Chaos had taken over completely. Both sides were scattered across the hall. Jurian cut down several cultists and then appeared beside me. I did not have much strength left to move.
"Impressive, Daen," he remarked with a faint smile.
What did he care? He had been watching the whole thing as if it were some kind of performance.
"Thanks," I replied. I wanted to add something sarcastic, but left it unsaid.
I raised my sword and threw myself back into the chaos.
I ran at a nearby Cerpeir. He did not notice me. I slashed viciously across his wings. He arched backward and blood sprayed everywhere.
Their wings were among their most sensitive parts. Damage there could be permanent.
The man fighting him drove his sword into him almost up to the hilt at once. He nodded to me in thanks.
It was getting harder and harder to tell who was on which side.
Azi and Lasin were fighting Mallory, Bruno's first deputy. Mallory kept both of them at a distance and did not let them get close. One body after another fell in the crowd. We might have gotten rid of the blades at our throats, but the fighting went on, and their numbers were slowly crushing us.
Bruno was occupied with Finra and Breias. Alone, they were no match for him, but together they managed to keep him busy.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ragnar cutting people down like grass.
I had to get rid of him.
Our eyes met.
He was in his feral form.
Grasion were savage warriors. They did not hold formation well, but almost no one could match their raw strength and endurance.
He was on me in an instant.
For someone over eight feet tall, he was unbelievably fast.
I blocked his brutal lunge, but pain shot through my legs. I had managed to take the blow with my full weight behind the guard, but I would not last long like this.
He came at me again.
He left parts of his body exposed during his attacks, but anyone who tried to exploit that had already paid for it.
I slipped to the side.
He wielded a two handed sword even longer than Jurian's. To wound him at all, I would have to get close enough to reach almost to the grip.
That could go wrong in too many ways.
He swung downward.
I saw my chance. I was almost at his stomach when his sword suddenly changed direction.
It came straight for me.
He's going to cut me in half.
My own sword was already nearly at his chest. I forced my body to move and hurled myself backward with all the strength I had left.
Blood sprayed.
I barely dodged the second swing too.
My entire clothing was soaked in blood at once. The wound was deep and far too long.
Don't think about it.
I have to win.
My knees gave out. I caught myself on one hand.
Ragnar smiled in triumph.
"Does it hurt?"
I coughed up blood.
I could barely hold onto my sword. I was losing too much blood.
And he knew it.
One of the organization's men charged him. Ragnar merely swung once, and the man's torso flew several feet away.
Then he came straight toward me.
"Our master ordered us not to lay a hand on you," he said with amusement. "But accidents happen."
He paused.
"He described you as a Nimer warrior in battle. But you're clearly nothing of the sort."
I lifted my eyes to him in hatred.
"Pff. And who exactly is your master, if he says idiotic things like that?"
Ragnar laughed.
"Who is he? He is the one people only whisper about. The one who seeks the true truth."
Anger burned inside me, but I could do nothing with it. I was kneeling there before him, mortally wounded.
"I've hated you since the moment we met," he growled. "You looked down on me. And now look at yourself."
He leaned closer.
"A pathetic boy who's about to bleed to death."
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a sword.
Judging by its size, it was Jurian's.
Jurian had come to save my pathetic life.
I had no idea who could possibly call me a Nimer warrior. It was utter nonsense.
Ragnar lunged at Jurian.
Jurian caught the huge blade.
I had barely managed to survive one of Ragnar's blows, and Jurian stopped it as if it were nothing.
Ragnar lost his balance.
With the next swing, Jurian cut off his head.
The body dropped limply to the ground.
I had been kneeling there so long that a pool of blood had formed beneath me. I let go of my sword and pressed a hand against the wound.
It ran from the left side of my chest all the way to my lowest right rib.
"Thanks," I forced out.
Jurian formed a small sphere of magic in his hand.
"This will seal it. Press it against the wound."
I took it from him.
The moment I pressed it to my chest, pain so sharp it blacked out my vision tore through me.
Jurian had already turned back to the fight.
He cut through cultists like wheat. The moment his sword left one body, it was already flying toward the next.
Finra and Breias could barely remain standing. Sweat streamed down their faces. They were completely spent.
Their magic was powerful, but it was not enough against Bruno.
Bruno launched another attack.
Finra and Breias raised a magical shield, but the force shattered it and hurled them both to the ground.
Finra caught herself on her hands and coughed up blood.
"What's wrong?" Bruno laughed over the noise of battle. "Already out of strength? And I was only just beginning to enjoy myself."
The fight was nearing its end. Of all those who had been here at the start, barely half remained.
Could Jurian defeat Bruno?
Maybe.
But from the way he was behaving, he did not want to. He kept avoiding him.
Lasin
In the end, it turned out Mallory was an exceptionally good fighter.
During all her years with the Twelve Swords, she had barely drawn attention to herself. It was a sharp contrast to Ragnar, who had boasted constantly.
Ragnar was dead now.
I had only seen part of Daen's fight, but that had been enough. Daen had survived, and hopefully he would not bleed out before the battle ended.
Azi and I were among the best fighters in our district.
And Mallory was keeping both of us in check.
She did not take risks with killing blows. She was simply wearing us down, bit by bit.
I blocked one of her strikes and rushed at her again, trying to find an opening, but none came.
She fought with two shorter swords, always keeping one ready for a counterattack.
Azi managed to get close with her large shield, but Mallory slipped away every time.
Azi charged her again.
She got within range quickly, but Mallory avoided the attack. She slipped past the shield and found herself behind her.
She slashed both blades across Azi's exposed back.
Azi caught part of the blow with her shield at the last instant.
All of it happened in seconds.
Azi blocked another lunge and retreated.
About ten paces separated us.
I started running.
Mallory, of course, read every movement I made.
I angled my sword and shifted my weight so she would not know where the strike was coming from. I had beaten many strong opponents with that trick before.
Mallory braced herself for an attack from the right.
I swung from the right with all my strength.
She changed her stance at the last moment.
The blades scraped against one another.
I had a dagger hidden in my clothing. If the first strike failed, this would be my best and only chance.
I drew back my sword and lunged simply.
She blocked it easily.
Our blades separated again.
Azi threw her shield aside in frustration.
"I don't even want to look at that useless thing anymore."
She grabbed a two handed battle axe from a corpse nearby.
She had trained mostly with a shield, but in truth she was stronger with two handed weapons.
She charged.
The axe slammed into Mallory's sword.
Mallory's hand shook visibly, and she fell back at once.
With her second sword, she deflected the axe and tried to get in close.
Now.
This has to end.
I pulled the dagger free and lunged.
She could not turn fully toward me because of Azi.
With one sword she blocked Azi's strike and knocked her away. Then she half turned toward me and raised both blades.
I shifted to one side, then the other.
Her eyes bored into me.
I drew the dagger.
She saw it.
But I still had a chance.
I locked both of her swords with my own so she could not strike downward, and with my free hand I hurled the dagger straight at her heart.
Time seemed to slow.
I could not hold the clash of the two swords. I lost my grip on my own weapon.
The dagger struck her.
But not in the heart.
She recovered instantly and slashed at me.
I managed to pull back partway, but a deep cut opened across my right shoulder.
Then came the heavy sound of steel biting deep.
Mallory's head flew several paces to the side.
Her body dropped limp to the ground.
Azi stood behind her, axe in both hands.