A Ronin's Eulogy - Chapter 4
There were no more words between the two, only a sudden blur of movement as their blades met. The Revblade roared, pushing back Kyle beneath the pressure of it's engine before the holy dragoon back-stepped away from the clash. A barrage of Banish spells collided with the ronin's chest and sent him sprawling to the ground, his knees shaking from exhaustion. The blind rogue could feel the earth tremble as Kyle moved in for a kill, grinning at the thought of being defeated so easily. There was a sudden blur of movement as Cory burst to the other side of Kyle, his sword already in mid-swing as he brought it down at the avatar's back.
Kyle dropped flat to the ground, almost instinctively, as the Revblade passed through the place where his torso should have been. There was no time for a counter-attack, however, as Cory's assault continued with the speed and power he was so well known for. Kyle could barely dodge the attacks, each swing literally shaving the surface of the dragoon's skin just before the occasional crash as the weapon shattered the ground. Though not even the earth itself could hold the monster back from his prize, ripping it apart as though it was tissue paper. Swing after swing, the panicking and scrambling Kyle barely avoided certain death until finally he managed to fire off a Banish. Cory was stunned long enough to lose his momentum and let his target escape his attack, but not enough that he couldn't hear the wind. Just before Kyle landed a fatal blow, the ronin had reached up and grabbed the Swallow with his free hand. The former avatar found himself unable to overpower the rogue with one arm, only them to find himself unable to escape by the most humiliating means possible.
"Cory... Get your foot off my shoe..." Kyle looked down at his legs, noting how Cory had trapped the weakened dragoon simply by pinning his foot to the ground. With only one arm and standing in an awkward pose, the warrior found himself with no possible counter. He was stuck. "What are you waiting for? Finish me!"
The ronin could only smile at the command before bursting into his signature laugh. "Finish you?! Really?! Nah, not yet. I won't finish you, because as it turns out..." The two suddenly vanished just before a large spear of ice crushed their previous location. They reappeared a short distance away as Cory let go of his hold on Kyle, cursing that he had to give up the opportunity to end the fight. "... There's one more Earthling besides us."
Louis walked into view from behind the large ice crystal, his rapier in hand as he said, "I guess you were still working for Seymour the whole time, weren't you, Cory? Killing all of the other Earthlings while they fought their replicas... Even to an ice user like myself, that's just cold-hearted." The Glaciermancer fell into stance as a broken version of his armor suddenly formed over his body. "My only regret is that I couldn't fight the two of you at full power. The battle with the Replicas took it's toll even on myself, but that doesn't matter anymore. With those wounds, the two of you are lucky to have even survived the first attack."
Cory fell into stance as well, the Revblade resting on his shoulder as he placed his free hand out in front of him for grappling. "Sorry, Kyle, but our fight is going to have to wait. You see, this guy pissed me off by interrupting our fight. So he's going to die first." It was then that Cory, for the first time since awakening in the Underworld, had a surprised look on his face.
The dragoon moved to Cory's side and said, "Neither of us can't beat him alone, and if I die no one's going to be able to put things back the way they were... If I set the world back to normal, I can bring back everyone you've slain."
Cory stared Kyle for a moment, capable of perceiving the sincere look on the dragoon's face even in his blinded state. It took only that one moment for the smile to return before Cory replied, "We can kill each other after we shove this guy's head up his a**."
((Short chapter, whatever. Felt there was a need for more than 2 characters in the fic, and also felt like making everyone go "buh?"))
