D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Hunter ---

"Getting tired?!" shouted Ronldo as he swiped lazily at Strdl and used his sleeve to wipe away his own sweat to keep up the illusion that he was completely fine.

"Justice NEVER RESTS" shouted Strdl in response as she stomped on the ground summoning crystals between Ronldo’s legs forcing him to jump to the side. As soon as he chose a direction Strdl swung out her staff at the same time to try and catch him.

Ronldo responded by activating an enchantment on his boots and sliding underneath the staff like a limbo dancing and slashing out at Strdl’s legs. Her sturdy boots managed to withstand the light nick as he wasn’t close enough to get a proper hit off. Strdl tried to follow up with a kick but Ronldo was already rolling away and to his feet.

"Ah, but is this justice? Killing a man in cold blood?" asked Ronldo.

"I can assure you my blood is BURNING at the moment," retorted Strdl as she swung her staff despite being out of range. Ronldo was confused for a moment, and that was just long enough for him to remain in range of the spiked crystals that shot from the staff at Strdl’s urging.

Ronldo took the crystals on the arm, pushing mana into a bracer he’d hidden under his sleeves. A stone shield appeared for a few moments as it took the attacks intended for the one behind it. Strdl growled and tried to follow up with some more crystals from the ground, swinging her staff once again to summon them up.

Throughout the fight, even as they both got progressively more tired Strdl had been getting more and more comfortable with this moderately familiar weapon. Usually she had a police baton, something that barely hurt and was more of a one handed thing. It felt… wrong for her to use it in this instance, like she would be betraying something fundamental and so she picked what she thought of as the next best thing once her gesture casting proved insufficient.

Now that she was more used to it, Strdl could channel her magic through the staff the same as her hands. It didn’t always produce quite the same moves, but she could usually intuit exactly what was going to happen anyway. The only issue was the mana cost. She’d burned through most of her mana to summon the walls trapping them both inside, and hadn’t really given her pool a chance to rest.

It meant she was starting to run on empty, magic wise. She had one or two more spells before collapse. It was annoying as the two she’d just used at been her hopes to finish the fight but somehow Ronldo had both blocked the first volley and somehow noticed the line approaching from the ground despite the fact that he had a block of stone in front of his eyes. A gamble, and a failure.

Strdl dove back into melee combat soon, keeping up the pressure on Ronldo and trying to exhaust either his body or his supply of tricks. Meanwhile, up on the top of the crystal wall Hunter had dismissed her cloak and carved out a little resting spot. No sense in standing on the original spiky top after all. For her… this fight was becoming annoying. She’d anticipated that one of the two would quickly gain the upper hand but it was clear the two were evenly matched, at the moment at least.

*I am wasting a good deal of time here. The main reason I left was that I suspect the way to end the clones for good is back in the vault…* Hunter glanced over at the stone walls she could now see in the distance. *Clearly they have the clones contained for the moment, but that’s just for the moment. Something could happen to shake things up or perhaps the original Trvis could escape. Assuming he still exists of course.

Granted I can probably track him even if we got there days late… but this fight has extended long past the time I was willing to allot for it. So… what does that mean for me? Do I wait more despite my desire to move on? Pick a winner? If so… which one?

Strdl seems honourable and just but based on the whole murder dome things she’s clearly lost it a bit. Allowing her to kill Ronldo or seriously injure him might be too much for her, breaking the girl completely. Not something I care too much about but I’m not Meg either. There is little to be gained from allowing it. Can she be saved? Would it be saving her? Unclear.

Ronldo isn’t exactly any better. A scheming man that would happily stab someone in the back the moment their guard drops. I saw as much when he tried to do away with Kamiko after she healed him. For all of his slick words about how she’d just be banished and not actually killed it would be majorly traumatising… and he likely would’ve still attempted it even if death was a realistic outcome.

So the issue with keeping him around is that any information I may wish to get from him is suspect. I can’t accurately tell if he is lying and Meg might be in a similar vote. If only Kat knew how to use her eyes to see the truth of words or simply compel someone to speak only the truth.

Then again… for scoundrels like Ronldo that’s likely only a small setback. He has a way with words after all. Though unlike Strdl I am quite certain he would kill her. Is that ok? It would save us having to deal with her afterwards… but once again, she is not a bad person.

So in the end… I still do not know who should live or die… or even if either of them should die at all. That’s why I simply allowed this in the first place. I did not know if it was my place to decide nor did I know what would best advance my cause. Now I sit here, wasting time and waiting for an outcome… but I cannot even identify what outcome I am searching for!*

Hunter once again debated just leaving them both to this. Let things end however they would end… but she couldn’t quite bring herself to leave. Hunter felt like she needed to stay… but to what end she didn’t know.

While Hunter was lost in her thoughts things had continued and more injuries had been taking on both sides. Ronldo had managed to get a slight cut on Strdl’s neck. Just at the side and she wasn’t at risk of bleeding out… but it was a dark reminder that no punches were being pulled. That if she lost, she would die. There were a few other injuries across her body but her armour prevented most of them from being serious. Just bruising… for now.

Ronldo might’ve had less visible injuries but the hit to his wallet was greater. It was unclear if his enchantments were mostly limited use or if the explosion coupled with the wave of time and space energy had messed with things but as the fight went on his gear was wearing down. Several had broken completely and were in pieces. Most only had one or two more uses before ending up the same way. Perhaps they could be repaired… if he didn’t use them.

It was one of these failures that would spell the end to the battle. Strdl came in for a strake that Ronldo dodged easily. At least, that was the plan. Despite not using them, the sole of his boot tore free in the motion, causing him to stumble in place, just barely safe from the current attack… but not the follow ups.

Strdl capitalised on the misstep and grew two chunks of crystal from the ground, capturing Ronldo’s arms and holding them him in place. "Ah, saved by honour at the last moment, I should’ve expected it!" said Ronldo with a grin. "I really did think you were going to go through with it.

Strdl said nothing as she summoned more crystals. She covered his legs and hands. She surrounded his waste. Strdl ensured that as long as Ronldo didn’t teleport away he was no danger to her and would not be escaping. "I can still do it you know,"

"Ah… but you won’t" stated Ronldo. Solid in his belief. Strdl glared stalking forward as she let her staff change into a knife. She pressed it against Ronldo’s neck but he didn’t so much as twitch. Not even when the pressure drew up a bit of blood. He didn’t say anything, lest he risk his movement being the thing that ended him.

Seconds passed as Strdl held the knife there. Ronldo, smug grin still affixed while Strdl matched it with a glare. Ten seconds. Twenty. A whole minute passed and Strdl cursed under her breath as she stepped backwards. "Haha! I knew you didn’t-" Ronldo’s cheer was cutch short as the knife morphed into a sword and Strdl separated his arm from his shoulder.

"AAAAH! BITCH! That fucking hurt! Going to cost a fortune to get that fixed!" hissed Ronldo.

"You were right… I couldn’t bring myself to do it. To plunge my knife into your disgusting heart… but from now on you’ll be down a hand," stated Strdl brokenly.

"Perhaps… for a time… but I’m sure I can get a good discount on a healer," said Ronldo despite the pain.

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"Perhaps… but I hope to make it REAL hard for you," grumbled Strdl.

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