The atmosphere was tense and close to snapping, when Zig’s foot scrapped against a broken pew. He felt a prickle at his nape, followed by an offensive smell. It’s coming.
Yaesar fired three stone bullets at staggered timings before rushing toward Zig.
Zig also made his move. He avoided one of the bullets by moving out of its line of fire and deflected another one with his weapon. He ignored the last one since there was no way it was going to hit him. Zig closed the distance with the intention of delivering a powerful blow.
Yaesar gained a sudden burst of speed and swung his crozier. He was still out of reach, and it didn’t look like he was activating any magic items.
His crozier hit one of the stone bullets, forcefully changing its trajectory. Now faster, the bullet sped toward Zig. He was altering the effects of a spell he had already cast.
Zig didn’t see it coming—he wasn’t expecting the man to space out his own attacks so he could control his opponent’s movement. He swung his twinblade, blocking the bullet with the opposite blade along with the crozier being swung at him. An explosive sound ripped through the air, sparks flying as the weapons clashed.
“You could have gone down a different path with so much power!”
Zig straightened out his knee as his twinblade gouged the crozier from under it to switch positions. Using his pivot leg, he twisted his upper body, scooping up the crozier, and flung it and Yaesar at the wall.
Yaesar hurtled straight toward the wall. There was no way for him to cushion the impact; the damage would be fatal.
If only Zig wasn’t up against a remitter. Yaesar folded his legs as he flew through the air. Conjuring two thin barriers to absorb some of the momentum, he spun and faced his feet to the wall. Before he made contact with the stone, he extended his legs and bent his knees to kill the impact. He threw some stone spears Zig’s way to keep him at bay as he tried to sprint toward him. He channeled more magic into his body before gravity could take over, gathering energy in his legs.
Yaesar went from slow to fast in a second, activating his physique enhancement spell with perfect timing. Using the wall as a springboard, Yaesar now raced back at Zig, faster than when he threw him earlier.
He activated his crozier’s magic seal. Yaesar charged in a straight line, his crozier leaving a trail of light and glowing like a meteor.
“Wha—”
Zig was taken aback but immediately prepared to meet Yaesar head-on.
There was a loud crash upon impact. Unable to stop Yaesar’s momentum, Zig’s feet skidded across the stone floor of the church. The wall-assisted charge had been powerful enough to make up for their difference in strength.
“Urgh!” Zig gritted his teeth and braced himself. Yaesar was on the offensive now, having used technique and magic items to overcome their power gap.
“I’ll make you eat those words!”
Zig whipped out his still-numb arm to fend him off, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop the charge.
The blow struck his side. His breathing grew ragged at the impact and the dull pain that followed.
“Why did you waste your potential on becoming a mercenary?! You could’ve had anything! Money, fame, anything!”
Zig stepped once more into the fray. Yaesar’s attack grazed his forehead by mere inches. One wrong move and his skull would’ve been blown to bits.
Zig weakened his grip and made an upward slash from below. By sliding his weapon, it disguised the reach of his attack, making it as long as possible. Realizing this, Yaesar arched his body, but it still managed to nick his side. The defensive spell engraved on his robes activated upon contact with the blade, but the blood red blade tore through the spell, eating into Yaesar’s flesh.
“Huh?!”
Yaesar felt shock run through him. The pain and the surprise of the attack caused him to lose track of his crozier.
Zig slashed in an X shape with his upper and lower blades. Yaesar’s body shook as he endured the heavy and powerful strikes of the twinblade.
“Tch!”
Regaining one’s balance against a powerful and multi-bladed weapon like the twinblade was difficult. Knowing he was at a disadvantage, Yaesar put up a stone wall between the two to buy himself time. The wall blocked the combatants from each other’s view.
His opponent would now be forced to choose his next angle of attack. However, as Yaesar recovered, a shadow loomed over his head.
This is what you get for thinking too fast!
He thrust out his crozier toward his defenseless opponent who had foolishly climbed over the wall. The ritual implement, glowing in the light of slain sinners, pierced its target…
…Zig’s abandoned cloak.
“Huh?!”
Yaesar pulled back his crozier, cursing himself for being tricked so easily. He looked around for his opponent, but he was nowhere to be seen. As if taking advantage of him being distracted, the wall in front of him shattered. He immediately jerked his body backward to avoid the shock wave produced by the magic item, but couldn’t put enough distance between him and the stone wall.
Rocks flew at him like shrapnel. His robes protected his body, but his head was a different story. Covering his eyes against this mercenary was too dangerous. He had no choice but to take the rocks coming for his head. They whizzed by his cheek and forehead, ripping through his skin, but at least his eyes were in one piece.
Zig now charged at the bleeding Yaesar, having blasted through the stone wall with his battle glove. “This is the only life I know! I’m not smart enough to make the switch to something more convenient!” He had lived by taking countless lives. He had mountains of corpses beneath him. He no longer felt that he was guilty of any wrongdoing, and he wasn’t about to turn his back on who he was now.
“I can relate—that makes two of us!” Yaesar welcomed Zig with a brilliant smile as he licked the blood from his cheek.
Twinblade and crozier clashed again. The crozier was glowing now, increasing its power to match Zig’s twinblade.
“I’ve lived like this for as long as I can remember! It’s too late to go down a different path now!”
He had believed the teachings, sacrificed himself for them. If the demi-humans weren’t sinners, he would just be another murderer. However, he had no intention of saying he was afraid of what he would become. The Claritist Church’s designation of “sinner,” the definition of “criminal”… These were all standards made to maintain a functional society. For Claritists, demi-humans were sinners. His duty was to protect the flock he belonged to, that’s all.
Even then…
He chose to believe, chose to sacrifice himself. He would not allow himself to turn his back on that.
Yaesar added more magic to his physical enhancement and items. He wanted to avoid a prolonged battle due to his dwindling mana. However, this was not an opponent he could hold back against. The remitter would not make such a foolish mistake. He could worry about what came next later. He would end this man. If he couldn’t overpower him, then he would out skill him.
With magic added to the mix, the scales began to tip in Yaesar’s favor.
He traded blows with Zig, looking for an opening as he kept his incantation up. In an incredible show of skill, he was threading the proverbial needle with his eyes closed, something he had picked up after countless battles.
An earthen spike sprang up from beneath Zig.