Chapter 314: Final Fight, First Half
Running at him with killing intent seemed like the most asinine thing to do right out of the get-go. That being said, there was still the temptation, the surge of impulse tensing my muscles itching to give it a try.
Almost ashamed to admit it, but that was far from the only nonsensical idea to be churned out from this squeezy, meaty moronic excuse supposedly called a brain.
From flinging my sword at him like a spear, to somehow disarming him with some quick lighting fast hand techniques that I don’t even know about – so far the best idea I had yet was the one where I utilized the tried and true, ‘ey, what’s that over there?’ technique and kick him in the balls when he wasn’t looking.
Sun Tzu eat your heart out.
“Something wrong, Big Man?” Leon asked, his handsome mug creasing with a genuine concern. “Match started about a minute ago, and you haven’t done anything so far apart from just staring at me menacingly.”
“Yeah, well...” I muttered, darting furtive glances searching him up and down. “Neither have you.”
“No, I am doing something,” The grip on his sword seemed less tense, even had time for a quick chuckle. “I’m waiting for you.”
.....
“Wow, that’s amazing...” I tightened mine. “That’s exactly what I was doing.”
He blew through smiling lips, a breath amused. “Then I guess we’re at an impasse, aren’t we?”
Crowd was quiet, Tyler was too. Not a peep could be heard, not even a stray cough. Perhaps they could sense it, maybe feel it too... a tension so heavy, so constricting it was almost suffocating.
“Alright, I’ll help out,” Suddenly he spoke out, still with those lips “Just this once...”
It took only a split-second between his words and my reaction, before, in a flicker of quick rapid movements there was a sword raised high in front of me already plummeting even quicker down below before the harsh glint of the spotlights.
I heard the grunt slipping past my clenched teeth as I moved to shield the blow. The familiar rippling shockwave came as the familiar resounding thud sounded.
Then it sounded again, and the impact came just as hard... then it happened again, and again, and again.
Leon wasn’t stopping, every attack leading on to another – a swing horizontal turned into a strike vertical – and it wasn’t solely just a frontal assault either. ‘Cause Unlike Bob, who was crude, and whose attacks felt a bit more disorderly... Leon had a bit more methodical and skillful approach to combat.
I only managed to catch the tail-end of his cape skirting to my side, and by then it was too late for me to do anything about it. He slipped past my defense and struck a sharp blow to hit my hips that left me reeling.
He didn’t need a tampered sword to hit hard. I didn’t need another hit to affirm that. I whirled around immediately – a single fast twirl in place – but he was faster... he was gone, and an immense force sending me stumbling, nearly falling forwards from behind proclaimed to me where he was now... and where he’ll be next.
At once I steadied myself – sword held firm and outstretched – I whirled the full 180 backward, and I was right, he was still there... unfortunately already two steps ahead.
With grace, he weaved my blow going below. With finesse, he retaliated... like slow-motion I saw it, couldn’t avoid it. The tip of his blade driving straight – had this not been just a game, had all this been real – then that thrust to my guts would have been the decisive blow ending it all, burrowing through me completely.
Luckily it wasn’t.
Luckily his blade and my armor simply repelled against one another, and though it staggered me back, it didn’t kill me. But from the way he was charging at me again almost immediately, felt like he was trying to change that.
His next attack hit, a nosedive slice to my shoulder... the follow-up after, another hefty thrust by sheer coincidence collided with the upper rim of my shield. I recovered, instantly braced for another... but it never came. Leon ceased his advance, and there he stood again – still the same amicable figure, smiling all nice.
We were on opposite ends of the ring now. He stood in my place, and I was standing in his.
I wouldn’t give it more than thirty seconds... forty at most. The fact that he could do so much, so fast in so little time without any hint of any strenuous effort on his part did not bode well for me on my part.
As for how I was doing... we were on total opposites in that regard too. Breathing hard, breathing fast, feeling the sting of his every blow pulsing beneath my armor.
“There, I hit first, impasse gone,” He said, his tone so infuriatingly patronizing. “Now it’s your turn to come at me, you ready?”
Bastard knew what he was doing. Luckily, I did too. I wasn’t going to let him goad me into making a fatal mistake... made enough of that already. So I stayed standing, and just stared back.
Tyler was saying something... I couldn’t tell what. Like the noise of the crowd, he just sounded like an ambient buzz shifting in and out of focus. Something to be heard, but not really heeded.
Leon took my full undivided attention. Every scrap of focus I had was devoted to his every move, for the every subtle twitch in his expression... so far, all there was, was a distinct cunning glimmer in the look of his eyes.
“I could tell from your duel with Bob,” He spoke out. “You never had a swordfight in your life before, have you?”
“This day and age, who has?”
“Ah, I guess that’s true...” He shrugged a bit. “You’ve seen some movies, at least?”
Don’t know why we were suddenly having a conversation, but if it buys me time to think of something, then...
“One or two, maybe. Action isn’t really my thing.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
The smug bastard...
“Now, normally I wouldn’t recommend following what you see in movies,” He said, blinking sly blinks. “But I suppose, at this point, anything’s worth a try, right?”
“Yeah, you’d love for me to give it a go and make a fool out of myself, wouldn’t you?” I said, staying adamantly in place. “It takes a special kind of idiot to take his own enemy’s advice... and sadly for you, I ain’t that special.”
“Enemy...” He repeated in a whisper. “I suppose if that’s how you see me, then I guess it can’t be helped.”
My ears paid heed to his every word, the inflection he used, how light the tone of his voice was. Begs the question, if he doesn’t see me as an enemy... then what am I exactly in his eyes?
A toy, a plaything, something to indulge, spoke the look in his eyes... made it even more apparent by those glossy balmed lips growing wide.
“How about this, then?” He said, a mischievous tone so prominent above all. “I’ll lighten the load a bit for you.”
Lighten the load. A statement like that, metaphorically, could mean many, many different things... and I didn’t know what. Didn’t realize that he meant those words quite literally.
The audible confusion that followed from the crowd was loud, Tyler was even louder. Can’t blame them, the muffled thump hitting the dirt before his feet was a confusing sound indeed.
Leon dropped his shield.
“There,” He stretched out his now empty hand, clenching and unclenching. “I lost my shield. Whatever is this poor knight to do now without his one means of defense?”
I still wasn’t falling for it.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked as he kicked the shield off to the distant wayside. “Whatever happened to taking me seriously? No holding back? Not a threat anymore, am I?”
“Oh no, you still are,” He replied, his words still so trivial. “You rush me, I’m coming at you full force. You strike me, I’ll strike back even harder. I’m not going to give you a single edge.”
“Then what the hell is this?”
“This is to make things interesting,” He waved around that shield-less hand. People come here to see a spectacle, to see us. It’s the climatic end... and how climatic would it be if it ended so easy?”
“You think you can beat me that easy...”
Leon didn’t answer that, instead, he took that same arm and stuffed it well away behind his back, and locked it firmly in place.
“Would you look at that, now I’m also missing an arm,” He faked a gasp. “Oh, just how inconvenient is this predicament I found myself in. Oh, woe is me.”
At that point, I didn’t even know what to say anymore. On one hand, he’s giving himself handicaps, then on the other, he claims to be taking this battle as seriously as he could.
“Look, they all deserve something noteworthy to talk about non-stop on the drive home, don’t you think so as well?”
“If you say so,” I said, shrugging.”
“After all the hiccups along the way... and all the inconvenience,” He shook his head. “I figured there has to be something I can do, something memorable, so something I did.”
I gave a scoff. “Well, aren’t you considerate?”
“Thank you. I knew you’d see it my way.”
I really didn’t, I never did. Inside I was fuming, seething. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. Whether this whole thing was just another solid attempt at spurring something irrational from me, or if he really meant what he claims.
Either way, I didn’t have to think. I couldn’t think. I just have to do it.
Leon straightened his arm-less shield-less stance and raised his sword before me, the shine glimmering from its surface a dull gleam in comparison to the sparkle in his toothy smile.
“So, what are we waiting for, Big Man? Let’s give them all a show for the ages, shall we?”
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