Kate lunged for another attack against Apollyon. The demon parried with ease.

“Very good. Again.”

The human came to a stop, repositioned herself and lunged again. Once again, Apollyon stopped her attack.

“You are improving.”

“And I still can’t get even a single hit in.” Kate lowered her sword and took a few deep breaths. “Can we take a small break?”

“Of course.”

“Just need a moment.” She took a big gulp from her water bottle and sat down on the floor. Apollyon followed suit.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fucking amazing, honestly. Getting a little tired though, we might need to come to an end for today soon.”

“I am happy that you enjoy this. Yet I still feel the need to apologise for the lack of progress you might perceive.”

“I know you aren’t training me to be good in a few months, but amazing in the far future. And I made progress! We moved on from simply blocking and striking while standing around to actually moving around. It’s still just basics, it’s fine.”

“Good. I do not wish to see you discouraged by my long-term planning. If that is ever the case, you must tell me. I will adapt to your needs as much as I can.”

“There is one thing.”

“Please tell me, so I can fix it.”

“When the prospect of training with you came up last year, I asked if I could watch you and another demon fight.”

“You did. I am sorry I did not follow through on my promise to provide that show fight. I believe that War is currently free.” Apollyon conjured a piece of paper and a pen, quickly scribbled down a few words and made both vanish again.

“You want to do that right now, right here?”

“Why not? We’ll create a protective field to prevent this place from being damaged and keep anyone non-demon from entering. This place is as good as any, at least it limits our usable space, making it more interesting to watch.”

“Sounds like a great way to finish today’s session. How about dinner at the library afterwards?”

“I wanted to suggest that later as well. Our chef has prepared a significant amount of the curry you had as your first meal from her. She will be visiting her relatives over the weekend and likes to bring them some of the curry. Of course she leaves a lot for us to enjoy as well.”

“Perfect! That was the best curry I ever had. I really need to ask her to teach me the recipe.”

“She is working on a collection of her recipes. When it is finished, you will be able to own a copy.”

“Even better.”

 

A few sips of water later, War snapped into the fencing hall.

“Hello ladies, you called?”

“I owe Kate a demonstration of my skills with the blade. I believe you would be a good opponent for such a… show.”

“Here? And fully revealed I take it?”

“Yes, to both.”

War just grinned and shifted into her very large demonic form. Just a smidgeon taller than Apollyon, but far more muscular and adorned in impractically revealing plate armour. She pulled two scythes from behind her wing-less back, each of them about Kate-sized.

“We cannot damage this place and need to protect Kate. I have established protections, but please keep in mind that we need to hold back if we run the risk of breaking them.”

“Understood. Glad you still consider me a worthwhile opponent.”

“You might have surpassed me. Are you ready?” Apollyon shifted back into her demon form too, extending her wings and drawing a sword Kate had never seen before. The blade itself was simple and sturdy, nearly like a stereotypical medieval european sword if it weren’t for the two spikes jutting out from the ends of the hand guard, running parallel to the central blade. The entire sword was clearly designed to disarm or even break an enemy’s weapon.

“First to draw blood?” War readied herself.

“Of course. Your move.”

War swung, Apollyon dodged, and Kate ducked out of the war of the large scythe just passing over her head.

Following the action was surprisingly easy. Kate had expected fast and highly mobile moves, but both demons prioritised precise strikes and overall efficiency. War was on the offensive, the only thing a pair of scythes were actually good for. She was seemingly trying to corner Apollyon, who was playing along to abuse the openings created by the pair repositioning themselves with each of War’s major attacks.

“You certainly haven’t lost your edge!” War swung again.

“And you have done well improving on your weaknesses.” Apollyon dodged downward, only to spring back to the side, following the scythe, catching it with her sword and tearing it from War’s hand. The weapon went flying across the hall. “Yet you have not overcome them.”

“Ha! Well played, but I can still scratch you with one blade!”

It was Apollyon’s turn to control the direction of combat. She steered War away from her dropped weapon, but always with War’s back towards it. Instead of dodging, Apollyon’s new strategy relied far more on parries and ripostes. Despite clearly having the upper hand, she still kept to defence, until War made the mistake of a too wide swing. Apollyon reached out to the scythe on the other side of the hall, causing it to fly towards her opponents back. Instead of impacting where it was supposed it, the scythe was caught by its owner, who let out a hearty laugh.

“Nice try, but Michael already failed with this the last time. I am not as open as you- ow!”

“I am not Michael.” Apollyon didn’t strike at the open torso, nor at the extended arms of War. Instead, she had opted to simply let her sword carve along War’s left thigh by just letting it drop from her hand. “Well fought.”

“Fuck me! You really are as good as I remember. That was fun.” War’s thigh rapidly stitched itself back together and both demons stowed away their weapons.

Apollyon turned to Kate. “Was this demonstration to your liking?”

“Absolutely! Though, I expected more magic and stuff?”

“Too efficient combat distracts from the conversational character it holds. There are ways of implementing more magic-based tactics into your style, but War and I relish in the purely physical.”

“I see.”

“I hope we could adequately set your expectations for combat in the future. Though I am curious, given your talent for observation, did you learn anything new from watching us?”

“Oh yes! I was thinking that speed might be a lot more important, but it seems like intent is. Like, it doesn’t matter how fast you swing if you can’t make sense of what you do. There has to be meaning behind everything, right?”

“Yes. Thoughtfulness will get you further than simple force.”

“Yea!” War added. “Even my swings are all going for something. It’s not about hitting hard but hitting right. I don’t always try to even hit, sometimes making my enemy move where I want is more important. It’s what I do best: area control.”

“That’s what you were trying to teach me when you brought up fighting as conversation so early in the training. Right, Polly?”

“Exactly.”

“You weren’t really conversing earlier though, why?”

“It’s a better show.”

Apollyon nodded in agreement. “And I would have lost if we did.”

War turned to her fellow demon. “Why would you think that?”

“Because the one thing I would need to fight with you about are my feelings after I stepped down. I know I am not ready to have that conversation and truly finish it in a way that would be positive for me.”

“Yea, I don’t know if I’m even the one you should work this out with. A Nightmare maybe, one that knows you well and can just mirror your mind. Still, this was fun. We should do this more often.”

“Yes, we should.”

“Well, I’ll let you two get back to your training session then. Happy to have come by for a quick fight, but I need to report back to Azazel before I do another sweep of the city. I’ll see you two around.”

“I am sure we will see each other soon.”

Kate gave War a warm smile. “Thank you for coming, this was amazing to watch and see you soon.”

War teleported away.

“Okay, uhm… dinner time?”

Apollyon nodded. “Dinner time.”