Chapter 38: Damien Vs Paige.
Priesty disappeared into the dark frozen forest after Leslie without awaiting another command.
Damien didn’t even spare the two a second glance, his attention had already shifted back to Paige.
"The way Seris spoke of you, it was like you’re the greatest awakened she’d ever seen". Paige said coldly while shifting the wait of her sword to the other side.
"Seris speaks only the truth".
Whoosh.
Damien shot an arrow straight at Paige, at this distance, it was almost a given that it would hit its mark.
But Paige’s dormant ability allows her to create tangible after images that move dozens of times faster than her original body; a single afterimage clashes directly with the arrow, destroying both.
Damien scoffed, His original plan of overwhelming her with numbers was no longer realistic. Which meant, he had to think.
Paige also understood the situation almost immediately.
She didn’t waste time charging recklessly at Damien, her afterimages were fast, but they would fade if they lost contact with her physical body.
So, she slowly adjusted her footing, allowing Damien and the remaining undead to spread out around her.
She wasn’t afraid of being surrounded as long as Damien was the one attacking, and not her.
Damien immediately noticed. "Trying to draw me in, I wonder. What makes you think I will take the bait, that dormant ability of yours isn’t truly attack based, it’s defensive. But if I don’t make a move we will be stuck here for the whole night, I don’t have time for that".
He raised a hand.
The five undead immediately separated, instead of charging together, they kept forcing Paige to keep turning her body as they approached from different angles.
"That ability of yours only works when you’re expecting an attack, so perhaps overwhelming you will be enough".
The first undead lunged, but Paige met it head-on
The same strange afterimages rippled from her body as dozens of phantom blades bloomed around her.
The undead’s severed arm spun through the air, but before Paige could finish it, the other four undead crashed into her blind spot with enough force to send them all tumbling through the snow.
Paige rolled before they could pin her down.
Her sword immediately carved upward, the undead’s jaw split apart, she kicked its chest and used the recoil to throw herself backward once again.
Damien was already waiting for her.
The black axe descended without warning, but Paige’s battle instincts were truly praise worthy, her lit body twisted sideways as the axe slammed into the frozen earth instead, sending ice exploding in every direction.
She quickly responded with a thrust toward Damien’s throat.
He allowed the axe to fall to the ground as his body leaned backward just enough for the sword to miss by a finger’s width before he caught the shaft of the axe again and ripped it free from the ground, before creating a safe distance between them.
His eyes remained calm.
"Alright, note to self. Don’t let her get too close unless you have back up".
Paige maintained a disciplined stance while monitoring the undead trying to surround her once more, she already realized the real threat wasn’t really Damien’s strength or skill, It was his numbers.
Damien clicked his tongue and the remaining undead began circling Paige in opposite directions.
"You won’t be able to respond effectively enough while your eyes are struggling to see where my next attack will come from. I must admit, that ability of yours is top tier, maybe even as strong as Yuri’s Impulse, but your key weakness is your inability to move while using your afterimages... I’m guessing they vanish once they lose contact with your skin, Paige. Your rigidness will be your downfall".
Paige’s expression finally changed, the grip on her blade tightened
She could no longer predict where the next attack would come from, Damien later settled for a clean strategy, confuse her by denying her the peace of mind of knowing where the next attack would come from and then overwhelm her at close quarters combat, together with his undead, Damien didn’t care how skilled or defense oriented Paige’s ability was, she was going to die within ten swings of his axe.
... ...
Damien rushed Paige together with the five remaining undead, the axe coming down from above while the undead attacked from every direction at once.
As Damien expected, Paige immediately abandoned the idea of standing her ground. She slipped between the first two undead, one afterimage cutting through an outstretched arm while another intercepted Damien’s axe just long enough for her real body to escape.
The battle instantly descended into chaos.
Damien’s axe repeatedly forced Paige backward while the undead denied her any room to breathe. Every time she avoided one attack, another immediately followed.
Eventually Damien managed to land a solid blow to her head, it bled profusely. But the stubborn sword master still refused to fall.
An undead grabbed her arm, only for her sword’s afterimage to sever its wrist before she spun around and split its skull apart.
Another lunged from behind, but Paige ducked beneath it and drove her blade into its chest before Damien’s axe nearly caught her across the shoulder.
undead fell one after another, but Damien’s attacks also became sloppier. Paige’s superior swordsmanship slowly began taking over the battle.
She slipped inside his reach, deflected the axe with frightening precision and drove the pommel of her sword into his jaw before sweeping his legs out from beneath him.
Damien crashed heavily onto the snow.
The axe flew from his hand and buried itself meters behind them, while Damien’s undead were still approaching, Paige saw it as an opportunity and didn’t hesitate.
She planted one foot against Damien’s chest, blood covering her face and clothes as she raised her sword high above her head.
A savage grin spread across her face.
"Victory is mine."
Damien indifferently looked past her shoulder, the axe buried in the snow suddenly shot in their direction.
Before Paige could react, the black axe tore through the side of her neck and erupted from the other end, before curving and securing itself in Damien’s palm.
Her smile froze.
