Chapter XIII: The Snow Crow vs The Black Wolf – From Easy to Wrath – Part I

"So, you didn't run away," Zazzera noted seeing Alexandra approaching, her maid behind her.

The teenage girl frowned as her strand of hair twirled, "My, people sure expect me to run away, huh?"

"You aren't exactly one to fight fairly. Well, as an assassin's daughter, that is understandable…" Zazzera shrugged. 

"Is that so? Well I guess I can't really say the contrary…", Alexandra distractedly said as she unbelted her grimoire. "74?" she called once finished.

"Yes, milady?"

"State the clauses. You remember them, don't you?"

"Of course."

The old woman put herself between Alexandra and opened a scroll she was holding the whole time. Closing her eyes, she started reciting in a solemn voice what was inscribed on it to the two future opponents.

"On this Monday 25 of Worldscrown of the year of the Eyes 998 - After Nexus, Blue Inked Bibliomancer Black Inked Aspirant Zazzera Schneeweißchen of the Schneeweißchen lineage, requested a duel against Blue Inked Bibliomancer Black Inked Aspirant Alexandra Brer Belladonna Wolf – 9th of the name, of the Wolf lineage. Does she accept?"

"I, Alexandra Brer Belladonna Wolf – 9th of the name, accept," Alexandra replied. "(Did that girl really have to go and write down my full name?)"

Letters formed on top of Alexandra's head.

[Duel - Accepted]

They continued after nodding slightly, "Alexandra Brer Belladonna Wolf – 9th of the name, do you agree to become Zazzera Schneeweißchen's [personal pet] in case of defeat at the end of this duel?"

"Before she answers, define the term [personal pet], doll. She must understand properly what is going to happen," Zazzera requested.

"Er… Of… Of course. Um, by losing this duel and gaining the title of [personal pet], Alexandra Brer Belladonna Wolf – 9th of the name, engages herself to act as Zazzera Schneeweißchen's dog. She will lose her ability to talk aside from barks, move only on all fours, eat in a dog bowl, and wear a – quote and quote – outrageous dog outfit provided by her owner. She will also be recognized as a [dog] by the law and be renamed [Al] for the aforementioned reason."

Alexandra eyes narrowed, "My, you sure thought it through. Very well, I agree."

Another set of letters appeared atop of her head.

[Penalty – Accepted]

The old woman nodded again and turned to Zazzera, "Zazzera Schneeweißchen, do you agree to be [Devoured] by Alexandra Brer Belladonna Wolf - 9th of the name, if you happen to lose this duel?"

"I agree," Zazzera immediately replied.

[Penalty – Accepted]

"Huh?! You won't ask for the specifics?!" exclaimed Alexandra.

"I won't lose. I don't need to know something which won't be useful to me," the girl declared. 

"Eh~... (That isn't good…)"

The old woman continued, "The location of the duel will be the Wolf's mansion. Do you agree?"

"I agree," both answered.

"This duel will only be over when one of you two will be [defeated]. Allow me to define the term – is [defeated] someone who either forfeit or is incapable of fighting because of unconsciousness or death. The Schneeweißchen or Wolf households [cannot request or perform any interventions on the duel or its issue no matter what happens], do you agree to these conditions?"

"I agree," they answered again. 

Between the girls another set of letters appeared. 

[Rules – Accepted]

The old woman then stepped back. 

"Proceed to the fore duel preparations," she said.

Zazzera unsheathed her rapier and unbelted her white grimoire. Holding it with her left hand, she pronounced words as it opened, "[Seven Dwarfs]"

What looked like crows of ink emerged from her grimoire and landed at her left and her right.

The crows changed into words,

Evoke [Zazzera's Wrath], on her left,

Evoke [Zazzera's Sloth], on her  right.

Many other crows of black ink appeared and merged together to form two girls indentic to Zazzera except for a few details. 

On her left was a Zazzera with messy shoulder-length hair and red eyes. She wore a sleeveless version of the academy's uniform, short socks, and black gloves. On her face was a fierce scowl as she crossed her arms. 

On her right was a Zazzera with incredibly long unkempt hair and droopy blue eyes. Her coat had overly long sleeves going well with her tired expression. 

Alexandra raised an eyebrow. "Only two? And one of them is [Sloth] with that…  Are you underestimating me?" she asked. 

"Two are more than enough for you," Zazzera retorted.

"… Nevermind… [I will huff, and I will puff, and I will blow your house in]"

A gust of wind coursed around  Alexandra's body as she held her grimoire and her nails darkened.

"Wolf's Breath, unimpressive as ever," Zazzera commented, shaking her head. 

"It is not called 'Wolf's Breath'!" Alexandra protested. 

"It seems the foreduel preparations are over," intervened the old woman. "At my signal…"

The two girls held their weapons tightly, counting internally the reglementary 5 seconds.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

"Let's the duel begin!!!"

***

Zazzera stood in the center of the garden, her rapier at the ready. Her two clones, [Zazzera's Wrath] and [Zazzera's Sloth], stood on each of her sides, watching intently as Alexandra stepped forward with her dagger in one hand and her grimoire in the other.

During her countless fights against Zazzera, Alexandra actually analyzed the properties of her bibliomancy code. Zazzera was a biblioshaper, a bibliomancer specialized in materializing fictional characters into reality, though what she did exactly was more akin to evocation. With [Seven Dwarfs] she could summon forth 7 versions of her, incarnating both one of her aspects, and one of the dwarfs from her grimoire. Each had different properties and different personalities and while Alexandra didn't know the extent of all their abilities, she knew enough to be able to formulate defenses against them. 

"Well then, I am going to sleep now," said [Zazzera's Sloth] lying on the ground. 

Alexandra squinted her eyes. 

[Zazzera's Sloth], or [Sloth] for short, was one of the clones whose ability was still a mystery for her. In fact, [Sloth] was the only one she never saw fight at all – she would always go to sleep at the start and not do a thing until the end.

"(Well, that makes one less problem to deal with…)"

Zazzera stepped forward too, holding both her rapier and her grimoire. "[Wrath], [Sloth], stay back and don't intervene," she said with a slight smile. 

"Eh?! What's that, Boss?! Ya don't expect us to just stand there, do ya?!" [Wrath] quipped.

"Oookaaay~" [Sloth] uttered, lying face against the grass.

'Hey!!! Aren't ya supposed to be on my side?!!" [Wrath] barked at [Sloth]

"But I am~" [Sloth] whistled.

"You!!!"

"Keep quiet, you two," Zazzera ordered.

[Wrath] swore something inaudible and stayed immobile, glaring at Alexandra. 

"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Alexandra asked. "Your little friends here won't be able to save you."

"I will start in easy mode," she replied. "Just me and my rapier against you and your dagger. Besides, you are nice! Letting me prepare like that."

Alexandra chuckled. 

"Right? The nicest girl—" 

Alexandra suddenly lunged forward, her dagger aimed for Zazzera's heart.

Zazzera deftly sidestepped, her rapier flashing as she countered with a thrust towards Alexandra's ribs. Alexandra parried the attack with ease, the sound of metal clashing echoing through the garden.

"And here I thought you changed your ways," Zazzera sighed, following Alexandra's movements.

"Sorry, a reflex!" Alexandra said, smiling and circling around Zazzera. 

The two girls continued to dance around each other, their weapons clashing from times to times. Zazzera was calm and more focused on parrying, while Alexandra was more aggressive, her attacks coming fast and furious.

"You're good," Zazzera said, her words barely audible over the sound of their weapons clashing. "But not good enough."

Alexandra snarled, lunging forward again. Zazzera parried the attack easily, her rapier sliding along Alexandra's dagger and knocking it out of her hand.

Alexandra stumbled backwards, her eyes wide with shock. Zazzera took a step forward, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips as she prepared to hit Alexandra with her rapier.

"Looks like I win this round," she declared, her voice ringing out through the arena.

Alexandra smiled at her. "This isn't over," she replied. 

Out of nowhere, a wind barrier formed around Alexandra and violently threw Zazzera about 5 meters in the air. Quickly, [Wrath] jumped, caught her in flight, and landed safely.

"Is everything 'kay, Boss?!" she asked, seeming panicked.

Zazzera chuckled. "Seven left, right?" she asked to Alexandra. 

Alexandra shook her head as she picked up her dagger. "To throw a light weight such as you, I don't need more than one," she mocked, showing the back of her right hand where one of her nails had turned white again. 

"Is that so…" said Zazzera with dull eyes as [Wrath] put her down.

"I won't make it easy for you!" Alexandra claimed pointing to Zazzera with her dagger. 

"You sure are difficult to tame… [Wrath]?"

The girl's grin grew larger. "At yer command!!!"

In not even a second [Wrath] had covered the distance separating her from Alexandra and put herself in position to deliver a powerful punch.

"DOKAN!!!" she yelled. 

"(This is bad!)" Alexandra thought as she used her dagger to parry the blow.

As [Wrath]'s fist hit the blade, a powerful gust of wind pushed her back, but the clone held her ground and only went back by a short distance.

"Eight," Zazzera noted while approaching her rapier in hand.

She placed herself alongside [Wrath] as the two prepared to attack again.

Alexandra frowned. 

"I thought that you would fight alone," she said.

"That was only in easy mode, didn't I say so? Welcome to normal mode. Now, let's see how long you can last against the two of us, stupid dog."