This chapter, and most of next chapter is thanks to my chief editor Ace-Triad, who wrote all of the battle scene involving Zellus. And of course, also in charge of fixing my SPAG problems
Of course, also special thanks to PrettyLazy for allowing me to use both his plot idea, and his OC creations.
More author's note at the end for anyone interested to hear me blabber some more.
"Don't harm the Shield Hero and my disciple… much. The rest are fair game." The free fighters rush forward like the bunch of hoodlums they are. Farkas, who is obviously under mind control, charges from the opposite side.
A bad, no, terrible situation to be caught in the middle of. Especially after fighting through the undead dungeon without any rest afterwards. Even if no one is badly injured, the Shield Hero's companions and remnants of the Three Heroes' Church expedition aren't going to be able to fight at their best.
Naofumi didn't waste time crying foul. He immediately pivots on his feet and slams his shield into Farkas' face before the werewolf has any time to turn his head to swing his sword, or run past someone and bisect them through with his sword.
And since the giant wolfman can't use his arms, stopping him cold by ramming him in the face is the best way. Of course, stopping a prestige level werewolf fully armored, and charging at full speed head on is easier said than done. They might not pack as much force as a rampaging ox-man, but they are also much faster.
Even Naofumi stumbles on his feet when his shield meets the head of Farkas, and he is being pushed towards the free fighters, leaving his back fully exposed.
The companions and allies of Shield Hero brandish their weapons and meet the Melromarc free fighters head on. Not giving a step to let them reach the Shield Hero. The princess turned adventurer contemplates using her magic to stop Farkas. She doubts a [Hydro Sphere] is enough to full restrict the mind controlled werewolf. Using her fire magic is equally risky, as she might end up hurting Naofumi, or cast a spell not powerful enough to bring down Farkas.
Because an enraged Farkas is more than enough to kill her in one hit.
While she is still wasting time pondering how to help her Naofumi without putting herself in harm's way, a glass vial cuts through the stale air of the underground catacomb. It smashes and breaks right on Farkas' head, spilling foul liquid all over the giant wolfman, and Naofumi's shield.
"Come and get me! You, you stupid dog!" Raphtalia's legs are still shaking, her face is all scrunched up with pain. It's clear she hasn't yet recovered from Firo's little temper-filled stunt earlier, even if she didn't suffer any serious injury. Still, the ten years old raccoon dog girl screams on top of her lungs at Farkas, while waving and pumping her arms around to get the werewolf's attention.
Raphtalia isn't showing any fear at defending the Shield Hero, even when it puts her in mortal danger.
Chapter 64: Invincible
Farkas whips his head around and lets out a snarl at Raphtalia. Naofumi flings his arm forward, clearly trying to slap the werewolf with a [Shield Bash] and disorient him. But the werewolf has already broken off his engagement with the Shield Hero to chase after Raphtalia. Naofumi makes one last, useless effort at grasping Farkas' back as he cries out to his surrogate daughter. "NO! Come back here Raphtalia!"
Mein is also worried for Raphtalia. But she is still calm enough to observe their new battle with a wider perspective. "Behind you! Master Naofumi!"
Menlo, the bald headed bandit leader, has managed to squeeze his way through the fight between both sides, dodging under a swing from Naofumi's bodyguard and going straight for the Shield Hero himself!
"Let's finish our fight, yeah?" Before Yatsuhashi has any time to turn around and chase after Menlo, a shirtless man wearing a horned helmet charges towards the sworn shield. His beard flowing like a cape. Xepan the berserker is back for a second round with Yatsuhashi. "You aren't gonna have an easy win this time!"
The Shield Hero manages to just turn around to face the criminal. He holds his shield in front, but the much more nimble free fighter manages to slip a punch through his guard. With a loud BANG, the Shield Hero doubles over and coughs blood.
Menlo didn't escape harm either. A short bolt without fletching buries itself right into Menlo's arm right before his punch connects with Naofumi's body. The bold criminal lets out an angered roar. "Moda! Take care of their archers, you useless boy!"
[Hydro Sphere!] Mein doesn't give Menlo any more chances to harm the Shield Hero. With a fling of her fingers, a giant glob of water comes into form right around Menlo the Butcher. The princess bushes forward with her open hand, and her water blob throws the criminal away into the far wall, temporarily gaining some distance between them.
"Lugo. Get my foolish disciple before she makes a bigger mess." Uncle Aldrecht's voice isn't exactly loud. But his words still manage to carry themselves through the angry cursing and shouting of the battlefield and into her ears.
"You got it, boss!" The princess turns around just in time to see a man in his early to mid thirties dashing right at her. Under his dirty blonde hair tied into a ponytail behind him is a gaunt face and thin lips. It lacks any trace of old blue-blooded nobility, and only makes him look more like a cruel and vicious animal.
Before Mein has a chance to react, Lugo is already upon her. For a second, the princess wonders if this is also someone who is an expert at hand to hand combat as she didn't see any weapon on the former bandit. But then, Lugo's balled up fist opens up into claws, and Mein sees his long, sharp nails glittering like that of metal.
The bandit has metal nails over his fingers like a pair of claws!
Mein's realization comes too late. Lugo's nails sink into her thigh deep enough to reach bone, making her topple over with a cry of pain. The former bandit grabs her with his hands, and slips a pair of metal cuffs over her wrists. He jokes with a smirk. "Don't worry, princess. I got you."
The princess jerks her arms, trying to break free of Lugo's hold more out of instinct than any planned action. But the sharp pain in her leg quickly put a stop to it. That's when she feels her inner magic being shackled, like the metal rods tightly digging into her flesh. Of course, uncle Aldrecht would have brought magic suppression shackles with him. Especially after she showed him the founder's grimoire, and told him she was studying it.
Unable to do anything physical, or with her magic. The princess can only watch as Lugo slowly carries her back, away from where the fighting takes place.
Kyubey's small crossbow laying a few steps away from her on the ground. The rabbit demi-human himself is currently fighting a man in his early to mid thirties. The most striking thing about his opponent is the man's long, black hair pointing straight forward from his face like the needles on the back of a porcupine monster.
The second most eye-catching thing is his attire. Instead of metal, or leather armor the man wears a suit of leather jacket that's supposedly popular amongst Faubley's nouveau riche. This must be 'Moda' the bold former bandit leader was calling out to.
Moda is fighting Kyubey's rapier with much shorter knives, and judging from his weapon of choice the man is clearly a rogue. More likely a thief than a bandit. The way he holds his knives is unusual - instead of holding them in a tight grip crossing his thumb and the rest of his fingers, he clasps the hilt of his knives between each of his fingers almost like he is using a pair of claws.
For a short while, Mein wonders why the rogue doesn't simply use a pair of claws and saves himself the trouble. Even if it's some kind of modified claw unique to him like Lugo's metal nails, it should have been much easier to wield and give him a more firm grip than how he uses his knives. But then the rogue answers her unasked question by throwing one of his knives at Kyubey when the rabbit-man tries to press advantage using the extra length of his rapier.
Moda's weapon reminds the princess of the dagger she got under the incessant advice of the Smith Demon. She lost her sword when Lugo wounded her, and she can't use her magic with the mana suppression cuffs firmly around her wrists. But she can still break through his hold and wound him if she manages to grab her hidden dagger.
Easier said than done, of course. Especially with the pain on her thigh. She isn't likely going to succeed at freeing herself, unless Lugo is distracted.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH~!" Over by the far side, Richard holds his halberd up like a spear as he charges at Menlo, who is still crumbled but slowly getting back to his feet. Now, here is a smart man even though he was born as a humble commoner: takes down an opponent much stronger than him when said opponent is down and can't properly defend himself.
Not putting himself in the most harm's way, but still doing his best to contribute to the battle if (or rather, when) he takes out Menlo. Considering the bold free fighter was able to seriously harm the Shield Hero through his armor with bare hand, Menlo either had his class up or has prestige level ATK.
The former bandit holds his arms up towards Richard. A pair of bear claws suddenly pops out both of his gauntlets, and they shoot out towards the common born templar like six bolts fired from a strong crossbow. Richard, despite his charge, manages to twist his halberd enough just in time. The axe head manages to act as a makeshift shield to the templar, deflecting Menlo's needle bolts.
Richard waves his halberd, trying to turn his unprepared parry into a slash aimed at Menlo's head. But he's already too late, the seconds Menlo's shooting bear claws brought the bandit enough time to go back to his feet. All the bold criminal has to do is to use his agility displayed at getting past Yatsuhashi to ram into Richard and kill the younger fighter. The templar's much longer, heavier and less well-balanced weapon in this situation loses its length advantage, and makes him much more sluggish than Menlo.
But then… Menlo tripped on his foot. Mein notices the slimy liquid that seems to reflect the dim magical torch light underneath Menlo's feet, and now drenching his body.
Naofumi's failed hair care potion that's mostly carried around by Raphtalia… used by her as both stink bomb, and grease to trip people over. The princess doesn't know the puddle underneath Menlo is the same one Raphtalia used against Eclair's father, Farkas, or from a different vial that simply shattered or spilled on the floor when she fell down twice. But it's enough to save Richard in this situation.
With a wet gush, Menlo's head flies off his body. In his last moment, the former bandit leader's usually narrow eyes are protruding with surprise. He clearly never expected to die such a shameful death against someone like Richard.
The princess turns her head to look at uncle Aldrecht's. The face of the old battle mage a mask of perfect calm despite the suddenly losing one of, if not his best fighter under vice-captain Zellus and himself. It doesn't take Mein too much time to figure out why.
There's more than one reason on why the free fighters he brought along are convicted criminals under slavery seals. These guys can be forced to keep a secret under the punishment mechanic, true. But Uncle Aldrecht is also using the Shield Hero and his Three Heroes' Church allies to thin down the number of these enslaved criminals.
The church is the organization that maintain the slave seals. If uncle Aldrecht honestly believe the Three Heroes Church and Pope Balmus he himself is plotting to undermine, or flat out betray the crown (The princess is willing to believe him based on her previous experience with uncle Aldrecht… and the Pope), who's to say they won't alter the command and punishment setting to have the enslaved criminal free fighters act as sleeper agents right beside the crown?
These criminals certainly didn't have any loyalty towards her father, or mother.
"My - uhm, Mein!" The princess turns around and sees the Seaetto heiress calling out to her, clearly concerned about her safety. The knight's longsword drawn, running to her aid. Lucatiel tries to follow her charge, but she is intercepted by half a dozen free fighters, all hacking at her with their weapons at the same time.
Clearly, the former bandits know a knight of Silver Hand isn't to be underestimated, and they decided to gang up on the undead paladin.
But just as Eclair was about to rush towards her sworn lady's side, she found herself having her blade intercepted by Zellus. With a grin on his face, Zellus waves at Eclair. "Mind if I cut in?"
"Zellus", Eclair spat, "the Sword Demon of Zeltbole colosseum. What business do you have with my family heirloom? What greater purpose could His Majesty want with it?"
"Well, are you going to talk my ears off about duty and honor like old Loth? Fine, do it your way." Zellus chuckles as his free right hand stops picking his ear, "I do enjoy a good fight every now and then. But it's not like an honor-bound knight would understand a warrior's true way of fighting."
A push kick sent Eclair skidding back.
The sound of a katana slowly unsheathed itself once more. And upon closer inspection, it was unlike anything the princess had ever seen before.
In sharp contrast to that Schnee brat's Myrtenaster, Zellus brandished a Q'Ten Lo katana that glowed a deep crimson, as if it was forged with the blood of his enemies. She faintly made out the some symbols etched on the blade's surface. She squints her eyes, struggling to see it properly with her squinted eyes due to the distance and awkward position when she's held down by Lugo.
The princess quick gives up trying to murder her own sights, when she realizes it was drawn with the same doodle-like symbols of the raccoon dog people. No doubt, their own pale imitation of the language used by most summoned heroes to elevate their own status.
Confound this backwards language, with their awkward pronunciations and their pathetic excuse of the written word! They might as well be stick drawings found in caves, compared to the elegant sophistication of the common Melromarcian tongue!
But what fascinated her was the customized, Faubley-inspired obsidian scabbard he wore on his waist. Dark black, with a crossbow's string and trigger close to the katana's sword's guard, that connected to vials of compressed wind attached to the end of the scabbard, where leather and wood met a steel point, not unlike Weiss' vials and stoppers.
If Mein had to guess, this monstrous blade was forged from Zellus' sellsword wages. Especially if he was tasked with the state's assassination affairs. Mother had her Shadows, and father had his own agents carrying out the less savory tasks.
However, Mein observed that Zellus carried a multitude of blades on his person, and concluded that for all his supposed skill, he must be holding back his full power.
"Lady Seaetto," came a noble, determined voice. "Allow me to fight alongside you."
It was that Pyrrha Nikos girl, who assisted their party during the battle with Death Knight Uther. But why would a clergywoman, let alone a templar of the church, of all people, offer herself up to fight alongside the Seaetto heir?
"This is my fight, Sister Pyrrha," Eclair protested. "Why must you interfere with him specifically?"
"I swore an oath to the Church to always lend a hand to those in need," Pyrrha stoically replied. "When Master Aldrecht chooses to sanction immoral acts and reinforces himself with criminal scum and hardened killers, I refuse to allow dangerous artifacts to be left in his unsavory hands."
"Moreover, this man is from Zeltoble, like I am. You may need help from someone with plenty of experience, who also shares a common history, skillset and blood," Pyrrha reassured her with a smile.
Having a skilled ally, even though Lucatiel wasn't present, was probably a sigh of relief to Eclair. Though Lucatiel's loyalty is unwavering and her skills ferocious, the risk of seeing her loyal knight fall a second time would prove too devastating, especially when she was unfamiliar with her mentor's true power. After all, she did die already, so having the life of a loyal warrior safely preserved, no matter how rabid of a dog she was, was still beneficial to Eclair's faculties in the long run."
"You have my thanks, Sister Pyrrha," Eclair nodded. "To think I'd fight side by side with a Templar against a common foe, a member of Her Majesty's royal guards…"
"How about a friend?"
"Aye, Sister. I can do that."
"I'd hate to break the pleasantries," Zellus interjected, "but can we save the pillow talk for later? I mean, we're here to duel. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with dalliances between beautiful women, but if you're not willing to cease wasting time and die a warrior's death by my sword, I'd be more than content to sit back and have the Pope prepare the hangman's noose on your necks for treason and homosexual depravities. Especially rich coming from a templar of the faith. Isn't that right, 'Invincible Girl?'"
Eclair glared at Zellus, while Mein blushed in her cheeks. Why on Medea did Zellus have to make such insensitive, baseless accusations!? Or him hypocritically admitting to a fetish himself?
"Tell me," Eclair asked, her eyes furious at Zellus' presence, "Are you so desperate for coin that the Sword Demon would secure my family's artifact?"
"Me? Oh, just … sharpening my skills …
Pyrrha stared at him as he walked back and forth.
"Wandering the lands …"
Eclair glared at him as he twirled his blade around like a mere plaything.
"dispensing bloodshed …"
They remained angry, or unimpressed - they were in the presence of a bloodthirsty, remorseless psychopath hiding under the veneer of a skilled fencer, and logical soldier - even if he was amoral enough to go rogue and accompany Aldrecht, let alone carry Father's missions to dispose of certain targets.
"all in the name of a fight."
Pyrrha rolled her eyes at Zellus' base statement.
"Is that all to it? You and I both hail from the Zeltoble Colosseum. Is all your life dedicated to wanton slaughter and primal bloodthirst?" Pyrrha retorted. "At least as a warrior of the faith, I choose to put my skill in service of the flock it protects. As opposed to a fallen knight who is a slave to the unjust, squandering his life to a lord ordering men to sin in the name of wealth and power," Pyrrha explained, attempting to talk about the distinction between the two of them.
"Oh? So we're talking about destiny now?" Zellus laughs while shrugging his shoulders and extending his arms out. Leaving his blade pointing wide from his opponent and his body wide open for attack. It's clear he doesn't take this fight very seriously. "Tell me again why it is that a wandering swordsman like mineself feels more free in life than a champion who places her fate in the Gods? Have you predetermined your life to always be at the beck and call of the Pope? Isn't that something you should escape from?"
"When I think of destiny, I don't think of a predetermined fate you can't escape. But rather... some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life. But now, between the three of us, I'm not quite sure. With this fight, I am planning on letting the chips fall where they may."
"I speak of ideals," Zellus countered. "That there may be a high'r purpose than merely following orders."
"Excuse me?" Eclair countered. "What higher purpose is there for you than slaughtering everyone standing before you?"
"Forget it," Zellus dismissed with a wave of his free hand. Mein's ex-mentor casually snarked with that trademark grin on his face. "We've both hath heard enow speeches about high'r causes by anon,"
"We men live in the moment. Let future scholars fuss over who is in the right."
The air grew tense between them - juxtaposed against the bloodthirsty warriors and the struggling cries of the Shield Hero's party and the Church templars. She couldn't bear to see her old fencing teacher get hurt, and while she could argue Pyrrha was an expendable pawn, Eclair still proved loyal to her, and therefore invaluable for her wider ambitions.
And if Eclair was outmatched, having her die in front of her left her with few supportive assets to challenge Mother for the throne when the long-term plan for playing The Game unraveled itself.
"Zellus, cease this immediately!" Mein called out. "There is no value, no meaning in fighting these inferior warriors! The outcome has been predetermined!"
"Can it, lassie!" Lugo retorted, his metal nails digging ever so slightly into Mein's shoulder. Not enough to draw blood or cause real pain, but enough discomfort as a sign of warning. "The boss man ordered me to keep you still, for his sake. I think you'll make a fine ransom, won't you agree?"
"This be b'tween us," Zellus insisted. "I aim to perfect the art of the sword, no matter the challenger. I'm sure that once you accept a challenge, you commit til' the very end. You all would do well to remember this lesson the moment you took to practicing the blade, my old trainee," her old mentor called back, sealing his intent with a wink in his eye - which meant that he knew all too well who Mein really was and what she was here for.
"I'll be alright," Eclair reassured. "I can't let this man disrespect my family's hard earned work, nor your kindness that you and the Shield Hero showed me on our journey here. Securing the heirloom, no matter how ill-gotten the gains, was part of the reason why I chose to join you on your treacherous quest. I owe it to all of you, even if it means my death for your sake."
You utter fool!
Mein mentally screamed as her face paled in terror. She was willing to throw away her life out of honor and chivalry against her better judgment! Did she not realize that she was an important pawn in The Game and that her life was paramount!? And here she thought Eclair had gotten wiser to the intricacies of The Game!
But it was too late - the stage was set. Two pairs of eyes narrowed at a relaxed, almost bored man who was itching to fight, and slaughter.
"Let's dance!"
The air was tense. The two warrior women had conviction alright, but they had barely met and none of them had a predetermined plan. To top it all off, Zellus posed a greater threat than they had expected. Someone had to make the first strike, and then the other would follow in the other's footsteps. Wearing him down by unleashing everything they had in gradual moments, was the best course of action.
Pyrrha nodded to Eclair, as she implicitly offered to make the first blow.
This was it. There was no turning back. It had to be now, or never.
Pyrrha ran forward, angled her wrist, and proceeded to swing her blade.
With her sword Milo at hand, Pyrrha slashed to her mid right, then mid left, then quickly blocked Zellus' strike with her shield, Akouo.
Spinning to her left, a kick forced Zellus back a step, where Pyrrha proceeded to lunge, all while Zellus guarded without much movement at first.
Pushing her shield forward to create some distance, Pyrrha then spun to her right with a slash, then again, into a low sweep, which forced Zellus up. Twirling her blade, Pyrrha then lunged straight for Zellus' head …
… only for it to be parried by the high stance of the vice-captain's crimson blade.
"Well then, shalt we break the ice? How about we get started?"
Now it was Zellus' turn.
First, he broke free of the locked blade by leveraging his strength.
Next, he swung low to his left with a [Cross Cut], followed by swinging with the right hand in the second move, [Side Swipe]. A front kick shoved Pyrrha behind her shield, before he placed the off-hand on the dull edge of the blade with the follow-up move - a relatively tame combo.
Zellus closed the distance, with a two-handed high swing that Pyrrha backflipped away from, followed by a basic overhead that forced Pyrrha's thrusting blade down, before seamlessly transitioning to a mid-to low swing to the right that forced Pyrrha back a bit.
Pyrrha tried to swing the edge of the shield to her right at Zellus' head, but he gracefully ducked into a low stance, spun into his left, and fired off the sheath into a low, sweeping strike that forced Pyrrha to jump up, with Zellus leaping up in a high slash in hot pursuit.
"[Sky Fang]".
What!? Zellus was starting to use projectile based skills already!?
A crescent shaped slice of air headed down Pyrrha's shield, pushing down against her shield as she shoved the air away, while safely landing on her feet.
Zellus then landed with an overhead chop, forcing her to roll to her right, before Zellus smacked her against the shield with a spinning one-handed swing into the right.
Zellus immediately ran towards her position, as she shoved the opposing katana thrust upwards with the angle of her shield, forcing Zellus to defend against her counter-lunge with his left wrist, sparing a head injury.
Wresting himself free from the deadlock, Zellus freed his arm, then clasped both hands on the hilt, before attempting to butt Pyrrha with the head with it, before forcing her away with a two-handed slash to the left.
Pyrrha tried to return forward, swiping to her right with the blade, then the left, before forcing Zellus to arch herself back with an upwards thrust towards his face, before twirling her blade into a reverse grip and attempting a downwards stab. A spinning right swipe with the shield, then another spin into a rear hook kick that was blocked by the katana, before she changed directions into a spinning left slash, then another twirl of the blade into another attempted thrust.
However, this did little to break Zellus' tightly guarded defenses, nor his posture. For a swordsmanship teacher now fully revealing his bloodthirsty nature.
Zellus swung one-handed to his lower left, then back to the upper right, before sheathing the blade into a high stance, and firing off a draw of the sword.
Zellus continued to press the assault as he proceeded to use a reverse grip in an upper right slash, before reversing direction into an upper left slash. [Linne J.A. to Linne J.B.] With the blade still in a high stance, he proceeded to swing to a lower right, before using the momentum to spin to his right and -
"[Wide Cut]".
Zellus fired off the quickdraw, which Pyrrha struggled against as she tried to push forward over the swing with the shield.
However, Pyrrha immediately proceeded to ram Zellus away with brute force using her shield, forcing Zellus to backstep a few times…
…before attempting a quick lunge, one that Zellus quickly fended off by deflecting the point of the blade at the left.
Lowering her blade, she proceeded to flow with the momentum, before having the rim of the shield clash against the sharp edge of her blade through the spin, before leading into a spinning rear high kick that forced Zellus to lean back, creating some distance between the two.
There was a brief lull in the fighting as both fighters sized each other up. Pyrrha executed short and swift combos without a single word spoken nor special skill used. And yet, her timing was disgustingly precise, and her pace aggressive.
Zellus, on the other hand, executed simple swings and combo strings with perfect precision and seamless transition between each. And while they were all at the end of the day, the same repeated kinds of motions, how fast each swing was, and varied the patterns executed were paramount to victory.
Running again, Pyrrha held out her shield to deflect Zellus' chop, before spinning to her right to slash again. The third time, she opted for a high slash, before blocking the follow-up swing with her shield, and landing another spinning back kick to Zellus' chest.
Sliding under Zellus' mid to low slash, she spun around and launched in a high slash, then a quick down slash, followed by a tight left, before blocking into a spin, before continuing another thrust aimed at Zellus' midsection.
The speed was staggering - Pyrrha was somehow able to attempt a thrust in close proximity with a sword … wait, was that a spear?
How did Pyrrha ever engineer her sword to extend from sword to spear within fractions of a second?
Well, now that she thought about it, Pyrrha was a champion of the Zeltoble Colosseum. The ingenuity of her weapon could be chalked up to Faubley influence during one of their visits.
A couple of spear jabs later, the weapon seamlessly spun forwards, slashing at Zellus as it shortened back into a sword shape, before bringing up her shield up to bear, allowing her to slash to her lower left, then a sharp upper right, sharp lower left, before twirling the sword again to thrust at Zellus' torso.
The sword extended post thrust, forcing Zellus to roll over the shaft of the spear, while Pyrrha transformed her weapon again and fired in Zellus' direction, slowing his advance.
Once Zellus was close enough, Pyrrha proceeded to land a high knee, forcing Zellus to backflip, as he retaliated with a slash of pressurized air to slam against Pyrrha's shield. Zellus then swung horizontally in Pyrrha's direction, forcing the templar to duck under the swing.
With a flick of the wrist, Pyrrha met Zellus' blade, then twirled again. Spinning gracefully as she twirled into a high stance, she blocked the blade before swiping right, then seamlessly transitioning to a reverse gripped upper slash, before finally slashing down to force the vice-captain back.
Zellus wasn't exactly undeterred in the slightest. He responded with one-handed swings to the left, right, then by slapping his sword back in the sheath, before firing off the trigger, quickdrawing to the upper right, and slashing at Pyrrha again to the lower left.
After another few slashes, Pyrrha simply spun to her left to parry with her own sword swing, leading into a spinning back kick that deflected Zellus' crimson katana at an angle away from her person.
With Milo in sword mode, Pyrrha continued her charge, slashing mid-right, then left in repeated motions, forcing Zellus on the defensive. Sensing an opening, Zellus countered with a horizontal swing aimed at her neck, only for Pyrrha to quickly bring her shield, Akouo, to bear and block the attack.
Zellus then leapt up, and proceeded to unleash a wide diagonal quickdraw, before using the momentum to quickdraw again to
Pyrrha merely rolled to the side, before she raised herself back up, spun her sword and apparently fired off a few shots from her wonder-weapon.
Mein squinted as she made a mental note as to how it was possible for swordsmiths to create a triple-changing weapon that could even fire projectiles, as she was stunned by this subtle jugglery.
Zellus, with his blade now sheathed, swung the whole sheath back and forth, before quickly drawing the blade out with the trigger pull, swinging the blade up and down, before a powerful quickdraw forced Pyrrha away.
Zellus dashed forward, then performed a vertical upper slash, before stepping to his left. An upper right slash, then an upper left slash, then a high guard into an upper slash, before spinning to his left for a lunging thrust that sent Pyrrha back behind her shield.
Repeated use of these more basic combos frustrated Pyrrha as she became too familiar to their basic pattern …
… until after a routine block, there was an opening in her defense, and her forehead found itself on the receiving end of the katana's hilt smacking her through the circlet, before the following upper quickdraw sent her sprawling on the ground, narrowly avoiding a scratch on her flesh thanks to reflexes forcing her to use her shield.
Furious, Pyrrha charged in like a stampeding bull, with the intent of amplifying her slash patterns and give Zellus little time to breathe.
Just as Pyrrha was about to close the distance, Zellus countered her sword thrust by butting her head with the hilt of his katana, before spinning to his right …
"[Jaw Breaker]".
And with a spinning hook kick, Pyrrha was knocked backwards.
However, Eclair wasted no time as she aimed for a horizontal slash, charging immediately at Zellus…
… only for him to quickly retract his foot and duck backwards.
Again, and again, and again were those aggressive swipes handily dodged by Zellus just by ducking and taking side steps out of the direction of her blade.
A swipe from Zellus' gauntlet into Eclair's head, briefly stunned the hedge knight, but she proceeded to spin to her left, twirls her blade for a downwards chop.
Zellus' backflip saved him from getting cut or having sizable debris stunning him away. However, Eclair proceeded to replicate Cute's overhead chop from the other fight, possibly forcing Zellus' instinct to take over and tricking himself to stay on his toes.
The one flaw with that strategy, however, was that once Eclair's blade hit the ground, she was now left vulnerable.
Zellus countered with a slash across Eclair's armored torso, knocking her backwards.
An lower right slash, a lower left slash, Zellus then slapped the hilt of the red katana into the sheath and fired it off into a quickdraw for an upper right draw, before slashing to his lower left again, kicking his foe away and turning around to kneel and re-sheathe his blade.
Zellus' following two handed thrust was narrowly deflected, as Eclair leveraged the angle to the side, before Zellus shoved her back, creating enough space to spin to his right, and unleash a mighty quickdraw that forced Eclair away even further.
A left, right, then a spinning hook kick was what he tried again, when Eclair simply ducked underneath the vice-captain's kicking leg and shoved him aside.
"[Reverse Cross]".
Swinging to his left, then resheathing the blade to his right for a spinning right quickdraw, Zellus parried Eclair's follow-up swing.
Mein was outright shocked at how efficient Zellus was even in the most basic and arguably the most telegraphed of combos he had in his arsenal. Not a moment was wasted in each successive swing, with nary a trace of wasted energy in performing the next move in sequence.
Eclair steadied her gaze and grip of her longsword, as Zellus turned his attention towards her next. Mein could only cringe in terror for her loyal supporter's health.
But if Eclair was anything, she was stubborn to a fault.
Eclair aggressively swung to her lower left, then towards Zellus' face at the upper right, followed by a series of aggressive the before locking blades and leaning forward.
Mein gritted her teeth as Eclair failed to understand that she was foolishly using the same kind of style she employed against Weiss Schnee, but this time on Zellus.
No, you fool! That kind of aggression may work on a brat like Schnee, but this is (U)Zellus(U) we're talking about! He knows exactly what kind of style you're trying to use and can parry all your strikes until he retaliates!
Zellus simply smiled.
Gradually forcing the longsword away with his superior strength and leverage, Zellus elbowed Eclair in the head and broke them apart.
Eclair continued to press her assault, using a Djem-So one-handed slash to her right, then closing in for eight short strikes just to keep Zellus on the backfoot.
These aggressive swings were unfortunately, well guarded - not once were they easy to land a significant blow against a master who incorporated by all rights, telegraphed spinning draws and swings of the katana. Not too much flair was used
Zellus unleashed another basic combo - first swinging the sheathed Murasama to his right, then back to the left, then quickly drawing the blade out, knocking Eclair back as she kept her blade at mid and high guard.
"Oh don't tell me that's all you've got!" Zellus teased. "You can't even handle a basic combo!"
Immediately, Eclair unleashed a high strike, matching blow for blow the weighted strikes from the Midgardian broadsword, sending it down on the floor. Twirling her blade, Eclair lunged against a narrow parry from the crimson katana before forcing her back.
It became apparent that Eclair's arsenal of aggressive swordplay was proving ineffective against a seasonal master. Some of her moves that she used against the flashy Weiss was handily defended against this time around.
Eclair proceeded to even attempt one-handed sword skills, starting by thrusting forward, though Zellus smiled as he easily ducked. Then two left swings handily backstepped. Finally, Zellus parried the third left swing before Eclair spun to her right, switched grips, and attempted another thrust, easily blocked by Zellus' guard.
Breaking apart their deadlock, Zellus utilized a traditional Aldori- style overhead swing, spinning to his left before slamming the katana blade down, only stopped by the high parry of Eclair's blade. Spinning around, Eclair attempted to use a multitude of feints, with sword thrusted through reverse grip, though Zellus followed with a close guard, and a backstep.
It was plain as day that Eclair was trying to copy the more attainable parts of Weiss' one-handed fencing style, compensating for the added weight and reach with muscle fatigue and willpower alone.
Eclair wasn't done - she tried again, using a one - handed swing towards his head, then spun around even higher, forcing Zellus back another step, before spinning with her back facing her foe, blocking Zellus' counterswing with her sword behind her back.
Leveraging the deadlock away, Eclair promptly spun and slashed to her left, this time trying to spin around into lunging thrusts in an attempt to fight even closer. If Zellus would parry - then she would try again and again by spinning backwards and into the other direction. Unfortunately, Zellus ducked under the last swing, proceeded to spin and swing again - leaving an opening for Eclair to land a haymaker after she recovered from the dodged caused by Zellus' said spinning swing.
Until he proceeded to catch her fist, lock their blades together, and force Eclair back, her sabatons dragging across the ground.
"Did you really think you can try and counter the Aldori style with some feeble swings, or use the exact same moves against me?" Zellus smirked.
Eclair kicked his leg away, before leaping over him and attempting a slash upwards of her position. Unfortunately that was blocked, with Zellus' blade in reverse grip, behind his back.
As Eclair went in for a lunging charge, Zellus simply held his sword downwards, intercepted the blade, then spun around to his right, and elbowed Eclair at the back of the head, disrupting her balance and almost causing her to trip and fall.
Mein cringed because it was absurd how an experienced warrior such as herself would fall to such a petty trick by a jokester who by all accounts, wouldn't take himself too seriously.
Zellus, never being one to let an opportunity go to waste, rushed forward for an overhead swing, which was barely blocked by Eclair's left gauntlet, before he backstepped from the wild swing from the hedge knight.
And the following set of combos were relentless - a left swing, a right swing, a quickdraw, two more one-handed swings, before finally spinning to his right and executing a wide quickdraw.
The energy of the wind from just Zellus standing and rapidly unsheathing his blade kept her at fixed distances. Low, crescent-shaped blades of air howling towards her were quickly dispelled, trapping her on the same spot as Zellus ran forwards and advanced on her position.
"[Piercing Winds]."
Eclair grunted as the sheer speed and force of the thrust forced her vertical high guard back, the sound of sparks screaming close to her ears, as she had to move back a few steps.
And just like that, Zellus was on her again. He first thrusted, then swung to his right, and then to his left. Spinning from that right slash, he created a massive gust of wind swinging to the right.
While Zellus appeared even slower than before with the use of heavier swings, the sheer force behind them made it hard for Eclair to defend against - even though she could easily telegraph and/or anticipate the movements.
"Please don't tell me that's all you've got," Zellus moaned. "That was even slower than last time!"
So instead, Eclair opted to backstep away from the reach and force of the next set of swings Zellus readied towards her. A massive upper slash, leading into a leaping overhead chop. Eclair then had to duck from a massive slash to Zellus' upper right, preventing her from closing in.
Mein cringed as Eclair was having trouble with what should be all accounts, an easy to parry combo.
Eclair rushed forward, hoping to catch Zellus' head with a spinning swing. If not, then the lunging thrust aimed at his chest. And her foe simply backstepped out of the way.
As Eclair spun, so did Zellus in the other direction, each using one-handed swings to lock blades. Then Eclair twirled her blade and aimed for Zellus' head again, as the latter simply bent backwards, gracefully deflecting the blow.
Eclair kept pounding and pounding, still desperately trying to find an opening, a weakness in Zellus' defense. One strike, then two, followed by a telegraphed twirl that led into an attempted lunge towards the man, who simply leaned to his left and guarded against it.
"Djem So won't save you if you can't learn how to conduct your humors," Zellus taunted.
Again, Eclair swung, left, right, and into another spinning slash with one-hand.
It was so monotomous and boring - against a flashy, cocky opponent, Eclair was in her element, able to keep up with her slower style. Here, Zellus looked bored. A high thrust was brought down to the ground by Zellus' blade, before smacking Eclair in the head with his free hand.
Eclair, running out of options, decided to close in with another string of combined movements, desperately hoping that she would be able to hit something against him.
When Zellus appeared to be stunned after so many swings, she now saw her opportunity.
Eclair proceeded to move forward, in the hopes that Zellus would at least try to parry her blow.
However, in a split second, the point of his sword quickly found itself aimed towards her eyes, forcing Eclair to quickly arrest her movement and backstep away from the crimson blade.
"How about I teach you what it feels like to truly appreciate the sword, and the different arts as to how they be performed?" For a brief moment, Zellus grins more like a wolf than Farkas ever did.
This time, the vice-captain was on the offensive.
Zellus first started with a charging slash, going into a high stance at the last second, before unleashing a powerful quickdraw with the augmented sheath.
Then Eclair easily defended against the first of his repeated, basic combos - a left slash, then to the right, then another spinning high quickdraw, before slashing high. Each move, Eclair parried to the fullest.
What she didn't anticipate next, was the seamless transition into a sword skill.
"[Wolf Howl]".
First, Zellus made a massive upper swing to the left. Then, he changed hands and swung to the upper right, before landing a massive overhead slash that disoriented Eclair.
A charging quickdraw then led into a [Tailwind], where a basic left, right, quickdraw combo was quickly followed up with a front kick, before a second quickdraw, and one more slash finished the combo.
Undeterred, Eclair would have none of it as she charged in forward, hoping to catch Zellus with a series of wide swings and then a lunging thrust.
Zellus quickly locked blades with Eclair, before shoving her aside with his shoulder, spinning once more for a horizontal swing …
… until suddenly, the blade found itself thrust dangerously close to Eclair's eyes, thanks to Zellus' reverse grip. This forced Eclair to awkwardly bend back out of survival instinct.
And then it proceeded to squash Eclair onto the ground.
However, the sound of clacking heels made itself heard when Pyrrha rushed forwards, taking advantage of the opportunity
Pyrrha charged forward with the shield, then spun to her right with an upper right slash with Milo, then again with an upper right slash. The third time, after the upper right slash, she blocked a blow with her shield, finally finishing off with a back left roundhouse into her foe's head.
Pyrrha spun around, with the sword form of Milo extended into a spear, spinning alongside Pyrrha's neck …
Suddenly, the rim of a bronze shield proceeded to hit Zellus in the head, before flying back up in the air, ready to be retrieved by Pyrrha's person.
This was Pyrrha's chance - now that Zellus was staggered, she could close in and press the advantage. She had to be quick, for this was her only chance …
… had Zellus not deflected the blade upwards, both palms pressed firmly on his blade.
Pyrrha would not be deterred, promptly lifting her sword away and using the momentum to twirl the sword while blocking Zellus' attack with her shield, then transforming the sword into its spear form and then slashing with every subsequent twirl and spin, before finishing off with a sharp downwards slash, followed by a lunging thrust.
Yet it was still not enough - Zellus continued to keep up with Pyrrha's movements.
Pyrrha proceeded to angrily swing Milo in a short overhead chop, then the right, and left before attempting to dash forward and perform a backswing to her right. Since Zellus would certainly parry or block her assault, then she would have to keep trying, even after Zellus was now lifted into the air.
Pyrrha leapt upwards, as she attempted to close in. An upper right swing, followed by a lower left swing, then another to the right would surely leave Zellus vulnerable.
"[Deadly Peak]".
Zellus held her off with a leaping, somersaulting overhead chop, accurately parrying and fending off Pyrrha's leaping assault.
However, Pyrrha refused to give up. Transforming Milo into spear mode, she quickly wrapped its shaft around Zellus' neck, hoping to twirl him around midair before performing a leaping somersault down on the ground.
Zellus, on the other hand, was smiling.
"[Avalanche]".
Twirling his body sideways allowed him to hurl Pyrrha away. A second [Avalanche] occurred, where he proceeded to spin his body to his right twice midair, slash his spinning sword downwards a dozen times onto the hapless Nikos girl, suspended in midair behind her shield…
… and sending Pyrrha slamming onto the ground, back first.
Mein cringed as Pyrrha crashed on the ground, trying to get up. That was a nasty concussion and broken spine Pyrrha had probably suffered. If she wasn't dead, then she would have to receive alms for the rest of her life.
"What's wrong?" Zellus teased once he landed on the ground, feet first. "Would you like to stretch first?"
However, he was soon interrupted as Eclair immediately lunged in for the kill, one which was easily parried by Zellus with a single hand.
"Tsk."
Zellus handily kept Eclair away from him as he turned his attention towards her instead.
Eclair went on the offensive, using one-handed swings with her longsword, spinning to her right, reversing direction to aim at Zellus' head, which was handily blocked by Zellus and his ever-present smile.
"Ho? You think that's going to be enough to surprise me?"
Eclair was fuming, swinging to her left, right, then spinning into the twirling swing for a horizontal cut. Too bad Zellus matched her rhythm, beat by beat, promptly shoving their locked blades into the ground.
"Ah, well isn't this familiar? Why, this brings back old memories!"
Releasing the locked blades, Eclair swung her sword with her left hand, before swapping hands and attempting another swing to Zellus' new position, who easily blocked her feeble attempt. It was clear as day that Zellus had started getting into her skin, which would prove rather disadvantageous.
Pyrrha charged in, spinning to her left, as her spear swipe aimed at Zellus' , forced the latter away from the position, and breaking Eclair free, allowing her a moment's rest.
The two female fighters regrouped together, redirecting their focus at Zellus, who now stood in front.
"Oh, you two still have plenty of fight left in you. I think this will make things a lot more fun."
"I'll take the lead," Pyrrha whispered. "Follow me and strike whenever he is vulnerable."
Eclair nodded as the two girls agreed to their new arrangement. Pyrrha stood a better chance in creativity, with her specialized magic, and thus far, proved to be a more challenging threat than Eclair's swordfighting, whose aggression could never negate the fact that her moves were familiar, telegraphed and predictable.
Having Pyrrha act as a distraction that wore Zellus down while Eclair would catch him at his weakest was a smart strategy, both in combat, and in The Game. Mein had Pyrrha to thank for coming with this sensible idea, as now Eclair's chances of surviving as an asset for The Game was more plausible.
Pyrrha charged in again, shield facing first to prevent Zellus to read her first swing, before opening with a vertical downwards slash, before slashing upwards, and then slashing with her shield that led into a reverse-gripped stab at Zellus' head.
But Mein and Eclair observed, that last stab and series of slashes was hard to penetrate Zellus' defenses. Every slash was tightly guarded. Every spin only made him backstep. And he had the reflexes to dodge or sidestep away from every attempted thrust or stab towards his person.
Eclair observed intently waiting for an opportunity to strike. It also dawned on Mein that maybe by studying Pyrrha's technique, she could find ways of combining both creativity and discipline against foes who apparently knew her repertoire and style of swordplay.
Zellus slashed downwards to his left, then horizontally to his right, before doing a spinning back hook kick with a right foot, to break Pyrrha's posture.
The invincible champion wondered if that was all to Zellus' attack, and tried to interrupt the vice-captain's momentum as fast she could, but alas, he had more.
"[Stormfront]".
Spinning to his right, Zellus began focusing and re-drawing Murasama downwards to his right from a high stance, finally unleashing a ball full of roughly six simultaneous energy slashes outwards that spun as they traveled forwards in a single swing.
A ball of rotating slashing currents of air kept pushing Pyrrha back and grinding away behind her shield. Her gritted teeth revealed the frustration she felt dealing with how simple the combos seemed, but with relentless timing that didn't allow her to properly react.
However, the ample time wasted struggling against a ball of air slashes simply meant that Zellus could easily close the distance and -
"[Wide Cut]".
Zellus swung wide to his left, then proceeded with his right, then spun around to resheath his blade for a quickdraw that sent Pyrrha back a couple paces.
Then Zellus went for an overhead chop, forcing Pyrrha to cartwheel to her right, before Zellus proceeded to push her back with a spinning slice.
Pyrrha was knocked aside. And Zellus would not relent.
"[Stiff Breeze]."
After he charged, Zellus had spun to his right with a slash, before resheathing the sword and firing the trigger of the scabbard in a high stance for a second, augmented drawing slash that sent Pyrrha flying back.
Pyrrha, however, was undeterred - as she used the momentum to transform her weapon into its ranged form and fire off a few blasts, forcing Zellus to deflect them away and slow down the momentum of his charge.
Landing safely back on the ground, Pyrrha raised her shield in front of her as Zellus reached her position.
Eclair was ready to defend, however, and promptly blocked Zellus' blade from the downwards chop, not even granting the vice-captain the satisfaction of finishing her off.
Shoving the blade aside, Eclair hammered the blade down to aim at Zellus' midsection, before spinning to her left to position herself in a lunging thrust directed towards Zellus' head.
It appeared the hedge knight had renewed spirit after her earlier bout ended in abject failure. Though she was exhausted, she fought as if she had eight hours' worth of [[Well Rest]], and was fresh awake from her slumber. Perhaps Zellus was onto something regarding her and Pyrrha's capability to work together.
However, Zellus continued to grow tired of Eclair's distraction and smiled when Pyrrha leapt over her in a somersault to hurl her shield, and unleashing a spinning sweeping slash with her blade that was timed the moment she retrieved her shield.
As Pyrrha charged, she thrusted and spun to her left, while Eclair followed up from behind and swung a horizontal slash from the other direction.
Zellus blocked the slash, before ducking under Pyrrha's slash, then heaving away Eclair's blade before fending off multiple spear thrusts from Pyrrha herself.
The two were beginning to work in tandem, trying to flow off of the other's attack and then using a form of rhythmic timing just to give Zellus little quarter to counterattack.
After using his katana to shove her spearpoint dragging along the ground, Zellus quickly unleashed a quick combo of slashes, before slamming her away with the follow-up quickdraw.
But Pyrrha's leaping spinning overhead spear strike was quickly parried, before smacking her with the hilt of the crimson katana to her forehead.
Sensing that Eclair was about to charge him from behind with the corner of his eye, Zellus quickly drew his sword again to stall her advance, before proceeding to finish of Pyrrha, whom he saw as the greater threat.
As Pyrrha furiously swung her blade, even incorporating the odd twirl and reverse grip stab, Zellus quickly blocked, before parrying her blow and sending the direction of her thrust far away.
Zellus was about to finish off her arm, Pyrrha's reflexes now too sluggish for her to react.
Instead, it was briefly suspended in place, as if an invisible hand was doing its damnedest to firmly grip on the blade itself, no matter how much force Zellus exerted with his body.
Zellus raised his eyes at this shocking discovery, before quickly push-kicking Pyrrha away just to gain some distance. Mein was shocked as well. Why was Pyrrha not impaled?
Immediately, he tried again in an overhead chop, but for some unimaginable reason, the blade seemingly wobbled to the left, narrowly missing Pyrrha by mere fractions of an inch.
He felt the impenetrable force moving his sword away - and because it affected only his sword, it must have been that this Pyrrha person had the ability to control metal.
Again and again and again his sword swings were mysteriously deflected. Just what kind of jugglery was this!? Was this how Pyrrha always fought in that arena of boorish barbarians in Zeltoble?
A left swing. A right swing. Another left swing. All were handily dodged by Pyrrha's unearthed powers, as she weaved, bobbed, and ducked away from Zellus' swings.
It was impossible, Mein thought, to see how suddenly this Zeltoble champion could suddenly fight even faster, drawing upon feats of inhuman speed and strength to apparently put her mentor on the back foot!
No, there had to be some magic involved. But how!?
But this didn't faze Zellus in the slightest - in fact, an eyebrow was raised as he leaned back, dodging the upper thrust of a spinning spearpoint, before it sliced down and hit the ground.
However, Zellus took the opportunity to simply spin around to his left - with the two standing back to back … before the swordsman quickly elbowed Pyrrha's back out of the way, before attempting a failed low slash against her person, merely warding her away as the templar readied herself in a low stance.
Zellus readied his stance once more as Pyrrha recovered and rushed again with another basic sword combo, forcing him to block the quick swipes, where his follow-up slash at Pyrrha's head was quickly ducked underneath.
After shoulder tackling Zellus shield first, Pyrrha then spun right, for another triple spinning right slash. The templar was relentless - constantly trying to twirl her blade up, follow up with a spinning kick, then proceeding to extend her sword into a spear just to force Zellus back, leading into an attempted shield toss towards him directly.
As a shield was hurled sideways towards him, Zellus simply maintained his guarding stance and blocked it away … before Pyrrha leapt up over him, and somehow retrieved the shield again to hurl it at his back, stunning the vice-captain as it rolled vertically against his back.
The shield returned to Pyrrha's arm again, as she gracefully hurled it horizontally again, as Zellus opted to slide with his knees to gracefully duck under the shield, while Pyrrha landed on Zellus' blade, and propelled herself like a springboard with this renewed vigor.
Just as Zellus turned around, Pyrrha transformed her sword into a javelin and hurled it at Zellus, forcing him to deflect it, allowing Pyrrha to hurl her shield once more in the meantime.
Once she landed, she relentlessly swung her shield like a bladed weapon, spinning while picking up her blade to thrust and spin again. A kick narrowly missed his head, before Pyrrha spin again, twirling her blade
Somehow, it seemed that Zellus' sword swings were growing sluggish as he kept swinging his crimson blade. No, it wasn't his muscles that were failing him. Mein noticed his metal blade and armor trembling, as if they were holding him back!
This was irrelevant, though as Zellus slammed Pyrrha back with his shoulder, then kicked Pyrrha even further.
Time seemed to slow down as Zellus changed hands and swung to his left, disarming Pyrrha with his blade …
… before spinning around for a kick to the stomach, sending Pyrrha in free-fall … and finally disarming her of a shield, with a well-timed quickdraw to his right, tossing his sword and sheath between hands mid-spin.
Pyrrha now sat on the ground, now unarmed and at Zellus' own mercy. Just as Zellus was about to perform a quick draw into overhead chop…
… the awkward mechanism that propelled his katana wouldn't respond.
Instead, both blade and sheath were still stuck, and the sword was unable to be drawn.
And before Zellus knew it, Pyrrha kicked him away, his katana still forcibly sheathed for the time being.
And as if levitated by air magic, both blade and shield quickly floated towards Pyrrha's hands as she proceeded to charge towards Zellus, who now had to defend himself just by swinging his sheath and attempting to smack Pyrrha with it.
With both Pyrrha's sword and shield pressed against Zellus' shield, the two engaged in a brief struggle, trying to exert more force than the other.
And surprisingly, Zellus seems to found himself suddenly weaker, as a girl shorter and smaller than him was about to overpower him with brute force.
However, Zellus proceeded to headbutt Pyrrha away - which released some of this unseen strength away from the sword, allowing Zellus to disarm Pyrrha again with a single quickdraw.
As Zellus closed in, as if by pure magic, Pyrrha's sword flew right back into Pyrrha's hand not a second later, allowing her to extend it back into the shape of a spear and block it against Zellus' downwards chop.
Zellus was not amused and kept pressing up the assault with repeated strikes, trying to hammer down Pyrrha's defenses. He even sliced high, knocking her shield far away.
However, soon he found Pyrrha fully armed once more when the shield attempted to fly towards Zellus' back again, forcing him to leap over the shield to save himself.
"So, that's how you got your title. You used your lightning magic in a short burst. Manipulate metal with them without most people realizing it. Messing their heads and make them thinking your skill is unmatched. That you are someone unbeatable." Zellus' smirk slowly turns into a scoff. "Clever… but it's only a crutch in the end. It keeps you from truly mastering your skill… and yourself!"
Now he saw her secret, as the flying sword form of Milo hurled itself towards Zellus, who casually leaned back by an inch … before the shield flew face front towards him, with Pyrrha attempting to drop kick the vice-captain back behind the shield as he parried the blow with his katana.
The man chuckled as he saw the sword and shield return itself through the air towards Pyrrha's arms herself as she readied herself in a guarding stance, shield first. He had probably figured out Pyrrha's secret.
Zellus casually looked at his katana before he re-sheathed the blade and whistled for a replacement, removing some of his metal plates for good measure.
"This blade be too heavy," Zellus mused. "Let me see another."
He then pulls from his back… a piece of wood.
Roughly curved into the shape of a one bladed longsword with a slight curve. Its shape is favored by the animals of the hermit island Q'ten Lo, and minority of Midland Siltvelt. The single blade and curve to increase speed and cutting power no doubt compliment Coach Zellus' own aggressive fighting style… if it's real steel with a sharpened edge.
"Well, joke's on you, lass - Now I figured you out, I don't need a real sword to beat the stuff out of you."
End Note:
So, once again... I'm terribly sorry for two weeks of late update. This chapter (and the next, which is also fully written and just waiting for my post production) obviously wasn't the easiest to be written because Ace-Triad wants to do Zellus' fighting choreography right.
But on the bright side, at least now I have content for two chapters to update back to back... mostly. I still need to go over the other half of the chapter to see if I need to do some minor changes to it.
For those not in the know, Zellus was originally an OC made by fellow RotSH writer on this website PrettyLazy (please also check out his stories, they are very underrated). Although my version of Zellus is more obviously inspired by Jetstream Sam than PrettyLazy's portrayal, because his original inception of being a challenge monger who is mostly interested in perfecting his swordplay just reminds me of Jetstream Sam. Obviously, we will see more of it next chapter.
