Casper's heart seemed to stop for a second while he was seeing half of the blade of his knife spinning away in the air.
It fell on the ground some meters behind Freygar, with a cling song, bouncing some times.
"That's my victory." The Aesir thought.
Both Casper and Freygar knew that the first one to lose his blade would be defeated. There was no way to win that battle without a weapon when they were so wounded.
The exchanges were so intense that their bodies were already feeling some exhaustion. Principally Casper, who was an entire month without doing any exercises with high intensity.
Also, even if Casper had the stamina to keep avoiding Freygar's attacks, soon or later the Ridire troops would arrive there and surrender him.
It was a completely disadvantageous situation since the start of it. Even if he had won the battle, he would lose to the Ridire at some point. There were a bunch of them keeping the Third Lab after all.
Freygar charged again his knife, taking advantage that Casper was still in shock, standing in front of him with his left hand stretched, holding just the grip with few centimeters of a broken blade.
He launched a quick attack towards Casper.
"You are a formidable opponent… And a brave warrior. I am glad to have fought with you."
Freygar felt that the White warrior deserved at least respect. He knew of his handicap in that fight, but even so, he continued attacking and reacting as though he always had the certainty of victory, and in the possibility of getting out of that hard situation.
It is easier to look at something that you have 1% of chance of victory and be optimistic. However, when you look to a definite defeat coming before your eyes, it is nearly impossible to keep fighting.
Freygar was an Aesir, he was strong, trained, and had the resources to be considered one of the seven strongest warriors in District 42. But, even so, he needed to admit that, faced with such a hard problem, he would not waste his time trying to do the impossible.
Casper had a sort of determination he did not have.
"I am kind of jealous of you. However, the strongest here is already decided!"
His blade finished a fast and sharp swing, that was aiming Casper's throat.
Freygar for a moment was sure that it would be enough, but he was a warrior that never lost sight of his opponent's eyes. And when he saw something sparkling on Casper's, he knew that the battle had not ended yet.
The soldier boosted his body forward, throwing himself on the ground. Again, the blade of Freygar just cut the air.
The Aesir was already reversing the movement and piercing below, but Casper was not there.
The White warrior did not just crouch or simply fell on the ground. He had kicked the ground to boost himself and slide in the smooth floor of the corridor.
Casper wanted to somersault, but with his worthless arm would not let it work. He slid instead, towards the other half of his knife.
He picked it up, slowly rising from the ground.
"I still did not lose my blade." He said. "It's not finished yet, Aesir."
He put the blade between his teeth and gritted it as hard as he could while pointing the half-knife in his left hand towards the enemy.
The Aesir looked at him… and felt fear for a second. But just a second. It was not the first time he fought tough enemies or even the ones who could be considered monsters.
However, he could not help but feel both, amazed and terrified, by Casper's stubbornness and resilience. Also, that look on his face… The exact moment that Freygar glanced at him and saw those eyes, he thought: "I'm gonna die."
The thought came to his mind subtly. It was completely involuntary, and he even wondered if he really had thought in that quote.
He also wondered why his body was shivering so much, and why he was sweating buckets.
Ignoring it all, the Aesir choose to focus on the fight. Although he was a bit mentally unstable, he could not afford himself to lost control of the battle's pace.
"The next exchange will be the last for sure…" Casper thought while walking slowly towards Freygar. "I already lost a lot of blood because of this freaking huge wound on my right shoulder. He has his hips screwed as well, so he can't move properly, despite his injured arm. The Ridires are approaching at a fast pace as well. Soon or later they will catch up with us.
"Now it's time to rush things. If I kill him, I can manage to activate the explosives and get out of here somehow. However, if the Ridires get here, It will be my defeat for sure… Because I am not strong enough…"
Casper at first just approached carefully, step by step. They were not so distant from each other, and if one stepped in hard they would easily enter in attack range.
Casper usually preferred to avoid wild combat, opting to maintain the distance and just attacking when necessary or opportune, always reading and learning his opponent's patterns and fighting style.
Now, he had not the time to do such a thing. He would not be able to rely on his intelligence for now, just in his agility and strength.
Freygar was doing the same, approaching one more step each time when Casper did, although he could barely manage to walk because of his hips.
Casper stopped… And so did Freygar.
The steps of the guards got louder.
Voices were heard.
The White warrior held his breath, tensioning his diaphragm, and so did the Aesir.
Then, in less than one second, Casper stepped in, entering in close range. Freygar planted his feet in the ground and waited for him to come, charging a counterattack.
Casper lend a blow on his belly with the half-knife in his hand, the movement was so swift and precise, that one needed to wonder if it was a wounded man who made it.
Freygar followed with an attack of his own, which Casper managed to defend with the broken knife.
The soldier lifted his wrist, deflecting the course of the attack and getting the Aesir off-guard.
One, two, three more attacks flew towards Freygar, who somehow managed to block two. The White warrior was giving his all on that battle, all the gas he had to burn, he was spending.
This way, he surely would lose his breath before he could defeat Freygar, probably. Nevertheless, it was not the time to think about these things. It was not about if he could do anymore; he must do it, otherwise, he would not survive.
"SURVIVE!" That scream he heard so many times until then finally came, increasing his frenzy.
Under the rain of blows that Casper was sending, Freygar could just stay attentive for the first opening he could find.
He tried his best to parry and block all the blows that came towards him. With a knife, it was four times more difficult to do it than with a sword or bare hands.
After several seconds of a one-sided exchange, Casper faltered for a while, unable to hold his breath anymore and to bear all the pain in his shoulder.
Freygar did not lose that momentum and went for the offensive. Until now he was at a disadvantage because he could not count on his legs anymore, but now that Casper wore out himself, he could easily attack without hesitation.
He gave a huge swing with his knife in a vertical strike. He was not able to use the strength of his legs to apply a strong blow, but what he got there was enough to fatally injure Casper.
The White warrior desperately put his half-knife in front of the blow, blocking it by inches. However, the broken weapon escaped his hand and fell to the ground.
In a matter of seconds, the Aesir had charged and launched another swing. Casper would not be able to pick up his knife in time.
The White warrior could not find the strength to leap to the side and avoid the blow. He was barehanded, and could just use one hand.
"Fall already!" Casper moved slightly his body to the side, and the knife made a deep cut in his chest.
"Fall, White warrior!" Once again he charged and threw another blow, hitting Casper's chest again, horizontally.
The soldier kept trying to back away, decreasing the damage of the blows as he could.
Seeing that pitiful and stubborn scene, even the calm and composed Freygar got stressed.
"If you want to die here like this…!" He swung his blade again, this time aiming to the side of Casper's face.
"I will part your face in half!" With anger, Freygar exercised as much strength as he could in that last blow.
He closed his eyes at the last moment because did not want to see what his blade would do with that guy.
… And it hit.