"Philo..." she muttered through clenched teeth. "What is that?"
Sephiss's removed a sheet of paper from his pocket "How can a man wield hecules blade from a piece of scroll."
In an instant Sephiss wielded the blade of Hercules.
"Philo," he said softly, "is short for philosophy. Before swords and machines decided battles, belief was the sharpest weapon in the world. Words built kingdoms. Ideas brought them to ruin. Philo is that power, reborn, the ability to make the world obey an idea."
The pressure was crushing. Lanni gritted her teeth and de-summoned her moon sword, her armor fading as her body reverted to its base form. She panted lightly, sweat trickling down her brow.
"What's the matter?" Sephiss teased, voice calm but venomous. "Not strong enough to lift your own sword?"
"This is my first time even hearing of this power," she replied coldly. "It appears your ability allows you to manipulate the mass of objects and materialize others at will. You currently wield the sword that once belong to the legend Hercules."
Sephiss "You do not understand, none the less, you will face judgment as your dear knight Jett."
She slammed her foot into the ground, channeling her Abi.
"Art of the Knight, Wolf's Sword!"
The air around her howled like a winter gale. A new blade materialized in her grasp, lean and curved, its metal etched with wolf runes that glowed white-hot. The change was primal. Dangerous.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Sephiss tilted his head. "You have more than one sword, I see?"
"Those in the Knight Class," Lanni said, lowering into a sprint stance, "are allowed up to three swords in a lifetime. This one... is my Judgment Sword."
She vanished.
The street cracked beneath her feet as she exploded forward, speed beyond comprehension carrying her straight into Sephiss's range.
"She's fast..." Sephiss whispered, wires twitching. "I won't outrun her, after all, I am an old man..."
His hand pressed against his chest.
"...but how can an old man be so fast?"
A surge of Abi thundered through his body, veins glowing with crimson light. In the blink of an eye, Sephiss slid backward, narrowly evading Lanni's first slash.
Left strike, missed. Right strike, missed again. He was matching her speed blow for blow, the old man now moving like a phantom.
Lanni's Her movements shifted, no longer those of a human knight but of a predator stalking its prey. She lunged low, teeth bared, and drove her sword inward.
Sephiss caught the blade between his hands, his body coated in Abi armor that sparked and rippled with every ounce of force.
"Futile," he hissed.
Lanni's eyes glowed with feral rage. She summoned her sword once more "I'm going to figure out what this power of yours is, and then i'll put you down."
With a savage snarl, she lunged forward and bit into his arm. Her wolf fangs tore through the Abi plating and sank straight into his flesh. Sephiss grunted, the first sound of pain he'd made, and his wires flared in panic.
"You!"
He twisted his foot, Abi flaring beneath it.
"How can thorns and blades come from the ground?"
The world answered.
In an instant, jagged black thorns erupted from the earth, spearing upward like living spears. One tore through Lanni's boot and into her foot. She cried out, releasing his arm as blood spattered the stone. Sephiss leapt back, creating distance between them.
Massive spikes continued to burst from the ground around her. Lanni roared and swung her wolf sword, cleaving through them one by one, but her movement faltered, the wound slowed her. She staggered.
"What... is this?" she hissed. "How is he doing this?"
"Don't try to understand my philosophy," Sephiss replied, his voice now layered and distant, like it was being spoken from every direction at once. "You will only know... when I decide to tell you."
The eye in the sky blinked again, and for a moment Lanni felt reality itself lean toward Sephiss's words.
The battle between Elder and Knight, between Philosophy and Art,
...was only just beginning.
To be continued...