Step. Step. Step.
Zayne stepped slowly forward, the ice breaking beneath his feet while faint smoke emanated from his hands. Rare drops of blood fell from his wounds, but it was only proof that he had succeeded.
The girl jumped back, closer to the mage, and asked, "How much mana do you have left?"
"Enough for one powerful spell if necessary." The man replied confidently as he narrowed his eyes.
"Fine." The girl nodded, "In that case, use it all on me. I can handle it if I'm fast enough."
The mage looked at her intently, not wanting to waste all his mana, "Are you sure?"
"Sure, now that he's left unarmed, I definitely can." The girl said seriously, clutching her blades tightly.
The man sighed, shook his head, and struck his staff to the ground, "It seems I have no other choice. The outcome of the entire battle depends on you, don't let me down."
The purple crystal on top of the staff glowed brightly, directing all of its energy at the girl, whose power immediately increased significantly.
"Come on. Let's get this over with already." Zayne said calmly, extending his arms out to his sides as if calling his adversary to him.
The girl frowned, her blades covered in lightning as she lunged forward. There was a crack in the ground from her stride, and like a flash she approached Zayne, pointing her blades directly at him.
Zayne prepared for battle, and when her silhouette appeared directly in front of him, he swung his arm, knocking one blade out of her hand in a sharp motion.
"What...?" Girl's eyes went wide, she didn't understand how it happened, then a chill ran down her back.
Zayne's palm thrust into her throat, making her gasp. Zayne took a step forward, about to strike her in the back of the neck, but at the last moment, the girl came to her senses and gripped her blade tightly with both hands.
"Bastard!!! Don't think you can be so arrogant and not even try to kill me for real!" She exclaimed furiously, bringing the blade down on Zayne, with tremendous speed and a purple plume that stayed behind her.
Zayne had no time to dodge as she put all her strength into this attack and was prohibitively fast, so Edward had a satisfied smirk on his face. He wasn't a fighter, but he was well aware of what his defenders were capable of.
'With my hands, I won't be able to block it... She'll just cut my arms off.' Zayne said inwardly, looking at the blade moving toward him, 'I need something else durable enough to absorb it.'
Whooooooooooosh.
Zayne's ring flashed brightly as one thing appeared in his hand. He took a step forward, and the lightning blade collided with the piece of sword he'd received after his victory at Selania.
Maybe it was just a piece, but it had a hilt and a short layer of high-grade metal that was far better than even his last sword.
Blue sparks flew off to the sides, right in Zayne's face, but nothing could hurt him as his sword, as well as his stance was unshakable.
"Get out." Zayne said coldly, tossing the girl aside.
She fell to the table, breaking it with her back. She wasn't badly hurt, but she was already admitting defeat, as even her most powerful attack didn't work.
"Agh...?" Edward's eyes went wide as he was lost. He looked around, trying to find a way out to escape somehow, but fear was like cold chains already completely shackling him, preventing him from even taking a step.
Zayne slowly strides forward until he was right in front of Edward, who was already trembling with terror at the idea of what was about to happen to him.
"Tell me, was it worth it?" Zayne asked slowly raising his sword as if he had a whole weapon in his hand.
"You could have challenged me to a fair duel, or you could have better taught your son manners, for we both know he was at fault. However, instead, you chose to kill me first, then blame me for using the power of Chaos and disaster, didn't you?" Zayne said coldly, looking at Edward with a calm gaze.
Edward didn't know what to say, he just trembled, as he realized that nothing and no one could stop Zayne from his revenge anymore, so there was only one thing he could do.
Tap.
Edward's knees slammed to the ground as he folded his hands together and with tears in his eyes cried out, "Please! Don't kill me! I was just angry and stupid! I shouldn't have done it! I beg you... Let me go and I'll never bother you again!"
Zayne, still holding the sword firmly above his head turned to Reik, "What about you? Do you regret helping that bastard? You've committed many crimes, but the most serious of them all is that you have the dust of the Chaos Crystal."
Reik bit his lip, almost to the point of blood, clenched his fists tightly, and with his head down said, "Sure... I was an idiot for taking that risk... Go ahead, do what you have to do. Kill us."
Zayne smirked as the dismal aura that emanated from him instantly vanished.
"Oh, you misunderstand me, I don't want to kill you." Zayne returned the sword to the ring.
"What...? Then what do you want? Money?" Edward muttered as hope appeared in his eyes, "If you want, I can give you everything I have! Just don't kill me!"
Zayne shook his head, "That won't be necessary since everything I needed I already got." Zayne threw off the cloak that had completely obscured his body for the entire fight, and everyone could see the yellow stone hanging from his belt.
Reik and Edward's eyes went wide as they realized that from the beginning, they had been trapped, and their last words had closed the exit for them forever, for this stone had recorded their every word.
"Well, now it's time to get to the fun part." Zayne touched the stone, channeling his mana into it, then ripples began to emanate from the stone, signaling the silhouettes that had long been standing outside the main door, waiting for their moment.