Vral exploded forward. "Come on, boy toy! Show me who you really are! Prove you have what it takes!" Her next assault was a whirlwind of steel. Her blades came from six angles in the span of a heartbeat. "Show me!"

I deflected the first attack with my shield, parried the second with my sword, and twisted away from the third, but she was already flowing into her next combination by the time I recovered.

How was she this fast?!

When I struck at her, she vanished. An instant later, the little goblin was in my ear. With a giggle, she whispered, "I want to see everything." She tried to dig her dagger into my neck, but my armor stopped the point from entering my skin.

I slashed backward, trying to stop her next attack before it happened, but she wasn't there.

"Got you." Her daggers screeched along the right side of my breastplate. Despite the thick armor and its enchantment, I could feel the blades cut through. she must have found another chink.

Damn it! What did I need to do to get the momentum back?

Ro-Saleh's words from six months before came to my mind. Back when we were training outside the temple and my life was far simpler.

Think less, do more. And trust your instincts.

Think less, huh? This was me he was talking to. I was no genius.

"You're open again!" Vral struck my right leg, then a second later my left shin. She was picking me apart by staying on my outside.

Oh. Oh! That was it!

I'd been trying to tank everything, been trying to rely on my resilience to get me through. But she was far stronger than the others. All I was doing was locking myself down with a low stance. I needed to change it up.

When she appeared again, I blocked her next attack and took several steps backward. There, I assumed an open stance, with my sword and shield out at my sides. The ready stance of Radiant edge, the circular form. It was for fighting multiple opponents, but Vral basically was an army all by herself. It might just work.

"Ohhh, changing things up now that you're losing, huh?" Vral's voice echoed on either side of me. She was shifting from side to side, looking for an opening.

"Losing? I've been taking it easy on you. You haven't seen anything yet." I started whirling my sword in arcs while keeping my shield over my vulnerable spots, doing my best to cut off her angles. Every time she appeared, my sword slashed, forcing her to move again. Her strategy of picking me off from the outside fell apart.

"Pretty! But stupid. You're open where it counts." The blur that was Vral vanished from my right side and appeared directly in front of me, daggers high. "And now you're dead."

I'd been waiting for that. Falling downward, back into a deep stance, I pressed my shield forward, cutting off all her angles of attack. "You think so?"

Her daggers buried themselves into my shield up to their crossguards, an inch above my forearm.

Twisting my shield, I wrenched her daggers out of her hands and lunged, sword forward. I clipped Vral's tricep, forcing her to abandon her daggers and backpedal.

"Not bad." Her grin was wild and unrestrained now. "What's that called?"

"It's part of a form I know. It's called Radiant Edge."

"Not bad at all. Maybe you'd want to teach me one day."

"Maybe I will."

She vanished.

An instant later, my right arm was pulled forward, and the daggers vanished from my shield.

The audience grew quiet. A quick glance showed thousands of faces locked in to our intense fight. As I look, I began making out individual voices around me:

"... fighting well, but is it enough?" A woman said to my left.

".... taught him that!" A melodic man's voice shouted from above.

'... bet's still on the slasher," Someone said to my right.

"... helped." "A deep rumble said from high above. "I did most of the work. And he's still sloppy."

... be kind to our child, you old grump." A stern woman's voice chastised the rumbling man.

"He's incredible." Another woman's voice breathed high above. That one made my heart skip a beat.

Was that who I thought it was?

"You're distracted!" Vral cackled as she kicked my knee, almost sending me to the ground.

There was no time. I'd have to find the owners of the voices later. Whirling my sword, I managed to lock her out of my outsides again, forcing her to fight me in the center, where my reach and height put me at a significant advantage.

"Tch. It's still not enough." Her grin was starting to fade, and sweat had started dripping down her forehead, but she was still pressing down on me. It still wasn't enough.

What else could I do?

Khadrel's word came to mind as another combo of attacks rained down on me. A fight was a back and forth. It was a dance. You couldn't act all on your own. It was about two people flowing with one another.

Tempo.

What was Vral's tempo?

"Hey, loser." She appeared at my side.

[Iron Skin]

I parried one dagger, and the other hit my neck and bounced off. Then, she vanished again.

"Over here." Vral was behind me now, stabbing my back. With every block, parry, and strike, I was starting to get it. Starting to feel it.

Attack. Attack. Move. If I got hit, she followed with two or three more cuts. And she never defended. She always dodged, always tried to find a new angle.

All aggression.

All offense.

I understood.

Parrying another lethal stab to the artery in my inner thigh, I said, "You're all offense, Vral. Keep that up, and you're done."

"Says the one who's losing!" She didn't let up, her attacks falling without hesitation or restraint, but now that I could follow her movements and pace, I saw that she was leaving herself open.

Attack, attack, pause.

I managed to cut her.

Attack, attack, attack, vanish.

I was slashing before she arrived. I cut her two more times. All shallow cuts, but they'd eventually add up.

"Vral, flow with me. " I realized I was enjoying this too much. The fight didn't need to end yet.

Like a wild animal, she screamed, "Fuck your flow! FIGHT ME!" Her voice was frantic as she whirled, her blades flashing in the glowstone light.

[Provoke]

Her feet scraped in the dirt as her toes were forcibly ripped forward to face me. Her attack flew wide, barely scaping my shield before falling away, harmless.

"Then this fight's over!" I shouted, stepping into her, keeping her backpedaling.

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"PROVE IT!" She swung again, but her next attack veered off course, thrown off by my press. To stabilize herself, she spread her legs wide, but that caused her feet to move slightly too far apart. She'd be slow now. Too slow.

I punched forward with my shield, catching her jaw. Her head snapped down and back, her eyes unfocused, and she stumbled backward. However, somehow she remained upright.

"Damn..." She backpedaled, her left hand finding her face, where a thick red line had appeared. "That hurt."

"Yeah..." I realized that she'd gotten my leg at some point. I hadn't even felt it until now. She'd gotten me good, too. My skin stung under my armor, but I could tell it wasn't too bad. I'd be okay. Still, that was a good hit.

Despite that, I was confident I had this. Only one of us relied on their overwhelming speed.

Her smile grew wider, wide enough that I could see all of her slightly pointed teeth. The look truly made her look like an animal. "I'm having fun, Alex! So much fun! Keep going. Keep fighting! Come on, Alex! Fight me! Give me more! I'm not nearly done! FIGHT ME!" Spittle was flying from her lips, and her eyes were frantic. Something was happening.

I realized in that moment the absolute terror her people must have been in the past. The Dark Lord had instilled in them some serious bloodlust. Had I not known her, I'd be pretty disturbed right now.

She cackled before vanishing again.

I knew this trick. She'd go for my back again. "Nice try." I threw my shield backward, but I didn't connect with anything.

"Idiot. You think I'd try that again?" Her voice was on my outside.

Fuck.

Her blades screeched as they scraped down my breastplate on my left side this time, but the armor held.

Okay, she was adapting, too. Her sheer talent was off the charts.

So how? How would I pull this off?

Press!

That's what I needed to do. I couldn't give her space. Every time she had the space to recover, she was outflanking me. So, I needed to take that advantage away.

When she appeared again, I pivoted and pressed forward, stuffing into her space.

"Dumbass, you think I'd—" Her words were cut off when I didn't stop pressing forward. She slashed, catching my forearm behind my bracer, but the attack didn't have any power behind it. I felt the sting, but only a little.

Wait? Was I just eating the hits? Was I as hard as she was fast? I'd have to explore the thought later, once we were out of here. But first...

I snapped into Sunfire Path again, but this time, I shot forward shield first. Slamming into her body with my shield, I sent her tumbling. "You think I'll just turtle up?" I kept moving forward as she tried to catch her feet, but I wasn't about to let that happen.

"What else is all that armor for?" Her right foot slipped on a loose stone, and she stumbled.

My sword caught her hip, opening the stitching and revealing a small line of green skin underneath. "For taking whatever you can dish out." I kept pushing forward, taking little hits here and there but keeping the dominance in our bout. The tempo had shifted. I was in control now.

"THE IRON SENTINEL AND THE SLASHER ARE EVENLY MATCHED! WHAT A FIGHT!" The announcer's voice echoed throughout the arena.

The rumble of the audience responded to his words.

"Bullshit!" Vral vanished, but I saw where she was heading. After that cut to her hip, she'd slowed down enough that I could easily follow her. I didn't even think I needed the helm's enchantment now.

Her blades bounced off my shield.

"Too slow!" I slashed at her leg, but the attack missed, sending my arm out slightly too wide.

She jumped up and kicked my shoulder. That knocked me back a step, but it sent her flying back a good ten feet. When she landed, she sprang back to her feet and looked at me, eyes gleaming. "You live up to your title, Hero of the Pit."

"Yeah, well I earned it with my blood, sweat, and tears."

"Mostly tears." She half-vanished, then reappeared in front of me.

"Shit talker." I checked her with my shield, then cut with my sword, catching her forearm. The leather split open, and a long thin line of blood appeared.

"Damn it" Vral panted, her cheeks flushed for what I could tell were multiple reasons. "This is what I've been waiting for."

I was breathing hard, but not as hard as she was. I was forcing her to move far more than me. "What's that?"

"An equal." She raised her blades again, her eyes shining with some emotion between joy and bloodlust, but she didn't move.

Time for a little shit talk back. "I'm not your equal, Vral."

She laughed back. "Oh yeah? Then what are you?"

"I'm your better."

Her eyes practically went feral. "Finally... Finally!" She growled, her voice low and husky. With a howl, she charged me, and our combat reached the next level.

***

We moved back and forth, our blades a whirlwind, neither able to gain the advantage. My shield caught her blade inches from my throat. My parry nearly took her arm off at the elbow. Her dodge turned my winning slash into a glancing blow off her chest, opening a hole in her leather armor above her right breast. Her counterattack cut a small line in my thigh, always between the chinks in my armor.

We kept on like that for some time. She wove between my slashes, ducked under my thrusts, and leaped over my cuts. I blocked everything she had. Nothing was landing, but she couldn't press forward, and neither could I.

But...

She was getting exhausted, slowly and steadily. While her attacks were getting slower and hitting with less power, my new armor and improved abilities let me be more aggressive, and my enhanced eyes were finding gaps in her defenses that I wouldn't have seen before.

This was a siege, though. One that we'd have to fight out over the long haul, and one where any mistake large enough meant the end of the bout.

We were nearly equal. Nearly perfectly matched. But nearly wasn't good enough.

I was going to win.

***

I had no idea how long the fight had gone on. All I knew what that we'd scored dozens of hits on one another, and I was slowly winning. She was dripping blood from a good fifty cuts, while I'd been hit half as many times. Neither of us had scored a decisive hit, but it was only a matter of time now.

Still...

This was the kind of fight that legends were made of.

The crowd was on its feet, screaming itself hoarse. They'd gotten fired up after I'd opened Vral's leather vest up a good four inches under her right breast and hadn't let up since.

Catching her again on the shoulder with my sword, I watched as she scrambled backward. Then, when she was out of reach, she doubled over, panting heavily, chest heaving.

I wanted to press forward, to keep the momentum, but I needed a few moments, too. I wasn't breathing as hard as her, but I was faltering, and my eyes were swimming from the exertion.

After a few breaths, she looked up, sweat pouring from her face and eyes smoldering. "Be... proud... Alex..." She grinned. "No one's... worked me... like you have... before"

"You like... how hard... I work you... huh?..." I panted through my best grin.

She giggled. "I do... so... so... much..." Her smile was wide and unrestrained. Her chest heaved. "Are... you... enjoying... it... too?"

"You have... no idea." I really was. I was having the time of my life. This was what I lived for. But it was time to end this.

"Good..." She stood tall and pointed a dagger at me, but her chest was still heaving. "Ready... for round... two?"

"Catch... your breath. You're gonna... need it."

"Why...?"

"Sorry." I'd been holding back this whole time.

She was going to be pissed.

[Second Wind]

Every nerve in my body flared back to life, and my heart slowed to a slow, steady rhythm. "Take your time." I could easily outlast her now. There was no question in my mind.

"What..." She looked me over, and her eyes grew narrowed. "What did you do?"

"[Second Wind]." I shrugged. "Pretty sure you can't keep up with me now. You might as well yield. We'll figure out how to survive after we get back in our cells." I knew she didn't like being talked down to, and she really didn't like being told she couldn't do something, but we needed some strength for what would come next. Unless... I wanted to look up, to find the sources of those voices I'd heard earlier, but now wasn't the time. Vral needed to yield first. "Save your strength."

She bared her teeth, and her face twisted. "Don't... fucking... coddle me! I can take it!" She roared, then charged forward, eyes blazing, attacking recklessly.

I caught her dagger with my shield and shoved, pushing her back. "You're tired. It's over."

"NO!" She vanished again, then five good slashes rained down on me.

Despite the ferocity of her attacks, they only had half as much power behind them now, and my defenses were an iron wall. She wasn't getting through anymore. She was far too tired and far too slow. "Vral, you're done."

"I'm done when I say I am!" She screamed.

I thrust with my sword, catching her in the wrist again. One of her daggers clattered to the ground.

"Rrragghh!" She screamed as she somersaulted over another cut, grabbed her dagger, and somersaulted again to stand upright, blades ready.

"Yield, Vral." My voice was firm.

"Fuck you!" She lunged, overextending again.

I stepped aside, then slashed horizontally, catching her cheek with my blade.

Her head jerked away, exposing her torso, so I planted a full-power knee in her ribs. The air exploded from her lungs as she tumbled backward and landed hard on the arena floor, face up and groaning.

"Damn," Vral said, catching her breath. "That was good." She sat up and wiped the blood off her cheek.

"You alright?" Had that knee ended it? It didn't feel like it. Or maybe she was ready to call it? She wasn't dumb. She knew as well as I did that we probably had a brutal fight ahead of us.

She teetered to her feet. "I..." Her face dropped, and her eyes grew dark. "I... I have to do it... Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!" She stomped her foot.

Something was wrong. She didn't look like she was having fun anymore. "Do what?"

The glowstones in the arena began flickering. A moment later, I watched as a dozen black tendrils, energy that I could see without seeing, snaked out of the ground, all of them reaching for her.

"Vral. What are you doing?"

Vral's face dropped, and her eyes fell to the ground. "I guess... this is what... my life was for... in the end..." She sighed. "It was my fate... Inevitable..." Her eyes lifted, meeting mine. "It's what my people were made for, after all. It makes sense." Her eyes were so heavy. And sad. "Right?"

The audience grew quiet... except for a woman high above who'd begun laughing. Her voice gave me the chills.

I didn't think anyone without the [Touched by the Dark Lord] could see it, but I was sure they could feel it. She was calling on Him, and he was answering, loud and clear.

"Could the Slasher truly fall today?" The announcer pretended to be concerned. "And does anyone else feel that chill in the air?"

I wanted to look up, to see what she found so funny, but I couldn't look away from the little woman in front of me. I didn't want to. "What are you thinking, Vral?"

Her head cocked to the side, and a wild look entered her eyes. "If you want my everything... then... You have to beat me at my best. That's the only way to make me kneel." Her teeth grew sharper, and black lines appeared on her face under the running warpaint.

What the...?

All at once, I realized then exactly what was happening. After all the shit she'd dealt with in her life, she'd been touched by Him, too. Just like me. And now, she was ready to accept the Dark Lord's offer. She only had to say yes. Her pride had kept her from taking the offer in the past.

But now...

She wanted to win so badly. But she was afraid of losing, of being vulnerable and out of control, that she'd give herself up to do it.

She was willing to give it all to beat me.

"Vral."

She frowned. "What?"

I took a deep breath and arranged my thoughts. I didn't know what the hell I could say that would work, but I was going to save her, even if it was from herself. I had a promise to keep.

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