Lancelot Yoder charged toward Tobey and Mark at such speed that they barely could catch him with their eyes. For a moment, Tobey thought that they would surely get struck, there was no way of dodging that attack.
'We don't know whom he wants to attack first though. I and Mark are both a bit distant from each other. This skill of his is a straight-line attack. Apparently, he can't change directions. If that's the case, then he needs to choose one of us. Choosing me would be way too obvious, and most likely unproductive, so the only option is...!' Tobey's mind was working so fast that it was difficult even for Mask to follow his train of thought.
Mark didn't need to have the same complex reasoning as Tobey to know that the enemy was going to attack him. Since Tobey didn't offer any real danger, it was just common battle sense for Lancelot to aim at him first. He probably would keep ignoring Tobey until the battle was done, which wouldn't be a very difficult thing.
The Bloodseeker held Lamia's long cable in front of his chest in an oblique position. Meanwhile, he turned his body to the left as if dodging something.
Tobey watched in disbelief as he saw Lancelot's spear striking Lamia's cable and being deflected a few centimeters above, thus getting at the level of his head which was already leaned to the left. The blade of the spear passed a few millimeters away from Mark's face.
Mark never got his eyes off his opponent. He had a sharp glare directed toward Lancelot. The latter continued going forward due to the momentum and crossed ways with Mark, getting some meters away from him.
'His back is wide open!' Mark thought as he aimed to step forward. His eyes were glittering at the sight of that opportunity.
'I will end this with this single blow! That's what I needed, now I will surely have time to reach Clementine before-' Mark ceased his thoughts as he noticed that something was strange with his body.
'Sh*t... I cannot move at all. The effect of his attack caught me. Ths bastard could get em paralyzed, even though he didn't strike me.'
Little did Mark know that the blade of Caelum scratched him on the cheek as it passed very near it. Just the pressure of the air it was exerting due to its high speed was enough to make that gust of wind as sharp as paper, leaving a small scratch, but enough to get Mark paralyzed.
'I need to make a comeback right now! I need to come back before he starts another rush!'
However, Mark's body wouldn't move no matter what he tried to do. The effectiveness of the paralysis would last as much as the paladin's spell was meant to last. Go against it would only be possible with another spell that countered its effects, the other way around was the same as a human trying to overcome the laws of physics with his bare hands.
The backlash of the attack made by Lancelot ended first than the paralysis inflicted on Mark. The backlash lasted some seconds, the paralysis could reach way more, at least enough for him to prepare another attack like the previous one.
That was the most dangerous thing about Caelum's spell: even if the enemy could manage to leave that assault only scratched, that single scratch would be enough to get them debilitated, thus giving enough time to Lancelot to recover from the backlash and attack again without being stopped.
It was especially good when dueling since a group of people would easily counter it by spreading around.
Lancelot positioned Caelum beside his body again, holding it with both hands and looking at Mark with his eyes shining brightly. His body got surrounded by Divine Flames at first, but those converted into yellow rays that wrapped around him and his weapon. Finally, he stomped the ground, leaving a crack there, and his body dashed forward with as much speed as before.
Mark never lost hope. He fought against Lancelot a few times to know how long that paralysis would last. He knew that, if he was fast enough, the time he had left to dodge or defend that attack would be enough.
'I just need to concentrate on his attack. Don't despair! Just keep focused and stay strong!'
He waited patiently, seeing that flash of light coming towards him as if in slow motion.
In the last milliseconds before the blade of the spear could reach him, Mark strengthened the grip on Lamia, feeling that his movements were back. He gave a step to the side and moved his scythe as fast as possible.
Mark diverted the attack with Lamia's cable, which was still intact even after the second collision of such a powerful blow. Caelum's blade scratched him on his sides, though, making him grunt as he felt a little bit of pain.
'This time it struck for real. Paladin's blades surely hurt at the smallest scratch!' he thought while gritting his teeth.
Unfortunately, it happened again. His body got paralyzed, and so did Lancelot's as he finished his rush.
Nonetheless, things were different for Mark now. It was the second time he got paralyzed. Of course, it wouldn't last the same amount of time as the previous one. On the contrary, it was logical that the time of paralysis got higher over time, and that's exactly what happened.
"Damn it!" he cursed out loud, only able to barely move his mouth.
The paladin got recovered fastly enough to turn to him and prepare for another attack. The same order of events from before happened, and his body got wrapped around yellow lightning tendrils.
'Will this battle be so pathetic like this or will you give me some more fun, Bloodseeker? I am waiting for you to finally show up the same strength you showed to me before!'
The paladin stomped the ground once again, charging toward Mark. This time, the flash of yellow light was brighter and intenser than the two previous ones. He was giving his all on that single attack.
'Not so fast!!' Tobey thought as he put himself in front of Mark.
Unfortunately for Lancelot, it was too late for him to change directions or interrupt his attack. If he wanted to kill Mark there and then, he would need to run over Tobey and reach him. He had no time for hesitation.
Nonetheless, a chill ran down his spine when he thought about the other reckless moves that Tobey made during their duel. Whenever he seemed to be doing dumb things, he pulled an ace out of his sleeve, showing who was the best at wits there. This time, Lancelot felt that it was not going to be different...
... And he was right.
'There has to be a way to parry his attacks without getting my dagger broken. I have been thinking about it while exchanging blows with him. But I am not a master when it comes to wielding blades...'
Tobey had seen the direction where Lancelot pointed his spear before, so he knew where he had to place his dagger and at which angle.
Nevertheless, differently from the previous time, he didn't put the dagger in front of it. He waited for the attack to come at him, and just then did he swat Caelum's blade with his own.
The sound of both blades scrubbing against each other echoed, as well as Tobey's grunt as he fought to keep his injured wrist steady.
The final result was Lancelot having his blade redirected to the ground and getting stuck on it, thus making him lose momentum in front of Tobey and Mark.
While the cracks on his blade grew larger, this time Tobey's dagger didn't lose a single piece, which made him widen his eyes.
'How come? Did this guy just mastered this kind of skill while fighting? I knew that he's got potential but...' Lancelot thought as he stared at the worn-out dagger in Tobey's hand.
"Now, brother!" Tobey shouted, giving a step to the side and opening the way to Mark.
Brother was the only way he could find to call him out, and it seemed to work.
Mark held Lamia strongly as he gave a step forward, stomping the ground hard as he did so. Now, the paralysis was gone!
With a wide swing, he struck Lancelot's chest, making a diagonal cut there and launching him several meters away. His armor was enough to protect him from getting a fatal blow, but he surely would be very debilitated due to the amount of damage he got.
Tobey looked at Mark, nodding his head to him.
"I will defend when the opportunity comes, you attack."
Mark smiled confidently and nodded to him.
"Leave it to me, bro." His eyes were on fire, he seemed about to laugh out of excitement or yell out of emotion.
[Hmm... be glad, unfortunate bastard. Now you are not an F-grade demon. Your Soul Mirror evolved. Now you are a bit better than a good-for-nothing, congratulations] said Mask, turning Tobey's attention to his dagger once again.