Violet widened her eyes as she gazed at Clementine. The latter was holding her whip with her right arm beside the left side of her face. The whip didn't reach her by inches and would've if she hadn't held it right on its tip.
Clementine's body was enveloped by the flames of her sword. Those wavering golden flames seemed to be dancing around her, nourishing her body with energy.
'Do you think that they call me a master when it comes to Divine Flames for no reason at all? Or is it just because of my Soul Mirror, which is perfect to fit this energy? No... I am called master because I know how to wield it better than anyone else! So much that I don't need a higher potential or a very complex Blessing. With what I have I can easily match an A-grade like you!'
Clementine tightened her grip on the whip, pulling it backward with all her strength before Violet did so. The latter noticed that she would do it, but couldn't react as she was flabbergasted. Also, she thought that Clementine would only pull it to prevent her from taking back the whip or to try to disarm her. Nonetheless, she was surprised again when she felt her feet leaving the ground and her body flying together with the whip in her direction.
'W-When did she get this much strength!?' was the only thing that Violet could ever think before she closed in enough for Clementine to launch a devastating punch on her face with the same fist that was holding the whip.
Summing up the speed of the momentum and Clementine's punch power, the result was a blow that shattered her helmet into millions of pieces and yet made her head strike the ground and crack it.
Violet didn't have time to get confused or dizzy, though. She felt deep inside that she needed to get up and back away as fast as possible before something happened.
She managed to place the palms of her hands above her head and did a kip-up. It was just in time to avoid Dei Ignus, which came piercing downwards and nearly hit her head.
'She is fighting to kill. I thought that she was going to hold back, but that's not the case!'
Violet pulled her right leg as much as possible after she landed on the ground and kicked Clementine with all her strength. The latter could dodge her blow just barely, but still got slightly hit on her helmet and lost her balance for a moment.
That faltering gave Violet the time to leap backward and create some distance. At the same time, she tried to pull her whip back to her hand, but Clementine wouldn't let go of it no matter what.
"I won't let you do it!" she shouted, holding that whip with all her strength. "It's my time to attack now."
Clementine charged her sword, then slashed the air. At first sight, it looked like a useless swing, something she did just for show. However, that impression changed once the flames of Dei Ignus left its blade and flew towards Violet. She could only dodge because she anticipated that Clementine's swing wasn't as simple as it looked.
Violet's ex-hero, Lady Welcome, recharged her sword with flames once again. Violet glanced over her shoulder, just to see that a part of the church's wall got reduced to ashes due to the previous attack. She looked back at Clementine, and for a moment sadness appeared in her eyes as she realized:
'My childhood hero is trying to kill me for real,' Violet thought before a barrage of fire blades flew across the air. She leaped to the side to avoid the first ones, running to the left afterward. She tried to create more distance, but while she was still running, she got pulled towards an attack that struck her squarely on her back, melting her armor and making her scream in pain.
The attack did not only burn her flesh but also opened a huge wound as it basically exploded when touched her. Thanks to her armor, the damage was greatly reduced; if she was wearing something else, she would be dead right now.
Violet screamed in pain as she was sent rolling on the ground, but got stopped once again by being pulled.
'Damn it! She is using my own whip against me, to limit my movements! This would be easily solved if I let go of it, but without my Soul Mirror, I definitely won't be able to defeat her. And, if she finds a way to break my Aspidis, my power will stop working and I won't have anything to rely on!'
Violet jumped forward while somersaulting and avoiding two more flame attacks before getting up.
'She is maintaining her body stable with the flames that the sword generates. It seems to give a boost to her physical prowess... Also, these long-range attacks are making her move the least possible, conserving energy, thus making the curse of Aspidis nearly useless. This battle will need a change in its pattern right now! It's not the time to keep in long-range!'
Violet dodged another attack, then used the cable of her whip to divert another one without making it explode. Finally, she stomped the ground and charged forward, surprising Clementine.
'If you think that I don't have any skill in regards to melee combat, you are dead wrong!' she thought while gritting her teeth and enhancing her body with Divine Flame, making it get wrapped around flames similar to the one Clementine was using.
Violet nimbly zigzagged, dodging another two flame attacks before closing in and throwing a punch at Clementine while roaring fiercely.
The brown-haired beauty was expecting the sound of Clementine's armor crumpling or shattering to echo across the Church, but it wasn't what happened. Instead, her punch produced a loud thud.
Violet stared at the old woman standing in front of her with a severe look on her face. She seemed like a wall blocking her passage, an imponent wall that sent chills down her spine and made her feel the tinniest thing in that room. For a moment, the paladin had the urge to back away, but forced herself to punch another time with all her strength, believing that the last attempt was just a slip, an unfortunate lack of attention due to her nervousness.
Nonetheless, the result of her next punch wasn't much different from what happened previously. Just a loud thud, a punch that clearly didn't have as much strength as it was meant to have.
"H-How?" she asked after leaping backward and creating distance again, even though she was afraid of getting far away and getting targeted by that barrage of fiery attacks.
"It is frustrating, angering... even sad, isn't it?" Clementine said, squinting her eyes towards the woman, but not with disdain nor wariness, but pity.
'F-Frustrating? Anger? Sad?' Violet repeated while giving a step backward, not knowing exactly what she meant by that.
"Having your childhood hero trying to kill you, and being the antagonist of your story... That's frustrating, isn't it? I bet that this is how you are feeling right now. More so, this feeling increases as you realize that I am your real enemy and that I am capable of killing you. In the end, I am still a figure you can't reach but just admire or hate from far away. Or am I wrong?"
Violet didn't deny nor agreed with what she said. She just bit her lips and clenched her fist around the white cable of the whip.
'I don't want to kill this person. She is just following the orders of the higher-ups, after all. If I killed her here, I would be a hypocrite,' Clementine secretly rambled. 'However, I need to attack and act as if I want to do it. I knew that, like any other paladin, she must see me as a hero, the famous Lady Welcome, the person who killed many demons in her relentless military campaigns in the past. Thus, by having her own hero try to oppose her and kill her, she might get affected enough to have those negative feelings invading her calm and steady mind.
'That's precisely what I want and need. I figured out by analyzing her power that the curse of her whip doesn't apply only to the enemy she touches. She is always this calm and impassive because she is affected by the curse as well if she nourishes these sinful, negative feelings inside her heart. Now that she is weakened as well, we are even!'
Violet could read through Clementine's intentions, but it just served to make her angrier and more frustrated, increasing the intensity of the curse's effects.
'While Lady Welcome's Divine Flames are strong enough to nourish and enhance her body, mine isn't the same. My power is based on Aspidis' curse. That's my specialty. Therefore, she has the upper hand in this duel from now on!' Violet bitterly thought.
"I am sorry, my dear. I will need to take off this hero's mantle and wear the villain's, despite how frustrating it can be. I won't ask you for your respect nor to understand the reason behind my actions, but I beg you not to forget that all I do is because I care way too much about anyone who can take a little spot inside my heart," Clementine said, holding tightly the end of Violet's whip, but not out of anger. She was rather frustrated with what she needed to do from then on.