“Let the festivities commence!” Nike said with glee.
He vanished before my eyes following our clash, causing me to lurch forward and swing through the air. I managed to catch my balance and leaped to the left, just in time. A blade swung from the side, swiping through the area I’d just been in. Nike hadn’t disappeared—he’d simply jumped to the side, but he’d moved so fast that we’d all assumed he vanished into thin air. His speed was appalling. Even I couldn’t keep up with him, making it clear that my opponent had also reincarnated and received some overpowered abilities.
“Oh? You were able to keep up with that, I see,” Nike said as he attacked me again.
Every blow was heavy and powerful, their mere shock waves destroying anything within range. At this rate, all my friends will get dragged in! I continued to defend as I backtracked from the path I’d come from, hoping to distance myself from everyone else. Nike swung his blade again and again as though he didn’t care about those around him, the temple included. He destroyed everything in his path like a man who was drunk with his immense power.
“Wonderful!” he crowed. “Simply wonderful! My swings should be so powerful that even a single blow would shatter your bones, yet you continue to defend yourself. Even I require some Materia to support my body, lest I crumble into pieces by simply swinging my weapon around.”
I take that back. He’s not drunk with power, he’s just happy to fight against me. A shudder ran down my spine.
“Lady Mary?!” His Highness shouted. “Why are you here?”
“Prince Reifus!” I shouted. “There’s a device in the back that’s gone berserk! It’s affecting the island! At this rate, this entire place will fall and explode!”
I was so busy defending myself against Nike’s attacks that I didn’t realize just how far I’d retreated. Only when I heard the prince’s voice did I become surprised about how far back I’d gone. No, the prince and his team are being pushed back too—they had to retreat here. I glanced at my four fighting friends, and there were so many magus weapons pouncing on them that I could’ve practically sworn that there were an infinite number of enemies. My friends were so vastly outnumbered that it was only a matter of time before they were overpowered.
Panic swirled in my head. I had to do something, but what? Every time I swung my blade in an attempt to predict Nike’s moves, he’d never fail to parry me. It felt like he could read my mind the way he outmaneuvered me. Wait, can’t this guy actually sort of read my mind? The Argent Knight said something about visions.
“Ah, so this is how it feels to experience the armor’s power,” Nike observed. “It’s splendid, yet the visions of your actions blur. How very, very interesting.”
I couldn’t see his face under the helmet, but his gleeful cackle was more than enough to make me shudder.
A few magus weapons were drawn into our battle as I continued my retreat and eventually made it outside. The clouds were clearly higher up than they’d been when we’d arrived, and the ground was fissured and collapsing in places—clearly, this island was breaking away, and much faster than I’d expected. I’ve gotta hurry!
It wasn’t occurring to me that my anxiousness to finish the fight was acting as my greatest downfall. While the battle may have been a race against time, I was up against a fellow reincarnated person, and we were on equal footing—or perhaps not even that, considering I didn’t even know the full extent of the armor’s power. I wasn’t holding back, but no matter how powerful I was, it did not matter when I was never able to hit my target.
“Hmm... I admit that I’m shocked that you can physically keep up with this armor for so long,” Nike said. “Then how about this?” Suddenly, he accelerated tremendously, but I could still keep up. I can still fight this.
“Fire Ball,” the armor chanted.
“What?!” I gasped.
A fiery orb fell from the sky, in sync with Nike’s blade attacks. I parried his swings and leaped to the side. Without my powers, I would’ve just barely received a scratch or two from the spell, but I managed to make my dodges look so effortless that he must’ve assumed that I was unscathed. Phew, that was a close one. But my relief didn’t last long...
“Freeze Arrow,” the armor chanted again.
As Nike commenced his flurry of attacks again, icicles flew straight at me from my blind spots. Using two different consciousnesses to combine magic and swordplay at the same time like they were doing was something beyond even me—the Argent Knight could only do so because it was two entities acting as one.
They’re just cheating at this point! No wonder the Dark Lord got clobbered by the Argent Knight. I internally cursed my enemy as I continued to defend myself.
“What’s wrong?” Nike taunted. “The island will fall at this rate. I suppose it’s only natural your puny will could never best the Argent Knight, history’s greatest hero, formed by our bond.” His voice turned soft and gentle as he spoke to his partner. “Don’t you agree?”
“You’re right, Agard!” the armor replied. She’d completely lost her sense of self.
Unfortunately, I was still far too immature to resist Nike’s cheap tricks and taunts in spite of everything, and I couldn’t suppress my rage. “Don’t you dare call yourself the Argent Knight!” I bellowed. There was no way I could allow him to defile the image of that knight of legends—that child’s life—my friends and I had always admired. I leaped into the air for a downward slash.
“Thousand Crystal Edge,” the armor chanted.
Nike prepared to counter as countless icicles assaulted me, but I’d expected as much. I had no intention of holding back, so I used every ounce of power that I had—I allowed the frozen spears to crash into my body and vanish harmlessly, and because I didn’t dodge the blade that had thrust up into me, it changed trajectory as its tip contacted my impossibly impenetrable skin. My magic nullification and physical nullification powers were in full effect, and I wouldn’t hesitate. My aim was the Argent Armor’s helmet, and I swung my blade down with all my might.