The vice commander stood motionless beneath her demonic mask, her gaze fixed on Vale with an intensity that seemed to pierce straight through his being. For several long seconds, neither of them moved. A faint wind slipped through the open arches of the tower, stirring her long black hair as strands trailed behind her like threads of dark silk.
Above them, framed by the massive openings in the arena wall, her crimson wyvern loomed. Its immense head hung low, its slitted eyes narrowed as it watched the confrontation below with predatory focus. Low, rumbling growls rolled from its throat, reverberating through the stone chamber like distant thunder and pressing faintly against the air itself.
Vale allowed himself a brief glance upward, acknowledging the creature's presence, before returning his full attention to the woman before him. The tension between them stretched taut, thin as a drawn wire.
Then she moved.
There was no warning, no shift in posture, no preparatory motion. One instant she stood still, the next, she vanished. Her body dissolved into a violent blur that tore across the arena floor with explosive speed.
Vale reacted on instinct.
His legs straightened as his muscles coiled tight, and his hand shot toward his blade. Midway through the motion, however, his instincts sharpened and adjusted. Instead of drawing immediately, his hand shifted inward, fingers hooking the hilts of two concealed daggers strapped against his chest.
In one seamless motion, he drew and threw.
The daggers cut through the air with lethal precision, spinning toward her path in a calculated attempt to disrupt her advance. The vice commander adjusted instantly, her momentum tapering just enough to respond. Steel flashed. One of her blades rose in a clean, efficient arc, striking both daggers aside in a single motion. The projectiles spun harmlessly away, clattering across the stone floor.
Vale was already closing the distance.
He stepped in, twisting his torso as his hand finally wrapped around the hilt of his sword. The blade came free in a rising slash, meeting her counterattack head-on. Steel collided with a sharp, ringing crack that echoed through the arena, the force of the impact traveling up his arms and into his shoulders.
Their weapons locked.
Vale's eyes narrowed as he leaned into the clash, testing her strength and measuring the subtle shifts in her stance. For a fleeting moment, a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Heh… tell me something," he said, his voice edged with quiet confidence. "What do you look like under that mask?"
There was no response from her.
Not even the slightest flicker of acknowledgment.
Instead, the pressure against his blade increased as she shifted her footing. One of her hands disengaged smoothly, dropping for only a fraction of a second before snapping to the hilt of her second weapon. In a heartbeat, she drew and struck, her arm sweeping outward in a wide, horizontal arc aimed cleanly at his midsection.
Vale reacted instantly.
He leaned back, planting his hands against the ground as his body inverted into a controlled backward handstand. The blade passed mere inches from his torso, slicing cleanly through empty air. Using the momentum, he pushed off the ground and flipped back onto his feet in one fluid motion. The instant his boots met stone, he exhaled sharply, resetting his stance.
She was already advancing again.
This time, Vale didn't retreat.
Instead, he stepped forward to meet her head-on, raising his blade as their weapons collided once more. Sparks scattered with each impact as he deflected her strikes with precise, economical movements, redirecting her twin blades just enough to keep them from finding their mark. The rhythm of the fight intensified rapidly, fast, relentless, and brutally.
Even so, the imbalance was undeniable.
Two blades against one.
Vale felt it in every exchange, the constant pressure, the tightening margins for error, the way each clash forced him further onto the defensive. His grip tightened as he shifted to a two-handed hold, reinforcing his stance and stabilizing his guard.
'As if I'm going to lose just because of that,' he thought, his jaw setting with resolve.
Their blades collided again,
and in that instant, she changed tactics.
The vice commander leaned back slightly before driving her leg upward in a sharp, rising kick aimed directly at his chest. Vale reacted quickly, bringing his own leg up to intercept. The impact sent a jolt through his body, the force reverberating through bone and muscle alike.
But he didn't stop there.
His free hand shot out and closed firmly around her leg, locking it in place before she could retract it.
With a twist of his torso, he redirected the force and threw her.
She sailed several meters through the air before landing cleanly on her feet, absorbing the momentum with practiced precision. For a brief moment, she remained crouched, her weight balanced and controlled, before rising slowly to her full height. Her masked gaze lifted and settled back onto Vale, unwavering.
Vale watched her closely as his breathing steadied.
Then he chuckled.
"Is that it?" he asked, a hint of mockery creeping into his tone. "Just striking over and over again?"
There was no reply from the woman.
Only movement.
She closed the distance again in a blur.
Vale exhaled through his nose, rolling his eyes faintly as he adjusted his stance. His blade shifted into position, angled to intercept,
but at the final instant, something changed.
She released her weapons.
For the briefest fraction of a second, Vale hesitated. It was instinctive, almost imperceptible, but it was enough.
His swing followed through regardless, but her hand was already there. Her fingers clamped around his wrist mid-motion with iron precision, halting the strike before it could fully complete. In the same motion, she pulled him forward, collapsing the space between them with ruthless efficiency.
Her other fist drove forward.
The impact landed square against his face.
Vale's head snapped back violently as pain flared through his skull. Blood burst from his nose, scattering into the air as his vision blurred for a split second.
It was all she needed.
Her leg rose again, this time from the side, and crashed into him with brutal force. Vale reacted on instinct, bringing his arm up just in time to intercept. Even so, the strike carried enough power to launch him backward across the arena. His body skidded across the stone, grinding to a halt several meters away.
A cough tore from his chest as he forced himself upright, one fist pressed against the ground for support. His breathing had grown heavier now, more labored, but his eyes never left her.
"…Nice," he admitted, dragging a hand across his face to wipe away the blood.
She didn't respond.
Vale's grin widened slightly against her indifference.
Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his blade. For a moment, it hovered at his side, then he released it. The weapon fell from his hand, clattering sharply against the stone as it slid to a stop.
He raised his fists instead.
His stance shifted, lower, more grounded, his center of gravity settling as his shoulders loosened.
Across from him, the vice commander tilted her head slightly. Even through the mask, the confusion in her posture was unmistakable.
"Let's make this fair," Vale said, rolling his shoulders as tension strained them. "This is just for fun, right?"
That earned a reaction.
A subtle twitch from her.
A faint shift in her stance.
"…Fun?" she repeated, her voice low and restrained.
A murmur rippled through the spectators above, a quiet wave of unease spreading through the arena.
Vale felt it.
For the briefest moment, his expression faltered as he sensed the shift in atmosphere, but he forced it away, squaring his shoulders.
"Well, yeah," he replied with a casual shrug. "I mean… I can handle you, can't I?"
Silence answered him.
Then,
"You… handle me?" she echoed.
Something in her voice changed.
It wasn't louder.
It wasn't sharper.
But it was different.
Vale blinked,
and she vanished.
Beside me.
The realization struck him instantly. Vale dropped low without hesitation, ducking just as her fist tore through the space where his head had been a fraction of a second before. The air cracked from the force of it.
He twisted sharply, eyes snapping upward as she followed through without pause.
Her attacks came faster now.
Sharper.
Heavier.
Each strike carried a distinct increase in force, her movements flowing together with relentless precision. Vale reacted purely on instinct, his arms rising to intercept, redirect, and absorb the blows as best he could. Even so, each impact drove into him harder than before, forcing him backward step by step.
The pressure escalated rapidly.
She pivoted and drove a wide, sweeping kick toward him.
Vale pushed off the ground and leapt backward, finally creating distance between them. As he descended, he drew in a deep breath, forcing his breathing into rhythm. The moment his feet touched the ground, his body steadied, his stance settling into something far more centered.
She was already moving again.
Her arm shot forward, aimed directly at his face.
Vale dipped beneath it, his body turning as his weight shifted into the motion. In that instant, everything aligned, his breath, his balance, his timing. His fist tightened, drawing back like a coiled spring.
Then he struck.
The punch surged forward with explosive force, the air itself warping under the sheer pressure of it. When it connected with her torso, the impact detonated outward, releasing a shockwave that rippled across the arena.
The sound that followed was thunderous.
Her body was launched backward, tearing across the stone until she collided violently with the far wall. The impact cracked against it, dust and fragments scattering outward as she remained upright, though momentarily halted.
Vale didn't move.
His arm lowered slowly as he exhaled, his breath ragged now, his body straining to maintain balance after the force of the strike. He adjusted his footing, forcing himself upright, his gaze never leaving her.
For a moment, the arena fell silent.
Then, narrowing his eyes slightly, Vale spoke.
"…Had enough?"