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.
I would also like to thank the guest who give me the longest critical review. Yatsuhashi's character arc came about because you reminded me on how little thought I gave to this character.
More author's note at the end for anyone interested to hear me blabber some more.
The two fighters eyed each other, steeling their gazes at this unexpected turn of events.
Then Zellus rushed towards Pyrrha, feeling suddenly lighter and faster than before. Pyrrha was caught off-guard by how sudden it was - the fact that he was able to run up at her in the blink of an eye, and then proceed to draw his bokken with blinding speed was unheard of.
Pyrrha tumbled backwards, narrowly dodging the swipe that would've taken her head off, but now she was off balance, forcing herself to manipulate her greaves to go on one knee to steady herself.
But now she had to deal with a lightning-fast overhead chop that slammed down on her shield as she blocked the attack.
If only she could follow up by striking Zellus' now-vulnerable torso or sweep his legs, she would have him at her mercy. Instead, he pressed on the bokken, allowing himself to dodge the low sweep by propelling himself into the air.
And after that, Zellus quickly resheathed and re-drew the bokken to unleash a narrow slice of air towards the templar now that he had flanked above her. If not for Pyrrha rolling away from the pressurized air slash, she would've received a nasty scar on her half-exposed back.
With both fighters standing back on the ground again, they steeled their gazes again, and proceeded to charge once more.
Chapter 65: The Only Thing I Know for Real
Pyrrha's forward lunge was deflected by Zellus' swing to the upper right, before Zellus kicked Pyrrha away behind her shield. Then he unleashed another one of his combos against her shield, keeping her on the defensive.
Unsheathing his bokken for a gust of air, Pyrrha then dived towards the ground, somersaulting to avoid the attacks and trying to close the distance.
Zellus, however, decided enough was enough. Two wide upper slashes, with two horizontal slashes halted Pyrrha's momentum and forced her to land back on the ground.
Zellus then rushed forward, leaping up into the air, then sending a slash of air from the draw of the scabbard, before slamming Pyrrha away with a series of [Aerial Cleaves].
And as the charging Eclair attempted to follow up, she quickly steeled her gaze and focused all her power into her arms, the moment she drew her sword.
"[Snake Bite]".
Eclair had no other choice but to unleash some of the more advanced sword skills against Zellus, relentlessly swinging against his katana.
"[Danse Macabre]".
Propelling herself, Eclair repeatedly swung left and right, before unleashing a flurry of lunges, another left and right combo before leaving a massive spinning slash to her left … that unfortunately, was parried and dodged with perfect timing and precision.
And as her eyes gazed upon Zellus' blade, she dreaded the obvious tell. Time seemed to slow down for her as she saw Zellus about to sheathe and re-draw his sword.
Eclair had a hard time parrying Zellus' charging slashes approaching her at high speed, from one angle at another. Worse still, he didn't swing his blade; he drew the blade out into a swing when he was close to point-blank.
Eclair was shaken every time he sped past her and struck her blade on impact.
Zellus was disrupted- now was the perfect chance to catch him off guard! Eclair better not be foolish enough to forgo a Sword skill right now!
"[Mother's Rosario]".
"Ho?" Zellus makes a non commital sound, one eyebrow slightly raised.
Eclair's sword thrusted gradually from her upper right to bottom left, drawing back for five more thrusts from upper left to bottom right, before finishing with a spinning lunge at the center.
Unlike Weiss, Zellus was better prepared for the move, countering each thrust in sequence. He never panicked, let alone received an x-shaped scar like what most victims would receive.
"Damnations," Eclair muttered under her breath. "Not even [Mother's Rosario] fazes you these days, does it?"
"Sword Skills like yours are so obvious these days," Zellus retorted. "You simply swing wildly, leave plenty of openings, offer too much timing space between each string or skill, and then you use the most obvious patterns to execute without varying the technique. And you never thought that maybe I too would be familiar with the sword skill just by name alone? Worst of all, you come in here thinking you can fight flashy fools, or honorable duels. Such a shame youths like thyselves have brought upon the art of the sword."
Mein listened carefully. For once, what seemed like counterintuitive advice contrary to his past lessons, actually held merit.
Eclair likely came in fighting under the pretense that Zellus wouldn't use his more dangerous techniques, and leave little room for the two of them to breathe. The two warrior women had severely underestimated their foe by a significant margin. They merely drilled in his words through rote measure, rather than taking in ingrained wisdom of combat. Their downfall would be their obsession with honor and duty.
[Vertical Square] failed as Zellus parried the intended square pattern down to the correct position. He proved too fast for [Sonic Leap]'s downward slash.
Once again, Eclair charged in, hoping to use [Vorpal Strike] just to thwart Zellus' perception and extend her reach of the sword, hoping distance would compensate for his faster reflexes.
[Absolute Void].
The nerve of that vice-captain to thwart Eclair again in a single stroke!
"Lady Seaetto," Pyrrha panted. "We must conserve our strength and use our partnership. We stand a better chance following in sequential combat just like the previous time."
"Right." Eclair agreed. Working together was the only way the two girls would survive, and indeed the only real advantage they posed. Against a lightened Zellus wielding a wooden sword that made him faster as well as him holding back less and less, this would be a greater challenge.
Still, the grips on their swords tightened. They were going to try and give it their all, no matter what.
Zellus easily backstepped, deflecting Pyrrha and Eclair's short sword swings with graceful deflections and parries. As Eclair prepared a lunging thrust, she found Zellus redirecting her blade as Zellus spun his arms, before a basic three-swing combo pushed her aside.
As Pyrrha somersaulted under Zellus' horizontal slash, she proceeded to twirl her sword into a spear and commenced thrusting the spear repeatedly. If one spinning slash at spearpoint was in sufficient, then one from the other direction would do the job.
Pyrrha countered Zellus' tight downwards swing by retracting her sword just in time to block with the shield in reverse grip, before spinning right with the spear's downwards thrust, several twirling slashes, a reverse grip upper slash that led into a spin that set up three shots, and then two spinning left slashes that led into a thrust.
However, as Zellus landed his usual three to five hit combos, she could make out a low hum erupting from Zellus' lips. Even after the follow up kicks of [Tailwind], or the usual high quickdraws, or the rarer lunging thrust at the end of each combo, was still placed to a certain rhythm.
Then Zellus did the most unexpected thing Mein witnessed.
He sang. The hoarse howling of Coach Zellus seem to makes the magical light from the catacomb's torches wave even more. Painting monstrous shadows on the floor and wall as the three of them dance against each other in a flurry of blade exchanges.
Memories broken,
A [Rising Star] erupted from Zellus' charging attack on Eclair - three slashes following after him as he sped up fast - unsheathing to his right, and spinning his body twice to the upper right.
The truth goest' unspoken,
The upwards momentum led into [Aerial Rave] - drawing his sword left twice, before spinning rightwards, setting himself in the perfect position.
I've even forgotten mine na~a~ame!
[Avalanche] propelled him back down on the ground, where Eclair backflipped out of the way.
I know not the season,
Parrying Pyrrha's sword swings, and the follow up thrusts, Zellus countered with a wide upper left, then right swing, followed by a wide cut on the ground that pushed Pyrrha aside [Hyde JA-JB]
Nor what be the reason,
A series of his usual sword swings, followed by his [Wide Cut] wide slash, and [Tailwind] sharp lower slash kept Pyrrha at bay.
Of standing here, holding mine bla~a~ade!
Zellus propelled himself up with the [Red-Clad Carver] upper slash that led into the reverse-gripped [Vacant Shift], readying himself to finish off Pyrrha from above.
A desolate place!
Pyrrha parried the overhead [Deadly Peak] as Zellus slammed the wooden sword down.
With nary' a trace!
"[Evisceration]."
With his unsheathed bokken, he held the sheath and wooden blade as if they were two swords, and proceeded to make an X-shape for his charging attack, knocking Pyrrha over as she met the charge head on with her shield.
Tis' only the cold wind I fe~e~el!
[A Strict Daze] followed by a [Shadow Scare] series of powerful slashes, and a series of [Bloom] quickdraw projectiles forced the girls to dodge.
Tis' me that I spite,
Eclair rushed forward as she soon found herself using both a [Cyclone] spinning slash and a [Cascade] overhead that Zellus both ducked under.
As I stand up and fight!
And the Seaetto heir was quickly kicked aside with [Wide Cut] leading into a [Jaw Breaker].
The one thing I doth know for real!
Readying herself, Pyrrha rushed forward with a spear lunge as Zellus resheathed his blade, hoping to advance upon him and continue to have him off guard.
That venomous look from the corner of Zellus' eye alerted Pyrrha to what he planned to do.
There wilt be
Pyrrha brought her shield to bear as Zellus drew his blade.
BLOOD!
Zellus unleashed a [Ring Gale], which knocked Pyrrha back a bit against her shield, as Zellus leapt up in the air with a quickdraw, readying his body
SHED!
Again the [Aerial Cleave] pounded itself, this time the ground, as Pyrrha opted the evade the second one rather than be rattled by the impact.
The man in the mirror nods his head,
Zellus unleashed a series of wide swings, as Pyrrha somersaulted with the swings, only dispelling the slashes as she moved forward, even under the long reach and force of the last overhead chop.
The only one!
A [Summer's Advance] meant that Zellus simply slammed the wooden blade on the ground with his stomp, disrupting Pyrrha's charge.
Left!
The [Wide Cut] forced Pyrrha back as the templar grit her teeth, trying to force her way in regardless.
Wot ride upon the dragon's back,
Pyrrha's twirling sword thrusts and swipes were handily parried with one hand by Zellus before Pyrrha forced him to leap from her low sweeping swipe.
Because the mountains give not back what they ta~a~ake,
Multiple gusts of wind erupted from Zellus' free-floating quickdraws to perfect beats, as Pyrrha rolled before she could be cut by the force and sharpness of the wind.
A~las!
The landing chop forced her back.
There wilt be
It was the [Aerial Cleave] again.
BLOOD!
Spinning around after he landed, a [Deadly Peak], followed by a charging slash knocked Pyrrha back.
SHED!
Zellus sped forward for a charging slash in Eclair's direction, disorienting her as well.
Tis' the only thing I e'er kno~own!
"[Raging Bloom]".
And with that, several wide and fast quickdraws were unleashed from Zellus' wooden blade, eventually blowing the two girls away after they feebly tried to dispel the slashes of sharp and pressurized air.
Mein was dumbstruck and gaped in abject confusion when Zellus proceeded to easily outfight Pyrrha and Eclair, constantly maintaining the upper hand while doing something as awkward as singing of all things.
If he could unleash a sufficient fraction of his power, then she dreaded the day where Zellus would take swordsmanship very seriously and at his full potential.
And considering the amount of breath he still had to execute his combos, sing to perfect rhythm, and still have enough breath to taunt and draw his blade - his timing, rhythm, pace, breath control and capacity were outright inhuman. It was especially apparent since breath control and timing were one of the very first lessons in the art of combat.
Zellus wasn't finished yet. He propelled himself forward, drew out his blade, only to find his movement deflected by Pyrrha, who countered his swing when he was close enough.
Pyrrha proceeded to perform an overhead slash then slashing right, upper left slashes around her neck, dashes forward, spins to her upper right slash, then leaps up, does an upper right slash, lower left slash, then mid right slash.
And while Zellus matched her swing for swing with only one hand, the moment he held both hands on the hilt, Pyrrha knew she had to dodge away, as the overhead slam sent a shockwave towards her former position.
"[Vertical Arc]".
The V-shaped swings led into a rhombus-shaped swing, [Horizontal Arc] where Eclair attacked in the following sequence, not wasting a moment's time.
Eclair went on the aggressive, sending a series of wide, downwards swings that Zellus continued to backstep away from.
This was it - Eclair had to finish this right then and now. However, sword met wrist as Zellus blocked her swing with his free hand.
"[Empty Sky Form - Winter's Riposte]".
As if time seemed to slow down, Zellus merely slashed Eclair across the torso horizontally, sending her falling to the ground.
Mein wanted to scream for Eclair's safety. With just one blow, her vice-captain seemingly killed her loyal pawn.
And as it turned out, Eclair still stirred and breathed. No trace of blood was seen, though it appeared that she needed some time to regain her faculties and steady her body.
Pyrrha slashed high, and then spun to her right. Slashing left and right repeatedly, she then thrusted her blade, which turned into a spear, before spinning to her left.
Zellus hurled the wooden sheath horizontally, sending it flying against Pyrrha's shield …
… before Zellus unleashed a powerful [Deadly Peak] overhead chop, sending Pyrrha flying backwards, forcing herself to backflip just to stabilize herself. A couple of spinning slashes later, Zellus proceeded to ram the hilt of the bokken into Pyrrha's stomach, before drawing it upwards, knocking her back.
And now Pyrrha was wide open.
Zellus immediately leapt up and kicked the wooden sheath, landing a massive concussion against Pyrrha's forehead head, protected only by her metallic circlet. (Denki vs Tsubaki)
With Pyrrha too concussed to properly focus her mastery of metal manipulation, and Eclair still trying to conserve energy, there was little hope for the two of them to resist Zellus' further assaults.
Just as Zellus was about to finish Pyrrha off, a sudden slam erupted out of nowhere, sending the vice-captain back.
It was the Shield Hero's sworn shield - Yatsuhashi, his name was, clad in traditional Q'Ten Lo warrior garb, his gargantuan blade brought out in his traditional stance. The fact that he would engage in this fight against a mutual enemy, let alone working with the clergy, showed that he hid more insidious secrets aside from protecting her Naofumi.
Wasn't that ruff berserker coming after him at the start of the battle? Is that Xepan guy… dead?
Mein looks over where the two of them were fighting, and sees the burly man with long, messy hair and even messier beard sprawled on the floor. His horned cap a short distance away from where his head lay exposed… with a bump poking out of his hair.
At first, the princess assumed that Yatsuhashi knocked his opponent out before interrupting Coach Zellus' fight. But upon a closer inspection after squinting her eyes… she can see some feathers stuck on Xepan's hair.
It seems the ruff berserker is another victim of their gluttonous devil bird. The princess quickly makes a triangle with her finger… and utters a prayer for Xepan under her breath. Poor guy, he might be trying to kill Naofumi's Sworn Shield, but surely the man didn't deserve whatever treatment he received from Firo.
"Go! I will hold him off from here!" Yatsuhashi screamed to his fellow challengers, undoubtedly willing to engage her old mentor in a fight.
"I guarantee you," Yatsuhashi began, "on my Jarl's name … on my master's honor … and for my family's sake … I can guarantee you won't leave without a scratch," Yatsuhashi growled as he brought out his massive blade, Fulcrum, to bear.
"On your master's honor… huh?" Zellus smirks as he bobs his own chin behind the sworn shield. "Is that why you left your downed master defenseless. So you can face against me?".
Yatsuhashi's stoic, fierce anger breaks for a brief moment as he wipes his head to look at the Shield Hero.
Despite the free fighters outnumber the combined force of the Shield Hero and church remenant, they haven't manage to get to the Shield Hero yet. A moving wall of talon, feathers and muscles furiously guard Naofumi. "Stay away from MASTER NAOFUMI!"
Sometime between the negotiation broke down and now, Firo has taken her giant bird form again.
The bodyguard turns to face vice-captain Zellus again, his face full of anger. As for Mein's former coach… he simply shrugs his shoulders, instead of using the opportunity to strike Yatsuhashi in the back. "There's no shame in doing something for yourself, and live for yourself, you know?"
Naofumi's sworn shield simply grips his weapon even tighter, and settles into a fighting stance.
Resembling a hybrid between the oft-rumored Khyber blades of mountainous tribes, with a pointed hook akin to a fisherman's gut knife, it was designed to impale, slice, and crush enemies in half from the sheer weight of the sword alone. Fitting, for a brute of a man himself.
The stage was set. Yatsuhashi's rage, Zellus' intrigue, and Pyrrha and Eclair's worn-down determination were all laid bare. There would be no turning back. The true battle had begun.
And the blades were drawn.
The blistering speed of Zellus' charge shocked Yatsuhashi, as he could only dodge and block blows. It didn't help that he was a large set man with a giant hulking weapon. Zellus effortlessly darted and danced away every time . All Yatsuhashi could do was pray his body and blade could endure could only pray to the Gods that his strength, bulk and defensive technique would last him against his sworn enemy's relentless charge.
Yatsuhashi finally had the chance to press on the forward momentum when he swung Fulcrum onto his foe.
And just like that - Zellus immediately blocked Yatushashi's swing by holding his bokken sideways, planting the blade firmly with his palms.
"Self taught, and not half lacking valor," Zellus mused, "yet…"
As his foe spun in the air, Zellus quickly spun around to his right, and swung hard, sending the foe tumbling backwards … before the vice-captain immediately dashed forward with another one-handed horizontal swing that sent him further back.
"Thy technique … lacks an affair vital."
Rushing forward, Zellus spun at the last second to his right, forcing Yatsuhashi to hold his sword low to parry.
"Is this what all you cared about? How you fight?" With his sworn enemy behind him ready for a killing thrust, Yatsuhashi quickly moved his left arm, protected by a segmented pauldron, into the blades path, deflecting the angle. "When you destroyed the clan. My Clan, and YOUR clan? Our family?! Your true name, it was not Zellus. It was-"
"Don't remember, and don't CARE! Zellus is the name I choose for myself. Just like how I got to choose to live my life." The following low sweep of Fulcrum was gracefully leapt over as Zellus knelt back up and sent a thin slice of air that Yatsuhashi powered through with said pauldron.
A couple of quickdraw slices later, and it became apparent that Yatsuhashi could merely withstand the blasts of air that Zellus threw at him. There was virtue in his massive girth and frame, after all.
Angling Fulcrum further, Yatsuhashi steadily advanced like the turtle he looked like, dispelling the sword slashes that handily gave the two skilled women trouble.
And as Yatsuhashi went for a killing lunge, Zellus smiled, held his bokken straight up, and let it slide against the flat end of the massive cleaver, allowing him to close in and ram the butt of the bokken against Yatsuhashi's head.
Unfortunately for the vice-captain, while the sworn shield was briefly stunned, he quickly recovered and grabbed Zellus with the off hand, swung him around a bit, and hurled him across. The wooden training sword might be a sufficient blunt weapon against Zellus' two previous opponent with a lighter build, but it isn't enough to break through the defense of a heavy set giant like Naofumi's Sworn Shield.
Mein was shocked that Yatsuhashi was capable of some underhanded tactics, underneath the stoicism and veneer of duty to her Naofumi. For once, he had enough of a brain that wasn't poisoned by concepts of honor or duty.
The flying Zellus quickly stopped himself by planting the wooden sword into the ground, with him standing atop the damn thing for support.
Freeing the blade from the ground, he leapt over the charging Yatsuhashi's telegraphed swing and struck his back.
The next series of swings were calculated and controlled from Yatsuhashi's part. They were easy to read, with only reach and size being the only advantages he had. He was slow as well, which didn't help matters. A left, right, overhead, and a lunging thrust. There was a certain lack of speed, and energy that he lacked compared to Eclair and Pyrrha, but he made up for it with strength, resistance, and discipline.
But Zellus was still unsatisfied. Yatsuhashi seemed unimaginative, and not creative with his blows, only relying on his strict set of sword swings and the occasional grapple and throw.
The two quickly locked blades once more, with Zellus pressing the offensive.
"Now I see. You deny your weapon its purpose, hust like you denies yourself a real life for yourself, little brother!"
Yatsuhashi clearly was shocked at the master's summation. Could it be that he was really responsible for holding back his true potential? Deep down, some part of him suspected that maybe he tried to repress his darker thoughts,
Sensing an opening, Zellus quickly raised his bokken to break the deadlocked guard, and elbowed Yatsuhashi in the face in the hilt, before following up with a spinning slash to his right, nearly disarming Yatsuhashi of his blade…
And very quickly did Zellus follow through - flipping the bokken in reverse, did the carved end of the wooden sword swing upwards, striking Yatsuhashi on the chin. Had it been a real sword made of metal, Zellus most certainly would've taken an eye.
"It yearns to bathe in the blood of thy foe!" Zellus summated, twirling his bokken as he casually glanced at the blade. "Yet you hold it back! Just like you are so afraid of becoming me, you'd rather be a tool than live for yourself!"
Yatsuhashi's eyes widened. Was he actually in agree with Coach Zellus' words, came into a sudden realization, or simply shocked at its absurdity?
His reaction quickly gives Mein the answer.
"No … My Fulcrum is a tool of justice, meant to serve the defenseless," the sworn shield mumbled, as he tried to allay his wavering shock. "A worthy goal to dedicate my life. More than being a tool of wrath, and senseless bloodshred!"
Narrowing his eyes, Zellus was clearly displeased with whatever excuse the young Housecarl had to offer.
"Foolishness, knave - what utter foolishness."
Zellus then proceeded to charge in with a [Rising Star] - three slashes following after him as he sped up fast - unsheathing to his right, and spinning his body twice to the upper right of his position - followed by an [Aerial Rave], drawing his sword left twice, before spinning rightwards before he set himself for the next attack -
"[Aerial Cleave.]"
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Leaping up, Zellus spun his body rightwards in the air, he proceeded to slam his whole body, bokken first, before unsheathing downwards against the wide shaft of Fulcrum, Yatsuhashi being forced in a high guard against the impact, feebly parrying the repeated overhead slams of the unsheathing bokken as Zellus leapt up and down in great distances … and with overwhelming force.
"[Wide Cut]".
Yatushashi grunted against the force of the wide quickdraw that sent a powerful slice of air against the blade of Fulcrum. However, Zellus wasn't done.
"[Assault Rush]".
Planting his wooden blade to the ground, Zellus immediately dragged it along the surface, spraying bits of stone and soil in Yatsuhashi's eyes on the upper slash, before slashing down and twirling the sword twice, spinning to his right and warding off the sworn shield out of the sheer force of his blow.
Bits of dust, stone and soil formed a cloud to where Zellus immediately performed a leaping overhead charge, forcing Yatsuhashi to hastily block the attack.
Raising his sword once more, Zellus hammered it down, up, down, and so on. A kick broke Yatsuhashi's posture before the vice-captain followed with a lunging slash to the mid-right. Spinning around to the other right, a one-handed slash sent the larger man back.
As Yatsuhashi charged in again, Zellus took a deep breath, smirked …
.. and immediately drew the bokken sideways across his chest, causing the sworn shield to fall and tumble backwards.
After the blade hit his torso, the mighty giant of a man began to tumble down on the ground, before the sworn shield reached out and started to get back up, one hand at a time.
With Yatsuhashi sprawled on the ground, Zellus proceeded to beat him down in an overhead chop, with his bokken raised.
"This be what happens when you bring a tool to a duel," the callously seasoned master muttered, right as he was about to send the bokken down like a smack to the head.
Fragments of metal were hurled in the vice-captain's direction. It was Pyrrha, who still had plenty of fight left in her as metal fragments were at the ready, approaching Zellus from his starboard side.
"O lucky devil," Zellus muttered, as he handily deflected the fragments aside.
"I don't understand …" Yatsuhashi panted, struggling to get back in the fight, "how are you still this strong!? My strength … Lady Eclair's discipline … and Pyrrha's skill and magic …"
Zellus proceeded to roll his eyes at that blatant ignorance of his.
"Strength alone is insufficient, you sheltered fool! It matters not if you reach level 100… or even level 250! Without mastery, your strength will hurt yourself the most!"
"We're far from sheltered," Eclair spat. "We'll oppose you till' the very end."
"Why that's good." Zellus remarked. "Why, that's very good! I want true battles, clashes of skill and will! Not one-sided slaughter! You do have skill, I'll give you that! But none of you have what it takes to fight a true warrior!"
Zellus' finger points at Pyrrha first. "You use your raw talent like a crutch."
He moves to Yatsuhashi next. "You treat your weapon… and yourself like a tool."
The swordsman settles on Eclair finally. "You try to perfect your skill like a craft."
"But none of you treat it like fine arts… or a philosophy. Something not to be perfected… and allowed to become stale. But to continuously improved, to live your life by!"
That philosophy… it was the same rhetoric first brought up by the eighth Sword Hero, wasn't it? The original Sword Demon.
With a common foe between the three of them, Pyrrha, Yatsuhashi and Eclair tensed up once Zellus eased into his fighting stance. This was far from an easy foe.
Pyrrha ran forward, spear at the ready for a lower left slash, seamlessly blocking Zellus' chop with the shield on her back as she spun to her left, then slashing upwards with the spear, before slashing upwards again with the other hand, and finally blitzing past Zellus with a charging slash that retracted the spear into sword mode, leaving behind a trail of slashes as she turned to face behind him upon her landing.
However, as Pyrrha charged again with the same slash, Zellus timed his parry with a quickdraw, followed by dodging the third charge and kicking Pyrrha away.
"[Allant's Assault]".
Eclair once more summoned her ancestor's combo - left, right and left again, after the 3-hit combo of a fallen king of a long bygone age, his last mementos being a noble sword skill passed down to generations of knights.
Unfortunately, Zellus continued to parry it away. [Allant's Assault] lay in its speed, not in its complexity. It was otherwise a standard sword swinging combo, especially against a man with greater experience and faster reflexes.
Zellus proceeded to parry the blow away, before countering with another two-sheath hit combo, before forcing Eclair back with a downwards slash.
"[Judgment Cut]."
Suddenly, balls of razor-sharp wind erupted from the ground where they stood every time Zellus repeatedly drew and sheathed his bokken with minimal arm movement.
This forced the trio to constantly roll and run away from where they stood to avoid getting hit by each successive orb erupting behind them, forming a trail of slashes in the air..
"Amateurs," Zellus scoffed.
With him being surrounded from all angles, Zellus quickly unsheathed his sword, where time seemed to stop for a brief moment ...
… before resheathing his bokken, knocking all three back.
"Surround him!" Eclair called out.
As the three lunged at him simultaneously, they could only sense the ominous killing intent from the pressure the palms of his hands exerted on the sheath and hilt of the bokken.
"[Blender]."
Zellus slashes downwards to his left, horizontally to his right, then spins to his right while smacking the foe with the sheath, before readying his stance and drawing it again, spinning to his right twice, unleashing multiple simultaneous energy slashes outwards (nine?) in a single swing that surrounds him, with the last one sent straight at the opponent, knocking all three away again.
"I think you three will have to do better than that," Zellus remarked.
Pyrrha proceeded to fire off a couple of shots as she tried to keep him at bay, allowing Eclair and Yatsuhashi to consistently force him on the defensive.
Side stepping away from Eclair's horizontal swing, and leaping over Yatsuhashi's low sweep, Zellus quickly blocked their blades when they proceeded to thrust towards him. A high overhead chop from Eclair and a wide horizontal slash from Yatsuhashi continued to keep him on his toes.
And it was plain as day from the smirk on his face that dodging Yatsuhashi's and Eclair's wide and long swings from different angles actually entertained him. He saw less of them as sluggish, hard-hitting traditional knights and more of a dynamic pair of warriors that could find some new way to put him on some kind of defensive - even if he considered this pacing relaxed.
Eclair ran up the length of Fulcrum, where Yatsuhashi hurled her up - and the hedge knight unleashed her five hit combo of wide left and right slashes, with the intent to catch him in the blast radius of her downwards impalement.
And Yatsuhashi's leaping downwards chop forced Zellus on his toes.
Eclair charged in again, hoping to catch Zellus off-guard, first with a [Rage Spike], a leaping thrust that led into the downwards strike of [Sonic Leap].
She swung a bit more wildly, warding Zellus back with wide, horizontal one-handed sweeps that she let the momentum of the sword drag her arm around.
However, Zellus' one-handed swings, followed by the quickdraw skill [Multi-Layer One Ring] shoved Eclair aside.
Yatsuhashi went on the aggressive, attempting to hammer down with the weight of Fulcrum, but Zellus deftly backstepped out of the way, with the occasional parry, without much effort. The last of such swings was kicked away with a [Jaw Breaker], causing the blade to reverse momentum and cause Yatsuhashi to stumble back, the sword dragging his balance behinds him.
Eclair's attempted back slash was quickly thwarted as Zellus spun to his right, as Zellus raised an eyebrow at the blade's preserved sharpness and sheen.
"[Ring Gale]".
With not a moment to spare, Zellus quickly exerted force behind the quick draw of his bokken, unleashing energy slashes against Eclair on impact and propelling Zellus upwards, setting himself for two more [Aerial Cleave]s that Eclair had to parry on a high guard.
… that is until Zellus opted for a low sweeping kick at Eclair's legs, tripping her away.
Yatsuhashi grabbed Zellus with one hand, and hurled him across the room, which would've at least disrupted him, let alone disorient his senses.
However, the man countered by propelling himself in the reverse direction using the momentum of his quickdraw, before spinning again and using [Avalanche] to unleash a stream of slashes around his person, shoving Yatsuhashi aside as he tried to spread Fulcrum out in front of him to absorb the many slashes of this augmented version of [Avalanche].
Eclair wasn't finished.
"[Sharp Nail]."
Eclair proceeded to swing an upward right to left diagonal slash, followed by a left to right horizontal slash, ending with a downward right to left diagonal slash.
"[Savage Fulcrum]".
If Zellus would parry [Sharp Nail], then surely, the shape of the fourth numeral produced by the [Savage Fulcrum] skill would do it.
"[Howling Octave]."
Five high-speed consecutive thrusts, followed by a downward and then an upward slash, before culminating in a final, full-force overhead slash, and he still proceeded to perfectly parry the blows!
"Throwing sword skills at random isn't going to work for me," Zellus coolingly countered as he mixed in several quickdraw slashes with his parries and his one-handed swings. "I said it before - I know every major trick in the book!"
"[Deadly Sins]."
A seven-hit skill that consists of various slashes, several full circle spins and a backwards somersault was all Eclair could muster, deflecting the ranged slashes, and matching the pace of Zellus' swings.
"Lady Seaetto!"
Pyrrha, with her trademark altruism of rushing to an ally's aid, charged forward with her spear, and attempted to break them apart by launching a high knee at Zellus, before going into her usual sword swinging combo.
And then, she had her spear, twirled around her neck as she spun, before hurling her shield behind her back, and then proceeding with a wide sweep with the spear, continuing to force Zellus aside with repeated thrusts as she waited to retrieve her now-deflected shield once it returned to her person.
Forcing him aside with a low sweep, she became wary of Zellus' new two-handed thrusting stance.
Then Zellus proceeded to use a high stance, crouched, took a deep breath and pointed his blade.
"[Swallow Reversal]."
Three simultaneous slashes of wind seemingly surrounded Zellus and projected outward within a split second, as Eclair and Pyrrha froze, as if they had witnessed their own deaths themselves. Only their instincts kicking in at the last second could save them.
Pyrrha and Eclair appeared to stare into the air this time, their eyes gazing wildly. No doubt they were calculating the arithmetic required to analyze the technique, and the stoic determination implied that they were confident enough to take him on again.
[Swallow Reversal] occurred again - and this time, there was enough of a distinction between each of the three slashes. There was less reach with the wooden bokken, so if the timing was right, Pyrrha and Eclair would evade or advance out of the slashes' reach, allowing them a degree of safety
On top of all that, despite the technique making it seem that there were (U)three(U) copies of Zellus himself slashing all at once, it appeared that there was a brief opening between each of them.
First, Zellus would slash to his left, forcing the opponent to move to the right. A split millisecond later, an overhead chop would force the foe to move to their right, which sets the trap for Zellus then slashing to his right. Within a hair's breadth of each other, the only options were to go low, duck, or backstep out of Zellus' range, where the ends of the three slashes would intersect.
As a result, Pyrrha evaded the attack , while Eclair closed in, ducking underneath the slashes and slashing Zellus at the mid-torso - while it wasn't enough to draw blood, it tore a hole in Zellus' garments.
Zellus raised an eyebrow. Clearly, the fact that they were able to land an impressive hit against this monster of a man meant that the two could hold her own against him. And from the looks of things, Zellus himself agreed with this assessment.
"Ho? You actually managed to cut me? That's impressive."
Eclair proceeded to unleash her special combo - two pairs of wide-reaching back and forth swings, before twirling her blade down and ramming it into the ground to unleash a shockwave that would send Zellus back. (Soul of Cinder Phase 2, 5 hit combo)
As Eclair closed in, Zellus smirked as his drawing hand was on the hilt of the blade …
… and roughly sixty consecutive slashes erupted as Zellus drew and resheathed his bokken back and forth. Eclair's armor began to crumple inwards, towards her flesh, as scratches etched themselves onto the armor plating.
"Lady Seaetto!" Pyrrha called out as she caught the shaking and buckling Eclair using her ferrokinesis.
Gently resting her down in the ground, Pyrrha began smoothening out the bumps in her armor, hoping to allow Eclair room to breathe, if not recover from all the bruises and contusions on her skin. If plate mail armor had one weakness - it was blunt force trauma.
"Shouldn't you be focusing on your opponent?"
Pyrrha widened her eyes as Zellus suddenly was about to strike a killing blow. Zellus was cruel, but he was wise and pragmatic, with no sentiments or allies to cloud the judgment of the battle.
… though he was mercifully stopped by Yatsuhashi slamming Fulcrum from behind, forcing Zellus to shift attention away and using the bokken to defend himself with a one-handed guard.
As Pyrrha seized the opportunity, Zellus simply pushed his sword arm out, and kicked Pyrrha back with one foot.
Yatsuhashi swung wide, forcing Zellus to duck low. Pyrrha's swings were parried, and Yatsuhashi's were mostly dodged due to the latter's immense strength.
He knew how to time his rolling dodges the precise moment Yatsuhashi thrusted his sword, and countered his momentum with a strong attack. Wide sweeps leading into overhead chops leading into forward thrusts meant nothing to the vice-captain.
"Work with me," Pyrrha pleaded. "He's too much for one man to handle!"
Yatsuhashi grunted, but conceded his point. Squandering his revenge out of pride would be foolhardy.
Yatsuhashi hurled Pyrrha into the air, where she proceeded to face her body downwards towards Zellus, repelling her shield away with her foot, and propelling herself with the downwards force needed to pin Zellus down. Combined with her spinning her body downwards, she was going to use as much of her stamina to try and land an overwhelming killing blow against him.
Zellus, however, simply concentrated, squinted his eyes, focused all his power into his draw …
… and stopped Pyrrha on contact, right as she was about to stab him, his palms pressed against the shaft of the bokken, blocking Pyrrha's spiralling momentum, her hands clearly trying to exert force against her triple-changing weapon, teeth gritted with frustration.
Zellus handily forced Pyrrha off, before Yatsuhashi sent him in the air with a leaping slam.
Pyrrha then threw her shield in order to force him back, its bronze rim spinning against the katana's edge, as Yatsuhashi threw Pyrrha one last time so she could unleash a combo of spinning slashes.
"[Avalanche]."
Zellus spun his body to his right, turned around, focused his power into his draw, then immediately sped forward, unleashing a dozen roaring crescent gusts of pressurized wind in one draw, sending Pyrrha and her shield slamming into Yatsuhashi's body.
Eclair got back up on her knees, as she readied her sword. The three were on their last legs, but they proceeded to charge towards Zellus.
And Zellus turned his attention towards Pyrrha, who lifted herself with the strength in her muscles and her metallic magic pushing her armor, and by extension her body forward.
A reverse grip stab was thwarted, so she proceeded to spin thrice to her right hoping to slash Zellus away. However, as Zellus backflipped and prepared himself, she heard the faint hum that was perfectly in rhythm with her slashes.
And it was that damned hum that telegraphed that Zellus was about to go into another singing fit. And if he sang, then he was about to unleash some of his strongest skills and most creative executions of his sword swings.
Forsaking mine propriety,
Pyrrha was kept on her toes by Zellus' aggressive wide swings [Hakumen 5A, 5B, 2C, and Zantetsu]
Methinks, "Hath I lost my mind?"
… before a kick sent her back.
To find the truth in front of me,
Rapidly ducking under Eclair's five-hit combo, he lodged the bokken to prevent her from unleashing a shockwave when she impaled the ground.
Then the summit I must climb,
The spinning [Agito] sent Eclair flying as Zellus was sent midair.
Looking downwards from this deadly height,
Sending crescent-shaped slashes of [Aerial Flush] and balls of slashes from his [Stormfront] maneuvers, scattering the three once more.
And ne'er realizing
Zellus immediately dived towards Eclair, in the hopes of attacking her with a combo
WHY I
A [Wide Cut] leading into an [Rising Star] and [Aerial Rave] forced Eclair away as she parried the slashes, which propelled Zellus towards' Pyrrha's direction using the momentum
FI~I~I~IGHT!
As for Pyrrha, she blocked the slashes headed towards her as Zellus charged at her, surrounded by the slashes he drew.
There wilt be
Pyrrha braced for the worst as the swipe came her way.
BLOOD!
A side swipe smacked the templar aside.
SHED!
Then the overhead forced her to block the blade.
The man in the mirror nods his head,
The [Rising Star] move, where Zellus sent Pyrrha midair with a flurry of slashes, before the [Avalanche] inundated the space with more slashes, knocking Pyrrha back to the ground.
The only one!
Zellus' [Crosswise Cleave], with both wooden blade and sheath disoriented Eclair's charging bull attack, which left her wide open to a [Jaw Breaker].
Left!
The kick to Eclair's torso sent her reeling as well.
Wot ride upon the dragon's back,
Then Zellus continued his relentless combo, sending Eclair
And the mountains give not back what they take
Yatsuhashi was repeatedly slashed to rhythm as Zellus swung with one hand to the right, left, up then down, back and forth, until on the ninth slash, he proceeded to sheathe the blade and quickly redraw, sending the giant of a Housecarl tumbling over.
A~las!
Yatsuhashi grit his teeth, hoping to parry Zellus' next attack.
There wilt be
Unfortunately, he was tipped over by Zellus' rapid-speed charge, a trail of slashes following right behind him with [Rapid Slash].
BLOOD!
A [Rapid Slash] left a trail of slashes as the charging Zellus knocked Yatsuhashi over at the last second with the point-blank quickdraw.
SHED!
Immediately changing direction, Zellus performed a second [Rapid Slash] that scattered Pyrrha and Eclair as they tried to reconvene against his position.
Tis' the only thing I e'er kno~own!
And with a final, fully charged [The Diviner], a massive slash that erupted of air from around the vice-captain's spinning attack, after Zellus spun around and drew his bokken.
The three collapsed on the floor, too exhausted to fight. Zellus smiled, knowing that he had handily beaten them. Still, the three did have potential, and proved themselves capable of surviving his skills.
"Get the Shield Hero, he's worth more!" The free fighters begin to overwhelm the party Shield Hero, and the church expedition with their strongest fighters either mind controlled or tied up fighting coach Zellus. Some members of the free fighters manage to get close towards Naofumi, who is still slumped on the ground hacking air and coughing up blood to grab the downed Shield Hero..
"ACK! Get it off me! GET IT OFF!" That's when the convicts all starts to scream out with pain and terror. Three hideous rubber balls on raptor-like legs with sharp teeth attached to their limbs, body and even face, biting and chomping flesh off their unfortunate victims.
The abominations Naofumi kept around his body were too slow to deliver retribution to the one who hurt their master (on account of Menlo already being dead). But they aren't too slow to protect the Shield Hero from the other free fighters.
"Get. Away. From. MY. FATHER!" Mein turns her head towards what sounds like a growl of barely contained anger. By the far end of the catacomb, Raphtalia has changed into her child body. Not exactly the most intimidating sight, even if she's gritting her teeth.
If not for what's under her. The small raccoon child is currently riding on the shoulder of Farkas, her legs wrapped around his neck, tiny hands pulling the ear of the giant werewolf like she's holding onto a reign.
With a kick of her feet, Farkas charges straight forward at the disarrayed free fighters.
End Note:
Sorry about this chapter being much shorter. This was originally the same chapter with the last one. But that would pushed a single chapter's word count to around 18k... and I'm not about to subject my readers to this massecre of their eye nerves.
So, as this chapter shown (Even if it's mostly written by Ace Triad), I wasn't kidding when I said my version of Zellus is mostly inspired by Jetstream Sam.
I definitely liked Zellus better in PrettyLazy's earlier iteration, where he's more of a chaotic neutral force of nature who simply goes around seeking for a good fight to further improve his own 'art', than the chaotic evil villain he ends up being in his latest rewrite... before PrettyLazy Thanos snapped all his OCs out of the story in his latest rewrite.
And yeah, not going to lie. At first when I added Yatsuhashi in this story as Naofumi's Housecarl, I didn't specifically pick him because I like him or think he's interesting as a character. I just throw him in there, because I don't want Naofumi's Housecarl to be Lydia or a female. Which was why in his earlier appearance he basically had no personality (unlike Kyubey, whose lack of personality is supposed to be Kyubey's personality from the start). Once again, I only realized this thanks to the guest reviewer who pointed it out to me.
XD
And after some thought on how to actually flesh him out as a full character, I realized he is in a way very similar to canon Raphtalia. He's obviously not Naofumi's first companion, but he is Naofumi's Sworn Shield who by duty should protect Naofumi with his life. Which means just like canon Raphtalia, I think there could be an interesting narrative involved with him on if he is actually his own man, or simply a tool with no self agency.
Of course, since I already tied the backstory of my version's Yatsuhashi to Zellus (yeah... all that backstory lore of Yatsuhashi of him being from a tribe of descendant of a previous Sword Hero? That was actually the backstory PrettyLazy initially came up with Zellus), there's obvious a bit more intimate character clash I can do between the two of them here.
Also... Raphtalia charges in at the last moment, again brings some of her more 'unique' skill set compared to the other more melee combat oriented characters.
XDDD
Editor's Note:
Hello! To you, the audience, I hope that you enjoy this monstrosity of a chapter.
I have waited over a year with baited breath to get the chance ever since I enhanced Weiss fighting Eclair, to finally plan and write out this story for you. And unlike Weiss versus Eclair, I had to put in more effort writing the timing, rhythm, and choreographing multiple people at a time. Additionally, I did have to build the whole fight from scratch.
This time, to really sell Zellus' reference as being based off Samuel "Jetstream Sam" Rodrigues (aka Minuano), I have decided to add in song lyrics to this particular series of fights. And to fit the time period, I wanted to make it sound like Elizabethan English.
Jamie Christopherson and Logan Mader are clearly poets when they wrote the lyrics, because I didn't need to format the words too much, between a song that was made a decade ago in 2013, and the formation of Modern English as started by William Shakespeare.
The fringe benefit of reading song lyrics in the written word is the sensation, rhythm and timing, as if you are listening to the background music of an actual boss fight.
And in truth, I would like to extend a sincere and formal apology to both you, my beloved readers, and Qinlongfei, the generous author of the story.
I admit that fighting multiple writer's blocks caused me to both delay this battle by two weeks and compromise on the initial vision of the battle. It was a challenge for me to write since I had to start from scratch choreographing multiple people as opposed to being provided with a rough outline and expanding on it.
I sincerely appreciate your patience for waiting and I promise to resolve these issues so that they would never happen again.
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