Chapter 13: Muffet

With her blade drawn, Muffet's eyes glowed with a hint of blue within them. She moved with unparalleled speed, striking at Calibro with precision and agility. Each slash was calculated, aimed at exploiting weaknesses in his defenses. Calibro, despite his size and strength, found himself unable to land a solid blow on Muffet, who danced around him effortlessly.

"What is going on here?" Calibro growled to himself, "She's moving too fast!"

Muffet's smirked. She was able to evade Calibro's attacks with ease. "When I draw my blade," she replied coolly, "I kick things into another gear."

Calibro acknowledged her speed with a grunt. "Impressive," he admitted, "but your attacks have been nothing more than a tickle on my body."

Muffet chuckled. "Is that so? Then let me show you something real."

With a sudden burst of Mystcry energy, Muffet's blade glowed with intense light. She focused her energy, channeling it into a series of rapid slashes that left afterimages in the air. Each strike carried more power than before.

Calibro struggled to keep up, but his defenses began to fail under Muffet's relentless assault. Her blade cut through his Mystcry-empowered armor. They left shallow but telling wounds on his massive frame. He roared in frustration and swung his claw, but Muffet just evaded him and brought her blade down on him again.

"You feel that, mutt?" Muffet taunted while eyeing him. "That's the weight of my blade."

Calibro gritted his teeth, his gaze narrowing on Muffet. "Enough games, human. I'll show you the true power of a Werewolf General!"

With a primal roar, Calibro unleashed a surge of dark Mystcry energy, surrounding himself with an aura of formidable power. His size seemed to increase slightly as he charged at Muffet.

Muffet closed her eyes briefly, channeling her affinity for ice magic through her sword. Ice crystals formed along the blade, emanating a cold aura that filled the air around them.

"What is this?" Calibro muttered. His eyes narrowed as he observed the ice forming on Muffet's sword.

Muffet grinned mischievously, "This is Isojari, and she says it's nice to kill you."

With a swift thrust, Muffet thrust her blade forward, releasing a surge of icy energy that enveloped Calibro. He froze solid for a brief moment, surprise flickering across his massive form before breaking free with a roar.

Calibro shook off the ice, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "That was sword magic, wasn't it?"

Muffet shook her head, chuckling softly. "Not quite. That was just me tapping into my affinity," she explained while twirling Isojari in her hand. "You ain’t seen anything yet."

Calibro assessed Muffet's icy display. "It seems I should start taking you seriously," he rumbled.

With a sudden burst of speed, Calibro lunged at Muffet.His claws charged with darkness which he aimed to shred through Muffet's defenses with.

Muffet reacted swiftly, her eyes narrowing with focus. She sidestepped Calibro's strike with grace. Without missing a beat, she countered with a swift thrust of Isojari, releasing another wave of icy energy towards Calibro.

The ice magic enveloped Calibro momentarily, encasing parts of his massive frame in a layer of frost. He growled in irritation, shaking off the ice shards with a powerful swipe of his claws. "Persistent, aren't you?" he snarled, his gaze fixed on Muffet.

Undeterred, Muffet prepared for his next move. She anticipated his next strike and moved to evade, but Calibro let out a ferocious roar and this time, his attack came with an even greater intensity.

The dark energy-infused claws sliced through the air with enhanced cutting power, aiming to inflict deep wounds on Muffet. She was able dodge some of the strikes, but a glancing blow caught her shoulder. It tore through her clothing and left a jagged gash.

Muffet gritted her teeth against the pain, but she kept her composure. She placed one hand on her side, and pretended the pain was not there. “Is that all you've got? I expected more power from the ‘Werewolf General’”.

Calibro's eyes narrowed. "You’re tougher than you look, but I know you can't keep this up, especially not with that injury. It may have taken me a minute, but I've managed to catch on to your movements," he explained, while raising a claw. "You thought your speed would work against me, human. You believed that I wouldn't be able to strike as fast. It's a big mistake that most people make."

Muffet shook her head with a sly smile tugging coming to her lips. “Oh, that’s not it," she replied, raising one hand to her face. To herself, she muttered, "It's really bad. Firing Mystcry at them is a waste of time. I can use my affinity for ice to freeze them, but of course, that only goes so far. And then there's the other issue..."

She glanced to the side briefly. The battlefield was chaotic. Her squad was still engaged in their fierce battle against the werewolves. The small girl who had shown such bravery earlier was holding her own, but the numbers was slowly becoming a problem for them.

Muffet’s eyes hardened with resolve. "Looks like I’ve got no choice," She took a deep breath, feeling the icy energy surge through her veins. Muffet held her blade at the center and shouted, "Shatter, Isojari!"

The blade shattered into countless fragments, the pieces swirling around her in a mesmerizing dance of ice and forming flowers of ice around her. Calibro’s eyes widened in surprise while watching the blade disintegrate. "Her blade shattered," he muttered to himself. "What is she up to?"

Muffet smirked, a dangerous gleam in her eye. "Now this is my Sword Magic. And now that you've seen it, you won't be leaving here alive."

With a thrust of her hand, the ice flowers formed from the shattered blade launched at Calibro. He swatted them away with a growl of frustration. "Is that all?" he taunted.

Muffet's smirk widened. "Bad move."

Calibro's eyes widened in horror as his claws began to freeze up. The ice spread rapidly from where the flowers had touched. "What is this?" he roared. He attempted to shake his claws in attempts to rid himself of the encroaching ice to no avail.

Muffet thrust her hands forward again, sending the ice flowers charging at him once more. Now, slowed by the ice on his hands, Calibro struggled to defend himself. "Damn it!"

An ice flower pierced through his side, the freezing energy spreading from the wound. Calibro howled in pain, his body partially frozen and immobilized. The ice flowers returned to Muffet, forming a protective barrier around her.

Calibro fell to his knees, his breath ragged and labored. He glared at Muffet with anger and fear. "You... How could a human..."

Muffet approached him slowly, her icy aura radiating power. "This is Isojari," she said as cold as the ice she wielded. "It takes the form of a sleek, silvery blade, but when activated, it becomes much more. The blade shatters on command, forming several ice flowers that offer both offense and defense. Once touched by these flowers, your fate is sealed."

Calibro tried to speak, but the ice had spread to his throat, silencing him. Muffet stood over him with an unwavering gaze. "Be as frozen as the coldness in my heart!”

With a final, decisive thrust of her hand, the ice flowers surged forward, enveloping Calibro completely. The Werewolf General's body froze solid, a crystalline statue of ice and agony.

Muffet lowered her hands, taking a deep breathe. “Looks like you were proven wrong, weren’t you?”

Muffet stared at the frozen form of Calibro for a moment, looking pensive. The battle had been fierce, but there was still so much she didn't know. Her thoughts lingered on the mention of the "Lady of the Lycan Senodokidatsu."

"Damn, I should have asked him more about that Lycan lady," she muttered while raising one finger to her lip. "Oh well. Let me try and see what I can find here atleast."

Muffet closed her eyes and concentrated, reaching out with her Mystcry senses to search for any traces of a Divine Blade in the area. The cold air around her seemed to still, the icy aura of Isojari enhancing her senses.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and sighed. "Nothing. No Divine Blades here." She ended her sword magic and her sword placed itself back to it’s normal form. The ice flowered faded away.

"Guess I'll just report back to Head Captain Will," she said to herself with a smirk,"He'll want to know about this 'Lady of the Lycan Senodokidatsu.'"

Suddenly, the air cracked with the sound of shattering ice. Muffet turned just in time to see Calibro break free, damaged but far from defeated.

"Divine Blade? Is that why you came here?" he growled.

Muffet's eyes widened in shock. She raised her sword to block his attack, but his strike was far more powerful than before. The force sent her flying back, crashing into the ground with a painful thud.

Groaning, she pushed herself up slowly. Her body was aching from the impact. "What the hell?!"

Calibro's eyes glinted with malevolent satisfaction. "While we were fighting, the Lady of the Lycan Senodokidatsu found the Divine Blade in this area," he explained. "I am one of her most trusted werewolves, always in contact with her. Always."

Muffet's heart sank. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "So, you mean..."

Calibro grinned wickedly. "That's right. The Divine Blade Society has lost this fight. The Lady has the Divine Blade now."

Muffet remembered Captain Will's words: "Muffet, I need you to investigate an area that has been flagged as a potential location for a Divine Blade. The Senodokidatsu cannot be allowed to claim it." The memory sharpened her focus. She thanked Calibro with a sly smile, "That's all I needed to hear."

With a swift movement, she called out, "Mystcry Arts #61, Soul Nexus!"

An ethereal light connected her to the area, a web of Mystcry energy reaching out to her dispersed strategists. She detected the locations of two of her four strategists and linked their Mystcry, establishing a communication line.

"This is Muffet," she said with the sound coming through the ears of her strategists. "Did you two find anything?"

The connection sparked to life, and Muffet immediately sensed the presence of her strategists.

The first one came through, sounding bit annoyed. "Muffet, this is Saya. Yeah, we've been looking around the whole area while you guys were having all the fun. Guess what we found? A suspicious girl. But next time, could you give us a heads-up? That connection was sudden!”

Then came in the next, sounding cheery. “"Hey, Muffet! It's Didi here. Yuh! Saya's right. We're tailing this girl with dark hair and eyes. She met up with a big black werewolf who's carrying her on his shoulders now. We're following them closely."

Muffet nodded to herself, processing the information quickly. "Good work, both of you. Keep following them discreetly.”

Muffet's confidence radiated as she addressed Calibro. "I've got a good team. When I received my orders, I split them into two groups: the scout team and the front line team. I'm always on the front line. Even now, I have no intention of leaving here until iv’e killed you."

Calibro's curiosity piqued as he listened intently. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I've already made it clear, Calibro," Muffet stated firmly. "You're not leaving here with your life, and I don't like leaving a job unfinished—whether it's securing the Divine Blade or taking down my enemies. I intend to accomplish it all."

"Bold words, but I can see you're not one to make idle threats. Very well, Muffet. Let's see if you can back up those words with action."

She released Isojari once more,

“Shatter, Isojari!”

The blade shattered into floweres once again.

Afterwards, the dark clouds covering the village began to move out of the way revealing a moon. The moon launched a sudden beam through the area, illuminating Calibro below.

Calibro stood tall in the moonlight, his injuries healing rapidly. Muffet watched in astonishment.

Calibro's eyes narrowed, his stance becoming more aggressive. "You’re not the only one who has been holding back in our fight. I've gathered all the information I need about you and your squad for the Lady. Now, there's no reason to keep you alive."

Muffet’s face turned from surprise to pure elation. "You're going to end me? How thrilling!"

She chuckled darkly. "I'm trembling... with excitement!"