Lennix couldn't help but feel a surge of unease as he faced the Noble, his mechanically distorted voice grating on Lennix's sensitive ears. *And those yellow orbs for eyes are freaky as well,* he thought, his gaze fixed on the small tube extending from Zac's left hand. *He popped that out specifically for me, so I have to be careful. I just hope Clarissa can do what I asked her to.*
He shifted into his fighting stance, while the black knight beside him raised his shadow greatsword once more. Zac charged at them with lethal intent, his chain blade gleaming as it extended in a deadly arc toward Lennix and the black knight. Lennix, relying on his vampiric speed, darted to the side, the blade slicing through the air where he had stood just moments before. The black knight met Zac's charge head-on, his greatsword colliding with the chain blade in a shower of sparks.
Zac's yellow orbs flickered toward Lennix, and with a twist of his left hand, the tube ignited with a burst of flame. A jet of fire roared toward Lennix, but he moved with blinding speed, weaving around the flames and closing the distance between them. He delivered a powerful punch to Zac's side, the impact ringing through the Noble's armor. Zac staggered but quickly recovered, spinning on his heel to swing his chain blade at Lennix.
Seeing an opening, the black knight swung his greatsword in a powerful downward arc toward Zac's exposed back. Zac reacted swiftly, raising his armored forearm to block the strike. "Meaningless!" he spat, lashing out with a kick that caught Lennix square in the chest, forcing him back. *How the hell is this guy keeping up with both of us!?* Lennix thought, his worry mounting.
Zac then drove his knee into the black knight's midsection, knocking him back into the swamp water. *I used shadows to slow that down, and it still knocked me over?* the black knight thought, stunned by the force of the blow. As Zac stabbed his chain blade toward the black knight's throat, Lennix charged again, this time with a different plan.
Seeing Lennix coming, Zac lifted his left arm, ready to scorch him with another burst of fire. But instead of a straightforward attack, Lennix smirked and kicked up a spray of swamp water into Zac's helmet, temporarily blinding him. Seizing the moment, Lennix landed a solid punch on Zac's chest, knocking him back.
"Didn't expect that, did you? Neither did I the first time!" Lennix taunted, recalling the time Xain had pulled a similar trick on him using debris.
He then reached down and helped the black knight to his feet. "How were you able to hold off this guy alone?" he asked, glancing back at Zac, who was slowly recovering from the last blow.
The black knight shook his head. "I think he underestimated me the first time. Not so much now."
As the two of them turned to face Zac again, the Noble dusted off his chest plate and glared at them with his eerie yellow orbs. "Fine, no more conserving energy," he said, his voice calm yet menacing. The circuitry on his armor shifted from a cool blue to an ominous red, pulsing with intensity.
"Uh, what does that mean?" Lennix asked, taking a cautious step back.
"How am I supposed to know? I'm a monster hunter, not an engineer," the black knight muttered, also stepping back.
Before they could react, Zac suddenly surged forward with a burst of speed that was almost impossible to follow. His chain blade lashed out, aimed directly at Lennix with a deadly precision. Lennix instinctively ducked, the blade slicing through the air just above his head, missing him by a hair's breadth. He rolled to the side, using his momentum to spring back up to his feet, but Zac was already closing in again.
The black knight moved to intercept, raising his shadow greatsword in a defensive stance. Zac's chain blade met the greatsword with a deafening clang, the force of the impact sending shockwaves up the knight's arms. Zac twisted his wrist, the chain blade snaking around the black knight's weapon, forcing him to pivot awkwardly to avoid a fatal strike.
Lennix took the opportunity to launch a counterattack. He darted in from the side, aiming a quick punch at Zac's ribs. But Zac seemed to anticipate the move; his yellow orbs flashed, and he spun, catching Lennix mid-strike with a brutal elbow to the chest. Lennix was sent flying back, crashing into the swamp water with a splash, the wind knocked out of him.
Zac immediately turned back to the black knight, pressing his advantage with a series of rapid, relentless strikes. The black knight conjured a shadow clone to absorb one of the blows, but the clone shattered instantly under the force of Zac's attack. Desperate, the knight raised a shadow shield just in time to block another strike, but the impact caused the shield to fracture and crumble.
Panting, Lennix scrambled back to his feet, his body aching from the impact. He watched as Zac continued his ferocious assault on the black knight, who was struggling to keep up, each of Zac's strikes heavier and faster than the last.
The black knight barely managed to block one of Zac's rapid blows with his shadow greatsword, the force of the impact reverberating through his arms. With a swift pivot, Zac redirected his chain blade toward the black knight, his movements blurring with a sudden burst of speed. In that instant, Zac's focus shifted, and he launched himself toward Lennix with terrifying agility.
Lennix, still reeling from his previous encounter, had no time to react. Zac's chain blade whistled through the air, aimed directly at him with deadly precision. Lennix instinctively ducked, the blade slicing just above his head and missing him by a hair's breadth. As he tried to regain his footing, Zac's relentless assault forced him to roll aside and scramble to avoid the oncoming attack.
With a final, aggressive thrust, Zac's blade skimmed the water's surface as Lennix stumbled backward, crashing into the swamp with a splash, the murky water enveloping him.
At the same moment, Zac pivoted and launched a brutal assault on the black knight. His chain blade lashed out with relentless precision, moving like a deadly blur. Each swing was calculated to overwhelm and overpower. The chain blade's metal glinted ominously as it cut through the swamp air with a fierce whine.
The black knight acted swiftly, conjuring a shadow clone to intercept the first deadly arc of the chain blade. The clone was easily sliced apart, its shadowy form dissipating with a wisp of black mist. The black knight brought his greatsword up to meet the next strike. The chain blade clanged off the sword with a deafening crash, sending shockwaves through the black knight's arms. The force of the impact nearly knocked him off balance, causing him to stagger.
He gritted his teeth, his expression contorted in pain as he tried to maintain his footing. The chain blade slashed again and again, each strike pushing him back. He barely managed to deflect the strikes with his greatsword, the relentless assault forcing him to use all his strength and skill to keep Zac's blade from finding its mark.
As the chain blade whirled through the air, the black knight's shadow clone flickered out of existence with each powerful blow, unable to hold against the force of Zac's attacks. The black knight's greatsword swung in desperate arcs, catching the chain blade on its edge and deflecting it away, but each parry came at a cost, with the vibrations traveling up his arms and causing him to wince in pain. "Ugh, goddess, that hurt my arms!" he shouted, struggling to maintain his stance as Zac's relentless strikes continued to test his limits.
"Like I said, meaningless," Zac spat, his voice cold and mechanical. "Both of you will die today." His yellow orbs burned with the promise of death, as he prepared to finish them off.
Just as Zac prepared to drive his blade through the black knight's heart and unleash a torrent of flame upon Lennix, something sliced through the air with a sharp whistle. A throwing knife pierced the Noble's left yellow orb with pinpoint precision. "Ugh!" Zac grunted, recoiling as his hands instinctively moved to cover his damaged eye, the blade embedded deep into his helmet.
Lennix's grin spread wide. *Thank you, Clarissa!* he thought, knowing exactly who was responsible for the well-aimed strike. About 45 meters away, Clarissa stood with her arm still extended from the throw. "Just a weak man hiding behind a shell," she muttered to herself, lowering her arm.
Seizing the moment, Lennix dashed forward and swept Zac's legs out from under him with a swift kick, sending the armored figure crashing into the swamp water with a heavy splash. The weight of his armor dragged him down, water splashing up around him as he struggled to regain his footing.
The black knight, seeing his chance, quickly recovered and raised his greatsword. With a powerful swing, he brought the flat side of the blade down on Zac's helmet, a resounding impact that echoed through the swamp. The force of the blow sent vibrations through Zac's armor, leaving him momentarily stunned. *This is our win!*