Chapter 322: The Cascade Stance_Realm of Monsters

Chapter 322: The Cascade Stance

 LET THE 12TH MATCH OF THE CHALLENGE OF SPELL & STEEL BEGIN!!

 Una Noir grabbed the hilt of her de, Heed my call, Votum!

 Stryg cursed under his breath and crouched on the ground.

 Brown mana flowed into Unas arms and a bronze metallic sheen swirled across her blue-grey skin as the strengthening Vigor spell took hold.

 Una lifted the gigantic heavy sword above her head with only a single arm. The winds howled around the arena and pooled around the ck sword as it pulsed with power.

 What is the Monster in the Dark after!? Why did it attack Widows Crag that night!? Where is the Monster now!? Una shouted above the powerful winds.

 Stryg dug his hands into the sand and he rested on the tips of his feet, ready to sprint. He silently cast an Agility spell over his legs as he shouted back, Are you really a Noir?

 I am.

 Good, I hate the Noirs, he bared his fangs.

 So you wont tell me? Una gave him a solemn look and swung her sword down. A st of energy ripped through the ground and spiraled towards Stryg with frightening speed.

 He dashed away, the wave of energy nced past him. Stryg tumbled into the sand in a roll andnded on his knees in a crouched position. He quickly dug his hands back into the sand and rested his weight on the tips of his feet.

 Youre fast, Una noted quietly. She raised her sword. A cyclone of wind swirled around her de.

 The winds suddenly fell silent. The air above Stryg warped. His pointed ears twitched at the loss of pressure.

 Move! his instincts screamed.

 Stryg dived into the sands several paces away. The air exploded above where he had just been and punched into the sand with such force it punctured a 2-meter wide crater into the arena.

 What is this?! he mumbled in surprise.

 Im impressed. You somehow managed to dodge that. But what about the next one or the next dozen? Una asked aloofly.

 Stryg hissed and dug his hands into the sand in the same crouched position as before.

 The winds fell silent. Stryg leaped back. The air exploded above where he had been, but this time the explosion hade from his right.

 Una didnt speak. She simply pointed her de at Stryg.

 He felt the air pressure change. Something felt off something towards his BACK!

 Stryg kicked off the sand. The air behind him burst as if a boulder had mmed into the ocean. The sand blew over his face, but he ignored it and crouched once more, his hands wrist-deep in the sand.

 Una pointed her sword high up. The air exploded with a deafening crack. The blue goblin had dodged again. Una gritted her teeth and pointed her sword into the sky again.

 Over and over she attacked, each explosion growing stronger and eaching faster than thest.

 Yet somehow the Aspirant had kept managing to evade being directly hit, even if only by a hairs breadth. He had been sted away from the aftershock several times, his body had mmed into the sands with heavy hits, but he always rolled back up in that crouched position, ready to jump away once more.

 The Aspirant had run around the entire arena; each attack left him with more scrapes than before, but he still got up without falter.

 How is he doing that? Una frowned. Theres no sound, theres no visible attack!

 Votums ability should have been unavoidable, yet somehow the goblin knew where to move.

 Unas eyes widened in realization, It doesnt matter how hes doing it. The Aspirant has always been aggressive in his battles, but this time hes not trying to counterattack... Hes trying to wear me out.

 I need your help, Votum, Una whispered.

 Una pulled her sword back. Her arm burned with pain as the sword pulsed with more power. The winds howled, twice as loud as before. A small cyclone formed around the orichalcum de.

 Stryg stiffened as he watched the sand blow across the entire arena. He couldnt run from this. He dropped to his knees, mmed his hands into the sand, and channeled green mana into the earth. Five thickyers of rock sprang up around him and wrapped him in a cocoon of reinforced stone.

 With a gentle and slow motion, Una let her de fall forward. A cyclone of wind weaved into existence around her and swept out in a tidal wave of energy that swept across the arena. The coliseums crowds screamed as the cyclones aftershock smashed them back into their seats.

 The powerful gales tore away at Strygs stone dome, shattering eachyer. Stryg covered himself in Yellows durability scales and hid his face behind his arms. His body was tossed through the air like a ragdoll, then the air quieted and he plummeted straight down.

 The sand did little to soften the fall. Strygs yellow scales cracked on impact, some even broke altogether. His vision blurred, but he could still hear, he could still feel the pain arching across his back.

 He groaned painfully and blinked hard several times until his eyes adjusted and his sight returned.

 Are you ready to tell me what you know now? Una called out coldly.

 Stryg slowly raised his head and looked at her. She had a lithe, thin body, as wasmon among her kind, yet unlike most drows, Una was short, shorter than any drow he had met. Many a drow might have dismissed her as harmless, but it was her eyes that gave all of them pause.

 Her grey eyes were filled with a steel anger that somehow seemed dispassionate and deadly all at once. She carried herself with a confidence born not out of pride, but conviction.

 Ah thats why she seemed so dangerous when we first met, Stryg thought, half-dazed.

 He had seen that intimidating look in her eyes before. He had seen it in the eyes of the most powerful arch-mage in all the Ebon Realm.

 Until now he had doubted her im, but now there was no doubt in his mind. She is a Noir.

 Stryg rolled onto his back and sighed with closed eyes, This wont be easy.

 You still refuse to talk, Aspirant? Una raised her de.

 He channeled yellow mana into his palm and tried to cast a wind spell, but the wind did not answer.

 So her sword really does control the wind I need to get close, but shes a swordmaster. A master with a far more powerful weapon than Nameless.

 But he had fought swordmasters before. He had fought Clypeus many times and despite hisck of skill, he had managed to match Clypeus strike for strike. Stryg didnt have the refined sword skills of an aristocrat who had trained with the de since young, but he had something not even Una did not.

 Stryg took a deep, tired breath, Here goes nothing.

 White mana surged into his hands. A sh of blinding light erupted from his palms. Una closed her eyes and swung her sword outward; a st of wind tore through the sand in front of her.

 Una opened her eyes, but Stryg was gone. She looked around in rm. There was no trace of his body left. Where is he!?

 A faint shadow crossed over her. Una stiffened and looked up with a sudden jerk. Strygs silhouette blotted out the sun. He crashed down from the sky like aet. In one fluid motion, Stryg drew Nameless from its sheath and shed down in a blur of silver steel.

 Una gritted her teeth and hauled Votum over her body in an abrupt parry. The swords shed in a burst of sparks, sending Una tumbling back, her feet dragging through the sand.

 A bronze sheen swirled in a smoky pattern over Strygs blue skin, the mark of vigor magic.

 Stryg stared at his foe. His hand stung from the reverberating power of shing against Votum. Even a single parry had been enough to feel the sheer energy lurking with the ck sword. Still, he had managed to knock her back.

 Her sword doesnt empower her body, Stryg noted to himself. She still has the normal body of a drow. Her vigor spells and lifeforce skills can only take her muscles so far. Which means I can do this!

 Stryg shifted his feet and fell into the cascade stance. He dashed at Una and swung his de down at her shoulder. But this time Una was ready. She met his de with her own. As the swords shed a wave of wind surged out from Votum and tore through, ripping his cloak and shirt to shreds, yet there was no blood.

 Fresh Yellow scales wrapped around his skin. There were small cracks, but the durability scales had not shattered.

 Unas eyes widened in shock, Double casting body enhancements!? Thats not possible!

 Stryg clenched his jaw and ignored the wave of energy. He pushed through the wind and swung his sword at her hip. Una blocked with her own strike, another st of wind echoing from the sword. The st tore at Strygs yellow scales, splitting several with small cracks, but he dug his feet into the sand and pushed forward with another sh.

 Una blocked each attack, her swords power echoing out with each blow. Every strike sent Stryg back, but he held his ground and struck again.

 Una stared at him, dumbfounded. He cant hold the double spells forever. His scales wontst much longer! Votum or his own bodys limit, either way, if he doesnt stop hell die!

 Stryg roared with a crazed fervor. A dozen small cuts bled through the gaps in his cracked scales, yet he kept attacking anyway.

 Una red at him, Stop, you stubborn bastard! Youre killing yourself!

 Stryg grinned maniacally, Not if I kill you first!

 He swung his de again, and again in a flurry of steel. Nameless sang in his hand, a song of nature and its primal essence, freedom. His sword snapped around each of Votums strikes. Nameless blurred in a myriad pattern of silver, a faint wind coalescing around the de. With each strike of Nameless, the wind grew stronger and the des strikes faster.

 Una found herself being pushed back. Her eyes darted back and forth, searching for each strike. Each strike became harder and harder to parry. She didnt understand! She was the better swordsman, how was she losing!?

 The shredding waves of Votum mmed into Stryg, but they did not touch him. A new wind, one that did not answer Votums call, curled around Nameless and slipped through Votums power, like a ship in a storm.

 Its not possible! Una thought in a panic. Votum was the master of the air, the winds only answered to the ck de. And yet a small storm grew stronger and stronger over Stryg as if screaming in defiance, swiveling through each of Votums attacks.

 Una didnt want to admit it, but a small part of her knew. She knew what this was. Her de instructors had warned her to never fight one of them. She had heard the stories whispered among the realms finest weapon masters of a de they all feared, a sword style that embodied nature itself. She hadnt believed them.

 Una felt a chill run down her spine. This isnt magic this is the Gale Style!

 Strygs de slipped past her defenses and cut a shallow sh across her cheek.

 Im going to lose! a fearful voice whispered in her mind.

 Strygs open hand stretched out and grazed her neck, his ws grasping around her throat.

 No! Una roared.

 Her lungs burned, the raw power of Votum felt as if an iron boulder was pushing over her shoulder, threatening to crush her life. But she couldnt stop, not now, not yet! She called forth as much of Votums power as she could handle and swung her sword in a single clean strike. A ripple of jade energy exploded out in a titanic sh, ten paces tall.

 Stryg felt his body be pulled in as if the jade sh was eager to devour him. He dragged Nameless in front of him and met the strange force with his de.

 The world suddenly turned white. His body felt numb. The grit of sand filled his mouth. He was on the ground, lying on his back. He couldnt move. His ears rang with a painful screech. He slowly nced at his right hand. His fingers were covered in blood, still clenched around Nameless hilt The swords de extended out from the hilt a mere 4 inches in a jagged line. The remnants of Nameless were scattered in a slew of silver shards over the bloodied sand.

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Chapter 322: The Cascade Stance