13: Samus vs Skull Knight.

Knowing it was necessary, Guts, Ciri, and Puck stepped aside to make room for the two main characters of this chapter, Samus and Skull Knight, who faced each other visually, keeping their guard up.

Skull Knight slowly dismounted from his horse, it was not necessary to be on it for this battle, in his left hand he carried a medium-sized shield with an emblem in the middle. This emblem was a rose covered in thorns, and apparently, the thorn motif was very present in Skull Knight's clothing.

He held a standard sword in his right hand, the hilt of which was filled with small spikes that only a being like him could hold without harm. Even the handguard was made of metal spikes, so she would probably be injured if hit by that part of the weapon.

Samus, on the other hand, began to take the same potions she had taken earlier, even though they would only work for half the time, they would be useful in this situation since this was not a fight for her survival, but a friendly one.

T-Path hovered around Samus, making a few buzzing noises as he did so. Samus then waved her hand at the machine, causing it to emit a few beeps before flying away. 

"Can I record this battle? It will be useful for me in the future," although Samus had recorded her fight against the ogre and part of Ciri's fight, she had not recorded Guts' fight because he had not asked her permission, and now that she could, she did.

Skull Knight felt the power in the strange artifact that could levitate as if he saw a small sun. It was only because he could see it up close that he could feel the absurd amount of T-Path's power, and it wasn't just the quantity, but the quality.

"I have no problem," the Knight replied, and then he felt some things in the trees and the air focus on him, giving him the feeling that he was being watched. 

Probably something new created by the girl in front of him, it was this thought that made Skull Knight take Samus a little more seriously, for who knows what things she might have in store for him, giving him the attention that an old friend of his would have if they were fighting. 

Skull Knight felt a phantom pain in his chest as he remembered the more powerful form of Flora, perhaps the only person he could call a friend in this strange life he was living. His eyes lit up with determination as he prepared to fight.

Samus sensed the Skull Knight's will to fight, and a smile appeared on her face.

Clutching her alchemical staff, she kicked the ground and quickly charged the knight, aiming her weapon at his head.

The Skull Knight deftly defended with his shield, and though Samus's blow was quite powerful, even more so with the potions, he barely moved and completely withstood the damage. The ground beneath his feet cracked a little, but that only showed the Skull Knight's mastery of controlling power. 

With a quick flick of her hand, the tip of Skull Knight's sword went straight for Samus' abdomen, hitting it hard. She was only spared because her suit was tough enough, but the blow sent her flying backward, rolling several feet on the ground.

"You're strong, you're skilled, and I might even say you have the stuff to reach great heights, but... you're inexperienced," Skull Knight said as he noticed how inexperienced Samus had attacked him a few seconds ago. 

His figure blurred as he moved quickly toward the newly joined Samus, who was aware of the impending threat but could only channel some of the surrounding energy into a thin layer of energy near her body before it was shattered by a brutal attack from the Knight.

This one had given her a kick aimed at her torso, breaking the poor defense the girl had hastily put up, and the blow was full, sending Samus flying again until her back hit the thick trunk of a tree. 

The blonde began to cough in discomfort, feeling that some of her ribs were broken, and the pain in her breasts was quite severe. Samus stood up a little wobbly, then ran her hand over her breasts, making them bounce a little under her tight outfit.

"You don't know how to treat women," Samus complained, feeling a little frustrated that she hadn't been able to beat Skull Knight, but she was also excited, her only fights had been with weaker or inexperienced people, so fighting a true expert like the Knight was certainly something that made her blood boil. 

Samus concentrated on the Skull Knight, putting everything else aside, there was only her and her enemy in the whole world. Her high concentration allowed her to channel ambient energy through her staff, creating a wall of energy in front of her that protected her from the Knight's lunge, at the cost of cracking.

If he could smile, Skull Knight would have, for as he smashed through the wall of energy, he saw Samus recoil as she drank another potion, one that healed her wounds instantly at the cost of her stamina. The Skull Knight limited himself to slashing at her, pushing the blonde's reaction and execution to the limit, feeling her slowly grow under his constant assault.

Beads of sweat trickled down Samus' forehead as she concentrated on channeling the energy into shields to protect herself, the pressure of Skull Knight's attacks making her rely on directing and shaping the energy much faster, much more refined. Soon, she was able to create a small shield of energy in front of her, protecting herself from a particularly powerful Skull Knight attack.

The appearance of this shield was not square or rectangular; in Samus' eyes, her shield was small, but hexagonal, made up of small hexagons. It has been said that this is the perfect geometric shape to apply to certain things, so much so that nature itself recognizes it.

Alchemy has a lot to do with nature, its cycle, its harmony, its transformations. Under pressure, she formed an energy shield with this shape, feeling that it was much easier, much more resistant, and most importantly, pure enough for others to see.

In general, the energy that Samus manipulated was the free energy in the environment, in nature, and in the universe. An invisible energy that was generally ignored by everyone due to the need to focus on their extraordinary energies. 

Thus, to the extraordinary senses of others, the way Samus channeled and controlled the energy was like pulling foreign energy that was present everywhere to perform certain actions or functions, only in high concentrations could it be felt and, as explained now, seen.

Seeing the silver hexagonal shield in front of Samus showed how skilled the girl had become under pressure. Ciri, who had been used to fighting and seeing what Samus did for five years, smiled as she remembered the exaggerated move Samus had made to create T-Path.

The image of that pillar of light piercing the sky of that planet, seeming to connect with the universe itself, was burned into Ciri's memory; that was the first time she felt the power of alchemy, how powerful it could be if given time to study, understand and adapt natural phenomena. 

Skull Knight looked at Samus with interest and then began to draw from his vast reserve of OD, for he was about to get serious. His OD manifested much more vividly than the last time he used it. His OD manifested as a white flame that seemed to branch out into roses filled with thorns, and these thorns covered his sword.

The strong presence of the Skull Knight now seemed quite overwhelming to Samus, and although she had once contacted God when she was just a soul, it was quite different to feel the aura of a truly powerful creature with all her senses.

Samus' pupils seemed to shrink as she gave 120% of herself to protect herself and perhaps to fight her opponent, for in all that time she had not been able to regain the lost initiative, she had not even hit her opponent properly, something she would try to achieve. 

Samus' hexagonal shields shattered after only a few seconds of resistance, the Skull Knight's attack was powerful and brutal, his sword went straight to her side, trying to cut her, but she managed to dodge in time because of how alert she was. However, that was not enough as she suddenly felt a terrible pain in her body.

Several traces of light appeared on her torso, arms, and legs, her suit shredding in those areas as blood began to flow, but she gritted her teeth and gently waved her alchemical staff, creating a shockwave toward Skull Knight. 

The Knight was slightly restrained by the shock force Samus unleashed, which took the form of a white wave hitting his body. His shield allowed him to defend himself, but this slightly disrupted his rhythm, allowing Samus to channel her energy again, this time to attack.

"Stupid Skull, let me give you a gift!" Samus' energy went to the ground, causing several lines and symbols drawn on it to glow, attracting the attention of Skull Knight as well as the onlookers. 

Skull Knight was powerful and wise enough that even if he didn't understand the meaning of those symbols, he could understand their purpose, causing his glowing eyes to flicker. Well, he understood that Samus was a young but skilled girl, but why was a 15-year-old girl so treacherous?

Our skull friend forgot that beautiful women were the most dangerous, and ironically, they behaved like thorny roses. Realizing things did not eliminate the activation process of what Samus created, an alchemical matrix.

"Celestial Radiance", is a very eloquent name if you ask me, although it does make some sense. 

At Samus' command, the matrix she created emitted a warm glow of golden light that spread throughout the forest, then focused entirely on the Skull Knight. Soon, a cross of light appeared, large enough to be seen from miles away. 

Samus fell to her knees on the ground, her breathing labored, as if she were short of breath; in fact, the enhancement potions she had taken earlier had expired just before launching such an attack, causing her to use up almost all of her stamina and mental strength. 

She pulled a slow healing potion from her personal space, her hands shaking as she held the soaking tube, and as she took it, a feeling of dread washed over her. The cross of light was marred by a purple line on her body, then it broke completely and vanished into thin air. 

In front of everyone, Skull Knight appeared, his body emitting some smoke, his OD throbbing violently in his body, and his sword no longer just metal, it was made of writhing flesh, with eyes arranged along his body, looking greedily at Samus. 

"Since you showed me your power, I decided to do the same, it's too bad you can't give much more," Skull Knight said, watching as Samus' wounds slowly healed, and even her suit was finished being repaired.

Only the clothes on her body were completely shredded, full of blood, dust, leaves, and some twigs. She was grateful for her foresight in creating her version of the Zero Suit, she didn't want to be naked after fighting like in an ecchi anime. 

"You win, my name is Samus Aran Farnsworth," Samus said, remembering that she had never formally introduced herself to this being.

"They call me Skull Knight, I have no name," the knight introduced himself, his sword returning to its normal state, the energy in his body draining away and his shield resting on his back.

He then approached Samus and held out his hand to help her to her feet.

"You still have a lot of growing to do, Samus."