CLOSER PT2

Raine Blossom's pov

I ducked under Braxtons thrust, and then while spinning I swung towards his torso, the force of my attack sent him flying several feet but I could tell that I hadn't hurt him much, Grucius's mace came slamming down on where I was previously at but I managed to jump back in time only for that spot to be covered in sharp transparent shards, I had finally figured it out, there Arcanum's, Braxton could create and control blood, he could use his Arcanum to reinforce his body even further than with mana, what was even more frightening was that the more he got injured the stronger he seemed to become, if I had to guess a loss in vitality was the trade off, he was also very capable when it came to enhancing his ki with his Arcanum, Grucius on the other hand could not do that, his Arcanum gave him control over glass, he could refine it to such a level where it was untraceable by even the most refined of eyesight and could spawn it practically anywhere, both of these skills were very formidable on paper but truthfully they weren't something I couldn't handle, I could still keep up with Braxtons enhanced state and so long as I was fast enough out maneuvering the glass shards was quite doable, the two desperately tried to wear me down, and they were doing so, quite well in fact using the wealth of experience they had on me in unique and quite frankly terrifying ways, they probably had the aim of lowering my capabilities until they could finish me off with a field battle, a battle where both sides deployed their fields and let the power of their Arcanum's speak for themselves, the stronger one would easily overwhelm the other and those captive in it would then suffer from a deadly edict

'did you prepare this technique specifically for someone stronger than you'

I said as I and Braxton repeatedly exchanged blows my blade having a greater effect in slowing down his blood covered one than before

"yes actually"

said Grucius as he charged with his shield, I flipped over him landing a few ways away and sinking my blade into the earth, the ground instantly froze over and sharp spikes grew out coming at them from all directions, Braxton charged his ki and swung in a wave temporarily blowing all the spikes back, but only temporarily, they instantly corrected their flight patterns and streamed straight towards them again, but by then Grucius had gathered an enormous amount of glass and pressurized it to the point where it was hot enough to serve as a second sun, suddenly the ice surrounding them began to melt, I charged toward Braxton but was met but Grucius's shield

'Pental style centre of the blooming lotus'

I unleashed a thrusting technique and Grucius countered with one for shielding

"Laquien style Adamantite wall"

for a second, my blade was halted, bit only for a second

"crack SFX"

his shield burst apart quickly as my blade streamed towards him, he managed to move to the side avoiding a thrust to the heart but would still suffer damage

"Laquien style Beryl body"

he said as my blade reached him, his muscles had become several times harder than adamantite but I still thrust through it albeit with difficulty, Braxton swung towards my extended arm but I managed to retreat in time dodging him, I spun and countered, we exchanged a dozen blows before he made an opening for me to kick and send him flying, he rolled on the now wet floor for a while before righting himself, he faced me with determination in his eyes but I could tell he wanted tow look over at his friend, the one who now had a hole in his lung

"that was.... really something"

said Grucius in between whezzes

"you sound like a broken toy"

said Braxton, he cracked a joke obviously trying to diffuse the situation but clearly.... he failed.

Grucius lifted up his mace, he had used mana to halt the bleeding and dull the pain but it could only do so much, from now on any movement he made would be excruciating

"maybe you should sit this one out since you'll only slow me down"

said Braxton

"you're already slow as fuck without my help you dimwit, now shut up before you ruin my concentration the little miss will be coming soon, right?"

Gruicus countered, I had to admit, I was a little out of it before he spoke, when my sword pierced through his flesh I had begun to wonder why the hell we were fighting, why were we trying to kill each other, it was his voice that reminded me why, it's because we were Don's, allowed to enjoy whatever pleasures our cities provided us, in return all it needed was our administration and our protection, personal sentiments disappeared when one city threatened another, just like now, these people although good natured came to destroy my city, but my city insulted them first, my city provoked them in order to bring about this fight on these terms because, they were a threat to us, right or wrong it all disappeared in front of the importance of our cities, whether it be by wills or by whim, Don's put their cities first, and so did I.

I took in a breath and flashed a smile before saying

'I sorry'

they looked at me with puzzled expressions before I continued

'I was about to suggest you surrender but after careful consideration I realised how big of an insult that would be'

and to that, they smiled a smile of understanding only kindred souls could share

"Indeed young lady, indeed"

said Grucius, he then looked to Braxton saying

"I think its time we ended this"

Braxton made a brave face, but in his eyes I could tell something had broken yet he simply nodded, he raised his hand towards Grucius and said

"blood Arcanum edict of absorption"

Grucius didn't scream, he didn't shout or even grimace as his entire body was turned into a red form of energy that went straight towards Braxton healing his Wounds and making his aura exploded dramatically, he simply smiled and said

"farewell partner"

Braxton then turned to me, he seemed like an entirely different person, now possessing strenght that seemed to match mine

"this is a last resort we came up with, something to use only in a fight where we bet our lives, I hope you're not disappointed"

he said calmly

'not in the slightest'

he smirked

"well then, this boost isn't permanent as such I would like to end this battle as quickly as possible if you get my drift"

I did, I fully understood his meaning, we both closed our eyes calming ourselves, but around us our Arcanum's flared about like a savage beasts rearing to tear into each other painting a bizzare picture of red and white, one which lasted for a full second before we spoke in unison, uttering entirely different words both bearing the same meaning

'Field, Snowfall Castle'

"Field, Bloody world"

the space around me turned white as the familiar presence of my field surrounded me, the temperature dropped by such an absurd degree that the drops of blood on my side crystallised turning into chunks of ice, like its name suggested the surroundings morphed resembling the interior of a marvelous Castle, one carved from the most beautiful ice possible, on the other side the space had warped so much it looked like there was no end in sight, a massive field of reddened earth and a sky blood red with a half moon, and in the air was crimson mist that radiated power, all in all it lived up to the name bloody world.

Braxton stood silently, as did I, it seemed we both had the same idea for in the middle of our fields was a tiny stretch of land one resembling the world outside of our fields, a point we had left to symbolise our true and final battle field, the point where our fields would meet and we would truly duke it out. We didn't need a signal, we didn't hear one either but for some reason we stopped restraining our fields at the same time and let them collide, all in order to truly decide who's enlightenment was supreme, red and white entered a terrifying back and forth each giving and inch and taking a yard in quick succession before returning back to the starting point, in a single second i had felt as if I wasn't going up against a man but the world itself, a pain racked my body so badly I felt myself passing out several times only to be brought back by five words, these words had filtered in and out of my head for the past few months and I was still no closer to understanding what they meant, all I knew was that they were related to my Arcanum

'with coldness we draw towards stillness'

I muttered, why?, I don't know but every time I did I could feel my Arcanum responding positively, the words were incomplete, rather than a sentence they were more like a question and the second verse was the answer, an answer i had yet to find, I tried desperately to put them at the back of my mind but I couldn't, despite the fact that the man in front of me was still gaining traction putting more force into his field and pushing me backwards I couldn't leave them alone, feeling overwhelmed I thought back to two people who if they were in this situation would not even have trouble with it, Langris and Kalen's equally handsome faces entered my mind, Langris with a smile that felt mocking and Kalen whose face was always felt cold, no, calm, calm and still, words perfect for that man, a man who lived in a realm not indifferent but rather unperturbed by the actions of the world, as if space and time were of no consequence, a world of true stillness,

with coldness comes stillness

within calm I am unperturbed

and and with ice I shall freeze the world, my Arcanum floundered once more before flaring up and swallowing his in a single gulp, we were now properly within the frozen world of Snow fall Castle and I was the clear winner, or so I thought, I looked to Braxton who was doing something I never expected, it seems when he noticed he would lose in a battle of fields he pulled back his and Concentrated his Arcanum on the tip of his sword, he intended to break mine from the inside out, if one was strong enough they could handle the backlash that came from having their field broken, but I was neither strong enough nor in tip top shape, he would suffer as well but not as much as I, he would still have enough force to kill me, this situation was clearly dangerous yet for some reason I couldn't bring myself to panic, instead I once again closed my eyes and felt the cold around me and within and interval so short it couldn't be measured, I knew what I had to do

'ice Arcanum, edict of the frozen world'

as I spoke the world stopped, colour didn't drain like when using the god class spell 'world stop' but I had a much easier time tracing the individual streams of light in the air than when I simply increased my concentration, Braxtons blade was an inch from the ground yet I slowly advanced moving like a goddess unconcerned with the dealings of the world, and when I was only a few feet away from him I leveled my sword

'pental style center of the blooming lotus'

I stabbed him, not with that much force, just enough to pierce through his chest and when the tip of the blade reached his heart I stopped and with a tap it froze, solid both on the inside and out, I released my field and was immediately hit with a sudden bout of strain, it seems using this edict outside of my field was harder than I anticipated but I held on and cancelled it, Braxton's blade hit the empty ground with a force enough to turn mountains to dust but I wasn't phased, he didn't bother pulling the blade out of the massive crater we were standing in, instead, he looked up smilling as blood pooled in the back of his mouth and said

"well done miss Don"

he then fell silently, dead before he reached the ground, I had expected this, but I still wanted to cry but I couldn't do so while looking at him so instead I threw my head back looking at the gentle sky above, I had gained enlightenment in this fight, and gotten much stronger, if I and Micheal had a rematch it would have ended in minutes with my victory but I could still tell that I was far behind them, edict of the frozen world was powerful, but not enough, even I could still maintain some movement in the god class spell 'world stop' before enlightenment but now that spell wouldn't even phase me so although superior, this ability would only make those two feel uncomfortable at best, after all I only realised it after picturing where they stood. In short, I wasn't there yet

'Closer, I'm not there yet but I'm getting closer'

I said before falling on my backside without a care in the world.