The grueling duel in the center of the Regional Reserve's lobby was a brutal agonizing lesson in humility for the Emperor of the Ebon Citadel.
"CLANG! CLANG! WHOOSH!"
Arthur Sterling was losing. He was physically outmatched by the ancient Auditor.
Without the safety net of his million-fold multiplier, and without the reality-warping comfort of Absolute Order, he was forced to rely entirely on his raw unaugmented reflexes.
And against a being who wielded solidified time as a weapon, human reflexes were woefully inadequate.
"Argh!" Arthur grunted. He violently twisted his torso to avoid a lethal thrust aimed at his chest.
The shimmering rapier missed his heart but sliced cleanly through the fabric of his coat near his ribs.
Instantly, a patch of skin on his side withered and sagged. The muscle beneath ached with the phantom pain of advanced age.
His right arm had already aged by a decade. It trembled as he brought the heavy Ebonheart Sword up to block the next strike.
