The Foolhardies 165 Red Dawn

Gone was that troubling feeling of the rookie going one-on-one with the veteran. Gone was the nervous shaking of my hands or the second-guessing of my chosen course of action. Although I doubt the guilt of taking a life would ever leave me which was fine in retrospect. I needed it to remind me that I was still human.

The Dawn Breaker swung his greatsword at me, and it had such a heavy-looking shadowblade that it actually seemed like he was telegraphing his attacks, making it easy for me to dodge to the left.

As my left foot touched soft sand my sword arm swung down, bringing my falchion cras.h.i.+ng onto the Dawn Breaker's helmet.

His greatsword came up and he blocked my slash with the flat of the shadowblade which was wide enough to double as a s.h.i.+eld.

His steel-clad foot rose up and I pulled away just as the push kick came within inches of my groin. Seriously, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had aimed and just barely missed my crown jewels.

"Dude… that's low…" I hissed as we circled around each other.

I heard a high-pitched chuckle that was nowhere near the low baritone I envisioned was the voice of a fairy knight with the monicker of Dawn Breaker.

Glancing behind me for a quick second, I called, "Luca, are you good?"

Luca had already risen to his feet and caught a bit of his breath back. He nodded wordlessly.

"Use Second Wind and rejoin the fight… clear that s.h.i.+eld wall for me, will you," I instructed.

"But I—"

"—I've got this," I interrupted him. "You're better at breaking through enemy formations than I am…"

It's not like I didn't believe in my little brother's capability to fight this opponent, but as the big brother, putting Luca in more danger than me was a definite no-no. Not that breaking through a s.h.i.+eld wall wasn't crazy dangerous in itself, but just those few clashes against the Dawn Breaker made me realize that he was the most dangerous element in this battle.

It was a few seconds before he replied, but Luca eventually conceded to my order, "Alright… I'm borrowing Myth Chaser then…"

"Go," I said.

"Don't get hurt too badly, Dean," Luca said just before he and my mount galloped away.

"Are you done?" Dawn Breaker asked in a voice that was too high-pitch to belong to a bulky swordsman.

"Um, thanks for waiting…" I replied uncertainly.

We began to circle each other again and I took this time to observe my opponent while keeping our surroundings in mind.

The Dawn Breaker was taller than I was and very bulky although I wasn't entirely sure if it wasn't just due to the s.h.i.+ny silver plate armor he wore. It was a full set with a form-fitting breastplate and a scale skirt that trailed down to his s.h.i.+ns. Underneath his officer's helmet, the head was covered in a faceguard that was fas.h.i.+oned in the chiseled face of a woman.

My eyebrow rose at the sight of it. It was a weird fas.h.i.+on choice as I was facing a dude, right?

Now, since my falchion barely left a scratch on the right shoulder pauldron when I hit it earlier, I a.s.sumed his armor was at least platinum-grade. Its s.h.i.+ny silver coating also lent weight to this a.s.sumption. This meant that random hits to the body just won't do and I would need to be very precise in my attacks, aiming for the c.h.i.n.ks between pieces.

The sounds of battle continued around us; a cacophony of voices trying to outshout each other, loud explosions that deafened the ears, and even the occasional rhyming of a magician's chant. And yet, despite the distractions, my focus didn't waver.

Seconds past as we continued to circle around each other, each of us looking for that single opening in the other's guard we could exploit.

I spent another moment inspecting that huge greatsword he kept level in front of him, suggesting that the fairy knight was pretty strong.

The sword itself was huge. It was the kind you'd find Cloud Strife carrying in Final Fantasy VII. The shadowblade had that familiar charred edge all shadowblades had, but there was a distinct golden hue to the molten veins streaking across the flat of the blade.

I guessed that the greatsword which shared the name of his monicker was at least a gold tier, one tier higher than my falchion's current grade. This meant my falchion's vibro-sword skill would be useless against it.

In the background, I heard Ashley's yell of, "push forward! We've got them on the ropes!"

The possibility of them winning brought a smile to my face which I guess translated to the Dawn Breaker as me being distracted because he chose that moment to strike.

It was remarkable how quickly he was despite the weight of his greatsword and armor, and with a single leap, he bridged the distance between us and put himself with range of striking me down.

I leaped back to avoid his forward thrust, not because I was afraid, but because I was gearing up for a charge of my own.

As my back foot touched the sand, I pushed off it, leaping forward again in the hopes of catching my opponent unaware.

My falchion came snaking forward with blinding speed, and although I succeeded in catching the Dawn Breaker off guard, he managed to block my attack with his greatsword.

We exchanged blows in one, two, and then three successive strikes, all of which we managed to parry or block.

But I was painfully made aware of our differences in strength for each blow that I blocked pushed me back a step or two.

I leaped back a second time, and then, with the distance between us widened, I decided it was the moment to use one of the sword techniques Azuma taught me.

I bent down to my left side and moved my falchion back into sheath position which was the basis for the quick-draw style.

Azuma explained to me that the syncing of your breath and your body was the most important factor in finis.h.i.+ng moves. The next instruction was to force your body to tense up like a bow, ready for that single moment to spring forward.

That moment wasn't mine to choose. It was my opponent's decision to make. And while I waited for him to attack, I tensed myself up even more.

It wasn't long, perhaps a fraction of a second before he made his move.

He went into a sword stance of his own. The tip of his greatsword pointed forward as he carried it in both hands while the rest of his body was pulled back to the side in a similar fas.h.i.+on to a Muay Thai fighter's stance.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. And then, as if someone had just fired a starter gun, the attack commenced.

The Dawn Breaker charged forward in a thrust that might have skewered me dead if I hadn't struck at the last second.

Here's the thing, Azuma named this awesome move the 'Dragon devouring the sky' which he claimed was far more powerful when one called it out at the top of his lungs right before execution.

Seriously though, just imagining me shouting it out where everyone could hear me made my face go as red as an apple, and so I always imagined I would skip the special-move-calling that was often done in anime and manga.

So imagine my surprise when I did actually shout out the name right before my body uncoiled itself in what I embarra.s.singly a.s.sumed was an unconscious action.

"Dragon devouring the sky!" I screamed at the same time as I let out that long breath that I held in this whole time.

I must have been imagining because I really did feel like my breath was even better now than all those times I practiced the move without shouting out its name. Perhaps that was the point of it.

My body uncoiled and I shot outward in a rising slash that arrived just as the Dawn Breaker's sword thrust reached me.

I pivoted my right foot forward and to the right. The rest of my body followed this movement, allowing me to dodge to the right as the sword thrust came my way.

I felt the shadowblade graze my left shoulder and cut deep into its shoulder guard, eliciting a hiss of pain from my lips.

But not even the pain of this new wound was enough to stop my momentum, and with a mighty heave, I sent my shadowblade soaring upward.

At this point, the distance between us was non-existent. Perhaps an inch or two was all that separated us which surely meant I would hit him. But as my falchion continued its upward arc, I could feel the distance between us increasing, almost as if time itself was reversing.

"You're not getting away!" I yelled.

And although my proclamation was certainly true, he'd pulled away far enough that I barely manage to knock off his helmet off him.

Long, red hair was blown back by the wind as it was exposed to the desert air. A face s.h.i.+mmering with sweat looked back at me with angry gray eyes and pouty lips.

"Holy sh*t…" I cursed in surprise. "You're a girl!"