A Dance of Blades

Strike!

Parry!

Strike!

Dodge!

Pirouette!

Block!

Arabesque!

This dance of death, the duel between Razorstella and Rondo, had reached speeds and finesse that could only be described with the term "superhuman."

At this level, high-speed battles between high-tiered aether warriors were not uncommon, but the speed at which they were moving was unprecedented.

Sparks of flame and starlight spontaneously formed and broke as Razorstella and Rondo exchanged sword blows with one another, with Rondo's [Astra] bouncing off of Razorstella's hands and legs multiple times.

Every time Rondo attempted to strike at Razorstella's torso or head, the only parts of her body that weren't razor sharp and radiated an aura of pure deadliness, the sword-limbed dancer would perform an unexpected move that would redirect the blow to one of her sharp limbs.

A part of Rondo felt as if he were being used as a living sharpening tool for the crazy woman's limbs; the other part of him felt he was just being mocked.

If one were to ask Razorstella about this observation, she would declare that both parts were correct.

Razorstella had initially been purposefully redirecting the rapier strikes towards the parts of her that could properly counterattack with, up until she realized the rapier strikes would sharpen her edge every time they made contact. As such, she continued to do so until her legs and claws began to develop a mirror-like finish.

Once they had, Razorstella deliberately forced a situation where she and Rondo were now locked in against one another. Namely, she finally swung out her claws and forced Rondo to use his rapier to block the attack aimed at his face.

[Awww, that's a shame,] Razorstella clucked out of mock annoyance. [I was really hoping to test out exactly how tough that Regalia of yours is. I was going to figure out if it would be the equivalent of punching through a walnut or the shell of a creme filled chocolate.]

"You dare to mock me, monster?" Rondo asked through gritted teeth as he kept doing his best to try and push back against Razorstella's deceptively dainty claws. "Once I land a proper blow against you, you're as good as dead!"

[Oh? Why's that?] Razorstella asked with a voice that was a cross between genuine curiosity and pure sarcasm.

Rondo didn't dare to give an actual response to Razorstella's inquiry, but it had to do with his title amongst his fellow Penance Burners and his own [Astra].

It sounded rather redundant, but his [Astra] had the ability to inflict wounds that progressively got worst in a compounding manner as opposed to additive.

If one were to put numbers to this, instead of simply doing ten points of damage per hit, his attacks would be ten, then eleven, 12.1, etc. As such, his attacks go from feeling like simple stings to viciously powerful strikes that could tear a hole through an iron shell and then some.

Unfortunately for him, that sort of attack only really worked against opponents that weren't infused with the power of [Chaos].

Rondo had actually been able to land a couple of hits against Razorstella's person multiple times, due to the carelessness of the latter, but the usual lingering effect that would enhance his blows simply fizzled out like a embers falling into a large pool of water. Or in this case, an ember entering the vacuum of space.

Either way, Rondo was fucked, and he didn't realize it quite yet.

[Well, I guess it doesn't matter,] Razorstella shrugged. [What do you say we stop throwing around these practice swings and start making use of some actual, techniques? For example!]

Razorstella suddenly pulled herself back, instantly relieving Rondo of a lot of pressure and forcing the rapier-wielding warrior to stumble forward.

This, in turn, left the man wide open to a follow-up attack from Razorstella.

One that came in the form of a spinning back kick.

[Nebula Cutter!]

...

Halina's [Astra], the [Scrying Glass of Reversing Tides], had been made with two important abilities baked in.

The first was the ability to absorb and analyze most aether arts that were thrown in her direction.

There were many factors that determined the exact arts she could use her [Astra] on, but the shared rule between them is that they had to be attacks that she could reasonably defend against without the use of her [Astra]. In other words, she could defend and absorb attacks from other Aether Lords with relative ease, as long as they weren't using intermediate World-class aether arts or above.

The second function, and the one that made her [Astra] into a terrifying weapon, was the ability to produce "reverse" versions of any absorbed aether art.

A majority of aether warriors cultivated a single affinity; as such, they were naturally weak against affinities that were in direct opposition to their own.

Halina understood this truth of the world and used it consistently to defeat opponents who thought highly of their signature attacks. Evidently, this pattern had shown itself once more.

[Lifegiver's Cry!]

[Banshee's Wail!]

Screamira released a terrifying wail that carried the sound of a mournful death, while Halina's [Astra] released a cry that carried hints of the joyful cries of life.

The two attacks collided with one another, released a small bang, and then disappeared like dust in the wind.

Now, this particular exchange of attacks had happened about a half dozen times or so, to the point where Halina assumed that Screamira was a one-trick pony. Over and over again, Screamira released a powerful scream that Halina would then immediately counter.

It was starting to get a bit…bothersome.

"Is screaming all you can do?!" the Penance Burner roared out of frustration. In past fights, her foes would eventually pivot or err due to their repetitive failures. However, Screamira continued to scream, as if she were the embodiment of insanity.

[Banshee's Wail!]

[Lifegiver's Cry!]

For the seventh time in a row, the two attacks cancelled each other out. For the first time though, Screamira used this moment to her advantage.

With her presence shrouded by the collision of energy, Screamira closed the gap between herself and Halina while Halina was still recovering from firing off her previous attack.

Needless to say, the Punishing Ember priestess was shocked at the sudden change in the battle's dynamics.

[You know, I once read that warriors like you tend to have a flaw in your counter attacks. Something about timing or not being as strong as the original blow, it's always one or the other. Yours seem to be the former.]

Halina attempted to swing around her [Astra] to block, but alas, it was too slow.

[That means I can do this! Death Straight!]

...

"Stand still!"

[Fuck you, no.]

Springerdermain had meant it when he said he learned how to dodge, and was showing Boldra that being bulky didn't always mean victory.

To the large warrior's credit, them man showcased a level of stamina that matched his might quite well, and had even caught Springerdermain by surprise a few times.

However, the tricky magician of a kaijin had several tricks up his sleeves for such moments and always managed to escape by the scale of his skin.

[Hey buddy, you know you got an Astra, right?] Springerdermain asked while dodging yet another wild haymaker. [Don't those things usually have a special ability that makes them super dangerous?]

"If you want to know what my [Meteor Pauldrons] can do, why don't you stop disappearing like a ghost and take these hits like a man?!" Boldra roared before opting to do a double-fisted hammer swing that landed on the ground.

The force of the blow caused a crater to form directly beneath Boldra and send several nearby soldiers flying.

Springerdermain, however, was nowhere near the impact point. He had managed to leap into the air in time and saw that that crater wasn't just Boldra's brute strength.

It was actually being enhanced by the big man's [Astra].

[Ah, so that's the trick.]

From what he could see, Boldra's [Astra] worked a bit like a battery. Every swing, every blow, every charge, would cause more and more energy to build up in his pauldrons until they reached critical mass.

Once Boldra deemed it necessary, he would release all the pent-up energy in one giant burst.

It was a surprisingly deceptive [Astra] for someone brutish like Boldra...but perhaps that was the point.

Snakes often hide their fangs until it is time to strike, and large brutes hide their tricks until it is time to smash.

But now that he understood the trick, Springerdermain was now curious if he could get the man mad enough to forget his own built-in limits.

[You know, I feel bad that you haven't been able to land a hit on me this entire time, so I'm going to make it up to you. Here's a whole bunch of me for you to try and hit! Magician's Army!]

With a wave of his cloak and an application of aether, Springerdermain had multiplied into a dozen clones.

And all twelve were now flying towards Boldra to land a kick into his face.