Satanael and Aria simply stared at each other yet the fighting spirit they gave off made the very air around them viscous. The earth cracked and groaned under the pressure. It formed an invisible dome around them preventing external influence on their silent confrontation. The only expression on Satanael's face was impatience. He appeared as if angry at being denied something unknown.
" H...How...How dare she!? How dare she? ...…" " She was the one initiated...." " How dare she steal my rival, I am the one, and the only one, who has the right to fight Aria. " " Wait, what!? " " Kekeke.., a fitting punishment for infringing upon our sacred duel. Grovel in pain and shame, you filthy, meddlesome woman. " Satanael casually created a vortex and threw her body into it before laughing like an insane maniac. It honestly scared the hell out of Aria and Celestina giving them goosebumps.
WHAT A WEIRDO!? (COLD) HONESTLY, HIS WAY OF SPEAKING AND HIS MANIACAL LAUGH ARE DISGUSTING (CHEEKY) I FEEL AS IF HUNDREDS OF ANTS ARE CRAWLING ALL OVER MY BODY. ALL MY HAIRS ROSE ON THEIR ENDS. WHAT A REPULSIVE MAN (ARIA) <
Aria took heavy damage(?) even before starting the fight. The future looked bleak. She could fight hundreds of enemies stronger than her but wouldn't know what to do, facing a psychotic/creepy man like him. Just imagining it gave goosebumps to her. For the first time in her life, she was scared.
Despite his comical antics, not a single 'waste' move was done. Every action paved way for the next one in a myriad of ways forming an exquisite net of possible movements making a mere observation of his movements exhausting. It was as if everything he did was a part of a close-knit manoeuvre. Aria narrowed her eyes. He was a true master of his body, she could clearly see it deep in his movements.
HE IS AN EXTREMELY PROFICIENT MELEE FIGHTER. LIKELY IN POSSESSION OF PERFECT SOMA OR SOMETHING SIMILAR. I CAN'T EVEN FATHOM WHERE TO START PRAISING HIS FLAIR FOR DEFENSIVE MANOEUVRE. I AM UNABLE TO SEE ANY OPENINGS/CHANCES TO EXPLOIT (CHEEKY) HE IS A WORTHY FOE. WE CAN LEARN A LOT FROM FIGHTING HIM. THIS A RARE CHANCE, SARCONY. THE VERY FACT THAT HE WAS PRAISED BY CHEEKY IN TERMS OF PHYSICAL PROWESS PROVES THIS. (COLD) YES, SIS. YOU CAN'T-MISS THIS CHANCE. DO YOU WANT TO TAKEOVER? (ARIA)
I GUESS ITS TIME WE PUT UNCLE SUN'S TRAINING TO TEST. I HAVE LEARNED A LOT FROM HIM. LET'S SEE IF I DESERVE TO BE CALLED HIS ONLY DISCIPLE. (SARCONY) Sarcony took over and prepared for battle. As thread weaving art (or any of its new forms) wasn't her exclusive skill, all of her personalities, including Aria, could use it to some extent. As Aria didn't experience the outside world much and doesn't cause recoil, she was allowed to take over the body for a lot of time.
Sarcony got into a neutral fighting stance that looked no different from her standing in a casual fashion. Despite learning all kinds of martial arts, she preferred soft martial arts, the one that heavily depends on impact/force redirection, causing internal damage without any external signs/damage, extremely small/hair-thin evasive manoeuvres for defence and counter-offensive etc., She showed the makings of an assassin quite early in her training. Vision obstruction, presence mitigation and soft martial arts were a necessary and extremely valuable skill set for an assassin, after all.
Satanael smiled. This was what he wanted. Ever since he learned of her existence, the desire to fight her in earnest was born. He wanted to test her strength and satisfy his curiosity. Sharp steel spikes arose from his fingers forming horrible, serrated claws. They shone in murky brown-black due to being covered in the devilish aura. He seldom revealed his weapons. Possessing enough strength to overwhelm most with mere gaze, he never had a chance or intention to do so in the first place.
In the time it takes to blink, he appeared right in front of Sarcony's face and slashed with his claws only to hit the air and disperse the after-image that was left behind. He abruptly jumped away to escape a dagger made of light tied to a string, also made of light, flash/appear/pierce in the position he just stood a while ago, forcing him to dodge. He backed away, opening his 12 pairs of wings for a fight, for the first time in his life. It is exhilarating, was his thought. He thoroughly enjoyed the exchange.
Sarcony and Satanael had a high-speed offence-defence exchange for a while. The surroundings were all wrecked in ways irrecoverable. All the trees were uprooted, the animals fled in all directions screaming in fear, the very air around them was suffocative for ordinary beings, the ground had arm thick cracks running in all directions, deep gashes, resembling furrows made by a huge plough, were made each time Sarcony's strings flashed or Satanael's claws missed. It changed from a misty valley to a war trench that had been ravaged by an intense battle between experts of otherworldly talent.
" ~~Huff~huff~~ enough with the 'probing each other' attitude. Let's battle in earnest. Victory or death, let there be one. " " You are a lunatic, Satanael, but, you are right. This is enough of a warm-up. " Aria stretched her muscles and cracked her knuckles. She was now ready. Meanwhile, Celestina was gaping at the scene. Without using as much as a sliver of magicia, through physical strength alone, they created a catastrophe/disaster site with little to no effort. To do this level of damage, she would have to use one of her strongest spells. The very fact was mind-boggling to her.
The valley was bigger than many of the continents combined, yet, mere remnants of their clashes tore the entire place apart. And the clash wasn't even a serious confrontation, to begin with. Celestina marvelled at the strength of Satanael and felt proud at Aria going toe to toe with that absurdity.