Clang

Shriek

The sound of two metal surfaces clashing against each other echoed through the sky. Anton took a wide step forward. He stabbed his staff straight toward Louis’ chest. Louis blocked it but failed to keep himself from being pushed back. Louis almost tumbled down from the surprise attack, the sand not making it any easier. 

Anton continued on, stabbing in the rain. He stepped nimbly above the sand, every move calculated. The sand did little to stop him, the same couldn’t be said for Louis. Louis continued moving back, doing nothing but defending. It went well, far better than he had expected. It didn’t even feel like a fight. 

He gave Louis no chance to counterattack. He stabbed his staff, then stabbed again. He didn’t use Steel Strike, now realizing that he didn’t need it in the first place. Louis lost footing and stumbled down, crashing into the sand. His sword flew five meters away from Louis, leaving him weaponless. Anton aimed the sharp tip of the staff at his face. Under the gushing rain, Louis could only stare back. 

“... Anton…”

It was the same position Anton was in, but reversed. Louis called out his name, which sounded entirely different from the way he called him years ago. No mockery. No Anger. Nothing. 

This was a game, Anton couldn’t harm him if he wanted to. But even so, it looked as if genuine fear flickered in his virtual eyes. He stood there, not knowing what to say. 

Sorry, Kayla. 

He couldn’t help but feel he wasted the chance that Kayla gave him, but what did she expect anyway? What did he expect? To forgive him? To forget what he did? No, Anton never expected any of those things to happen. 

Anton retreated from his body, taking five steps backward. Louis saw him and lifted his body up, seated on the sand. 

“I’m sorry,” he said with a genuine tone, repeating the words that he said back on the space station. 

“...”

Realizing that Anton didn’t say anything, Louis continued. 

“I couldn’t run from it anymore…” Louis slowly stood up, his body swaying under the intense rain. He walked toward his sword and picked it up. He then faced Anton, gripping the sword in his hand. 

“... I know apologizing now wouldn’t be enough. Nothing will…” he muttered, before turning toward Anton. 

“Tell me what you want. As long as I can do it, I will…”

Anton thought about it. He would never forgive what Louis did. But, at the same time, it was all in the past. So long forgotten that even he himself couldn’t remember the details. He had received the blessing of forgetting about it. It still hurts sometimes, but only sometimes, only when that something triggered that memory Outside that specific scenario, he had forgotten. 

But that didn’t mean he wanted to forgive him, far from it. He didn’t have a reason to do that, either. 

“... Fight me,” he said. One last dance. One last fight. The fight to end all fights. One last stroke of ink on the white crumpled paper. 

“... Alright,” Louis nodded, and the next thing he saw was the reflection of the shining silver blade heading straight toward him. 

Clang

The two weapons met. Anton felt the full brunt force of the attack pushing him down, but he resisted. He pushed his staff forward, throwing Louis off-balance. Louis jumped away, regaining control over his body. Louis leaped forward again. This time, Anton was ready. He blocked the slash, before swinging his staff in a wide arc. It threw Louis off. Anton stepped forward, stabbing straight into his chest. 

“Urk!” Louis yelled and pulled himself back away. 

“Gust!” 

Anton felt a light gust of wind pushing at him, but not even as powerful as the rain. 

“Dirt Sword!” 

Anton fired a strike, his left hand pointing down toward the ground right below Louis. Louis jumped up to the sky, dodging the sharp dirt that appeared from below him. He pulled his sword on top of Anton. Anton slid to the side, the sword passing by his left shoulder. He turned his body to face Louis who landed left of him, before stabbing the staff straight into him. The black prism stabbed through Louis’ stomach, prompting him to pull back again. 

Louis stepped forward, still determined to strike. He slashed his sword horizontally. Anton pulled his chest back, the tip of the sharp sword just a few millimeters away from his skin. He swung his sword in another wide arc, this time coming from Anton’s right. 

Anton lifted his staff upward, its handle stopping the sword in its place. Using the opening, Anton pulled himself back and away from Louis. He moved backward, his steps slow and careful. He watched for Louis’ movements, the darkness surrounding him didn’t help. He watched for the sword’s reflection, bouncing light off the LAV. He noticed an incoming strike and leaped out of the way, stepping backward as sand flew into the sky.

The stars in the night sky watched as he took a breather. Louis approached him with careful steps, his sword pointing straight at Anton. Anton watched his face, noticing his rugged breathing and the slight shaking of his body. For Anton, it was clear that he had the advantage. He fought a dedicated physical weapon with a magic weapon, and he managed to register multiple strikes. 

He thought about possible magic to use, his eyes continued observing Louis’ movements. He saw Louis' feet tensed up as he prepared for a leap. He jumped backward, just at the right time. Using the split of a second when Louis was exposed, he jumped forward.

“Steel Strike!” he yelled before sending the sword straight for Louis’ chest. With one quick strike, he stabbed the weapon through his armor. His strike stunned Louis. 

“Ark! ARGH!” Louis yelled in desperation. Anton pulled the staff away, causing Louis to collapse to the ground. He coughed several times before jumping back, away from Anton. He disappeared behind the darkness, stepping away from the LAV’s light. Before he disappeared, Anton saw him drinking a potion. 

He’s that serious? What’s he trying to prove?

“Potion, really?”

“You asked for a fight, I’ll give you one.”

Anton heard his voice, sounding clear even underneath the rain. There was a sense of melancholy to it, a hint of pain and regret. 

 

The voice disappeared. Anton heard something kicking up sand on his left. Anton quickly stepped toward the LAV, then leaned back to the LAV’s left side. 

Anton noticed a faint breeze and slid to the right, Louis' sword scratching the LAV’s side, stopping not far from his head. Anton slid downward, going under the sword, and stabbed upward at Louis. 

“URK!” Louis groaned. Anton pushed with his power, throwing Louis to the ground. Louis tried standing up again, but Anton’s tip was now on his neck. 

“I’m surprised you’re willing to go this far for a fight.”

“I don’t want to. But it’s unfair, is it?” he said in between his rugged breath. 

“I can’t just go easy after everything I did to you.”

“That’s a weird way to put it,” Anton sighed. He then stored his staff and extended his hand. Louis looked at it for a few seconds before grabbing it. He pulled himself up. 

“I don’t care anymore,” Anton said, heading toward the rear of the LAV. 

“Again, I’m sorry. I know it will never be enough-”

“No, it won’t,” Anton shook his head. 

“So stop apologizing,” he walked away, heading into the LAV. He sat down in the rear. Louis looked at him from outside. He sighed and moved deeper.

“I’m not that evil.”

“Thanks,” Louis got onboard and sat next to him. Using his virtual screen, he swapped his avatar back to the previous one. He then sent a message to Kayla, telling her that she can swap back to her original clothes. 

“So… How have things been?” Louis asked. He stole glances at Anton. 

“I don’t know. Got nothing to do with you.”

“Gotcha.”

All the things that happened recently, from getting fired, all the way to this very moment, couldn’t be described in one word. He couldn’t really say that it had all been terrible, nor could he say that it was all sunshine, either. Anton then received a notification from Kayla.

‘We’re dead.’

“... Huh?”

Anton switched on the voice chat. 

“Where are you guys?” he asked. 

‘We’re dead,’ Kayla replied with a flat tone. 

‘Accidentally met a tank. Well, you can tell how it ended,’ Ronald added. Anton looked at Louis, Louis replied with a shrug. 

“Should we cancel?” Louis asked. It would take them a while before they could get back to this village, and even if they returned, they had no guarantee that they could win. Anton and the rest were already struggling to fight against the tanks, their return wouldn’t change much. 

Anton opened his contact list, looking for anyone that could be asked for help, only to close it immediately after. 

‘Should we bring the Shwarier?’ 

“Does it have any anti-tank weapons?”

‘... No, but we can manually aim the air-to-air missiles.’

The Shwarier had four of them. There was no telling how many tanks were left. 

“How about Cecily’s Light Pierce?” Anton asked.

‘We tried it when we engaged that last tank. It backed away when we got close,’ Cecily replied. 

Somehow these NPCs are smarter than the humans.

“We’ll go with the Shwarier, then.”

Anton didn’t have anything to lose other than a few missiles. They cost quite a lot, but Anton could still buy them.

‘Alright. Cecily, come with me. Maybe we can get you a parachute or something.’

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’

‘Don’t worry about us. I’ll come with the IFV with Rito. You just go with Kayla.’

‘Okay.’

The voice chat then went silent again. Anton went to the front of the LAV, taking the driver’s seat. 

“You take the turret.”

“Roger,” Louis crawled to position. Anton checked the information screen. He saw the turret moving left and right. He then drove off the beach, heading back toward the village. 

“We’ll try to pick out the light tanks,” Anton announced his intentions. 

‘Roger. We’ll head there as fast as possible.’

It didn’t take long for them to arrive back on the village roads. Anton tried turning off the LAV’s front headlights. He looked through the periscope, struggling to see anything. All the houses were closely packed together and the narrow streets made it hard to differentiate a tank from the surroundings. Those tanks need to either be in an intersection close to them, or in a large open space away from any obstacles like the first that struck them. 

Anton checked his inventory, looking if he had any night vision goggles. He looked back toward the LAV’s cabin. 

“You have any night vision?”

“Goggles? Pretty sure I got one…” Louis looked through his inventory, before pulling out a set of goggles and handing them over to Anton. He wore them before opening the front hatch, the rain still pouring down, droplets of water dripping into the LAV. This gave him a much more unrestricted view of their surroundings. Anton carefully moved forward, knowing that with the hatch open, he couldn’t let them be hit. 

He drove slowly above the cobblestone roads, ready to reverse the second he noticed something off. 

“There it is,” Louis muttered. Anton looked toward a space in front of them, toward the west. 

“Oh dear…”

It stood there, the heavy tank.