Chapter 17: Argentum et aurum
The ground under the darkened sky trembled and the sand shifted due to the fierce whirlwind present, all courtesy of the artificial storm brewing above our heads. I can confess that admission caught me off guard and it did take me a few moments, but I did manage to reign in my bewilderment and look at the self-proclaimed Maiden before me.
"So, you're a Maiden, I didn't think I'd have to battle one of your kind this soon," I observed, seemingly nonchalant, internally though I was frowning sourly. Of course, my rotten luck would ensure that my opponent was a magic user.
Personally, I held nothing against the Maidens, they were just people that got an arguably bad hand in life, but magic itself took all the rules of combat Remnant had and threw them out the window. Normally fights would be decided by skill, Aura, Dust and Semblances, the more strategic one was with these tools, the more likely victory was. Aura was the most important resource of a Hunter, it protected oneself and fueled Semblances. By feeling out an opponent's skill level one could exert just enough energy to defeat them and conserve as much Aura as possible. Semblances were a game changer, albeit a minor one at that, once you figured them out you could circumvent them entirely and realign the playing field as it was before. Dust could be used to achieve the same, however it was a finite resource that didn't replenish unlike Aura. One could argue that a fight between Hunter level combatants was decided by resource management skills and strategy.
And then there was magic.
Magic was a seemingly limitless resource and it wasn't tied to Aura. It was a game changer like Semblances and Dust, but it was infinitely more versatile. One could figure out a specific technique just like with Semblances and counter them, but then the magic user can just pull out another technique out of thin air again and again, forcing their opponent to play catch-up and forfeit the initiative entirely. Magic transformed fights from being decided by skill and strategy to strength and endurance.
Just the two qualities I lacked, wonderful.
"You seem to have an inkling of an idea of what power you're facing and yet you're not frightened. I wonder why that is," Konan inquired and unholstered her sword. The massive blade was planted into the sand, its owner holding it by the handle and waiting patiently for a reply.
"Maidens faded into obscurity for a reason just like Silver Eyed Warriors," I answered with a shrug. "Your kind is hunted for the power they wield like mine is. You were forced to hide from the real world because you're not strong enough to fight back. I don't see how this battle will be any different," I told her coldly. This would be far from my first fight with a Maiden, even if Lily was just only beginning to grow into her powers, she could be mean with her magic assisted Semblance. Of course, this would be far more challenging than my simple spars with Lily, but they did provide me with some experience and the principle behind the two scenarios was the same.
Our options were limited, she couldn't unleash her full power to fight me, lest she accidentally breaks our agreement or kills me. Likewise, I couldn't just capture her in Kamui and let her starve to death. I needed her alive and willing to talk, not to mention that starvation and dehydration would take days to force someone into cooperation, days that I didn't have in my race against the clock.
"Oh, you intend to hunt me, is that it? What an amusing thought," she chuckled and the golden flames bursting from her eyes disappeared, consequently the skies cleared up and the ground stopped shaking as well. I lowered my guard slightly in surprise and regarded her with a confused expression.
"You're not going to use your power?"
"This is merely entertainment for me, squashing you like a bug right at the start wouldn't be any fun," Konan stated with a tone that I would normally associate with mockery, but hearing her earlier confession told me that she was serious.
"You don't think I'm a threat." I narrowed my eyes at her and tightened my hold on Attero in preparation.
"Prove me wrong then, show me that you're not to be taken lightly," she scoffed with a challenging grin. She then pulled her sword out of the ground and rested it against her shoulder.
Eager to do just that, I threw the four knives in my hand at the ground between us. The resulting explosion broke direct line of sight between us, or at least hers, since my glowing eyes had no problem seeing her through the fireball. I dashed to the right and angled Attero behind me to imitate what my youngest sibling would be so fond of doing in the future. I pulled one of the triggers on the shaft and the corresponding gun barrel discharged, propelling me through the smoke screen towards Konan with overwhelming force.
But even with the surprise of coming in fast at an unexpected angle on my side, she merely sidestepped my strike and let me fly past her with a smile on her face. I twisted mid-air and pushed myself away from the ground with a hand, then fired again at the sky. The action sent me flying back in her direction, set to impact at the exact spot she was standing at. Konan merely seemed amused and swung her blade to deflect my strike. Metal met metal with an eruption of sparks before momentum carried me over her head and returned me to the ground.
Without pause I fired at the ground again and let go of Attero, letting the recoil send the blade sailing to her back. The mad Maiden didn't even bother to turn around and simply brought her massive sword against her back to act as a shield. Attero was sent away spinning from the collision, but two violet crystals lit up just below the twin blades and the sword flew back to my open palm for another strike. This time I aimed lower at her leg and fired my last bullet behind me. As expected her sword deflected mine into the sand, but it was just a distraction for another attack anyways, I used my planted sword as a pole to stand on with my hand and delivered a kick to her head.
To my dismay, she caught my foot just before it could make contact with her, leaving me upside down in an awkward position with my cloak falling over my face.
"Ah," she shook her head in a disappointed manner. "That last kick almost caught me off guard, I'll give you that, but otherwise you remind me of that previous Silver Eyed woman," she told me and threw me over her head. I let out a surprised cry at the strength behind the action but managed to orient myself to land on my feet without any problems.
"How so?" I narrowed my eyes at her and took the apparent lull on the fight to absentmindedly reload my weapon.
"She was so fast and yet so predictable. Utterly boring," she frowned distastefully. "She could have provided an enjoyable challenge, but there was no passion behind her actions and it caused her performance to be lackluster. A waste of talent really," Konan sighed in disappointment.
I simply glared at her venomously in response. She was partially responsible for what happened to her and now she was talking down to her?
I shook my head; I couldn't let my thoughts wander away from the fight. Strange insults aside, she did just provide me with a useful piece of information, intentionally or not. Summer and I are faster than her by a good margin, her reaction speed is good enough to keep up with us, but not much else, she only managed to block my blows because she was expecting them, meaning that she had way more battle experience than either of us. If I were to use more unorthodox methods, she would be much more vulnerable. I looked at her shining golden Aura to get a gauge of her reserves and hummed, her Aura pool was a bit larger than Summer's, that coupled with the silent threat of her being able to reactivate her powers at any time put me at a disadvantage in both stamina and strength.
My Semblance could nullify all of her advantages for a while, but with her experience I didn't doubt she could figure it out relatively quickly, Summer and Raven were able to too after all. If she did that too, things could get messy… so I had one shot to make this work.
And so, our fight would be decided between my speed and skill and her strength and experience.
I resumed our battle by throwing an Inferno knife in her direction, the knife transformed into a large fireball mid-flight and left behind a trail of scorched sand as it flew forwards. The golden flames around Konan's eyes briefly returned and she moved her a hand in a sweeping motion before her. A gust of wind surged from the motion and met the approaching attack head on, forcing the fireball to brighten momentarily and then disperse to the sides. I jumped up into the air from the shadow of the fireball and threw several Lightning knives at her as I arced above her head. Konan dodged the blades by hopping in the direction of the dispersing flames, just beside where my arc would carry me.
I landed on the ground and was immediately forced to move as the madwoman's blade cut through the air horizontally, aiming to bisect me. Not keen on letting that happen, I sprung from the ground, just managing to avoid the massive sword moving below me, and grabbed her shoulder with one hand. I used her as an impromptu handhold to stand on with one hand, for one moment the world slowed down and our gazes met each other, mine sharp and calculative and hers slightly surprised and… excited?
Jingoistic psycho.
Time moved onwards and inertia caused me to do a flip over her and land on the waiting buster-sword that just finished its swing. I didn't give her time to react and levelled one of Attero's barrels at her head, pulling the corresponding trigger without hesitation. The recoil launched me a short distance, but the .700 round did much more to Konan. She was knocked forwards, right into the cluster of scattered Lightning knives form earlier. Spheres of electricity enveloped her position while I touched down on the ground and pointed Attero behind me. Another discharge sent me flying after her, Attero's blade poised to strike at her likely recovering form. Or at least, that was my intention, but the blond surprised me by parrying my weapon into the sand, apparently completely unaffected by the electric shock from earlier. Her other hand clamped down on my throat and lifted me up into the air.
Apparently I wasn't unorthodox enough.
"That attempt was slightly better than hers, but still not good enough." Her hold tightened to inhuman levels and I was forced to let go of my weapon and let out strangled gasps. Aura was a wonderful thing, but it didn't protect from asphyxiation. "Oh, what a disappointment this turned out to be, but no matter, you'll at least make another fine trophy," she let out a disheartened sigh and flared her powers again, consequently ice crystals spurt from her hand and spread to encase my neck area with no obvious intention of stopping just there.
This was bad, I had to get out of here. Kamui would help, but it would be revealed too early- I can work with that actually.
My hand blurred to my bag and pulled out an Inferno knife to stab her in the throat. As expected, Konan's other hand caught mine before the blade could touch her and she regarded me with an amused expression. That changed incredibly fast when I shifted my fingers to reveal the shining Dust crystal in its injection port. A large explosion engulfed the both of us and served as a distraction to slip through her ice with my Semblance and retreat to safety, unharmed from the explosion. She would think the detonation forced her to let go of me, thus preserving the secrecy of my Semblance for just a bit longer.
I called my weapon back to my hand and reloaded it while waiting for the smoke to disperse. Once it did, I was greeted with the still standing form of the crazy Summer Maiden just looking at me with an eerie smile.
"I stand corrected, you are fun. Perhaps all that confidence wasn't just a bluff," she huffed and shook her head, she then lifted the arm that caught my knife, causing me to flinch at the sight. It was burned and bloodied with still burning pieces of Dust sizzling in some wounds. Surprise gave away to confusion as I realized that her Aura should have protected her from that, why didn't it-
"Ahh, a battle can't be truly enjoyed without raging blood!" An abundance of golden Aura washed over her arm and healed all of her wounds in a matter of seconds. The healed hand then went to rest on her chest, right over her heart. "I can already feel my heart pound with excitement! Come on, show me what other tricks you have up your sleeve! Don't hold anything back!" She shouted with an intoxicated look.
I stared at her.
Of course, it would be the masochistic lunatic that would intentionally let them themselves get injured to get off of it.
Why couldn't have I fought someone else? Maybe not Tyrian, but Hazel or Watts? Or young Cinder, she could be fun to mess with while I toyed around with her, but no, it had to be one of the crazies, why?
"Oh, you won't move? Then I'll have to make you move!" The golden flames now remained as a seemingly permanent addition to her visage as they flickered weakly around her eyes. She raised an open palm and then clenched her fist. My eyes picked up movement underground, turning to look down below I could see a golden blob of energy race below the sand, it was heading straight for me. I narrowed my eyes at it and jumped away to avoid whatever that was. Not a moment later, a spike of molten glass and iron burst from the ground where I stood a moment before.
I landed a bit away, but froze in surprise when the blob didn't disappear and was racing just as fast as before to my current location. I was forced to move as molten spikes erupted from the ground whenever I touched down, the only thing keeping me one step ahead of them being my Aura vision's ability to predict their movement. After dodging the umpteenth spike by doing a last minute handspring I focused my attention back to Konan, she was still standing in place, seemingly focused on something. Guessing that she was probably focused on controlling that golden energy, I hurled Attero in her direction like a boomerang while evading the pursuing spikes. Konan raised her sword to deflect the attack, however the Lightning Dust in the weapon activated at the last second and covered the spinning blades in a layer of electricity.
Trying to block electricity with metal isn't the best idea, as Konan learned when the charged blade impacted her own and promptly caused her arm to seize up and force her to stop with her attack. Attero was still deflected aside, but the violet strings connecting it to me soon returned it to my waiting hand.
She grinned madly at me when she regained control of her limb and blurred towards me from her spot. She quickly closed the distance between us and began aggressively swinging her sword at me in wide arcs. These strikes were accompanied by her off-hand trying to grapple me between dodges and attacks, that in itself wouldn't be alarming, but the small sphere of blue magic and electricity resting in her palm certainly was. I didn't know exactly what that sphere would do if it made contact with me, but judging by the devastating effects her previous attacks had, I had no doubt it would be anything pleasant.
My assumption was confirmed when I redirected Konan's overextended hand into the ground and a blast of concussive force, accompanied by the sound of thunder, blew us apart. We landed haphazardly on the ground and took a moment to get our bearings. She cracked her neck with a light cackle and charged at me again. We became mobile, her ferocious attacks carved through air, sand and stone with inhuman strength while she used her off-hand to alter between that lightning ball and the freezing strike she seemed so fond of using. Our fight eventually led us back to the vicinity of the camp, by this time night was fast approaching and a nearby mesa cast long shadows over the camp and a sizeable canyon in the area.
Even with the nigh constant use of highly destructive powers, she still didn't seem the least bit tired, I mused with a wince and was forced to dodge both a swing from her sword and a follow-up freeze strike. Having had enough of that, I retreated with an Aura powered jump and put a fair distance between us. Interestingly, Konan didn't follow at first and let me catch my breath.
"You're a slippery one, just like that woman. But I wonder how long you can keep up," she called out with a challenging smirk.
Not much longer actually, my Aura was still well in the green, having been conservative with my Semblance had that effect, but it would only take one slip up for that to change-
It was time to end this charade. I already knew enough about her fighting style and abilities to make my move.
"I'll end this quickly then," I responded and took two specialty knives in my hand. The first part of the plan needed me to attempt 'Dust enhancement'. One of Nicholas' final lessons and one of the hardest techniques to pull off apparently, since it required mastery over glyphs and experience in Dust weaving. According to Nicholas' notes, Light Dust can be used to 'enhance' the effects of other Dust variants in surprising ways, however one could also amplify their base effects if they're skilled enough. Hotter flames, colder ice, higher voltage, it was all possible if the Dust Alchemist was skilled enough. It could prove effective against someone who seemed at least partially resistant to Dust attacks.
It was time to put all those theory lessons to practice. The symbol on my scarf lit up, courtesy of the Light Dust inside it, and small white glyphs travelled down the length of the two knives, leaving behind a subtle white glow in their wake. I threw the supercharged knives in Konan's direction and immediately followed after them. She scoffed and summoned a wind blast to meet the knives head on. One was sent spiraling high into the air while the other struck the ground just at the halfway point between me and her. The moment my feet touched the ground beside the fallen knife, I decided to start the next phase.
The Inferno knife at my feet detonated and engulfed me in a fireball significantly larger than normal, though not before I could send the activation command to the overpowered flashbang knife. Light Dust and Sonic Dust reacted violently and basked the area in blinding light and deafening noise, or at least I assumed they did, thanks to being phased to another dimension inside the blast, I couldn't experience the effects first hand. A moment passed and I reemerged on the other side of the explosion unharmed, Konan wasn't so lucky and clutched her eyes and ears in agony. Exploiting the opening, my feet carried me in her direction fast as lightning, Attero poised to pierce her chest.
But before I could attempt to skewer her, Konan regained some of her senses and swung her sword horizontally in an attempt to ward me off. Time seemingly slowed down and resolute silver eyes met pained blue. Her eyes tracked her ever closing sword with growing confusion as I made no move to dodge, but that confusion was replaced with shock when her blade sailed through me harmlessly before I shifted through her as well. I came to a halt on the other side and fired backwards.
The surprised Maiden was knocked forwards, her Aura flaring in protest against the bullet, but she wasn't willing to give up the initiative. Still disoriented, she spun around to hit me with a lightning sphere, but a well-timed shot from Attero knocked her hand aside, right into her weapon hand. The concussive force knocked away the buster-sword from us and forced her a step back. I appeared in her guard and planted a supercharged Inferno knife in her chest. The unstable crystal glowed brightly before detonating in my hand. I was able to phase through the explosion, but Konan wasn't so lucky. She was knocked back again, disoriented and without a weapon she was now absolutely defenseless.
It was now only a matter of depleting her Aura.
I warped myself behind her and delivered a kick to her back, halting her momentum and making her stumble forwards. A split second later I appeared above her and drove her head into the ground with an axe kick before warping away again.
Konan got her feet shakily and tried to unleash her powers to force me away, but she was too slow in her dazed state. I reappeared before her and once again levelled Attero against her chest. The gun discharged and flew away into the sky as Konan lost her footing again. She tried to engage in a melee with one of her hands having a lightning sphere and the other having the freezing strike at the ready, but the timely introduction of a supercharged Lightning knife into the lightning sphere diffused the attack and caused a feedback reaction to occur. The blood-crazed Maiden's eyes contorted with pain and she snarled. I managed to sidestep the grappling attempt of her other hand and waved at her with a smile.
The Gravity Dust in my vambraces lost their glow and consequently stopped attracting Attero back to my hands, instead they let it fly to the position I was at a moment before.
Attero impacted Konan in the stomach and drove her into the ground. One final discharge sent her skidding in the sand and launched Attero back into my waiting hand.
I warped myself over the recovering Summer Maiden and grabbed her by the shoulder, a Kamui vortex then opened and transported her away into my Time-Space. I grabbed hold of a cluster of Inferno knives and looked up into the sky, an outbound portal shot Konan into the sky and I flicked the knives after her. Once the Dust blades caught up to her they detonated in unison, the blast wave would have turned most people into a charred and bloody mess, but Konan's Aura was something else as it still refused to break or even drop to one-fifth's. For the final part, I warped myself beside her falling form and opened an outbound portal form my eye. I activated the Light Dust in my scarf and tossed several Inferno knives into the spiraling vortex.
The result was a continuous torrent of flames expanding before my eyes. Konan took the full brunt of the attack, as evidenced by her rapidly diminishing Aura levels. I continued feeding Dust into the vortex as we fell to the ground, keeping the impromptu flamethrower going until we hit the ground and even then I waited for a few seconds before cutting the flames off.
The results were devastating, Konan's Aura barely retained its golden hue, a few more well aimed hits and it would break without question. The still smoking sand around her was turned into slag and cooling glass, her clothes were a bit singed but otherwise she seemed fine. I hummed to myself and walked up to her with deliberate steps. She made an attempt to rise from to ground with a pained grunt, but I planted a foot on her rising chest and forced her back into the scorching sand, causing her face to twist in pain and… pleasure? She made to say something, but the tip of Attero resting against her throat dissuaded her from any complaints.
"You've lost, now tell me everything you know," I commanded plainly. Being a conspirator in Summer's and Raven's disappearance didn't earn her any compassion from me.
"Oh yes, you've proven to be worthy entertainment, unlike that Silver Eyed woman," she chuckled and her expression evened out, no longer pained. "I wonder what someone like you wants from her…. Hmm, you two are alike in more than just mannerisms. Ah, tell me, who is she to you? A cousin or somebody closer? An aunt or maybe even your mother-?" My non-occupied foot was swiftly introduced to her cheekbones. The exchange was short and painful, and I hoped it would accentuate my point.
"If you have nothing useful to say, then our deal is off," I narrowed my eyes at her venomously. "Tell me what happened to Summer Rose."
"Mother it is…" Konan worked her jaw before giving me a bloody smile, freak. "Well, our words bind us, so I'll tell you what I can," she shrugged with a mock sigh. "Your mother is ether suicidal or has a bleeding heart, both seem just as likely to me."
"What did she do?" I asked hesitantly, not really willing to pick between those options myself.
"We were just about to… expend another one of your kind when she appeared here and intervened. Only Tyrian and the new guy, Hazel I think his name is, were here in that moment, so she may have thought she stood a chance against them and tried save your relative," she rolled her eyes amusedly. "It was entirely futile; the other Silver Eyed Warrior was quickly expended and they turned their focus entirely on her. I'm told she put up a decent fight, even managed to leave a memento on Tyrian's chest, but she was slowly whittled down." Her smile then disappeared and she gained a bored look on her face. "Then a phony Huntress appeared and they turned the tables on my colleagues, if I hadn't come back from my usual rounds they might have won too."
"I know what happened to her, but what about my mother?" I pressed, causing her to smile innocently.
"Oh, she's still alive if that's what you're asking, pretty banged up, but alive." At my fierce glare she elaborated, "it was a pretty boring fight all around, none of them proved to be even a slight challenge and Tyrian might have gotten carried away a bit as result."
"What did he do?" My mouth settled into a thin line.
"Missed a particular strike and clipped her heart. Oh, it was a wonderful sight, her blood provided a nice contrast to the sand as it spread all over-" once again, my boot found its mark on her cheek.
"Killjoy," Konan sighed and continued her tale. "I had to put her in stasis lest she bled out completely. I'm told she's been taken to Vacuo, to Watts for treatment. It took an entire week, but she's in stable condition now I believe, though not in any shape to move yet. The other Huntress was entirely too easy to take down while she was distracted, too busy looking at her bleeding flower I presume," she shrugged nonchalantly. I furrowed my brows in thought, compiling everything said so far… but something didn't add up.
"What did you mean by 'expend'? And why do you want us alive? Why are you collecting us?" I questioned confusedly, why go to such lengths as to eradicate an entire bloodline?
"Why, the very reason is standing right there," she nodded to the side and I followed her gaze with mine.
The violet firestorm?
"That fire is just as special as your eyes. It erases almost everything it comes into contact with, apparently it is a big enough obstacle that not even my mistress can cross it. Only Grimm are able to traverse it without any hassle, but for some reason they never return outside. The only beings capable of fighting these flames are your kind, and so we collect them to do so. Every person achieves more progress than the last," Konan explained jovially.
"What do you mean 'fight the flames'?"
"The fire and light your eyes produce can combat the dark flames, they lose every time simply because of the sheer disparity in scale, but the violet flames recede a little further with each clash," she explained, appearing bored with having to go into details.
"But the violet flames surge outwards after-… That's what you meant by 'expend', isn't it?" The fresh memory of that almost happening to me came into mind and my tone soured.
"Ahh, you're catching on! Dear Watts says it's a terribly inefficient process, but the look of shock on people's faces as they see their death approaching is simply delightful-" I'm pretty sure I would have kicked out multiple of her teeth if it weren't for her flickering Aura.
"Why would anyone willingly agree to this?" I questioned, using our eyes required conscious effort that can't be forced by- of course it can be, my eyes lashed out on their own when I approached the flames.
"Most of the time we don't need their consent, but for the more resilient ones… Well, my mistress' one-on-one chats can be very convincing," she drawled ominously. Of course, Summer either has superb mastery over her eyes or her Semblance allows her to escape the backlash. That would make her a valuable tool to Salem, something crucial to control and harness. That's why they let Raven live, blackmail against her if all other methods of persuasion fail.
Just how far does this sick scheme go?
"Why do this? What does she want here?" I asked my final question. What was the reason behind this systemic genocide? What was so important about those dark flames?
"I'm afraid not even I'm privy to that information, only Salem has a clear vision of what we're doing here," Konan replied with a shrug. I stared at her for a few minutes, searching for any signs of deceit, but ultimately finding none. She really didn't know and didn't care why they were here in the first place.
"…Thank you for your cooperation," I said at last and stowed Attero away. "Now get out of my sight before I change my mind." I stepped off her chest and walked away towards the camp to free Raven. Maybe letting her go isn't the best choice, I was strongly tempted to let her just starve to death in another dimension, but she did uphold her end of the bargain, I wouldn't stoop below her level and go back on my word. Besides, she posed no immediate threat. I heard her move behind my back and get to her feet.
"What exactly makes you think this is over? My friend, the fun is only just beginning!" I heard her call out to me. I stopped in my tracks and looked back at her over my shoulder with glowing eyes.
"You're fresh out of Aura, don't make me kill you," I warned her one final time. Her Aura's golden hue was barely present. At this point it would only take a moment for me to break it and end her. I shook my head and resumed my walk.
"I assure you; I won't be the limiting factor in our pursuit of happiness!" She laughed madly and I could hear the wet squelching sound of something sinking into flesh from behind me. This time I stopped and turned around fully to look at her, my eyes growing with shock at what I was seeing.
She had produced a small knife out of somewhere and was currently sticking it right through her own arm. Pain morphed her face, causing her eyes to twitch and her teeth to against each other as her mouth slowly settled into a maniacal grin. With another squelch, she twisted the knife in her arm and let her blood drip onto the similarly colored sand. My shock however didn't only come from that disturbing action, even more alarming was the fact that her Aura levels spiked. The golden flames appeared around her eyes again, but they burned with more intensity than before.
"You've proven that you're not to be taken lightly, that you're a worthy challenge unlike those two from before. It's only common courtesy for me to take you seriously!" She declared while removing the offending knife and moved her arms beneath her cloak. It got thrown aside to be carried away by the wind and revealed the clothing it covered up to this point. She wore what I could only describe as a somewhat thick, yet flexible citrine battle-dress that had dull grey armor plates woven into it at the thighs, midsection and shoulders. One of the sleeves was partially burnt off, courtesy of her decision of taking that previous explosion head on. It also left her injured arm in full view, the deep wound was already closing slowly thanks to her rapidly replenishing Aura.
"You were suppressing your Aura the whole time…?" It was the only logical conclusion I could come up with as I stared at her climbing Aura levels, just now it passed the brightness it started the battle with and it showed no signs of stopping. "Why hold back? Why tell me what I wanted to know?" I questioned with a baffled expression. Who in their right mind would actively suppress their Aura in the middle of a fight and then intentionally stab themselves-?
"I've told you that there would be no fun in crushing you instantly. Besides, what adult uses their full strength when playing with mere children? Though it looks like that sentiment is inaccurate in your case," she replied with a smug smirk forming on her face. "As for our deal… Well, consider it compensation for such a wonderful time." That confirmed it, she was a deranged lunatic without a semblance of sanity left in her…
"Just what the hell are you?" I muttered with wide eyes as her Aura began to wildly fluctuate between the strength of Summer's and Nicholas', which was just physically impossible as far as I knew. Nicholas trained and fought for more than half a century, that was the only reason it was possible for him to have that much. Then here was Konan, who was in her late twenties at best having a similar amount, even for brief amounts of time, how? I don't care how much she fought or what kind of training she underwent, there should be no feasible way for her to even come close to Nicholas… Was I missing something? What could allow this and be so inconspicuous to not be noticed? And why wasn't Konan keeping her Aura stable in the first place?
Whatever the case, with this much Aura for defense and her magic for offense, it hardly felt like I was facing a human anymore, rather-
"A walking calamity," She answered excitedly, apparently having heard my question. "You realize it, don't you? The sheer gap of power between us? That you can't win, no matter what tricks you pull? Oh, I shiver to think what you'll do. Will you try to flee like a frightened animal, or will you fight-" Not caring for her stupid monologue in the slightest, I shot forward with an extended hand, intent on sending her into my Time-Space. Konan reacted by calling forth a dome of golden energy around herself, not unlike the one I recall Ozpin using. It's rather resilient if I remember correctly, but utterly useless against someone like me.
Undaunted by the obstacle before me, I passed right through it and made to grab Konan… only for me to slip through her and fly out of the dome on the other side. I quickly came to a halt and looked back at her with an expression of bewilderment. What the hell just happened? Why didn't I rematerialize-?
"You have a unique Semblance, I have encountered hundreds in my lifetime, but nothing that's quite like yours… except your mother's," Konan called out smugly from inside her barrier. Sharpening my gaze at it, I could make out minute arcs of golden electricity discharge all around her… "They may seem different at first, but I had a hunch the same defense can be utilized to counter them. And it looks like I was proven right after all!" My eyes widened in understanding and apprehension; she had created a counter for Summer's Semblance during their fight… The inside of the barrier must be charged with electricity that would disintegrate Summer's petals, barring her from getting inside and directly striking Konan, meanwhile the barrier itself would need overwhelming force to be broken…
Coincidentally, this exact same method worked against my Semblance too.
I have to rematerialize to attack, but I can't do that if an object or something harmful is in the way. The energy barrier forced me to slip through it and then the charged air inside kept me from rematerializing, but not harm Konan thanks to her basic resistance to the elements. My Aura could likely handle that charge too, but then I would have to crack open that barrier to get inside, that was the only way I could lay a finger on her.
I frowned minutely to myself, this was turning sour very fast. I may be ambitious and a bit headstrong, but I wasn't idiotic enough to enter a death battle with a deranged Maiden with an abnormally behaving Aura-
"Oh, and I wouldn't try escaping if I were you, unless of course you want her to die," Konan commented lightly and moved a hand in the direction of the camp, specifically Raven's frozen form. Consequently, dark storm clouds appeared over her, roaring with the sound of thunder. "I wonder what's faster, your ability to shift or a point-blank lightning bolt? I'm sure she's just dying to know as well!" She cackled loudly.
-And it looks like I'll have no choice in the matter. I wasn't keen on answering that question myself.
"What happened to holding back? Aren't you afraid of accidentally killing me?" I called out tersely, hoping against all odds that there was still a chance to salvage this situation. I probably shouldn't have bothered.
"Oh, you're just too fun to not push beyond the limits, this might be the most fun I had in years!" She exclaimed and dropped the barrier around her, I had no doubt she could erect it again at a moment's notice. She then held out a hand to the side. Water particles formed out of thin air alongside wisps of wind and they slowly coalesced into an oversized sword the length of a school bus. "And like you said, accidents can happen while trying to capture someone. I'm sure Salem would be content with you ending up in a body bag too if it came down to it," she added lightly as an after-thought and grasped the elemental blade.
"Now, with all this boring talk out of the way, you might want to savor these moments." She raised the blade in the air against the backdrop of the setting sun. My body tensed in anticipation and my anxious mind focused on a single goal…
"They might be your last!" She swung the blade downwards at the ground.
…To kill a Maiden.
The blade struck the ground with explosive force, causing the world around us to shake in upheaval. Sand blew in all directions and whistled past me, I put up an arm to shield my face while struggling against the sudden wind. A heartbeat later, cracks started to spread around the impact point like an intricate web. They expanded in all directions, rushing past even my position and soon tore up the ground around the entire area.
More movement underground caused me to kick off the ground in an effort to avoid any surprise attacks and let me watch from above as water burst from the fissures and grew to cover everything. Another blast of magical wind swept through our battlefield and froze the water solid, leaving the desert ground covered in a layer of solid ice. I wasn't allowed to wonder at the sight however, as gravity brought me back to land on the now arctic battlefield.
I didn't need to ponder on the purpose of this action for long, because Konan rushed at me with an overly large concentration of blue lightning magic in her hands. The upper layer of ice beneath our feet was already beginning to melt under the harsh desert sun and allowed her to slide at me with surprising speed. I moved to dodge the attack, but my feet slipped on the ice and I fell backwards with a cry of surprise.
I wasn't allowed time to even groan as Konan appeared above me with her hands poised to drive those lightning spheres through me. I instinctually pulled one of Attero's triggers and relied on the recoil of the gun to carry me away from harm's way. It wasn't a second too late, because the spheres of lighting impacted the ice where I once was and promptly obliterated everything around it. Sadly, I wasn't fast enough to outrun the proceeding shockwave and it launched me away with overwhelming force. I flew past the ice field with ringing ears and skidded on a sand dune before rolling straight into the gaping canyon I saw earlier. Having recovered my wits by that point, I threw a knife at the rock wall and pulled myself after it before I could fall further into the dark abyss below.
I clutched the knife embedded into the sandstone with an iron grip and took a moment to catch my breath and think. I had to kill Konan, she was too dangerous to be left alive at this point, simple as that. But there was the glaring problem of how to go about it. I couldn't take the easy route thanks to that damned… disruption field of hers. But getting into a slugfest with a Maiden like her alone is just insanity and yet it was my only option. I would have to use everything I learned so far, every trick in the book and more if I wanted to stand a chance at winning-
Huh, nothing like a seemingly impossible challenge.
I hummed to myself and planted a specialty knife in the wall beside me. The Earth and Gravity Dust lit up and caused a circular glyph to form around the knife. A moment later the glyph spun to life and began to dig into the sandstone earnestly. It soon disappeared from normal sight, leaving behind a faint violet string and a small tunnel in its wake.
The wonders of what quality equipment can achieve…
I shook my head, wishing I had these wonder knives just yesterday and threw a cluster of gravity knives at the wall above me. Violet glyphs sprung to life and allowed me to stand up and rush to the top of the canyon without any difficulty.
"I was wondering if I had to flush you out of there or not," I heard Konan call out once I came into view on the surface. I paid her little mind and planted a gravity knife at the edge of the canyon and at the top of the sand dune before turning to look at her standing impatiently on her constantly regenerating ice field.
"Let's just get this over with." I joined her on the ice, one of my vambraces trailing a faint violet string behind me. I needed to buy time for my plan to work. Without any further ado, I opened a vortex from my eye and spewed out a few dozen Inferno knives high up into the sky. Konan erected her barrier and disinterestedly watched the ascending knives still going skywards. Meanwhile, I struggled for a few seconds with my footing before settling into a stance and fired Attero behind me.
Ice skating in an artificial desert wasn't something I thought I'd ever try, but life plays out like that sometimes. Refocusing her attention on me, Konan dropped the barrier and began summoning another elemental blade to defend herself with. Unfortunately for her, that's what I wanted in the first place. The vambrace on my off-hand lit up and dozens of violet strings appeared form the control glyph hovering in my palm. The strings connected themselves to the knives up above and with a violent pull, yanked them back towards the older blond's direction. The barrage of knives impacted the ground around her and detonated in an orange-white fireball.
It was seemingly for naught; the smoke dispersed and revealed the golden dome of energy standing unharmed around a smug looking Konan. The smirk on her face soon vanished when she heard another shot coming from me. Another four violet strings sprung to life from her flanks and connected to my vambraces, pulling them with considerable force. The action coupled with the shot propelled me in her direction, set to collide with her barrier.
Cold steel met magic in an eruption of golden sparks, the dome flared and whined in protest against the Aura infused weapon.
I knew that brute force against a barrier like this was useless unless you also had the power of a Maiden on your side. Furthermore, the barrier seemed to work both ways, meaning that the casters couldn't retaliate directly while it was active. My theory was proved right when Konan didn't even try to strike me down now, opting to instead focus on strengthening the barrier.
So, if I couldn't bring it down with explosives, then I had to pierce it.
We grit our teeth in exertion as our struggle stretched onwards, with me pushing Attero forward with all my, admittedly limited, might and with her pouring more and more power into the barrier.
Knowing that our struggle wouldn't turn out in my favor if it continued like this, I activated the Lightning Dust in Attero and watched as blue electricity enveloped the struggling blade. Small arcs lashed out at the barrier, seemingly draining its power even further, until it happened.
A small crack formed in the golden energy shield, both Konan and I let our surprise show on our faces, albeit for different reasons. Without thinking, I pulled another trigger and caused Attero to fire behind me.
The additional force pushed the blade firmly into the shield and caused the cracks to spread. Our gazes met, surprised and excited blue met cold silver. My fingers moved to another trigger and I fired my last bullet.
The blade nearly shattered the barrier as it pressed forwards until it became exposed on the inside, the cracks spread even further and small shards of golden energy fell to the ice.
It still wasn't enough.
Very well aware of this development, Konan channeled more energy into the barrier in a large burst and a flash of light repelled me away.
I rolled and skidded to a stop at the edge of the ice and shakily got to my feet on the slippery surface. Well, that could have turned out better, I winced and recalled Attero back to my hand. The blade was a bit blackened from the exchange, but it was still fine to fight with.
"You're full of surprises as I've come to expect, but it's still not enough. Why, a small part of me is beginning to have doubts about the potency of your tricks." The crazed blond regarded me from her fully repaired dome of golden energy. Her words sounded aloof and uncaring, but the slight genuine smile on her face told me that she was enjoying all of this, that she was merely trying to get a rise out of me.
Maybe she was right…
"My tricks won't cut it," I murmured to myself at the idea, maybe it- no, it was definitely worth a shot. I narrowed my eyes at her and pointedly held out Attero to the side before stowing it away below my cloak.
"Don't tell me you're giving up so soon? I was having fun…" She trailed off when she saw that my hand reached for Laminae on my back. For some reason, Summer's weapon felt… just right in my hands, even more so when it was pointed in Konan's direction with an arrow already notched and ready.
"Ohh, I recognize that weapon! How sentimental of you to bring that toy back to play. Well, if you think it will help you, then go right ahead, but I assure you it will make no difference in the end-" An intangible vortex warped me away before she could finish and deposited me in the air above her. I channeled Aura into the arrow and watched as the shaft got coated in blue, liquid electricity and the arrowhead gained a violet hue to it. With everything ready, I let go of the Stormlance arrow aimed straight at her.
The miniature lightning bolt closed the distance between us within a millisecond and made contact with the magical barrier surrounding her. The area around the impact spot caved in with minimal resistance and allowed the attack to fly inwards unhindered. This is as far it went however, as the approaching lightning bolt simply dissipated in the charged air of the disruption field.
Baffled at the casual dismissal of the otherwise straight up lethal projectile, I warped away to safety and stared at the quickly regenerating barrier in shock.
"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother explaining things if people never listen to what I have to say," Konan mock sighed and shook her head. "Do you really believe your mother didn't try to pull that eyesore of an attack on me? I devised this defense to counter people like you and her. By now it's evident that I'm all but untouchable to you, but please, do try to prove me wrong again," she said in a manner that reminded me of people talking about the weather.
I stood rooted on the spot for several seconds, mind running miles a second to think of something, anything to crack that stupid shield for good. My plan could take her down, but I needed that barrier gone first, otherwise it would be useless. If things kept going this way, then I would run out of Aura and lose. I was also running out of useful skills and ideas, both mine and Summer's-
But what if I came up with new ideas? If I combined mine and Summer's… That could work, if it didn't blow up in my face, literally.
Seeing my contemplative silence, Konan resumed our battle by dropping her barrier and summoning a barrage of ice spears racing towards me. Realizing that I would struggle to move, let alone dodge with the melting ice below my feet, I opted to warp out of the way of the freezing projectiles.
I reappeared a bit further away, only for the next barrage to immediately zero in on my position and force me to move away again. Not keen of dragging this whack-a-mole game out for long and seeing that the preparations were nearly complete, I decided to try my hand with stalling her with that insane idea, but first I had to finish the last of my preparations, a shame I would have to sacrifice a good portion of my Aura to do it, but oh well.
Unlike the last few times when I reappeared, I turned to the approaching projectiles and threw a single Inferno knife at them. Their collision and ensuing explosion allowed me enough reprieve to find my footing and look straight up at the sky with my Semblance active.
Once again, a large vertical vortex opened and began spewing out throwing knives by the dozens, this continued on until the number of knives reached the hundreds. After that I closed the portal and yanked all of them back towards the ground, straight at Konan.
She paused in her casting process and looked at the approaching knives with bored disdain. She swiped her arm before her and summoned a powerful wind blast to meet the rain of metal head on. Unsurprisingly, the knives got swatted aside like annoying flies and fell to the ice covered ground all around us in a shower of metal. What was surprising however, was that those very knives immediately after landing began spewing out steam in large quantities. The rapidly forming cloud obscured our visibility and soon grew to cover the entire area.
"Is this the best you could have come up with?" Konan called out into the cooling mist disappointedly and moved her arm again. Another gust of wind blew the mist and steam away to reveal… nothing near my original position.
"No." Konan's face scrunched up in momentary confusion before she heard the crackling of electricity somewhere behind her. She turned around and her eyes widened in shock when she saw me standing at the base of the mesa, Laminae in my hands with another Stormlance arrow ready to fire at her. Though unlike before, the symbol on my scarf was glowing with a white light. Consequently, a small white glyph sped down the length of the active Dust arrow and amplified its effects. The blue electricity that was previously flowing along the shaft became significantly brighter and was now struggling to remain contained, though sometimes it still lashed out with blinding discharges at the surrounding air. The air around the glowing violet arrowhead was heavily distorted and the entire arrow emitted a high-pitched whirring sound as it waited to be unleashed.
"This is."
I let go of the arrow and was almost blown off my feet from the sheer force behind the projectile. Calling it a miniature lightning bolt now would be a disservice at this point, in fact it looked much stronger than regular lightning as it covered the distance between the two of us even faster than ever before. Space distorted before the speeding projectile while it left behind stray arcs of electricity in its path. Konan was just in time to erect her barrier, but it proved to be a completely futile endeavor as the dome shattered to a million pieces when the supercharged Stormlance arrow impacted it.
Just as before, the blue lighting entered the disruption field, but it proved to be too powerful to simply disappear in the charged air. And so, it hit Konan in the stomach with the force of a freight train. The elemental attack carried her like ragdoll over the ice field and the rough sands until she hit an outcropping of sandstone. The kinetic and Dust energy released upon impact created an enormous sphere of volatile electricity and superheated air. The ground around the explosion shook and the shockwave fractured stone and ice alike in a large radius around her, rising smoke and dust concealed the rest of our ruined battlefield.
I let out a sigh of relief and briefly sagged my shoulders, oh she wasn't dead, I knew that even though that attack would have literally speared through five Hunters with Aura, she was likely to just get back up again because her Aura spiked considerably when the arrow hit her. But it could hopefully allow me to enact the next phase of my plan and I at least finally had something that could give her a pause for thought if my plan did fail. I slowly warped myself away to the top of the nearby mesa and silently waited for the dust to settle.
"I can't believe this…" I heard Konan wheeze from even where I was, everything was completely silent around us, even the slight breeze one would expect at my elevation came to a halt. The debris around her rumbled and she pushed them aside to stand up. Her outfit wasn't ruined, but it has certainly seen better days. In addition to the burnt off sleeve and the dust coating it, the armor plate where the arrow had hit has completely melted off, the area around it was somewhat torn as well.
"I can't believe this is actually happening…" She stumbled forwards with hunched shoulders, though they heaved slightly as she gasped for air. A chuckle found its way out of her throat, followed by another and another until she was laughing maniacally to herself. My eyes twitched in discomfort and irritation at her behavior as I watched her from above.
"To think someone has actually caused me this much pain… Just thinking about it makes me feel more alive," she stated between stray chuckles. "You… You are a special one aren't you? You could have killed me with that if I wasn't on my toes already!" She turned to look up at me with a twitching smile. "It's like I can't afford to hold back against you-, no, no I'll have to push past my limits even!" The golden flames around her eyes burned with unrivaled ferocity as she exerted more power than ever before. With excitable steps, she began walking towards me. "You have my sincerest gratitude! Why, this is shaping out to be the best fight of my entire life!" She held out a hand and her buster-sword flew into at breakneck speed as she approached. "To have pushed me this far… Please accept this gift as a reward, the power of a fully-realized Maiden!" She exclaimed energetically as storm clouds formed out of nothing above our heads. Lightning danced between the sky and the ground and the non-existent wind suddenly returned with the force of a hurricane. I weathered it all until she reached a certain position on the ruined ice field.
I cheered a little bit inwardly upon realizing that I won't have to listen to her stupid monologues anymore and activated the Dust around her. The Specialist knives' hilts lit up one after the other until hundreds of them were glowing with brown light. Konan stopped to look wonderingly at the action and a moment later a violet string attached itself to a knife at the edge of the formation. Konan followed the string with her gaze and saw it lead back up to my glowing vambrace. Several other strings sprung to life and connected to other knives around the first and so on until the entire field around her became a visible network of interconnected Dust knives.
A glyph in the shape of a ring, specifically.
The giant glyph activated with a mental command and the Earth Dust did its job just as it did yesterday. It rapidly sunk into the earth while leaving Konan standing on a pedestal in the middle of the deepening pit. Once the glyph reached a dozen or so meters below ground, it revealed an underground chamber filled with a variety of glowing Dust crystals.
It was all artificial of course, as shown by the perfectly circular tunnel opening into the donut shaped chamber that led in the direction of the canyon. The Dust itself was from the last container that I stole back in Vale alongside the entirety of my raw reserves as well. Lightning, Fire, Earth, Light, Sonic, Inferno, Scorch, Gravity and Ice were all present, courtesy of Zwei dumping it all in there while I distracted Konan.
The air around her rippled with Dust energy radiating from the agitated crystals down below. This wasn't made any better by the rumbling storm up above as it pushed the volatile materials to their breaking point. Normally, it would take around one ton of Dust to create a Dust storm, provided the weather conditions were severe enough.
I've amassed around fifteen times that amount for this occasion.
Konan seemed to realize the severity of the situation as well, judging from how quickly her smile got wiped from her face and her expression changed to one of shock and disbelief. She moved to restrain her powers but it was too late, a stray lightning bolt raced to the ground and disappeared from sight as it entered the exposed chamber below.
For a moment, the world went white, and this time not because of my eyes.
The shockwave forced me to take an involuntary step back and I had to shield my eyes from the weather anomaly before me. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust, but when they did I was greeted with a breathtaking sight. A pillar of lightning, fire and steam raged between the storm cloud and the pit of Dust. The two forces of nature were trapped in a closed feedback loop where the atmosphere continued to agitate the Dust crystals and the energy released by the Dust fed and maintained the former. The desert rumbled under its power, the ice around it evaporated in a flash, even I could feel its heat wash over me.
It was the awesome power of a perpetual Dust storm.
…But for some unfathomable reason, I had the nagging feeling it still wouldn't be enough.