A glaive and a sword met.

The clashing sound followed–metal hitting metal.

It reverberated. Each strike bounced against the other.

Their hearts thumped. Their hands trembled. And yet, at this moment, none of them could spare any strength, and they knew that the other also believed the same.

Both Eghwin and Gideon commanded their weapons in each move. They traded blows, exchanging each other’s other force until exhaustion hit one of them. So far, however, both soldiers still stood strong, recovering their stance before doing any attack and blocking simultaneously.

Riding a horse, they carried the momentum brought by their mounts in every attack. Step after step, they closed the distance and cut through the air only to get blocked by the enemy’s own weapon. Their offense was also their defense. Every hit shocked their muscles, which they pushed further until the next attack could connect with the enemy’s body. As their concentration deepened, they became more aware of the other’s movements.

How their muscles contracted.

How steady their breathing was.

How sharp their senses were.

The soldiers around them began to notice this showdown, some of them couldn’t take their eyes out of this sight. None of them dared to intervene.

It wasn’t just a clash of life, but a clash of honor too.

The leader of each army knew this–understood that the fate of this battle, their entire army, was on their shoulders. That burden made each swing and thrust heavier. The impact escalated as none of them backed down.

Gideon swung his sword from the right side. Eghwin blocked it, then pushed the dull side of his glaive at his enemy. It hit Gideon’s abdomen, and although it was painful, he knew Eghwin was in no position to block or dodge after such a risky attack. So he bashed Eghwin’s head with the flat side of his sword, knocking him away to the side before getting a hold on his rein again.

Both commanders received overwhelming cheers from their respective armies.

Eghwin rubbed his bleeding temple. Dizziness made it hard for him to see, but he considered himself lucky not getting his skull bashed in.

“Where is your usual tenacity?” Gideon asked. His breathing got more rigid, feeling the rising heat on his abdomen. “Giving up already?”

“I thought you didn’t want to make small talk.”

“Consider it talking to a corpse.”

“And certainly you’ve gotten more cocky as well.”

Eghwin’s sight cleared up. Once his breath became steadier, he let his horse carry him forward. Using the long reach of his glaive, he launched a horizontal slash.

Gideon raised his blade to block the attack, but the moment they came into contact, he felt a shockwave that pushed him back a little. His hand shook with pain.

Eghwin’s strike was simply far stronger than his, and he wasn’t about to stop either.

Each movement was deliberate. Whenever Eghwin swung his glaive, he already knew the next movement he would take, and he commanded his body flawlessly. His sheer power and speed overwhelmed Gideon to the point that the latter could only defend.

However, this wasn’t a surprise for him.

Throughout the tens and hundreds of sparring they had done for years, Eghwin had always triumphed due to his physical prowess. He maneuvered with the glaive with close to no effort. His hands knew when to move and stop, when to turn and swing–no movement was wasted. At the same time, having witnessed his fighting style in those years, Gideon could somewhat predict Eghwin’s chain of moves. Even then, it took every fiber in his muscles and nerves to stand his ground.

If he only kept dodging and blocking while attacking when there was a window for it, he knew he would lose this duel. But the duel itself didn’t matter.

In reality, it was not a mere duel, it was a war.

And he planned to win the latter. To do that, he only had one thing to do.

Stalling time.

Right now, as they were exchanging blows, Gideon’s detached unit was also on its way, shortening the distance every second. They were circling the battlefield from the western side, and soon, they would arrive. Even if he had his limbs chopped off, as long as he was still alive, the reinforcement coming from the opposite side would turn the tide once more. Their power would double, and thus not give the slightest chance for Eghwin and his unit to run away.

Eghwin’s plan to leave his headquarters would backfire. Gideon had outsmarted him.

So stalling for time was all he needed to do.

Letting the passage of time run its course. Minutes felt like an eternity, where one second difference meant death. Another followed every heartbeat, knowing the next beat might not come. As long as they could force in another breath of air–not caring the scent of iron which followed it–they would.

And so, there it was. A cloud of dust coming from the back of Eghwin’s army. A cloud of dust which kept getting closer and closer.

Gideon looked at that, his fist clenched in rejoice.

“We–”

***

What once had been a flat ground made more colorful by the soil, grass, and flowers turned into yet another victim of war. As everyone expected, a battle between two Luminants was a sight no one could comprehend completely. The utter destruction both parties had created made it difficult for ordinary foot soldiers to traverse.

Those who shot arrows from a distance had to move around until Enfir exposed his blind spot. Yet, his spatial awareness edged over them, as if he had a third eye that watched over every possible angle. And following him from behind was Sephi who took reign of those stray arrows with her power. The current she made diverted the missing arrows at him like a puppetry with strings, though in the heat of the battle, she sometimes lacked control and snapped them. Only shrapnels of wood and dent arrowheads were left.

All they could do was watch and occupy the enemy Luminant busy with attacks that soon got blocked or dodged. Still, they spared no energy in their effort, knowing that the slight help they gave might change the outcome in their favor.

At this moment, Sephi shortened the distance with a dash. She was about to swing her sword when another pillar protruded from the ground, aiming at her vulnerable side. With a quick spin in the air, she used her sword to cut Enfir’s attack into pieces. On the other hand, Enfir softened the ground beneath him until it simulated how a wave worked, pushing and pulling him without needing to move his legs.

So to call him running away wouldn’t be accurate–he was slipping away.

“Fancy trick, eh?!”

Sephi was relentless, though. She stabbed the ground and created a wind dome using her Lumen, Aero. The ground wave stopped. But unbeknownst to her, this stunt would break her sword.

This entire time, Enfir had been targeting her sword.

“Shit!”

Enfir hopped around from one structure to another–ones he had made on his own using his Terra Lumen. On the contrary, Sephi–now using her fist–crashed into them in seconds, launching debris all over the place. When she got closer, she would launch a punch imbued by her Lumen at Enfir.

It made him fly a few meters above. Before gravity pushed him down, he raised another obstacle to cushion his fall.

“Ohh, so you can do it without needing to touch the ground,” Sephi said.

“You talk too much.”

Hovering above him, Sephi was one move away from launching a blast towards Enfir. He managed to throw dirt at her hands. Upon contact, they coagulated and weighted her limbs, rendering her useless for a moment. At the end, all they could do was return to the earth, feeling the solid surface beneath their feet with something broken.

Enfir spewed some blood in his mouth.

Sephi tossed the broken sword aside.

“You’re strong!” Sephi shouted. “What’s your name?”

“....”

No answer. Enfir wasn’t about to entertain her.

“Well, your name doesn’t really matter. You’re strong, and that’s all that matters. But….” she stopped for a bit before glaring at him. “I know you aren’t serious. You’ve only been blocking and dodging. Are you underestimating me?”

“Se-Sephi, don’t provoke–” some soldiers whispered.

“Be quiet!” Her intensity even swallowed her comrades. “It annoys me that you’re not taking this seriously. I haven’t been training just to face someone as disrespectful as you. So, how is it? Will you go all out now? Or do I need to force you to?”

“....”

No answer again.

“I see….If that’s your answer, so be it!”

Sephi dashed once again. This time, the force left a crack in the ground. Her next punch created a sound wave that came after. It wasn’t just a punch either–a barrage of punches, each one enough to push back a man almost a meter. Of course, Enfir tried to dodge all of it. Left or right, jump or duck, forward or backward–every move he made now was a maneuver to get out of Sephi’s attack. No one dared to enter this arena they had created.

Punch. Dodge. Punch. Dodge. Punch. Dodge.

Again and again and again and again and again.

Until one side cracked.

Sephi–ragged breathing and covered in sweat–managed to connect a hit. The wind current wrapping her arm suddenly transferred to Enfir, enhancing the force behind Sephi’s strike by multifold. It released a shockwave which startled everyone, and right before her eyes, Enfir’s abdomen exploded.

Its inside gushed outside, scattered everywhere alongside the liquid within Enfir’s body. Just a single glance was enough to see that the enemy’s Luminant had been defeated.

But then, looking closely, Sephi furrowed her eyebrows.

Yes, his body exploded. He lost almost half of his body. No human could withstand that.

In the current state, however, this Enfir wasn’t a human.

His inside was all mud, brown and sticky as it melted slowly. His body parts transformed into a pile of mud, sloshing around until they dropped to the ground with a soft thud, one after another–some of it smeared on Sephi’s fist and feet.

What once had been Enfir’s body was now a puddle of mud.

It was just a clone–a revelation that shocked everyone.

Sephi was even more so. She curled her fingers into a fist–the turbulence of emotions such as anger, confusion, and panic mixed.

“W-where is his real body?!”

***

A soldier looked back where a cloud of dust was approaching. Gideon saw it too, and in that span of time, he felt happiness rushing through his body.

“We–”

He was about to yell victory to his army, but he stopped. His lips trembled.

That cloud of dust, coming closer with every passing second, was too thick to be coming only from his detached unit. They approached fast, the rumbling on the ground getting stronger, similar to Gideon’s heartbeat–blood pumping all over his body, and at the end, he skipped breathing.

Gideon didn’t finish his sentence. He couldn’t. The color on his face faded as the realization dawned on him.

Instead, it was that soldier. He gazed into the distance, knowing what caused the cloud of dust. He took his helmet off, showing the smirk he had on his face this entire time. His black hair, tied into a bun, blew in the wind.

“We won,” Malin said, adjusting his eyepatch in a sinister smile.

Once he said that, a giant wall appeared on the battlefield, separating Gideon’s unit from their reinforcements. And behind that wall, the unit which had circled from the other path was pursued by another force coming from their back.

They looked like no soldiers. In fact, none of them was wearing the same uniform. Each one of them appeared to be distinct, either galloping on their horse or running on their feet. The one leading in front looked more like a living shadow rather than a human. Enfir, having detached a clone prior to the battle, motioned the men behind him with one hand. Something rose behind him.

It fluttered in the wind. A flag–the head of a narwhal.

Gideon’s reinforcement stopped on their tracks. Their eyes widened, containing shock that also lingered in their expression for a while. None of them had expected this kind of development–not even Gideon himself.

He had been outplayed.

Eghwin saw how Gideon’s shoulders slumped.

“Gideon, give up. I hate to kill you.”

Screams surrounded them. No doubt in his mind that the battle was over. Gideon didn’t even have the energy he could spare to utter a single word. But his grip on his blade was still firm. One thing was certain. It wouldn’t fall anytime soon.

And as his last desperate attempt, he lunged forward, meeting his enemy–his friend–head on, facing the border of life and death together.

As his response, Eghwin shut his eyes. When they opened, they glowed in a radiant grey hue.

That was the last view Gideon had the opportunity to witness before everything was veiled in darkness.