Maintaining his distance, the Dragonheart flipped from the pillar he kept himself to as the guardian's halberd extended, swiping towards him before he tossed the spheres of clear aqua towards the royal warrior.
"I will not be caught by your tricks," the King of Spades muttered, tracking the aquatic balls with his eyes.
Agility was showcased from the bleached fighter as he flipped past the approaching spheres of water, rushing towards Emilio with his mystical halberd in hand.
'Good. Keep your eyes on me,' Emilio thought.
With a subtle gesture of his hand as he ran to the side, allowing his opponent to chase him through the vast domain, he commanded the aquatic spheres to change their form, instead taking on the shape of water-made sharks that swam through the air in pursuit of the king.
"Shark Tornado."
A "three-way chase"; the King of Spades pursued Emilio while the mana-forged sharks hunted the king.
As he was left cornered, approaching a wall, he acted quickly by sprinting up the wall directly before backflipping over the King of Spades' head, who didn't predict such an unorthodox movement.
Still, the halberd swipe nearly caught his back as he flipped over before flipping back again to let the aquatic sharks swarm the bleached guardian.
"Paltry tricks," the King of Spades said in disdain before swinging his massive halberd around.
The black-steel weapon cleaved through the aquatic predators, swiping them away before the pale figure dashed towards the Dragonheart.
Recycling the minced beasts of water, Emilio snapped his fingers, transmuting the spell once more into bands of waters that lashed out, wrapping around his foe's limbs.
"You…!" The King of Spades said in frustration, "Blast!"
A shock wave emitted from the guardian's body that disintegrated the aquatic bindings completely, though it provided more than enough time for the Dragonheart to close in with [Draconic Might] guiding him forth like a bolt of lightning.
The King of Spades was taken aback by this relentless aggression, parting his lips, "Fa–"
'No!' Emilio thought.
Intensely focusing on the lungs that inhaled and exhaled within the figure's chest, he pulled the air straight out of the man's body, preventing any from coming in for that second as well before he swept his blade forward.
The mechanical arm did not hold back the strength of his strike as the bleached guardian blocked it with his halberd, only to be overpowered as his guard was broken.
'Now…!' Emilio saw an opening finally.
Engulfing his sword in a bright blaze, he struck forth, dragging his fiery edge along the torso of the King of Spades, who could not repel the assault with words with his breathless lungs. It made contact, cutting forward as the blaze unleash with a roaring burn.
The performance of the slash resulted in a volatile release of bright-blue flames, causing the King of Spades to slide back. Breathing ruggedly as he caught himself, the bleached guardian stood there in shock as a gash was left across his torso.
'Damn. I didn't cut all the way through,' Emilio lamented.
Landing an attack and failing to finish his opponent seemed to be worse than failing to land the blow altogether, as the air around the snow-white guardian changed; the King of Spades now seemed determined, holding his halberd up as black blood ran down his chest.
—
[The Courtyard]
The battle against the seemingly impervious swordsman continued, though the unlikely duo had yet to find a foothold against the dead legend.
"C'mon! Is that all you got?!" Godfrey yelled out in a taunt.
Even as the tinkerer pulled the trigger on his rune cannon, the explosions were completely negated as the red-haired legend swung his sable sword, cutting through the volatile projectiles with swordplay that ventured into the realm of the supernatural.
Vandread circled around silently and quickly, aiming his daggers for the figure's neck once again while using the moment Godfrey spent on cutting through the explosions as an opening–
"Not good enough!" Godfrey shouted with a smile.
The pommel of the abrasive man's sword knocked into Vandread's stomach, stunning him as the oxygen left his lungs before Godfrey used a roundhouse kick to knock the Godless Style user away.
Crashing against the wall, Vandread found his entire body aching from the blow; a vexing reality from the opponent who treated the two like nothing more than tantrum-throwing toddlers.
'He could've killed us a dozen times over by now. He's playing with his food–that much is accurate to the tales…But, just what sword style is he even using?' Vandread thought.
"Not falling asleep on me, are ya?!"
The yell came from Godfrey, who sprinted across the gravel courtyard with bare feet, weaving through the needles that Vandread threw in an attempt to slow the figure down, though to no avail.
Vandread jumped to his feet, being forced to clash against the "First Hero" as he ducked down, going for a disemboweling slash towards the crimson-haired swordsman's stomach.
"--!"
Though the attack landed, Vandread found himself at a loss as the sharp blade was stuck against the abdomen of Godfrey; the man had clenched his abdominal muscles so tightly, so sturdily that they surpassed the reinforcement of steel itself.
"Trying to gut me? Brutal, aintcha? That's the 'Godless Style' for ya–I always hated that sneaky shit!" Godfrey smiled wide.
The bloodlust was palpable from the legendary swordsman as Vandread tried to jump back, though found himself witnessing an acrobatic rush from Godfrey who flipped around and spun on the gravel swiftly and without flaw.
BOOOM
Just before Godfrey could slam his foot against the man's gut again, a spray of adhesive liquid shot towards the swordsman, who leaned back to avoid it.
Vandread looked over, finding the saving action taken by Blimpo, who looked as though he saw a ghost once the attention of the battle-loving warrior was now on him.
"Blimpo! Move!" Vandread shouted.
It was too late; in an instant, Godfrey stepped across the width of the garden-occupied courtyard, this time choosing to use his sword as he slashed it forth towards the elf.
"Goodnight, elf," Godfrey said with a grin.
Though Blimpo closed his eyes as the inevitable fate closed in on him, he found that he had not yet died after a couple seconds. Slowly parting his eyelids, the elf found a figure standing between him and the "First Hero" that he did not recognize at first.
"Huh? You're…" Blimpo began to say.
Blocking the sword wielded by the fallen legend was a man with unkempt, black hair with dark bags beneath his eyes and ghostly, pale skin. There was nothing but a single arm used to block the destructive edge; the limb of the man who saved the elf was coated in an abundant darkness, used like a supreme armor.
"Avdima," Vandread recognized.
Though the edge of the sword had been blocked, the smile across the lips of the legendary swordsman would make one believe he had just experienced the greatest pleasure in his life.
"You're strong! Stronger than any of these other lowly pretenders! Fight me!" Godfrey demanded with an ear-to-ear grin.
Avdima held a bored expression, seeming not to want to be there, "Fine, but let's make it quick. I'm only here because my sister told me to help."
The stranger of ominous strength stood with the two against the maniacal swordsman of legend; though little was known about Avdima, even Vandread found himself quietly thankful for the man's presence.
"What's your fighting style?" Vandread asked Avdima, trying to know the strengths of an ally so that he could act accordingly.
"I destroy," Avdima answered simply.
"Huh?" Vandread looked at the man for his strange response.
Though this claim was put on display as the moment Godfrey tried to approach them, Avdima waved a single hand:
"Erebus: Era of Terror."
A wave of darkness swept forward like an abyssal tsunami, eating through the courtyard and flooding towards Godfrey.
"Yes! Perfect!" Godfrey howled in joy.
A space-rending slash came from the swordsman, cleaving through the colossal wave of destructive darkness, splitting it in half as the annihilating essence instead decimated the walls in its way.
Chunks of the garden were completely erased by Avdima's magical release, turned to nothing more than dead strips of soil.
Both Vandread and Blimpo found themselves taken aback by this showcase of never before seen magecraft, as it resembled nothing that existed on Arcadius.
"What kind of magic is that?!" Blimpo questioned, "I want it!"
Avdima held that same, bored look, "Like I told you–I'm from a different world than the rest of you. Don't bother trying to learn about it."
The tide of the battle had changed; as Godfrey erupted forward with ferocity fueling his feet that sent shock waves rippling through the stone tiles, Avdima met him halfway as they clashed.
Without any weapon of his own, Avdima's body seemed to be a masterpiece of its own, reinforced by mana to a degree that seemed impossible as he weaved through the swift slashes of the First Hero flawlessly, responding with a dark-infused punch of his own.
"--!"
Godfrey was grinning as the knuckles of Avdima were thrown against his chest, being slid back by the force with a look of total ecstasy worn on his lips.
"Yes! Yes! More!" Godfrey shouted.
Such a request was obliged by the tired-looking man as he raised a hand forward, "Erebus: Arrows of The End."
A rain of arrows made of abyssal destruction shot forward, curving into the air and bolting towards Godfrey from many angles. Still, the blindfolded, bound swordsman grinned at this incoming attack, meeting it happily.
"It won't reach."
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