Princess – Part 16
How should she fight?
The faint patter of rain outside seeped through the building’s walls. After ordering the staff investigating the commotion to evacuate, Cecily sprinted through the dim corridors of the government office.
She had challenged the women with confidence, but the odds were stacked against her. Captain Quasar had once said she “thought with her emotions,” and Cecily couldn’t deny it. Her rash decision left her shaking her head.
But she wasn’t without a plan. Since her defeat at the hands of Charlotte’s attendants, she’d been working with Aria, during early mornings and late nights. Every spare moment was spent strategizing for this rematch against the three Infernal Blades.
I still haven’t mastered Aria.
An Infernal Blade wasn’t just for unleashing shockwaves. There had to be more ways to harness its power, and Cecily was determined to try everything.
Spears. Arrows.
Her throat felt dry from tension. She had made a bold claim, and now there was no turning back. Retreat was out of the question.
She had promised to save everyone and everything. Now, she had to follow through.
She rounded corner after corner, using the terrain to her advantage. The first goal was simple: divide and conquer. But she miscalculated. Badly.
A sudden beam of red light sliced through the space in front of her, carving a path through the walls before veering to her side.
“Margot!”
Margot’s rhomphaia, an Infernal Blade that extended its blade with red energy, had likely been launched from a nearby hallway, tearing through obstacles as it went. Astonished by her bold attack, Cecily managed to intercept the red light with her rapier. She gripped the hilt tightly in her right hand, bracing the flat of the blade with her left palm to deflect the blow, angling it carefully to avoid shattering the sword.
The red light didn’t let up. It wasn’t the Infernal Blade’s power, but Margot’s raw strength pushing Cecily back, dragging her feet across the floor. Unable to deflect it due to its awkward height, Cecily was forced into a corner of the hallway.
“Gah!”
Just as she was pinned against the wall, Doris charged at her with enough force to break through the floorboards. In a split second, Doris swung her claymore down toward Cecily’s head. The blade sliced through the air, but Cecily didn’t flinch. Instead, she unleashed the power of her Infernal Blade. A vortex of wind erupted from beneath her feet, shattering the floor in a wide circle and forming a barrier that repelled both Infernal Blades simultaneously. The red light vanished, and Doris, her sword knocked back, retreated swiftly.
There was no time to rest. Wind swirling around her, Cecily prepared to strike back at Doris.
But before she could, Penelope stepped in front of Doris, brandishing her ballock knife.
“Let ‘er rip!”
Aria’s dull ashen glow flared into a pure brilliant silver. Penelope’s eyes widened as the wind swelled and surged toward her.
“We’re indoors!”
“Just block it, then.”
Cecily thrust her sword forward.
The raging wind, unleashed with full force, tore through the floor, walls, and ceiling, engulfing the girls. Penelope tried to shield herself with her ballock knife, slicing through the shockwaves, but the silver tempest overwhelmed her. Her arm buckled under the strain, and unable to fully block the onslaught, she was hurled backward, colliding with Doris. They tumbled across the ground.
Cecily caught a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. She glanced up. A blazing arc of crimson light was cutting through the ceiling and walls, descending rapidly. If the earlier attack had been a sweeping slash, this was a deadly overhead strike, the super-long blade crashing down like a hammer.
Remember.
Luke Ainsworth’s swordplay flashed in her mind.
She recalled his fights against the Inhumans and bandits—the right-footed lunges, the gliding steps that barely skimmed the ground, the narrow dodges. She remembered Aria’s observation, how he moved his right arm with his right foot, and his left arm with his left. How he used his whole body to maneuver.
Cecily mimicked the movements from memory. She slid her right foot forward, tilting her body as she thrust her right side out. Her boot scraped against the floor.
She moved barely half a step, but that tiny adjustment was all she needed. She twisted her body with her right shoulder leading, dodging the deadly path of the red blade. The rhomphaia missed by a whisker, slicing through a lock of Cecily’s hair, grazing her chest plate, tearing her undershirt, and scraping the metal of her boots as it slammed into the floor. She had dodged by the narrowest margin.
Her eyes locked onto the origin of the strike. Margot was on the other side of the wall. If Margot intended to continue striking from the shadows…
“You will dance with me on the same stage!”
Her rapier shimmered silver as wind converged around it. Instead of expanding outward, the wind condensed, compressing itself until it was locked within the weapon. The rapier groaned under the pressure, absorbing the tightly packed air.
Cecily let out a roar and thrust forward. The wind erupted from the blade’s tip.
A blade of wind, as wide as the rapier itself, extended from its tip. Sharp and long, it cut through the wall, tearing through shelves and desks, ripping through another wall, and kept going until it struck its target. Cecily felt the sharp feedback of her blade piercing flesh.
It mimicked an ultra-long sword. A long-distance thrust, much like a spear.
A scream echoed through the government office.
“Margot?!”
Penelope instantly charged. Cecily, still savoring the sensation of her hit, turned to face the onrushing threat. Penelope closed in fast, her body low to the floor, almost crawling.
Armed with a knife, Penelope specialized in close-quarters combat. Cecily’s rapier, on the other hand, was best suited for mid-range attacks. At close quarters, Penelope’s knife would have the upper hand. Worse still, Penelope’s Infernal Blade Killer nullified Cecily’s long-range wind strikes.
There was more to an Infernal Blade than just shrouding itself with wind.
“Aria!”
The wind caressed the back of her neck, then exploded from behind. A burst of compressed air propelled Cecily forward, straight toward Penelope.
“What—”
In an instant, Cecily became a living arrow. The wind was her fletching, her body the shaft, and her rapier the arrowhead. Penelope, caught off guard by the outrageous idea, had no time to react. Cecily’s high-speed rapier pierced Penelope’s right shoulder, the sheer force lifting her off the floor and slamming her into the wall with a thunderous crash.
A cloud of dust rose. Cecily’s rapier had skewered Penelope’s shoulder, pinning her against the wall. Her eyes bulged from unbearable agony, but her scream caught in her throat, a silent gasp of pain.
Cecily wasn’t much better off. She had slammed into the wall at the point of impact, leaving her momentarily immobilized. Her muscles screamed, her core burned, but she forced herself to her feet and yanked the rapier from Penelope’s shoulder.
“Aaaaaahhhh!” Penelope howled, writhing in pain.
Turning her back to her, Cecily swung her sword, flicking off the blood that clung to the blade. Red droplets splattered onto the floorboards. She surveyed the hallway. Dust hung in the air, pillars were cut, the ceiling tilted dangerously, and the walls and floor were cracked and splintered.
At the far end of the hallway, Doris stood frozen, her face drained of color. Cecily staggered toward her, wiping blood from her forehead with the back of her glove.
“What’s the matter? Is that all you’ve got?”
“Uh…”
Doris groaned, paralyzed by her alarming aura.
Cecily could hardly see straight from the concussion, but the adrenaline fueled her. She raised her eyebrows and, with bloodshot eyes wide, bellowed with everything she had.
“What are you standing there for? Weren’t you going to protect Charlotte?!”
With a wild scream, Doris slammed her claymore into the ground. The earth rumbled, and a tremor shook the entire building. Floorboards buckled, burst, and shattered as the destruction spread from the ground to the walls and then to the ceiling, eventually reaching Cecily’s feet.
“Aria, I’ve pushed you far enough,” Cecily said, reversing her grip on the rapier. “This is the last one.”
She had played all her cards. It was a contest of raw strength now.
Just before the wave reached her, Cecily did as Doris had, driving her rapier into the floor. Silver wind erupted from the blade.
“Shine with everything you’ve got!”
The wind swept across the floor like a tidal wave. It ripped the boards off, digging into the earth below and expanding outward, pushing back against the collapse Doris had triggered. The two forces collided, each one battling for dominance, neither willing to relent.
Cecily pressed her full weight on the rapier to keep it anchored. On the other side, Doris clung to her claymore just as tightly. Their gazes met in the chaos.
This is just like what happened last month, Cecily thought.
A bitter smile tugged at her lips as she recalled the battle in the city—the fight against the demon-possessed man, the clash between fire and wind. And she had come out victorious.
This time, it’s earth versus wind.
And she would win again. She made a promise to Aria that this was the last one, and she never goes back on her word.
The wind roared like a sandstorm, filled with splinters and debris, while the earth quaked violently. Cecily, clutching her rapier, shouted above the din.
“Answer me, Doris!”
The support beams creaked, and the ceiling began to collapse. Aria’s wind shot upward, smashing the falling debris before it could hit them.
“Will the Empire really save Charlotte?!”
The walls and ceiling collapsed all around them. Penelope, still lying on the floor, screamed and fled. Margot appeared at her side and helped her up. Penelope noticed blood oozing from Margot’s side as they stumbled away from the clash of wind and earth.
“Do you really think the Empire will take in Charlotte if you bring back the Infernal Blades?!”
The ceiling gave way completely. Without its cover, torrential rain poured down on Cecily and Doris, soaking them. Raindrops pelted the trembling ground.
“Is this really the best choice? Answer me, Doris!”
A hoarse voice responded, “Of course—”
“Wake up!” Cecily shouted, her voice cutting through the rain. “Stop deluding yourself! The Empire will kill Charlotte. They won’t save her!”
“That’s not—”
“Face it, Doris. The Empire has already abandoned Charlotte!”
Doris’s face twisted. “But then—”
“Then you should abandon the Empire too!”
Doris’s eyes widened in shock. Cecily had found the crack in her resolve.
“Cast aside the name ‘E’, and think about what will make Charlotte happy!”
Cecily’s words finally broke through to Doris.
“If you want to protect her, then do that.”
The Infernal Blade Aria glowed even brighter.
“All four of you should figure out how she can live and find happiness.”
The wind swallowed the earth.
In a flash, the wind tore into the ground, uprooting the claymore, along with chunks of earth. The Infernal Blade flew through the air. Doris, too stunned to even scream, was thrown across the ground, crashing into a heap of rubble.
With its target taken down, the wind shot upward, splitting the rain clouds. In that one spot, the rain ceased, revealing a starry night sky.
And so the battle of the Infernal Blades came to an end.
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