The two contenders allowed brief silence to take over. A momentary instance for each to disperse their concentrated strength throughout their essence before battle.
Their mahika did not only grant its vessel their envisioned weapon of choice, but also outpoured a heightened push in the physical body. In the state of Overdrive. An effect akin to acquiring an infinite, inherent supply of stimulant elixir already embedded in the blood.
Admittedly, Zakair could forever drown over the sensation had there not been the risk of edging towards Astral Exhaust.
It's a shame how the human body could only take so much. It's not like he could ask Kayne to lend more of his essé.
That's almost asking him to strip himself of all life's vitality--which was no farther from the truth--just for Zakair to consume.
The Timer Glass tower ticked its metallic gear.
One minute left.
Veins flared, Zakair streaked across the field, taking the head start.
Coming at a close range with Kayne, their blades met with an equilibrium of outrageous force--the crescent steel of Zakair's scythe against the thick blade edge at one of the ends of Kayne's weapon. Scraping at a smooth motion rather than an ear-wracking state.
The immediate flinch on Kayne's face successfully delivered the message that his opponent would not back down.
And so should he.
Disentangling the tension, the two pirouetted and smashed their weapons at the other in a dynamic explosion of force. Zakair whirled his weapon in a series of firm yet flexible grip, sending aggressive but controlled bouts of power in a manner that allowed him to twirl the scythe and slice through with its crescent blade.
His foe matched his pace and vigor. Or was trying to.
Unlike him, Kayne's twinblade was meant to be revolved from the base. Its lighter weight and two-sword endpoints when wheeled competently could deal more damage in a beat to compensate for its lack of imposed force.
A leverage he could harness against Zakair if he had not lacked mastering enough release of energy to manipulate his weapons to their full advantages.
Eluding the tip of the steel on his protruding clavicle, Zakair twisted the staff of the scythe under Kayne's twinblade and poked its foot against his exposed sternum, thrusting him back two steps.
Rotating back to its main blade as he advanced, the successive turn of the scythe grazed Kayne on the chest as the Blademaster quickly regained bearing and swiveled to the side.
Though his shirt bore no tear, his lurching expression made it clear the contact from the mahika-woven weapon induced concrete pain as if it were caused by the real object itself.
The brunette flung his arm down, summoning forth three spears that rained down on Zakair who evaded with a forward tumble; Kayne was aiming for distance between them.
"Getting resourceful?" Zakair taunted.
His contender wiped a brow off his temple, smirking to fill his facade. "You wanted a challenge anyway."
Good. Zakair sprinted at an inhumane speed, closing the gap between them.
Arms projected, beams of light flashed ahead of Kayne from thin air, careening towards the latter as they took the form of spears.
Blood rushing throughout his human limbs, Zakair deflected an incoming spear, arched the curved edge to incapacitate another. He spun the staff on its axis, cutting through air as the scythe danced under his grips, sending more of the hurtling spears in all directions like a fiery cyclone of slashes.
The steels rang upon contact, resounding as smoothly as the spears gliding along the scythe's blade.
The onslaught of weapons persisted, yet Zakair was closing in, cleaving through the last two spears. Kayne conjured a rectangular shield at the last second before the scythe could hack into his shoulder.
The assault opened into a ceaseless strike of the scythe lacerating on and about the face of the shield. Metal against metal, its rampaging impact was tearing into the defense of the foe on the other side. Thick, restless thuds accompanied each landed belabor.
The essé burned deep into his muscles, fueled with each pummel inflicted that grew harsher by the second.
Why isn't it coming out? Why isn't it working? Shiste. Shiste. Shiste!
"H-hey! Tone it down." He heard Kayne behind the relentless rumble of the scythe pounding against the shield.
He couldn't back down. Couldn't stop. The parasite will eventually let itself out.
It had to.
If he couldn't bring it out now, he will never know when.
Slowly, Kayne's feet were stepping back. The shield remained stiff in position. He couldn't sway it any longer until it received all the shrill blows. It rang his ears until it was all he could hear. Its surface ravaged in brutal bends and cuts.
"Hey! I said I yield!"
He couldn't stop now. Not until it would rattle him. Gnaw at him. Skewer the flesh inside until it crawled out of his skin.
The tower resounded its chime. The gong was struck. The time was up.
"Zakair, stop!"
I can almost feel it. I can sense it. Just a little longer... Just a little more...
Everything sounded like a distant white noise in the back of his mind.
It's coming out. It's almost out... Just a little more push and I can finally get this thing out!
It didn't register to him that the shield was at its breaking point when Zakair plunged the scythe down.
Kayne braced for the impact.
The metal contorted on which the scythe struck before disintegrating in light spectacles.
The weight of the force sent Kayne falling on his back. He tried to raise himself on his shoulders, but instinct stopped him from moving any further--the crescent edge was a hair away from his bobbing Adam's apple.
Zakair brandished the scythe in a static state. The only flicker of movement they made was the heavy breathing of their chest.
No one moved. The drastic drop of the Overdrive as well as the quick shift to a stationary mode of their bodies after the sequence of dynamic motions sent their bodies in a state of shock.
Slowly, it dissipated until the effect wore itself out.
Sweat trickled down Zakair's temples. He hadn't realized he had been staring at Kayne's sky-mirroring eyes. Resolute and exhausted like his.
Yet, a tinge of what he could make out as fear was just as apparent.
The child directly looked up at him. Tears stained his eyes from the blight of fear. But the firmness in his lips to stop himself from sobbing showed he would not die to be remembered expressing a helpless emotion for when they found his lifeless little body.
It was not until the blue light from the torch flames came back into view when a voice boomed from across the Coliseum's arch entrance.
"You two! Get your arses in here this instance!"
Sighing away the disappointment--to where he toned down into his frustration of the plan's failure--Zakair revoked the scythe, to which it disappeared into wisps of black smoke.
"You let yourself lose. You could've hailed a dagger to ambush me through the defense while my trunk was left open."
The look in Kayne's eyes bloated as if he was asked for both his kidneys. "Are you kidding me? That's what you're on edge about? You could've seriously left me incapacitated!"
Zakair turned to walk to the entrance but not before regarding his vanquished foe. "Still. You had an opening for a counter. Better clean up before Ryeld could give us more of an earful than he's got planned."
The rustling noise indicated the brunette did so. He didn't need to turn to see whether or not he would be following. But the subsequent, tense lack of words was enough to convey the need to reflect on what had just happened.