Nashandra…
When the spatial battlefield expanded around them, Moyako was quick to act. Her body glowed with heat and turned to ashes before it accelerated forward and re-assimilated itself into her body.
Nashandra’s eyes widened as Moyako crossed the distance between them in an instant.
As her blade cut through the air on its way to reach her neck, Nashandra raised her own sword and countered it just in time.
“You’re nearly as fast as Artemis…,” she said, impressed by her speed just as Moyako launched a barrage of attacks in an attempt to cut her down before she could launch an attack of her own.
“You won’t even allow me the time to prepare myself, will you?” she asked.
“No. I know from Camilla just how dangerous you are,” Moyako answered.
She was right to attack Nashandra from the start before she had time to form her armor of bones and materialize Death Root sap across her body. Geirolul made that mistake instead of applying pressure immediately.
Moyako then took a step back before pressing her hand against the flat of the blade and swung it with tremendous force and power.
As she swung her sword, the air vibrated with heat and sparks danced along its surface as compressed heat and fire was released from its edge.
So she intends to destroy me with a single blow? I wonder if it will be enough, she thought to herself as she easily evaded the strike, but watched on as the flames rose high into the air until they nearly touched the clouds before fizzling out.
Nashandra slowed down her perception of time to allow herself the opportunity to gather her strength and manifest her armor. As she did, Moyako’s eyes followed her slowly as they tracked her movements.
Her eyes narrowed in annoyance and frustration a she failed to keep Nashandra from releasing her power in time.
With her armor manifested and a quarter of her power released, Nashandra said, “Now we can take this fight seriously. They call you the strongest woman in the world, do they not? I want to find out if that is true.”
She swung her own bone blade at Moyako’s neck but her sword was parried away before she launched a counter of her own.
Moyako raised her left foot into the air before stomping it back down and releasing an explosive wave of fire and light, blinding Nashandra.
Yet even without being able to see, she could still sense the disturbances in the space around her as she felt Moyako’s blade falling towards her and blocked it effortlessly.
“You’ve seen me destroy a planet in my first match, haven’t you? I reduced it to nothing but ashes, yet you doubt my strength?” she questioned her.
“I do. Even underneath those seals, I can still sense the limits of your soul and you are not even half as powerful as my dear king. You may yet be a good rival to myself however.”
Unfortunately, she still hasn’t yet recovered her eyesight and was forced to rely on her extrasensory perception to evade.
She sensed a massive amount of spiritual energy compressing within Moyako’s sword and matched the output with her own power as she parried away her attack.
In the distance, she heard what sounded like a meteor strike as the land was torn asunder by their combined strength.
As their swords continued to clash, and their power razed everything around them, she wondered how far she could push her before she released her full strength as well.
In between each parry of her sword, she asked, “‘Moyako, The Immortal’ they call you as well. Are you truly immortal, or is that simply an exaggeration? I’ve never met a being, no matter how long lived, I could not kill.”
Moyako...
She was losing patience with this woman the more she talked. She just wanted to finish this fight and move on to the next, but she continued to speak which was annoying.
As she let her irritation of her words get the better of her, she thrust her sword forward and shouted, “Stop talking and FIGHT!”
Her sword struck open air as Nashandra seemed to have vanished, but before she could turn her head to look for her, she felt her hair being pulled from behind.
She was yanked back as Nashandra stood over her, with her sword raised before it was plunged into Moyako’s chest.
Being stabbed wasn’t what killed her as she was far tougher than that, but rather, it was the Death Root that tore its way through her body. It wormed its way through her flesh until it broke through her skin soaked in blood.
Yet it happened so fast that she barely had time to register the pain before she was killed and everything went black.
It caught her off guard, but it was still within her expectations that someone who had mastered Death Magic could manage this much against her.
Through sheer force of will, she willed her magic to bring herself back from the dead as it was meant to, and the Death Root in her body was burned to ashes as she was reborn.
Nashandra stood a few feet away as she observed everything that was happening and said, “So you are not a true immortal, but rather your magic brings you back to life? That is a rather disappointing gimmick. I had thought that there would be more to it.”
As Moyako coughed up the disgusting sap of the Death Root that formed in her body, she said, “That’s the first time in over a decade that I’ve been killed by anyone...Its still unpleasant.”
“I can’t imagine what that must feel like…,” Nashandra said, almost wistfully.
Annoyed, Moyako said, “Ashen Phoenix: Release Chasmic seals 1, 2, and 3.”
Hearing that seemed to have peaked her interest as she said, “‘Chasmic seals?’ I’ve never heard of those before. I wonder what they are…”
“You are going to find-” she tried to say but was cut off as Nashandra shoved her blade through her throat and out the back of her neck, killing her instantly once again.
I couldn’t see or even sense what happened!
How was Nashandra able to move like that?
It wasn’t teleportation or high speed movement, or warping space. It was as if she already existed there as an extension of her very being.
Its impossible to defend yourself from a being who exists everywhere, and unavoidable to evade from such attacks.
Maybe I shouldn’t evade them at all…
Before bringing herself back to life again, she collected as much spiritual energy in her body, and began condensing it as much as possible into a sphere within herself.
The moment she came back to life, Nashandra was already in front of her and thrust her sword towards her.
But before it could pierce her skull and kill her once again, Moyako caught it and redirected it into her chest before grabbing hold of Nashandra’s arm as she released the power contained in her body in all directions.
A miniature star appeared where she stood as it engulfed everything in its path and continued to burn unceasingly, fueled by Moyako’s soul.
Yet despite this, Nashandra remained standing in the face of her flames. Even as the Death Root was being burned from her body, she remained standing firm and pulled back her arm to stab her once again.
Yet as the blade went through her body, it hit only ash as Moyako used her magic to make each fatal strike pointless. If every part of her body turned to ash where Nashandra struck, then there would be no way for the Death Root to infest her body.
Moyako stared at Nashandra, with her face and eyes covered by her bone mask, and wondered how much longer she could weather the heat before her body was reduced to a charred husk.
“Is this really the best that you can do Moyako? I expected far more out of you. These flames, while they can burn away the meager amount of Death Root I’ve coated myself in, they will not be able to suppress the aura of my soul as it seeps into your very being,” she said before an overwhelmingly crushing sensation of death washed over her.
Though invisible to the naked eye, with her ability to sense changes in spiritual energy, Moyako could ‘see’ a wave of darkness explode from Nashandra’s body as it swept over her like a tsunami.
Its power over Death was unlike anything she had felt before. It was even greater than the Omen Knight she had once faced in the past, whose very existence caused a world wide outbreak of Draugr and Wraiths.
If such a person were to step foot into society with this level of Arcanence seeping out of them, an entire world could be decimated from its contamination. All life would be eradicated just by being near her.
Despite Moyako’s counter measure to avoid lethal blows, in her current state, no amount of fire would be able to prevent her being killed by the Death Root that would form in her body.
“Its such a shame that I could not rely on my flames alone to stave off your Death Magic. Even if tried to release all of my seals, it would not do much counter your power,” Moyako admitted with frustration in her voice.
Surprised, Nashandra said, “Are you already admitting defeat to me? For the strongest woman in the world, you surrendered to me far more easily than I thought.”
Confused, she replied, “Is that what you think? Oh no, I will not yield to you just yet.”
“Then why-?”
“I was just hoping that I could have avoided revealing too much before I faced Marcus in battle. Unfortunately, you’ve pushed me to the point that I don’t have a choice.”
Nashandra...
Throughout their battle, it seemed that no matter what Moyako tried, her efforts to counteract Nashandra’s Death Magic were in vain as the Death Root would erupt from her body and claim her life until she brought herself back to life again.
Truth be told, it was shocking enough that her magic would even allow her to retain her sense of self when she was brought back as she expected her Death Magic to be more permanent. Anyone who died to it normally ended up coming back as a Draugr or Wraith. Once you become one of those, there is no coming back from it. No amount of time reversal or healing magic would save you, yet Moyako’s magic staved it off and brought her back to life.
Or no, perhaps the idea of her coming back to life was incorrect.
Each time she died, she was reborn, not resurrected.
In that way, her title of the Immortal Phoenix that is reborn from the ashes holds true.
Although now, she had to wonder what she would do to attempt to win. She said herself that releasing further seals would not benefit her in any meaningful way, so then what could she have planned?
Curious, she decided not to attack her and watched to see what her next course of action would lead her.
Yet to her surprise, she merely brought her left hand to her waist and pulled from it what appeared to be a black mask with a plain design and red rope tied to it.
“That mask is your plan? What do you intend to do with that?” she asked her.
As she put on the mask, she said, “I intend to engulf you in the black flames of Izanami.”
With those last few words, she formed her left hand into a clawed shape before she scraped her nails against its surface and the design of the mask changed entirely along with Moyako’s suit.
Instead of the black color and plain design, the surface of it became porcelain white, the areas around the eyes darkened like eye shadow, and what looked like tears of blood fell down on either side. The lips of the mask were a rosy color, but the cheeks were sunken in.
A torn robe appeared over her usual battle uniform, and although it seemed as if it were once a beautiful garment, it now looked to be covered in dirt and blood. Faded designs of tree branches and flowers covered the right side of the torn robe, while a black stream with skeletons rising out of the waters covered the left in far greater details.
The last thing that caught Nashandra’s attention was a spear that appeared in Moyako’s left hand. It was unlike any design that she had seen in any part of Erebus, but it clearly radiated great power.
The spearhead was far longer than most, yet had a leaf shaped design, and black frayed tassel attached to where the spearhead met the shaft.
The power emanating from her was far greater than her soul seemed capable of, which meant that this was not just her own power, but the power of a god made manifest.
When she spoke, her voice had a second layer to it, as if another person were speaking along side her. It spoke with a shrill tone as she said, “Behold the majesty of Izanami-no-Mikoto, and prostrate yourself in horror of the Death she commands. Await your judgment as Ame-no-Nuboko runs your body through.”