Chereads / The Sun in the City of Night / Chapter 15 - Nightmare Part 2

Chapter 15 - Nightmare Part 2

I faced my partner to see his reaction. To my surprise, his smile turned sour, a frown growing on his once friendly and charming face. His warm grip turned cold and loosed from my arm.I was confused and scared.

Without warning. the humming of an energy blade could be heard. A bright white light flashed across my eyes. The attack was about to decapitate me. Fortunately, I recoiled in the nick of time to avoid being decapitated. He engaged with another wild slash, I could tell that anger was fuelling his attacks. Now on my toes, and with the grace period of victory finally wearing off, evaded him with ease and jumped backward to avoid his final vertical slash. There was now a good 5 meters of distance between us.

In complete shock, I wanted to ask what he was doing. However, my mouth was not my own, I could not speak. I reexamined him. He was no longer an adolescent, but a full adult. His grunts were deep and slightly raspy with a hint of anger. His body was well built and fit. He donned black and gold light armor. The chest plate was painted with the sigil of the Noxian Empire. His hair covered part of his left eye and his mouth conveyed an expression of anger.

I realised I could see more of his features now, but not enough to know who he was. His right hand wielded a sword instead of a staff now. The hilt was jet black with accents of gold and the blade itself had a white core with a black aura emitting around it. It was also not as long as normal swords, an estimated 70 cm. It was unlike most energy blades I have seen. It was mysterious, powerful, and very dangerous. Simply looking at the blade itself made me shiver. It had an overwhelming presence. That aura of danger and power was accompanied by the pure malice and anger in my now opponent. Any normal combatant would be forced to retreat, but I knew I had no such luxury.

I reexamined myself as well, my right arm was now much more comfortable to me. It was painted in all black. I wore minimal armor, seeming more like normal clothing, a vest, and combat trousers. I had a knife on my right boot. Only my left arm was covered by a sleeve with some protective material. In my right hand, I still held a staff. However, this one was made entirely of a black metal with accents of light blue and a very bright shine of light blue at the two ends. The two ends had miniature electrical generators installed, producing sparks from either end.

Still in confusion and awe, I stared down at my opponent, my former partner, still wondering, what was happening. My opponent re-steeled himself, gritting his teeth in anger. He lunged forward, his blade firmly in his right hand. I noticed the movement in his hand, indicating a wide cleave from right to left. Coming back to my senses, I brought my staff up to block, supporting with my left hand to brace. The blade hit the midsection of my staff, and as if by instinct, I followed the direction of the cleave, following through with his motion of attack, causing him to lose balance due to the over-exertion of strength, simply expecting me to block.

I ducked and kicked his abdomen, staggering him. A brief reprieve was upon us. I returned to my full height, flourishing my staff. I was not angry, rather I was strangely calm, and even...apologetic? My opponent raised his head, teeth clenched, seething with anger. His left eye shone a dark purple. His right was covered with his fringe. He too flourished his weapon to intimidate me. I felt even more sorry for this man. I did not know why. Who is he? Why do I feel sorry for him?

We circled one another, sizing each other up. I looked at him with guilt and remorse. He looked at me with contempt and unbridled rage. It all reached a breaking point after a minute or two. The tension in the room only rose, and he exploded. With a scream of rage and aggression, he lunged at me once more, his blade in front of his body, preparing to stab me with it.

I anticipated such a reckless attack. I brought one end of my staff to the ground. Sparks flew and jolted the ground around me. A cage of lightning was raised around me. The floor crackled with electricity and shocked the aggressor, catching him off guard.

Seeing the window, I split the staff down the middle, now wielding two escrima sticks. I threw the one in my left hand. It spun like a boomerang and hit him square in the face, staggering him and flying elsewhere in the room. Without hesitation I capitalized on his vulnerability, running up to him and performing a dropkick. Now it was near impossible for him to recompose himself.

I got back on my feet and sprinted towards him. I held his right hand outwards with my left to keep his blade at bay. Still in shock, he could not react. I prodded my remaining escrima stick at his abdomen, shocking his whole body. He dropped his weapon from pain and his body twitched and convulsed onto the floor from the shock, twitching from the static. However, I knew that I had not won yet.

Proving me right, he quickly recovered from his shock, physically and mentally. His anger was now overflowing. Using telekinesis, he called his blade back to his hand, reigniting it. A highborn... He is a highborn. It was now clear as day to me, he was one of immense strength as well. He rolled his neck to the left, producing a crack sound. However, I was not easily intimidated.

With the last of his resolve, anger, and strength, he rushed me one final time. Though I anticipated it, his ferocity was too much for me to handle. For now, I was forced to use my remaining escrima stick to block his vicious strikes. 1, 2,3,4, and 5, all deflected barely. His rage was like a tsunami, it washed over the entire room. The sixth strike came at an unexpected angle, causing me to instinctively knock it upwards. The blade was now over his head, however, he brought it back down with all his might.

I anticipated him to aim for my head with his blade, instead, what came next was a complete shock. He still held the blade perfectly vertically as he brought it down. To my surprise, a second, shorter blade protruded from the butt end of the hilt. Not expecting such a deceitful strike, I could not evade it step back.

* SHING*

I felt a sharp heat and pain on the left side of my face, followed by a stinging sensation across my cheek and eye. I would have shrieked if I could, but this body was not my own. The vision in my left eye was starting to fade. I lightly touched the heated area, finding blood on my fingers to greet me. My opponent's frown curled up into a wicked grin. His sinister laugh filled the air of the room.

I refocused myself, I must not be affected by such an underhanded attack. Glancing to my right, I saw a blue light getting closer. This time, I knew it was my turn to be on the offensive. I peeked at the double-bladed sword of my opponent. Its aura grew more malicious. I was as if it was mocking me. However, I was not going to be fazed by some simple trick. Gathering my bearings, I lunged at my opponent, who now adopted a defensive stance, smiling me to taunt me.

I did not give in to anger, simply focusing on myself. My lunge stopped just short, right in front of him. planting a foot on the ground, I flipped over him. His reaction was priceless, he made a strike forward, anticipating I would attack him head-on. However, I am not so foolhardy. As my feet landed firmly on the ground, my second escrima stick returned to my hand, whizzing past his face, grazing it barely and sending a small shock to him.

Without hesitation, I unleashed a barrage of attacks unto him. First I started by hitting him at the back of the neck and shocking him again. He quickly went numb from electrocution and exhaustion. However, I was not finished. I hit him in his abdomen at the front, inadvertently causing him to stand again. I grappled him and now ended up in front of his face once more. I glanced at his expression and saw his smile fading.

I continued landing deft strikes on his face, arms, and chest, each time sparks flew and he received a minor shock. Until, finally, I hit him in his face between his eyes as he finally slumped over, kneeling, panting. I took one look at him. He was still brimming with rage, however, too tired to continue challenging me. The guilt came flooding back, though I did not know why.

I turned left towards the throne and raised a hand. A show of dominance, of victory. The man on the throne stood. I allowed myself to relax, this ordeal was finally over. As he stood, however, the moon in the window grew into a bright flash of white light. I was temporarily blinded. When I could open my eyes again, my surroundings completely changed.

My enemy was no longer kneeling at my feet. The man on the throne and the whole room itself vanished. In its place, a plain, a meadow. Grass covered every inch of this place, stretching as far as my eyes could see. The sun was out once more, as well as the bright blue sky. I was perplexed. What had just happened? I noticed my hands no longer held any weapons. Instead, I was wearing very casual clothing. A bright blue t-shirt with dark blue trousers. My right hand was still painted in black and the back of the palm carried the symbol of the Noxian Empire. Who am I? Where am I?

"Hey, Hun! Something wrong?" My eyes widened, my pupils dilated with utter shock and confusion. That voice. It was as if an angel was speaking to me, a voice blessed by the goddess herself. It was soft, delicate, kind, and silky smooth. My breathing hastened. It couldn't be... That voice belonged to only one person...

"Hey," The voice called out again. Suddenly I felt two arms hugging my chest. These arms were milky white, delicate skin, long nails. "What's wrong babe?" I turned to face the voice, and heaven met my gaze.