Battle End

The longer the battle dragged on, the more Luke's resolve hardened. He had never fought anyone so evenly matched before, and he knew that he would have to pull out all the stops if he wanted to win.

He began to draw on the power within him, channeling it into his spear. The air around him began to crackle with electricity, and bolts of lightning began to dance around his body. His eyes glowed with the power of a thunderstorm, and the world seemed to fade away as he focused all of his attention on his foe.

The battle between the two pair fighters was fierce and intense, a true test of their abilities. And as they fought, the rest of the battlefield faded into the background, leaving only the clash of steel and the sound of their breathing echoing in the air.

The ground around Slicer was littered with the bodies of the undead, but still they kept coming. Slicer's face remained stoic, determination etched in every line of her features as she continued to fight, her grip tightening on her moonblade as she matched Arthur's rhythm of swordplay.

The clash of their blades rang out across the battlefield, the two fighters locked in a deadly dance of skill and strength. Sparks flew as sword met sword, each strike a testament to their prowess.

As the fight raged on, it became clear that Arthur was no ordinary opponent. His speed and agility matched Slicer's own, and his attacks were swift and precise.

But Slicer held her ground, her determination unwavering as she met each blow with a counterattack of her own.

Arthur, on the other hand, isn't faring that well either. In fact, he is in a far worse state than he appears. His level is a far cry compared to his opponent, who is likely more powerful than Luke even with his power up now.

The only reason he could keep up with her is the excess surge of energy he is using to power himself to an unprecedented level. The amount it takes isn't child's play, but he wouldn't dare be reserved with essence point at a time like this.

Still, he can't keep up with this either. He had stopped receiving essence points, leaving him with the ones he already had in store, but it is depleting way faster than it came in.

If he lets this fight keep dragging, he would fall into a disadvantageous position. A situation he wouldn't want to see himself in, gaining a second chance once is already a miracle.

There is no telling he might be able to resurrect a second time.

*clang*

Their weapons collide once more, sending out a mini shockwave that pushed both of them apart in the opposite direction.

Arthur had to stay firm on his feet not to fall as his feet dug into the ground, dragging for a little distance, leaving two trail lines on the ground before he finally came to a stop by stabbing his sword into the ground.

On the other side, Slicer skillfully did a backflip, landing on her feet gently some distance apart from Arthur.

Both of their eyes locked on each other, ignoring the heavy sound of rumbling and lightning dyeing the night sky.

Both their breathings were rough, panting for breath as they tightened their grip on their weapons, ready to go for another round.

Luke's figure crash-landed in the middle of both of them, raising a few dust in the air.

Luke soon shot out of the mini crater his body created, his clothes in a mess, bleeding from the side of his lips. A few cut marks and bloodstains on his clothes, but funny enough, he didn't seem to notice anyone around him aside from his opponent.

The moment he came out of the crater, he shot back into the sky in a bolt of lightning. As if his exit was the cue, both figures disappeared once again, appearing at the crater Luke's body had created with their weapons locked against each other. The force of impact created a whirl that further pushed the debris and dead bodies around away.

As always, Slicer was slippery, managing to twist her body in a weird way that allowed her to break past Arthur's defense. Appearing at his back, slashing at him from behind, leaving a long line of bloody wounds on him.

Arthur groaned in pain but held on, performing a flip that took Slicer unaware, planting a kick on her chin and pushing her away as she staggered backward. Blood seeping from the side of her mouth, she still had a pleasure smile on her face as she brought out her snake-like tongue to lick off the blood.

As for Arthur, his wounds were already gone as if they weren't there in the first place, but he couldn't be any happier. From the look of things, he would be out of the game pretty soon if the battle continued. He had to look for a way to deal with this persistent opponent. He couldn't help but imagine how he would fare if he didn't get the huge load of essence points. Probably he would have been taking a moonwalk to Neverland, as those moon blades would have bid him farewell long ago.

Racking his brain while still holding up against Slicer, who had once again charged against him, a brilliant idea surged into his mind. Without wasting time, Arthur began to act on it.

Slicer's movements increased in strength, agility, and precision as she spun, slashed, and stabbed with deadly accuracy. Each swing of her blade was a clear indication she wanted to end it all, pushing Arthur to his wit's end as he took a defensive stand.

This continued for quite a while, pushing Arthur around the battlefield like one toying with a child. Just when she saw an opening she couldn't miss, she fastened her grip on her moon blade, preparing to give this last blow her all, expecting to take out the cunning foe in one go.

But before she could take the step, a figure appeared before her, sending a kick her way, forcing her to back out and raising her blade over her chest in an X form to block the kick. As her body was sent backward, her feet solid on the ground like a statue that had been moved.

Once she came to a stop, her fury kicked in, boiling at an intense level, ready to kill whoever had the guts to stop her from finishing this abomination off as she saw him.

But when she raised her head to see who it was, she was shocked silly.

Standing with his back against her is none other than Foxy, his eyes glued to Arthur standing a few distances from him.

What is even more captivating about him is the fact that he held someone by the neck.

"Don't be too rash, Slicer. Always take note of your surrounding when you fight," Foxy said, looking at Arthur who had the 'I don't give a f*ck who you are' look.

Only now did Slicer take notice of her surroundings; all around a circumference surrounding Arthur were dried bones, which weren't there before. They look random and misplaced.

But for Slicer who hated necromancy a lot and sought to take everyone out, she is familiar with this setting.

Her brow twitched with this sudden realization, as if to confirm it to her.

Foxy threw the human struggling in his grip past the line the bones were scattered in.

Immediately the body flew past the perimeter, sharp chains with saw-like teeth and piercing nails grips shot out from the empty ground, piercing and slicing the human into a bloody meat paste.

"You have had enough. Let's leave. We've got what we came for already," Foxy ignored Arthur's look, turned to Slicer, and ordered her to retreat before he disappeared in a flash.

Slicer looked at Arthur angrily but still followed the order, disappearing from sight too.

Arthur didn't give chase; rather, he was relieved until the words Foxy said hit him.

When he turned to the direction Elena and Damon should be, guarded by some undead, he was shocked by the sight he saw. At the same time, Luke's painful cry pulled his attention the other way.

Only to see him being dealt with by two hooded men instead of one.

Once they had demobilized him, they too disappeared from sight, leaving a grieving Arthur who roared like a beast out of anger.

Wings as dark as night sprouted off Arthur's back, at which Arthur took to the sky, his wings flapping so hard that it created a whirlwind around him.

He flew in the direction of where he last saw the two hooded men, his heart racing in his chest.

He had to find them, he had to make sure they don't escape, even if he had to exhaust every last essence point.

He flew out of the range of the Aerendil complex into the outside busy world bursting with activities like the whole battle fought was done in another world.

Still wanting to continue flying using the cover of darkness, he heard a voice behind him. It was Luke's crisp and weak voice.

"You won't find them," his tone filled with pain and sorrow. Even his pitiful situation wouldn't give him the amount of pain he is going through right now.