Chapter 304: "Faithful" 1 v 1 [I / Bonus - ]
High atop the obsidian battlements of the Blessed Land’s Steel-Weave perimeter wall, the morning air was cold and saturated with a beautiful scent.
Row upon row of women stood in rigid, disciplined military formation.
Clad in lightweight tactical armor under dark hooded cloaks that fluttered against the rising wind, the archers held their heavy composite longbows at forty-five-degree angles, while the mages kept their staffs planted firmly against the smooth stone floor.
Behind them, the massive Watchtower cast a long intimidating shadow across the battlements, its automated turret arrays humming with latent power.
Down below, on the blood-soaked smoke-filled clearing between the two territories, the frontline Shieldmaidens were already drawn up in tight overlapping defensive formations.
They were preparing for Phase Two of the grand battle strategy laid out earlier that morning by their Sovereign...
However, Phase Two could only be officially initiated once Tasmin, Brida, Fenna, Gunnhild, and Hilda brought Phase One to a definitive, overwhelming conclusion.
And even though every single woman standing on the battlements knew just how terrifyingly strong the frontline strike team was, a quiet prickling anxiety hung over the wall like a heavy shroud...
Not everyone was entirely convinced that five women... no matter how ridiculously skilled or level-advanced could hold off an entire supercharged enemy army indefinitely.
Even from here, they could tell that Sky’s vanguard was currently buffed by a ten-fold stat multiplier, numbering in the thousands and backed by a very powerful spellcaster.
Near the central arch of the wall, Vala stood leaning her shoulder against the dark stone crenellations.
Her right hand rested firmly on the polished silver pommel of her sheath.
Ever since Silas had utilized his System to upgrade her class into that of a Magic Swordsman, Vala’s physical presence on the battlefield had transformed completely.
The air immediately surrounding her body was subtly distorted with a flickering aura of condensed elemental mana which was a delicate blend of wind and blade aura that made her dark hair sway continuously.
She took a slow deep breath through her nose with her sharp blue eyes staring down into the lingering cloud of dust and fire on the field below.
Beside her, Elara slowly lowered her composite longbow, her fingers trembling slightly against the worn leather grip.
"Vala..." Elara spoke softly, her voice barely audible over the whistling wind.
She turned her head, her hazel eyes wide with mounting tension as she looked at the magic swordsman.
"Are... are you truly sure we shouldn’t march down there and support them? They’re down on that open field completely surrounded by a lot of buffed troops! What if Brida’s barrier collapses? What if they get flanked and overwhelmed by Sky’s Hero officers?"
Vala didn’t answer right away.
She kept her gaze fixed on the pommel of her sword, her thumb gently tracing the intricate runic engravings etched into the steel crossguard.
Elara’s frustration flared at her companion’s silence.
She took a step closer, her voice rising in her agitation.
"Vala! Listen to me! This isn’t just another routine hunting raid against regular monsers... This is an official Lord War broadcast live across the entire globe! There are a lot of experienced Hero combatants down there! We have high-ground advantage up here on the wall... why are we just standing here like statues watching them fight alone..."
Vala slowly turned her head. Her blue eyes were completely calm, radiating an unshakeable rock-solid composure that instantly silenced the younger archer’s rising panic.
"Focus, Elara," Vala commanded smoothly. "And stop doubting the battle plan. Do you really believe for a single second that any of those five down there would fail a direct command from our Lord?"
Elara blinked with her throat tightening. "I... no, but..."
Vala gestured with her chin toward the towering Watchtower behind them, where Fenna had been firing her homing salvos earlier.
"Isn’t your personal mentor, Fenna, down on that field right now?" Vala continued, her voice softening slightly with genuine warmth. "You’ve trained under her bow every single morning since we were summoned. You know better than anyone what kind of monster she is when she holds a string. Have a bit of confidence in your seniors. Our job isn’t to second-guess Phase One... our job is to be absolute perfection when Phase Two triggers."
Elara stared at Vala for three long seconds.
She swallowed hard, taking a slow shaky breath as she clutched her composite longbow tightly against her chest.
"You’re right..." Elara admitted softly with an embarrassed flush touching her cheeks. "I’m... I’m overreacting. I should believe... I need to believe that they can make it through—"
Before Elara could even finish her sentence—
BAM!
A violent earth-shattering explosion erupted directly beneath the central clearing three hundred yards away.
A blinding column of superheated white light, scorched soil, and shattered bedrock shot eighty feet straight into the sky, completely obliterating the patch of grass where the two strike forces had been converging.
The shockwave was so immense that even the heavy stone battlements beneath Vala and Elara’s boots subtly vibrated.
SWISH!
Out from the center of the blinding white explosion, a slender graceful silhouette shot backward through the smoke!
Tasmin executed a breathtaking flawless triple backflip in mid-air.
Her dark pigtails whipped wildly through the wind with her dark tunic fluttering against her frame, before her boots landed lightly on the damp grass fifty yards away.
The soles of her leather combat boots slid smoothly across the soil, coming to an effortless balanced halt without losing a single drop of momentum.
A sharp playful smirk spread across Tasmin’s face as she straightened her posture with her twin shortswords spinning idly around her fingers with speed.
"Well, well, well..." Tasmin called out into the lingering smoke, her voice dripping with smooth condescending amusement. "If your brilliant plan was to catch me off guard and kill me... you’re a bit too slow, darling."
DZZZZZT!
Out from the settling dust and floating ash, tiny, shimmering motes of blinding white light began to coalesce in mid-air.
The white motes gathered together in a swirling, luminous vortex, solidifying rapidly into the physical form of a young woman.
She was clad in pristine, high-tier white priestess robes embroidered with intricate golden runes that pulsed with radiant energy.
Her pale skin radiated a soft divine luminescence, and her sharp eyes burned with intense righteous hatred as she stared at the [Shadow Commander].
However, Tasmin didn’t let her guard down for even a fraction of a millisecond.
Her ears twitched beneath her hair with her eyes scanning the surrounding terrain with razor-sharp precision.
She knew there were two of them... two identical Light-Magic Specialists dispatched by Lord Sky to eliminate her.
Yet, currently, only one of the white-cloaked Heroes stood before her.
Noticeably sensing Tasmin’s sharp eyes searching the shadows around the clearing, the white-robed woman offered a cold haughty smile, adjusting her silk sleeve with arrogance.
"Looking for my twin sister, shadow-rat?" the woman taunted, her voice echoing with a high-pitched noble tone that carried across the open field. "Don’t bother looking. She won’t be interfering in this engagement. Unlike you uncivilized barbarians in the Blessed Land, we of The Unmovable Wall believe in what is known as a clean, honorable, and faithful 1-v-1 duel."
Hearing the words "faithful 1-v-1 duel" in the middle of an official Lord War, Tasmin almost burst out laughing right then and there.
A clean 1-v-1? In the middle of an active battlefield where hundreds of supercharged soldiers were screaming, heavy artillery was exploding, and blood was soaking the grass?!
Furthermore, Tasmin’s sensory skills could clearly feel a second suffocating thread of razor-sharp killing intent locked onto her spinal cord from the high rock formations two hundred yards to her left.
The twin was definitely hiding in ambush, waiting for the perfect second to thrust a blade through her ribs...
However, instead of calling out the blatant, pathetic lie, Tasmin chose to play along.
As a veteran people’s person, Tasmin knew that when an enemy took the time to talk, they were usually trying to gauge your demeanor, measure your reaction time, and analyze your physical posture.
And Tasmin was more than happy to let this arrogant priestess think she had the mental upper hand... it gave her the perfect opportunity to set a psychological trap.
Tasmin relaxed her stance, throwing her hands up in a dramatic, overly appreciative gesture as she let out a sweet musical laugh.
"Oh, my goodness!" Tasmin cheered, her crimson eyes sparkling with mock gratitude. "A faithful 1-v-1 duel?! That is just so incredibly heartfelt! I absolutely adore proper 1-v-1s... just the two of us with no annoying distractions!"
Tasmin took a small step forward, placing her right hand flat over her chest in a formal theatrical greeting.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly! I am Tasmin of the Blessed Land... Commander of the Soldiers under our magnificent Lord Vespera!"
The white-robed woman puffed out her chest, raising her chin with supreme arrogance as a blinding halo of mana erupted around her head, illuminating her white robes.
"Remember the name of the holy blade that purges your filthy existence from this realm!" the woman declared loudly, her voice projecting across the entire battlefield. "I am Celeste Sunsword! High Priestess of Light from The Unmovable Wall, ordained by the heavens to banish all dark shadows!"
"..."
Tasmin stood frozen on the grass for two full seconds.
Behind her calm smiling face, her internal thoughts completely stalled as a single deadpan thought echoed through her mind.
’Who the hell... has the actual surname Sword?! Is her father named Shield Sunsword?! Is her mother named Halberd Sunsword?! What kind of ridiculous, try-hard noble name is that?!’
Tasmin forced herself to maintain her polite cheerful smile, suppressing the intense urge to roll her eyes into the back of her head.
Celeste Sunsword drew a long slender rapier forged from glowing white light crystal from her belt, pointing the gleaming tip directly at Tasmin’s face.
"For the atrocities your people committed against our scouting units earlier this week..." Celeste spat coldly, "...you will draw your final breath on this field, Tasmin! You will die today by my hand!"
Tasmin’s smile widened, her eyes narrowing into sharp deadly slits.
She raised both of her gloved fists in front of her face, dropping her hips into a loose fluid martial arts combat stance.
"Is that so...?" Tasmin said playfully. "Sure thing, Celeste... let’s see who actually dies today."
BOOM!
In that exact second, the atmospheric pressure between them shattered.
A blinding holy white solar aura exploded from Celeste Sunsword’s body, illuminating the entire dust cloud in a divine glare.
Simultaneously, a thick suffocating pitch-black aura erupted from Tasmin’s core, wrapping around her limbs like writhing demonic tendrils!
Across the global network, on over FIVE HUNDRED MILLION screen displays, viewers held their collective breath...
In private viewing rooms, tavern halls, noble estates, and corporate war rooms across Earth and the Sovereign Realm, every single person watching the stream was completely glued to the display!
The live view count on the upper corner of the broadcast had hit an unprecedented mind-boggling peak... half a billion active viewers watching the clash between Light and Shadow!
If Lord Sky had been monitoring her stream metrics right at that moment, she would have screamed in ecstatic disbelief at the historic numbers her broadcast was generating.
CRACK!
Both women charged simultaneously.
The solid bedrock beneath their boots caved inward, sending clouds of shattered stone and dirt flying into the air as they accelerated toward each other at supersonic speeds.
"DIE, DARKNESS!" Celeste Sunsword shrieked at the top of her lungs!
She thrust her crystal rapier forward five times in a fraction of a second.
FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
Five colossal beams of pure superheated white solar light erupted from her blade tip, tearing through the air like searing laser cannons directly toward Tasmin’s chest!
Tasmin’s neural reflexes processed the trajectory of the light beams instantly.
She could tell that if those attacks made direct contact with her physical body, her shadow pathways would suffer severe elemental damage...
Yet, as she sprinted straight toward the searing laser beams, a bright playful grin broke across Tasmin’s face.
She looked down at her right gauntlet.
Wrapped around her right wrist was a sleek dark-purple gauntlet.
It was a custom masterpiece forged personally by Thora, the Master Smith, and inscribed with high-tier defensive runes by Rowenna, the Grand Runemaster.