Moyako…
As her father stared her down, with his right hand tightly clasped around the grip of his blade, she felt herself trembling at the sight of him.
Yet she did not tremble out of fear of his strength, that much she knew.
She could tell even from just a glance that he was not nearly as strong as she was, nor was he as skilled as she was, and he was far and away less experienced than she was.
In every conceivable manner one could think of, she had no reason to fear him as a warrior. In fact, there was scarce a single warrior in all the world who could frighten her.
No, the look in his eyes frightened her for a different reason.
It was not unlike the fear a child might have when their angry father came home to punish them for misbehaving.
It was a feeling that had been absent from her all her life, yet for some reason, the anger emanating from him drew that instinctual fear out of her.
“Is there something wrong?” Marcus asked as he slowly walked towards her, yet his tone had no hint of concern within it. It felt more like he was mocking her with that question for expressing any fear around him.
Hearing that second voice overlapping Marcus’s own was chilling, like feeling cold metal sliding down one’s back.
Swallowing her fear, Moyako asked, “So…how do you want to do this then? Do you want to go all out right from the start? Releasing every drop of our power and immediately tear each other to pieces?”
Marcus tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows as he said, “Hmm…no. That would be too boring. Besides, I want to see just how far you have advanced with the style that I created. Let’s start with the sword and take it from there.”
He then started walking to the side, dragging the tip of his sword along the dirt, circling her as he continued speaking.
“You know…I figured that I likely wouldn’t be able to best you in swordplay, regardless of whether it was against the very sword style that I created. I mean, your reputation as the world’s most skilled swordswoman is definitively intimidating. I would be a fool if I didn’t try to prepare before hand,” Marcus said as he continued to circle her.
She didn’t bother to try and follow him with her eyes as it wouldn’t make a difference. The only reason he was doing this was to intimidate her.
“Oh yeah? And how exactly did you go about preparing for an exchange of swords with someone like me? There’s not a single person you could learn from who could help you,” she said, somewhat confident that regardless of who he would train with, it would make no difference.
As he circled around so that he was once again in her peripheral vision, he frowned and said, “I think I would disagree with that. After all, your Goddaughter Camilla was all too willing to help me.”
What?! He trained with Camilla to prepare against me?
Although she was very bothered to hear this, she did not waver as she forced a laugh and said, “You trained with her? Really? You know that she is the least of all of those I have taught the Shura style to. Her skill with the blade is even less than some of the weakest warriors I have faced in the past! What would you hope to gain from her?”
Marcus nodded, as if in agreement, as he said, “You’re not wrong. Within just a day of practicing with her I was able to adapt to using that style properly. If I had more time, I’m guessing that she wouldn’t be able to keep pace with me for very long. Yet, that wasn’t the only reason I trained with her. She offered me some very helpful insight, about you specifically!”
Moyako scoffed as she asked, “And what would that be?”
Marcus then walked back to where he had stood before as he turned to face her once again and said, “She said that she had a deal with you, much like our own, but she lost her chance to see that deal through when her battle against Artemis ended in a draw. Camilla told me that she loved you as her mother, and that she wanted you to stand by her side. So to make up for that lost opportunity, instead I gave her an offer of my own.”
For a brief moment, Marcus locked eyes with her and she could see a red spark leave his eyes, and then...nothing.
He vanished from where he was standing completely and she couldn’t seem to track his presence at all.
But then, she remembered when he had done something similar to her before when they first met.
He had messed with her perception of time to take her sword right out of her hands.
He’s charging at me right now!
A feeling of panic overtook her as she raised her sword the block anything that might come her way, and in the moment right before her sword was raised right in front of her, Marcus’s own slammed into hers.
The shock from the impact broke the illusion that he had vanished as he stood in front of her, with both hands wrapped around his sword as he bore down on her.
He pressed his weight into his sword to push her back and leaned forward to say, “I told Camilla that if I defeated you, then I would aid her in battle in your place, since you are too self centered to be bothered with supporting your own goddaughter.”
Angered by his words and his hypocrisy, she planted her foot in his gut as she tried to kick him away, but it was like trying to kick a boulder. He only stumbled back a few inches, but otherwise seemed unfazed.
His reaction to her kick was of mild annoyance as he looked at her and said, “Really? You could have done anything else, like stab me, punch me, attempt to burn me, or anything else. Instead, you tried to kick me?”
She smirked nervously as she asked, “Did I touch a nerve?”
He frowned and tilted his head down as if to look up at her and said, “I’m disappointed in you.”
She blinked in surprise but did not let it disrupt her focus as she held her blade firmly in front of her once again as she prepared for his next attack.
He watched her and started pacing back and forth in front of her as he asked, “Why are you just standing there?”
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t taken a single step forward since this fight started. You aren’t advancing at all, only retreating. What is the matter with you?”
She let out a shuddered breath as she said, “I guess I don’t see you as a worthy enough opponent to bother with attacking you. It would be over too quickly if that were the case.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed as he said, “You are a terrible liar.”
Without warning, he charged towards her, kicking up dust behind him as a cone of compressed air followed in his wake.
In the brief moment before his sword would meet her own, he pulled back his arm in such a manner like one would when they were about to swing a whip.
Moyako knew that this method of attack was Camilla’s favorite as it relied on the utmost amount of speed and brute force, being the meathead that she was.
The Whip Strike slash, which would only be possible with an adamantine blade, or another like it that could bond with a person’s soul and act almost as another limb.
The technique is based on an actual martial arts move which relied on using the arms to mimic the motion of a whip to build up power and speed.
By concentrating spiritual energy within the sword in a specific way to shift the weight, one could mimic the illusion of swinging a whip, even while using such a rigid object.
However, as powerful as the Whip Strike was, it was also the easiest move for her to parry.
With hardly a hint of effort, she deflected his attack away from her and glared at him.
But just as it seemed that he was about to stumble from the shift in weight from having his attack deflected, his sword changed shape from a katana to a dagger.
He switched his footing just before he could stumble and leave himself open as he swung his dagger in a backhanded stabbing motion as it was about to reach her head.
The dagger ground against Kakure Sakura edge with a whine as she pushed back against him.
But before she could try to shake him off, he turned his wrist ever so slightly and the dagger extended into a full length longsword.
She pulled her head back just in time to avoid being skewered as the tip of the blade nicked her nose and pierced through her shoulder.
She stifled a pained groan as she stepped back from him but couldn’t get away from him in time as he chased after her, shifting the form of his sword to confuse the tempo of the fight.
He used the dagger form of his sword to shift his weight to avoid losing his balance when she deflected his attacks, the katana form to open up with attacks, and the longsword form whenever he found an opening with the dagger.
Fighting against an opponent that could use a weapon that was constantly changing its shape and size, with differing speeds and techniques for each one to memorize at once, was nearly impossible.
Nearly impossible.
As relentless as his attacks were, they were still easy to avoid and deflect.
It really felt as if she were fighting against an amateur. She figured that he would tire himself out before too long if he continued to attack her like this if his goal was break through with an overwhelming number of attacks.
Yet as the fight progressed, he grew more and more agitated until he finally lost it and demanded, “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
The question surprised her.
He asked that as if he was wondering why she was fighting so poorly.
“What are you talking about? You have only barely managed to scratch me, but since then-”
He shook his head in anger as he said, “I’m not talking about that you idiot! Why aren’t you fighting back?!”
What…?
“I am fighting back! I’ve been doing that since-”
“WRONG!” he shouted as threw his sword to the ground and threw a punch at her.
Instinctively, she raised her sword to block it but then realized that if she did that, then he would cut himself striking the edge.
With only a split second to change the position of her sword, she placed her left hand against the flat of her sword and held it in front of her.
Marcus’s punch slammed into the flat of her sword and the sheer weight of it pushed her back several feet. She grit her teeth as she struggled to remain standing from the force of the impact, her feet dragging through the dirt as she held firm.
“You are not even trying to fight me! This whole time you’ve done nothing but defend. Fight! Swing your blade at me! Cut me down! Try to kill me with everything you have!”
What…? But I can’t-
“YOU MUST!” he said, reading her thoughts.
“But I-”
“NO EXCUSES! If you want to win, then you need to FIGHT! You need to fight like you want to KILL!”
“I...I don’t want to kill you!”
“Then you are a coward! If you aren’t willing to kill your enemies, then you will never win!”
She let out a mildly offended scoff as she said, “Do you really think that I’m too frightened to take a life? You have no idea the number of bodies I’ve reduced to ashes and cinders in my life. Look no further than Morath, the old capital of Mordran that I burned to ashes in a single night.”
He nodded as he listened to every word she said of her past battles and replied, “Yes, I’ve read about that, but where is that mercilessness now? Why can’t you seem to show me that very same ruthlessness?”
She couldn’t seem to bring herself to respond as he started walking towards her slowly.
“There must have been at least half a million children in Morath, with their parents arms wrapped around them as your flames eviscerated them without mercy. Yet when I stand before you now, you look like nothing more than a helpless child. Where is the fight in you?”
As she took in a deep breath, she could feel herself shuddering once again as Marcus’s eyes bore down on her, as if looking into her soul.
It wasn’t until he was standing less than a foot away from her, face to face, that she started holding her breath to hide the sound of her fearful breaths.
In a low tone of voice, with almost a hint of kindness in it, he said, “If you want to win and take me back home, then you will have to accept the fact that there is no way you can accomplish that without trying to kill me. There is no other way Moyako. Either you fight and try to kill me, or you better yield to me right now and stop wasting my time.”
Hearing that, she grit her teeth in anger and said, I WILL NOT YIELD!”
“Prove it.”
She was shaking in anger at the suggestion that she would give up so easily that she tightened her grip on her sword, and without thinking, swung it at Marcus’s neck.
Yet he did not budge from where he stood as he caught her sword, barehanded, in his right hand, and held it firm.
She was stunned by his strength as he held it in place despite her attempts to pull it free.
Then, a trickle of blood began to slide down the side of his hand from where he was cut on his palm and a sharp intake of breath could be heard as she realized she just cut her own father.
Noticing this show of fear and regret, Marcus’s face flashed with anger as he said, “Do not waver! Not an inch! If you hope to win, then you need to get used to the sight of my blood being shed by you.”
He then used his right hand to yank her sword out of the way as he pulled back his left hand and punched her in the face.
She kept her grip on her sword, even after he had struck her, and could feel the edge of her sword cutting deeper into her father’s palm as it slipped free from his hand.
Before she could fall onto her back, she shifted her weight in midair and back flipped so that she ended up on her feet instead.
However the shock of being punched in the face was strong enough to make her feel dizzy to the point that she fell to one knee to try and regain her composure.
“This is pathetic,” Marcus spat in disgust as he walked towards her with a menacing stare on his face.
She raised her head as she stood up to face him once again.
“To see you brought down to one knee with a single punch…you should be better than this!” he roared.
He lunged towards her, leaping into the air as he raised his right fist into the air, with it quickly approaching her chest.
At the last second, she kicked off the ground just in time for his fist to bury itself in the dirt.
If that had connected, then it would have run right through me…
Before her feet could touch the ground, he ripped his hand free and charged after her once again, with his arms trailing behind him.
Just as she was about to land on the ground, he halted his advance right as he was only a handful of feet away from her. With both his arms pulled back, he leaned back as if preparing to slam his hands into both sides of her body.
The moment her foot touched the ground, she leaned back to get out of his range just in time for him to swing his hands together.
But she misunderstood the purpose of his attack as his hands passed through the air faster than sound, and as his palms collided with each other, a thunderclap echoed off the rocks and terrain around them.
The sound was so loud that it burst her eardrums and caused her to lose her sense of balance. A feeling of nausea and dizziness overtook her as she tried to focus on healing the damage to her ears, but Marcus acted faster as he stepped into her guard.
She tried to swing her sword at him to fend him off, but she was too dizzy to fight properly that he stepped in and used his left forearm to brace against the handle of her sword, stopping it effortlessly.
She braced herself for the impact of his punch from his right fist, but to her surprise, he snapped his fingers.
Light Taker reappeared in his right hand in the form of a dagger as he drove it into her chest and stabbed her in the heart.
Although she had placed rune formulas on herself to shut off the sensation of pain, the feeling of his dagger shattering her rib cage, not even bothering to try and slip through the gaps between them, was such a shock to her system that she went stiff.
He then kicked her in the chest and sent her crashing onto the ground, falling flat on her back and coughing up blood.
An attack like that would have killed an ordinary person, or even the average warrior, but she was tough enough to shrug it off even as he leapt into the air, with his blade now in the form of a longsword, raised high above his head to split her in two.
She rolled out of the way, swinging her sword at him in the process and slashing his face.
He didn’t bother to try and avoid it at all as it struck him, resulting in his right eye exploding within its socket as the edge of her blade slashed it apart.
She figured that he had likely removed his ability to feel pain as well, but to her horror, the veins in his neck bulged as it was obvious he had felt everything she had done to him.
“D-Do you...still feel pain?” she asked shakily.
He turned to look at her with his remaining eye and said, “What kind of dumbass question is that? Of course I do… Oh...I see. I guess with your immortality, you wouldn’t see any point in feeling pain if all your injuries would heal on their own.”
“S-Surely you can do the same, or at least something similar. Why would you allow yourself to still feel pain if it would only make it more difficult to fight?” she asked, completely confused.
“Why do you assume that feeling pain hampers one’s ability to fight? To feel pain is to feel alive. Pain is the single greatest evidence that you are still alive and breathing. Pain is not a hindrance, it is a gift. If you can still feel pain, then you can still fight, you can still keep going, you can keep looking to the future. Pain brings out your primal instincts to keep you alive, it makes you stronger, it hardens you. So because of that, I will not dodge anything you throw at me, and I will welcome every amount of suffering you might inflict on me and draw as much strength from that pain as I can so that I might crush you underneath my heel,” Marcus said, with steel in his voice as he walked towards her once again.
The sight of blood dripping from his right hand and eye made her blood run cold because she knew that she was the one who had done that to him.
She hadn’t been bothered even slightly when she saw him beaten, bloody, bruised, and mauled by all his previous battles as she hadn’t been the one to inflict those injuries onto him.
Yet knowing that she was the current cause of his suffering made her want to vomit.
“Stop your blubbering, get back on your feet, take up your sword, and fight,” he said in a low voice as he continued walking towards her at a slow pace, attempting to be patient with her.
She took in a deep breath and did what he asked.
Her magic worked to repair her eardrums and heart as she held her sword with both hands and lunged towards him.
She knew that there was no way she would be able to win this if she didn’t throw away her fear of hurting her own father, but it was so hard to think of anything else in the middle of the fight.
Yet still, she had to try to win against him or she would never be able to reunite him with her mother.
She matched his speed and started to unleash a flurry of attacks at him, many of which broke through his defense and cut up his skin.
“Death by a thousand cuts huh? Alright then...at least you are finally getting in the mood of things,” Marcus said with a smile, even as his shirt and jacket were being torn to shreds.
As the pace of things sped up over time, the clash of their swords started getting heavier and heavier as they poured more and more spiritual energy into their swords to try and overpower the other.
The air pulsated around them as their swords clashed, the ground cracked with every step they took kicking off the ground, and yet as the fight progressed, Marcus’s smile did not leave his face.
“This is a fight to the DEATH! Why are you smiling?” Moyako demanded.
After having heard that question, he chuckled and said, “Its because throughout this whole tournament, you’re the only opponent I know will be worth a shit to fight! So I want to take my time enjoying everything you have to offer. Now COME ON!”
Disgusted with his enthusiasm and the sense of enjoyment he was getting out of the fight, she pulled back her sword arm and thrust it forward, aiming for his head.
Given that he had been able to keep up with her, she figured that he would be able to deflect it just fine, or at least try to avoid it.
Yet as he swung his sword to try to block her attack, he mistimed it and her thrust broke through his guard…
...and reduced his top half to nothing but bloody chunks of flesh.
The impact of the attack sent his corpse crashing to the ground with a mass of blood and innards falling out.
Only his right arm that still held his sword, was still barely connected to what little remained of his torso by a thin stringy piece of flesh.
As he looked down upon his corpse, she was expecting him to simply heal from his injuries and get back, but to her horror, he did not even twitch.
She took several terrified steps back from his body, her mouth trembling as she looked down at her hands and realized what she had just done to him.
Then, the feeling of nausea that she had before came flooding back to her ten times worse and she turned away from him as she fell to her knees and vomited on the ground.
Tears fell down her cheeks as she was faced with the awful reality that she had just killed her father.
“I’m...I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to…,” she whimpered as she continued to cry.
While she cried on her hands and knees, she failed to take notice of the approaching footsteps, or the encroaching shadow that started to cast itself over her body.
She was too traumatized over what she had done to be bothered over anything else until she heard her father’s voice once again.
“Wipe away your tears and fight,” he said.
She slowly raised her head to look up at him just in time to see Light Taker cleave her skull in two.