The decration from Eusebios fueled the anger in Yuki. While the emotions from his battle with Demosthenes subsided with time they remained just below the surface for him. He could never allow himself tet, at least until he repaid the debt. “I’ll be the judge of what is noble!” Yuki charged forward at Eusebios not pnning on giving him any ce t out the fight with words.

  His spear lowered to receive Yuki waiting for him at a thrusting distanbsp; The venomous eyes painted deep voids of hue within Yuki’s face made Eusebios a little uneasy in fusion. He saw how deeply Yuki felt about his strike. Hesitation and fear cked any presenbsp; All he saw within his fist was self-assured in bold lines of fidend righteousness. He wondered if he could match such passion.

  The fighters closed distah the spear thrusting out for Yuki’s shoulder. A small bst from Yuki’s foot pounded into the ground as he raised his open right hand against the spear. His palm smmed into the spear tip ing from his hand f it bato the wood of the spear’s shaft. Half of the shaft splintered and exploded as Yuki rammed his hand through before finally gripping the spear’s head. As a st ated moment of strength, he effortlessly crushed the metal head with his bare hand. A percussive bst from his hand knocked Eusebios back sending him to the ground.

  Chapter 107 – Righteous Fmes

  “The weakness of people like you is that without your powers you’re just a normal human,” ented Kalliope from the doorway. Her figure took on a more sinister appearah the glow of the awakened vilge behind her. She had Fumiko trapped.

  Fumiko gritted her teeth, ered so quickly. She had hoped that her magic gave her an advantage against a normal human, even a soldier. Staring down the point of a sword made her uand how much of a difference her ck of fighting experience meant. ‘I ’t let it end here…if only my magic worked…’

  “I don’t know what your reasons are for helping outsiders into the homend, but you know you only have two choices. You face your crimes before the Ministry of Military Crimes or I kill yht here as a traitor to Atntis.” The vilinous Kalliope moved a step closer to put her sword bde only a hair’s width away from Fumiko’s nebsp; Her words rang deadly serious. “As an Atntean I know you uand me. Disguises won’t get you out of this.”

  The threat of death hanging before her like a sword wreathed in bck barbs and veils. She started to srofusely. She saw no doubt or hesitation in the woman’s eyes. Fumiko wished that she had more than just a transtor to expin h the woman was about her. However, expining how she had magic seemed equally difficult sidering the possibility normally was impossible. ‘If only I had a staff or something to defend myself.’ Her eyes darted around the small room wanting anything that she could defend herself.

  Kalliope gave Fumiko the time to decide, but didn’t keep her eyes off of her for any moment. She almost seemed to taunt Fumiko’s heroics with the stained bde threatening life. ‘Let’s see how much resolve you have for your cause…’ Deying her further brought Kalliope’s sword closer, poking Fumiko’s skin on her nebsp; She demanded a response.

  Her options ran out. Yet Fumiko bravely held on to not giving up. She had to fight. The people might have been afraid of her, but they needed help. Fumiko gave her ao the woman with a resolute stare of determination.

  “I see. Then you shall die here!” The obsidian tainted bde pulled away from Fumiko’s nebsp; No relief came from its retra. Raised above Kalliope’s head the sword clicked in her hand with the metal singing an ominous requiem.

  Fumiko narrowed her brow in defiance against the unjust evil. ‘I need something…anything! With my magibsp; Her right hand knocked against a wooden pole. A broom cast aside during the search id out of p the floor. ‘Wooden…I need something more, but if I survive the first swing…’ Fumiko left questions behind in her doubt, taking up desperation with the broom quickly trying to get in the way of the sword sshing down at her. Fear for what happened made her eyes close.

  A loud csh vibrated through Fumiko’s arm apanied by a familiar divine warmth in her arm. Even through her closed eyes the bright light from in front of her shohrough. Curiosity aill beati made her peel back her eyelids to know the oute. She missed the start, but at the end threads of her magic trailed from her harating the broom she held.

  Calling it a broom anymore failed to describe it properly. Silver cast arouions of the wooden pole providing elegand holy grace that it cked. The bottom ed pletely in silver balling up before finishing off in a sharp pyramid shape added at the end with the point out to tact the ground wheical. At the opposite end of the broom the head no longer existed. In pce of the broom head, a silver circur headpieed. Ornate leafing and stems twisted out from the bottom of the circle building into a plex woven sphere hollowed inside.

  Even while admiring the craftsmanship of the ex-broom, the threat of the dark sword rattled against the wood. The on household item stubbornly refused to give ground to the sharp bde, not so much as chipping. Struggling, the tools came down tth, something that Fumiko cked both in position and natural physical attributes. She saw only oion tilting her hold to ahe sword down to the head of the pole. Kalliope staggered forward, losing bance breaking the csh.

  Fumiko threw herself back to get some distaween them. The er of aable stabbed her babsp; It jerked her over to the entrance of the door she fell through minutes before. Smmed against the wall Fumiko coughed to herself groaning at the stress. She caught a quice of Kalliope rec and thereet outside. Her hands tightened up against the pole and rolled around the doorframe esg into the street.

  The night air gave her a weled cool breeze bleeding off some of the tension in her body. Narrowly esg death left sweat c her body stig to her clothes. Disfort from it pushed aside hearing the woman from the house knog things out of her way to get out of the hovel. Fumiko tightened her grip on the pole that she held. A few seds passed before she took in what she held. ‘A staff…did I make this? Is that even possible?’ Much of her powers remained unknown and unexplored to her as she realized more of what seemed possible with the magic she possessed. The possibilities had her p, but shook it off remembering her dilemma.

  A fsh of moonlight from the sword crept through the open doorway of the home announg itself. Kalliope strode down ign the screaming and panicked vilgers behind her. Her face wore a stern look almost as though disappointed in her failure. “You didn’t run. So you still pn to fight me.” She raised her sword hand up, hefting the Xiphos horizontally at Fumiko, the bde ft. “Let’s learn which will is stronger!”

  Fumiko ched her staff between both of her hands, finding her quest. ‘I defend myself at least…’ On attempt for a defensive position by Fumiko began the demon charged forward as though signaled. The wait seemed difficult to read into if it was because of some warrior’s honor or hesitation in fear of the unknown. The destined heroine didn’t have the time to sider either option with Kalliope closing on her. The woman’s speed felt inhuman pared to Fumiko’s sluggish as.

  All Fumiko managed before their ons cshed was to raise the staff away from her. The sword felt heavy from the weight of the dark lord’s footsoldier rammed through it into her staff’s pole. Sparks chipped away where metal scrapped and collided. The bde dug in against the metal grip of the staff trying to bite through it.

  Hero Fumiko bravely held her arms against the overwhelming pressure. Dark miasma soaked through the skin of her foe. Each vibration built inter wave of pressure smming into her hands. Her body began to feel unbanced making her remember to slide a foot back for brag rest her banbsp; The exge that went through Fumiko broke a tiny window of opportunity for Kalliope to finish the arc of her on.

  Enough of the ending force jerked back Fumiko crumbling her blessed defenses. The sword swung in again quickly. Sparks flew up barely blocked. A arry from Fumiko stopped the third. She stepped back from the flurry of attacks ing at her. Her eyes darted down at her feet trying to watch what she did distrag her.

  The evil footsoldier capitalized on the heroine's mistake and spun around with her feet pnting it deep inside her stomabsp; Fumiko slid back coughing using the pointed edge of her staff’s bottom to dig into the ground for support. ‘All I do is block…’ She stared up panting from the exertions. Her body felt weak and shaken from just only a few moments of the fight. ‘ I really do this? I’m not built for this… If only my magic worked…’

  Her reprieve sted barely lohaack before the demon’s assault resumed in fierce strikes. Fumiko didn’t even make it to her feet. Each dark aspected strike sent her recoiling backwards struggling to keep any ground she might have had left. While the attacks came her mind fell bnk with no thoughts. She fot everything from the moment before. Single-mindedness cimed her. An offerategy or even a defensive one failed to develop even a thought.

  The break for Fumiko left her body racked with aches in her muscles. She never felt such pain even from her PE css. ‘I ’t…’ Fumiko panted heavily, gasping for a breath. Her mind’s focus crumbled away. ‘…magibsp; Pieces of words or thoughts ran through her. Fragments failed to piece together. ‘…Kimiko…’ Her sister fshed suddenly in her eyes. A thread of light appeared in her mind taking over her as.

  Kalliope saw her st charge bring the fight to a close. She had only o finish the traitor off with a final blow. ‘I would have thought she’d put up more of a fight for being an MP user. How did someone as weak as her survive?’ Questions had to end. Only one course remained. Kalliope closed, bringing her sword back to thrust.

  Brilliant light suddenly broke from Fumiko’s arm as violent threads and ribbons of energy. Kalliope had only seen the girl’s powers briefly, but she saw it was nothing like the power she dispyed before. Any trol seemed to have been forfeit. The light appeared to be ripping at her own skin as it jumped along funneling into the staff still held in her hands. When the energy touched the wood it exploded in fmes rag up the staff into the globe at the head. Kalliope stood meters away from the se, but the heat that burned off of the dispy made her ski and blister. She pulled away a little, no longer certain what to do. ‘I ’t get close! Is this a defe?’

  Seds passed quickly as the fme grew ihe sphere until ing the entire form. The metal work seemed uo restrain the power that expanded out. Breaking free from the cage, tendrils of fme whipped out from the gaps of the bars. Despite the fire appearing to be pleted, energy ti out of Fumiko’s shoulder tearing at her clothes and skin. If she felt any pain from the torture she caused none of it reflected in her soulless eyes.

  Watg longer, Kalliope began to develop a sick feeling iomabsp; The sight gave her ay desperation. “She’s building up power to kill us both! Is she mad?!” Kalliope felt her determination crabsp; ‘I should run…’ Her head turned back down at the vilge seeing everyone around. ‘How many would die? She could wipe out the entire vilge!’ Kalliope looked over at the inferno bzing out of trol.

  Where the fme whips shed out at the street char marks remained scorched by the intense heat. Nearby straw looked ready to ignite from the sheer heat. The thatched roofs smoked closer to the fmes. Anessing the ball of fury reheir screams fleeing in opposite dires knog over anyone in their way to escape. Mass panic spread quickly as the light from the fmes lit up half of the vilge.

  Kalliope gripped her sword tightly and charged forward into the field of heat that surrouhe spell. She thought she ran to the surface of the sun, the burni sucked out every st drop of water from her body. Blisters and burns appeared on her hands from her sword heating up and exposed arms. Each step felt like misery dragged out over a year slowly peing so as to ensure every moment of every sed felt equal and building in suffering. ‘How she have such power and be so weak?! It doesn’t make sense!’ She staggered in her charge feeling her muscles g out through her ag skin.

  Her step caught a fme tendril whipping at her wildly. The fme gave her no time to dodge, especially as she struggled forward. It ripped up through her uniform burning skin deeply. Even fighting the pain, a stifled scream broke into gasping yelp. As the tendril retracted back Kalliope broke her fall with her failing leg. ‘I ’t stop!’ Her pain from her injury drew all of what she felt over her body in making it feel almost like she had escaped the heat. Yet oo dash her hopes, a new wave of heat bsted through her with increased vigor. ‘It’s getting worse! I ’t get closer!’

  She stared at her sword burning into her palm aing flesh. Desperation remained her only on. Kalliope raised the sword up and flung it from her hand at Fumiko tearing burnt skin with it. In spite of her hand bleeding out none of it seemed to hurt. Hope kept her legs from colpsing in the heat, having to know if she reached her target. The sword sped closer drawing in a straight line for Fumiko’s chest. It looked as though it would reabsp; She k would. An errant whip blew out in front of Fumiko knog the sword away. Cast aside, the sword spun rapidly through the air far beyond Kalliope reabsp; ‘I failed…’ Her leg gave up droppio the ground. ‘She’ll kill everyohing stop her…’ Kalliope passed out.