I j-just wanted … to p-protect everyone …" Cerin stuttered, his strength fading fast. "It … it w-was … my destiny …"
"I know," Mathias reassured him. "I understand that now. It's okay."
His panicked worrying silenced, a relieved look replaced his previous features. Slowly, the amber dulled and ceased to glint …
Finally, the light left his eyes. Mathias gazed upon his nephew, the boy he'd taught to fight, played hide and seek with in the Tower, raised as his own son …
With a sigh, the arc-staff disappeared as he left his trance. With nothing left to hold either of them upright, he sank to his knees and Cerin's body fell limply to the frost below. He stayed there for a few seconds, grunting softly as red began to spread across the front of his hauberk.
Looking back at Clara, Mathias was able to give her a brief smile of contentment before he fell onto his back, left with a sight of the grey sky as a light snowfall descended.