Chapter 143 - Selflessness: Value

Ignoring his repeated request, Iris let her shoulders fall limp as she took a few calming breaths before raising her hands in front of her chain, sliding her feet into position as she took a stance.

"Huh? Are you really planning on using your fists against me? Is this some sort of bluff?"

He loved to hear his own voice; that much is something she realized through these short exchanges. Using this fact, Iris moved forward, straining her calf muscle as she commanded all of the strength within that leg as he was busy flapping his lips--guiding her step forward with a volatile speed backed by reinforcement.

The look in his eyes as his pupils shrunk out of pure fear of the sudden speed she displayed sent a reinvigorating chill through her body as she reared her fist back, placing her elbow at her hip before launching forward with a colossal strike directly against the bridge of his nose.

There would only be one moment that he would underestimate her, only one opportunity to strike him with everything she had--so a clock directly to his scarred nose was her choice of target. A trail of scarlet flowed out from his nostrils and into the air as he slid back on his feet from the harsh impact that pushed him.

--A straight-forward. Thanks for teaching me that one, Brahmi.

If it was going to turn into a battle of fists, she was going to come prepared; conjuring a small band of light to use to tie her flowing locks of azure into a ponytail. Kicking the charred goblin corpse that occupied the space next to his foot away, Macheo pinched the bridge of his nose as blood seeped from his nostrils, falling onto the deathly-stained marble below.

"...That was a nice punch, I'll give you that."

"Thanks."

Maybe it was only for a moment; a humbled look overtook the lecherous, arrogant expression that housed itself on Macheo's face as he spit a drop of blood onto the ground, wiping his lips as he kept his gaze low.

"I thought you were just a meek, naive girl...Allow me to retract my previous judgment; you're a fighter, just like I am."

"No, you were right--I am naive. That's why I'm going to knock some sense into you."

Hearing these words of conviction backed by her resolved, pearly-blue eyes, Macheo let out a brief chuckle before fixing his gaze, narrowing it to match the tone of battle.

"Did you come to this place to guide the dark to the light? You realize you have stepped into the deepest pits of depravity the moment you entered this place, no? There is no place for selflessness, only the selfish can survive here."

"I'll just prove you wrong; right here, right now."

"I'm right here."

Macheo ushered her towards the fight by waving her index finger, holding a subtle smile that replaced his egregiously toxic look of frivolity he previously held.

The switch from his casual demeanor into his state of battle was just as swift as his step, clapping his hands together before calling out words of mysticism, "Achelous: Stride of the Leviathans!"

It wasn't a magical prefix she had heard before, quickly learning of its nature as waves of water manifested into existence near Macheo's feet, propelling viscous waves that began to take a shape of their own.

Dealing with the element of water was one of the most arduous of all other elements, twisting its form yet carrying itself forward with jarring changes that made one question what they saw as each second passed by their own two eyes.

The conjured water coiled around itself, splitting into three separate large pillars that took the shape of carnivorous beasts, baring their fangs formed of liquid as they roared out.

"Go!"

Commanding the familiars formed of water, Macho jutted his index finger in the direction of Iris, sending the grouping of viscous water-leviathans towards him.

"Hyperion: Protection!"

Iris called for the safety of the solidified form of light, however, it wasn't for the protection of herself; manifesting the shield directly between the head and body of the water-bound familiar, she managed to sever its head cleanly.

A triumphant smile came naturally to her expression in the heated moment as her attack met success, watching the severed core of the beast fall to the ground before dissipating back into a puddle.

--Just two more!

She knew that Macheo wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, jumping tile to tile as the leviathans swept towards her, leaving their jaws hanging open in an attempt to snatch her body. The force that they passed her by accelerated her step, driving forward her instinct to live, just colliding head-on with the water-formed beasts would bring forth a brutal impact, let alone being caught in their massive jaws.

"How long can you keep avoiding them? You can dodge them a thousand times...I only need to catch you once."

Keeping his focus steady on stabilizing the form of the leviathans, Macheo commented without any play in his tone, watching her carefully as his eyes never left her position.

"Achelous: Boil."

Hearing the quiet incantation leave her opponent's lips, Iris shot her gaze towards Macheo--watching for a spell to erupt from him but nothing came.

It was when she dodged another strike from one of the leviathans did she realize the nature of the spell he had cast--feeling a scalding heat land against her forearm. As steam emitted from the form of the towering leviathans of water, she deciphered the nature of the spell.

--He shifted the constitution of his conjured water; it was riled up to a boiling heat!

Rearing its head back, one of these dragon-like heads parted its jaws like a hungering serpent, releasing a stream of skin-melting aqua.

Just simply avoiding its path wasn't enough; the scalding liquid repelling from the marble floor met with parts of her exposed skin. A simple droplet of this liquid was enough to shift the affected portion of her skin to a reddened hue.

It was unconventional but it was needed, "Licht: Holy Wave!"

Ushered into existence with pained desperation, Iris called for the zonal eruption of light mana to repel the incoming splash of heated liquid, once again facing the two-headed leviathan.

"You didn't think you only had to worry about them, did you?"

It was a whisper to her ears, that unmatched swiftness from Macheo had completely taken her senses hostage as she froze up, his words leaving a tickle against their destination. Any sort of retaliation was far too late, receiving a back-fist directly against her cheek as she was sent tumbling onto her side. Rolling across the ground, slick with blood and heated by her previous flames, the pain from the back-fist drove through the flesh of her cheek. It seemed she inadvertently bit her cheek from the momentary reaction to his presence, causing a tear from within after being met with his fist.

--It's pathetic.

Facedown against the blood-soaked floor of the exiled courtyard, Iris could hear only the hisses of the water-beasts as they hovered above her.

"Shall I let them devour you? It would be a waste."

--I'm still so weak. After all of this time here, I've had nothing but time to go stronger but I've been so conceited...Rarely leaving the safety of my own home, coddled by Mother.

"I'll ask you this once more; become my wife or become food for my familiars."

The demand fell upon deaf ears as Iris ran her fingers against the marble before clenching her fist so tight that blood was drawn forth from her punctured skin.

--I'm not strong enough to save anyone. I'm too weak to take it easy enough on someone...To guide them onto the right path. I was naive to think I had that sort of strength.

It didn't take more than a few moments for her cheek that received the impact to swell up, turning a light shade of purple as she strained to push her body from the ground she lied on.

--...I'll use it. I'm sorry, Mother. I'm going to break my promise.

Watching the miserable, slothful attempt to raise her body from the ground, Macheo gritted his teeth, swiping his enclosed fist through the air before following through with an ear-blistering yell, "Give me your answer now or face my wrath! Don't test me!"

"...Shut up."

"What did you say?"

Macheo asked in a scowl, his pupils dilating as he tried to get a look at the girl's face as it became obscured by her fluttered drapes of azure.

"Shut up!"

Her amplified, repeated words were backed by an existence of enigmatic mana crawling from the depths she existed upon.

"Do you not realize the position you're in?! Even still? Maybe I hit you too hard or maybe you were always this dense! If you are so impatient to be eaten by my leviathans then I'll gladly meet your request!"

Rearing both his arms back before sending them forward as a commanding signal, Macheo ushered the two-headed leviathans of aqua to finish their prey.

Traveling through the air with their watery constitution, their journey was halted by a sudden meeting with a newly felt sensation.