“Wait...wait...wait!” I shouted out, holding up my hands.
Xin stopped about halfway. I was a little surprised that she did so.
“Aren’t we going to fight her?” Alysia asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“We were able to defeat the other Xin... but remember, that was her submissive half. This is her fighting half, and it’s been fortified by Elaya’s dungeon, so there is no saying how powerful she’ll be.”
Compared to my guards, I got a strong sense of danger from her. They were all holding up their weapons, looking like they were ready to fight defiantly, including Ruby, but I had no doubt they wouldn’t be much help in a fight against her. As for whether I would win or not, I wasn’t confident of that either. This is why I stopped the fight before it could start. This was especially because I thought I had a way to avoid such a fight.
“You are a Magic Swordsman, correct?” I asked.
Xin narrowed her eyes. “Is that why you stopped our fight?”
“You believe in a fair fight, right? You don’t like stabbing people in the back. Direct confrontations, that’s the Osterian way.”
“If you agree, then pull your sword!”
“I will! However, why don’t we decide this fight in a single attack, ronin style.”
“Ro... nin?”
“Ahem... I mean, I’ll give my best attack, and you give you best, and whoever is standing in the end wins.”
“You honestly think that you can knock me down in a single strike?” Her haughty arrogant side started to resurface.n--o)(v--e)-l.-b./I--n
Xin’s problem had always been that she was too confident in herself. She believed she was better than her opponents, and as a result, she would sometimes look down on them. I was counting on this.
“Deek... I may be quite strong, but I’m not confident I can defeat her in a single blow. I’m not even confident I can protect you.” Alysia warned.
“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.” I smiled.
Xin cocked her head, and then after a moment, she nodded. “Very well. I suppose since you are a Dungeon Master like my mistress, you deserve to die a warrior’s death. I will give you one attack. At that point, you will die.”
“Maybe...” I shrugged.
She turned and walked back twenty feet, and then turned and faced me.
“Are you sure about this, bro?” Ruby asked.
“Yeah, I can do this.” I nodded, lifting my hands and casting a spell.
“What are you casting? What is that?” Alysia cried out.
“You’ve made a Portal?” Xin cried out, “You’re trying to run away?”
“Haha! It’s too late now!” I laughed.
“Trying to trick me. I hate tricks the most. Die!” Xin’s body erupted with a blinding light and she began to rush at me like lightning.
I reached through the Portal. “Behold my ultimate attack, Xin toss!”
I grabbed onto the unconscious Xin on the other side. The Portal I created led to her bed where she was tied up and under numerous spells. With a heave, I tossed her at her other-self. An Osterian went flying toward her human counterpart. Xin tried to move to dodge herself, but she already had too much momentum. The pair collided and collapsed into a heap.
“What... What is this?” The human girl stood up angrily, her sword having been knocked away. “You would use an innocent woman as a human shield?”
“An innocent woman?” I raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you should take another look.”
“You...” She looked down at the girl, and then back at me.
However, a second later she looked down at the girl again. She may not be remembering me right now, but there was no way she wouldn’t recognize her own body.
“This is.... What is...” Her eyes went wide, and she started to break apart.
“Woah! What’s happening?” I cried out.
“You’re the one who did this!” Alysia cried back, “What did you do to my mother?”
We watched in surprise as the human Xin broke into ash, and then her light and energy flowed into the other Xin. The human Xin’s current body was made of miasma. Her body had been destroyed in the Twilight Dungeon and had only been recreated by dungeons. Her true body was still the Osterian woman. I was reuniting her soul and her body. Xin was changing once again as she was finally restored to her true self.