The Lost Lord Ch. 17

The ground under Lauren and Luce rumbled and shook, as if a massive earthquake was occurring. The rocky ground split open and sand filled the crack. From between the crack in the ground, two mysterious blue orbs came into view. The orbs looked around, and it occurred to Lauren that the orbs were actually eyes, the eyes of Fáfnir.

It took several seconds for the voice in Lauren to register with her brain. She could vaguely recognize the voice as the wise being known as Fáfnir. It was correct to say that Lauren has never taken advantage of their pact, as she found it quite impolite to call upon the aid of such a revered being as a tool for combat. Lauren didn't even intend to use this pact anytime soon, much less than use it during her fight with Luce. Yet when she found out that her opponent would be able to tell Lauren her mother's identity if they fought, she hesitated not one second in calling upon Fáfnir.

Lauren strengthened the mental link with Fáfnir and said telepathically, 'I-I'm sorry, I did not wish to use you merely as a tool for random combat.'

'My opponent, a Djinn named Luce may know of my mother's identity, and he does not mind telling me. Though he cannot know for certain unless he fights me and finds the similarities between me and mother.' Confessed Lauren to the dragon.

'T-Thank you...'

"To think you made a pact with a dragon... A dragon of ice affinity... You truly are powerful. Yet I cannot confirm if you are Mistress LeFay's daughter with just this. I will begin my assault." The Djinn said this while Lauren was speaking to Fáfnir in her mind. Luce then began a ritualistic dance to summon his own creatures.

Summons and pacts are two different things. Summoning requires a being's complete subservience to its master and its will completely bended to the master's will, it usually cannot work on beings with strong will. Pacts require a mutual agreement between two beings, where both parties profit. In Lauren's case, she acquires power in combat; in the creature's case, they usually have some sort of task or requirement for the other party to fulfill. Luce dealt in summoning while Lauren dealt in pacts.

Luce performed a complex dance while Lauren was speaking with Fáfnir telepathically, so he was given time to prepare. He summoned two beasts beside him. One was a creature that looked like the child of a wolf and panther, and obviously larger and fiercer than the both of those two animals; it also had leather wings to fly with. Luce called him Tyul. The second was a beast native to the lands the Djinn occupied in the Gardens of Greed, it had a thin layer of striped black and grey fur, a horn growing out of its chin and behind both ears, an extremely long and winding tail with a tuft of black fur, and two sets of eyes both symmetrically located under the ears. The species of creature was named the Blackened Triops, while Luce personally gave it the name of Kuam.

When he was finished, he looked over and saw Lauren undertaking fully rejuvenated and ready for battle. Also, the ice dragon had mysteriously appeared from underground next to her. It had a set of beautiful and pure silver blue scales, long claws, misty breath, and it was about ten meters long and about five to six meters tall (not all dragons are as big as myths say, though all are still bigger than the biggest of elephants). He pondered several strategies on how to deal with the dragon, it would certainly be a tough endeavor. He knew his pets could handle the dragon for a suitable amount of time, and if needed he would have himself summon more from his reserve army of pets. Luce was only strong enough to control three at a time, but he could only manage to summon two before Lauren was ready. He gambled on the fact that his pets could hold off on the dragon long enough for him to beat down Lauren in a melee. Luce could also tell that Lauren only had enough strength to maintain the current contract.

Fáfnir relieved Lauren with his supply of practically inexhaustible hoard of strength, though he was limited on how much he could give Lauren as dragon energy and the human body didn't always play well together. Still, Lauren was charged up and ready to go. She held her bare hand out and her dagger close in a stance ready for melee combat. Lauren steadied her glasses, positioning them so that they would not jiggle around during the fight. Also, Lauren's hair color changed yet again, her black hair also held strands dyed red and orange.

"TYUL! KUAM! Keep the dragon busy! Do not let its breath reach me, I'll make sure to feed you quite the feast if you fight well!" Luce made sure to have his creatures know that they didn't have to attain victory, all they needed was to keep the dragon busy.

-

*Pant, pant* Nerissa grasped for breath as she managed to parry another blow from the demon known as Avandar. Like all polite and honorable beings, they had introduced themselves and made each other known before they fought. Nerissa made it known that she wanted Avandar's sword, and she would do anything to get it. Avandar didn't say it outright, Nerissa could tell he was subtly saying he would decimate her.

Avandar wore a set of mail armor colored shaded a dark grey, along with an open helmet on top. His shield looked like a square and circle morphed together with the circles being the sides and the square acting as the points. The shield had a black and blue coloring with a grey emblem in the middle. Nerissa could see a notable scar on Avandar's face, one that looked permanent. It was also fairly obvious that Avandar is a demon of Wrath.

And while decimation was an obvious exaggeration, Nerissa was finding herself on the defensive more often than she wanted. During her eighteen years of life, she had made sure to receive the best education in everything, and of course swordplay was no different. The Plains of Pride's best swordsman trained her: the Perfection of Pride. A well known member of Pride's pillar, the Perfection of Pride obviously sought to be perfect at everything; so swordplay was no less of a goal to reach. He also sought to best the perfect teacher when showing Nerissa how to fight with a sword, he taught her many styles of swordplay: classical types of European fencing, several types of Kenjutsu, the Roman gladius, two handed swordplay, and an original school of demonic swordplay (that Perfection created himself) known as Unholy Cuts.

Nerissa saw the main gap between her and Avandar was experience, the hardened mercenary has probably fought in dozens of battles and wars; while Nerissa has only fought in practice fights. Still, Nerissa was complimented by Perfection to be the most naturally talented swordfighter around her generation of student swordfighters. Nerissa was determined to make his words not be for naught. What was the point of being the wife of a Ruler of Sin if she could not slay a lowly mercenary?

"Ach! This damned sword will not damn obey! I cannot fight with this damned sword acting like an inane child." Complained Avandar as he backed off from Nerissa. He lowered his sword and shield as he stared at his sword menacingly with no regard towards his opponent.

Nerissa was confused, Old Age, while though it is an extremely powerful weapon of Death, it is still a normal sword. And that is where Nerissa would soon learn where she was wrong.

"Fuck! I can't use this damned sword's damnable power just yet it seems, all I could do was force out that measly bit. Guess I'll have to rely on normal swordplay and magic. You're damn lucky this time little princess! So much for this damn sword playing the role of a trump card." Avandar sighed as he swung the sword around several times and slid it across his shield. He the mumbled some more words to himself that Nerissa didn't hear, though she could tell it was not an incantation.

Nerissa readied herself in a different stance than she began with, a stance for Unholy Cuts style. While the normal stance for most swordplay required the user to stand with his side facing the enemy, his arm behind him, and his sword out, this style called for a different position. While the side facing the enemy was the same, Nerissa used both of her hands to hold up her sword with the tip facing Avandar, though at a slanted angle.

Avandar advanced upon Nerissa with his shield raised to cover his upper body and the bottom of his face; he slashed twice at Nerissa with Old Age. Nerissa saw hesitation in the sword, though she found it strange that the sword hesitated and not Avandar himself. It was as if Old Age was resisting Avandar. Still, in the end Avandar managed to land his strikes, though they were cleanly deflected by Nerissa's stance.

For the first time in a while, Nerissa got on the offensive, using her Unholy Cuts. The basis behind Unholy Cuts was to lure in the opponent and make them falter, even if by a slight amount, and by taking advantage behind that, Nerissa would immediately strike in the split-second while her opponent was readying for his next attack. This stance was perfect for Nerissa, and quite possibly her most powerful style, though not always the most convenient. Nerissa took advantage of the hesitation in Avandar's sword when he attacked and stabbed forward into his breast.

So far, only Nerissa has received damage, fortunately only minor cuts and bruises. And yet the first major injury happened upon Avandar. Nerissa's sword gouged through the mail, slipping in between the separate links and entering the demon's flesh. The stab managed to enter the area just below the shield, so its defense was rendered void.

Avandar cried out in pain as he immediately recoiled backwards. He swiped his shield around to force Nerissa to not continue the assault. Steeling himself, Avandar then tried to slash at the white demoness, but the sword acted on its own and resisted his command. Its resistance was more powerful this time and his slash was weakened, though it still managed to connect with Nerissa's sword.

Nerissa parried the weak attack as she wondered why Avandar's attacks were getting weaker and weaker. She noticed that the sword seemed to resist again. Was that an effect the Old Age sword had on its wielder? What a strange sword... Those two sentences raced through her mind as Nerissa readied another attack.

Nerissa stabbed her sword at an odd angle down at Avandar's shoulder while also attempting to hold the shield in its place. Avandar punched with the shield and knocked Nerissa off balance enough in order to have her sword just barely miss its target. Taking advantage, Avandar sliced at Nerissa's neck with all his might.

Shit! I can't stop this! Nerissa said this to herself with a frantic state of mind, she had no realistic way of stopping her sword, though she still tried to raise her hands in time to stop it. Somehow, her sword hand made it in time to parry what should have been killing blow. Nerissa saw why as Old Age came to a halt this time, resting on Nerissa's blade.

What happened at that moment was quite strange, stranger than any moment Avandar and Nerissa had ever encountered before. Both swords shivered and began to glow. At the tip of Old Age, the epicenter of the brightest of its glowing, a swirl of blackened energy seeped out. Some of it splashed onto the ground and dissipated while some floated up into the sky. Yet what was truly odd was that the majority of the black energy formed a thick strand and pulled itself out of Old Age and focused its direction into Nerissa's sword. The black thread like energy flowed into Nerissa's sword as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Both Avandar and Nerissa were surprised and attempted to separate themselves, but when they both pulled on their swords, they stumbled. While both parties could move their bodies, their swords would not budge and they floated in the air while the black energy continued to flow into Nerissa's blade. Eventually, as both Nerissa and Avandar watched the strange sight, the last of the ominous black energy flowed into Nerissa's sword and both weapons fell onto the ground, making a loud clattering noise.

Nerissa slowly walked over to her sword and watched it. It seemed the same as usual, thinking that, Nerissa cautiously picked up the sword. Right when she touched the hilt, Nerissa was hit with a barrage of sensations. Pleasure and pain, hot and cold, salty and sweet, elation and boredom, smooth and rough, frozen and burnt, all these and many more raced through Nerissa's mind one after another. While this felt like tens of minutes to Nerissa, in actuality, it was only ten seconds. Eventually, the barrage of sensations ceased and silence purveyed Nerissa's mind.

Nerissa opened her eyes to see that she was no longer in control of her body. While it moved and began to attack Avandar in order to continue the duel, she could not control her actions. Yet while she was not control, to Nerissa, it didn't feel like she was unconscious. Or more specifically, she could feel herself moving and attacking. "What in the-" Nerissa was suddenly cut off.

'You, I like you.' 'Agreed, that other guy's a wee bit much.' 'Such grace!' 'That's Unholy Cuts, right?' 'Yea, you must be.' 'Really? Man only that one can go and create his own style of swordplay.' 'You all may be pleased, I for one don't see what you see in her.' 'What else is there? She's a pretty 'un at that.' 'Fucking dirty old fuck...'

Numerous voices all began to speak, some Nerissa could make out, and others she could not. There must have been hundreds of voices speaking until all quieted down for what must have been the voice's leader. 'Lass, what you are seeing now is yourself fighting the one known as Avandar Rdsa Nuir. You are literally fighting and thinking right now as yourself in the outside world. Though you are also moving and thinking autonomously here as well.'

Nerissa uttered a question, "Where is here?"

'...You are located inside Old Age, Death's personal weapon gifted to Asmodeus, the original Lord of Lust. Myself and everyone you previously heard are souls living in Old Age, if that makes any sense.'

"No, no it doesn't, make some damn sense!" Nerissa wasn't sure how to react to the situation.

'Well, let me continue and you will learn, lass. Old Age is a collection of one thousand two hundred seventy-seven souls of the greatest sword wielders that have ever lived in all of the realms. It does not discriminate between humans, demons, angels, pagans, humanoids, and every sentient being created. I myself am considered the strongest out of them all so I am elected as the head voice, if you will. We are souls whose only wish is to continue on perfecting our swordplay for eternity in Old Age, it's quite fun too.'

"Does this mean we are in a different... Realm for dead souls to live in?" Hypothesized Nerissa.

'Bright lass, that is basically what the inside of Old Age is. Beings don't choose who wields Old Age, we do. And while Asmodeus was given Old Age, we didn't agree with him and we voted not to be wielded by him. He didn't mind, and he actually agreed with us even though he still considered Old Age his sword. He preferred his magic to swordplay and thus he does not live in Old Age. When Old Age passes on to a new owner, we vote, all of us, to see if the wielder is worthy enough to hold Old Age. And in Avandar's case, we found him wanting and the vote came in 369 in favor of him wielding Old Age to 908 against.'

"That is quite the gap..."

'Yes, though there have been worse gaps. And now we come to you. We voted 1205 in favor of you wielding and 72 against. I must admit, I am surprised at this. Never has there been such an amount of votes in favor of someone. You should feel honored. In essence, Old Age now belongs to you unless you pass it on, and then we will vote to see if that person is fir to wield Old Age. But be warned, once Old Age passes on to a new owner, it will never return to a previous wielder.'

"..." Nerissa was at a loss for words. She originally wanted to claim Old Age and give it to Rainer as a present representing her love. Yet while she could do that, she now had to decide whether keeping the sword for herself or giving it to Rainer. Nerissa decided to cross that hurdle later when she could discuss it with her fiancée. "So how do I get back? Back to fighting Avandar."

'Lass, you are already fighting him yourself...

And with that, Nerissa found herself in the midst of a duel with Avandar. She felt as if she had been fighting him the entire time so she was not surprised by immediately going back to her original body. To be more accurate, she held the memories of being in Old Age and fighting Avandar at the same time so it felt like she was in two places at once.

"Keh! I guess I'll have to take that damned Old Age back when I kill you." While Avandar said this with confidence, in reality he had no way to have his sword reach the white demoness' flesh.

In the beginning of the fight, Avandar, thanks to Old Age, held supremacy and was in complete control of the flow of the duel. He managed to inflict a number of lesser wounds to Nerissa and it was getting to the point where he would mortally wounded her. Then Old Age began to resist his commands and the tide slowly shifted in favor of Nerissa. In terms of martial prowess, both parties were equal. In terms of experience, Avandar far outclassed Nerissa and he also had the advantage of wielding the powerful Old Age. Yet now that advantage was given to Nerissa, and his advantage of experience was nullified due to Old Age's influence. Without outside influence, Avandar saw no way of surviving this fight.

While continuing to nimbly block Nerissa's sword with his shield, Avandar glanced at the fights going on between Luce and Forsythe. Out of the two, he could see that the fight between Luce and the witch had yet to begin. Though surprise hit him when he saw a large dragon resting next to the witch, he moved his attention to the gluttony demon Forsythe. The fallen angel's magic was far outclassing the demon. Every creature he summoned was immediately disintegrated by light magic and every time Forsythe went in for a melee attack, he was rebuked by dark magic... Wait, dark magic from a fallen angel? Avandar was even more surprised, surprised enough to show an opening to Nerissa.

Taking advantage of Avandar's loss of attention, Nerissa swept aside the wrath demon's guard and sliced through his neck. An instant decapitation. Where there was a neck, blood spurted from the obvious openings. The look of surprise remained on Avandar's face as it fell onto the ground, his horns immediately breaking apart when it came into contact with the rocky surface. His body took several strange steps as if it was still alive, though it eventually fell over.