Episode 28 Pride of the Dagger Wielder
The two attacks from Fayvard and Flynn collide with astonishing force. The earth shudders, as smoke from Flynn’s Meso Explosion rises high into the sky, obscuring everything in sight.
Slowly, the smoke clears, revealing a large crater surrounding Fayvard and Flynn. They remain standing facing each other silently. Fayvard’s broken sword falls to the ground with a clang. He stumbles forward, having taken the worst of the exchange. In another instant, he is forced to take a knee.
“Fayvard!” Mira cries, rushing forward towards her fallen comrade.
Flynn steps sternly into her path, blocking the way. His glittering aqua eyes glow with a cold malice. He raises his dagger, directing it towards Mira.
Mira takes a step back, drawing her own sword and holding it between her and Flynn guardedly. She bites her lip, watching Flynn cautiously.
Flynn smiles condescendingly. “Your reaction resembles a frightened animal, young girl,” he says softly.
“Hey, pick on someone your own size,” Fayvard suddenly gasps from behind Flynn.
Flynn turns just in time to dodge Fayvard’s attack, as he strikes with his broken sword. Baring his teeth, Flynn gazes upon Fayvard with disdain. “I am surprised you can still walk!” He dashes forward and attempts to elbow Fayvard.
But at the last moment, a flash of white light intercepts Flynn’s attack. Zack teleports between Fayvard and Flynn, his Kage pushing against Flynn’s arm, holding it back.
Zack merely grins sheepishly as Flynn gives him a dirty look. “Sorry. But we kinda like standin’ together, so if you wanna keep fighting, you gotta deal with all of us at once.”
“Get outta the way,” Fayvard growls to Zack, directing his sword at Flynn again. “You guys will only be liabilities.”
“Yes!” Flynn agrees, a twinkle in his eye. “Listen to the man, Peasant, this is a battle between only those with the reflexes to survive!”
“Peasant?” Zack repeats. “Who you callin’ peasant?”
Mira sighs. “Maybe it has something to do with the crude way you speak…” she mumbles.
Flynn flashes a smile at Fayvard, slashing the air violently with his dagger as he does so. “Your will to fight surprises even me, False Aristocrat from Orbis!”
Fayvard returns Flynn’s grin. “Tch. Just because my sword broke doesn’t mean I can’t fight. I’ll just use my poison attacks!”
Flynn throws an impatient snarl at Fayvard. “I would like to see you attempt to defeat me with that broken sword using magic alone! Assaulter!”
In a flash of light, Flynn slides past Fayvard, cutting through him with his dagger. Fayvard reaches out with his broken sword, using the guard to deflect part of the attack. However, Flynn’s blade still makes contact with Fayvard, unleashing a thin film of blood from Fayvard’s side. Fayvard automatically grabs the finely precise cut now opening at his side.
Flynn turns around immediately upon passing Fayvard, and raises his dagger again, eyes glinting evilly. “Savage Blow!”
Fayvard blocks each consecutive attack with his sword again, but proves too slow on the last blow, allowing Flynn’s dagger to stab him directly on the shoulder, not far from his heart.
“Direct hit!” cries Flynn victoriously.
“That’s my line!” Fayvard sneers, punching his shattered blade into Flynn’s abdomen. “Poison Mist!”
Reacting with lightning speed, Flynn immediately cuts Fayvard’s blade again with his dagger, slicing off more of the already-broken blade in order to free himself.
Flynn leaps backwards out of range just as the cloud of poison seeps into the air. He looks down at the fragment of Fayvard’s blade still lodged in his body. With reckless abandon, he pulls it out, unleashing a brisk flow of blood.
“You’re gonna die if you do that,” Fayvard says bluntly.
“I thank you for your concern,” Flynn replies with a smirk, “but I shall take care of that later. A true Fatalist always places defeating the opponent first.”
“Oh?” Fayvard snarls. “We’ll see about that!”
Fayvard charges straight at Flynn, who disappears in a flash. Flynn reappears in the air at Fayvard’s side, holding his dagger vertically and throwing it down like a hammer at Fayvard.
Fayvard blocks the attack with his sword, a look of triumph on his face. “Poison Mist!”
Another cloud of poison floods the air. Fayvard draws back his sword and swings at Flynn again, cutting him across the wrist and ending his attack. Flynn doubles over, coughing as the gas fills his lungs.
At last, Flynn leaps backward, still coughing steadily. He narrows his eyes, tears welling up in them from the burning gas. “Fool,” he snarls, “did I not tell you your poison shall not work on me?” He summons the Shield of Wizet again, cradling it delicately in his arms.
“I ain’t gonna let you use it!” Fayvard howls, dashing towards Flynn at full speed. He raises his shattered sword, slashing at Flynn once again.
Flynn instinctively raises the shield to guard himself. Fayvard’s sword strikes against its smooth metal surface, resulting in an earsplitting clang. The impact is so strong that Fayvard is thrown backwards from its force. He stumbles slightly, before regaining his footing on the grass.
Flynn glares at Fayvard, his face twisted with hatred. “To think that I had to sully the glory of the Shield of Wizet against your undeserving blade…I will not forgive you for it, False Aristocrat!” He lowers an empty bottle of antidote, and hurls it away, throwing it onto the ground where the glass smashes into pieces.
Fayvard returns Flynn’s glare, a frown clearly etched onto his face. “That shield sure is something…I’m not gonna have a chance as long as he has that thing. I have to get it away from him somehow.”
Flynn lets go of the shield suddenly, and it dissipates into the air as it falls. “Unfortunately, it shall not be that easy to extract the Shield of Wizet from these hands.”
From the sidelines, Mira clenches her hands furiously, pounding the air with them. “Dammit!” Mira shouts suddenly, losing patience. She charges at Flynn, her sword singing through the air. Flynn parries her attack with ease, then quickly dashes past Mira’s side, slicing her cleanly across the side with his dagger.
Mira falls to the floor, eyes wide. She drops harshly on the ground, a splatter of blood exploding onto the ground beneath her. Ophelia rushes forth to Mira’s side, bending over her.
“Mira! Mira, are you okay?!”
A shadow suddenly falls over Ophelia. She looks up, fearfully gazing into the stern face of Flynn. He raises his dagger over her.
“I thought I told you others not to get involved in the battle!”
Before Flynn can swing his dagger over the cowering Ophelia, however, Zack immediately raises his Kage, shooting a beam of white light straight at Flynn.
Flynn blocks the arrow with the blade of his weapon; the light bounces off the dagger, disappearing into the air. He glares angrily at Zack. “I am the most skilled dagger wielder in the world. Do not insult my pride by interfering with my battle!”
Flynn flies at Zack with lightning speed; before Zack can react, Flynn punches Zack across the stomach, throwing him backwards into the air. In another flash, Flynn cuts straight through Zack, landing on the other side as Zack falls to the ground.
“Not Zack too!” Ophelia cries, turning to watch as Zack lays motionless on the ground.
Flynn turns towards Ophelia, a demonic gleam in his eyes now. He raises his dagger on her. “Die.”
“Humph, not so fast,” Fayvard yells, stepping in between Flynn and Ophelia just as Flynn begins his attack. “What kinda nobleman attacks a helpless girl like that? If you wanna fight, I’m your opponent anyway, remember?”
Flynn bares his teeth, looking at Fayvard sourly. “I have grown weary of this fight.” He swings his dagger once, and a crunch sounds as Fayvard blocks the attack with the remnants of his sword.
Flynn strikes again, and Fayvard does the same. On the third hit, however, Fayvard’s sword breaks into several pieces again, with the hilt and guard fracturing completely. The fragments fall the ground uselessly, as several rivers of blood pour out of Fayvard’s hand.
Fayvard’s eyes widen, as he holds the one tiny piece of the hilt left in his hand. Flynn smirks victoriously. “This shall end it!” He pulls his dagger back once more to strike.
Flynn swings his weapon. Yet before Flynn makes contact with Fayvard, a clang of metal interrupts his attack. Flynn’s eyes widen, as Cynthia squeezes her way in between Flynn and Fayvard, her Kandine acting as the only shield between Fayvard and Flynn’s blade.
—END TWENTY-EIGHT—