"Did you really think that would be enough to defeat me?"
Julia's words echoed in the arena, despite the cacophony of enigmas her words rang loudly in Yoel's ears.
Cold sweat ran down his face and arms, as he imagined himself being eviscerated by those invisible slashes, over, and over, and over again.
"I must say. I really wouldn't mind pummeling you to the ground a few more times now. That was really underhanded of you, Yoel."
Oh shit.
Yoel's eyes strained as he pushed them further, searing the purple into his eyes, so he could distinguish the slashes from the avon that was scattered all over the place.
He was sure that Julia would not be holding back any longer now that he had pissed her off. If she even was holding back, that is.
"Y'know, Yoel? I think I just might have figured out what your enigma does."
She… She'll need more than that to just beat me!
"Oh, and don't worry. I have figured out exactly how I'm going to defeat you."
…
What have I done to deserve this?
Yoel had dashed back by now, and was at a considerable distance away from Julia, her slashes wouldn't reach him for at least a second or two.
At this point, I'll run out of stamina long before I even land a scratch on her.
He stared at Julia's eyes, as she slowly and mockingly raised her hands, despite there being no need for her to do so to activate her enigma.
"I do hope you'll forgive me for this, but I ought to teach you a lesson not to take other people's possessions."
Instantly swathes of avon erupted out of her, each bearing the same crescent as the slashes from before.
Only now, something was vastly different.
The purple motes flickered in and out of existence, sometimes even blending with the avon in the background.
"If you can see the flow of avon, then I'll just make it so you can't react to it."
Julia had the idea that Yoel was acting based on the way avon flowed, allowing him to calculate the paths each of her slashes would take.
If she just barely manifested the slash, he would not be able to see it with as much clarity as the rest of the slashes.
She was partly correct, but only because of the fact that Yoel was seeing the avon so vividly around him, that it was hard to keep up with her's as well, especially when it flickered in and out of existence.
I guess the only good thing about this is that whenever its not flickering it looks about as dark as purple can get. But I'm probably going to end up with a migraine after this is over.
Yoel's eyes twitched at the black spots flickering in and out that were flying towards him. Maybe because the initial output of the avon had been close to nothing, their speed was also lessened.
Maybe I can somehow get close to her like this.
Yoel dashed forward, charging into the horde of flickering slashes.
He had been faring quite well, he was able to keep up with the slashes and he was able to dodge them and deflect them much easier than before.
Before long he found himself culling numerous of them as he moved through them in an attempt to reach the caster; Julia.
It was quite odd, the way Julia had thought of ways to disturb his Shadow Sight, had left practically an open door between him and Julia that he could pass through as easily as he wanted.
Yoel came to an abrupt stop, halting his desperate run toward Julia.
An open door… between me and her. One that I can pass through easily.
She's not stupid enough to do this.
Yoel had realized a crucial component of Julia's plan, all these flickering slashes were not only meant to disturb Yoel's vision but also made to lure him in.
I've been played like a damn fiddle!
The slow-moving crescents mimicked Yoel's movement, stopping in place just as Yoel had.
A short and fast flicker was all that Yoel needed to see to know that they were going to all charge into him.
Not only that, they were considerably faster than before, leaving behind small gusts of wind.
I'm left with no other choice, I didn't want to fucking use that at all!
During the week break before the year had officially started, Yoel had spent a considerable amount of his time learning about the nature of enigmas and how to control his avon, but most of his time was spent on studying the Silhouette Arts.
There had been many lessons that he did not understand, some that he couldn't even begin to comprehend.
One of them being how to incorporate a dagger into a fighting style utilizing a spear.
He still did not understand how he was supposed to be dual wielding those two weapons. As far as he knew, the spear and the dagger were like heaven and moon.
There had been no pictures in the manual, leaving it all up to Yoel's imagination to determine if he was succeeding or not.
There had been two lessons that Yoel could understand, at least on a basic stage.
The first, the unique fighting style he used with his spear, focused more on utilizing the opponent's power against them, using it to both defend themselves and attack, by reading the path of the attack and being able to skillfully react to it.
The second… was odd. Way too odd.
It was supposedly one of the more important skills a disciple of the Silhouette Arts must possess, as it signified the individual's change into a true silhouette by allowing them to momentarily remove their presence from the world.
It was a skill that had major drawbacks and most disciples in the old times did not use it, so whoever had written the manual had left a note for whoever was reading it.
It specifically instructed the person reading it to forget using this skill during an actual confrontation, as it would leave him with a too-wide opening not too long after using the technique.
Yoel didn't want to use it, when he had done so before it left him with his lungs on fire for at least an hour.
He was not eager to use it, but he would much rather feel like his lungs are on fire than be cut to pieces any longer.
Here goes nothing.
***
I don't like that look in his eyes.
Julia was doing all she could not to raise her hands. She was better at controlling her invisible slashes with her hands acting as a catalyst.
But she couldn't show this to Yoel, he must create an image in his head that Julia could manifest and control these slashes with no need for any unnecessary movement.
She was not as drained of avon as she would be outside of the simulation, but the familiar powerlessness was approaching, coming ever closer.
I would never be able to control this many slashes if I had unleashed them at full output; its a miracle I can control them this much without using my hands.
Ever since she was little, she has been told that true war is fought with information. A battalion of a thousand men could be sent running with their tails tucked under their legs by a single company of barely 200 soldiers if the flow of information was controlled by them.
And so, she had built an intricate trap for Yoel, and one could say that he was playing right into it. But at the same time, she had gambled all of this on the fact that she would not fail in any of her steps.
And it seemed as if her plan would be finalized with this final and hardest step.
As she strained her body and avon to control the slashes, she turned them to point towards Yoel, and after a momentary pause she sent them charging towards Yoel.
She was putting her all into this attack. After all, this was a chance to test her capabilities and her limits.
The crescents closed in on him like tigers, ready to tear at his flesh. Julia could taste her future victory.
The panic on Yoel's face was proof that she was nearing her inevitable victory.
…
What?
Where Yoel had once been, about to be slashed to death from all sides, a strong gust of wind had replaced him.
How did he disappear? Is that a part of his enigma? Fuck! Was I being fooled by him this entire damn time?!
She blinked again and again, hoping she was seeing it wrong, but Yoel really had disappeared.
She released her enigma almost immediately after he had disappeared, her confusion interfering with her concentration and dispelling all of the slashes.
As she warily looked over the area of their part of the arena, she saw no immediate signs of Yoel.
He was not too eager to waste time, however.
A soft wind blew two meters away from Julia, and Yoel manifested as if he had always existed in that spot.
He looked like he was in major pain, but he was still pushing himself despite that.
"Finally, we fight in close quarters."
He thrust his spear forward, aiming to end the entire fight in one blow, but she was not of warrior blood for no reason; she easily deflected his piercing blow despite being caught off guard.
What followed had been a cacophony of steel, as Yoel attempted numerous different kinds of attacks.
From using feints to using her own strength and weapon against her, he had tried it all.
Too bad, Yoel! You cannot compare to me in close-quarters combat! I've been doing this my entire damn life!
Yoel prepared to throw one final attack at her, the spear in his hands trembling as his muscles overworked themselves.
A powerful overhead slash. This is the difference… between me and you!
Julia moved forward, leaving the range of his blade and deflecting the pole of the spear, it was finally flung away from his hands.
She saw his face drain color, and she felt confident enough to continue her counterattack.
Well, she would have… if she could.
She had barely noticed the mist that was swirling in Yoel's hands.
She had managed to stop his spear, but she had never accounted for the situation where he would summon another weapon.
Can the summoning function even be used like that?
Whatever the rules had been, she clearly had not known them.
As the mist finally dispersed, a simple dagger had manifested in his hands.
With both hands clutching the dagger, his muscles bulged as he thrust the it forward, aiming for her neck.
She was barely even able to register any pain, much less see his hands flick toward her before darkness overtook her senses.