Chapter 17: Chapter 16: Marastruck [5]

Chapter 16: Marastruck [5]

“Victim or not – she swings at us, I swing back!” Francis exclaimed, watching as Elafi started to walk faster.

After only a few steps, she briefly sprints towards them before lunging at Maru. Elafi reels her arm back mid-air before swiping her claw-like hands at Maru’s face. She moves her head away and jumps back, narrowly avoiding Elafi’s claws while their razor sharp edges cut seamlessly through a few strands of her hair.

Francis leaps in front of Maru as she dashes back, holding his sword high into the air and bringing it down with a powerful slash against Elafi’s defenseless arm and shoulder. As his blade collides with her arm, Francis’ eyes widen at the sound of a distinct clang that resonates throughout the cave. Sparks fly as the blade recoils off of her arm, leaving Francis staggered.

“The fuck?” He said silently, “Is she made of metal?!”

Without even looking at him, Elafi throws a devastating jab towards him with her other hand.

Tianyu appears in front of Francis, putting up one arm with a Magic Circle in front of it. A shield-like barrier made of water appears in front of him, blocking Elafi’s attack. The force of her punch is absorbed through the water, with some of it redirected towards her. Her fist recoils back, leaving her staggered.

While Elafi was staggered, Tianyu firmly jabbed his water shield. Upon contact, the shield collapses into a small sphere of water, imbued with the force of his punch. It’s shot towards Elafi’s chest, but she recovers quickly enough to put both of her arms up to block again.

“I will need both of you to stay on the offensive,” Tianyu announced, “leave the defense to me.”

“Got it!” Maru exclaimed, rushing towards Elafi from her blind spot.

Maru maintains a rigid grip on the lower part of her staff with both hands, taking a step towards Elafi and swinging it at her face.

Elafi’s head recoils to the side, leaving her dazed with blurry vision. She blindly swings her claw-like hands in Maru’s general direction, her arms long enough to reach Maru despite the distance between them.

Her frantic swings were a lot faster than her punches, likely because they were formless and lacked a target.

Even though Elafi was mindlessly swinging, Maru was still hit. Elafi managed to lodge her clawed nails into Maru’s shoulder, immediately ripping them out as blood splattered on both of their clothes.

“Owww…” Maru winces, biting her lip as she watches her blood trickle down the side of her arm.

“Don’t pass out, don’t pass out…” she thought to herself, maintaining the grip on her staff.

Elafi pulls her arm back to attack Maru again, but her wrists are suddenly shackled by dense water chains extending upwards from the ground.

Seeing an opportunity, Francis lunges forward with his fist pulled back. His arm is enveloped in powerful winds before he violently throws his fist forward, the winds from his Magic enhancing both the speed and power behind the punch.

His attack collides directly with Elafi’s stomach, causing her knees to buckle. She falls down onto both knees, still dazed from Maru’s earlier attack with her vision slowly recovering. Francis follows up with another punch, this time aimed right at her jaw. Elafi opens her mouth, Francis’ fist sliding conveniently close to her teeth. With a vigorous chomp, her sharp canines would tear into his hand like a jagged blade as blood splattered everywhere.

“FUCK!” He yelped, pulling his hand away from her, wincing as her sharp teeth viciously tore through his tender flesh and muscle. Elafi tugs at the chains binding her, snapping them instantly as she firmly rises up on both of her feet. She reaches out to grab Francis by his shoulders, holding him in place while she reels her head back and headbutts him with the base of her antlers.

Francis’ body immediately succumbs to shock and he stumbles back. Maru rushes behind him, catching Francis in her arms.

“Francis?!” She exclaimed, her voice decrepit and shaky, “say something!”

Through an audible grunt, he looks up into Maru’s eyes before using one hand to push himself out of her arms.

“I’ve still got some fight in me,” he mutters, taking a step forward as his arms are wrapped with a thin layer of ravaging winds.

Elafi throws another punch, but Francis weaves the attack by moving his head to the side. As her fist rushes past him, Francis jams his fist into her abdomen, his arm a blur as it pierces through the air like a needle threading through fabric.

Elafi’s body recoils back as she instinctively curls up to protect her stomach. When she looks up, she sees Francis jumping into the air and spinning clockwise, using the momentum to bring his leg up and slam his shin against her antler. Her body is sent flying a few feet above the ground before she starts tumbling across the floor.

Maru takes a step toward Francis, but Tianyu grabs her arm to stop her.

“What’re you doing?” He muttered sternly.

“I’m going to give Francis a hand,” she replied, looking back at Tianyu with a soft gaze.

“Don’t. You know Francis fights best by himself. You’ll only get in his way.”

“That hurt like hell,” Francis said to himself, rubbing one hand against his shin after he landed. “She looks cute but she’s built like a fuckin’ freight train. She’s got antlers and muscles more defined than mine. What the hell is she?”

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He then looks down at his bloodied hand, his vision continuously getting more hazy. “I really shouldn’t have underestimated her at first, otherwise I wouldn’t be losing so much blood. Now I’m on a time limit.”

He looks over his shoulder at Maru. “I would swap out with her so that Tianyu can heal me, but Maru would get killed. I’ll be fine, I’ve survived bloodier battles.” Without a second thought, he rushes forward as a blur, appearing in front of Elafi as she struggles to stand up. Francis pulls one leg back before kicking it forward full force, aiming to strike Elafi in the head with his shin to knock her out for good.

“Eat this, bitc–”

A familiar pain reverberates throughout Francis’ body as Elafi digs her canines into his leg. She tugs at his leg, forcing him off of his feet as his shoulder and back side slam into the stone beneath them. As he hits the floor, Elafi rips her teeth out of his leg and raises both of her fists into the air, slamming them simultaneously into Francis’ chest.

With barely any time to block, his body freezes as the wind is knocked out of his lungs. With his body numb and still like a statue, Francis could only watch as a streak of lightning flashes in front of him, knocking Elafi a few feet away.

Maru rushes toward him, gently grasping his head and holding it up.

“Francis?” She whispers.

Francis is unresponsive, his eyes wandering through hazy vision. He looks up to meet Maru’s gaze, barely able to properly make out her face, before his eyes forcibly close.

Maru’s mind and body began to flood with a cacophony of emotions. Fear was the most prominent, but there was a sliver of anger building up within her. The fear she was feeling was natural, something constantly instilled in her. She felt outclassed when in the presence of Tianyu and Francis most of the time, and now they were faced with an opponent that troubled both of them.

She wondered if she would even stand a chance. In the past, she only ever got the way by endlessly worrying the other two about her safety. She had no reason to jump into fights and get into needless danger, prompting the other two to risk their lives to try and save her. This time, however, she knew she could do better. She had Magic now – a trump card that would allow her to turn the tables, stand her ground, and prove her worth to the others.

A splash of water at her side catches her attention. Maru looks to her right, her eyes widening at the sight of Elafi’s fist hurling towards her – blocked by another of Tianyu’s barriers. A handle appears on the barrier, turning it into a shield as he leaps in front of her to grab hold of it. He manifests a sword made of water in his other hand to compliment his shield, standing in front of his two friends like a knight protecting royalty.

“Is he alive?” He asked, referring to Francis.

“Well, he doesn’t look dead, so I guess.”

“Good. Just let me handle the rest then.”

Tianyu pushes Elafi away by bashing her with his shield, putting a few feet of distance between them. She counterattacks by leaping towards Tianyu with another swift jab, aiming to break through the shield.

His makeshift buckler blocks the attack, but there was a moment of hesitation from him. The presence of something powerful startles him, a presence that wasn’t in the area before.

He glances over his shoulder, watching as Maru sprints towards him with her staff in hand, a streak of lightning left in her wake as she blitzes past him. She leaps forward, bringing her knees close to her chest while her body slowly shifts to a horizontal position in the air. When she finally got close to Elafi, her legs would spring forward as she dropkicks the deer-hybrid in the stomach.

From the soles of Maru’s feet, electricity cackles and Elafi is blinded by the light of a blue sun. As soon as she is kicked, an epileptic series of flashes leaves her stunned. Excess Magic Energy rushes into the surrounding air, creating a powerful explosion with another blue flash. A deafening thunderclap resounds throughout the entire cave system, and Elafi is sent tumbling far away.

She violently slams into the wall of the cave. Pebbles crumble from the ceiling above them and Elafi is left pinned against the cold stone.

Maru lands on her bottom, her legs pounding slightly from how hard she kicked Elafi.

“W-Woah…” she mutters, astounded by her own strength.

Maru gets up, looking down at her hand as it surges with lightning and Magic Energy, like blood coursing through veins.

The spell she used was the same spell from when she first created her Magic Circle. Using Magic Energy, she enhances her body and gains incredible strength and speed – but she didn’t think it would make this big of a difference. Maru thought that her inexperience would make the spell less effective.

Maybe she’s right. Maybe the spell is weaker, and that would explain why it’s lasting so long now and its effects ended so quickly when she first used it. Could her emotions be fueling it? Now that she has an opponent and a proper reason to fight, is her Magic more willing to give her power? She had so many questions, but she had to keep using her Magic to get the answers to any of them. This battle was different from the one against Manho. Instead of fighting for her life, Maru feels like she’s finally in control of her Magic and it’s not making the decisions for her. It was her strength, not anyone else's.

“Just how strong can I get?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of slow clapping from behind her. She looks over her shoulder to see Tianyu giving her a mellow applause, his sword and shield no longer in hand.

“You finally remembered,” he said with a chuckle, “what’re you gonna name that move?”

“Uh.” She wasn’t exactly sure what to call it. Many of the most renowned Adventurers give their attacks special names to make them sound cooler. Maybe she could start doing that.

“I don’t know, maybe like Thunder Dropkick or something?”

“A named spell is better than a nameless one. How does it feel to finally wield Magic in the heat of battle?”

“...It feels weird, but like, in a good way.”

Tianyu looks at her with a soft gaze. He could tell very easily that she was changing, becoming more accustomed to her Magic. Her acts of valor were a defining part of her character, and her Magic seems to shine most when she’s faced with adversity.

Part of him wanted to help her fight, but the other part of him was thinking the opposite. Tianyu had a great deal of faith in Maru, enough faith that he believed she could take this battle all on her own. It was a perfect opportunity, a moment for her to finally have a spotlight rather than being overshadowed by Francis.

“Soon enough, you won’t be able to live without it.” Tianyu turns around and walks toward Francis, getting on his knees and placing the injured Mage’s head in his lap.

“I’m going to make sure Francis is alright, but I won’t be able to help. I need you to be careful, Maru. If she was able to knock Francis unconscious with just a single hit, I worry what might happen to you. Would you rather I fight her instead?”

Maru glances back at Tianyu, giving him a warm smile as reassurance. “I got it, don’t worry.”

He saw the familiar smile and confident spark in her eyes and couldn’t help but smile back. This would be the first time Maru would get the opportunity to truly experience the thrill of a hard-fought battle. It’s life changing for many, and Tianyu was sure it would be the same for her – a revelation of her own strength and true potential.

“I trust you, Maru.” An opaque dome of water would slowly ease itself around Tianyu and Francis, encasing them.

Maru was on her own now.