272 Flying blades

Ashley was panicking.

[Ashley! Calm down!!] Marcus suggested.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!! NEVER TELL SOMEONE WHO IS NOT CALM TO CALM DOWN!! THAT'S THE WORST POSSIBLE THING YOU COULD SAY!!!" Ashley yelled.

[Okay... Uuhh... Don't calm down...?]

"Aaaaaghhh!! I can't believe I lost Marcia!! How did I lose a baby that does nothing but sleep all the time?? I need to find her!!" the woman shouted while dashing through the forest.

[What about Lilith?? She can't move or see!!]

"Oh! That's right... Uuuuhh..."

Ashley didn't know what else to do so she simply returned to where Lilith was sleeping and placed the lady on her back. Due to the power of Marcus' blessing giving her an increase in strength. Lilith weighted like nothing.

[Youre gonna search for Marcia like this??] Marcus wondered.

"You got a better idea??"

[Not really...]

"Then shut up and let me work!!"

Ashley then returned to her search for the missing baby while running around the endless sea of trees trying to spot anything that might look like the girl.

She began to notice how fast her legs were moving, how easy of a time she was having carrying Lilith, and with how much detail she could analyze the forest as if her whole life she had a problem of bad eyesight and someone suddenly had given her the best pair of glasses ever.

"Whoa... Your blessing is amazing..." Ashley commented with Marcus.

[Oh... Is this your first time trying it?]

"Y- Yeah... I don't tend to go to the battlefield very often... So I never needed to wear blessed metal that much..."

[I see... How does it feel?]

"It feels... I don't know... Like some sort of chain that was holding me down for years had just been released... I feel lighter..."

[Hehe! Thanks!] Marcus replied, feeling proud that his power was being praised.

"Ah!! I think I see her!!" Ashley claimed while spotting the girl crawling into a cave located deep into the forest.

[Whoa... For a little girl she sure can move fast...]

"Then I'll need to be faster!!"

Ashley tried to focus and began to pull even more power from Marcus' blessing, resulting in her speed increasing absurdly.

Marcia turned around at the sound of Ashley's footsteps coming closer to her and continued to watch confused as the woman just passed the kid in a matter of seconds.

"Aaahhh! I can't stop!!" Ashley claimed as she continued to enter the cave.

[Calm dow-]

"DONT TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!!!"

[Right! Right! Sorry... Uuhh... Try to focus on releasing your power...]

Ashley started to take deep breaths and did as Marcus said, trying her best to shrink the strength of the blessed metal, which in turn managed to lower the pace of her run.

"Ah! It's working!"

"Good... Seems like she is safe..." Ashley whispered in relief.

She came closer to the child and extended her arm to grab her, while carefully observing if there was any scratch or injury on the baby, anything that could give Ria a reason to murder Ashley.

[I don't see anything... Let's go back before Ria notices it...]

"Yes... Let's get out of... This... Cave..." Ashley tried to reply while giving one last look at the cave and realizing a pair of reptilian eyes of the size of a car window glaring at her.

[Oh...]

"...S#%@!"

Both Marcus and Ashley gasped at the sight of a lizard-like being watching their movements while covering its body with the shadows of the cavern. Its size was that of about two trucks pilled on top of each other and its skin was covered with a light tone of blue with white horns sticking out of its head.

[We should go...] Marcus suggested.

"We should..." Ashley agreed.

She turned around and readied to run, but that proved to be a massive mistake as the creature just opened its mouth to slap Ashley's legs, making her trip and dropping Marcus, Lilith, and Marcia on the ground.

"Ugh!!" Ashley moaned while Marcis began to cry from bumping into the floor. Lilith just remained unconscious.

"Where do you think you're going...?" a voice whispered inside of the cave.

"What!?" Ashley gasped as the massive creature suddenly vanished and in its place, a young woman who seemed to be around the age of twenty was now staring at her.

She was wearing a blue robe, had long silver hair, and a pair of orange eyes that would not stop staring right into Ashley.

"W- Who are you...??" Ashly stuttered while trying to slowly crawl backwards to get closer to Marcus in his blade form.

"Me...? I'm your dance partner..." the woman replied with a smirk.

"What...?"

"Hurry up and grab your sword... I wanna see what you can do..."

Ashley raised an eyebrow but she still did as she was told and grabbed her sword while standing up.

"I- I don't want to fight you..." Ashley stated, "Just let us go!"

The woman tilted her head while keeping her small grin, "I don't think that is an option... Now come! Show me what you got!"

Ashley had no idea what was going on but it seemed like this woman had no intention of letting them leave without a fight. She tried to focus on channeling the blessed power of her sword once again and charged at the woman.

Her opponent did not move. In fact, it seemed like she was waiting for her to strike her down.

Once the blade finally arrived, the woman just stopped it with her index as if she was pushing an elevator's button.

"What the-"

"Is that it...?" the woman wondered.

Ashley backed away and tried to charge once again. She had never fought with a sword before aside from the time she was a demon dryad and could turn her arm into a blade, but she knew enough to know how to swing for the vital spots in order to take down the opponents as fast as possible.

But the woman in blue just repeated her gesture and quickly moved her index to stop her blade.

"Is that it...?" she asked again.

"Tch!!"

Ashley backed away one more time and carefully studied her opponent. The woman had no stance like Lilith, but each time they would get closer, she would just stop her movements.

She looked back and noticed that Marcis was busying herself while playing with Lilith's hair while the woman stayed unconscious.

"Marcus... Can you give me another blade and lower your size a little bit? I wanna try something..."

[Oh... O- Okay...]

Marcus did as he was asked and suddenly, Ashley went from holding one long blade to two short ones.

"Oho...!?" the lady in blue laughed, "Seems like you are getting motivated now!"

The woman was right. Ashley didn't want to admit it, but part of her felt like she didn't want to leave this cave without making at least a scratch on her.

Ashley carefully studied the woman. Her brain felt like it was working at high-speed. She began to plan all the possible ways she could stop her blades. Her hands, her arms, her legs, even her own head, Ashley took everything into consideration, thinking up ways on how to successfully land her strike.

"You done...?" the woman asked.

Ashley took a deep breath and assumed a battle stance, "Here I come..."

She dashed at the woman in blue once again and just like before, both her blades were stopped with her fingers.

"Is that i-"

"No! It's not!!" Ashley claimed before her adversary could even finish her sentence.

Her dual blades moved again and started to try to slash her over and over again.

The silver-haired woman just continued to block all her attacks with little effort, moving her arms up and down as if she was trying to scare a fly away.

Ashley kept looking at her, studying her patterns, gazing at her weak spots, learning her openings, all while unleashing a massive barrage of attacks.

[Ash... How are you doing thi-]

"I'm trying to focus! Quiet!!"

[Oh! S- Sorry...]

Ashley's attacks just continued. Swing after swing, all aimed at the most crucial spots of the human body. The neck, the heart, the eyes, the brain. Any other person would have already died fifty times by now, but this blue woman just stopped her attacks without even using her full hand.

[Marcus! Give me another blade!!] Ashley ordered.

[Oh! S- Sure!]

While in the middle of trying to land another attack, Ashley's short sword divided itself into two and making a blade appear in the middle of the air. Ashley quickly released the weapon on her right hand and shifted to grab the one Marcus had just made.

The woman noticed Ashley's strategy and raised her arms to block that blade as well.

[Another!!] Ashley demanded.

Her blade divided itself again and just like before, Ashley switched the weapons she was holding to grab on the new one.

[Another!]

The woman blocked just like before.

[Another!]

Ashley switched again.

[Another!!]

Ashley did not stop her strategy. The more they fought the less time Ashley would spend holding her blades. Every time her sword was swung, a second sword appeared right after it, almost as if the woman was being attacked twice in a row.

Ashley's arms moved so fast due to the blessed power that the swords never even touched the ground. She continued to switch from bade, to blade, to blade.

The woman in blue started to feel like she was stuck in a whirlwind of metal, being attacked by all sides. She tried her best to block all possible attacks, but eventually...

"Gotcha!!" Ashley claimed while grabbing a new sword that was made aimed right at the woman's heart and moving her hand to stab it with one fierce move.

The sword finally came in contact with her skin without being stopped by her fingers.

The two opponents finally stopped and analyzed the situation. The ground was covered with small blades spread all over the place, Ashley was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily while dripping blood from her nose due to the overuse of the blessed power, while the woman in blue just gazed at the weapon being pressed against her heart.

"Not bad..." she whispered.

Ashley felt her legs shaking and her arms getting heavier. Her sword was touching her opponent but her skin felt too tough to be stabbed. She tried to push it but the blade wouldn't move.

"That's not going to work..." the woman commented, "Only terminal weapons can harm me... And this one is still not ready to properly harm my skin."

"Ugh..." Ashley cried, "A- Are you going to kill us...?"

The woman smiled, "Soon... But not today... I just wanted to see what my dance partner looked like... I'm satisfied now..."

Ashley dropped on her knees and observed as her opponent walked back into the shadows of the cave.

"Who are you...?" the red-haired lass asked before losing the strength to speak.

"I'm one of the seven demonic sins... You can call me Greed!"

Ashley wanted to ask more questions but the woman soon vanished among the darkness of the cavern.

[What was that all about...?] Marcus wondered.

"Not sure... But we are safe now... That's all that matters..."

[Yeah! Let's get back to Ria]

Ashley nodded and hurried to grab both Marcia and Lilith, followed by dashing back to where she came from.

Marcus didn't want to comment on it but he could sense that Ashley's feelings had changed. She was actually enjoying that fight even though so much was at stake.

[Hey... Ash...?]

"Yeah...?"

[How are you feeling...?]

The lady began to think for a moment and started to notice that she in fact wished she could have continued to fight that woman for a bit longer, much to her own surprise.

"I... I'm not sure... I feel kinda nostalgic for some reason..."

Ashley didn't want to admit it, but right now, she was feeling the same kind of thrill she felt when she was fused with Dria.