The air hung heavy as the clouds danced swiftly through the sky, their movements too fast for the rest of the sky to keep up.
"Blepharo…" All Samuel could do was utter that single word.
Shoved back by George's relentless fury, Blepharo lowered his claymore and lunged.
Anticipating this, George's pupils constricted as he intercepted the attack, throwing it off to the side. The two collided and traded blows for a while.
The fight remained deadlocked; neither could seize the advantage.
Samuel and Diallo stood frozen, their mouths agape as they stared at the intense battle. Sparks burst from clashing blades as the shriek of grinding steel filled the air. Grimacing, George ducked and pointed the tip of his sword toward Blepharo's knee.
Blepharo briskly dodged the attack and swung his sword vertically, creating a powerful air current that tore through the ground. George positioned his sword accordingly and blocked it; however, the brunt of the attack pushed him back.
"Stop!" A shrill voice urged them to cease.
Diallo Haidar stood in between Blepharo and George, his hands trembling uncontrollably as his eyes darted from one to the other. "We don't need to fight! Remember what … The 'instructor' said, Four of us will pass! Why do we have to fight now?!"
"Quiet!" A vexed shout surfaced from the usually calm Blepharo. Diallo's shoulders shuddered as he stumbled back.
"I've heard enough of your insolent voice!" Such anger was something Blepharo never had, nor had he ever spoken in that disturbed, volatile tone.
As he roughly massaged his face, Blepharo spat, "You're the root cause of all this! Everything! Now that wretched woman will come, and we will all die!" His eyes darkened in color as his brows furrowed.
Blepharo... I've never heard him angry. Which woman is he talking about? How does he know she will come? Surveying the area, Samuel noticed Diallo cowering in terror and George gritting his teeth as he clenched his weapon fervently.
"Don't yell at Diallo!" George buckled his knees before launching into the air. With a series of swings, he cascaded a multitude of air currents all targeted at Blepharo.
Looking at his opponent, who had ascended, Blepharo gripped the handle of his sword before driving it into the ground.
With a booming voice, he commanded, "Obey me, Aglana!"
A brutal tremor tore through the ground as four pillars erected upwards, each scraping the sky as they did. The pillars shook violently before morphing into a makeshift shield, protecting Blepharo from the air attacks.
A piercing whirr struck the air, and Blepharo's shield was severed in half. Smoke and dust erupted from the slice, which rendered Blepharo unable to see what was going on.
A figure rapidly emerged from the dust, holding their weapon to the side and ready to cut off Blepharo's neck. It was George.
Blepharo, in a split second, positioned his sword directly beside his own throat, just barely blocking the attack. The force of the attack pushed him back significantly, and he tumbled on the ground.
George wasted no time and pounced at the gliding Blepharo, who had not stopped tumbling from the previous attack. Holding his sword up high, George swung down with meaning.
A chilling whirr made its way through the area as the sound of a decapitated hand plopping on the ground.
Blepharo writhed in pain, the ground beneath him pooling with crimson liquid. George pulled his sword back and was about to stab the heart before he was pushed to the ground.
Samuel Juladee jumped at George and pulled him toward the ground, leaving him unable to kill Blepharo.
Placing his forearm at the struggling George's neck, Samuel shouted, "Enough!!"
"G-Get off me! I'm g-going to kill this bastard!" George hissed back as he tried to push the larger Samuel off of him. It was interesting to notice that George did not stutter when facing Blepharo but did for everyone else.
Seeing that George would not calm down, Samuel tried to locate Diallo to see if he could calm his furious partner. However, Diallo was nowhere to be found.
Neither was Blepharo. Where is he...? I didn't hear anyone get up and run! Samuel couldn't help but shudder in horror.
The blood drained from Samuel's face. Immediately getting off George, he scrambled to look for the pair that disappeared. As he frantically searched, the image of Blepharo mercilessly killing Diallo rang endlessly inside his mind.
"Where the h-hell is he!?" A roaring command reverberated through the forest. The handle he seized with murderous intent was showing numerous signs of breakage. However, George paid no heed. His one goal was to find Diallo and kill Blepharo.
"Sorry, boys. The two gentlemen you are looking for are a bit busy at the moment." A new voice chuckled behind Samuel's ear, which caused his whole body to tense profusely.
A short woman stood behind him, an instructor. She had short black hair that cascaded past her droopy shoulders. Donning navy pants and a white t-shirt with blood stains, she wore a sinister smile. Her chapped lips and bruised body meant she had fought many battles beforehand. She tilted her head to the side, her image perfectly resembling a doll, a broken, tattered, used doll.
Looking at Samuel and George with her deep red eyes, the instructor, Edwina, pulled out two identical daggers.
A dark maroon aura surrounded her as the daggers in her hand caught fire. Licking her dry lips, she continued smiling, "A descendant!"
Her malicious gaze locked on to George, who gripped his sword and held it in a ready position.
What is going on? Samuel's eyes began to lose their luster as he felt like succumbing to her devilish traits. "H-Hey, let's put a pause on our fight and team up against her. She l-looks like she's v-very strong." A whisper flew into Samuel's ears as he turned his head to look at George, who was sweating.
The temperature in the forest had risen exponentially, and Edwina was the cause. The aura surrounding her caught fire as well, a dark, sinister flame. It engulfed the area, enclosing her and the boys in an arena-like box.
She spun the daggers in her hands as she slowly approached the two boys. "Lucky me, right? I get a call saying a Salient of Omniscience wants me to hunt down some descendants. Who wouldn't agree to that? I've been meaning to advance, so this is the perfect opportunity."
One of the daggers that she spun stopped and was pointed at her forearm. "Being a demon is hard, right, boys? I've begun to lose my luster. They all think I've gone mad. That I've become something monstrous." She sighed, a mocking, manipulative sigh, "Whatever could they mean?"
She used the dagger to cut herself, causing minor bleeding. With a flick of the same wrist, the blood began to rise and wisp into many different arrows.
S-She likes talking to herself... Samuel tried to back up but was stopped by the raging black and red fire surrounding them. Noticing this, Edwina wagged her finger.
"No running away! You may not be a descendant, but the other one is. Yeah, I'll kill him first... then, who knows where the wind shall take us?" Cowering in fear, Samuel's muscles twitched and shuddered.
What is going on? This is an exam! What is happening? Nadia! Realizing this has gone too far, Samuel began to question Nadia's ethics.
Edwina chuckled, "Oh, don't be scared. I don't want you to be scared. I'll take good care of you, don't worry."
"D-Demon!" George screamed as he pointed at her. Edwina's cheeks turned a faint shade of red as she chuckled, "Oh my, what a darling little threat you are." The look she gave was the epitome of evil.
The edge of Samuel's wooden sword caught fire and burned the entire weapon, causing the sides of his hips to ignite. Jumping from the pain, Samuel twisted his body and tried to pat the fire away but was unable to do so.
Edwina giggled and spoke, "That's an everlasting flame, my brave fighter. It can't be put away." Her leering gaze caused Samuel to reflexively look away.
Samuel's eyes couldn't stop dilating and constricting as his face turned pale.
Wasting no time after that, George clutched his sword and charged at Edwina. With a flick of her wrist, the floating blood arrows were shot at the sprinting George.
Because they came from all sides, George could not block them all, so he ended up with many puncture wounds.
As he tumbled and collapsed to the ground, Edwina shot another arrow aimed directly at his heart. However, it reverberated off a piece of metal and faded.
George stumbled on his feet as he got up.
"I-I'm going t-to Diallo!" He passionately exclaimed as blood ran down the many puncture wounds on his body.
Edwina covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Oh my."