***Natalia's POV***
Kairo can't see it, but my cheeks start burning up.
Matt rushes over to ask if I'm okay.
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Just tired from using magic."
"If you say so."
He shoots me a worried glance, then turns back to the fight.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to calm myself down.
'Why is my heart hammering? And why is my face so hot?'
Looking back up, I can hear Kairo's knuckles crack as he clenches his fists.
His wide back and confident stride made my heart skip a beat.
Ignoring the voice in my head telling me to not, I shout one last thing at him.
"You can do it!"
***Kairo's POV***
Natalia's last words faintly reach my ears, causing a grin to spread across my face.
When I reach the sword I had dropped, I stop to see how well Alcon and Bernadette are doing.
Bernadette was the one that dragged me back, and now she and Alcon are going at the Chief with all they've got, taking turns attacking and switching whenever he gets used to one of them.
Despite their surprisingly good team work, he's still holding his own, even managing to get his own attacks in.
Each time one of them goes in to attack, they come back with a few new injuries.
Matt occasionally shoots lightning at the Chief, but it always gets blocked by the animal hide cape.
'His cape is either magic resistant or insulated. His right leg looks like it's being favored as he gets more tired.'
I'm finally ready. Taking out two throwing knives, I throw them when there's an opening.
He manages to deflect one of them, but the other buries itself into his bad knee.
The hobgoblin catches himself, planting his sword into the ground.
Alcon charges in with a roar, but the Chief fights him off.
Seeing a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye, I choose to not ignore it this time.
A goblin jumped out of the forest and started making a beeline for Natalia and Matt.
'From the looks of it, it's a general.'
"You two go protect Matt and Natalia! I'll finish up here!"
Without a backward glance, Bernadette turns around and charges the general.
While more hesitant to go, Alcon just gnashes his teeth and runs off too.
"You'd better fucking kill him!"
As they clash with the Goblin General, I turn back to the Chief.
***Alcon's POV***
'Damn Kairo, taking all my glory! I'm the one who got that bastard exhausted! Why am I even following that guys orders!'
Clashing with the general, Bernadette and I used the same tactic we had used on the Chief.
While not nearly as strong, the general was still holding his ground. In one hand he held a buckler, and in the other a short sword.
With a combination of the two, he easily deflects Bernadettes massive axe swings and my beautiful long sword.
I can tell that Bernadette is just as exhausted as I am, but she's still moving so I keep going too.
The overpowering aura of death behind me makes me want to throw away my sword and run.
Instead, I use that fear to keep my body moving well past it's limit.
Bernadette's gets hit on the leg and fall's to one knee.
'Not on my watch!'
I manage to get my sword there in time, deflecting the generals sword from impaling Bernadettes leg.
It turns to me with a murderous gaze.
Instead of showing it, I put my jitters into an animalistic smile.
'I get to take a general on by myself and test out a new move!'
"Your times up gobby! Ash Blade!"
A blade the same shade as ash materialized above Alcon's head and floated there.
With an animalistic roar, Alcon charged at the general, attacking with vigor equivalent to a wild beast.
***Natalia's POV***
I peeked out from behind Matt.
He had immediately jumped out in front of me when we saw the general attacking.
Luckily, Alcon and Bernadette got there in time, but Matt still hadn't moved.
I moved my attention over to Kairo and the Chief.
Kairo had yet to pick up his sword, simply standing in an almost relaxed way.
The hobgoblin should have been out of commision, with his knee all but destroyed.
However, he pulls out a bottle of light blue liquid out of his belt, rips the knife out of his knee, and chugs the contents of the bottle in one go.
The wound quickly closed and he stood up to his full height.
'How did a goblin get a strong potion like that? I only spent a little bit of time studying potions, but I know that something like that is incredibly hard to make.'
I provide a silent commentary, all but ignoring the fight between Alcon, Bernadette, and the goblin general.
Even though they were so far away, I'm able to make out the conversation between Kairo and the Chief.
"I'm back, did you miss me? Before I kill you, I should at least know your name."
"I am Ghal. Good luck."
The chiefs english was rough to say the least
"I'm Kairo. Nice to know you, even if it's for a short amount of time. Why are you guys attacking Differentia?"
The Chief chuckled, swinging its sword around to loosen it's muscles.
"For our king, of course. Why else would an army fight!"
"Wait, there's a-"
While Kairo was surprised, the chief charged Kairo with a roar.
'That potion must not have healed him entirely, since he's still limping, but it must have replenished his energy.'
Despite the surprise written on his face, Kairo smoothly kicked up his sword and blocked Ghal's first attack. They both push but neither moves an inch.
The cocky grin he shot at the chief makes my heart skip a beat.
However the wave of hate emanating off of Ghal quickly distracts me, made feel slightly queasy.
Kairo stands his ground as Ghal screams and raises his sword.
"DIE DIE DIE!!!"
He continues his assault, putting his entire body weight behind each attack.
Amazingly, Kairo deflects and dodges each of the Chief's attacks, his footwork smooth as a flowing river.
He even finds time to counter attack.
I am speechless.
'Where was this a moment ago?'
The clash of their blades rang across the battlefield, sparks flying every time the two swords connected.
A sudden flash of light coming off of Kairo's body caused the Chief to flinch. With the distraction, Kairo kicks the Chief in the chest and goes on the attack.
After seeing the flash of light, my eyes widen and I shout at the top of my lungs.
"Less than a minute!!!"
***Kairo's POV***
My head is clear and my body feels light as a feather.
I hear Natalia shout something after the flash of light, and I instantly understand.
'I need to finish this.'
I start putting more power behind my swings, attacking and countering even smoother than before.
I have a better understanding of Ghal's fighting style, so this time my offense is different.
Now, I'm in full control and he's truly desperate.
Gradually, I push him back to the tree line.
He's gasping for breath, struggling to get his sword up to deflect anymore.
I make an overhead swing aiming to split his skull. He raises his sword above his head and my sword slams down on it.
*SCREEE*
I jump back at the sound of shattering metal.
Noticing a significant weight difference in my right hand, I toss my shattered sword to the side as Ghal approaches with a triumphant smile.
'This just got harder.'
"Now I'm gonna kill you, just like I killed your friend."
Another image pops into my head, but I manage to stop it at just one. The anger is threatening to explode again, but I manage to shove it back down.
'Not now. Stay focused.'
He's stopped shaking as badly and his breath is more controlled, but I just calmly pull out two knives and flip them into a back handed grip.
For what I feel like is the final time, he charges.
His first attack I dodge. As I spin to the left of his sword, I cut along his arm, immediately jumping away as he throws a kick at me.
He doesn't give me a single moment of respite.
Immediately jumping back in, we erupt into a storm of blades.
As we fight, I weave between the trees to get any advantage I can, but he easily follows.
'His attacks are getting slower, but so are mine. That's not my only problem.'
Knife after knife is either knocked from my hand or broken.
'That's some serious attack power. My hands are numb.'
Finally, I reach for another knife only to find that I don't have any more strapped to my chest. He swings down at me with a powerful attack, but I manage to get out of the way one more time.
Rolling to my right, I grab a push dagger from my boot and stab him in the side.
With a below, he throws a backhand fist and hits me in the cheek bone.
I'm thrown into a tree as he yanks the dagger out and tosses it aside.
My eyesight is blurry, but I can still make out his arms.
'That's all I need.'
Roaring in triumph, he takes an overhead swing at me, but I step in and catch his wrist. At the same time, I drive my palm into his elbow, breaking it into the entirely wrong direction.
His roar now a howl of pain, Ghal drops his sword and kicks at me.
I catch his leg in my armpit. Ignoring the pain of my ribs cracking, I drag him to the ground and hook my legs around his. I put his heel into my armpit, getting the knee bar set up with little to no resistance.
"AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
A roar escapes my lips as I pull with all the muscles in my body.
Ghal's screams drown out the sound of his bones and tendons snapping.
Letting go of his leg, I find a tree to lean against as I gasp for breath.
I had snapped his leg in half sideways. Burch taught me the move a week ago, thank god for that.
The sound of something moving along the grass brings me to force my eyes open.
Ghal is trying to drag himself away with his good arm. Tears and snot mix with slobber, creating the already horrid sight of a goblin even worse.
It's pretty pitiful, and I'm currently too exhausted to care one way or the other.
At some point, Alcon and Bernadette had defeated the general.
Alcon now approached me and Ghal, eyes widening in surprise at the Chiefs condition.
As I turn away, a flap of paper inside of Ghal's cape catches my eye, but I choose to ignore it for now.
'There are eyes watching.'
"This isn't the end! You only delay the inevitable rise of the great King!"
Seeing that I'm not going, Alcon walks up and plants his foot on the goblins back.
"A head for a head."
A series of flashes on my wrists distracts me from a dull thud.