Shadow Slave | School Days

Flames roared through the ruined ballroom, devouring the splintered marble columns and shattered chandeliers. Smoke curled toward the high ceiling, twisting through the air as the marble floor continued to crack and concede ground to the overwhelming inferno of heat around them.

Within the blazing inferno stood three figures—Eubin, her chain coiled loosely around her arm, facing off against the two seasoned warriors in the form of Seishan and Gilead. Frankly, Eubin was quite nervous, Gilead was not an easy opponent in the slightest and adding Seishan to the mix would prove to be quite troublesome if things got out of hand.

Yet, she was supremely confident in her ability to escape the two and with Mordret around, leading them to an immediate death by his hands would be all too easy. So, with a light sigh, Eubin began studying her opponents.

'I don't have my strings with me for the sake of anonymity, but these chains work about as well. Although they aren't as discrete as I would like.'

Seishan rolled her shoulders, twin steel hammers resting in her grip with their surfaces slightly blackened by the soot that permeated throughout the ballroom. Gilead towered over her, standing at her side with his golden hair slightly darkened by the smoke as his sharp gaze remained focused on Eubin.

"Two on one, I like these odds." Seishan commented, before disappearing from view. Her hammer crashed down with a force that split the weakened floor. Eubin twisted, narrowly avoiding the impact as a shockwave of debris shot in her direction. 'Smokescreen.' Gilead was already in motion, lunging in with a blindingly fast strike aimed at her ribs.

Flicking her chain upward, the metal coils wrapped around his wrist with its sharpened coils digging into his flesh causing blood to drip from it. A sharp yank of her chain would have sent ordinary men flying through the air, but Gilead flowed with supreme acrobatic prowess, spinning through the air intending to aim a brutal elbow at her temple.

Eubin ducked under the blow, uncoiling more of her chain from her body as she sent it lashing out toward Seishan who used her hammer to block the blow. Metal clashed with metal sending sparks flying through the air as the two jumped back, creating distance from one another.

With a sharp flick of her wrist, Eubin's chain shot forward, snaking around Seishan's ankle before she knew what happened. Before the hammer wielder could react, Eubin pulled on the chain with her full force, sending Seishan into the air before using her as a melee weapon and slamming her body into Gilead.

Golden locks waved through the air wildly as Gilead skidded to a stop, catching Seishan as the chain freed itself from her ankle. Shoving her from him roughly, Gilead blurred beside Eubin, sending a sweeping kick which she barely jumped over in time. The second her feet touched the floor; she realised her fatal mistake.

Gilead's hands shot forward, grabbing her mid-air and slamming her into the ruined floor. The impact sent pain lancing through her spine, she had only escaped severe damage by wrapping her chains around his neck and pulling herself up the moment her back made contact with the floor, dispersing the majority of the damage.

Despite that, a pained gasp escaped her lips as her instincts roared at her to move. Obeying them without a second thought, she rolled to the left avoiding a hammer strike from Seishan which would have crushed her skull had she been a moment too late. The floor where her head had once been caved inward, the fires around them roared with increased vigour to match their intense fight.

Lashing out with her chain once more, Eubin caught Seishan's hammer mid swing. Yanking it down, she forced an opening through Seishan's defences and slammed a knee into her stomach. The other woman gasped in shock as Eubin's chain snaked upward, wrapping itself around Gilead's falling fist before pulling it downward, redirecting the blow.

'Is he a fucking car!? What human hits that hard?' Her thinking time was cut off by the flurry of blows Gilead followed up with, his assault relentless and unfaltering. Blocking one strike with her forearm, the vibrations being sent through the core of her very being told her that doing that was never a good idea as she redirected the other with a flick of her chain.

But, the third hit its mark. Slamming his fist into Eubin's chin, the young woman was sent spinning through the air as she rolled with the blow. Despite this, an opponent at Eubin's level was unable to fully disperse the impact as she coughed blood from behind her mask.

Licking her lips, Eubin shifted her grip, letting her chain slacken slight before snapping it forward. A sonic boom was heard as the chain snapped like a whip, it's tip colliding with Seishan's hammer as she raised it to block the blow. The force of impact sent her skidding backward, yet Eubin's onslaught wasn't done there.

Snaking forward, the unpredictable movement of Eubin's flying chain caught Gilead off guard for a moment—which was all she needed. The chain wrapped around the large man's throat. Clenching with all her might, Eubin moved behind him and slammed her feet into his back, sending the man staggering forward as the links of the chain tightened around him.

Realising what was happening, Seishan swung her hammer with blinding speed, aiming to slam into Eubin's head. Bending backward at an impossible angle, Eubin used Gilead's body as a human shield as Seishan's hammer smashed ten teeth out of the man's jaw, a torrent of blood spilling from his mouth.

With another sharp pull, Eubin sent Gilead's body barrelling toward Seishan. The two collided in a tangle of limbs and metal, confusing both parties as Gilead's face continued to grow increasingly red. Spinning her chain, Eubin strained her muscles and sent another chain blitzing forward.

It struck true.

Seishan's hammer was ripped from her grip, skidding across the floor in a metallic jingle leaving only one remaining in her grasp. Gilead, still gasping for air which had been robbed from him, had his lingering reserves of air robbed from him as Eubin's foot crashed with his lungs, knocking the air out of him and sending him sprawling across the floor.

Gilead was unconscious.

Staring down Seishan, the two women stared at each other impassively, releasing grunts of effort as Eubin smiled sweetly below her mask. "Lost from Light is fighting Valor's white ghost. You can either stay here, fight me, and lose or go spectate. Although I'm unsure either will let you live."

Thankfully, the crackling of the flames and the muffling effect of Eubin's mask hid her voice from being identified as Seishan stared at her with wide eyes. Suddenly, they narrowed slightly as a smirk settled on her face. "Lose? To you? You could barely compete when I had this ogre holding me back, are you sure you can take me alone?"

Shrugging, Eubin turned around with Seishan following suit. Each of the two going to inspect the battles that were of most importance to them before each woman stopped. "You're not going to spectate Lost from Light fighting? It's a rare sight." Seishan commented mildly, although, she had no intentions of letting anyone but her watch her God in combat.

"Why would I go watch a fight when the conclusion is so obvious?" Eubin commented, never turning back yet still monitoring Seishan using the reflective surface of a broken piece of marble before her. Seishan cocked her head to the side with curiosity as she placed her hand on her chin.

"Oh? And pray tell, who do you think will win?" Eubin shrugged, she knew exactly who Seishan thought the winner would be, and she was sure of who it was too. "Lost from Light." Without another word, the two women blurred in their own individual directions as Eubin moved to watch Morgan and Nephis face off.

Meanwhile, Seishan got to see it for the first time. Her God and a demon of equal strength burned their lives, pouring every ounce of effort into their moves as they danced across the fine line that separated the living from the dead. And the only thought she could have was…

'Beautiful.'