Reinforcements

Lloyd walked slowly toward Nathan and pointed his sword at him. In turn, Nathan backed away slowly.

"For a whole year I heard your name come out of every cadet's mouth, even the soldiers were in awe of your strength"

Nathan stopped as he bumped into the wall of a building and raised his katana next to Adan's black fang.

"Even one of the generals made you his disciple, that indicates you have good potential"

Seeing that Nathan no longer had room to escape, Lloyd stopped while still pointing his sword at him.

"If I were still a first rank, it would surely be a difficult fight... but that does not mean I would lose. But now that I'm second rank, you mean nothing to me"

Nathan kept a serious expression behind his mask and didn't respond, to which Lloyd simply snorted.

"I'm also curious to see what you're hiding behind that mask. Maybe you're ugly and worried about showing your face?"

They both fell silent, then without bothering to continue the conversation, Lloyd rushed forward, raising his sword on the way before swiftly bringing it down, leaving a crescent-shaped trail in the air.

Nathan didn't have to get himself killed to dodge this attack, so he simply dodged to the side before having to defend against another attack.

With a short but fierce exchange of attacks, it became clear that the sword skills of both were impeccable, far superior to that of most cadets.

Perhaps it was because they had trained under the hand of someone very capable, or perhaps it was due to the effort they had put in over the years. Nathan had no way of knowing.

The only person he had seriously fought with at his level or higher was Syril, so he could not help comparing Lloyd to her.

Since they both used different weapons, it was only natural that their form of combat would be different as well. Not only that, but techniques also influenced the way someone fought.

Nathan stepped back after he failed to dodge an attack that left a horizontal cut on his chest, then he heard Amelia speak in his head.

'He's going to attack from the left!'

Nathan hesitated for a moment, but then seeing Lloyd's next move he realized that he was indeed attacking from the left.

Deflecting Lloyd's sword with some effort, Nathan didn't have time to ask Amelia how she knew, then she again indicated Lloyd's next move.

This time he decided to trust her, and acted instantly, narrowly dodging Lloyd's sword.

'His next move is a feint to then attack from the right'

Nathan nodded mentally and faced Lloyd, who before their swords clashed turned his body and as Amelia had said, attacked from the right.

As Nathan already knew, he was able not only to avoid his blow, but also to hit him in the abdomen, taking advantage of an opening he had left when he feinted.

However, Nathan did not attack him with his katana, but with Adan's black fang.

He knew that he would not be able to pierce his green armor with his sword, so he decided to use Adan's fang to at least make the effect of his technique increase faster.

After the attack, they both backed up quickly. Lloyd placed his hand on the area where Nathan had tried to stab him while he tried to slightly catch his breath.

'How did you know his movements?'

'...Because they look like yours'

Nathan frowned behind his mask.

'What do you mean...!'

Being forced back by Lloyd's sudden attack, he couldn't bring himself to argue with what Amelia had said.

Lloyd raised his sword that had hit the ground, breaking the tiles of the sidewalk where they were fighting, then looked at Nathan with a serious look.

"Do you have a sixth sense? I'm surprised you can see through my attacks"

Nathan swallowed the saliva that had begun to build up in his mouth and sneered.

"Maybe I'm just better than you"

A faint smile appeared on Lloyd's face.

"Heh... I doubt it"

Nathan's eyes widened in surprise when he saw Lloyd running faster than before, then he raised his sword and blocked the attack without having room to retreat.

Because of the force Lloyd applied on his attack, Nathan was forced to his knees as he continued to block his sword.

"Better than me? Such a thought managed to cross your mind?"

Nathan tightened his bite flowing essence to keep resisting. Seeing him resist, Lloyd brought his face close to his and smiled.

"In a world where strength rules, you're nothing but trash!"

Nathan was unable to withstand the weight of Lloyd's attack, so he slowly knelt down further and further.

Suddenly, he saw al flash in the sky behind Lloyd, at the same time, Amelia screamed inside his mind.

'Get away!'

Nathan put even more strength into resisting Lloyd's attack, then managed to take advantage of a moment in which Lloyd also noticed something approaching to move away.

Rolling on the ground, Nathan quickly got to his feet and raised his sword to block the dozens of arrows coming in his direction.

"Why do they always get in my way!" Lloyd shouted as he swung his sword to the sky, creating a gust of wind that deflected the arrows aimed at him.

For his part, Nathan cut the arrows one by one until the barrage stopped.

Suddenly, a shout was heard at the end of the street.

"Shoot!"

This time, Nathan didn't bother trying to deflect when he saw that what they were firing were not arrows but bullets.

Reacting quickly, he launched himself toward a storefront in one of several buildings near him. His body smashed through the window and landed on the ground on top of the glass, then a large burst of gunfire was heard.

'Finally they're here dammit!'

Nathan had bought the necessary time for the agents' reinforcements to arrive, he just didn't expect them to be so aggressive.

Outside the store, Nathan heard Lloyd's screams, but he couldn't care less what happened to him and the other cadets' lives, so knowing he had gotten what he wanted, Nathan moved deeper into the store, trying to find another way out.