The creature's speed amazed Apatura, her wings fluttering, their light blinking.
The creature reached Apatura, swinging its blade, Apatura struggled to defend, feeling the many cuts; however, no blood was coming out, only a light blue liquid.
Apatura sees the blade reaching closer and closer, faster and faster; she lowers her body, kicking the leg of the creature, causing it to get back.
Apatura concentrates; she has a very limited amount of energy. Her blade shines, and her steps carefully shape the silhouette of a smaller butterfly.
The creature, seeing Apaturas's fast movements, reacts, creating a large fog engulfing her. Creating many different spikes and then decreasing the size.
Apatura attacks the fog, trying to create an opportunity for her to escape. With nothing realized, she contracts and releases her wings, extending her blade.
Boom!
Slash
Apatura didn't make the same mistake as the wolf; now, she protected herself with her blade from the possibly deadly attack aimed at her heart.
The creature blade attacks are barbaric with no precision, only power. Apatura notices that she focuses on her footing, trying to catch the creature off guard. However, all of the creature's movements counteract Apatruas' attempt.
Apatura creates a blade in her legs, strongly stomping the ground, shaking, and making the creature lose its footing.
The creature stumbled, raising its blade on top of its head, creating a perfect opportunity for a deadly attack.
Apatura launched herself at the uncovered area.
Slash
"Ahh!!!" Apatura lets out a blood-curdling scream; she falls to the ground, holding her slowly dripping shoulder.
She looks back, her eyes expanding as the creature is holding her hand with the blade still attached.
"Now we are on equal footing," the creature said in a sinister voice.
Apatura sees her blood slowly dripping and rips out the entire sleeve of her other hand, rapidly creating a knot to stop her bleeding, not before being attacked by the creature.
They exchanged blows with the creature having the upper hand. The pain distracted Apatura, losing her mind from the extreme amount of pain; all her sanity left her; the only emotion was to stop the pain.
Apatura continues attacking, the creature evading her attacks. Completing the butterfly movement is too much power for Apatura to use for a long time; however, it might be her last choice.
Apatura launches her blade, reaching the creature's leg, causing it to fall down from the attack speed, with the blade stuck on its leg. Apatura creates another one to finalize the movement.
She sloppily creates the remaining image; the butterfly that appeared seemed weaker and without its right wing, flopping on the floor.
The creature takes out Apatura's blade, smiling as it begins bleeding. Launching the blade back at Apatura, which she counteracts with a block.
Apatura launches herself at the creature, her footing stronger with a stronger foundation of strength. Her breathing increased, her eyes blurry, and all of her senses decreased.
Beep
The creature disappeared before being hit by Apatura. She looks around, seeing the creature behind her. She runs towards it.
Beep
The creature again disappeared before appearing in a different place.
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
Apatura looks around as the creature teleports into different places.
Slash
Apatura begins feeling overwhelmed by the constant attacks and teleportation of the creature. She can't land a single attack while the creature is reaching her, causing many different damages to all her body.
Apatura drops to the ground, causing the creature to lose balance; she pushes herself up, extends her hand, and lands a powerful hit on the creature's chin.
The creature stumbles, its head shakes, it has suffered from a concussion, and its legs become weak.
Beep
Apatura has very little left in her. All of her energy has been devoted to making her hand stop bleeding. The cloth she made is drenched in her purple blood. She looks up and sees the creature has fallen.
Apatura runs; this is her last opportunity to finish it; any more and she is confident that she will die.
Every step felt slow, her body relaxed as she ran, extending her sword to protect herself from any surprise attack. The smell of her body increased, the fog felt moving, and everything felt strange for Apatura.
Apatura reaches the creature; not wasting a single second, she adds a majority of her power into the blade to decapitate the creature.
The creature stood up, its glowing red eyes pushing Apatura.
The creature lunged at Apatura, its blade slashing through the air. Apatura raised her blade, but she was too slow to defend herself. The opportunities to counterattack lower with each block.
"Apatura!" Iris screamed, her voice cutting through the chaos. She closed her eyes, creating the image of a shield strong enough to defend Apatura. Her body trembles the more she creates it.
Apatura's hands gave out; her body couldn't attack. The creature pointed its blade towards Apatura's heart.
Crack
The shield appeared, the impact sending a shockwave pushing both of them. The shield cracked under the possibly fatal attack, but it held long enough for Apatura to regain her strength.
"Now!" Iris shouted, her voice collapsing.
Apatura didn't hesitate, launching herself towards the creature as it was trying to regain its footing. Her beautiful pink blade creates the image of her butterfly. The creature tried to dodge; however, it was too late.
Apatura pierced its heart. The creature's body collapsed; no sounds were emitted, only a faint smell of spoiled milk from her bleeding heart.
Iris collapsed to the ground, the shield disappearing. Apatura rushed to her side, her eyes filled with fear and regret.
"Iris!! Why did you do that!!" Apaturas screamed, her eyes becoming watery as she saw Iris losing the color and glow she always had.
Iris managed to give a faint smile. "You've saved me so many times… I-I just wanted to do something for you."
"Why? Why?! I told you I would protect you! You are too young to die! Please," Apatura said, crying as she held Iris's weakened body.
"I don't know why I did it. I want to get my revenge, but every day that goal feels faint. I just want to rest peacefully." Iris raises her hand, "Do you think I will see them again? Will they be happy to see me again?" Iris begins crying. "I am scared, very scared. They wanted me to avenge them, yet I haven't done anything. I am scared that they will be mad."
"No, no, don't say that. Everything will be fine."
Iris lowered her hand, her eyes losing color, her breathing slowing, and finally her heart faintly losing its beat.
In an act of desperation, Apatura took out her clothes, opening the non-reactant iris month, spilling all of her blood inside her.
After seeing nothing, she swiftly cuts the rest of her hand, causing her to lose more blood. She pressed her shoulder to Iris' mouth. Her blood boiling, Iris is inside as Apatura begins whispering an ancient chant.
The fog disappeared, the smell of fresh oxygen, and the moonlight hitting the nonresponsive iris.
A small butterfly appears below Iris; the air then changes speed, and a soft, pink light envelops Iris' body. Changing to a lighter shade of purple the more it envelops Iris.
As the light faded, Apatura felt her body feel the effects of extreme blood loss. Her wings disappeared, her light faded, and butterfly birthmarks disappeared.
Collapsing on the floor, her body curls as a cocoon begins forming around her.