Lady Ophelia, also known as the Golden Empress, found herself cornered by Caspian and Gazel.
She stood tall, her white hair cascading down her back as she assessed her situation. Despite the odds against her, she remained calm and collected, ready to face whatever challenge lay ahead.
The dogged battle of Ophelia against the warriors of Dendogar.
"Gazel, keep her occupied.." Caspian ordered.
He acknowledged Caspian's authority and proceeded with his imposing presence. A single breath from him produced visible steam from his nostrils.
Gazel is a massive man, resembling a Titan statue. His arms boast prominent projections, and his muscles are as hard as steel. His face, lacking any trace of humanity, adds to his beastly appearance.
Ophelia lifted her right hand and a golden aura appeared around her. Her hand created an invisible air that formed into a Holy Sword, typical of Western design, measuring ninety centimeters in length and twelve centimeters in width.
The sword was inscribed with Elven Letters, indicating that it was not made by humans.
"I present to you my Holy Treasure, one of the three great holy swords. It is sheathed in the breath of the people's hope, a storm of shining life. Its wrath is to be felt. Dil Hevia!"
[Holy Treasures] are an integral part of Spirits' existence, representing their prowess and weaponry. They are considered the embodiment of heroes and are carried as trump cards to be used at the right moment. Each hero may possess only one [Holy Treasure], which can only be activated by channeling magical energy into them and releasing their true names.
Also, it can be inherited or stolen depending on the strength of the user's will. If the will is weak, the user cannot maintain a [Holy Treasure].
A person can also create a [Holy Treasure] with a will that stands on the level of gods, but this has never actually happened.
'Dil Hevia... a sword used by Anastasia; the goddess of war.'
Caspian sat at the edge of a building, watching Ophelia from afar. He was intrigued by the surprises she would display.
...
Gazel approached Ophelia with remarkable speed, his movements causing shockwaves that disrupted the surrounding buildings. In an instant, he towered over her, his size eclipsing hers by meters.
However, before he could strike, Ophelia's sword moved with incredible speed towards his side. Though he was able to block the attack with his right hand, she managed to shatter numerous bones in his muscular arm. As a result, the ground beneath them fractured.
The sword had already inflicted a deep cut on his right arm. She withdrew her sword and took a step back. Afterward, she charged it with a considerable amount of magicubes that surged uncontrollably.
With a flash step, she vanished and appeared above her target, Gazel. There, she drew her blade powerfully downward, instantly cleaving through his right shoulder and completely severing a portion of his right pectoral and his entire arm.
Her face was drenched in black blood. The blood of a corpse risen by means of necromancy is always black, it was no cause for alarm.
Gazel quickly stepped back, not due to any discomfort, as he is not one to show such weakness. Rather, he was simply reattaching his severed arm, a feat made possible by his status as a necromantic summon of Vania, which grants him an impressive level of regeneration.
Although he was displeased with the damage he had sustained, his gaze towards Ophelia conveyed his intentions to reciprocate the harm she had inflicted upon him. Caspian rest assured, that Gazel is more than capable of handling this situation with the utmost confidence.
'He can regenerate? That shouldn't be possible..'
Ophelia's insight was spot on. The art of necromancy operates in direct correlation to the caster's magicube reserves. It's important to note that a Necromancer with medium-level magicube reserve can only revive entities with a minimum level magical power.
However, Vania's exceptional ability to summon two undead warriors of which one could regenerate in mere seconds is a testament to her magicube levels breaking the limits.
"It seems I may have underestimated you.." there was no use in her speaking to Gazel, he was incapable of responding in understandable words.
Gazel charged forward like a true champion, with the speed of a lightning bolt. With each stride, he increased his pace exponentially, until he finally appeared in front of Ophelia in a snap.
His left fist was tightly clenched, pulsing with ominous energy, as he drove it forward at blinding speed. Ophelia was barely able to react, but she used the flat part of her blade to intercept the punch. Although the shockwave blew her away like a rag doll, she spun several times in the air before regaining her stance.
It wasn't obvious but Ophelia had sustained severe damage to her right forearm. It suffered a minor fracture. Her sword was impervious to almost any damage, but the same could not be said of her.
'His strength... it's unlike any other. It seems her necromancy doesn't reduce the quality a fighter has before their demise, if anything he seems stronger than the average warrior of his tribe.'
She stood in her defensive position holding [Dil Hevia] in symmetrical relation to her upper body.
In less than five seconds, Gazel made another forceful move towards Ophelia. But this time, Ophelia didn't wait for him to attack. Instead, she quickly darted towards him with a wild swing of her sword leaving a whoosh in her wake.
As their fists and blades collided, the ground beneath them shattered and trembled so much so that the already destroyed buildings around them were reduced to rubble. And then, it was a barrage of punches against sword slashes that raged on for minutes, erupting windstorms and shockwaves that decimated the surrounding area.
Ophelia was relentless, and with another fierce swing of [Dil Hevia] the accelerated stroke cleaved the fist of Gazel, splitting it, up until his shoulder blade. It was there the force connected that caused him to projectile laterally into and through five walls like some sort of stone shot from a catapult.
The formidable creature made a swift recovery. In his grasp materialized five halberds, each adorned with sharp blades that exuded an imposing aura. In quick succession, he launched the halberds towards her. Each one flew as if it had been propelled by air cannons.
The impact of his throwing power was so intense that it carved the ground as it hurtled towards Ophelia. However, she matched each halberd with equal strength, and each strike from her sword obliterated all five that were thrown at her.
She deflected them with ease, demonstrating her remarkable skill and prowess. Caspian was impressed to have witnessed such a display of strength and agility.
Upon deflecting all the halberds, she witnessed Gazel hurtling towards her on all fours, carrying a boulder on his back. With violent force, he flung it towards her, causing it to rapidly rotate midair. However, Ophelia charged [Dil Hevia], resulting in the holy sword pulsating a bright golden light.
A technique called [Divine Thaumaturgy: First Configuration].
With a forcible slash, She released a wave of destruction that atomized the large mass of stone. The entire battleground vibrated from the immensity of her sword's insurmountable strength.
She wasn't exhausted, not one bit, but using a [Holy Treasure] required a lot of spiritual energy and will. Magicubes were only required to manifest the armament and imbue it with attacks.
The spiritual energy and will is used as means to keep the sword's physical state conditioned. In other words, if a user of such an armament were to have weak spiritual energy or will it would result in the weapon's physical characteristics weakening. A sword that would normally cut a tree in one slice wouldn't even be able to dent paper.
"I must say you're piece of work... you are adamant and unyielding, the suchness of perseverance. But my sword is relentless, one of the three holy swords forged by the gods... It is overflowing with ways to kill you!"
Indeed Gazel was stubbornly persevering attacks from a sword that should've ended him long ago. Each time he exhausted himself he was able to push onward. The steam emanating from his body was proof of his efforts, experiencing a burnout and yet still fighting.
We shouldn't rule out Ophelia either. Her doggedness was equally obnoxious, she was of the warrior clan of Donedia. The goddesses of war that serve the previous Daesin of War – Anastasia Donedia. She would not run the name of her ancestor through the mud. Or worse, her weapon.
A thin flow of blood moved down Opheliaʼs forehead momentarily running over her eyes until she wiped it off. Again she arranged her sword forward for another attack, "The next one will be your end.. prepare yourself!"
She meant what she said.